APR 1 W93
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A CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL COMMENTARY
ON
THE BOOK OF JOB
BY SAMUEL ROLLES DRIVER, D.D.
AND
GEORGE BUCHANAN GRAY, D.Litt VOLUME I
The International Critical Commentary
A CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL COMMENTARY
ON
THE BOOK OF JOB
TOGETHER WITH A NEW TRANSLATION
BY THE LAT
/
SAMUEL ROLLES DRIVER, D.D.
REGIUS PROFESSOR OF HEBREW AND CANON OF CHRIST CHURCH, OXFORD
HON. D.LITT., CAMBRIDGE AND DUBLIN ; HON. D.D., GLASGOW AND ABERDEEN
FELLOW OF THE BRITISH ACADEMY
AND
GEORGE BUCHANAN GRAY, D.Litt.
PROFESSOR OK HEBREW AND OLD TESTAMENT EXEGESIS IN MANSFIELD COLLEGE
AND GRINFIELD LECTURER ON THE SEPTUAGINT OXFORD
HON. D.D., ABERDEEN
(IN TWO VOLUMES)
VOLUME I
^m CF mnc^
^^0€KAL SEH\^
NEW YORK
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
1921
The Rights of Translation and Reproduction are Reserved,
PREFACE
Some eighteen months before his death in February 1914, Dr. Driver began the actual writing of the volume on " Job " for the " International Critical Commentary." In the middle of January 19 14, when the very serious nature of his illness had became evident, he wrote a short memorandum on the state of his MS, and suggestions for the completion of his work. In this he expressed a strong desire that I should complete what he was compelled to leave incomplete. The task, I knew at once, would be arduous and absorb much time ; but not to undertake it, or to do less than my best to dis- charge it, would have been an ill return for all that I had long owed to the friendship and scholarship of Dr. Driver. The time involved has even exceeded my expectations, partly because what remained to be done proved so much more than appeared at first. Finding that the mass of material would be very great, and wishing that the publication of the commentary should not be unduly delayed. Dr. Driver had earlier invited Dr. A. H. McNeile to undertake the exegetical notes and the Introduction, and, under conditions with regard to the claims of other work, Dr. McNeile had consented. It was naturally my own very strong desire that this arrange- ment should stand, and at first Dr. McNeile agreed that it should, and indeed, in looking through the MS with a view to his own part of the work, added on the first chapters some brief notes which, duly initialed, have been retained. But later the claims of his other work became so pressing that he wished to withdraw from co-operating in this com-
v! PREFACE
mentary, and, though it was with the greatest regret, I could but acquiesce in his wish. Thus by far the greater part of the work, and the final responsibility for the whole of it, has fallen on me. Of the actual division of the work I will speak further.
In the memorandum to which I have alluded, Dr. Driver wrote: "I began this in Aug. 191 2; and have completed the first draft of virtually all the philological notes, and revised them as far as about c. 14: I have also completed virtually the translation and (fairly completely) the ex- egetical notes on c. 3-9 and 40-41." When the material was handed to me, I found that it contained less of the translation than this might seem to imply : the translation consisted of a text of the RV. with the very extensive alterations placed on the margin ; occasionally a choice between one or two renderings was left open for final judge- ment. These corrections of the RV. began with c. 3 and extended (with the exception of ig^^-'^'^) to c. 28, and again from 40^^-41^*. Of these parts, then, the translation in this volume is Dr. Driver's, except that (i) here and there I have modified certain renderings of the RV. left uncorrected, out of regard to other passages or express statements in the notes; (2) that I have exercised the final judgement as between alternative renderings ; and (3) that I have through- out determined how the divisions into lines, distichs, and tristichs should be represented. The exegetical notes, which extended only, and that with very varying degrees of com- pleteness, from 3^-9^^ and 40^^-41^^, were not in form for publication : in another part of the memorandum the instruc- tion runs : " Such exegetical notes as I have written, he [the editor] can utilize, supplement, or amend, as he likes. I should naturally like the explanations, etc., of my Job in the R V. to be, as far as possible, adopted, but I do not make this a sine qua non" I have accordingly incorpo- rated much of this material in the commentary on these parts of the text; to have distinguished it constantly from the additions and modifications required would have unduly
PREFACE Vii
complicated the notes, but here and there, especially when my own judgement sh'ghtly differed {e.g. on 3^), I have made use of inverted commas to indicate direct quotation. Broadly, however, it may be said of pp. 31-87 and 354-371 that the notes on individual verses, as distinct from the introductory and certain longer notes {e.g. on pp. 40 f., 'jy f.), are very largely in substance and largely also in ex- pression, Dr. Driver's. For the rest the commentary is, mine, though in order to perpetuate Dr. Driver's point of view, I have frequently cited not only his Book of Job in the Revised Version, but also his Introduction to the Literature of the Old Testament, and occasionally I have transferred to the commentary, as being more appropriate there, a passage from the philological notes, distinguishing this matter by adding " Dr."
With the philological notes I have adopted a different course. It was to these the greatest attention and the fullest revision had been given. It seemed desirable then (i) that they should to the fullest possible extent be reproduced and their authorship made clear ; yet (2) that these notes should be as complete and homogeneous as possible. I have, there- fore, while adding freely, perhaps to the extent of about a third of the whole, distinguished all my own additions in substance, except in cc. i. 2. 12^-^ and ^2^'^'^, which are entirely mine, by placing them in square brackets ; but I have not thought it necessary unduly to multiply these signs by using them for the filling in of obvious references left blank in the MS, nor to distinguish slight formal changes made in preparing the MS for press, or in proof. As men- tioned in the passage already cited from the memorandum, cc. 1-14 had been more fully revised than the rest; some notes, or parts of notes, were still unwritten even in these earlier chapters, but the blank spaces in the MS were far more frequent in the later chapters, and unfortunately occurred where many of the most important or difficult passages, such as iq^^^-, were concerned.
Final responsibility for the whole must, as I have said.
Vlll
PREFACE
under the circumstances rest upon me ; but with this proviso^ the distribution of the work may be thus tabulated :
|
Translation. |
Commentary. |
Philological Notes. |
|
|
Driver . . Gray , . . |
3-28 I. 2. 29-42 ; also 1925-27. |
(in large part). I. 2. 9^^-40^^. 42 entire, and the rest in part. |
3-3 ^ 32'-42^ (except matter en- closed in square brackets). I. 2. 32i-« 427-17 and, in the re- mainder, matter enclosed in square brackets. |
For the Introduction I am entirely responsible.
The aim of the philological notes is indicated in these sentences of the memorandum: "On philological points I found there was a good deal to say, and 1 wished the philo- logical basis of the commentary to be strong, and thought that many things deserved a fuller discussion than they generally received in the volumes of the ICC, Notes and explanations of the principal emendations of Du. and Be. ought also, I thought, to be given for the use of students (though I do not believe myself that I in 10 is necessary or probable), — sometimes also the conjectures of Bi. and others (though I content myself mostly with merely mentioning these from time to time, and do not polemize against them). ... I have not thought it necessary to quote exhaustively authorities for renderings and readings : the principal recent ones seemed to me sufficient. Improbable conjectures I have also omitted (except sometimes those of Du. and Be^). An emendation quoted at the end of a note is not intended to imply my acceptance of it." "In textual matters I gener- ally find myself in agreement with Bu. ; but I cannot adopt his view of the Elihu speeches. I intended to acknowledge generously in the Preface the great value and help which Be"^ had been to me. But I cannot accept many of his
PREFACE ix
emendations; he seems to me often hypercritical and prosaic."
On account of the extent of and the importance attached to the philological notes, they are printed in the larger type, and in the American edition issued in a separate volume.
I need not repeat here much that I wrote in the Preface to Isaiah ; it applies, mutatis mutandis^ to the present com- mentary; but in the matter of transliterations I may observe that owing to the circumstances under which the present volume has been prepared there remain, much to my regret, certain inconsistencies — the p, for example, being some- times transliterated k, sometimes q; and similarly different abbreviations of some names and titles will be found to have been used; but I trust that neither the one inconsistency nor the other will occasion any practical inconvenience.
G. BUCHANAN GRAY.
CONTENTS
PRINCIPAL ABBREVIATIONS EMPLOYED Introduction. ....
§§ 1-2. Title and Place in the Canon § 3. Subject and Main Divisions .
§§ 4-6, Literary Form .
§§ 7-31. Origin and History of the Book of Job: Possible Sources and Additions .
(a) Traditional Elements : Names and Terms
(b) The " Babylonian Job " .
(c) Relation of Prologue and Epilogue to the Dia
logue : the Divine Names (§ 19) {d) Cc. 25-28 . {e) Cc. 32-37 : Elihu (see also § 41)
(a) The Divine Names, § 24
(b) 'JN and 'djx, § 25
(c) Particles, § 26
{d) Other stylistic features, §§ 27-29 (e) Aramaisms, § 28 ,
(/) Cc. 38^-42^ : The speeches of Yahweh
Table of Original and Later Elements in the Book : also of Passages absent from ffi §§ 32-41. Purpose and Method of the Writer §§ 43-47. The Age of the Book
(a) External Evidence
{b) Political and Social Conditions
(c) Parallel Passages .
{d) Theological and Religious Ideas
(e) Language .
FACE
xlii xix xix
XX
xxi
XXV
xxvil xxxi
XXXV
xxxviii xl xlii xliii xliv xlv xlvi xlviii
xlix
1
Ixv Ixv Ixvi Ixvii Ixvlii Ixx
Xll CONTENTS
PAGE
§48-51. The Text •••••• Ixv
§ 52. The Rhythms ,.••••• Ixxvii
Part I, Translation and Commentary • • • i
ADDENDA ET CORRIGENDA.
Translation and Commentary,
P. 87. For **the chambers of the south" in 9^, F. Pedes (in Orient, Studien Fritz Hommel . . . gewidmet (1918), ii. 132) suggests '*the (stars) surrounding* the south," after the rendering of 0 'E^p. in the Hexapla — Kal irdvTa to. darpa t^ KVKkovvTa votov = pH ^^"in.
PRINCIPAL ABBREVIATIONS EMPLOYED
1. TEXTS AND VERSIONS.
'A, Aq. .
AVm. . EV{V). . MS(S) Ken.,
Rossi Oc, Or(ient) .
OT.
PBV. . RVm. .
S, Symm. G, Theod. (& .
n'>
• •
• •
. Aqulla.
, Authorised Version (margin).
. English Version(s). de Hebrew Manuscripts as cited in Kennicott or De Rossi.
, Occidental (Palestinian) and Oriental (Babylonian), see G-K. 'jh n. ; and for the readings of the two schools in Job, S. Baer, Liber Jobi (1875), pp. 56-58.
. Old Testament.
. Prayer Book Version.
. Revised Version (margin).
. Symmachus.
. Theodotion.
, The ancient Greek (LXX) Version of the OT. (ed. Swete, Cambridge, 1887- 1894). The readings of the codices are, when necessary, distinguished thus:— (!&A ^B (Alexandrian, Vatican, etc.). For the cursives, reference has been made to Vet. Test. Greece^ cum variis lectionibus^ ed. R. Holmes et J. Parsons (Oxon. 1823), which is cited as HP followed by a numeral denoting the cursive. Edi- tions of Job contain much that is really 0 (see Introd. §§ 48-51) : such matter is commonly cited as (K (9). . . The Hebrew (unvocalized) text, i.e. the consonants of the ordinary Hebrew MSS and printed Bibles.
, The consonants of the traditional Hebrew text (|!^) irrespective of the present word divisions and after the removal of the vowel consonants (cp. Isaiah^ p. xxv).
, The Coptic (Sahidic) Version of ffi (§ 48).
. Old Latin Version of ffi.
XIV
PRINCIPAL ABBREVIATIONS EMPLOYED
The Massoretic Text (i.e. the vocalized text of the Hebrew Bible). Variants in the Hebrew codices have been cited from De Rossi, Varies Lectio nes Vet. Test. ; Kennicott, Vet. Test. Heh. ciini variis lectionibiis ; or R. Kittel, Bihlia Hebraica.
Targum Onkelos.
The Syriac Version (Peshitta).
The Syro-Hexaplar Version of ffi.
Targum : C^ UT^ etc., first, second renderings in ^.
Vulgate.
2, AUTHORS' NAMES AND BOOKS.
[See also the literature cited, especially in the Introduction, §§ 23 n., 28, 41, 45> 48, son-. 51 «•]
Anon. • t . Anonymous Hebrew Commentary, ed. W, A. Wright, with Eng. tr. by S. A. Hirsch (1905) — later than Ibn Ezra and Qi. A/SL • • • Avierican Journal of Seinitic Languages and Litera- ture. Baer . • . S. Baer, Liber Jobi, 1875. BOB . . .See Lex.
Be[er, G.] Be^. {i) Der Text des Biiches Hiob {\Sg'j)—Be^. Be^it- (2) Notes in R. Kittel, Bibl. ffebr.—Be^K
Bi[ckell, G.] . • (0 Carmina VT me trice, 1882, pp. 151-187.
(2) Krit. Bearbeittiug des Job-Dialogs, WZKMy 1892, pp. 137 ff-. 241 ff., 327 flf. ; 1893, pp. I ff., 153 ff. Cp. (3). Das Btich Hiob nach AnleitungderStropJiik u. d. Septttaginta auf seine ursprilngliche Form ZMrilck-gefiihrt u. ini Versmasse des Urtextes iiber- sclzt, 1894. • Opera Omnia, Lugd. 171 2. , Comnt. in Johum, 1631. . (i) Beitriige zur Kritik des B. Hiob, 1876.
(2) Das Buck Hiob (in Nowack's, Handkommentar\ I1896, ^1913. . See G-B.
. The Book of Job trajislated, etc., 1858. K.] . {\) Job and Solomon, 1887.
(2) Job and other contributions to EBi. ChWB . , . See Levy.
CIS . . • Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum, Paris, 1881 fF. Cooke, G. A. . N[_orth\ S[emitic] ^Inscriptions], Oxford, 1903.
Cox, S. . . , A Commentary on the Book of Job, 1880. CP. . . . See Rogers. Da[v[idson], A. B. (i) A Commentary on the Book of Job\\-y\v\ 1862.
(2) The Book of Job in The Camb. Bible for Schools^ 1884.
Boclifart] Bolducius BuLddc], K.
Buhl
Carey, C. P. Ch[e[yne, T.
PRINCIPAL ABBREVIATIONS EMPLOYED
XV
DB , . .
Del[itzsch, Franz], Del[itzsch, Fried.].
Di[llmann, A.] , Dr[iver, S. R.] .
W.]
Du[hm, B.]
EBi.
Ehrlich, A. B
ET
Ew.
Exp. Forms
Freyt[ag-, G. G-B. .
Ges[enms, W GGA . Gi[nsburg-, C
G-K. .
Gr[atz, H.] Gray, G. B.
Ha[hn, H. A.] Hfm, or Hoftm. Hi[tz[igr, F.] . . Hirzel (or Hrz), L. Honth[eim, J.]
D.].
Dictionary of the Bible, and in particular^ Dicfimiary
of the Bible, ed. James Hastings, 1898-1904. Das Buck HLob in Biblischer Comm. il. d. AT, ^1864
(Eng. tr.), -1876. (i) Assyrisches Handworterhuchy 1896, cited as
H WB. (2) Das Buck Hioh neu iibersetzt u. kurzerkldrt^
Leipzig-, 1902. Hiob (in K\xirzgefasstes'\ E\xegetisches'\ II[andbuch]),
^1891. (i) ^ Treatise on the Use of the Tenses in Hebrew^
31892.
(2) An Introduction to the Literature of the Old Tested' ment (abbreviated LOT)y '1913.
(3) 7 he Book of Job in the Revised Version, 1906.
(4) Notes on the Hebrew Text of the Books of Samuel, 21913.
Das Buch Hiob erkldrt in Marti's Kurser Hand-
commetitar zum AT, 1897. Encydopcedia Biblica, edited by T. K. Cheyne and
J. S. Black, 1899-1903. Randglossen zur Hebr. Bibel {\<^\-^, vi. 18&-344. Expository Times.
(1) Lehrbuch d. Hebr. Sprache,
(2) Die Dichter des Alten Bundes, dritter Theil, '1854. The Expositor.
See Gray, 3.
Lexicon Arabico-Latinunty 1830.
Wilhelm Gesenius hebrdisches u. aram. Handwor- terbuch iiber das AT » » , bearbeitet von Frants Buhl, 1^1915.
The^^aurus\
Gottingische gelehrte Anzeigen.
ui ty-pn nsD nyaiNi Dniyy, i.e. The Old Testament in Hebreiv according to MSS and old editions, 1894.
Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar . . . English edition by A. Cowley, ^1910 ( = 28th German edition, 1909).
Emendationes in plerosque . . . VT libros, 1892.
(i) Studies in Hebrew Proper Names, 1896 (abbre- viated HPN).
(2) \^A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on] Isaiah [i-xxvii].
(3) {^^A Forms [of Hebrew Poetry], 1915. Commentar iiber d. B. Hiob, 1850.
Hiob nach J. C. E. Hoffmann, 1891. Das Buch Hiob iibersetzt' u. ausgelegt, 1874, KEH^ (1839), see Di.
Das Buch Hiob als strophisches Kunstwerk nachgV' wiesen Ubersetzst u. erkldrt, 1904.
XVI
PRINCIPAL ABBREVIATIONS EMPLOYED
Houb[igant, C. F.]
HPN .
I[bn] E[zra], Aora-
ham (t 1167) ICC
Isaiah . . • JBLit .
Jer[ome] (t 420; • JDT .
JPh . . . JQR . . . JThS .
Kamph[ausen] KB
Ki .
Klo[stermann, K6n[ig, E.] .
A.],
K6nigsb[erger, B. Kue[nen, A.] .
Lane, E. W. . Lex •
Levy, J.
Lidz[barski, M.]
LOT .
Matthes, J. C. Me[rx, A.] Meyer, E. Mich[aelis, J. li.] NH{ H')B . N61[d[eke, T.] Nichols, Helen H.
Nofce criticcB in universos VTUbros, H. 155-218(1777),
See Gray, 1.
Hebrew Comm. on Job in Buxtorf s Biblia Rabbinica,
International Critical Commentary^ See Gray, 2. Journal of Biblical Literature,
Jdhrbiicher f. deutsche Theologie*
Journal of Philology,
Jewish Quarterly Review^
Journal of Theological Studies,
Die Keilinschriften u. d. A T, von Eberhard Schrader,
dritte Auflage neu bearbeitet von H. Zimmem u. H.
Winckler, 1903. In Bunsen's Bibelwerk^ Abth. i. Bd. 3, 1865. Keilinschriftliche Bibliotheky von E. Schrader, 1889-
1901. See Qi.
Hiob in PRE viii. 97-126. Historisch-Kritisches Lehrgehaude der Hebrdischen
Sprachey 1881, 1895 : the concluding volume (cited
as Kon. iii. or simply Kon.) appeared in 1897 with
a fresh title, Historisch-comparative Syntax d.
Hebr. Sprache. Hiob Studieny 1896. Historisch-Kritisch Onderzoek naar het Ontstaan • • •
van de Boeken des Ouden Verbondes, ^1865. An Arabic-English Lexicon, 1863. Lexicon, and unless otherwise defined A Hebrew and
English Lexicon of the Old Testament based on the
Thesaurus of Gesenius, by F. Brown, C. A. Briggs,
and S. R. Driver, Oxford, 1906. (i) ChWBy i.e., Chalddisches Worierbuch iiber die
Targumimy Leipzig, 1881. (2) NHWBy \.e. y Neuhebrdisches u. Chalddisches Wor-
terbuch iiber die Talmudim u. Midraschiniy 1876-
1889. (i) Handbuch d. Nordsem. Epigraphiky 18^— NSE. (2) Eph\emeris f, sem. Epigraphiky 1900 ff. See Dr. 2.
Het Boekjob vertaald en verklaardy 1865. Das Gedicht von Hiob, 1871.
\_Die\ I[sraeliten u. ihre] Nlachbar] S[tdmme\ 1906^ Annotationes in Hagiogr, See Levy, 2.
Beitr[age zur sem. Sprachwissenschaff], 1904. The Composition of the Elihu Speeches (in AJSL,
vol. xxvii., 191 1, and printed separately).
PRINCIPAL ABBREVIATIONS EMPLOYED
XVU
NSE , NSI
01[sh[ausen, J.] Oo[rt, H.] .
P[ayne] S[mith, R.] Pe[a[ke, A. S.] . PEFQuSt . Pedes, F. PL. . . , PRE .
Q». ...
Ralbag- . .
Ra[shi] .
RB
R[ei]sk[e, J. J.] REJ . Renan, E. Richter, G. . Rogers, R. W. Ros[enmuller] Saad. . Sam[uelf Schl[ottmann] Schnurrer Schult[ens, A.] S[ie]gf[ried, C]
Sievers, E. •
Sta[de, B.]
St[ick]el .
Strahan, J. . . Stu[der, G. L.] Stuhl[mann, M. H.] Thomson, W. M. . Tristram, H. B. . TSK . Voi[gt,Cl.] . .
See Lidz.
See Cooke.
KEH^{\Ss2): see Di.
Textus Hehraici emendationes quihus in VT Neer-
landice vertendo usi sunt A. Kuenen aL Thesaurus Syriacus, 1900. The Century Bible : Job, 1905. Palestine Exploration Fund Quarterly Statement, Analekten zur Textkritik des AT, 1895. Migne, Paleologia Latina. Herzog's Real-Encyklopddie f. Protestantische Theo-
logiey 3rd ed. by A. Hauck. David Qimhi (ti23o). R[abbi] L[evi]b[en] G[ershon] (11344): Heb. Comm.
in Buxtorfs Biblia Rabbinica. R[abboni] Sh[elomoh] Y[ishaki] (1040-1105).
Hebrew Commentary on Job in Buxtorfs Bihl.
Rabbinica. Revue Biblique Internationale publide par V^cole
pratique d Etudes Bibliques ^tablie au convent
Dominicain Saint- Atienne de Jerusalem (Paris). Conjecture in Jobum et Proverbia, Lips. 1779. Revue des £tudes Juives. Le livre de Job, i860. Dunkle Stellen im Buche Hiob, 191 2. C[unei/orm] P[arallels to the Old Testament], Jobus, Lips. 1806. Saadiah (f 942). See Dr. 4. D. B. Hiob, 1 851.
Animadversiones ad qucedam locajobi, Tiib. 178 1-2. Liber Jobi, Lugd. 1737. The Book of Job , critical edition of the Hebrew Text,
1893. Metrische Studien in the Abhandlungen der phil.-hist.
classe d. konig. sdchsischen Gesellschaft d. Wissen-
schaften, xxi. (1901). The Textproben include Job
3-7- (i) Lebrbuch d. hebr. Sprache, 1879. (2) JF^ = Siegfried, C. u. Stade, B., Hehr. Worter-
buch zum A T. Das Buch Hiob, 1842. The Book of Job interpreted, 191 3. Das Buch Hiob, i88i. Hiob, 1804.
The L[and and the] Biook], 1867. {The] Niatural] H\istory of the] B{ible], 1867. Theologische Studien u. Kritiken. Einige Stellen d. B. Hiob, Lauban, 1895.
Xvill PRINCIPAL ABBREVIATIONS EMPLOYED
WeHlh.] . . . Wellhausen, J.
Wetz[stein] . . Notes in Del.
Wr[ight, G. H. B.] The Book of Job, 1883.
WZKM , . Wiener Zeitschrift f, d. Kunde des Morgenlandes.
ZA , • . Zeitschrift f. d. Assyriologie.
ZA{T)W . . Zeitschrift f d. Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft.
ZDMG . . Zeitschr. d. deutschen morgenldndischen Gesellschaft.
ZDPV . . . Zeitschrift d. deutschen Pdlastina-Veriins.
Biblical passages are cited according to the Hebrew enumeration of chapters and verses : where this differs from the English envjmeration, the reference to the latter has commonly (except in the philological notes) been added in a parenthesis. In the translation of c. 41, however, it seemed more convenient to place the English enumeration first.
The sign f, following a series of references, indicates that all examples of the phrase, word, form or meaning in question, occurring in the OT, have been cited.
The signs •" ^ enclosing words in the translation {e.g. 3^**) indicate depart- ures from f^ (occasionally also departures even from IH have been so indicated). Small print in the translation indicates probable additions, and unleaded type the longer interpolations of cc. 28. 32-37.
al. = alii (others).
Cp.= Compare.
Ct.= Contrast
INTRODUCTION
I. Title and Place in the Canon.
§ I. The Book of Job is one of the eleven books which con- stitute the third of the three parts of which the Hebrew Scrip- tures, D^ain:)1 D'^K^D: min, consist. In printed Hebrew Bibles it takes the third place among those eleven books, following Ps. and Pr. This order goes back to Hebrew MSS, especially those of German provenance ; but other arrangements occur in other MSS or Jewish lists. Job preceding Pr. in the Talmudic list (Baba BathrUj 14b) and in many MSS, especially the Spanish, and preceding both Ps. and Pr. in Jer.'s list of the third part of the Hebrew Scriptures. ^ But of Jewish arrangements it may be said (i) that Job is generally grouped together with the poetical books Ps. and Pr. ; and (2) that this group gener- ally stands at the beginning of the Hagiographa (and conse- quently immediately after the prophets), or preceded by one book only (Ruth or Ch.).2
In ffi and in Greek and Latin lists, owing to the abandon- ment of the Jewish tripartite division, the different positions
^ Prol. Gal. {Prcef. in Libr. Samuel ei Malachim) : " Tertius ordo 'Ayi6ypa<pa possidet ; et primus liber incipit ab /ob. Secundus a David, . . . Tertius est Salamon." The premier position thus given to Job was probably due to a chronological consideration, such as is cited and rejected in Baba Bathra, 14b : " The order of the Kethubim is Ruth, the Book of Psalms, Job and Proverbs, etc. . . . Now, if it be said, Job lived in the days of Moses, Job therefore should be placed at the head : verily we do not begin with calamity."
- Some exceptions to both these general rules are recorded in H. E. Ryle, The Canon of the Old Testament^ 281 f. More generally on the place of Job in lists, Jewish and others, see Ryle, op. cit. ch. xii,, and Swete, Jntrod. to the OT in Greeks part ii, ch. i.
XX THE BOOK OF JOB [§§ 1-S.
assigned to Job become far more numerous. ** Much difficulty seems to have been felt as to the place of Job : the book normally appears in connexion with the poetical books, either last or first, but it is sometimes placed among the histories (Augustine, Innocent, Cod. Clarom., Ps.-Gelasius, Cassio- dorius), or after the Prophets."^ In EV., under the influence of what had come to be the standard arrangement of U,^ the book stands in an ambiguous position — last of the historical or first of the poetical books. In deference to theories connecting Job with Moses or his age, the book was placed in & between Deut. and Jos.^ In Epiphanius {de mens et pond. 2'^ it stands between Jos. and Judges.
§ 2. Like Joshua or Ruth, the book bears as its title simply the name of its hero — 3VN, *Ift)/S. The dissyllabic Hebrew name 'lyyob became in F Job, and hence in EVV. mono- syllabic.
II. Subject and Main Divisions.
§ 3. The Book of Job contains (i) the story of the sudden change in the fortunes of a sheikh of ancient times, and (2) the speeches in a discussion arising out of this. Job, so the story runs, was a man conspicuous for his wealth and good fortune which he had long enjoyed, but not less so for his character, which was beyond reproach from either God or man. On a single day he was stripped of all his possessions and of all his children, and shortly afterwards smitten with a fell disease. The occasion of this tragic change remains unknown to Job, but the reader is at once acquainted with it. One day when Yahweh in heaven was surrounded by the sons of the gods, He commends Job to the attention of one of them, the Satan, as the
1 Swete, op. cit. 228.
2 MSS of ^ show many different positions of Job (S. Berger, Histoire de la Vulgate, 331-339) : the still prevailing arrangement according to which Job follows the historical books and immediately precedes Ps. became fixed in the 13th cent. (Berger, p. 304).
* Job is also mentioned in this order in Jer. Ep. liii, ("Ad Paulinum" • Migne, PL xxii. 545). *' Saint Jerome, qui ^crivait en Syrie, s'est-il inspir^ de T'usage des populations qui I'entouraient ? " (Berger, op. cit. p. 305).
§§ 3-4.] SUBJECT AND MAIN DIVISIONS XXl
best man on earth. The Satan at once disputes the depth of Job's piety: it is, he suggests, but skin-deep: if Job be deprived of his wealth, he will abandon his fear of God and blaspheme. Yahweh permits the Satan to put the matter to the test. The Satan strips Job of his wealth ; but Job stands the test. The Satan then with equal unsuccess tests Job by depriving him also of his health. Job's wife, indeed, now breaks down, and bids her husband curse God and die ; but Job himself still with undiminished piety accepts everything in a spirit of resignation. After an interval of, it is implied (see n. on 1^^"^^), at least some weeks, three friends of Job come to comfort him, and for seven days sit silently with him. Job then breaks the silence in a monologue raising the question why he and other sufferers are born or compelled to live. There follow two cycles each of six speeches, one by each of the three friends and an answer to each by Job, and a third cycle which, whether so originally or not, is now incomplete, two only of the friends taking part in it. In these speeches the friends assert and Job denies that his calamities are due to his sin. After Job's speech at the conclusion of the third cycle, a new speaker, Elihu, intervenes at great length. Then Yahweh replies to Job, eliciting brief responses from him. After the speeches the story is resumed : taking no account of Elihu, Yahweh con- demns what the three friends had said, approves what Job had said, and restores to him twice his former wealth. Thus five main divisions of the existing book are clearly marked :
1. Introduction or Prologue, 1-2.
2. Speeches of Job and the three Friends, 3-31.
3. Speeches of Elihu, 32-37.
4. Speeches of Yahweh with Job's responses, 38^-42^.
5. Conclusion or Epilogue, 42^"^^.
For fuller analysis of the book see § 31 ; and cp. §§ 32-41.
III. Literary Form.
§ 4. On the ground of the subject discussed in the speeches (§§ 3> 32-41)5 Job has commonly and appropriately been classed with Pr., Qoh., Sir., and Wisdom as belonging to the
XXll THE BOOK OF JOB [§ 4.
** Wisdom *' or reflective literature^ of the Jews in which human life is considered broadly without the overruling national interest that characterizes most other Hebrew litera- ture. But in two matters of form Job differs from these other specimens of Jewish wisdom : — (i) in its combination of prose and poetry,^ the Prologue and Epilogue being prose, ^ the speeches poetry: and (2) in its use of dialogue.* Something distantly similar to both these characteristics of the book may be found in other Hebrew literature ; but the resemblances are partial, and the book of Job remains unique not only in the '* Wisdom," but in the entire literature of the Jews.^
iSee, e.g., C. H. Toy, "Wisdom Literature," in EBi. -. Dr. LOT 392-394 ; W. T. Davison, The Wisdom Literature of the O. T. : C. Sieg-fried, "Wisdom," in DB.
^ Pr. and Sir. are poetry throug-hout ; Wisdom — written in Greek— is written throughout in a style strongly affected by Hebrew parallelism, possibly also by Hebrew rhythm ; whether on this account it should be termed poetry or prose may here be left an open question (cp. Forms of Hebrew Poetry, 32 f., 136). Qoh. ** is written, as a whole, in prose ; but when the thought becomes elevated, or sententious, it falls into the poetical form of rhythmic parallelism " (Dr. LOT^ 465) : yet even though this be so, the distribution of prose and poetry in Job and Qoh. is entirely different : in Job the prose parts are prose not passing into poetry, and the poetry is sustained poetry not dropping into prose.
' Prose also are the formulae introducing the several speeches (3^* ^ 4' 6^ etc.) and the longer introduction to Elihu's speeches (32^'^*). The distinction between poetry and prose, already mentioned by Jer. {Prcef. in Lib. fob : PL xxvii. 1081), is imperfectly marked in |Hby the use of two different systems of accentuation — the ordinary system in 1^-3^ and 42'"", the system emploj'ed in Pr. and Ps. in 3^-42*, including the prose of 32^'^* and the introductory formutae.
* Perhaps we might add as a third difference its sustained treatment of a single theme. Sir., the work of a sing^le writer, is indeed longer than Job, but it ranges discursively over a variety of aspects of human life and conduct ; so does Pr. , the work of many writers. Qoh. and Wisdom are con- siderably shorter than Job. Outside the ** Wisdom " literature the historical compilations are, of course, much longer than Job, but the nearest approach to the sustained treatment of a theme is to be found in Is. 40-55 and Ezk. 40-48, both of which are shorter. In any case, Job has this interest that no other single Hebrew poet has left us the same amount of poetry : this remains true even though a considerable part of Job (28. 32-37. 38-41) be assigned to different poets.
^ Nor is it unique merely as an exotic, which has its own well-defined class elsewhere. It is, for example, no more similar to a Greek or any other epic or drama than to other works of Hebrew literature. A drama
§§6-6.] LITERARY FORM Xxlil
§ 5^ Many books of the OT. contain, it is true, both prose and poetry ; but those books are either, like the prophetical books, which contain both prose memoirs and prophetic poems (cp. the Introd. to Isaiah)^ not single works, or, as in the prose historical books which cite poems, they combine the styles differently. On the other hand, Job, if the substantial integrity of the book can be maintained, is a single work written partly in prose, partly in poetry, the narrative in prose, the speeches in poetry. For analogies to this we must go beyond Hebrew literature : e.g. to the Makdmdt of Hariri in which the narrative is in rhymed prose, but the (longer) speeches of the characters are (commonly) metrical poems.
§ 6. Again some analogy to the dialogue, to the response of two or more speakers to one another, is to b« found, for example, in Canticles {e.g. \^^- ^^'- 2^"^) ; but for dialogue as a means of discussing problems of life, we must again pass for analogy beyond Jewish literature. Such dialogue ^ until recently was quite unknown in Babylonian literature ; but certain texts — one of the age of Sargon (722-705 B.C.) — have now been published containing what their editor describes as specimens of philosophical dialogue.- These, however, offer a very distant
in any strict sense it is certainly not ; in the Prologue there is movement indeed, but the Prologue is narrative, — an anticipation of the novel rather than of the drama, — and in the dialogue there is no dramatic movement. There are in the book, it is true, all the elements that might have been combined by a Greek into a great drama : the Hebrew writer has used them differently, and his work was certainly never acted in ancient Judah. Job has, I am informed, been recently staged in New York, and, according to my informant, the performance was very impressive ; but this no more proves that the Hebrew work was a drama than H. G. Wells' Undying Fire proves that it was a novel. Reference may also be made to the judicious criticism by C. G. Montetiore in the Harvard Theo- logical Review, 1919, 219-224, oi The Book of Joh as a Greek Tragedy^ in which the author (H. M. Kallen) seeks to prove that the existing book of Job is the result of editorial manipulations of what was originally a Hebrew imitation of a Euripidean tragedy.
* Dialogue of a differe^it type was known ; and Kon. {Einl. 410 f.) had even compared that in the ** Descent of Ishtar" (Rogers, CP 121 ff.) with that in Job, on the ground that both were cases of dialogue introduced into epic.
^ E. Ebeling, Keilinscrifttexte aus Assur rel. Inh. iii. 193 ; Mitteilungen der vorderasiatischen Gesellschaft, 191 8^, pp. 50-70 (German translation with
xxiv THE BOOK OF JOB [§ 6.
parallel to the dialogue as handled in Job; they are simple, brief, and exceedingly schematic. In a dozen sections all cast in the same scheme and some eight lines in length, the advan- tages and disadvantages of various courses of action are dis- cussed by a master and his slave. Between the Babylonian ** philosophical dialogue," so far as yet known, and the dialogue in Job the difference is so great as to render any direct in- fluence of one over the other altogether improbable. And the same is true, though in this case the difference is of quite another kind, of the Greek dialogue. It is curious that the most famous examples of this were written at probably no great distance of time from Job, and it is barely possible, though not probable (§§ 42-47), that the author of Job wrote later than Plato ; yet between the dialogue of Job, consisting exclusively of long set speeches in poetical form, and the prose dialogues of Plato, with their closely knit analytical argument carried on by means of much quickly responsive conversation, the difference is so great that the probability that the Hebrew writer was influenced by those Greek literary models is so slight as to be negligible. So long as Job was commonly re- garded as long anterior to Plato, it was not customary to look upon Plato as an imitator of Job ; there is just as little reason now that Job is referred to a later age than formerly to assert that it is ''unquestionably a Hebrew imitation of the philo- sophical dialogue of Plato." ^ Whence the author derived any suggestion for the use of dialogue in discussing the problems of life thus remains quite obscure.
notes). Cp. ET^ 1920, pp. 420-423, where will be found an Eng-lish translation of six of the sections, of which one may here serve as an illustration :
"Slave, attend to me! 'Yes, my lord, yes.'
* I will love a woman.' * Yes, love, my lord, love !
A man who loves a woman forgets trouble and care.'
* No, slave, I will not love a woman.' * Love not, my lord,
love not. Woman is a pit, a hole that is dug" ; Woman is an iron dagger, sharp, which cuts a man's throat.'"
* Oscar Holtzmann in Stade's Gesch. des Volkes Israel^ ii. 331,
§7.] ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE BOOK XXV
IV. Origin and History of the Book: Possible Sources and Additions.
§ 7. The unique character of the combination of prose and poetry in the book (§ 5) has sometimes been treated as the result of the origin of the book, of the existing material which the author utilized. What was this? That the book is a report of facts of history, the exact record in prose of the actual fortunes of a particular individual and of the words spoken in verse by him and others, is a view that was long maintained or accepted,^ though not even in earlier times without occasional suggestions that the book is fiction.^ It is unnecessary to repeat here the arguments against a view which has become entirely antiquated. But if the book is not history, and the speeches not the ipsissima verba of speeches reported verbatifriy it need not be pure invention ; the story with which it opens and closes may be, and in part almost certainly is, based on or derived from popular tradition or literature ; and, indeed, this is quite certain, if the book is rightly inferred to have been written after the Exile (see § 42 ff.), for Ezk. 14^*- 20 refers to
* A defence of the strictly historical character of the book may be found in the learned work of S. Lee, The Book of the Patriarch Job (1837), p. 6ff. : this was directed especially against Warburton, Divine Legation, Book vi. sect. 2, in which reasons for regarding the book as — in the main at least — not historical are already set forth.
2 n^T] VifD nSn N133 hS^ hm nS dvn is a judgement attributed to an unnamed contemporary of Samuel b. Nachmani {Baha Bathra, 15a: Eng. tr., Ryle, Canon, 276 f.). Similarly in Bereshith Rahha, § 57, a judgement is attributed to Resh Lakish (3rd cent. A.d.) — though it is noted that this conflicts with another judgement assigned to the same Rabbi — to the effect that the suffer- ings of Job are not historical though, had they actually befallen him, he would have endured them. kVi r\''r\ «*? '«d . . . .Tni wVi rrn k"? avK ton fp"? rn jn3 nicy"? h-\y rx^n v'?y in3 iS'nb' nVn v'?y i3nD3 nn"?"! v'?y lanDJB' onicn r\''rM. See, further, Isaac Wiernikowski, Das Buch Hiob nach der Auffassung des Talmud u. Midrasch (Breslau, 1902), p. 28. Maimonides {Moreh Nehuchim^ iii. 22) says of the book : "its basis is a fiction, conceived for the purpose of explaining the different opinions which people held on Divine Providence. You know that some of our sages clearly stated Job never existed, and was never created, and that he is a poetic fiction. Those who assume that he existed, and that the book is historical, are unable to determine when and where Job lived. . . . This difference of opinion supports the assump- tion that he never existed in reality."
XXvi THE BOOK OF JOB [^l 7-8.
Job * along with Noah and Daniel, as a conspicuously righteous man. Among those — and they are all but all who have dis- cussed the subject — who admit that the author has utilized tradition or popular story,^ there is, however, wide difference of judgement as to how much he has derived from thence, some holding that he owes nothing more to tradition (and that in the form of popular oral tradition) than that there was once a righteous man named Job,^ others that the entire prologue and epilogue were excerpted by him from a book containing the popular story (a **Volksbuch").'* Between these two extremes it is possible to hold as a middle view that the fundamental elements of the story — the righteousness of Job, his endurance under trial, etc. — the scene in which it is laid and the names of the persons are some or -all of them derived from tradition ; if this were so, it might offer some suggestions as to whence the story came.
§ 8. The scene of the book is outside the land of Israel. This might be explained as due to the deliberate choice of a ** Wisdom" writer, seeking in this way to enforce the wide human and not merely national nature of his subject. If this were the correct explanation, the particular scene chosen by
^ It is quite unnecessary with Hal^vy (I^E/ xiv. 20) to substitute ruK for 2VH in Ezk. 141^- '^.
^ On the divergence of the book of Job from the popular legend, whether written or oral, and for the history of the legend independently of our book of Job, see D. B. Macdonald, "Some External Evidence on the Original Form of the Legend of Job " {AJSL xiv. (1898) 137-164) and earlier, JBLii. xiv. 63-71. Macdonald suggests that not only Ezk. but also James (5") refers to the legend, not to our book of Job.
•^ So Karl Kautzsch, Das sogenannte Volhsbuch von I/t'ob (jgoo), i8ff., 87. Rather more traditional basis is postulated by Che. : " Most probably all that he adopted from legend was (i) the name of the hero and the land in which he lived ; (2) the fact of Job's close intercourse with God ; and (3) the surprising circumstance that this most righteous and divinely favoured of men was attacked by some dread disease such as leprosy, but was subsequently healed " {EBL ii. 2469).
■* Du. (p. vii) : of the " Volksbuch the opening has been preserved in cc. I. 2 of the existing book of Job, the conclusion in 42'^"^'^ and also perhaps a fragment in 38^ ; discussions between Job and the three friends, and a speech of Yahweh to Job, also formed part of this popular book, but these have given place to discussions of an entirely opposite character in the ex- isting book."
§§ 8-10.] ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE BOOK XXvIi
the writer would be of little significance, and the reason for the author's choice withdrawn from us. On the other hand, if the scene was traditional, it may point to the region whence the story passed to Israel, just as the scene of the story and its place of origin are associated in such a story as that of the Tower of Babel (Babylon). Broadly the scene is clearly fixed as east of Canaan ; but whether it lay in or about Edom or farther north, and in particular in the Hauran, is less certain, the evidence afforded by (i) names and terms (§§ 9-13), (2) tradition (§ 14), and (3) the nature of the country implied in the story (§ 15) being inconclusive and conflicting.
§ 9. (i) Names and terms. — Job himself lived in the land of 'Us, and was, it is implied, one of the " sons of the East " (i^) : unfortunately the position of the land of 'Us cannot be closely determined, and the '*sons of the East" is a term of wide application.
The "sons of the East" (onp 'J3 ; cp. 'JDipn, Gn. 15'^) in Jg-. 63-33 7I2 gio are coupled with Midianites and Amalekites as nomad raiders of Western Palestine, in Is. ii^** they are opposed to the Philistines on the W., and mentioned with, but probably as distinguished from, Edom, Moab and Ammon, and in Ezk. 25^* ''' they are nomads (cp. Jer. 49-^ nomads : |i Kedar) disting-uished from, as dwellings E. of, Ammon and Moab. In i K. 5^** (4'''^) they are merely mentioned as famed for their wisdom ; on Gn. 29^ f, see below. The ** land of the East " (□^p p»<) lay east of Abraham's settlement in southern Canaan (Gn. 25^). From Gn. 29^ it has been inferred that the "sons of the East" and their land extended also to the far wor//f-east of Palestine, to beyond the Euphrates ; but this is a precarious inference from a composite narrative ; the source may rather have intended, as in Gn. a^**, country E. or south-east of Palestine (see Skinner on Gn. 29^ ; Meyer, JA'S 242 ff.) ; a southern, but not necessarily any far northern, district is implied in an Egyptian reference (about 2000 B.C.) to Kedem : in this Sinuhe relates that he passed out of Egypt into the desert, moved thence from place to place and arrived at Kedem, whence he was invited into Palestine : see W. Max Miiller, Asien u. Europa, 46; Meyer, I.e. ; Breasted, Anclejit Records^
»• 493-
§ 10. The name 'U? i^vi) appears to be brought into connection with three distinct districts, (a) Northern Mesopotamia : to this district Gn. 10'-^ (P)=i Ch. i^^'Us the "son " of Aram is commonly referred : see Skinner, Genesis, p. 206. But apparently the same 'Us is (Gn. 22'-') brother of Buz., who in Jer. 25*3 is associated with the distinctly Arabian Dedan and Tenia. (6) Damascus and the country S. of it : Jos. {Ant. I. vi. 4 ; cp. Jer. Qncest. in Gen. 10-^) states that O^o-t^s the son of Aram {i.e. the 'Us of Gn. 10^) lounded Damascus and Trachonitis, i.e. the volcanic country heginning^
XXviii THE BOOK OF JOB [§§ 10-11.
25 m. S. of Damascus and 40 m. E. of the sea of Galilee (see EBi. Trachonitis). (c) Edom, or the neighbourhood of Edom : in Gn. 36^^ = I Ch. i*^ Us is a fig-ure in the g-enealog-y of " Seir in the land of Edom" {ib. 2<^'-). In La. 4^^ " the land of Us " {^^V p« precisely as in Job i^) stands in parallelism with Edom ; unfortunately some doubt rests on the text, for rhythmically the line can spare a word and ®r om. py ; however, the mere omission of X'sv with ffi leaves an unsatisfactory phrase and an improbable text. Doubt also rests on pyn ynw in Jer. 25-^ for ffi omits the clause con- taining it. If the geographical distribution of the term 'Us was as wide as this survey suggests, viz. from Edom to Northern Mesopotamia, this may have been due to 'U§, or rather 'Aus (fflr Auo-irts), itself certainly tribal rather than geographical, being the name of widely scattered tribes — Arab
tribes, perhaps, deriving their name from a god 'Aud (^c»i), as W. R. Smith suggested {Kinshipy 261, and, in reply to No.'s criticism in ZDMG xl. 183, Rel. of the Semites, 43). But though the tribes of 'Us were widely scattered, it would not necessarily follow that the whole region over which they were scattered, or several distinct districts within it, passed by the name of the land of Us. Apart from Job i^, the only passage casting a direct light on the situation of the land of ' Us is, if the text can be trusted, La. 4'^', and this decisively connects it with Edom.
§ II. Of the three friends of Job, Eliphaz certainly appears to come from Edom, Bildad from a tribe that may have been closely associated with Edom, while Sophar's origin is very uncertain. (On the name and origin of Elihu, see 32^ n.)
Teman, the home of Eliphaz, lay at one, and that probably the northern, extremity of Edom (Ezk. 25'^), though other sites within Edom have been attributed to it (see EBi. s.v.). Shuah (Gn. 25^=1 Ch. i^^*-), Bildad's tribe, claimed descent from Abraham through Keturah, and, according to Gn. 25^ ffi, was ''uncle" of Sheba, Teman and Dedan, whence we may infer that Eliphaz and Bildad lived in regions not very remote from one another. The suggestion formerly put forward by Fried. Del. and accepted or favourably entertained by many writers (Dr. on Gn. 25''; Peake on Job i^ ; G-B.^^^ s.v.', Meyer INS 314; Glaser, Skizzen, ii. 445 f.), that Bildad's home was Suhu on the Euphrates — some weeks' journey from Teman — has been withdrawn by Del. himself {Hioh, p. 139). Sophar the Na'amathite certainly did not come from Na'amah (Jos. 15*^) in the Philistine plain (though Ley {Das Buck Hioh. 27) is willing to believe it, and to infer that he was intended to play the role of a representative of the religion of Israel !), nor necessarily from the Calebite Naam (i Ch. ^% so that Sophar also would be an Edomite {EBi. 5427), nor from distant Ma'in in southern Arabia, or even from the Minsean colony or trading station at El-Ola — which lay some three or four hundred miles S. of the home of Eliphaz. (ffic, it is true, describes Sophar as 6 Mira/wc /SaaiXejJs, thinking not of El-Ola, which as a trading colony would not be the seat of a king, but presumably of Ma'in 1200 miles away ; but this is
§§11-13.] ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE BOOK XXIX
in accordance with its tendency to turn Job's friends, great sheikhs of neighbouring tribes, into kings and tyrants of nations. Barton {JBLity 191 2, p. 66), reviving suggestions of Wetzstein in Del., connects Na'amathite with en-No'eme in the Nukra (see § 14) — a suggestion that may fall in with but cannot establish a theory — and Temanite with Tema in the same region ; but judiciously finds the connection of Shuite with Sueta (t^ ^_««i^). also in the same region, "unsatisfying."
§ 12. Some of the personal names are suggestive, or possibly suggestive, of Edom.
Not Job itself: svx is unknown in Hebrew literature except as the name of the hero of the book, for with 3V (Gn. 46^' : EV. Job), and, in spite of 42" ffi, aav (Gn. lo^^), it has nothing to do. The name may, on the analogy of ^i^!, have suggested to Hebrew readers or hearers of the story the meaning "the object of enmity," though the form Vitsp regularly expresses an active sense ; alternatively it has been connected with the
root which gives the Arabic ^-^ j' (penitent). But the etymology and the identification with the proper name A-ia-bu (Tel el-Amarna Tablet, 237'' i') are alike uncertain. If of foreign origin the name may have been modified in the course of Hebrew tradition so as to express a meaning. Eliphaz, on the other hand, is well authenticated as an Edomite name (Gn. 36^*^** = I Ch. i^'^'-)* though being of a(n early) type that was widely spread, it must not be assumed that the name was exclusively Edomite. Bildad (ii'?3, BaX5a5) is unknown except through the story of Job, though Che. {EBi. 4495) and Bu. recall the Edomite ma (Gn. 36^5) : the first element perhaps recurs in the Edomite jnSa, BaXaaj/ (Gn. 36^7), which is also the name of a Benjamite (i Ch. 7^"), and in DySn (Ammonite?; Nu. 22^) and j;y*?a (Babylonian-Jewish, Ezr. 2^) : the second element occurs in the Hebrew m'^N and elsewhere {HPN 60 ff.). Sophar as written in J^ in 11^ 42^ (ns^f: but isix in 2" 20^) is identical with the name of the father of Balak, king of Moab, as written in Nu. 22^^ 23^^ (nsx ; but Tisx elsewhere). In (& the name of Job's friend, 2w0a/o, 2o0ap, is always distinguished from Balak's father I,eir^u}p, 2e0a;/). In |^ n£3is does not occur except in Job ; but 2a>0ap occurs in Gn. 36"- ^^ (|^ i£5s), i Ch. i^^ (J^ '£3s) in Edomite genealogies and in close connection with Eliphaz and Teman. The Palmyrene Nisx (Lidz. NSE 359; Eph. i. 347, ii. 293, 312) is ^e<p<pepa (cp. De Vogu^, Sj^rie Centrale, p. 15), and so probably is nus (Lidz. i. 199, ii. 303).
§ 13. The references to Sheba (i^s) and the "Chaldeans" (i^^) as raiding Job have also been invoked in determining the situation of his home: thus Dhorme (RB^ 191 1, 105) con- cludes that '*nous sommes amends au nord-ouest de TArabie quelque part au sud de Ma'an," i.e. to the frontiers of Edom. Yet even if the terms are correctly read, such a conclusion is probably too precise.
XXX THE BOOK OF JOB [§§ 13-15.
© in i'^ has ot aixiJ-a,\i>}TevovT€i { = ^5^ taken collectively), and in " oi i-rnreis, which may be an interpretation of DnifD (see phil. n. on i^'), or a translation of a different text— of D'B-ns (Che. ^rviii. 433) rather than of D'CDT (Nestle, ib.) or D'Sin (Hommel, ib. 378 f., 431). Barton {JBLit., 1912, 67) follows Cr : Che. {EBL 968, 2469) emends D'i»'3 into D^'rD (north- Arabian) Cushites, and Hommel {I.e.) into D''?in, those of Havilah. None of these sugjifestions, however, is more probable than |^. But what does |^ mean? That Job, a great sheikh indeed but not a monarch, was raided by the forces of two distant and famous kingdoms — the Chaldseans of Babylonia and the Sabaeans (see on i^^) — is unlikely even in fiction. Even if this is the meaning, which seems highly unlikely, any part of the land of the children of the E. would have been as likely as any other to receive an attack from this curious combination. But if a-ir^ here and in 2 K. 24^ are nomads E. or S.E. (note the order in 2 K., particularly if m« be read for mK) of Judah (see on i^^, also Dhorme, RB, 1910, 384; 1911, 105), Job's home must no doubt be placed not too far north, but whether it is necessary to place it farther south than the Hauran is questionable. The Sheba intended, though not the south Arabian kingdom, certainly lay south of Edom (lis n.).
§ 14. (2) Tradition, Christian (from the 4th cent, a.d.) and Moslem, persistently connect Job with the Hauran, ^ and more exactly with the Nukra, *' the great plain of the Ha\iran and the granary of Syria" (Baedeker, Palestine^^ 183), where Der 'Eyyub, some forty miles S.S.W. of Damascus, perpetuates Job's name to the present day. Dhorme (RB^ 191 1, 103 f.), however, explains this tradition as due to a series of confusions, and finds traces of an early alternative Christian tradition in Chrysostom on Job 2^ and 'Isho'dad (f c, 850) on Job i^ who speaks of a land of 'Us still existing in Arabia. However this may be, still earlier association of Job with Edom is certainly found in the appendix to ©, which makes Job a king of Edom.
§ 15- (3) T^"*^ nature of the country in which Job's home lay, if considered by itself, would point strongly to such a district as the Hauran rather than to Edom. For Job's home lay in a country of great farms, at once near a town and yet open to the desert (see on i^^^, p. 2). But Edom, the home of Esau, was among the Hebrews proverbially distinguished from such coimtry as being " away from the fatness of the earth and from the dew of heaven" (Gn. 27^^). Job obviously in habit
1 See Wetzstein's Appendix in Del. ; Clermont -Ganneau, Rec. d' ArchSo- logie Orientale^ v. uff. ; Guy Le Strange, Palestine under the Moslems^ 515-
§§16-16.J ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE BOOK XXxi
of life more nearly resembles Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, than Esau.
Thus a number of small considerations combine to suggest, though not to prove, that certain elements in the story of Job came to Israel from or through Edom ; but others, while still compatible with an Eastern origin, would seem to indicate that certain features of the story, if originally Edomite, have become blurred and indistinct or transformed.
§ 16. More recently quite a different class of evidence from that already considered has been adduced in order to suggest that the ultimate source of Job is in Babylonian literature. In this case it is not the scene and the names, but the substance of the story, and in particular the speeches of Job, that are involved. The particular Babylonian poem^ which has pro- voked this theory has sometimes been described as the *' Babylonian Job." The hero of the poem — a king, as most have concluded — was named Tabi-utul-Bel (Jastrow), or Subsi- mesri-Nergal (Landersdorfer), Tabi-utul-Bel in the latter case being another king warned by Ur-bau in a dream to take a message to Subsi-meSri-Nergal. Tabi-utul-Bel is described as dwelling in Nippur, and the god Marduk is mentioned ; other names of places and persons do not occur.
The poem opens :
I will praise the Lord of Wisdom,
* It has survived fragmentarily in several copies of the 7th cent. B.C., and a commentary on the poem has also been discovered ; and so we may infer that, probably itself far older than the 7th cent., the poem was then still much read and studied. It appears to have extended to four tablets, containing about 300, or perhaps about 480 lines : of the first tablet only a few lines survive, of the second the greater part, of the third and fourth less — in all, probably somewhat more or less than a half. The poem is mostly in 4 : 4 rhythm (Job is in 3:3: see § 52). On the history, restoration and interpretation of the poem, see M. Jastrow, Rel. Bah. u. Assyr. ii. 120-133 5 JBLU.^ 1906, 135-191; Contemporary Review^ Dec. 1906, 801-808; S. Landersdorfer, " Eine babylonische Quelle f. d. B. J. " {Biblische Studien^ xiv. 2), 191 1; Martin, ** Le juste souffrant," 'vc\ Joitriial Asiatiqiie, loth series, xvi. 75-143. See also Zimmern in ^^1 7"^ 384-386 (where parallelism not with Job, but with the servant of Yahweh is suggested) ; Rogers, CP 164- 169 (translation of the second tablet); R. Campbell Thomson, PSBA^ 1910, 18 ff. Further literature is given by Jastrow and Landersdorfer (pp. 1 1-14).
XXxii THE BOOK OF JOB [§16.
presumably for release from the sufferings, which the rest of what survives
of the first tablet describes :
Although a [kin]g, I have become a slave.
The day is filled with groaning, the night with weeping :
The night with howling, the year with mourning (cp. Job 7"-).
The second tablet opens as follows :
I attained to (long) life, I moved beyond the appointed time;
(Wherever) I turn, (there is) evil, evil ;
Oppression is increased, righteousness I see not ; and then after recording that he had appealed to his god, his goddess and various classes of enchanters, etc. (11. 4-9), he passes on to say that trouble has overtaken him as though he had been negligent in his religious duties (12-23), whereas he was only conscious of having been exemplary in his conduct :
But I myself took thought only for prayers and supplications,
Prayer was my rule, sacrifice my order. This passage concludes with the lines :
The respect of the king I made of highest power : ^
In reverence of the palace I instructed the people :
For I knew that before the god such deeds are in good favour. This is immediately followed by reflections on the mysterious ways and judgements of the gods, which are beyond the comprehension of man's short life and subject to sudden changes of fortune : That which seemeth good to itself, that is evil with god: And that which in its heart is rejected, that is good with his god. Who can understand the counsel of the gods in heaven ? The plan of the gods full of darkness, who shall establish it ? How shall pale-faced men understand the way of the god ! (cp. Job 4"'*)« He who lives in the evening is in the morning dead (cp. Job 342'* 27^^ 4^^*-). Quickly is he in trouble, suddenly is he smitten ; In a moment he is singing and playing. In an instant he is howling like a complainer; Every moment, so are their thoughts changed. Now they are hungry, and are like a corpse, Again they are full, and like unto their god. If it go well with them, they speak of climbing up to heaven : If they be in trouble, they talk of going down to hell.
The suffering king now describes his sufferings and the symptoms of his malady : the particularity of the description and some of the figures employed recall Job's descriptions of himself; of this long description it it must suffice to cite a few lines : With a whip he has beaten me, —
With a staff he has pierced me, the point was strong. All day long doth follow the avenger,
1 Variant : like a god. Jastrow supposes that the king had sinned in allowing the people to pay him divine honour.
§§16-17.] ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE BOOK XXXlil In the middle of the night he lets me not breathe for a moment (cp
Jb. 7^31. 30IT).,
Throug-h tearings my joints are sundered.
My limbs are undone . . .
Upon my couch I passed the night like a bull,
I was covered with my excrement like a sheep.
My symptoms of fever were not clear (?) to the magicians.
He felt himself forsaken, in immediate prospect of death, and already given up for dead :
The god helped me not, he took me not by the hand ; My goddess did not pity me, she came not to my side. The sarcophagus hath opened (cp. Jb. 17^* ^^^') . . . Before I was dead, the death wail was finished. My whole land cried out, "Alas!" (or. He is ruined). Mine enemy heard, his face glowed,
To my female enemy they brought the good tidings, her spirits brightened up. The opening line of the third tablet, "Heavy was his hand, I could no more endure it " (cp. Jb. 23' (K), seems to represent the sufferer as reduced to despair. But God now intervenes on his behalf: for at this point, so far as can be judged from the broken and difficult text, a revelation relating to the sufferer's case is communicated to him. When the text becomes clearer again, the sufferer ie obviously recording the removal of his sins and of the various symptoms of his illness :
My sins he caused the wind to carry away;
Into the depths of the abyss he sent back the evil spirit ;
and the poem appears to conclude with the restoration of the sufferer to the favour of Marduk.
§ 17. Among the points of resemblance between this poem and Job are the poetical form, the subject, viz. the sudden reduc- tion of a man of great position, who had already lived a long and prosperous life, to great misery of mind, body and estate, the long description of his sufferings put into the mouth of the sufferer,! the contrast between these sufferings and the kind of life to which his long-maintained piety might have been expected to lead, the reflections on the mysteries of God's dealings with mortals. These resemblances are certainly noticeable, but the differences are equally striking. The names of the persons, the topography, the rank^ of the sufferer
^ Parallels to this are frequent among the so-called Babylonian "peni- tential Psalms " and the Hebrew Psalms {e.g; 22. 102).
'^ Landersdorfer rightly insists that the transformation of a king into a sheikh is against the normal tendency of popular tradition.
XXxiv THE BOOK OF JOB [§§17-18.
are all dIfTerent : there is no parallel in the Babylonian work to the combination of narrative^ and discourse in Job, there is no parallel at all to the dialogue which forms so conspicuous and distinguishing" a feature of Job : there is a sharp and crucial difference between the two works on the question of guilt as a cause of the sufferings described ; Yahweh in the Prologue and Job in his speeches agree in asserting the innocence of Job ; Yahweh asserts the perfection of Job's character, and Job is certain that his sufferings cannot be explained by any sin that he has committed. On the other hand, the Babylonian sufferer, though he is conscious of having been punctilious in the dis- charge of duties the neglect of which would have explained his sufferings, is anything but certain that he has not committed some sin which, unknown to him, may have been displeasing to the gods and therefore the cause of his sufferings ; and he more or less clearly admits that he had done amiss. His problem is to discover what it is that he has done to displease the gods and so to bring his sufferings upon himself. Job's problem Is to understand how God can plague him though he has done nothing to displease Him. Finally, the difference in the name and country of the heroes of the two works points strongly away from, at any rate, any close connection between them. 2 At present, at all events, it cannot be said that any Babylonian source of the book of Job has been made out.
§ l8. Whence and in what form the story used by him came to the author of the book of Job, what predecessors he may have had in the employment of dialogue as a literary form, are questions that evidence external to the book and such Internal evidence as we have so far examined answer at best very incompletely and uncertainly. But there are some who find a much more precise answer at least to the question in what form
^ Even if the two or three lines mentioning the name and residence of Tabi-utul-Bel were, as Jastrow claimed, narrative, standing as they do in the middle of the poem and being themselves in verse, they would form no real parallel to the sustained prose narrative of the Prologue and Epilogue of Job.
2 Che {^EBi. 2469) suggests a different Babylonian origin for both the Hebrew story and the name of its hero : 'lyyob is Eabani, the friend of Gllgamesh.
§§18-19.] ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE BOOK XXXV
the story came to the author of the existing book. On the ground of differences in style and in other respects it has been claimed that the Prologue and Epilogue are the work of a writer not identical with the author of the Dialogue, ^ but that the latter extracted these from a prose book of Job,"^ and
inserted his Dialogue between them.
There is one difference between Prologue and Epilogue on the one hand and Dialogue on the other that might at first seem to point to a use of sources in Job similar to that apparent in the Pentateuch : the Prologue and Epilogue employ, the Dialogue (3—31) studiously avoids, the use of the name Yahweh, regularly employing in its stead God (El, Eloah) or, like P, the Almighty (Shaddai).
§ 19. The use of the divine names in different parts of the book is as follows :
|
Number of Occurrences in |
|||||
|
Name. |
Total. |
||||
|
Cc. I. 2 and' p^ . ^^ 427-17. • ^^' 3-31- |
Cc. 32-37. |
Cc. 38-42«. |
|||
|
0 0 |
33 33 |
19 6 |
3 2 |
55 41 |
|
|
0 8 |
24 3 |
6 2 |
I |
31 H |
|
|
D'nSNrr |
3 0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
|
|
m.T |
23 1 (12^) |
0 |
5 |
.9 |
1 In an earlier stage of criticism, a theory (now generally and rightly abandoned), according to which the Dialogue was written first and the Prologue and Epilogue were added later by another writer, gained some currency : so, according to K. Kautzsch, to whose dissertation, Das sogenantite Volkshuch von, Hiob, 3ff., reference may be made for the history of this theor}', first Simon (1685), then Schultens (1737), Hasse (1789), Stuhlmann (1804), de Wette (1807), Studer (1875), who threw out the suggestion that the original introduction to the poem exists in c. 29 f. {Jahrb. f. protest. TheoJogie, i. 706 ff.). S. Lee (1837) held that Job com- mitted the speeches to writing, and that Moses added the Prologue and Epilogue.
- So Du. most incisively (see p. xxvi, n. 4). For earlier theories of the Prolog le (and Epilogue) as derived from or resting on an earlier popular (prose) book of Job, see Che. Job and Solomon, p. 66 ff. ; Hoffmann ; Bu.
XXXvi THE BOOK OF JOB [§§19-20.
]vh]} never occurs in Job, nor Vkh, for in view of the frequent occurrence of Vk without the article it would be illegitimate to assume its presence with the particles h and 3 (|H, hnh, hns) in 138 ai^^ 22" 31=8 33^^ 34I0. 37 (cp. Q-B. pp. 36b, 37a). The pi. D'Sk occurs nowhere in the existing text, nor should it be introduced by emendation (Che.) in 41M9). ,j^n occurs only in 28^8. The terms regularly used in other parts of the book never occur in the Prologue and Epilogue, and the terms used in the Prologue and Epilogue occur either not at all or very rarely, or only under special circumstances, in the other parts of the book : thus the single occurrence in cc. 3-31 of m.T is in 12^ — an interpolated v., and the five occurrences in 38-42® all occur not in the speeches, but in the narrative links (38^ 40^- ^- * 42^) ; the three occurrences of D'nVN in 3-31 are in c. 28^^ (probably an interpolated c), 20^^* a rhythmically overloaded line, and 58, where perchance D'n'^x has arisen from m'?N under the influence of the following D'tyx ; and of two occurrences in 32-37, one occurs in the prose introduction (32^), the other in 34^ which may be an interpolation. In part the difference of usage in different parts of the book is merely part of the difference between the language of prose and that of poetry : so at least we may account for the use of "^k to the almost complete exclusion of D'hSk in the poetical parts. But the use of "?«, nc and niSx to the complete exclusion of ni.T in the speeches must be due to the fact that the speakers are represented as living before, or outside the sphere of, the revelation of the name Yahweh ; on the other hand, the narrator^ alike in the Prologue and Epilogue and in 38-42^, regularly uses Yahweh. Again, as the term Yahweh is avoided in the speeches of 3-42*", so is it absent from the words of Job in 1^ 2^^ and of the messenger in i^®, and of Job's wife in 2', D\n"7N (n) being used instead ; only in i^^ is Yahweh used in words of Job, this speech thus differing not only from the longer speeches of 3-42'' but also from the briefer sayings in 1.2. Whether or not this difference within the Prologue can be satisfactorily explained, in view of the difference of usage in speeches within the Prologue and the identity of usage in narrative in the Prologue and in 38-42® (in 3-31 there is no opportunity for the use of ni.T in narrative), it is very precarious to infer from the use of the divine names that the Prologue and Dialogue are the work of different writers. Other differences may be more significant: viz., in c. 28 the use (see p. 232 n.) of Elohim and Adonai and the greater relative frequency of Vk in 32-37 (see § 24).
§ 20. If the differing use of the divine names in the Prologue and Dialogue and the mere fact that the one is prose, the other poetry do not point to difference of authorship, certainly nothing else in the style and vocabulary does so : on the other hand, there are certain noticeable similarities of usage which, if they do not by themselves prove, yet rather favour the common authorship, or, failing that, a rather thorough assimilation by the author of the one of the style of the other.
Thus Prologue and Dialogue agree in describing Job as perfect and in expressing this preferably by the forms Di? and nan as against the forms O'Dn
§§20-21.] ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE BOOK XXXvii
and on which are more frequent in other books (see n. on i^). The particle n'?iK is a common characteristic of various parts of the book, beingf as frequent in Job as in the whole of the rest of the OT. (see phil. n. on 33^) ; note also V^i, meaning io destroy (2^ n.) ; lU, to console 2" 42^^, tj, 16^ (2^^ n.) ; 'a '3£5 "^y (defiantly), i" ('a ^n, 2^ 12^^)6^^ 2i^\q^v^ of Job's three friends (2^^ 1921), 3K3, 2^^ 16^ (but 3N3D in Elihu, 33^^). Most of these with several other — mostly insignificant — similarities of vocabulary are given in K. Kautzsch, Das sogenannte Volksbuch von Hiob, pp. 39-44. Noticeable also in this con- nection is the presence in 2^° of the very pronounced Aramaism '?3p (for Hebrew npS), as a companion of the Aramaisms of the Dialogue (§§ 28, 47). It may be observed that these similarities — for what they may possess of positive worth — are confined to the Prologue, and do not extend to the Epilogue.
Other grounds for assuming difference of authorship have been sought in certain supposed inconsistencies of details, such as the alleged reference in ig^'^ (but see n. there) to Job's children as still living, or of general attitude and purpose (but see §§ 32 ff.). But whether the author was content to provide his dialogue with a ready-made setting, which, according to the exponents of this theory, was incongruous and out of harmony with his own purpose, or whether he moulded the more plastic material of oral story to his own purpose, the work in either case as it left his hands consisted of Prologue, Dialogue and Epilogue. We have next to inquire how far this work has been affected by subsequent expansion, mutilation or other modification.
§ 21, Apart from shorter passages,^ which have been suspected of being additions to the original text, but which, even if such, do not affect the general structure of the work, there are two sections which are or have been under suspicion of being in whole or in part additions, and a third which has probably been in some way seriously modified. ^ The sections in question are :
^ See particularly the commentary on 7® lo** ii^° jgSb. 4-12 j^aoa i69c-n 178-W 2oi«-23« 2i22 22"^- 238^' 24 (introductory note).
2 Reference may also be made here to the theory that the scenes in heaven (i*"" 2^"^'') are additions to the original Prologue (so, e.g.^ Kon. Einl. 415) : certainly i^^ connects formally in a certain respect (see n. on i") even better with 1° than with i^^^ and by reading '* And Yahweh smote" in 2"' this might attach though rather abruptly to i^^ But a theory which on inadequate grounds destroys, as this does, the dramatic effectiveness of the Prologue is not to be accepted.
xxxviii THE book of job [§21.
(a) Cc. 25-28, the conclusion of the third cycle of speeches ; (b) Cc. 32-37, Elihu; (c) Cc. 38^-42^, the speeches of Yahweh.
(a) Cc. 25-28.^ — Down to 24 the interchange of speeches has proceeded quite regularly, a speech of one of the friends, ranging in length from 19 to 34 distichs, receiving in reply a speech of Job, in every case longer and in the present probably expanded text of cc. 12-14 much longer. Each of the friends has spoken twice : Eliphaz has also spoken a third time and received Job's reply. After c. 28 there follows a speech of Job (29-31) which, like his opening speech (3), is neither addressed to, nor takes any account of, the friends, though, unlike 3, it is in part, though a very small part, addressed to God {^O"^'^^). Thus the conclusion of the dialogue proper is to be sought in or within 25-28, or rather 25-27, for 28 is, as a quiet impersonal description of Wisdom, differing from the Dialogue in its use of the divine names (§ 19) and for various reasons discussed in the commentary, best regarded as an independent poem, which formed no part of the original work.
Now 25-27 at present contain a brief speech of Bildad (25^"^, consisting of 5 distichs only as against the 19 distichs of the shortest of the preceding speeches, viz. Sophar's first speech), and one longer speech (of about 35 distiches), or rather (cp. 27^) of two shorter speeches (of about 13 and 22 distichs respectively), addressed by Job to Bildad in particular (26-^^), or, like Job's previous speeches, to the three friends in common (27^"^). In the brevity of Bildad's third speech and the absence of the attribution of any third speech to Sophar, it has frequently been held that the poet provided a formal indication that the friends had exhausted their arguments and thrown up their case. This explanation might be more favourably entertained, if everything else in 22-27 containing the third cycle of speeches were in order ; but this is not so. Even in c. 24, as is pointed out in the commentary, there is more or less matter that fits ill in a speech of Job: in 26 f. there is much more: and indeed we may analyse 26 f. into (i) matter appropriate to a speech of
^ Cp. G. A. Barton, "The Composition of Job 24-30," in JBLit.y 191 1, 66flf.
§21.] ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE BOOK XXxIx
Job's and inappropriate to a speech of one of the friends — 2^2 6. (n)i2. ^2) matter inappropriate (for opinions to the con- trary, see the commentary) to a speech of Job, but appropriate to the friends — 2y''~'^^' '^^'-^ ; and (3) neutral matter, i.e. matter not inappropriate either in Job or the friends — 262-*- ^-1*. Now (2) has been by some (Stu. Bernstein, We. Sg-f. Kue.) dismissed as consisting- of interpolations ; but, since so regarded they are entirely suitable, it is far more probable that these passages are contributions to the third round of the debate by Bildad and Sophar. In this case 25-27 should contain in whole or in part Bildad's third speech and Job's reply to it, and Sophar's third speech and (unless, as indeed might well be, the mono- log-ue in 29-31 takes the place of this) Job's reply to Sophar — in all four or, at least, three speeches. But from the limited extent of these chapters we must conclude that part only and not the whole of these four (or three) speeches survive.
The three cc. contain the equivalent of about 40 distichs, whereas four speeches equalling in length only the shortest of the preceding- speeches of Job, Bildad and Sophar would amount to about 95, three speeches to about 70 distichs. By assigning to Job all the neutral in addition to the positively appropriate matter, 20 distichs can be obtained for him which would perhaps suffice for one speech (his shortest previous speech ran to 28 distichs) though certainly not for two ; but in this case there remain only 20 distichs to be distributed among Bildad and Sophar which are far too few. On the other hand, if the neutral matter be assigned to Bildad and Sophar, even then there is scarcely enough to bring up their speeches to even approximately normal length ; and the effect is to leave only 7 distichs in all to Job — altogether insufficient for his reply to Bildad alone, even if 29-31 may be regarded as taking the place of any reply to Sophar.
The probability is g'reat, not that to the third cycle Sophar contributed nothing and Bildad less than half a dozen distichs, but that the speeches of the third cycle have through some accident reached us in a very imperfect form, part of them having been lost, the remainder dislocated. This single hypo- thesis of mutilation of the text accounts at once for the whole of the peculiarities of the existing close of the third cycle — the brevity of Bildad's speech, the absence of Sophar's, the utter- ance by Job of matter contradicting his own and in harmony with previous utterances of Bildad and Sophar, and the attri-
xl THE BOOK OF JOB [§§ 21-22.
bution to Job of two formal openings (26^"* 272"^) in reply to a single speech — the brief words of Bildad.
But if there has been serious loss and dislocation of matter, the data for any complete or certain reconstruction of the third cycle do not exist. We cannot determine, for example, whether the loss has affected the speeches of Sophar and Bildad equally, whether Sophar's speech was wholly lost while most of Bildad's survives, or whether most of Sophar's but only a mere fragment of Bildad's has survived. The main point is to recognize that the passages inappropriate in the mouth of Job formed no part of his speech in the original poem.
Under these circumstances it may suffice to record, without entering into particular criticism of them, some of the reconstructions which have been attempted. Most of those who find any of §ophar's speech find it in 2f-"^ to which Gratz {Monatsschrifty 1872, pp. 241-250) adds c. 28 as a development of Sophar's standpoint in 11'"^". Marshall exceptionally attributes 2^'^ 26^-1^ to Sophar; and Bi. (1894) 27'-i0' ^''"^o. Among- the reconstructions offered of Bildad's speech are the following: — (i) 25 + 28 (Stuhlmann, 1804) ; (2) 25 + 26^-" Elzas, The Book of J oh (1872), p. 83, cited by Che. Book of Job, p. 114, n. i ; Che. ih. (in EBi. 2478 he regards these vv. as substituted for a lost third speech of Bildad) ; Reuss, Sgf. ; (3) 26=-* + 252-« 265-14 (Du.); (4) 252- 3 + 265-1*, Peake; (5) i5"-i» 25*-«, Honth. ; (6) 25. 2413-25, Hoffm. ; (7) 25. 24i«-2o 2713-23^ L^y . (g) 24I8-21, Marshall ; (9) 25. 278-10- 13-23, Bi. (1882) ; but, in 1894, 252-3 2612- 13- i4c 254-6.
§ 22. {h) Cc. 32—37. Elihu. — These cc. consist of a brief introduction in prose (32^"^), and a long speech or series of speeches in verse delivered by Elihu. The cc. were obviously written to occupy their present position in the book: as 32^"* explains, Elihu speaks when the three friends had ceased to reply to Job ; and in the speeches Elihu rebukes Job and the friends alike ; and from Job's previous speeches he cites actual words, or summarizes statements in them (p. 278), in order to refute them. But it is scarcely less obvious that the rest of the book was not written with any knowledge of these speeches ; and consequently that they formed no part of the original work. In contrast to Elihu's frequent direct reference to the friends and to Job, there is no reference, direct or indirect, in any other part of the book to Elihu ; the Prologue gives the setting for the debate that follows, and explains how the three
§§22-23.] ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE BOOK xli
friends who subsequently take part in it come to be present, but it says nothing of Elihu, and the special prose introduction to Elihu's speeches only partially supplies the omission ; it gives a reason why Elihu speaks, it gives no reason why he is present. Neither Job nor the friends take the slightest notice of Elihu's attacks on them, or of his arguments ; his speech is of greater length than any that have gone before, but no one interrupts him while he is speaking, no one has a word to say of or to him when he has done. Job's last speech closes with an appeal to God to answer him (31^^^), and Yahweh's reply opens (38^) with words obviously addressed to the person who has just finished speaking ; since this cannot be Elihu but must be Job, Yahweh's opening admits of no intervening speech of Elihu. Finally, in the Epilogue Yahweh expresses a judgement on what Job has said and what the three friends have said, but makes not the slightest reference to Elihu. Thus this entire section can be removed from the book without any sense of loss or imperfection in its construction being created.
But the speeches are not only superfluous, they are also destructive of the effect of what follows. They are superfluous, because they add nothing substantial to what the friends have said except in so far as they anticipate what Yahweh is to say ; they fail, as those speeches had failed, to meet Job's case. They repeat arguments, and even words of the friends (see 339. 19. 26 3^7.8-11. 2if. 3.5-7 ^ith nn. there). But they also antici- pate (32^'^— 3721) in part what Yahweh says (sS"^"^^) — a fact which is entirely explained, if the writer had before him or in his mind the whole book, the speech(es) of Yahweh equally with those of the friends, but most unnaturally if they were the work of the original author who intended Yahweh's speech to round off" the debate.
§ 23. Further in the style and language of these chapters there is, in spite of very much that is common to,^ much that
^ See Bu. Beitrdge, 92-123; W. Posselt, Der Verfasser d. Elihu Reden (1909), 67-1 1 1. The common features are the natural result of the familiarity of the writer with the book which he was supplementing ; so, e.g.^ he naturally uses the same names for God, but (see § 24) with differing relative frequency.
Xlll
THE BOOK OF JOB
■[§§ 23-24.
is notably different from the rest of the book, alike in the verbose prose of 32^"^ as compared with the Prologue, and in the poetry of the speeches as compared with the other speeches in the book. Some differentiation in the style and even in vocabulary (Eliphaz, for example, alone uses nsT in the sense of religion, 4^ n.) might be attributed to dramatic differentiation : and we might seek to explain the prolixity of these speeches as a dramatist's indication that the speaker is a wise young man who is conscious of possessing much more wisdom than his elders, and makes up for lack of real contribution to a discus- sion by the abundance and violence of his speech ; and yet such an explanation, however consonant with the impression made on many readers by Elihu's speeches, is not true to the writer's own intention (see on ^2^'^'^). And in any case there remains much which cannot be attributed to dramatic differ- entiation, and which, tn the niass^ is most reasonably attributed to diversity of authorship.
§ 24. (i) Elihu shows a marked relative preference for 7X, using this term more frequently than all other terms for God together, whereas in the Dialogue m^JX is used with the same frequency, and ^n*j^ also frequently (§ 18).
Naturally enough even in the Dialogue the relative frequency of the three terms differs in different groups of cc. ; but never does the differ- ence in any six consecutive cc. equal that found in the six cc. of Elihu's speech ; and the occurrences in Bildad's speeches are too few for a safe comparison. The following table will serve to bring out the differences :
|
Occurrences in |
Vk |
.tiVk |
nisf |
|
Elihu |
»9 |
6 |
6 |
|
Rest of the Book Job's Speeches down to c. 24 Cc. 26-31 Eliphaz's Speeches . Bildad's „ ... |
36 10 7 8 6 |
35 17 7 6 0 |
25 7 7 7 2 |
|
Sophar's „ ... Cc. 3-8 |
2 5 |
3 8 |
I 5 |
|
,* 9-14 |
5 |
7 |
2 |
|
». 15-20 |
9 |
6 |
' |
§§24-25.] ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE BOOK
xliii
The net result of Bu.'s additions and omissions is to reduce the occur- rences of hiSk and nr by one each. He adds Sn in 32^ 33^ and omits 33'* 36"^'' containing- Sx, 35^ containing- nt?, and 37^^ containing ni'?K (also 34® containing D'nVN).
Throughout the Dialogue the three names are used without marked preference for any one of them, a more frequent use of one of them, in say a dozen occurrences of all three being- balanced by a more frequent use of the others in the following passage : note these most striking cases : in cc. 3-7 *?«, niSx, nt? occur — i, 8, 3 times respectively, in c. 8 — 4, o, 2 ; in cc. 9-1 1 — I, 5, T ; in cc. 12-15 — 8, 3, 2 ; in c. 22 — 3, 2, 5. One considera- tion g-overning- the choice of the names may be noted : where in each line of a distich a divine name is used (often the parallelism, if expressed at all, is expressed by means of a pronoun), a marked preference is shown for "ito as one of the two : this is true of all parts of the book : in Elihu 'IK' occurs four times in parallelism with another divine term, twice at most not in such parallelism ; in the rest of the book it occurs 17 times in, 8 times not in parallelism with another term. On the other hand, '7K occurs in Elihu 15 times not in parallelism against 4 times in parallelism, and in the rest of the book 23 times not in parallelism against 13 times in parallelism. Thus the relative infrequency of nc in Elihu's speeches is but another side of a difference between those speeches and the rest of the book : in Elihu a single divine name with no expressed parallel is a more frequent occurrence than elsewhere. Finally, when but a single name is used, Elihu shows a very marked preference for *?« (in, 15 ; ni'?N, 6), the rest of the book a slight preference for mVx (Sk, 23 ; ni'?K, 27).
§ 25. (2) Elihu shows a decidedly increased preference for ^3^^ rather than "•33N.
The occurrences of the two forms of the ist pers. pronoun in various parts of the book is as follows :
'JK
Prologue , • Dialogue . . Yahweh (40^*) , 42* ( = 21**) •
Elihu
o II o
I
2
xliv THE BOOK OF JOB [§§ 25 -26.
To avoid either over- or under-emphasizing- the significance of the figures, a closer analysis of the usage is needed. Increased preponderance of UN over '33X, in so far as it is due to the age of the writing, is due to late- ness (Dr. LOT 155 n.). The four occurrences of UK in the Prologue would therefore be striking, if they were really four ; but they are merely the four-times repeated phrase na"? un pn neVcNi, where UK follows a particle as it frequently does in both the Dialogue and Elihu. Too slight again is the use in 40^^ and 42^ (a virtual quotation of 21^) to throw light on either the age or authorship of these passages.
As between the Dialogue and Elihu, while some of the difference might be otherwise explained, some of it is most reasonably attributed to the difference of authorship and the somewhat later date of cc. 32-37. One occurrence of 'djn in the Dialogue is due to a repetition (12^=132) probably not in the original text ; another is open to some doubt (see phil. n. on 21* where ^ omits 'djn). So also one occurrence of UK (9'''*) may be secondary. Similarly in Elihu one occurrence of UK occurs in a repetition (32^*"^=''''). Allowing for these textual uncertainties the ratio in the Dialogue is 14 : 9, in Elihu 8 : 2. Both agree in using both forms for the prefixed subj. of a vb. : so in Elihu -yyv/^ UK 35'*, but naiK ojki t>'\x\r\ 33^1 (cp. 21*) ; in the Dialogue 'n'KT UK ^ and so, though always after \ or other particles, and, except in 19^^, with the impf , 5^ 6^^^ 7^^ 13^- ^^ ig^^* ^, but nanK 'djxi uiKf 21' and with preceding 1 or other particle 9^"* 13^^ 14''* i6^ and without preceding ], 9^®. As the subj. of a non-verbal pred., Elihu uses UK in 33^* 32^ '33K only in 33^^ where desire for a variation in a parallel line may account for the use of the (with Elihu) very infrequent form ; the Dialogue so uses UK in 7'-^ 920 (=21)2915, but with equal frequency '33X9^*5 J23(=i33) 29^^ After particles (other than i), while Elihu uses UK exclusively (uk »]K321*'*» (="'') i'*, uk }n 33^, UK D3 33^, UK kSi 34^), the Dialogue uses both (uk dSik 58 13', uk dj 7" 13^ UK o 13IS, UK N*?! i5«, UKnB'K \<^^ , and 'DJk 'd »]k 9I*, ojk dj i6^ 'ojkh 2i''(?)). In particular, the contrast is interesting between mmK 033 '33k dj 16^ and UK \n VkS TS3 33^ To sum up ; whereas in the Dialogue '33K is a frequent alter- native to UK, in Elihu '3jk occurs only in 33^^ a reminiscence of 21^ and in 33^'' where '33K is a parallel term to uk in 33^*.
§ 26. (3) Similarly Elihu makes distinctly less use of certain rarer forms of particles and pronominal suffixes.
No doubt several of these forms occur too infrequently to have separately much or any significance. But the significance of the whole group is hardly to be cancelled by the considera- tions which Bu. and Posselt have brought forward. The usages may be tabulated thus :
§§26-27.] ORIGIN AND HLSTORY OF THE BOOK xlv
|
Occurrences of |
In Elihu (E). |
Rest of Job (R). |
Rest of OT. |
|
m : : : : |
2 |
13 |
25 |
|
O |
2 (7^ 20«) |
10 {Isaiah, p. 467) |
|
|
O |
4" |
0 |
|
|
pD3» . . . . |
I |
3(4) |
4(5) |
|
-^iD? . . , . |
o |
J j4 |
32 |
|
Id^ . . . . |
o5 |
4« |
0 |
|
'3D' . . . . |
3 |
16 |
13 |
|
'bs (without prefix) . |
2 |
8 |
II |
|
r toS» . . . . \iDi^Vio . . . . |
o |
10 |
45 |
|
o |
8 |
4 |
§ 27. (4) In certain cases E expresses ideas common to himself and R by different terms : e.^. V"^ (p. 2J4), D^^J^ (except in E, only in the probably interpolated v. 12*) in lieu of Dn (p. 3)y ■'^^ in lieu of Dn^3 (p. ^j-o). Cp. also 32^ n., 33I n., and the phil. nn. on njyo 32^, ^Jji'S 36^ (ct. ^^\r;]j 31^^), y^^T 34^2^ Note also that E always uses ^w*3N in phrases of the type VK^"> '^< (-^48.10.34.36. jn 377 the text is probably corrupt), whereas elsewhere in such phrases ^np is always employed (ii^^ igi^ 22^^
1 The occurrences in Job are in 6= 7* (Qre) 8^ q^* 152? i6^5 iS^** 20'' 293- "*• ' 3324 4i22 I 33IB 3628^ Add perhaps ^i''^ (1. en ''?y). Cp. the occurrences of ^y in the poetical parts of the book: R 48+12 (Syi), E 15+ i (hvi). Note further in R n]} and '^h always, and ''?y, except in four cases (16^^ 18'° 293- ^), occur before a tone syllable (7* n.): both cases in E are before toneless syllables (33!^ 36'^). ny occurs R 21, E 2 (32^1 34^6 n^i ny) ; Vk R 22, E 5.
^ 3^^ 5^* 15'' 29I9.
3 (gso) ,64. 5 19I6 I 378^ Is. (2510) 432 44I6. w Ps. Ii2.
4 615 ,o22biB 12^ 149 1922 285 3l37 38" 40" 41I6.
' There would be one occurrence in E, if in 33'^ we read D'no bh, « 27^^ 2921 38^0 40^
7 616 y6 g3. 25 „9 1222 ,^11 I ^22. 30 16I6 jgl? 30^ bis 28* 30^ ^l^ \ 33I8. 23. 30
8 8^1 24^" 3o« 31=*' 38^ 39^' 4^1 '' 42' I 33' 34'.
» 314 6i« ,4-^i 1528 22i^- 1« 2416- " 30^3 3^4. Against these ten occurrences of loS there are in E i, in R 4 cases of cn^ : Mandelkern, Concord. Minor 811 f.
1" Three (20^3 22^ 27^^ : cp. also i8^*> (K : see nn. on the passages), if the text is correct = r'?y (which occurs in E 4, in R 20 times) : five times (6'^ 21^' 3o2. 5 29=2) = D,T'?y (which occurs once in E, twice in R). Statistics based on Mandelkern, Concord. Minor, 528, 529. Note also 1D'S3, 272s, G-K. 91/.
xlvi THE BOOK OF JOB [§ 28.
§ 28. (5) In common with R, E contains a number of Aramaisms ; 1 but, though this feature has been on the one hand exaggerated, On the other minimized, in E the Aramaic element is somewhat more prominent. Since in detail there is much that is open in varying degrees to uncertainty, exact statistics cannot usefully be presented ; but of 32 Aramaisms which Kautzsch (Die Aratndismen ini alien Teslamenl^ p. loi) claims in Job, 5 are common to E and R, 8 peculiar to E, 19 peculiar to R, whereas the ratio of E to R (i : 6) would lead us to expect but three peculiar to E. I now give the Aramaisms claimed as certain by Kautzsch with the passages under which the words are discussed in the philological notes, and then add a few from Kautzsch's list of uncertain Aramaisms or elsewhere. Most of the words in question occur but once in Job ; of those that occur more frequently I place the number of occurrences after the word. I prefix a ? to certain words open to doubt textually or as to their actual Aramaic character, and give references to Noldeke's criticism in his important review of Kautzsch (ZDMG Ivii. 412-420: cited below as N with the number of the page).
Common to E and R are f^ii, (Piel to teach^ 15^ 33^^ 35^^ • Qal to learn, Pr. 22^5* : in 2i:^ = Heb. IDS'), nin (R i, E 4) iS^'i'^o^ (R I, E i) 82, n^D^ (R 20, E 14) 42, x2t^, r\i^ (R 2 + 1, E i)87.
Peculiar to R are ninx I3^^2 ? |-,^ if^'^ ^^^ f^ ^'^ g26^ p t,2j3 i^^y
^ On the Aramaisms in Job, cp. in addition to the works cited above and those of Bu. and Posselt cited in § 23 n., Bernstein, " Inhalt, Zweck u. gfeg^enwartigfe Beschaffenheit des B. Hiob,"' in Keil u. T ■L'f,z\\\vx\^r s Analekten (1813), i. 3, pp. 49-79; Che. Job and Solomon, 293-295, in many respects modified in EBi. 2486 f.
2 Che. {EBi. 2487) omits 15^' and 13^', thus leaving the root mn confined toE.
* N. 413 claims SSd, n^D as "echt hebraisch." In Job nSo is a synonym of "im and idn : it is relatively more frequent in E (nSo, 14 ; nON, 4 ; nm : 4 : R n'?D, 20; nON, 6; "im, 12). For the Aramaizing pi. (but see N. 413, n. 2) pSo, E has a preference, using it 7 times against D''?D 3 times ; R p^D 6, D'Sd 7 times.
* Kautzsch claims 6 occurrences — 9^"- 12^^** 23* 40'"'*; but see 9^=^ n., where Dr. admits at most 9'- 40^ : cp. N. 416.
*N.4i5.
§§28-29.] ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE BOOK xlvli
I3S ">P% glorious 3i2«, 5}2 (2) 30^ |Q3 (2) 5^2, ?? jni?, therefore 302*, ? -jajDi 24-^'*, nm,2 /<? descend 21^^ (lyiG)^ -,^-,y3 ^^5^ pj^^ 2j7^
?mn:^y i2-\ bp (2) 21^ 3ip>* w«r 382^ -^r^^ le^^ Ponn^^ 40^^ ^pn i4^«-
Peculiar to E are ? nn3 34*, Cjn^ 33^ nnD 36^, nayD 3425, 2pj; ( = 32y)6 37S vyi ( = r^'i) 34^*> «':i^ (2) 362^ nitj* 37^
Other words which should also probably be considered Aramaisms are f]3N 33^, i)t:p 13^^ 24^^ (*' probably Aramaic," N. 417), and nzrb^ 15^*^ (N. 417) — 2*.^. one word only in E, two only in R. 3p1 in 13^8, if it meant wirte-skin (Be. ; Nestle, ZATW XX. 172; Che. EBi, 2487), would also be an Aramaism, but DX^ 7^ cited by Kautzsch in his doubtful examples, may be disregarded.
§ 29. (6) As important as the details which can be statisti- cally presented is the general impression of the style. ''The style of Elihu ... is prolix, laboured and somewhat tautologous ^^26end.iob.i7bj. ^j^g p^^^^. ^^^ brilliancy which are so con- spicuous in the poem generally are sensibly missing. The reader, as he passes from Job and his three friends to Elihu, is conscious at once that he has before him the work of a writer, not indeed devoid of literary skill, but certainly inferior in literary and poetical genius to the author of the rest of the book. The language is often involved and the thought strained " (Dr. LOT 429). With this view Bu., who in his Beitrage offered the most elaborate defence of the identity of style in cc. 32-37 and the rest of the book, now practically concurs (Comm. xix.2 xxvii.): but he attributes this diversity of style in the section as a whole to the interpolation of some 30 verses
/^22-5. 11-12. 15-17 22'*- 15^- ^^ 34^- 1^^- -5-28. 290 ^-4 ^513. 14. 17. 25. 26. 29. 30
2^13. 15. 16J 2iX\6. much corruption of the text. Some of the harshness and obscurity is certainly due to corruption (see on 33^^ 34^*^' ^^"^ 36^^)* and some interpolation there may have
* N. 414. 2 N. 414 "kann althebraisch sein." ^ N. 413 — perhaps a good Hebrew synonym of khb.
* N. 4i3f. : traditional Arama.ic punctualiofi nnj? not necessarily correct. ^ N. 415 points out that the meaning required in 33^ does not occur in
Aramaic.
* In addition to the n. on 37^ cp. Rothstein in ZDMG Ivii. 82.
xlvlil THE BOOK OF JOB [§§29-30.
been {e.g.., perhaps in 34^^ 3626- 29-30 j here, as elsewhere in the book ; but it is in general improbable that these chapters have been 7noye extensively interpolated than the rest, and in par- ticular there is no sufficient reason for regarding as inter- polations most of the passages omitted by Bu. The assumption again, that the omissions of ^ represent additions to the original text, is as precarious here as elsewhere (see § 50). A different theory of diversity of authorship within 32-37 is put forward by Nichols, who distinguishes 32^1"^^ 34. 35^^- ^^ (placed between 34-^ and '^*) as the words of a *' second wise man " addressed not at all to Job (34^^ is omitted, and with ^ 3428-33)^ but throughout to the wise ; the style of both authors in 32-37 is held to differ from that of the rest of the book.
The various reasons already given, independently of con- siderations adduced in § 32 ff., suffice to show that cc. 32-37 are the work of another writer than the author of the book.
§ 30- W ^^- Z^^-^^^y th^ speech(es) of Yahweh.
The only ground for questioning this section as a whole lies in the nature of the contents which have appeared to some incapable of reconciliation with the standpoint of the author of the Dialogue. This will be discussed below (§§ 38-39). Apart from this everything is In favour of the main part of the section having formed part of the original work. The speeches of Elihu may be removed without causing a tremor to the structure of the book ; but without some speech of Yahweh the structure falls to pieces. The book as a finished structure can never have closed with c. 3 1 (or 37) ; a speech of Yahweh is the natural, if not the necessary sequel to Job's closing soliloquy; and a speech of Yahweh is certainly presupposed in the opening words of the Epilogue (42"^). Thus there are three alternatives : (1) the speech is authentic ; (2) the original author left his work unfinished, and a subsequent writer added the speech of Yahweh ; (3) the present has been substituted for a speech in the original work. In either of the last two alternatives we might expect difference of style ; but such difference, If it can be detected at all, does not extend beyond 40^-41^^ ^^^\ Cc. 38 f. at least are by general consent un-
§§ 30-31.] ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE BOOK xllx
surpassed for poetical power. On the whole, then, 38. 39 together with 40^'^ and 42^"^ appear to be integral to the book, but 40^-42^ for reasons given in the commentary (pp. 348 f., 351 f.) are probably later additions.
§ 31. The conclusions on the main questions now reached, and those on minor details indicated in the commentary, may be tabulated so as to indicate the original structure of the book and additions which at various times it may have received. The passages absent from ffli, representing (in the main) a subsequent abbreviation of the book (§ 48 f.), are also given: as omissions from (& are reckoned lines absent from l£t (with half a dozen exceptions), or (in 39^-40^) asterisked in ^^, and also 17^^ 20^ (see § 49).
THE ORIGINAL STRUCTURE AND SUBSEQUENT MODIFICATIONS OF JOB
|
Original Elements. |
Additions Prob- able OR Possible. |
Omissions in (St. |
|
I. Prologue, I. 2 |
[Enumeration of vv. by |
|
|
2. Job's soliloquy, 3 |
Swete ; where that of |
|
|
3. Dialogue between the |
the translation differs |
|
|
friends and Job |
from this, it is added |
|
|
First cycle of |
in brackets.] |
|
|
speeches |
||
|
Eliphaz, 4. 5 |
5f- |
|
|
Job, 6. 7 except |
f |
f- |
|
Bildad, 8 |
||
|
Job, 9. 10 „ |
io3c |
Q24b. c io4a r^ , io4a. b Sw. both=io^'>|^). |
|
Sophar, 11 ,, |
,160 |
Il5b |
|
Job, 12-14 „ |
J 2Sb. 4-lS |
j28b'. 9. 18b. 21a. 23 j^l9b. 20b ,412c 18. 19, |
|
Second cycle of |
||
|
speeches |
||
|
Eliphaz, 15 except |
,,.30a |
J -10. 26b. 27, |
|
Job, 16. 17 |
,69c-ll J 78-10 |
J 53b. 8b. 9(7b^-8) 22(21)b, , -3b-5a. 12. 16_ jg'Jb. 10, 15 (bu't 19c ^ _ 15a |fa) |
|
Bildad, 18 |
||
|
16. 17b, |
||
|
Job, 19 |
,Q24a. 28b, |
|
|
Sophar, 20 „ |
20I6.28 |
2o3- »• 11-13- 14b. 20b. 2ia. 23a. 25o^ |
|
Job, 21 „ |
21^2 |
2jl5.19b. 21. 23. 88-83^ |
THE BOOK OF JOB
[§ 31-32.
The Original Structure and Subsequent Modifications OF Job — continued
|
Original Elements. Additions Prob- ABLE OR Possible. |
Omissions in ffi. |
|
|
3. Dialogue between the |
||
|
friends and Job |
||
|
Third cycle of |
||
|
speeches |
||
|
Eliphaz, 22 except ! 22"'* |
223b. 13-16. 20. 24. 2». 8»^ |
|
|
Job, 23. 24 ,, 23^^ and ? parts of |
2^. 15 (14) 2±*^- 5c. *8a- 1<-18» |
|
|
24 (p. 206) |
(1<» SW., Cp. 3425?^) 25b^ (25b)^ |
|
|
Bildad, 2s( + ?26) |
265-11. 14a. b^ |
|
|
Job, 272-«- 11-12 + |
||
|
Sophar ?, zf'-^'- ^""-^'^ |
2yl9b. 21-23^ |
|
|
28 Poem on Wisdom |
2g3b-4a. 5-9a. 14-19. 21b. 22a. 26b- |
|
|
27a^ |
||
|
Job's closing- solilo- |
2QlOb'.lla(10a.b. gw. l*'*^!^ |
|
|
quy, 29-31 |
lla\ 13a. 19. 90. 24b. 26^ y^\c. 2. 3. 4a (?). 7a. llb'lSa. 16a. 18b. 20b. 27^ r. J 1-4. 18. 23b. 24a. 27a. 35a^ |
|
|
32-37 Elihu |
^24b. 5. lib (lie). 12. 16. 16 (17?). 228a. 19b. 20b. 28. 29. 31h-33^ ^ ,3. 4. 6b. 7. lib. 18b. 23a*. 25b. 28-33^ ^e'b-lOa. 12a. 15. 16. ^5.%. 6. 7 (6a. 7b. c . 6b. 7a ^ ;_ I5b. 17a ^) 8-11. 13. 16. 20. 21b. 22»^ ^524b. 25a. 26. 27b. 28a. 29-33^ ' -,yl-5a. 6b. 7ft. 10a. lla-12c. 13. 18. |
|
|
21b (c)^ |
||
|
4. Yahweh 38^-40-except |
39^^ |
„g26. 27.' 32 ^gla. 3b-4. 6b. 8^ |
|
40«-4i"(28; |
3^18-18. 28. 29b. 31 (.qI)^ ^Ol8(23)b.l9(20).21(26)a^ |
|
|
Job, 402-5 ^22. Sc. d. 5. 6 |
.,3 (12). 7 (l«)a. 8 (17). 14 (28)b. 17 (26)b. 20 (29;a. 23 (S2)b^ |
|
|
5. Epilogue, 42'-!' |
^2^' I6c. 17. |
V. The Purpose and Method of the Writer.
§ 32. If we are rig^ht In concluding that a single writer is responsible for the Prologue, the speeches of Job, of his three friends and of Yahweh (apart from the passages indicated in the preceding table as possible additions), and the Epilogue, what was the purpose of this writer, and what are the dis- tinctive features of his thought and outlook on life which he reveals in his work ?
§ 32.] rURPOSE AND METHOD OF THE WRITER 11
It would no doubt be as inadequate a description of Job, as, for example, of Paradise Losty to call it merely a didactic poem ; it would be even further from the truth to regard it as a purely objective dramatic poem in which the author maintains an interested but quite impartial attitude towards the various characters which arc introduced and the various points of view which are expressed by them. On the other hand, the author obviously ranges himself with Yahweh in approving Job as against his friends ; as passionately as Job he rejects the inter- pretation of life maintained by the friends, and as decisively as Yahweh the estimate of human character (so closely associated with the friends' outlook on life) that is offered by the Satan. The writer's purpose is never so directly formulated as Milton's — to
assert Eternal Providence And justify the ways of God to men ;
nor is it coextensive with it ; but it is akin, and not really concealed, and the differences of opinion which have prevailed with regard to the purpose of the book have been due to seeking from the author more than he was able or intended to offer. He had no clear-cut theology, like Milton's, enabling him to say why God acted as He did and thus positively to justify His ways; but through pain and trial he had discovered in his own experience that God did not abandon the sufferer, and therefore he was able to assert that God did not send sufferinirs on men merely for the reasons commonly assigned, and that it was not necessarily or always true that as an individual suffered so he had sinned; and thus, if he could not positively justify God, he could at least vindicate Him against the ways attributed to Him by the current opinion of his time, represented in the poem by the friends. There was also another side to his experience : he had discovered not only that God did not abandon the sufferer, but also that suffering and loss had not detached him from God, that it was possible to serve and love God not for the outward things He gave, but for what He was in Himself. The book aims not at solving the entire problem of suffering, but at vindicating God and the latent worth of human nature against certain conclusions drawn from a partial observation of life.
lii TPIE BOOK OF JOB [§§33-34.
§ 23- The book opens with the presentation of a perfect character : Job is so described in the first words of the narrative (i^), and the truth of the description is endorsed by Yahweh (i^ 2^) ; the kind of Hfe and character thus described in general terms is indicated in detail elsewhere in the book (cp. especially c. 31 : also, e.g., 4^^' ; and see n. on i^). But the Satan disputes the inherent worth of this character : Job, he insinuates, had lived as he had, not simply with the result (i^ n.) that he had become outwardly prosperous, but in order that he might prosper ; he had served God not for God's sake, but to obtain the handsome price of such service : human nature is incapable of pure devotion to God, human conduct is not disinterested ; if the payment for it ceases, or becomes uncertain, man's service of God will cease, man will no longer address God reverentially, or affectionately, but blasphemingly ; where love and trust had seemed to be while such qualities received their price, there hate and contempt will certainly be when the price is withdrawn. Such is the issue between Yahweh and the Satan, Yahweh upholding, the Satan calling in question, the integrity, the sincerity, the disinterestedness of Job. Such also had been the issue in the mind of the writer who wrote the speeches that follow the opening narrative ; he had faced the same problem of life as Plato in the Republic (Bk. ii.); he had realized that the really perfect man must be prepared to prove his perfectness by maintaining it even when there befell him calamity such as would have seemed the meet sequel to wicked- ness, and such as actually had the effect on the ordinary judge- ment of men of making him seem to have been wicked though actually he had been good. The very friends of Job, held by the dogma that a man of broken fortunes cannot have been *' integer vitae scelerisque purus," infer from Job's calamities that he must have been wicked, though his own conscience and God's unerring judgement assert that the life on which these calamities descended had been free from blame.
§ 34' Within the Prologue the issue is decided against the Satan : when the Satan sneeringly says to God, Take away all the wealth Thou hast given Job, then go and see him, and he
§ 34.] PURPOSE AND METHOD OF THE WRITER IHI
will curse Thee, he is obviously contemplating the immediate result of deprivation on Job ; for when in the second scene in heaven he is challenged by Yahweh to admit that Job's conduct and temper under loss have proved the Satan's estimate of him wrong, he does not plead that the experiment has not had long enough to work, but claims that it is merely necessary to with- draw health as well as wealth, and Job will at once cease blessing and curse. The Satan's estimate is based on weaker characters, exemplified by Job's wife, who would have Job do what the Satan had counted on his doing ; but Job himself rejects the advice of his wife in words which are tantamount to saying : to curse God now would be to prove that I have served and blessed Him hitherto not for what He is, but for the good- fortune which for so long He gave me ; now that ill-fortune has befallen me I can show that I serve Him for what He is. Thus Job left at last only with bare life, without which he could be no subject of testing, and his character which had been called in question, but which he had maintained intact under the last test that the Satan could suggest, by these words proves his disinterested attachment to Yahweh, that he had not served Him for what He gave, and thus finally and com- pletely puts the Satan in the wrong, and that so obviously that it is unreasonable, as some have done, to complain that the writer has not depicted Yahweh pressing home the Satan's discomfiture, whether by a third scene in heaven, or in the Epilogue.
Job by his attitude in the Prologue has, unknown to himself, vindicated Yahweh's against the Satan's estimate of his char- acter ; but the result of the Satan's experiments, the origin and purpose of which remain unknown on earth, is to expose Job's character to attack from another quarter. The Satan in heaven disputes the integrity of Job's character, because prosperity had necessarily left it untested ; when his prosperity forsakes Job, his friends on earth dispute his integrity on the ground that he must have sinned because he no longer prospers. Thus the Prologue opens up the question of the relation of loss and suffering to sin : with this question the Dialogue is concerned, and necessarily (for it is a crucial instance for the theory at
llV THE BOOK OF JOB [§§ 34-35.
issue) interwoven with the discussion of it is the attack on and defence of Job's integrity.
§ 35. Between Job's rebuke of his wife with its implicit assertion of his own resignation and the opening of the Dialogue some weeks intervene : in the interval Job's experience has raised questions in his own mind : why is he, why are men born to suffer ? The ready answer of his old faith would have been : men are not born to suffer ; they only suffer if they sin ; but his experience has proved this false in his own case, and, as he is now ready to believe, it would also be false in the case of countless others, but to the bitter question he now finds no answer. Thus he goes into the following debate con- vinced that the solution there repeatedly put forward is false, but with no other theory to oppose to it. To these questionings of Job his three friends, who being no fair weather friends had come to him on hearing of his calamities, had listened : they had brought with them the same old faith as Job's, but not the direct personal experience which had proved to Job its in- adequacy. In all friendliness they would recall Job to the faith, and lead him to the course which that faith indicated — humble acceptance of the discipline of suffering, confession and abandon- ment of the sin which had brought his suffering upon him, and return to God. Job cannot accept such advice, for in doing so he would be false to his conviction of his integrity. The nature of the Dialogue — so different from those of Plato — is thus determined by the nature of the difference in character of what the two parties — for the three friends constitute a single party — stand for : the friends maintain a theory. Job defends a fact — the reality and truth of his conviction of innocence. The Dialogue, therefore, is not directed towards reaching a correct or more adequate theory, but towards emphasizing the certainty of the fact and the consequent falseness of the prevailing theory. So far, indeed, is Job from opposing a different theory to the theory of the friends that his own outlook, and his own inter- pretation of what has happened, is still largely governed by the theory which he also had once unquestioningly held ; and which is still the only positive theory to hold the field till driven from it by the vindication of the truth of Job's conviction, which proves
§ 35.] PURPOSE AND METHOD OF THE WRITER Iv
the theory false. Because he has no other theory of suffering than that of the friends, he can imagine no other jus^ cause for his own sufferings than sin on his part ; since, then, as he knows directly and for certain that such just cause does not exist, he infers that his suffering has been unjustly inflicted, that God — the God at least of his own old and the friends' still cherished theory — is unjustly causing his suffering, has changed without good cause from being his friend into his enemy. In the early days of his loss, Job was conscious only of his own unchanged attitude towards God ; as time gives opportunity for reflection, and more especially as the friends press home the inference, inevitable under the theory, that because Job greatly suffers he must have greatly sinned, Job awakes to another aspect of his strange fortunes ; loss gives him the opportunity of proving his willingness to receive from God ill-fortune no less than good fortune ; of remaining, when rewards fail, for His own sake, the servant, the friend of God ; but loss at the same time, if the friends and their theory are right, is God's unambiguous assertion that He has rejected Job and become his enemy. This is Job's severest trial of all — a trial the Satan failed to think of; and under the stress of it Job says much that doubtless needs correction, and yet nothing that corresponds to anything the Satan can have meant by ''cursing God to His face," nothing that reflects back upon Job's previous character in such a way as to indicate that it lacked the wholeness which Yahweh claimed for it and the Satan denied. Job nowhere regrets his previous service of God, and never demands the restoration of the previous rewards ; what he does seek is God Himself, God unchanged, still his friend — on his side, un- estranged from him, and not, as the theory assures him He has now become, his enemy ; and what he seeks he never really and permanently despairs of finding ; against God, seeming by the calamities He sends to take away his character, he appeals to God to vindicate it (16^^"^^ n. 17^), and rises to certainty that He will do so, if not this side death, then beyond (19^^) ; but it is only for this vindication, for the realization that God really remains his friend, not for the restoration of good fortune, that Job contemplates the intervention of God on his behalf.
Ivi THE BOOK OF JOB [§36.
§ 36. It is unnecessary to review in detail here all the speeches of the friends and Job's replies to them : they cover the same ground again and again. So far as the friends are concerned it is of the very essence of the writer's purpose that they should one and all say essentially the same thing : they are not introduced to represent many existing theories ; but the three of them, expounding the same theory, represent that as the unchallenged judgement of ancient and still current opinion. All the variety that is thus possible in the friends' speeches is variety of expression, the formulation of different aspects of the same theory, or different proofs of it, such as the divine origin of it (/\}^^- Eliphaz), its antiquity (8^*- Bildad, i^isf. Eliphaz, 20* Sophar), the impossibility, due to man's ignorance, of successfully disputing it (i i^^- Sophar), or of such subsidiary theories as had been called in to help it out. Of these a word or two may be said here. Briefly, the theory itself is that the righteous prosper, the unrighteous come to grief, and conversely that suffering implies sin in the individual sufferer, and prosperity the righteousness of the prosperous. But the facts of life at any time too obviously challenge this simplest form of theory ; and these had already led to certain additional details which accordingly are not represented as elicited by the debate, but are many of them already expressed or implied in the very first speech of Eliphaz. Such details are the suggestions that all men are impure and sinful to some extent, and that therefore suffering is to some extent due to all ; that righteous individuals might suffer to some extent and for a time, and unrighteous individuals might similarly prosper, but that the unrighteous did and the righteous did not come to an untimely end {e.^. 4"^ S^^-'^^) ; that the wicked, even when seeming to be prosperous, were haunted by terror of the coming calamity that was their due (is^^*'^-). Again — and here there persists the influence of that strong sense of the solidarity of the family or clan, with its relative indifference to the individual, that preceded the increased value set on the individual, which is the presupposition of the book of Job — it is urged that even if an unrighteous man lives out a long prosperous life, his children pay the penalty for it (5^
§§36-37.] PURPOSE AND METHOD OF THE WRITER Ivii
20^^). Or again it is conceded, especially by Eliphaz in his first speech (5^^^' : so also Elihu, passitn), that suffering- need not be mere penalty, but may have as its end the conviction and removal of sin, the purification of character ; in other words, that suffering is not only penal, but may also be dis- ciplinary. But with all the admissions and concessions that the current theory allows them to make, the friends in the development of the debate clearly make plain that the sub- stance of the theory is that God distributes suffering and prosperity to the unrighteous and righteous respectively, and that in proportion to their righteousness or unrighteousness. Accordingly Eliphaz, who in his first speech introduces the subject of disciplinary suffering (arguing that since no man is free from sin, all men must suffer, but that if they rightly accept suffering due to essential human infirmity, they will ultimately prosper, whereas if they prove obstinate and greatly suffer they must greatly have sinned) in his second speech ^ expresses his conviction that Job must be a peculiarly heinous sinner (15^*"^^), and in his third speech invents charges against him of certain specific sins of great enormity (22°"^), thus lying on behalf of his theory of God. Bildad and Sophar by dwelling in their second speeches (and Sophar also in his third, if this survives in 27) almost exclusively on the fate of the wicked — depicted often in colours borrowed from Job's experience — indirectly convey the same judgement that Eliphaz expresses directly.
§ 37. In his replies to the friends. Job insists on his integ- rity— the fact by which their theory is shattered, their advice rendered nugatory. He agrees with them as to the might of God, and as to the frailty of human nature, carrying with it proneness to sin and yielding to temptation in all men, himself included ; that all should suffer raises a question (3^^), which, however, perplexing as it is, would be relatively intelligible and endurable ; but while all men sin, men differ widely in the extent to which they sin, and yet it is those who like himself are relatively free from sin and within the limitations of human frailty perfect who suffer — not invariably, but often ; and it is
^ Cp. in Sophar's very first speech, ii^°; but the line is probably not original.
Iviii THE BOOK OF JOB [§§ 37-38.
the wicked who prosper — not again invariably, but often, so that it may be said that God sends suffering indifferently on the perfect and the wicked (g^""^^). 7/", then, suffering is always punishment, God is an unjust judge, inflicting punishment where it is not due, and failing to secure its infliction where it is due. Nor again will the plea of the friends do, that Job's sufferings are sent in kindness by God to deflect him from his wicked way, and so even yet secure an end of life richer and more amply blessed than even his earlier life had been : Job has no wicked way to be deflected from, as his own con- science attests and God Himself — though this, of course, is unknown to Job and the friends — has insisted. Starting from the same point — that all suffering is penal — Job and the friends thus reach different conclusions — he, with eyes opened to the facts of life but himself not yet rid of the theory, concluding that God is unjust (gi^^- 19^) though mighty (9-^- i2^^''^^)y not only letting Job suffer, but letting the wicked enjoy life to the full and to the end (c. 21), they, distorting or blind to facts, that God is both mighty and just. This is a sufficiently clear-cut difference. But Job is also at issue with himself. The old theory leads inevitably to the conclusion that God is unjust, but the old experie^ice of God still prompts him to trust God as being good as well as mighty. So long as the theory dominates him, he can only wish and pray that this mighty unjust God would leave him alone, cease to think it worth His while to continue to torment him (717-21 jqSO 1^22^ . y^^^ when the old experience of God (292^-) reasserts its influence, what he longs for is that God should again speak to him, recognize him (14^^), yearn for him (7^^*^), admit his innocence and even vindicate it against (16^^—17 19'^^"^'^) His own charges, made in the language of misfortune, that he has sinned, and so far from being perfect is one of the most imperfect and wicked of men.
§ 38. The double issue — that of Job with the friends, and that of Job with himself — should be determined when God intervenes ; and if we have rightly analysed these issues, in the speeches of Yahweh — less directly, perhaps, than we might at first expect — and in the Epilogue, these issues are deter- mined. Certainly the speech of Yahweh does not contain what
§ 38.] PURPOSE AND METHOD OF THE WRITER lix
Job had not demanded, a positive theory of the meaning or pur- pose of suffering — and doubtless for the very good reason that the author himself had no such theory; had he had, he would probably have represented Job discovering this theory through suffering, and God at last approving Job's theory as against that of the friends ; as it is, he is content to make clear the truth of Job's and the falseness of the friends' assertion as to the fact of Job's integrity. What Job had demanded was that God should formulate the charges of sin for which his sufferings had been sent ; and to this God replies in the only possible way (cp. I*) by formulating no such charge. The speech of Yahweh contains a charge, it is true ; but it is a charge of a different kind ; and the Epilogue in the most direct terms pronounces Job in the right and the friends in the wrong. Are the speech with its charge and the Epilogue with its vindication at vari- ance with one another? In particular, does the speech con- demn where the Epilogue acquits Job ? There certainly is a difference of judgement ; but is it on the same issue ? When, in the opening words of His speech, Yahweh asks : Who is this that darkeneth the purpose (of God) with words spoken without knowledge, He is certainly under the form of a question definitely charging Job with having spoken ignorantly and misleadingly about God, and this Job in his response admits (42^). On the other hand, in the Epilogue Yahweh directly asserts that Job has said what was right, and the friends what was wrong about God. Is the one a condemnation, the other an acquittal on the same charge'^ In attempting a reply to this question, it is necessary to take into account the speech of Yahweh as a whole, and to observe what it does not contain as well as what it does. What the speech does not contain is singularly important ; for its silence is a tacit repetition of the judgement challenged by the Satan in the Prologue, an antici- pation of the vindication of Job against the friends expressed in the Epilogue, and a justification of one of Job's two thoughts of God against the other. The speech in no way goes back on Yah weh's judgement in the Prologue; it does not in the slightest degree admit the justice of the Satan's impugnment of the inner springs, or the friends' impugnment of the outward
Ix THE BOOK OF JOB [§§38-89.
elements of Job's conduct before his sufferings came upon him : it does not, as Job had at times feared, show God, when He appears, unjustly treating- him as and pronouncing him guilty of sins such as could account for his sufferings. Thus the speech tacitly confirms the voice of Job's conscience, that his life had been free from blame. The condemnation implied in the opening and closing words (38^ 40^) of the speech is of Job's criticism of God's ways, not as they actually were, but as they would have been if the theory of suffering being always and merely penal were true; in other words, it is a condemnation of something that had taken place after the calamity had befallen Job, of something consequently that was not ie cause of that suffering. It is at the same time a con- demnation of the theory persistently maintained by the friends and only half abandoned by Job himself ; for that theory implied a claim to an extent of acquaintance with God's ways which it is the purpose of the speech to show that man did not possess. For the rest, the speech is directed towards illustrating the marvellous range of Yahweh's activities, the innumerable elements, inexplicable by man, in His ways. In certain respects this may seem irrelevant : Job no less than the friends had acknowledged that God's ways were past finding out ; but Job in charging God with injustice had made use of the old theory that implicitly laid claim to a complete knowledge of God's ways with men ; Job's acknowledgment of fault (42^"^) is accordingly limited to the confession that he had spoken beyond his knowledge.
§ 39, But the speech of Yahweh accompanies an appearance or direct manifestation of Yahweh to Job, and in this respect is the direct response of Yahweh to Job's deepest desire : Job has at last found Yahweh ; and, in spite of the rebuke of his words beyond knowledge, he has found Yahweh on his side, no more estranged from him than in the days of his former prosperity, but more intimately known ; as compared with his former, his present knowledge is as sight to hearing, as direct, first hand personal to second hand and traditional knowledge. So far from his earlier sense of God's friendship having been shown by his sufferings to be a delusion, its reality has been vindicated,
§§39-40.] PURPOSE AND METHOD OF THE WRITER 1x1
and by God's response to his appeal his communion with God has been intensified.
So we may relate the speech and the accompanying" manifestation of God to the purpose of the book ; but inas- much as that speech had to condemn the theory without putting another in its place and to criticize Job for continu- ing to make use of it, even when his own experience was showing that it had broken down, for the sake of clearness at least it was essential that the book should close with an un- equivocal reassertion of what God had asserted in the Prologue, and the Satan there and the friends in the Debate had denied — the integrity of the man on whom the great sufferings had fallen. This is reasserted in two ways, both of which leave nothing lacking in the explicitness of the assertion. In the first place, Yahweh in the Epilogue directly pronounces Job to have been in the right, the friends to have been in the wrong ; but there is one remarkable aspect of Yahweh's words : what He says is that Job has spoken truly and the friends falsely about Him', in this there is, so far as the judgement on Job is concerned, an apparent divergence from the condemnatory questions in 38^ 40^ ; but in God's speech to Job there was no reference to what the friends had said of Him ; and it is this that stands first in the Epilogue and carries with it the judgement on Job's words, which if it stood alone unlimited by the context would perhaps be irreconcilable with 38^ 40^. It is true, Yahweh might have said expressly that the friends falsely deny, and Job rightly asserts his innocence ; but this in itself would only indirectly have indicated the falseness of the friends' theory of God in relation to human suffering, which it is, as we have seen, a main purpose of the writer to assert ; he has therefore pre- ferred to present Yahweh's judgement on Job and the friends in a form of words which directly asserts that the friends have spoken wrongly about God, and that in the point where they have been wrong Job has been right ; in inventing charges against Job they have told lies to maintain their theory of God ; in repudiating these charges and denying that his calamities are God's accusation of wickedness in him. Job has spoken right.
§40. Not only does Yahweh thus expressly assert Job's
fxli THE BOOK OF JOB [§40.
integrity of character, He also marks it by renewed and increased outward tokens of His favour. This aspect of the Epilogue has often been judged unworthy of the author of the poem, and really inconsistent with his purpose of maintaining the possible disinterestedness of human conduct, and a virtual giving of the case away to the friends on the ground that Job's fate illustrates afresh the formula that the righteous can only suffer for their sins for a time and must ultimately prosper. But the two points are not quite rightly taken. If the double prosperity of Job's latter days had been the price he demanded for continued service of God, the objection would hold ; but it was not : and what Job had demanded was something very different — the vindication of his character. Again the restora- tion to fortune falls not after any confession on the part of Job of sins which had caused his sufferings, as Ellphaz had led him to expect that it might, but immediately after the judgement of God that Job the sufferer has far surpassed the friends who had not suffered, in righteousness. Job's character being directly vindicated, his disinterestedness established, there was no reason why the story should end with the sufferings inflicted for a particular purpose made perpetual after the purpose had been achieved.
The removal of the speech of Yahweh, if the Epilogue remained, would leave the vindication of Job and the consequent condemnation of the theory of the friends unobscured, not to say clearer than it is ; and since the speech contains no positive theory of suffering, no counter theory to that of the friends, it has to some appeared alien to the original work. Yet the omission of the speech would leave Job without that direct manifestation and speech to him of God which he had desired, and unanswered except by the restoration of his fortunes, which he had not desired ; God would still speak at the end of the debate, but — in condemnation, it is true — to Eliphaz only ! Towards Job he would then remain silent to the end. If, then, the speech can be related in some such way as has been attempted above to the rest of the book, it is certainly safest to retain it ; for (§ 30) there are no independent reasons of style, etc., for regarding the chapters as secondary. Had an inter-
§3 40-41.] PURPOSE AND METHOD OF THE WRITER Ixiii
polator felt called upon to compose a speech, it is only too probable that he would, like the author of Elihu, have dwelt more clearly and directly upon Job's blameworthiness. On the other hand, it is difficult to see what kind of speech, creating- fewer difficulties or giving greater satisfaction, could have been composed by a writer who like the original author (i) intended to insist that Job had not suffered for sins he had committed, and that the theory which necessitated the inference that he had, was therefore false ; and (2) had yet no positive theory of suffering to propound, and was rather, perhaps, inclined to deprecate the formation of fresh theories, lest, resting as they must upon inadequate knowledge, they too should have practical results as terrible as his own experience had shown flowed from the current theory. For these reasons, while still sensible of certain difficulties and the necessity for some subtlety in defending the speech as an integral part of the book, I now retain it more decisively than in my Crit, Introd. to the OT.y pp. 1 19-122.
§ 41. Any judgement of the scope and purpose of the book is much more affected by the question of the integrity of the speech(es) of Elihu. Reasons which have appeared and are Hkely to appear to many sufficient to show that this part of the book is an addition to the original poem, and consequently must not be used in determining the purpose of the author of the original work, have already been given (§ 22 ff.); and these reasons are enforced rather than weakened by the attempts that have been made to find here the original author's solution of the problem of the book.
The ablest and most elaborate of these attempts is Bu.'s, which is thus described and criticized by Dr. LOT^ 43° f : — "A different view of the scope of the book is taken by those who — as Schlottmann, Hengst., Riehni {Einl. ii. 263 f., 278 f.), and especially Budde — acknowledge the Elihu- speeches as an original part of the poem. These writers consider that what was indicated above as a collateral aim of the book, viz., the doctrine of the disciplinary or pzirifying value of suffering, is in reality its main aim — or, at least (Riehm), its main positive aim. Thus Budde {Comm. p. XXX (^ xl) ff. etc.) observes that Job, though righteous before the visit of his friends, in defending his righteousness against their silent reproaches (2^*) and (c. 4-5, etc.) open attacks, fell into sin : spiritual pride y a sin subtler even than the selfishness of his piety, which was what th©
Ixlv THE BOOK OF JOB [§41.
tempter suspected, was latent in his nature from the first (cp. Riehm, p. 263) : and the object of the suffering sent upon him was to bring this hidien sin to his consciousness, to lead him to confess it, as he does in 42""^, and so to purifj' and confirm his spiritual nature. . . . The original folk-tale [§ 7] of Job, in which the question was, Is Egoism the root of piety ? Is there such a thijig as disinterested piety ? . . . the poet adopted as the framework for his thoughts. With him, however, the question becomes a deeper and broader one, Can the righteous suffer? and if so, why? and the trial of Job's righteousness (which is the theme of the Prologue) becomes the purification of his character and the confirmation of his faith. . . . Consistently with this view of the general scope of the book, the same writers consider not only that the Elihu-speeches are the work of the original author, but that ihey present his own solution of the problem. And so Budde remarks (^ pp. xlvff., 223) that Eliphaz (c. 4-5) explains suffering only as a punishment of actual sin : Job takes the same view of it ; Elihu, on the contrary, explains it as designed to make man conscious of latent sm, and thereby to enable him to repent and overcome it. Budde defends his theory of the book with marked skill and ability ; but it may be doubted whether a doctrine which, however true and pro- found in the abstract, is so little developed by the poet himself, can have formed the main idea of his work. The doctrine of the disciplinary function of suffering is very subordinate in the book ; even in Elihu it does not stand out with the clearness and directness that would be expected, if the poet were there presenting his own solution of the problem. Nor, though it is true that Elihu sees in suffering a purpose of grace, is it at all clear that he views it as sent only (or even chiefly) for the correction o{ late7it sin : and pride is alluded to by him only in 33''' 36^." It may be added that the text and meaning of 33" is not quite certain (see n. there), and that the term in 36" (naarr) implies anything but subtle spiritual pride : it refers, as the context also shows (vv.*"-^-), to proud, defiant, opposition to God's will and refusal to serve Him — the very opposite of Job's blame- less and God-fearing life. There would, too, be something humorous in Elihu, who certainly suffers from no excess of humility, rebuking Job for spiritual pride. See, further, on 33^^"^^ (p. 285) 34^
Of the very extensive literature, in addition to commentaries, introduc- tions to the OT., and articles in Bible Dictionaries on the purpose of the book, the following may be mentioned : Bernstein (as cited in § 28 n.) ; Seinecke, Der Grundgedanke des B. Ijoh (1863); Godet, Etudes Bihliques (1873), E. T. (1875); Froude, Short Studies on Great Subjects (1867), i. 266 f. ; Wellhausen, in JDT, 1871, 552-557 ; W. H. Green, The Argument of the Book of Job unfolded (1873); J. B. Mozley, Essays Historical and Theological, 1878, ii. 164-254 ; Giesebrecht, Der Wendepunkt des B. H. (1879); C. H. H, Wright, Biblical Essays (1886), 1-33; A. M. Fairbairn, The City of God {\^^6), 143 ff. ; G. G. Bradley, Lectures on the Book of Job (1888) ; Meinhold, ** Das Problems des B. H.," in Neue Jahrbb. f deiitsche Theol. (1892), 63 ff. ; J. Ley, " Das Problem in B. H. u. dessen Losung," in Neue Jahrbb. f Phil. u. Pcidag. (1896), I25ff. ; E. Meyer, Gesch. d. Altertums (1901), iii. 228-231 ; A. S. Peake, The Problem of Suffering in the OT. (1904), especially c. v, ; H. W. Robinson, The Cross of Job (1916).
^^42-43. THE AGE OF THE BOOK IxV
bJ3'
VI. The Age of the Book.
§ 42. As to the age of Job, opinions have differed perhaps more widely than with regard to any other book of the OT., though in recent times there is increasing agreement that while the book is certainly older than the ist, it is scarcely older than the 5th or at all events the 6th cent. B.C.
It is often said that the book was traditionally ascribed to Moses ; this is not correct, if by it is meant that such was the consistent ancient opinion. On the other hand, early Jewish was scarcely less divided than modern opinion. In the well- known passage in the Babylonian Talmud [Baba Bathra^ 14b, 15a) on the origin of the books of the OT. it is stated that *' Moses wrote his own book, and the passages about Balaam and Job " ; but in the discussion that follows various Rabbis ascribe the book (or the lifetime) of Job to the age of Isaac, or Jacob, or Joseph, or the spies, or the Judges, or of the kingdom of Sheba, or of the return from the Captivity, or of Ahasuerus.
The passage is translated in full in Ryle, Canon of the OT. 273 ff. The various opinions rest on a very crude form of criticism ; e.g. the similarity of py Job i^ and f'y Nu. i-f^ \ the use of isk in Job 19^ and Ex. 33^^ ; the supposition that Job was married to Dinah, Jacob's daughter, since in connection with both Dinah and Job's wife the term n^3J is used or implied (Job 2^0, Gn. 34').
§ 43. External evidence clearly defines c. 100 B.C. as the downward limit of date ; and by then the book already con- tained the speech(es) of Elihu, and had been translated into Greek.
The evidence con«^ists of a passage extracted by Eus. {Prcep. Ev. ix. 25) from Alexander Polyhistor (80-40 B.C.), who in turn cites from Aristeas ; Aristeas having- summarized the story in the Prologue runs much more summarily over the rest of the story ; in Polyhistor's words : 'Apiaralas Si (j)7i(XLV ev Ti^ irepl 'lovSaicov . . . 0aiyXa>s 5^ avrou (sc. *Iw|3) dtaKeifjLivov iXdeiu els iiriffKeypiv 'EXi^ai' rbv QaifiaviTwv ^aatXia Kal BaXSaS tCjv 2avxa.i(av riupavvov Kal 2uj0a/) TOP Mavfaluv jSacriX^a, IXOtiv 8c Kal 'EXiovv rhv Bapaxiq^ ^ov Zfa^iri]V, UapaKaXov/xivov 8^, (pdvai Kat x^P^^ frapaKXrjaeui ifM/xevelv avrbv ^v re ry evcrejSeiq. Kal Tois deipoXs. Tbv 5^ 6ebv, dyaadepra tt}v ev\pvx^o.v airroO, rijs re v6<xov atrbv dirvKvaai, /cat 'JtoXXwi' K^piov virdp^ecop iroiTJaai,
e
IXVI THE BOOK OF JOB [§§43-44.
Ben-Sirach ^ {c. i8o B.C.) refers to Job as a person mentioned in the book of Ezekiel ; but this would suggest unfamiliarity rather than familiarity with the Book of Job, and yet the parallel passages (§ 45) prove that (unless Job was written later than Sir.) Sir. was actually familiar with the book of Job.
§ 44. We are thus thrown back on internal evidence for such determination of the upward and of such exacter deter- mination of downward limits of date as may be possible.
(i) Since the author's imagination extends to the setting of the poem, it is a mistake to infer the age of the writer from the circumstances of the hero of the book. Broadly speaking, the age in which the writer intends us to think of Job as living, but certainly not that to which he himself belonged, is the patri- archal age, and he depicts conditions which he regarded as characteristic of that age. This is very clearly seen in the length of life assigned to Job : he lived 140 years after the restoration of his fortunes, and therefore something approach- ing, if not exceeding 200 in all (perhaps 210 years, 42^^ n.); in other words, his years exceeded those of Abraham (175, Gn. 257), Isaac (180, Gn. 3528), and Jacob (147, Gn. 47^^), though they fell much short of those of the ante- diluvians. As part of this imaginative setting, not necessarily as reproducing the conditions actually prevailing in or peculiar to the author's own age, or applying to the writer's own circum- stances, we may regard the description of Job's wealth in cattle and slaves (i^, cp. Gn. 13; 26^^"^* 33), his sacrificing as head of a family, like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, without the assistance of a priest, his use of burnt-offerings rather than the more specific expiatory sacrifices of the later codes (i^ n.), the currency of the k'sitah (42^^, Gn. 33^^, Jos. 24^^^). It is only when familiarity with conditions and customs not belonging to the patriarchal age, or at all events less characteristic of it than of later ages, is shown, that we may look for light on the writer's own age : thus in contrast to the Hebrew patriarchs. Job is apparently himself a monogamist (2^'- 19^^ 31^^) and a
1 49I0 pi^f om ^3 VdVodh 3V{< t\h TDjn . . . '?Npin'. In (5 which mistrans- lates, and EV. which depends on fflr, the reference disappears.
§§44-45.] THE AGE OF THE BOOK Ixvil
member of a society in which monogamy prevails (27^^ not being proof to the contrary) — a feature most characteristic of an age later than Dt. (21^^"^^) and reflected also in other Wisdom literature (cp. EBi. 2947) ; the part played by Sheba — the Sabseans — in i^^ n. 6^* can be illustrated by an inscrip- tion dating probably from about 525 B.C. ; and the political vicissitudes reflected in 9^* 12}^^' y the unhappy social conditions suggested by 3^^ 7^ 24^^^ the developed judicial system implied in the phraseology of 9^^"^^ (cp. Index, s,v. Law), are scarcely those of the patriarchal but of some later age, though whether that be the age of Sennacherib, Nebuchadnezzar, Alexander the Great, or some other, the allusions are far too general to determine. See, further, 15^^ n.
This line of evidence does not by itself lead to any very precise or secure result, though some of it suggests a date not earlier than the Exile.
§ 45. (2) The book is certainly not a product of the earliest periods of Hebrew literature. It is certainly later than Ps. 8, for in 7^^ the writer parodies Ps. 8^ ^*^ ; if, as is probable, Ps. 8 implies familiarity with P, and P was written about 500 B.C., this alone brings down the book of Job as late as the 5th cent. B.C. It is scarcely less certain that in 3*"^^ the author of Job is dependent on Jer. 2o^*"is, though Di. (p. xxxii f.) still strongly argued for the dependence of Jer. 2<^^~^^ on Job 3^^®.
There are many other passages in Job which have points of resemblance with passages in other books, and some of such a character as to indicate direct literary dependence on one side or other ; but (i) it is generally diffi- cult to determine on which side dependence lies ; (2) some of the passages in question are of uncertain date. If the dependence lies mainly or exclusively on the side of Job, it shows very great familiarity of the author with the literature of his people, and also his great literary craftman- ship, for the phrases or figures borrowed are used by him freshly and independently ; if the dependence is on the side of the other writings, the parallels show the extent of the influence of the book of Job on subsequent writers. Probably by far the greater number of cases of real literary dependence is on the part of the author of Job. Of the vast number of "parallels" that have been collected, a selection may be given, though in by no means all even of these is direct literary connection necessarily implied.
Ixviil
THE BOOK OF JOB
[§§ 45-46.
|
/ith |
I 14" I2«*'- |
cp. |
Is. i9«- iw- |
With |
31" |
cp. |
Mai. 2^° |
|
|
4« 5" |
Hos. 10", Pr. 228 |
|||||||
|
tt |
>t |
„ 6\ Dt. 32'' |
n |
720 |
16I2 |
,* |
La. 3" |
|
|
fi |
14" |
tt |
1, *3 ,1 32 |
tt |
9I8 |
It |
,1 3" It 2 3 <jl4. 63 II 3 |
|
|
98.912" i8i« |
t> ft |
Am. 4" 5' 9' |
tt |
,69f. 30» |
t' |
|||
|
(1 |
42» |
(f |
Gn. ii«(J) |
ti |
5"' |
tt |
Pr. 3"'- |
|
|
r 19-24 |
1, s''-"" t, 8^* |
|||||||
|
»> |
6l6ff. r.19 |
tt |
Jer. i5^« t, 49" t, 2o'^La.3" t, 17^ „ 208, La. 3» |
tt tt |
5 12^3 |
ft tt |
||
|
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9 12* I2« 2l' 13 19=* 19^ |
tt |
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15' 18' 26i« |
It tt ti |
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Is. 40^^, La. 3'-» |
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II 15 |
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ft ft |
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tt t, |
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ft tt |
Ps. io7«> t, 107" 114^ |
|
|
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13 |
ft |
2219 510. |
tt 107^^ |
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|
*i |
I4» |
ft |
„ 4o«S Ps. 90" |
ti |
26 |
tt |
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|
io3^«- ., 59*, Ps. 7" |
tt |
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,585 |
ft |
tt |
7,9 29^' |
losof. |
tt |
ti 39^* t, 72^2 |
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le^o 30" |
tt |
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tf |
ti |
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tt tt |
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tt tt |
Qoh. 5^* Sir. 2i<» |
|
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ft |
42" |
tf |
Gn. ss"" (P) 25« |
• t |
2827 |
II |
t9 II * |
|
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(P) |
t, |
31I8 |
ft |
tt 4^'* |
For further discussion of these and other parallels and conclusions (often in different directions), see J. Earth, Beitrnge zur Erkldriing des Buches Hiob, 1-17 ; Di. xxx.-xxxiv. ; Seyring, Die Ahhangigkeit der Sprilche Salomos cc. i-g von Hiob (1889); H. L. Strack, «* Die Prioritat d. B. H. gegeniiber den Einleitungsreden z. d. Spriichen Salomonis," in TSK, 1896, 609 ff. ; Che. Job and Sol. 83-89 ; The Prophecies of Isaiah^^ i. 228 (on parallels with the Song of Hezekiah), ii. 245 f. ; Dr. LOT^ 434 f.
§ 46. (3) The theology and religious ideas of the book of Job are those of a relatively late period, though not of quite the latest period represented in the OT. The book presupposes (a) a general agreement as to the religious value of the individ- ual independently of the community, of personality : yet also {h) a practically unchallenged conviction that the real life or personality of the individual is terminated by death ; {a) is the necessary condition of the entire discussion, and {h) determines its limitation : had there been a general belief in the survival
§46.] THE AGE OF THE BOOK IxiX
after death of the personality with undiminished or enhanced relations with God, this must have affected the discussion by Job and the friends of the sufferings of the righteous and the prosperity of the wicked in this life. Now of these two ideas (a) is seen emerging against the still prevalent acceptance of the principle of solidarity at the end of the 7th cent. B.C. (Dt. 24^^, Ezk. 18. 33, Jer. 31-'^^-), and (b) was already discarded by at least the important circles represented by the book of Daniel (12^: cp. also the post-exilic prophecy, Is. 24-27 ; and see Isaiah^ p. 399 f.), i.e, by about 167 b.c.^ Consequently the book of Job is best explained as the product of a period lying between the close of the 7th and the beginning of the 2nd cent. B.C., and indeed at some distance from either of these extreme limits; considerably earlier than the 2nd cent., for even the Elihu speeches, separated probably, as the linguistic differences suggest, by a century or two from the rest of the book, say nothing of an after life ; and considerably later than the 7th cent., for what there appears as a freshly gained perception is here the common possession of Job and his opponents in debate who represent the current theology of the time. Certainly the question of the sufferings of the righteous was much discussed from the close of the 7th cent, onwards, but the question is at first raised either with reference to nations (Hab. i^^'-. Is. 40-55), or if in reference to individuals (Jer. 12^"^) yet in such a way as not to suggest that it was one of general concern. Such Pss. as 37. 49 and 73, which discuss the question, are themselves of uncertain date though scarcely pre-exilic. But Mai. 2^^ 3^*- ^^, certainly written in the middle of the 5th cent. B.C., offer significant parallels to the formulation of the problem in Job.
Other ideas agree well with such a date as the 5th cent, or independently suggest it. A lofty monotheism (cp. i^ n. 2i26-28 j^ j^ such as Deut. -Isaiah had argued fovy is presupposed in all parts of the book ; and the descriptions in Job of God's majesty and might in nature and history are not as the similar
* The doctrine of a future life also appears in f&. — not only in the Appen- dix to the book, most of which at least is later than the original version but also in 14^* : see Exp.^ 1920 (June), 430.
Ixx THE BOOK OF JOB [§§46-47.
description in Deut.-Is. introduced to prove that there is no room for any other but one God, but that that one God's ways are past man's comprehension. Under God are ang-els (5^ 15^^ 37^) with well-defined functions (ct. i K. 22), such as that of inter- ceding for men (5^ n. 332^ n.) or criticizing them — the Satan. The Satan of Job appears to belong to an earlier period than Satan (without the art) of i Ch. 21^ (not earlier than c. 300 B.C.), and is decisively earlier than 0 hid^oXof; of Wis. 2^*, but is later rather than as early as or earlier than the Satan of Zee. 3 (520 B.C.) : see i* n. The highly developed ethical standpoint, implicit particularly in c. 31, also points to a relatively late period.
§ 47« (4) Like the ideas, the language of the book is late, though not so late as that of some other books of the OT. {e.g, Eccl. Ch.). Certain linguistic features taken by themselves would point even to a period earlier rather than later than the 5th cent. B.C. : thus ^33K (§ 25) is relatively more frequent in Job than in Is. 40-55 (Job — excluding Elihu — "'D:x 12, '•i5< 20; Is. 40-55, •'33K 18, ^3X 54). Many other features point away from the latest periods — e.g. the use of the waw conversive (ct. Eccl.), the avoidance of ^ (ct. e.g. Eccl.). On the other hand, there are distinct signs of lateness. Even apart from the Elihu speeches, the Aramaisms (§ 28) — decidedly more con- spicuous than in Is. 40-55 — are very noticeable ; and so also is the use of h as the nota ace. : see 5^ n. 8^ n. 9^^ n. 12^^ 14^^ 1^28 2 1 22 238 — and perhaps 34^ (Elihu). The rarer forms of particles and pronominal suffixes (§ 26), which form a striking feature of the language of Job, might be largely explained as the idiosyncrasy of a writer of any period, but as a whole (cp. Isaiah^ p. 467) point rather to a relatively late period. The vocabulary contains very much that is peculiar (see Index II.) to the book, including a number of words explicable only from the Arabic,^ and sometimes termed, with questionable propriety, Arabisms ; but this does not, at all events directly, contribute anything to the determination of the date.
Thus the various lines of evidence converge towards the conclusion that Job was most probably written in the 5th cent.
* See references under "Arabic" in Index I.
g^ 47-48.] THE TEXT 1
XXI
B.C. ; since much of the evidence taken in isolation Is neither rigorous nor indicative of such narrow limits as a century, the possibility of a somewhat earlier or a somewhat later date may be entertained as alternatives ; but several lines of evidence are very unfavourable to any theory of much earlier or much later date.
VII. The Text.
§ 48. As in other books of the OT., so in Job variants that materially affect the sense, whether between existing MSS of J^ or between the Qre and K^thib, are not numerous ; but ffic here, as elsewhere, points to the existence of now lost MSS that differed more extensively. Unfortunately the determina- tion of the Hebrew text lying behind & is rendered peculiarly difficult in Job by the fact that the version is often free and paraphrastic ; ^ and the use of (B: for determining the original text of J^ is greatly limited by the fact that much of that text was not rendered at all.
Printed editions of (& (including Swete's), following the great mass of Greek MSS, it is true, present a text not differing greatly in extent from P| ; but this text, as we know from the most direct and certain evidence,^ has resulted from the addition to the short ancient version of Job, dating from before, but not necessarily long before, 80 b.c.,^ of renderings of many passages not contained in that version from later Greek versions, chiefly 0, very much more rarely 'A, X (2nd cent. a.d.). These additions to the original text of (& were made by Origen in the Hexapla, but were there distinguished by the use of diacritical marks ; subsequently the Hexaplaric text drove out the much shorter text, and, further, the diacritical marks were
* Many illustrations of this will be found in the phil. nn. {e.g. on 8^^ 9" 14^* iS^ \f' » 20^5 2918 30I3. 14 32I4 3619). See also Bi. De Indole vers. Alex. Jobiy 1862.
^ Origen, Ad African. 4. Cp. Jer. Prcef. in Hioh.
' Aristeas {c. 80 B.C.) made use of the version (cp. § 43). On this and the date of ffi, see Swete, OT. in Greeks 25, 370 f. ; Schiirer, Gesch. d. jiid. Volkes^, 311, 356f. ; J. Freudenthal, Hellenistische Sfudien, 136 fF. Gratz in the Monaisschrift, 1877, p. 83 IF. (cp. Exp., June 1920, p. 430) arg-ued unconvincingly that €r was no older than the middle of the first cent. a.d.
Ixx THE BOOK OF JOB [§§46-47.
description in Deut.-Is. introduced to prove that there is no room for any other but one God, but that that one God's ways are past man's comprehension. Under God are angels (5^ 15^^ 37^) with well-defined functions (ct. i K. 22)^ such as that of inter- ceding for men (5^ n. 33^3 n.) or criticizing them — the Satan. The Satan of Job appears to belong to an earlier period than Satan (without the art) of i Ch. 21^ (not earlier than c. 300 B.C.), and is decisively earlier than 0 5tay9oXo9 of Wis. 2^"^, but is later rather than as early as or earlier than the Satan of Zee. 3 (520 B.C.) : see i* n. The highly developed ethical standpoint, implicit particularly in c. 31, also points to a relatively late period.
§ 47* (4) Like the ideas, the language of the book is late, though not so late as that of some other books of the OT. {e.^, Eccl. Ch.). Certain linguistic features taken by themselves would point even to a period earlier rather than later than the 5th cent. B.C. : thus ''33N (§ 25) is relatively more frequent in Job than in Is. 40-55 (Job — excluding Elihu — ''33« 12, ''3j< 20; Is. 40-55, •'D3N 18, ^3K 54). Many other features point away from the latest periods — e.^. the use of the waw conversive (ct. Eccl.), the avoidance of K' (ct. e.^; Eccl.). On the other hand, there are distinct signs of lateness. Even apart from the Elihu speeches, the Aramaisms (§ 28) — decidedly more con- spicuous than in Is. 40-55 — are very noticeable ; and so also is the use of f) as the twla ace. : see 5^ n. 8^ n. 9^^ n. 12^3 1421 1^28 2i22 238 — and perhaps 34^ (Elihu). The rarer forms of particles and pronominal suffixes (§ 26), which form a striking feature of the language of Job, might be largely explained as the Idiosyncrasy of a writer of any period, but as a whole (cp. Isaiahy p. 467) point rather to a relatively late period. The vocabulary contains very much that is peculiar (see Index II.) to the book, including a number of words explicable only from the Arabic,^ and sometimes termed, with questionable propriety, Arabisms ; but this does not, at all events directly, contribute anything to the determination of the date.
Thus the various lines of evidence converge towards the conclusion that Job was most probably written in the 5th cent.
* See references under " Arabic " in Index I.
SS 47-48.] THE TEXT Ixxi
B.C. ; since much of the evidence taken in ivSolation is neither rigorous nor indicative of such narrow limits as a century, the possibility of a somewhat earlier or a somewhat later date may be entertained as alternatives ; but several lines of evidence are very unfavourable to any theory of much earlier or much later date.
VII. The Text.
§ 48. As in other books of the OT., so in Job variants that materially affect the sense, whether between existing MSS of 5^ or between the Qre and K^thib, are not numerous ; but ffi: here, as elsewhere, points to the existence of now lost MSS that differed more extensively. Unfortunately the determina- tion of the Hebrew text lying behind (& is rendered peculiarly difficult in Job by the fact that the version is often free and paraphrastic ; ^ and the use of €r for determining the original text of ^ is greatly limited by the fact that much of that text was not rendered at all.
Printed editions of ^ (including Swete*s), following the great mass of Greek MSS, it is true, present a text not differing greatly in extent from p] ; but this text, as we know from the most direct and certain evidence,^ has resulted from the addition to the short ancient version of Job, dating from before, but not necessarily long before, 80 b.c.,^ of renderings of many passages not contained in that version from later Greek versions, chiefly 0, very much more rarely 'A, ^ (2nd cent. a.d.). These additions to the original text of (& were made by Origen in the Hexapla, but were there distinguished by the use of diacritical marks ; subsequently the Hexaplaric text drove out the much shorter text, and, further, the diacritical marks were
* Many illustrations of this will be found in the phil. nn. {e.g: on 8'^ 9^' 14^* 1528 if' 3 20^5 29I8 30^3- 1* 32^* 3619). See also Bi. Be Indole vers. Alex. Jobi, 1862.
^ Origen, Ad African. 4. Cp. Jer. Prcef. in Hioh.
' Aristeas {c. 80 B.C.) made use of the version (cp. § 43). On this and the date of CR, see Swete, OT. in. Greek, 25, 370 f. ; Schurer, Gesch. d. jiid. Volkes^, 311, 356f.; J. Freudenthal, Hellenistische Studien, 136 ff. Gratz in the Monatsschrift, 1877, p. 83 ff. (cp. Exp., June 1920, p. 430) argued unconvincingly that <& was no older than the middle of the first cent. a.d.
ixxii THE BOOK OF JOB [§48.
commonly omitted, surviving" only in two Greek minuscules, ^ in two Latin MSS,^ and in the unique MS of ,S".^ These five MSS * differ in some places as to the positions of the marks, and so leave a certain amount of doubt as to the exact extent of the additions made by Origen.
A witness of another kind to the original extent of (S appeared with the discovery of iSt — the Sahidic version of ffi.^ Ciasca, who edited this, argued that 33t was a pre-Hexaplaric version of ©, and his view was commonly accepted. Burkitt, on the other hand [EBi. 5027 f.), argues that lit is *' a transla- tion of Origfen's revised text with the passages under asterisk omitted''^ ; in this case f3t is still a valuable witness, though its evidence is now in reality early evidence as to the use of the Hexaplaric marks. Be the exact relation of i^ to the Hexa- plaric text what it may, from it the passages asterisked in the MSS of ffi^, iL, and ^ are, broadly speaking,^ absent, and
^ HP 248 ( = Cod. Vaticanus, 346, c. xiv. saec.) and the Cod. Colbertinus (Paris, nr. 1952).
'^ An Oxford MS (Bodleian 2426) and a Tours MS (Turonensis 18) : ed. P. de Lagarde in Mittheilungetiy ii. 193-237 : cp. G. Beer in ZATW^ 1896, 297-314; 1897, 97-122; 1898, 257-286.
3 Published in facsimile by A. M. Ceriani, Codex Syro-hexaplaris Ambrosianus, Milan, 1874.
* The evidence of these together with the fragments of 62 'A were collected by Field in Origenis Hexaplorum quce supersunt (1875) — published before the discovery of 1^. For corrections of and additions to Field, see J. B. Pitra, Analecta Sacra (1883), 556 f. ; E. Klostermann, Analecta zui Septuaginta (1895), 68-74. See also E. Tisserant in RB^ 1912, 481-503 ; 1919, 89-105, 500-505, and A. Rahlfs, Mit. d. Septuaginia-Unternehmen^ i. 7 (1915)— all on the Greek Uncial Cod. Hierosolymitanus Sanctse Crucis, no. 36.
5 Edited by Ciasca in Sacrorum Bihl. fragmenta Copto-Sahidica, Romse, 1889, ii. 1-68. From mutilation of MSS, cc. 39^-40^ of this version are missing. The lower Egyptian, or Bohairic, version of ®t was edited and translated by H. Tattam {The aticient Coptic Version of the hook of Job, London, 1846) ; but this version contains the Hexaplaric additions and is of relatively little interest. An index of existing Coptic texts of Job is given by A. Vaschalde in RB, 1920, 95-98.
^ Thus the only stichoi asterisked in S" and yet present in IS are 9*'^'' (in IS before g^^*) 1 7^^^ 20^- ^ 2$^^ 27^ 30^2^ ; and of these 25^'' and 27^ (in (J5 exactly = 29^ which is not asterisked even in ^") are not asterisked in any other MSS. On the possibility of some of the remaining four passages being pre-Origenian, see p. Ixxiii, n. 3.
§§ 48-49.] THE TEXT Ixxiil
so far as extent is concerned ISt closely represents the pre- Origenian and presumably also the original state of ffir. It is probable, indeed, that to a very small extent the present defect of i^ is due to loss in the transmission of It itself.^ On the other hand, there is some reason for thinking that two passages corresponding to nothing in 5^ but found in iat as in all other authorities for ^ after 2^ 42^'', formed no part of the original text of iS ; ^ and it is also possible that a very small number of entire stichoi common to ^, 1^, and J^, are derived from or influenced by the later Greek Versions.^
§ 49. Of the existing text of 5^, then, there appears to have been in the original text of ffi no equivalent for (i) the passages absent from It (except i^^^ G^^a 1519a ^^ibh.WB. 3y2ib) . (2) some dozen stichoi in 39^-40^* (lost through mutilation of the MS in
* Due to loss, probably in the transmission of 1^ (and if not, then in the earlier transmission of the text of ffir rendered by 1^) are probably the few lines absent from It though not asterisked in a?^_>/ of the existing- MSS con- taining the Hexaplaric marks : there are i*^^ 6^^* and 15^^* 33^^''- ^^^ 37^^*". In the case of 33^^*'- ^"^ homoioteleuton, as Ciasca pointed out, would easily account for the loss of the lines in Sahidic, while the rendering of nn by vovs instead of irvevfia. points strongly to dS rather than 0 or any of the other later versions.
^ See The Additions in the Ancient Greek Version of Job {Exp.^ June 1920, 422-438). The conclusions there reached were that the speech of Job's wife in 2^ as well as the Appendix (after 42^') formed no part of the original version : the vocabulary in 2^ points strongly to a different hand : note Xdrpis, fidx^os, aWpios, diavvKTepeveip, irXavTJTLS, els rb ksvov. The minor additions of a word or a clause such as occur in i^* ^' ^- ^*' ^ 2^° 5'*- ^ 7^^- ^^ 13^^ 1^28 2^4 21^ 3323 38^ 41^ 42^- ^o- ^1' 16 may most or all of them be original to the version.
^ From what has been said above (p. Ixxii, n. 6), it is clear that the stichoi present in It, which all the MSS with the Hexaplaric marks agree in marking as additions, do not exceed half a dozen. In one or two of these cases, style supports the suggestion of the Hexaplaric marks that the stichoi, though in 1^, were derived from, or at least as now read influenced by, 6. Thus in 17'^ Xw/ict ( = n£j;) points to 0, who substitutes it for <&'s ir^rpa in 14^, for fflc's yi] in 19-^ ; note also in 20^ iraidela (cp. 0 36^" 37^ ; and ct. vovd^Trj/na in 5" ffir). It is possible 3ct in these cases rests on a text of ffi not yet affected by 0 : thus in 1 7^6 eiTKA^ might render yTp (which, if the stichos actually stood in (B, would almost certainly have been used) just as well as the xcijuaros of the existing text. So in 20^ iraidela and perhaps also aTroKpidrja-erai [xol rather point to 0 ; but let might be a rendering not of these words, but of vovOirriixa (cp. 5^'^) and 5c6(ret /tot air6Kpt.aLv (cp. 13^^ <& and It), which would probably have been used by <&.
IxxiV THE BOOK OF JOB [§§ 49-50.
^), viz. 3g53-^8- 28- (eV' i^o^y 7reTpa<; koX a7roKpv(f>(p) ^^- ^^ asterisked in <S^, and in some or all of the other MSS giving the Hexaplaric marks ; (3) certain stichoi, present in 33t but asterisked in ^^ and (or) other MSS, such as 17^* 20^. The number of stichoi involved in (i) and (2) is between 350 and 400 ; to these (3) adds at most a relatively negligible quantity.^ A list of the omissions of ffi is given in § 31.
§ 50. Does, now, this defect of dSt represent an earlier or later form of the text than J^ ? 2 Is it due — in the main at least — to the loss or disregard on the part of the translation of what previously existed ? or is it due to the subsequent expansion of the Hebrew text by the addition of the matter now found in J^, but absent from the earlier form of (K? In considering this question these observations may be made :
(i) The main structure of the book is unaffected by the defect of S : in © as in Jl^ there are found Prologue, Dialogue, with three cycles — two complete and one incomplete — of speeches, the speeches of Elihu, the speeches of Yahweh (includ- ing the lengthy descriptions of Behemoth and Leviathan), and the Epilogue.
(2) The defect is not at all evenly distributed over the book. The following table may serve to indicate this sufficiently :
* A defect of 350 stichoi represents about ^ of the whole, the total length of the existing text of ^ being- equivalent to about 2200 stichoi, and the stichoi of the conflate Greek text ranging in different MSS from 202 1-* 2i26i* to 2153^. Some of the stichometries indicate a larger proportion of originally absent stichoi, giving the number of non-asterisked stichoi, i.e. the stichoi of the original version, as 1800, 1700, 1600, the last figure having the better authority (cp. Swete, Introduciion, 347, 350 ; PRE viii. loi with references). Klostermann {ib. 102) concludes that (!& was originally shorter by at least a quarter than the existing text of ^.
^ The priority of |§ was generally unchallenged till 1889, when E. Hatch, in Essays on Biblical Greek (vi.), argued for the priority of © — that, in the main ffi represented the original extent of the book and J^ an amplification. In favour of the priority of (& is also Bi. (2); cp. the English translation of Job by E. J. Dillon in The Sceptics of the OT,, 1895. This theory has been criticized and the priority of fir maintained especially by Di. {Sitzungs- berichte d. Berliner Ak., 1890, pp. 1345-1373), Dr. (Contemporary Review, Feb. 1896, p. 159 ff.). Bu«
§50.]
THE TEXT
Ixxv
|
Approximate Per- |
|||
|
Stichoi absent |
CKNTAGE OF THE |
||
|
FROM ffi. |
WHOLE Number |
||
|
Prologue • • • . |
OF Stichoi in % |
||
|
1 |
|||
|
First Cycle of Speeches— |
|||
|
Cc. 3-6 . |
0 |
||
|
M 7-" . |
6 |
||
|
„ 12-14 . |
17-23 |
4 |
|
|
Second Cycle 15-21 , |
59 |
16 |
|
|
Third „ 22-31 , |
124 |
25 |
|
|
Elihu 32-37 |
114 |
35 |
|
|
Yahweh 38-422« |
43 |
16 |
|
|
Epilogue |
3 |
(3) The passages absent from ffi are not in Hebrew dis- tinguished from the rest by any differences of style and vocab- ulary, but on the other hand they are connected with them by some noticeable similarities. Thus what is absent from (& employs the same three terms for God — hii (7 times), niiw (3 times), >^^ (2 times) ; and as within J^ there is a difference in the degree of preference for hi< (see above, § 24), so also is there in the passages of Elihu absent from ffir (^N six times, ni5)X once). Similarly the passages absent from (& contain in J^ several of the rarer particles (see above, § 26), as, e.£.y ^^i^ in 29^^ and iD"!)j; (272^ 30^7). |
(4) The removal of the passages absent from (!5 in many cases destroys the poetical structure by depriving one parallel line of its fellow, e.^. io*» 20^*^ 3127* 338* 346b.11b.i8b ^^eb^ while in few if any cases does ffir yield good distichs where J^ has tristichs or isolated stichoi. It is true Bi. establishes at least an appearance of a very rigid poetical structure, but this he does not by accurately reproducing ^, but by omitting both more and less : e.^. in 10* he omits 10** with dSc, but then also 10^* without the authority of ffi, in order to obtain a distich of sorts indeed, but inferior to either of the distichs in J^.
Of the foregoing (i) is obviously quite indecisive: a book of the present length of J^ may have been abbreviated ; on the other hand, a shorter book which had already been expanded
IxXVl THE BOOK OF JOB [§§50-51.
by the addition of the speeches of Elihu might at a later date have been expanded in quite a different way by the addition of what is present in JLf, but was absent from (&. But (2) already inclines the balance against the priority of ^ : it would have been natural for an abbreviator to shorten increasingly in the successive cycles, which in general cover much the same ground, and most of all in the speeches of Elihu, which contribute so little that is fresh. On the other hand, increasing activity on the part of an expander such as would be required to account for the distribution of the additional matter is less likely. Finally, (3) and (4) tell heavily against the priority of ffi and in favour of J^.
But although in the main Ji^, so far as extent is concerned, represents an earlier text than ffi^, some of the omissions of (Sc are of passages which there are independent reasons for sus- pecting not to belong to the original text of ^ : see, e.g"., 7^ 12^ 23^ with the notes. Yet it must remain uncertain whether even these passages which relatively to the whole omissions of ffi are exceedingly few, are absent because not in ^'s Hebrew text, or like the rest of the omissions are due to abbreviation— in these cases accidentally restoring the original text.
§ 51. In those parts of the book rendered by the early version, ffi sometimes points to a better text than ?^, though less fre- quently, and on account of Its paraphrastic tendency less clearly, than in some other books {e.£: Samuel). The other ancient versions^ made direct from the Hebrew rarely serve, where fflr fails, to correct ?^. Many places remain In which neither J^ nor any text to which the versions point can be regarded as original : in these cases the original must be regained, if at all, by conjecture, and here rhythm becomes a valuable aid.
* On these see for S, A. Mandl, Die Peschittha z. Hiob, Leipzig, 1892 ; E. Stenij, De Syriaca libri Johi interpretatione quce PescMta vocatuTy Helsingfors, 1887 ; E. Baumann, ** Die Verwendbarkeit der Pe§ita z. B. Hiob fur die Textkritik," in ZATWy 1898-1900: for C, W. Bacher, " Das Targum z. Hiob," in Monatsschrifi, 1871, 208-223, 283 f.; M. Lewin, Targum u. Midrasch zum Buche Hioby 1895,
§ 52.] THE RHYTHMS OF THE BOOK OF JOB IxxvII
VIII. The Rhythms^ of the Book of Job.
§ 52. The prevailing rhythmical form in the book is that of the balanced distich of two lines each containing three stresses (3:3); but this is only the prevailing, not the exclusive rhythm ; still less do the lines necessarily consist exclusively of seven syllables (Bi.), or the distichs regularly coalesce into quatrains (Bi. Du.).
The dominance of the 3 : 3 rhythm is too obvious to call for proof here, but on the extent of departure from it — certainly in the existing and probably also in the original text — something more must be said. It follows from their rigid quatrain theory that Bi. and Du. allow no tristichs in the original text, though in what they regard as additions to the original they some- times imagine more tristichs than exist now, or ever existed (see p. 205). In the existing text there are in all a considerable number of tristichs, or, alternatively, distichs preceded or followed by isolated stichoi ; ^ some of these are open to more or less suspicion,^ but a number remain which there is no reason whatever, beyond the fact that they are tristichs, for questioning. Although elsewhere combined with 3 : 3 there occur as occasional variants other divisions of the full six-stress period, viz. 2 : 2 : 2 or 2 : 4 or 4 : 2 ; in the book of Job these variants are at most exceedingly rare: see phil. n. on 17^'^^, also AJSL xxxvi. 95 ff. A striking example of 2 : 2 : 2 would be 9^1, if the text is correct there.
On the other hand, of other rhythms there are examples, relatively rare, it is true, yet actually too numerous in the present text for it to be probable that none are original. Thus in the phil. n. on 17^^ (p. 114) references are given to 22
1 Cp. G. B. Gray, The Forms of Hebrew Poetry ; and more briefly, Isaiah^ pp. lix-lxviii, on the subject of Hebrew rhythm generally. For rhythm in Job in particular, see Bi. ; J. Ley, TSK, 1895, 635 ff., 1897, p. 7 fF. ; P. Vetter, Die Metrik des Bitches Job, 1897 ; H. Grimme, Theolog. QuartaU schrift, 1898, pp. 295 ff., 421 fF., 1899, 112 ff., 259 ff. ; Sievers ; Honth. 44-70. Bu.'s Comm. contains much detailed criticism of Bi.
2 See 3*- ^' ^- ^ 4^"* 5^ 6*- " 7^^ 8^ (^ lo^- " W- 22 1 1«. Wf. 123. 4. 6. 13. 27 ^^au 7. 12.
13. 14. 19 i^2«. 30 (,,^1. 11) ig4 igl2. 27. 2K 20^3 2l"- ^ 2^' "• 13. IB. 18(30). 24 26" aS^- *• » 303 3i7. 34 33I5. 23f. 3^37 3^21. 23 3341 3925.
' See, e.g.^ p. 30 on the four tristichs in 3**^.
IxXVlil THE BOOK OF JOB [§52.
examples of 3 : 2 (several with the echoing parallelism charac- teristic of this rhythm : see, e.g,^ 8^1 12^^ 18^^ 2721 29*5 33^2 36^* 37^ 38^ 39^), to which a few more might be added, for example, two in 721. But 40^* is very questionable proof that 2 : 3 was used. Of 4 : 3 a dozen examples are referred to in the same note ; and of these, too (add 42- 10 and 29^^), a few are likely to be original, though several are open to serious doubt on one ground or another. Even possible instances of 3 : 4 are very rare (phil. n. on 21^^ p. 7^7: cp. 29*, p. 200). The examples of 4 : 4 are few: however, see 3^ 15^*^ 22^^ 27^^ 29* 34^^, but 15^3 21^8 and 23^ are all doubtful (see phil. nn.). The rhytnm 2 : 2, i.e. a single period of four stresses divided Into equal parallel lines, is very rare; but 10* seems a secure example of it : 19^* is much more doubtful (see phil. n.).
PART I. TRANSLATION AND COMMENTARY.
I. II. The Prologue.— This consists of a prelude, ii-«, two scenes in heaven, i^^^ and 2^"*, two series of consequences to Job on earth of what had been determined in heaven, i^^"^^ 2^~^^, and a conclusion, 2""^. The prelude depicts Job at the height of his prosperity, rich in children and possessions ; in the conclusion, Job is seen, not for any fault in him, but for reasons revealed to the reader though concealed from the sufferer and his friends, deprived of children, possessions, and health, and thus brought to such a degree of adversity as to stupefy into silence the very friends who had come to comfort him. The writer relies on repetition rather than variation for emphasis and effect; for it is the repetitions rather than the slight variations, in so far as these latter are original, that are prominent in the account of the scenes in heaven, the descrip- tions of Job's character (x^ ^ 2^), and his constancy (i^* 2^®), and in the words of the messengers (x^*"^^) ; and yet along with this use of repetition, there is an almost more striking effect of concentration and compression. In these two brief chapters the long and peaceful earlier life of Job, and the series of tragic actions of what threatens to be its close, are alike, though briefly, yet vividly depicted with sufficient fullness for the writer's purpose, but with a severe neglect of all that is unessential.
Two things the writer intends to stand out : the character of Job and his prosperity ; the one as constant, the other as passing ; the one as esssential, the other as accidental. The I
2 THE BOOK OF JOB [l. 1-5.
I. ^ There was (once) a man in the land of Us, whose name was Job. That man was perfect and upright, fearing God
wealth and the fortune of Job grow, culminate, vanish ; the character of Job remains intact. Without his character Job is nothing ; without his wealth he remains everything. But it is with this constancy of character, not the growth or formation of it, that the writer is concerned ; how Job's wealth came is indicated, how it vanished is described ; how his character was formed is not even indicated : but that it existed before his wealth is implied, and how it endured through prosperity and in adversity is depicted. In the interest of these two themes, the changing fortunes and the enduring character of Job, the restraint in the choice of detail and the repetitions are alike employed. A modern writer would almost certainly have depicted, even within the scope of the Prologue, character as well as fortune developing, the two in action and reaction ; the ancient writer does not.
I. 1-5. The character and wealth of Job.
I. The name and country of the hero of the story are given (*), and then immediately the writer passes to the main point — the character of Job (^) ; — this was completely good, and so, on the current theory, explained his great wealth, but made his deprivation of wealth a riddle. There was (once) a man] cp. 2 S. 12^, and see phil. n. — Us] One of the tribes who together made up ** the children of the East '* (^) : the land of Us lay to the East of Palestine, but whether in the Hauran, or farther south on the confines of Edom, cannot be certainly determined (see Introduction) ; and it has been suggested (Bu. p. xi) that even to the writer himself it was a wide and vague term. Be this as it may, the writer had a clear idea of the nature of Job's country : it lay on the confines of the desert (^^ ; cp. ^^- ^^) to the E. of Palestine (^), yet in a district of great farms (^*), and near a town (29^; cp. 2^ n.). Job was at once a great sheep-master, like Mesha of Moab (2 K. 3*), a great agri- culturist, and a man of great influence in the town.— ybd] strictly 'I>{)/od : see further, on the name. Introduction. — That man 'was\ the tense is frequentative, the following tense (^)
1. 1.] THE PROLOGUE 3
consecutive: first the character, then, and in consequence, the children and the wealth. But the children are all grown up, and the sons at least settled in houses of their own : this character of Job is, therefore, carried far back, and throughout the long years it had habitually manifested itself. Job, like Noah before the Flood (Gn. 6^ P), like Abraham (Gn. 17I P) and Jacob (Gn. 2527_JE or ? R), is complete, sound, free from defect, and, in this sense, perfect {tam^ ^ 2^ 8^^ 9^^' ^^- ^^ and six times f outside the book of Job ; tamtniy 12* 36* 37^^> ^^^ nearly ninety times f elsewhere). A satisfactory single rendering for the adj., which will preserve in English the connection with the corresponding substantives {tummahy 2^-^27^ 31^, also Pr. ii^f; tomy 4^, also Pr. 2^, Ps. 26^- ^^ al.), is difficult to find ; EV. renders the adj. hy perfect ^ the subst., excellently, by integrity. Used as ethical terms these nouns and adjectives describe rather generally the good as contrasted with the bad man : thus one or other of them is used combined, or in synonymous parallelism, with ")tj>% upright (n. or adj.), in Ps. 37^7 2521, Pr. 221 2810 (?) 29I0 (?) (cp. I K. 9^ Pr. 2^"); with plV (n., adj., or vb.), righteous^ in 920 12*, Ps. f, Gn, 69, Pr. ii^ (cf. c. 22^ 2f^-, Ps. 152) ; with T\'0^, fidelity, truth, in Jg. 9^^- 1^, Jos. 24^*; with r\p^, to he innocenty in Ps. 19^* (cp. Gn. 20^) ; they are used in antithesis to D"'V")») evil doers in 320 (cp. Ps. 645 <4> after ^ (2)) ; yt^-,, wickedy in 920- 22^ p^. 11^ 28^2 J Qs^-j "iK'DX, blood-guilty men y in Pr. 29^^; and (implicitly) *ikkeshy twistedy in 920, Pr. lo^ 19^, Dt. 32^ (after v.*). Noticeable also is the association of being tdmlm with walking before God in Gn. 17^ (cp. 6^) ; and of those whose way, or conduct, is perfect ("jm *'D^Dn), with ''those who walk in the law of Yahweh " (Ps. 119^). In so far as the terms retain the special meaning suggested by the common meaning of the root alike in Hebrew and Arabic, they refer to the completeness of the character ; in Job tmn does not mean perfect in the sense of absolutely sinless, for Job, who maintains that he is tmn (27^, cp. 2^), admits the presence in himself of the sins common to humanity (132^ 14^^^*) ^P- I4^> if original) ; but it is more than a/Ae/xTTTO? (S), ** blameless" (RVm. in Gn. 6^) ; it implies a character that is complete, all of a piece, not, /is the
4 THE BOOK OF JOB [l. 1-3.
and avoiding wrong. ^ And so there were born to him seven sons and three daughters. ^ And his cattle came to be
Satan and after him the friends insinuate, one thing on the surface and another within ; it is a character that seeks its ends openly, along the one true path, not like the 'ikkesh trickily, by crooked and devious paths; or, in a figure used by the writer himself, the tdniy or perfect man, is one whose character is full- weight: "let me be weighed in correct scales that God may recognize my integrity," ue, that I am full weight (31®). — Upright] another of the frequently recurring ethical terms for the good man : yashar etymologically describes the good man as straight, straightforward; it commonly occurs combined or in parallelism with other wide ethical terms such as tarn (see last n.), ""pD (4^ 17^), "]? (8^), P''^^ {^'g' Ps. 33^ 140^*) ; in I S. 29^^- the term expresses the idea of loyalty. As the first adj. applied to Job associates him with Noah, Abraham, and Jacob, so does the second with the Hebrew ideal of conduct as expressed in the title **the book of the upright" for the collection of early poems, and the national epithet Yeshurun (see Numbers^ p. 347). At the same time there is nothing exclusively Jewish associated with either term ; for Abimelech of Gerar acts in the integrity (totn) of his heart (Gn. 20^), and Achish of Gath and the Philistine princes set store by the quality of uprightness (i S. 29^^-). — Fearing God] this, rather than the distinctively Jewish phrase fearing Yahwehf is chosen, and is even used in the speech of the Satan to Yahweh in v.^ ; cp. " the fear of God " (Gn. 20*), ** the fear of the Almighty " in 6^*. Corresponding to the fear of God, as the principle of conduct, is the habit of avoiding evil (cp. 28^^, Pr. 3^), i.e. not the abandonment of evil courses previously followed (an idea otherwise expressed at least in Is. i^^), but the resolute rejection of the opportunities to evil w^hich life offers; so in Pr. 13^^ <* to avoid evil" is the antithesis to the satisfaction of (evil) desire ; cp. also Is. 59^^ and, though less obviously, Ps. 34^^ 37^^» Evil is avoided by constant adherence to the path of right (Pr. 4^^). Job's life had offered many opportuni- ties of wrong-doing (cp. c. 31), but he had refused to use them.
I. 2-3.] THE PROLOGUE 5
seven thousand sheep and goats, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she-asses,
2, 3. The ideal character of Job was rewarded with ideal good fortune — many children, the majority of whom were sons (the foundation of a man's strength and security: Ps. 127^^ 128), vast numbers of sheep and goats, of camels for distant journeys and transport, of asses and oxen for work in the fields, and many slaves. The addition of child to child, and the increasing multitude of his live-stock as the years passed, were recurring tokens of God's approval of Job's constant character. The recurrence of the numbers seven, three (in sum, ten), and of five and five (again, in sum, ten), symbolize the perfection of Job's wealth. Nabal, who was * * a very great " (i S. 25^) man, had 4000 sheep and goats as against 7000 assigned here to Job. And Job's possessions are not exhaust- ively described, for there is no direct reference to his arable land, v.^* 21^"^^ (though the **oxen " suggest agriculture: cp. I K. 1919 21, 2 S. 2421^-, Dt. 22I0 25*) or to other forms of wealth, such as gold (cp. Gn. 132).
3. Cattle] The term (n3p»), though etymologically wide and applicable to possessions of all kinds, is, with one or two doubtful exceptions, such as Gn. 49^^, limited in usage to possessions of cattle (see Lex.). — Sheep and goats] expressed in Hebrew by a single collective term (jK^), inadequately rendered by EV. *' sheep," or sometimes, less inaccurately, ** flock": so Gn. 30^^'-, a passage which proves the extent of the term in Hebrew. A single term sufficed to cover the two classes of animals, inasmuch as the flocks generally contained both sheep and goats, as they commonly still do to-day. So Doughty (Arabia Deserta^ ii. 234) records the contrary as exceptional: ** we soon saw a great flock trooping down — and unlike all that I had seen till now, there were no goats in that nomad flock." Cp. Robinson, Biblical ResearcheSy ii. 169, 180. — She- asses] the she-ass (cp. Gn. 32^^) is more valuable than, in modern Syria costing three times as much as, the male (Wetzst. in Del.). The number of Job's male-asses is not given— an indication that his wealth even in cattle is not
6 THE BOOK OF JOB [1.3-4.
and very numerous slaves. And so that man became greater than any of the sons of the East.
* His sons used to go to one another's houses, and each
exhaustively stated. The terms used for sheep and goats, and for oxen, are collective, and as such include females ; the masc. pi. used of the camels is applicable also to females (Gn. 32^^). — The sons of the East\ a wide term for the inhabitants of the country to the E. of Canaan ; see Introduc- tion. In some cases the nomadic tent-dwellers of the Syrian desert are intended (Jer. 49^^*-, Ezk. 25*- ^^) ; here, and probably in I K. 5^^ (4^^)) the term at least includes the settled house- dwellers in (rich) agricultural country on the confines of the desert.
4, 5. A picture of Job's past life before the opening of the main story (cp. c. 29). It serves in part to illustrate Job's position : his numerous sons live an ample life in houses of their own ; but its main purpose is to give an example of Job's constant fear of God. The numerous frequentative tenses (see phil. n.) indicate that it had (long) become habitual with the children to entertain one another at a series of banquets ; and that it had become a habit with Job to turn aside by means of burnt-offerings any anger of God which they might at such times have aroused by unbridled act or thought.
4. A banquet (nriK^^)] was so called from the prominence at such feasts or banquets of drinking (cp. Is. 25^ 5^^), which led at times to excessive drunkenness (i S. 25^^, Jer. 51^^); such banquets were given at the weaning of a child (Gn. 21^), a wedding (Gn 29^^, Jg. 14^*^), a birthday (Gn. 40^^), sheep- shearing (i S. 252^-^^, 2 S. 13^*^ ®), and doubtless on other special occasions ; but the term implies neither the ordinary meal of daily life,^ nor the sacred meal eaten before Yahweh at the great annual festivals.^ Is it meant, now, that what was exceptional with other people was constant with Job's children, that every day in the year (^ Ka& eKaaTTjv rj/juipav) they sat down and drank and made merry (so Da. Du. Peake) ? or only that, as opportunities incident to their life, such, e.^'.y as * So Del. here. ' So Ew. here.
I. 4.] THE PROLOGUE 7
on his day to give a banquet : and they used to send and call their three sisters to eat and to drink with them. ^ When they had completed a round of the banqueting days, Job sent
sheep-shearing, presented themselves, they made a habit of keeping a week (cp. Jg. 14^2- ^^) of banquets, the eldest enter- taining on the first day, and so on to the youngest, who would entertain on the last day of the festal week (so, in the main, Bu. Di.)? Nothing in the text very directly decides those questions, certainly not the last clause of ^ to which Du. appeals, for in view of the first clause of that v. all the days cannot in any case mean every day in the year, but simply all the days that concluded a week spent in banqueting. On the other hand, the first clause of ^ would read a little unnaturally, if the writer really meant that all the days of the year were banqueting days ; and again a daily invitation to the sisters is less probable than an invitation sent as often as, after an interval, a banqueting week was approaching ; see also on ^^. — On his day\ the day on which it fell to him to entertain : scarcely his [birth-)day (cp. 3^), for the banqueting-days were apparently (^) a round of seven successive days, which the birthdays of the seven would not naturally have been. — To call their three sisters\ the sisters may be thought of as still unmarried and in their father's house to which their brothers send^ as in turn Job sends from his house to the houses of his sons. But the writer may as little have thought distinctly of this point as of the family affection which the invita- tion to the sisters suggests to some commentators, or of the easy or loose manners which Du. infers from it ; or of all the brothers being unmarried (Du.) ; the last point, if intended, would find a very partial analogy in David's sons Amnon and Absalom each living, though unmarried, in houses of their own (2 S. 13^- 2^) ; for seven adult sons of a single mother — and Job is represented as a monogamist — to be all unmarried would be flagrantly out of keeping with the social customs of the time and country. In any case such details are immaterial to the purpose of the story ; and it is wiser not to press the inferences.
8 THE BOOK OF JOB [l. 5.
and consecrated them, his habit being to rise up early in the morning, and to offer burnt-offerings for them all, one for each.
5. Sent and consecrated them] terse to obscurity. The con- secration in question is the preparation by ritual washings and the like (cp. Gn. 35^) for participation in some sacred ritual (cp. Ex. 19^®- 1*, Jos. 3^ 713J — here, as is generally supposed in the ritual of the burnt-offerings on the next morning. So Samuel (i S. 16^) calls on Jesse and his family to consecrate themselves, and himself consecrates them, that they may participate with him in a sacrificial meal. Some (Di. Bu. Peake) suppose that Job sends and summons or brings his children to his house, and consecrates them there; others (Fried. Del.) that Job sends a priest to consecrate them in their own homes. B. Jacob (ZA TWy 191 2, p. 278) suggests that trip was synonymous with N"ip and meant to invite some one (cp. 2C : see phil. n.) to make himself ritually ready for, and to come to, a feast ; and that what is meant in ^^ is that at the end of the round of secular meals in the sons' houses, Job sent and invited the children to a sacred meal in his own house, and that on the morning after this meal Job offers sacrifice against sins of thought (for other sins the children would not have ventured in their father's presence) which might have been committed in his own house, so compromising him. But the parallelism of tJ»np and Nnp in Jl. i^* 2^^ 4* does not prove that the two vbs. were so completely synonymous that tj^np included the sense of invitation ; and if a meal in Job's house had been intended, it would probably have been more clearly indicated. To offer burnt-offerings] after the manner of the patriarchs in JE (Gn. 820 222-7.13 3i64), Job as the head of the family, without the assistance of any priest, offers sacrifice ; also in accordance with early custom he offers for an expiatory purpose (cp. 2 S. 242^) burnt-offerings (cp. 42^), not the more special sin- offerings of later times — a want which (& supplies. — For them all) one for each] lit. according" to the number of them all; i.e. ten, if **sons" include the daughters (cp. Gn. 3^^, Ex. 21^ 22^^, Jos. 172): otherwise, seven. — Cursed] Hebr. blessed— 2. euphem- ism or scribal correction for cursed: see phil. n. — In ihei?
I. 6-12.] THE PROLOGUE 9
For Job said, ** If haply my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their heart." So used Job to do on all the(se) days.
heart] unless we can adopt Jacob's suggestion noted above. Job fears sin committed by the children in their own homes ; but so sure is he of the character of his children that even when they are out of his sight and control he fears only that they may commit some unintentional sin or sins that are stifled before they issue in speech or outward action. Yet such is Job's fear of God that he is careful to counteract the mere possibility of even such sins as these. — On all these days\ on the morrow of the last day of each week of feasting.
6-12. The first scene in heaven : the Satan questions the disinterestedness of Job's religion. — The scene, though not explicitly defined, is, like that in which Mastemd questions the whole-hearted devotion of Abraham to God (Jub. 17^^^), clearly heaven : it is here that the '* sons of the gods " present them- selves before (f)y) Yahweh, who is pictured, as the prep, prob- ably implies, seated (on a throne) : so in a companion picture (i K. 22^^) Yahweh is depicted ** sitting on his throne and all the host of heaven," which correspond to the **sons of the gods" here, "standing before him (V^y IDV) on his right hand and on his left," and ready (i K. 22^^), as here (i^^ 2^)^ to go out (n^^) from the divine assembly, and affect human affairs according to the will or permission of Yahweh. Cp. also Zee. 6* ** the four winds of heaven going out from presenting them- selves before (ijy a^Tino rm^r) the Lord of the whole earth." Since the Satan does not report immediately and alone, but presents himself along with the other sons of the gods (2^), it may be inferred that Yahweh was conceived as holding a session at stated intervals for the dismission of his messengers to earth, and for the reception of reports from them on their return. — The sons of the gods] **the sons of God" (EV.) is grammatically an equally legitimate rendering, and might be compared with **sons of the Most High" {\\'hv ''33, Ps. 82^), but whether interpreted offspring of the one true God, or beings dependent on, but sharing the spiritual nature of the one true God, this rendering fails to reproduce the Hebrew con-
lO THE BOOK OF JOB [l. 6.
^ And there was a day when the sons of the gods came to present themselves before Yahweh ; and the Satan came also
ception. **The sons of the gods" (D^nf'i^n '•n) are individuals of the class god, as **the sons of man" (D'^^{^ ^33, i S. 26^^) are individuals of the class man : cp. also ** the sons of the pro- phets," meaning members of a prophetic guild. Consequently the same class of beings who are called *'the sons of the gods" (D^n^N(n) -32, 2I 38^, Gn. 62; D-i?N '':3, Ps. 29I 89^: cp. (\*1^X 13, Dn. y^^) can also be called simply ''gods" (D^'^^^^ Ps. 82^-^: cp. D^N* (point oi'N*) in Ps. 58-). The phrase is trace- able to a stage of thought in which Yahweh was not supreme or sui generis : the class of gods like that of men was numerous, though members (''sons") of the two classes were sharply distinguished in appearance (Dn. 3^5) and manner of life (Ps. 82^*-). But within this class Yahweh, to this writer, is abso- lutely supreme ; Yahweh is not a man, but one of the elohim ; and yet not merely any one of the elohim, but that one who is in absolute control of all other elohim, as also of all men and of the affairs of the whole world. There is as little suggestion here in the Prologue as in the speeches of the earlier Hebrew thought, that Yahweh's power and authority were limited to certain areas, and that other gods shared with Him the control and allegiance of men (cp. e.g. i S, 26^^) ; on the other hand, the sons of the gods, including the Satan, are completely sub- ordinate to Him, and act, not on their own initiative or autho- rity, but on His ; like Him in contrast to men they are elohim, or holy (15^^ 5^), but no less than men they are His servants (4^^"^^). As employed by Him in the administration of human affairs, these beings are termed angels (D"'3Nf'D, ib.). fflr, there- fore, in rendering here ol a'yyeKoL rod 6eov (so 2^, cp. 38^), gives a substantially correct equivalent of the entire Hebrew phrase, though not an exact equivalent of either of the terms that compose it. — The Satan\ here, as in Zee. 3^-2, with the article, and therefore not yet, as it virtually has become in I Ch. 21^ (without the article), a proper name. But here and in Zee, no less than in Ch., though in these three passages only in the OT., the term denotes a distinct and permanent
I. 6-7.] THE PROLOGUE 1 1
among them. ^ And Yahweh said to the Satan, Whence comest thou? And the Satan answered Yahweh, and said,
personality, who was thus designated originally in reference to his function of opposing or accusing (cp. ^'s BidfioXo^;) men before God, before he had developed his later character (Ch., NT.) of tempter or instigator of men to act in opposition to God. The force of the word is well shown in Nu. 22^2 where the angel of Yahweh becomes for the occasion a satan in order to oppose Balaam and to stay his course ; or somewhat differently in Ps. 109^ where opposition in the sense of accusation before a legal tribunal is intended (cp. v.^^^ where ^^^"^ is parallel to D'^ID'in ^C'Di i'V Vt): cp. also i S. 29*, 2 S. 1923(22)^ i K. s^^^^) uUflf.^ Here the Satan opposes Job by endeavouring to overthrow his good standing with God (cp. the antithesis between the vb. jtDC^ and the phrase " to seek our good " in Ps. 38^^), not as in Zee. by drawing Yahweh's attention to actual sins which He is prepared to pardon and remove, but by suggesting unworthy motives in a man in the outward manifestations of whose life even he can find no fault. See, further, on the history and development of the term, art. *' Satan" in EBL — Came also among them] not as a being of a different class, but as himself one of the sons of the gods : "TiriQ is not infrequently tant- amount to : (one) of the number of, with others of the saTne class (see Gn. 23IO 42^, Nu. 1721 26^2, i S. iqIo, Ezk. 29I2). But as in several of the passages just cited the person or persons in question are peculiar or pre-eminent in the class to which they are referred, so is the Satan here : he is one of the sons of the gods, or angels, and as such subject to and under the control of Yahweh and incapable of acting beyond the terms of His permission ; but there are perhaps germs of the later idea of Satan, the opponent of God, dividing with Him the allegiance of men (Wisd. 22*), in the freedom with which he here moves about in the earth, so that Yahweh asks where he has been C^ 22), in contrast to the angels who are sent to definite persons and places.
7. Whence comest thou] if the implication of the question is as just suggested, the Satan is the ** vagabond among the
12 THE BOOK OF JOB [I. 7-8.
From g"oingf hither and thither in the earth, and walking to and fro in it. ^ And Yahweh said to the Satan, Hast thou con- sidered my servant Job, that there is none Hke him in the earth, a man perfect and upright, fearing God and avoiding wrong ?
heavenly beings " (Da.). Others find in the question a dis- tinction between the angels to whom superintendence of special nations and countries was entrusted by Yahweh (Dt. 32^ ©, Dn. iQi3.20f.^ Sir. 17^^), and the Satan whose function confined his energies to no fixed region of the earth, and who *' in his unresting service of Yahweh has been visiting all parts " of the world (Peake). — From going hither and thither] the vb. (tj^^r) may be used of roving aimlessly or distraught (Jer. 49^, Hithp., and, if correctly restored there, Gn. 24^^) ; but it occurs more frequently of movement hither and thither within a given area and with a definite purpose, which requires something more than direct passage from one point to another : so the Qal is used of the manna-gatherers (Nu. ii^) and the census-takers (2 S. 24^), and the intensive Po'lel of movement in diligent search for information (Jer. 5^, Am. 8^^) ; so the eyes of Yahweh, moving hither and thither in the whole earth, put him in possession of complete information of all that goes on there (Zee. 4^^ 2 Ch. 16^). It is in this sense that the vb. is used here in combina- tion with ^^nnn, which is similarly used at times of so walking to and fro in a given area as to leave nothing undiscovered (Zee. i^^^' : cp. 67, Jos. iS^-^). Thus the Satan, if a vagabond, is yet a vagabond with a purpose : he scours the earth, leaving no corner unvisited, that he may discover the failings of men.
8. Of course, the Satan in his complete tour of discovery (7) must have come across Job ; but has he devoted his attention to ((?i<)hv lb D^K^: cp. e.g. 2 S. i8^ Ex. 9^1 ; with hf I S. 9^^^, Ezk. 40^) him, and to the fact that here, at least, is a man against whom no accusation can be brought ? or, is it for that very reason that he, unlike Yahweh, has found no further interest in him? — That] rather thsin for (EV.); so 2^. — There is none like him in the earth] this goes beyond ^ : Yahweh endorses the judgment of Job's character in the narrative, and, by an addition, enhances the startling nature
I. 8-12.] THE PROLOGUE 1 3
^ And the Satan answered Yahweh, and said, Is it for nothing that Job has feared God ? ^® Hast not thou thyself made a hedge about him, and his house, and all that he hath every- where ? the work of his hands thou hast blessed, and his cattle hath increased in the land. ^^ But stretch forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath : surely he will curse thee to thy face. ^^ And Yahweh said unto the Satan, Behold, all that he
of the change of fortunes that is to come : Job's piety, according to the narrative (^~^), had led to his being prosperous beyond all the children of the East ; as certified by Yahweh, it would justify his being the most prosperous man in the earth, and so, on the current theory, makes him the least likely object in the world of a disastrous change of fortune.
9. The Satan admits what he must, but no more. Up till now. Job has feared (t<T, pf., not the part., for note the order : cp. Dr. § 135 (*)) God, but the future may reveal even outward failings ; and, as it is, his piety is probably a mere quid pro quo. Yahweh has given a good price to the man for the life which pleases Him so much ; and the man has had the sense not to imperil a good bargain by failing in his part of it.
10. Thou thy self \ (fj« for nriN ; Lex, 61*) emphatic: the hedge, which surrounds and screens Job and his children and his possessions, has been made by none other than God Him- self, and for this reason must remain unbreached — unless God Himself can be induced to breach it, and let in destruction (cp. Is. 5^). — Cattle] ^ n. Here mentioned as the principal part for the whole of Job's wealth.
11. But (an emphatic adversative, see phil. nn. on 13* 33^) let Yahweh reverse His treatment, and Job will certainly reverse his conduct; when piety no longer pays. Job will become defiantly profane. Yahweh may think that He has found a man good all through : the Satan knows better, and confidently challenges Yahweh to bring the matter to a test. — Touch] hurtfully or destructively (3 Vi3), as ig^i, i S. 6*, and (with a human subj.) Gn. 26^^, Jos. 9^^ Zee. 2^2^ ^nd (of the wind) c. 2^^ (RV. '' smote").— Curse] lit. blessy as » (n.).
12. Yahweh accepts the Satan's challenge, and on the
14 THE BOOK OF JOB [I. 12-22.
hath is in thy hand ; only against himself stretch not forth thy hand. And the Satan went out from the presence of Yahweh.
Satan*s terms, except that He delegates to the Satan the work of destruction, instead of performing it Himself; the reservation that Job's person is not to be injured is within the terms of the challenge ; at present (ct. 2^'-) the Satan is confident that the destruction of Job's children and property will suffice to turn this pattern of piety into a profane person ; and Yahweh empowers him to do what he likes with all that Job possesses. To speak of the ** rapidity and coldbloodedness" with which Yahweh, in accepting the challenge, gives up his favourite to torture, or of lack of omniscience in Yahweh, making it necessary for him to test Job's disinterestedness (Du.), is not very helpful : everything in the Prologue moves rapidly, and is told with few words ; nor would it have eased the situation to have shown Yahweh being gradually compelled to give up His servant to trial. That He does allow him to be tested, and, though righteous, to suffer, is simply the unexplained /«c/ of life, as the author observed it, but which the current theory denied. — In thy hand\ as Gn. i6^: cp. c. 8*.
13-22. Job bereft of children and wealth. — The Satan uses his power to the full : in a single day Job loses every- thing, but he maintains the integrity of his character. With simple but effective art the writer heightens the impression of the suddenness and completeness of the calamity. The opening V. of the section depicts afresh the old (^) careless, happy life of Job's children ; and leaves us to think of Job still tranquil and unexpectant of evil up to the very point when the first messenger of ill comes (^^). The calamities are only described through the mouth of the messengers ; they all happen on the day that has begun, as so many days before, quietly and happily for Job and his children ; each messenger is the sole survivor of the calamity he describes ; each messenger after the first arrives before his predecessor has completed his tale of woe. Within a single day all the calamities happen ; within a few moments Job receives the news of them. The first message, like the paragraph as a whole, begins (^*) with a
I. 13.] THE PROLOGUE 1 5
13 And there was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their eldest
peaceful, familiar picture of Job's cattle ploughing, then suddenly (1^) this picture is completely wiped out — for ever. The next two messages at once suggest a new calamity with their opening words : *' the fire of heaven fell " ; ** the Chald^eans made three bands " : the last, like the first, begins with an old familiar scene — the children banqueting; but this, after the recital of so much calamity, only heralds the last and crowning stroke, and by recalling the happier days, for ever ended, only adds to the poignancy of this final message. The alternation of human beings (the Sabaeans and the Chaldaeans, ^^- 1^) and the elements of nature (the lightning and the hurricane from the desert, i^- ^^) as the instruments of calamity is noticeable. The last calamity is obviously the greatest : the third — the loss of three thousand camels — more severe than the second (seven thousand sheep and goats) ; the second perhaps also more severe than the first (a thousand kine and five hundred she-asses). As the section opens with a picture of the old life on its sensuous side, so it closes with the picture of the new life, brought about by the calamities, on its spiritual side — Job deprived of all, naked of all outward belongings, as when he issued from his mother's womb, but maintaining his fear of God and his God-approved character. 13. Hzs sons] though Satan is the person last named, the writer uses the suffix in reference to the main person of the story. (& : the sons of/oby a correct and obvious interpretation rather than a diff"erence of text. — A day . , . in the house of their eldest brother] the first day of a week of banqueting (cp. *). If every day of the year was a banqueting day with Job's children, the day of calamity is a day on which Job had offered expiatory sacrifices for the preceding week (^), and the day may be specified so as to bring Job's godliness and his calamity into the closest connection (Dav.), or so as to prevent the calamity being attributed to unexpiated sins of Job or his children (Du. Peake). If, however, the periods of banqueting were separated from one another by intervals, the point is that the Satan chose the first opportunity, when all the children were gathered into
1 6 THE BOOK OF JOB [1.13-15.
brother : ^* and a messenger came to Job, and said, The oxen were plowing, and the asses were feeding beside them : ^^ and
one house, to use the authority given him to destroy them by one fell blow (so Bu.). An interval between the Satan's departure from heaven and his destructive activity on earth is rather suggested by the insertion of the clause. And there was a day (cp. ^ 2^) : ct. 2^, where we have, ** he went out and smote," without any such intervening clause.
14. Were plowing] the season is winter. — The asses\ fem., as in ^; see n. there.
15. Shebd\ in 6^^ the travelling companies of Sheba are closely associated in synonymous parallelism with the caravans of Tema. Sheba (^?^) is the name of the South Arabian (cp. Gn. lo^s J) people whose capital was Marib, about 45 miles east of San'a, and about 1200 miles south of Jerusalem. The Sabaean inscriptions, discovered and deciphered within the last century, record many kings of Sab'a (n^'C = Heb. Sheba ^2t') and the buildings of these kings and others in later times continued to bear witness to the wealth and power of ancient Sheba. The remoteness of Sheba, its trade in frankincense, gold, and pre- cious stones, and its wealth, are the subjects of most of the OT. references (i K. iqI^-, Is. 6o\ Jer. 620, Ezk. 2722, Jl. 48, Ps. ^210.15 — 2\\^ with the possible exception of i K. lo^^-, as late as or later than the end of the 7th cent. B.C.). The association with Dedan in Gn. 10^ 25^, Ezk. 38^^, and with Tema [c. 350 miles south of Jerusalem and 230 miles north of Medina) in 6^^, and the reference to Saba in inscriptions of Sargon (Gen. in- scription 1. 32: Rogers, CP, p. 332), and in the Minaean inscription cited below, have been thought to point either to a northern home of Sheba prior to their settlement in southern Arabia, or to the existence of trading stations of the South Arabian Sheba in northern Arabia and '*in the neighbourhood of Edom " (Dr.). The present is certainly the only passage in the OT. which represents Sheba as raiders or, as some would put it more definitely, as ''Bedouin of the northern desert" (Skinner, Genesis, p. 203); but a Minaean inscription (Gl. 1155) records the thanks of the donors to 'Athtar of ^abd for the
I. 15-17.] THE PROLOGUE 1 7
Sheba fell (upon them), and took them, and the young men they smote with the sword ; and I only have escaped alone to tell thee. ^^ This one was still speaking", when another came and said. The fire of God fell from heaven, and burnt up the sheep and goats, and the young men, and consumed them ; and I only have escaped alone to tell thee. ^^ This one was yet speaking, when another came and said, Kasdim formed (themselves into) three companies, and made a raid upon the camels, and took them, and the young men they smote with the sword ; and I only have escaped alone to tell thee. ^^ This one was yet speak- ing, when another came and said. Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house :
deliverance from Sab'a of their caravan with their camels and possessions, on its return from Msr (Egypt?), and perhaps during its passage through northern Arabia. According to one theory (Glaser) this inscription dates from c. 1 100 B.C. ; accord- ing to another and more probable theory (Hartmann), however, the inscription refers to the Medes {i.e. the Persians) in Egypt, and accordingly dates from the time of Cambyses (c, 525 B.C.). On Sheba, see, further, Ed. Glaser, Skizze der Gesch. u. Geog. ArabienSy ii. 3998". ; Hartmann, D. islamische Orient^ ii. i3off. ; D. S. Margoliouth, Sheba^ in DB. — The young men] i.e. the servants (d''"iV3 as Nu. 2.2^ and often) in charge of the cattle : of these the messenger alone escapes.
16. The fire of God] i.e. lightning, but lightning of extra- ordinary destructiveness, since it burns up and consumes the whole of Job's large flocks and all the shepherds with them, except only the messenger that escapes. The fire of God is on this occasion directed by the Satan : Yahweh having permitted the end, the destruction of Job's possessions (i^), permits the use of the means.
17. Kasdim] or the Kasdim (see phil. n.). The term is that commonly rendered Chaldasans ; but the Chaldaeans, who formed the nucleus of Nebuchadnezzar's army and empire, would appear here even more strangely than in 2 K. 24^, where we read of marauding "bands of Kasdim, and bands of Aram (? read Edom), and bands of Moab, and bands of the
2
1 8 THE BOOK OF JOB [1.17-20.
1^ and, behold, a great wind came (sweeping) across the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell in upon the young men, and they died ; and I only have escaped alone to tell thee. ^^ And Job rose up, and rent his robe, and
sons of Ammon," let loose on Judah to destroy it. In both these passages the Kasdim are rather (Aramaean : cp. Gn. 22^^ with Skinner's n. there) nomads, whether ultimately connected with the Kasdim (Chaldseans) of Babylonia or not : cp. Wi. AOF ii. 250 ff. Che. (£^Bt. 968, 2469) substitutes Kushim for Kasdim. These marauders, whoever they were, formed into three companies so as to attack from three sides, and so the more easily to prevent the escape of the camels.
19. The wilderness] The great desert stretching across from the eastern confines of Palestine to the Euphrates valley. The violence or destructiveness of the east wind (the sirocco, 152 27^^), or, as it is here called, the wind from the other {i.e. eastern) side of the wilderness^ is elsewhere referred to : see Hos. 13^^, Jer. 4^^ 18^^; here the wind is a whirlwind which strikes all four corners of the house. — The young 7?ten] Job's children, both sons and daughters (cp. 29^), together with their attendants : see phil. n.
20. Job has received the messengers seated (cp. i S. 4^^ 2 S. i8^^^-) : their messages have followed one another without a moment's interval, so stunning Job that he does not in- terrupt them ; but when the last has spoken he rises from his seat and, still apparently without spoken comment on the news, rends in a moment his outer garment in token of his sudden distress (cp. 2 S. 13^^), and then performs the customary mourning rite of shaving the head so as to make it bald (cp. Am. S^^, Is. 152 22^2, Jer. iG^). The latter rite cannot have been momentary ; Job must have gone himself, or sent another, in search of the necessary instrument. Conse- quently ««^A^/^///o//i^^w««^ does not describe an immediate half-involuntary physical reaction against the distressing news (Di. : cp. I S. 28^^), but an act of reverential obeisance or wor- ship; so, e.g.y with man as the obj. and, as here, followed by worships in 2 S. i^ 9® 14*, Ru. 2^®, with God as obj. 2 Ch. 20^^,
I. 20-21.] THE PROLOGUE 1 9
shaved his head, and he fell on the ground, and worshipped, and said,
21 Naked came I forth from my mother's womb. And naked shall I return thither : Yahweh gave, and Yahweh hath taken away ; Blessed be the name of Yahweh.
cp. Jos. 5^*. The implied object of obeisance is Yahweh : but what follows is not a prayer to Him (for He is referred to in the 3rd pers.), but a confession in the presence of the messengers of Job's entire dependence on God, and of his acquiescence in His dealings with him. — His robe] the m^tl (of Jb. 29^*: of the friends, 2^^) was the outer garment worn above the tunic — especially the outer garment of men of position ; so of Jonathan, i S. 18*; of Saul, i S. 245; of Samuel, i S. 28^*; of the high priest, e.g: Ex. 28^^ ; of Ezra, Ezr. 9^ See, further, £Bt, 2933 n.
21. Cp. Gn. 3^9, Ec. S^^^^^\ ^ Ti. 6^ Owning nothing Job (like all men) came into life, carrying nothing with him he will leave it and descend to Sheol ; life and all that it had brought him (2^-) were the gift of Yahweh ; at death at latest he must have left all these gifts behind — Yahweh who had given would then have taken them away ; He has done so earlier, as He had an absolute right to do; nevertheless Job does not curse, as the Satan had expected, but blesses the name of Yahweh. To ancient Hebrew thought the state after death was not identical with that before birth ; but, as compared with the rich activity of life on earth, the thin and unsubstantial life after death in Sheol was not very different from the absence of life that preceded birth; so Job in 3I3-16 plays on the similarity of the two states ; and so here, as elsewhere, expressions that, strictly speaking, would imply identity of the states before birth and after death are employed, without that precise im- plication being intended by the writer. With thither^ cp. there in 3^7. 19. ^jth return^ cp. 30^8, Ps. 9^8. To infer from thither that my mother's womb means the womb of mother earth (cp, Ps. 139^^) is mistaken (cp. Noldeke in Archiv f. Religions- geschichte^ viii. 161 -166) ; and had the writer intended his
20 THE BOOK OF JOB I. 21-11. 1-3.
22 In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God with unworthi- ness,
II. ^ And there was a day when the sons of the gods came to present themselves before Yahweh ; and the Satan came also among them. ^ And Yahweh said to the Satan, Whence comest thou ? And the Satan answered Yahweh and said, From going hither and thither in the earth, and walking to and fro in it. ^ And Yahweh said to the Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the
mother's womb in the first line, and the womb of mother earth in the second, he would doubtless have expressed the idea as clearly as Ben Sirach (40^). In this saying Job uses the name Yahweh ; for the rest, in the Prologue as in the Dialogue, the human speakers use the term God (i^-is 2^-'^^)^ though the narrative regularly employs Yahweh ; see Introd.
22. In all this\ viz. all that happened, or that Job had thought or done, or perhaps in spite of all this (3 as Is. q^^). Job, true to his character, avoided sin. — Unworthiness^ see phil. n.
II. 1-6. The second scene in heaven closely resembles the first, and is largely described in identical language : here as there the sons of the gods with the Satan among them come before Yahweh : ^ Yahweh puts the same question to the Satan, and receives the same answer, 2 — but the same answer under different conditions : the Satan avoids reporting the effect of the permission given to him at the last assembly. Yahweh repeats His second question,^ but now with an addition, bringing out, what the Satan has not been ready to volunteer, that Job's character has stood the strain of calamity, and that the Satan's insinuation against it had not been justified. Thus challenged, the Satan, with the same assurance as before, claims that it is only necessary to attack Job's own person, to plague him with disease, in order to make him curse God,*- ^. Yahweh permits the Satan to try the further experiment, and he departs, ^- ^*.
I. Among them] ^+to present himself before Yahweh : sefl phil. n. 2. = i^ 3a. = i^
II. 3-4.] THE PROLOGUE 2 1
earth, a man perfect and upright, fearing God and avoiding wrong? and he still holds fast his integrity, and yet thou hast enticed me against him to destroy him without cause. * And the Satan answered Yahweh, and said. Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life. ^ But stretch forth
3b. And he still holds fast . , . and yet ^ etc.] or, perhaps, . . . and so in vain hast thou enticed me to destroy him : see phil. n. — Integrity] or, perfection ; see n. on perfect in i^, and on integrity in 27^. — Destroy] the same vb. (vhl) with a similar sense occurs in 10^ : cp. also 8^^ 37^^, Is. 3^^ 19^, 2 S, 20^^'-. — Without cause] cp. 9^^ in a similar connection ; so also i S. 19^ and often. For the sense, in vainy see Pr. i^^, Mai. i^^.
4. Skin for skin] ** the meaning apparently is: a man will sacrifice one part of his body to save another, an arm, for instance, to save his head, and he will similarly give all that he has to save his life: Job's resignation (i^^), therefore, is not disinterested: it is still not shown that he serves God *for naught' (i*)"; so Dr. following % Rashi, Ibn Ezra, Del. The objection has been raised to this that i^y does not denote a member of the body. Numerous other interpretations of the phrase skin for skin have been offered : it was probably a proverbial saying, and, as such, to those who were familiar with it, it would have enforced the following clause ; to us its origin and associations are unknown, and its meaning can only roughly be determined by what follows. On the force of the prep., see phil. n. Among other interpretations that have been offered, there may be mentioned : (i) Leave Job's skin unbroken, and he will so leave you yours (Olsh.) : if this were correct, the language of the Satan would indeed be ** rather vulgar " (Peake : cp. Du.) — indeed to Del. this seemed too indecent even for the Devil ; otherwise the language, as in i^- ^*^, is cynical, but hardly vulgar ; (2) like for like a man readily gives up, how much more his outward possessions for life and health (Ew. Di.); (3) the skin of an animal or of his children a man gives up to save his own : so Ros. Hupf. Da. Du., who think the proverb arose in circles in which skins were an important article of exchange. Similarly Dhorme (RB^ I9i4) 128 f.), who, however, suggests that the
22 THE BOOK OF JOB [H. 4-8.
thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, surely he will curse thee to thy face. ^ And Yahweh said to the Satan, Behold, he is in thy hand ; only preserve his life.
^ And the Satan went out from the presence of Yahweh, and smote Job with malignant ulcers from the sole of his foot
skin was not itself the unit of exchange, but stands — the part for the whole — for what was, viz., the animal ; ** skin for skin," therefore, means " animal for animal," i.e, " money (cp. pecunia from peciis) for money " ; (4) one skin surrounds another ; a man can give up one skin, i.e. much, and yet have another, i.e. something, left: against Di.'s objection that the figure of men having two skins is untrue, Bu. appeals to the Arabic use of hasarat for the outer ; 'adamat for the inner skin ; (5) see on v.^ end.
5. Beneath the skin lie bone and flesh ; let Yahweh smite Job's body, and that, too, more than skin-deep, with disease. For the bon^s as the seat of disease, see, e.g.^ La. i^^. for the flesh. Is. iqIs.
6. As before (i^^)^ Yahweh meets the Satan's wish to the full, and gives him permission to do all that he has asserted will suffice to show up Job. Before, as he had then asked. Job's possessions, now Job's body is put in his power; the only limitation imposed this time is that Job must not be killed outright. The limitation is necessary in order to allov»r of the experiment being carried through ; but the use of the same word IK'aj, his soul or life^ at the end of * and ^ is awkward, and is perhaps due to the first occurrence of the word belonging to the proverb cited by the Satan, which most have limited to *'skin for skin"; in this case it would be tempting to read 1 in^v for 1 "iiVj ^^^ render (another) skin for (i.e. to save) his own skin, yea, all that he hath will a man give for (i.e. to save) his life, niy and ic^Q3 thus being parallel expressions.
7-8. Job smitten with malignant disease.— The Satan this time immediately (ct. i^^) works out his will on Job, and the scene in heaven dissolves into the picture of Job suddenly smitten with a malignant and loathsome disease that leaves no corner of his body sound. The disease is not named, but here
II. 7-8.] THE PROLOGUE 23
a single prominent symptom, and elsewhere in the book many other symptoms are indicated. These have commonly been supposed to indicate elephantiasis, a disease so named from the swelling of the limbs and blackening of the skin which dis- figured the sufferer, so that his limbs and skin resemble those of an elephant. The term pnK^ occurs also, qualified as here by the adj. j;"i, in Dt. 28^^, qualified by the gen. *' of Egypt " in Dt. 28^'^, and without an adj. in 2 K. 20^ = Is. 38^1 (of Hezekiah's sickness, which was treated with a fig-plaister), in the phrase nDr\22) DnK3 ms nynv^N ]'n^ used of the Egyptian plague in Ex. 9^"^^, and lastly, in the law of leprosy in Lv. 13I8-20. 23t^ It is not clear that in all these passages pntJ' indicates the same disease: Dr. Macalister, for example (DB iii. 229 f.), holds that the Egyptian plague may have been small-pox, Hezekiah's sickness (bubonic) plague, and Job's the Oriental sore ; the last suggestion Dr. Masterman (PEFQuSt^ 1918, p. 168) finds highly improbable, since the Oriental sore is ''commonly a single lesion and never a general eruption " ; Job's disease was rather **a very extensive erythema." The term sh'hin^ from a root which in Arabic (sahuna) means to he hoty inflainedy and in Aram, (sh^han) to he warm^ appears to have denoted inflamed eruptions of various kinds, and here, as the next v. suggests, such an eruption as discharges purulent matter and produces itching ; the discharge and the subsequent crusting over of these eruptions are referred to in 7^. Other symptoms of Job's disease are the maggots bred in the ulcers (7^), the fetid breath (19^^), the corrosion of the bones (30^^), the blacken- ing and falling off" of the skin (30^*^), feelings of terror (3^^ 6^^), and by night terrifying dreams and nightmares (7^* n. ; cp. "j^). There are also many allusions to intensity of pain and to groanings and cryings out ; and 7^^ is commonly taken to refer to the feeling of strangulation that is a symptom of elephanti- asis, and 2^2 to the disfigurement that is so prominent a characteristic of that disease. See, further, for a discussion of the symptoms and of the diseases to which they have been considered to point, Dr. on Dt. 2^'^'^- ^^ and Ex. 9^ ; EBi. articles Boil and Leprosy; Z>^ iii. 329 f.: the commentaries on this passage of Stickel, Del. Di., and the references there given. The
24 THE BOOK OF JOB [U. 7-8.
to the crown of his head. ^ And he took for himself a potsherd to scrape himself with, as he sat among the ashes.
writer may or may not have had a single disease in mind throughout ; but, in any case, we must beware of extending to Job's case irrelevant symptoms of the disease : for example, elephantiasis develops slowly, and often lasts some years before death ensues ; but the narrative almost certainly intends us to understand that Job was immediately smitten with intensely pain- ful and loathsome symptoms, attacking every part of his body, and, as the discussion proceeds, death does not appear far off.
8. Job already, when the disease smites him, sitting among the ashes, as a sign of mourning (cp. 42^, Jon. 3^, Is. 58^), additional to those mentioned in i^o, takes up a potsherd lying there and uses it to allay the intolerable itching caused by the disease. So taken, ^ is a circumstantial clause of a normal and very frequent type (Dr. § 160). The v. has also been trans- lated : And Job took for himself a potsherd to scrape himself with. And [as) he was sitting- among the ashes^ ® his wife said to himy and, were this correct — though it would naturally be expressed by "iDJ< "iriK'XI, or the like, instead of "iDXni (cp. e.g. J 18b. 19 and Dr. §§ 165-169) — ^Job first retired to the ashes after being smitten with disease, whether as a further means of allaying the itching [DB iii. 329), or because the ash-heap or hill was the proper place for lepers. In the latter case certainly the ashes would be the mound of burnt dung lying outside the town ((& T?}? Koirpia^ efo) t^9 TroXew?). Still a conspicuous feature of the Hauran towns and villages, such a mound is now termed mezhele^ and is vividly described by Wetzst. (in Del.): * ' The dung ... is carried in baskets in a dry state to that place outside the village, and there generally it is burnt once a month. . . . The ashes remain. ... If a place has been inhabited for centuries, the mezhele attains a height far greater than that of the place itself. The rains of winter reduce the layers of ashes to a compact mass, and gradually convert the mezhele into a solid hill of earth. . . . The 7nezhele serves the inhabitants of the place as a watch-tower, and on sultry evenings as a place of concourse, for on this height there is a
n. 8-10.] THE PROLOGUE 25
* Then his wife said to him, Art thou still holding fast thine integrity ? curse God, and die. ^^ And he said to her. As one of the impious women wilt thou speak? shall we receive good
breath of air. . . . There lies the outcast who, smitten by loathsome disease, is no longer admitted to the dwellings of men. . . . There lie the dogs of the village, gnawing perhaps some fallen carcase, such as is often thrown there."
9, 10. Job's wife, like Adam's (Gn. 3), becomes, even if unwittingly, ** diaboli adiutrix " (Aug.); subtle psychological analyses, however, whether to heighten or diminish her weak- ness, are probably as foreign to the author's intention as the lengthy harangue attributed to her by ©, the translator, ** feeling, no doubt, nature and propriety outraged, that a woman should in such circumstances say so little " (Da.) as in 5^. Her terse question serves to bring out the uniqueness of Job's character: many others of more ordinary character might well have failed at this point (cp. Is. S^^, Rev. \&^) : Job stands fast. Once again, it is best to think of the wife's question as following, not long (ffir), but immediately after the disease has attacked Job ; the symptoms hold out no hope of alleviation and recovery ; let Job therefore curse God and take the penalty, death (i K. 21^^ Lv. 2/i^'^^' \ cp. Ex. 2227 (28)j^ as preferable (cp. 7^^) to life under present conditions. — Integrity] see n. on ^
10. Job rejects the impious advice, yet in terms suggesting that his wife may have offered it unthinkingly, not fully realiz- ing its enormity. Her speech is, in fact, nothing less than impious ; and, if spoken intentionally, she herself must be an impious woman. But Job neither says directly that she has spoken impiously, nor that she is an impious woman : he rather implies that she has spoken, under momentary stress, as any one of a class to which she did not normally belong: cp. similar locutions in 2 S. 3^ 13^^, Jg. 16^ (Samson will become again what he had not been, like one of ma7ikindy i.e, like any ordinary man). — Impious] the Heb. nahhal (30^, 2 S. 3^ 13^^, Pr. 177- 21 30^2, Jer. 17^^, Ezk. 13^, with the references cited below) does not mean, though it is often so rendered in EV.,
26 THE BOOK OF JOB [II. 10-13.
from God, and shall we not receive evil ? In all this Job sinned not with his lips.
foolish or fool] for '.'the fault of the ndbhdl was not weakness of reason but moral and religious insensibility, an invincible lack of sense or perception, for the claims of either God or man. The term is thus applied to Israel unappreciative of Jehovah's benefits (Dt. 32^), to the heathen (v.21, Ps, 741^-22), to the man that cannot perceive that there is a God (Ps. 14^). Isaiah states explicitly what he understands by the nabhal : he con- trasts him (32^) with the ' noble ' or * liberal ' man, and adds (v.^), ' For the senseless man speaketh senselessness, and his heart worketh naughtiness, to practise profaneness, and to utter error against Jehovah, and to make empty the soul of the hungry, and to cause the drink of the thirsty to fail ' ; the description is that of a man who is at once irreligious and churlish (cp. i S. 252^). . . . The corresponding subst. \rbl'y\ sense- lessness is used of acts of profanity (Jos. 7^^), churlishness (i S. 25-^), and immorality (Gn. 34^^, Dt. 22^1, 2 S. \'^'^\ and elsewhere)" — Dr. Parallel Psalter y p. 457. — Wilt thou speak] or ca7tst thou speak (cp. Dr. § 39), as you have done just now, or oughtest thou to have spoken (cp. 10^^ with phil. n., 2 S. 3^^) are better renderings than thou speakest^ for the idea is cer- tainly not, thou speakest habitually and so now also impiously. Possibly (see phil. n.) the text originally had a pf. tense: As one of the impious woinen hast thou spoken. — Job sinned not with his lips] did not speak sinfully as the Satan (^) had been con- fident that he would. There is no emphasis on "with his lips," and there is no implication that Job sinned otherwise than with his lips, viz. in his heart (Baba Bathra^ i6«) : Ehrlich well cites the parallel phrase not to sin with my tongue in Ps. 39^. II-I3- Job's three friends come from their several coun- tries to comfort Job. — It is clearly implied that some time elapsed between Job's last calamity (^~^^) and the arrival of his friends : for first the news has to reach each of them in their several homes, which lay some distance from one another; then, as nyVI implies, they communicated with one another and fixed on a rendezvous from which they should proceed in com-
II. 11-12.] THE PROLOGUE 27
11 And the three friends of Job heard of all this evil that had come upon him. And they came each from his own place — Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shu^ite, and Sophar the Na'amathite. So they met together at the place agreed upon to come to show their grief for him and to comfort him.
12 And they lifted up their eyes afar off, and they did not recognize him. And they lifted up their voice, and wept : and they rent each his robe, and tossed dust upon their heads towards heaven. ^^ And they sat down with him on the ground
pany to Job's home, and then the journey itself must have taken some time. With this implication of the Prologue allusions in the speeches agree ; for in 7^ Job speaks of months of pain already past : cp. 7'^ 30^^^- ^7 and, indeed, the entire tenour of c. 30 and iqI- ^^^.
11. Place] in the sense of home or country; cp. Nu. 2411-25. — Eliphaz the Temanite^ etc.] on the names of the friends and their homes, see Introduction. — Teman lay in Edom, and was proverbial for its wisdom (Jer. 49^) ; Shuah was a tribe belong- ing to the ''East" (Gn. 252-6); Sophar's home is quite un- certain.— They met together^ etc.] for the vb., cp. Am. 3^, Neh. 52.10^ J QS, 11^ (of allied kings meeting at a fixed place for the opening of a campaign), Ps. 48^. — To show their grief] from the primary physical sense to move to arid fro (i K. 141^, Jer. iS^^), the vb. (T13) seems to have come to mean to make gestures (of grief) ; cp. Jer. 221^, weep not, nor make gestures (of grief) for him ; and then, with a weakening or loss of the physical sense, to m,anifest grief ^ to solace (cp. the noun in 16^), to comm,iserate i so, e.g.^ Jer. 15^ 481^, and coupled (as here), or in parallelism with the vb. Dn3, 42I1, i^ ^jio^ pg^ 5^21^ N^h. 3^.
12. Condensed. The friends catch sight of Job, a con- spicuous object on the lofty ash-mound outside the city (^), while they are still some distance away. When they draw near enough to discern his features, they find them marred by disease beyond recognition (cp. Is. 52!'^) ; when, in spite of this, they know that it really is Job, they break out into weeping, and toss quantities (see phil. n.) of dust on their head in token of distress (cp. Jos. 7^, i S. 4I2, 2 S. 131^ La. 2i^ Ezk. 2f^).
28 THE BOOK OF JOB [ll. 13-III.
for seven days and seven nights : but none spoke a word to him, for they saw that the pain was very great.
13. For a whole week the friends show their sympathy by sharing with Job his seat on the ash-mound ; but, overwhelmed by the greatness of his suffering, they speak no word : even at the end of the period, it is not they but Job who breaks the silence. — The pain] EV. *' grief," but probably with the mean- ing of **pain": cp. Shakespeare's *' grief of a wound," see Dr.'s n. Here physical pain is intended by the noun 2X3, as most obviously by the vb. in 14^2, Gn. 34^^ : cp. also Jb. 5^^, Ezk. 282*.
III. In the first moments and days of his troubles, Job still remembered and praised God for the happiness of his former life (i"^^ 2^^): God still filled his mind. But months have now passed (see on 2^^"^^) ; and his misery is already of long stand- ing. How great that misery is the advent of his friends seven days ago, and their attitude since, have but served to make clearer ; they came to express their grief in words, but having found Job's calamities beyond the power of words to express or mitigate, they have kept silence. Job does not reproach them for this, regarding their silence as perhaps the best substitute for a comfort (cp. 21 2) which circumstances do not allow them to give him. But for the time being they are almost beyond his thought or attention : so, too, has God become. Thus when, in the presence of his friends, he breaks the long silence, it is in a speech which, like cc. 29-31, but unlike those that inter- vene, is addressed neither to his friends nor to God. He is absorbed with two thoughts — his misery and the wherefore of it: his misery, though so relatively recent, has blotted out all sense of former happiness, and so completely obsesses him that his life from the very day of his birth now seems to him to have been mere wretchedness and pain i^'^^) : his misery is so intense that it needs no foil of happier times remembered (cp. 29) to set it off: it is such that Sheol itself is by com- parison with it to be longed for or welcomed (i^-^^). Why, then, is life thrust upon him and others wretched like himself? (i9-26j^ In the last section the wider question is put first (20-22^^
III.] JOB 29
III. ^ After this Job opened his mouth, and cursed his day. 2 And Job answered and said :
and is followed by the particular (23-26J . ^j^y must the wretched live, and why Job in particular ? This order flows naturally out of the preceding section in which Job, expressing his longing for death, has had occasion to refer to the different classes who meet in the realm of death — princes, masters, the great, whose life raises no wherefore ? and the toil-worn, petty, servile folk, whose life is intolerable. Why are these last born at all ? Thus Job, though absorbed with his own misery and the mystery of it, is not so absorbed as to regard his fate as singular ; rather has his own trouble deepened his fellow-feeling with the wretched : in the days of his prosperity he had been anything but unsympathetic towards them, for he had helped the victims of misfortune (4^*-) ; but in those days their lot had not presented to him a problem, now it does (cp. 4^). Why are there weak, stumbling, miserable men to be helped and comforted ? Why are men born to grow up to such conditions as these ? This question must ultimately raise that of God's responsibility : what does God mean by creating and maintain- ing such lives ? But in this first speech Job does not clearly and directly raise the question in this form, though God may perhaps be the unnamed subject in ^^, and in ^sb ^j^g Q^e place in the chapter in which God is mentioned, it is at least hinted that (but ct. the explicitness of 10^^) He is the source of Job's troubles, and of the moral perplexities which they occasion ; but, for the most part, it is the bare fact of misery, and the question whether such misery, however caused or to whatso- ever due, ought to be, that are considered. Just as God is kept at least somewhat in the background, so also is any moral distinction in men of differing fortunes : not here or yet is the question clearly formulated, why do the righteous live miserably ? It is the wider question that is put : Why are men allowed to be wretched? Why are they born at all, if to live is to suffer? V.^ (prose) connects the prose Prologue (cc. 1-2) with the speech (poetry), in which Job opens the succession of speeches (poetry) of himself and his friends extending down to c. 31.
30 THE BOOK OF JOB [ill. 1-10.
V.^ is the usual formula introducing a speech : so 4^ 6^, etc.
1. Day] i.e. birthday, which is elsewhere otherwise ex- pressed (v.^, Gn. 40^^^, Jer. 20^^ Ec. 7^).
2. Answered] as often, not of reply to any previous re- marks, but of beginning to speak as an occasion required {Lex.
773«> 2).
3-10. Job curses the day (3*) of his birth (cp. Jer. 20^*-^^), and the night of his conception (^^ 5^, not ffi), praying that they may both be blotted out of existence. Personifying the day and night in question, he treats them as possessing independent and continuous existence, so that they have hitherto reappeared every year : his wish is that they may now cease to exist, and henceforward appear no more.
The verse division of ill, followed by RV., in this opening section of the poem, gives four tristichs (^* °- ^* ^) and four distichs — an extraordinary proportion of the former, even though we do not with Bi, Du. rule out the possibility of tristichs. The tristichs of ^' ' could be most easily removed, and distichs restored, by transposing 4^- °. Bi.^ assumes the loss of a line after **, unites ^ with ^ (omitting ** that night " in ^*), and expands ^* into a distich. Du. transfers ^^ to follow *^ : this yields a good distich, and improves rather than spoils*; of^^ like Bi., he makes three distichs; and certainly ^- ^ would stand well as a complete distich, and ^^- '^ better by itself than tacked on to ^* ; moreover, ^°' ^* would form a good distich except that the casus pendens at the beginning of the second line is not very natural ; on the other hand, if we simply omit '* that night " in ^% with Bi. Du., the line is reduced to two stresses, though, by reading innp'i for 'p', Bi. is able to satisfy his system. It must, however, also be observed that, as it stands, ^* is over long (four stresses). On the whole, the tristichs remain suspicious, even though no attempt hitherto made to remove them is beyond criticism : the same may be said of "that night " in ^, and also of " Lo, that night " in ''. It has sometimes been claimed on the basis of ^ (for variations in fflr, see below) that the special curse on the night of conception (^"^°) is twice as long as that on the day of birth (^ ^), and the reason for this has been very artificially found, and against the standpoint of the context, in the fact that it was the night of conception which properly gave Job being. The quatrain theory of Bi. and Du. leads them to obscure the really rather obvious and effective articulation of the passage, since they are bound to unite ** (Du. + '*^) with ^ and (Du.) ^b. c ^vith ^*^. As a matter of fact, in a single opening distich (^) the writer defines the day and night he has in view, and in a single closing distich i^^) gives the reason for his curse ; what lies between amplifies the single word of malediction (lOK') in ^. Had the writer really been bound by a system of quatrains he could easily, and we must believe would, have expended ^' ^"each into a quatrian.
III. 3.] JOB 31
2 Perish the day wherein I was born !
And the night which said, A man is conceived !
3. And the night which said] The night is personified, and so able to bear witness to v/hat had happened in it : the poet even, if J§ be right, endows it with the faculty of knowing what no human being could know, the sex of the child at the moment of conception. — A man is conceived] (& Behold a male ! (see phil. n.) — referring to Job's dirth. If this reading is correct, the poet will first use day in its broader and more general sense, and then in the parallel clause specify the particular part of the **day" meant by him, viz. the first half of the vv^^drj/jLepov. — Thus, whereas according to J^ the night of conception as well as the day of birth is cursed, according to © the day of birth is the sole object of the malediction, ** These objections have been urged against 5^ (Be. Du.) : (i) in ^ only Job's birthday is mentioned as having been cursed by him ; (2) in the sequel it is only this day that he curses (notice especially ^^- ^^^) ; (3) he is unlikely to have spoken of the same night as both the time of conception and (^' 7) the time of birth ; (4) 133 is a poet, word for vir adultus. Job was neither born nor conceived as a nnj ; (5) Jer. (20^*"^^) curses only the day of his birth, and uses the term lar, male (^^). On the other hand, (i) -^ in any case does not summarize the whole ch. : if it does not summarize the whole, it need not mention more than the first and most prominent part of it ; (2) and (3) it is quite possible that ^~^^ refer to the night of conception ; and even if they do not, a glance (^^) at the time of conception is very natural and fitting in Job's position; (4) Job is speaking as a poet, not as a physiologist ; and he may well use the term man (cp. avQpoaiTo^^ John 16^^), 'looking at what he essentially is, not at the stage of development he has reached ' (Pe.). Even, however, though n2J be still deemed inap- propriate, "I3r might be accepted without n^n ; (5) whatever be the original, the terms used by Jer. do not decide those which may have been used by Job. On the whole, though ffir may be right, J^ is not necessarily wrong." In addition to the considerations thus carefully balanced by Dr. there is yet
32 THE BOOK OF JOB [ill. 3-5.
* That day — let it be darkness !
Let not God inquire after it from above I
Neither let the light shine upon it ! ^ Let darkness and black gloom claim it !
Let a cloud dwell upon it !
Let the blacknesses of the day terrify it !
another that weighs heavily in favour of ffi : Job's quarrel is not with his conception, but with his birth, with the fact that he had issued from the womb living into the world with its life of trouble and pain ; to have been conceived, yet not to have been born, is indeed one of the two alternative fates — the silence of the womb or the silence of Sheol — that he desires ; if his mother had miscarried, or he had been still-born, all would still, even in spite of his conception, have been well with him
(16-12; cp. I018-19).
4-5. If it is too much for Job to expect his birthday to be blotted out of the year (^), may it at least, when it comes round, be a day of blackness, uncared for by God, unreached by His light, affrighted by appalling, preternatural obscurations !
4. That day] ** (& that nighty — no doubt a paraphrase due to *■ day ' being understood to refer to that part of the day which it must have referred to, if ^^ were understood, as C& under- stood it, of Job's hirth''^ (I^^-)* — ^^^ ^^^ ^^^ inquire after it] viz. to give it its light when its time comes ; let Him be in- different to it, and leave it a day of darkness. — Neither lety etc.] as a consequence of God's not caring for it.
5. Black gloom] niDi'X, the strongest word which Heb. possesses to express the idea of darkness. If the rendering shadow of death (so JH) is correct, the meaning will be darkness as intense as that of the abode of death, Sheol (Ges. Thes. ^^ tenehrcB Orciy i.e. tenebrce densissini(B^^ \ cf. lo^i- 22 381*^): if, however, it is to be regarded, with most moderns, not as a com- pound, but as an independent word (see phil. n.), it must be rendered by some other expression denoting intense darkness (RVm. deep darkness). — Claim it] The word (^JNi) means properly to claim effectively property the possession of which has lapsed {i,e. to redeem it) ; the right, or duty, of doing this devolved
ra.5-8.] JOB 33
* That night — let thick darkness take it !
Let it not rejoice among the days of the year !
Into the number of the months let it not come ! ^ Lo, that night — let it be sterile !
Let no joyful voice come therein ! ^ Let them curse it that ban the day !
Who are ready to rouse up Leviathan.
commonly upon the owner's nearest relation (the PNIJ : see GoEL in EBi.) ; hence the idea is, as soon as the day appears, let darkness, as its nearest relation, at once assert it rights, and take possession of it. — The blacknesses of day] Let it not merely be taken possession of by ordinary darkness : let the appalling and abnormal obscurations, produced by eclipses, tornadoes, sandstorms, etc., such as are apt to darken the day, make it a day not of darkness only, but of terror. Cf. the descriptions of the ''day" of Yahweh, Zeph. i^^, Joel 2^ al.
6. That nighi\ Bi. Du. omit (see above on ^~^^). Honth. that day. — Take\ with the implication of take away (Gn. 5^^), so that it can no more take its place in the year. Seize on (EVV.) does not quite express the right nuance. — Rejoice among\ let it have no part in the band of happy days that make up the year. C, vocalizing differently, has he united to (so AV. Hi. Me. Bu. Du. Sgf.) : this is supported by the par- allelism of the next clause ; but the thought is more prosaic (Dr. ; so Di. Pe.).
7. " While other nights ring with birthday gladness, let it sit barren" (Da.) ; let not there ever be heard in it the joyful sound of one announcing to the father the good news of the birth of a son and gladdening his heart thereby ; cp. Jer. 20^^ (iK'a and innctJ' TXi'^). — Sterile\ Tiof):, stony, stone-barren, un- productive as the rock (Arab, jalmud, a rock, or mass of rock) 1^34 2o3, Is. 4921. Not the usual Heb. word for barren (mpj;).
8. That ban the day] enchanters or magicians reputed to have the power to make days unlucky, — either in general, or, in particular (cp. ^), by producing eclipses, the day on which an eclipse occurred being considered inauspicious. — To rouse tip Leviathan] i.e. the dragon which, according to ancient ideas,
3
34 THE BOOK OF JOB [lU. 8-9.
® Let the stars of its (morning-) twilight be dark ! Let it wait for light, but have none ! Neither let it look upon the eyelids of the dawn I
was supposed — and in many parts of the world is supposed still (see, ^.^., E. B. Tylor, Primitive Culture^ i. 328 fF.) — when an eclipse occurred, either to swallow up the sun, or moon, or to surround it in its coils ; an allusion to this idea is detected by some in 26^^. Leviathan (in^lij), properly something wreathed or coiled (cp. n;p, a chaplet^ Pr. i^ 4^), and denoting apparently the crocodile in 41^^- (ofp^^-). The crocodile, a symbol of Egypt in Ps. 74^*, and a sea-monster in Ps. 104*^^, is here an imaginary serpent-like monster, represented as stirred up to produce the eclipse by the incantations of the professional cursers. The ethnic parallels do not, however, furnish us with instances of attempts to make the eclipse-monster swallow the sun and so produce eclipses, but only of attempts to make it disgorge or let go of the sun, and so prevent or end eclipses. Du. explains differently : as in ^*- ^- ^* he sees not ordinary darkness, but the darkness of chaos (Gn. i^), which, rising up out of the deep, like a heavy cloud (^^), may. Job hopes, overwhelm his birthday; so here in Leviathan he sees the chaos-dragon (Tiamat) who, as a personification of the powers opposed to light, threatens the world of gods and men with destruction. When the enchanters disturb this monster, the tohu wabhohu — the chaos which Jer. 42^^- so finely describes — threatens to break forth and engulph the day on which this takes place. A mythological allusion of this kind might readily occur in Job (cp. 7^^ 9^^ 26^^- ^^) ; but it may be doubted whether this explanation does not put more into Job's words than they naturally express. Gu. {Schopf. u. Chaos^ p. 59), Che. UQ^> 1897, p. 975; ET X. (1899) 380) Be. would read: '' that lay a spell upon the sea " (D^ for DV) ; but this introduces an idea foreign to the context.
9. Let its morning stars, Venus and Mercury, the harbingers of day, never appear ! Let it remain an endless night waiting for a dawn that never breaks. The idea is fully expressed in * and *', the stricter parallels, and ^ may be out of place (see
III. 9-26.] JOB 35
^® Because it shut not up the doors of my (mother's) womb, Nor hid travail from my eyes !
above). — Twilight] nesheph denotes the evening twihg-ht in 24^^, Pr. 7^ al., and the morniiig twiHght, as here, in 7*, Ps. 119^*'^. — Wait for\ EVV. have the expressive rendering- look for (so elsewhere, e.g.^ Is. 59^^, Jer 13^^) ; but the figure is not in the Heb., mp meaning simply to wait. — The eyelids of the dawn\ a beautiful figure repeated, or imitated, in 4110(18)^ the first crimson streaks of light which herald the rising sun ; cp. Soph. Ant. 103, ypvaka^i aiiepa^^ jSXecpapov.
10. Sh7it not up, etc.] like similar but not identical phrases in Gn. 16^ {rrhl2 ••nvy), 20^^ (qp,-, ^^3 -^^;y)^ j g^ j5 ('^ ^^^>^^ e ('"I lyn "13D), the phrase "'JDl TlH "liD, to shut the doors of the womb, might here refer to prevention of conception, as Dm nna,' to open the womb, in Gn. 29^^ 30^- means to render conception possible ; in this case the subj. would be the night on which Job was conceived. But the phrase would obviously be equally suitable to the closing of the womb against the egress of the embryo ; in this case the day (or night) of Job's birth (cp. ^) is the subject, and the poet is giving a special turn to an idea that occurs elsewhere (Is. 37^ 66^^). It can scarcely be more than an accident that the closing of doors, when mentioned in the OT., generally has in view the prevention of ingress {e.g. Gn. 19^^, Neh. 6^^, Is. 45^) and rarely the pre- vention of egress (?38^). — My [mother^s) womb] Heb. my womb, i.e. the womb which bare me : so, though other views have been taken, 19^''. — Travail] Heb. ^oy, properly labour (Qoh. j3 2^0 etc.; Ps. 90^^), toil (cp. the vb. Ps. 127^); hence fig. travail (EVV. usually trouble), Ps. 10^^ 25^^ etc.. Is. 53^^ (cp. the adj. below, v. 2^) : when prepared by the wicked for others, generally rendered in EVV. for distinctness mischief (15^^, Ps. 715.17(14.16) io7-i4etc.).
II-26. To the curse succeeds the questioning and com- plaint, in two unequal paragraphs, each beginning with ''wherefore" — '^^~^^ (nine distichs) and 20-26 (seven distichs). The curse reveals Job's deep and passionate judgment of the facts of his life : it is travail, travail so bitter that the day that
36 THE BOOK OF JOB [in. 11-16.
^^ Why did I not die from the womb,
Come forth from the belly, and expire?
^2 Why did the knees receive me ?
Or why the breasts, that I should suck ?
^* For then should I have lain down and been quiet ; I should have slept ; then were I at rest :
failed to prevent this existence deserves the severest malediction. But malediction does not alter the fact ; Job is alive, and Job's life is travail. Why ? If he was not to perish in the womb (1^), but to come out through its doors into the world of life, yet why, even so, did he not die at once, before he could become conscious of the travail of life ? Why (^"•) the bitter mockery, as it seems now, of his parents' welcome to him and care for his infant life ? That care had robbed him of the great prize P'-) of death, and had forced on him misery (20-26) in place of the stillness and peace of death (i^"^^). Job disregards here (see introductory note to the ch.) not only the long years of happiness that he had previously enjoyed, but also the drearier aspects of Sheol, which elsewhere he could vividly portray. At present his mind is filled with the thought of life as travail, and death as rest.
11. Du. may be right in placing ^<* immediately after ^^ (see phil. n.). The two verses would then read together thus :
Why did I not die from the womb,
Come forth from the belly, and expire ?
Or (why) was I not like a hidden untimely birth, As infants which never saw the light ?
From the womb] i,e, immediately after birth, ffi **in the womb " is not to be preferred.
12. The knees] commonly explained of the knees of the father, on which the newborn child was laid as a mark of acceptance and legitimation ; cp. Gn. 502^. — Receive me] Prop. com,e in front of m,e^ come to meet me — with some service or kindness (e.g; Dt. 23^, with food).
14-15. He would, moreover, instead of being an outcast, lying in squalor, and an object of contempt to all (19^^*'- 30^- ^•),
ni. 14-17.] JOB 37
^* With kings and counsellors of the earth,
Who built '^ pyramids 1 (?) for themselves ; 1^ Or with princes that had gold,
Who filled their houses with silver : . 1^ Or as an hidden untimely birth I had not been ;
As infants which never saw light. ^^ There the wicked cease (their) raging ;
And there the weary be at rest.
have at least been in the company of the wealthy and illustrious dead. — Counsellors of the earlh] 12^"^. — Pyramids] MT. has, ** who built up waste places for themselves" (so ^), i.e. who r^-built ruined cities or habitations (so Is. 58^^ 61* al.), that they might inhabit them themselves. This, however, yields a poor sense ; kings do not usually attain fame by r^-building ruined sites, nuin may be an error for ni^DNn, palaces (Be.), or (Ol. Di.) niDlont^, fortified palaces; or (Ew. Bu. Du.) it may be a corruption of ^^^^l}* pyramids (cf. Arab, hiramy a pyramid, which may be of Egypt, origin) : the allusion, in this case, will be to the pyramids built for themselves as mausoleums by the kings of Egypt. <* Palaces " would be mentioned, like the gold and silver of v.^^, as an indication of the earthly greatness of those with whom Job would then be: ** pyramids" would, in addition, suggest impressively the placid sleep of those who lay buried in them.
16. Or (attaching to ^^), like one prematurely born, put away at once out of sight, or {^^^) like a stillborn child, he would have had no existence at all : if he had not been with the famous dead, he would, at least, have been equally removed from life and its troubles. — An untimely birth] ?^}, (ffi eKjpoDfiaf as I Cor. 158), as Ps. 58^, Qoh. e^f.
17-19. He dwells on the thought of the peacefulness of Sheol, — a peacefulness shared in by all alike.
17. Raging] the Heb. is a subst.y and cannot have the transitive sense oi troubling (EVV.). The idea of wn is strong agitation \ the vb. Ml is lit. to shake (intrans.) violently ^ as mountains. Is. 5^^; then fig., of different strong emotions, usually of terror (Ex. 15^^ Dt. 2^^, Is. 32^^), but also of wrath (Is. 28^1, Pr. 299), surprise (Is. 14^), violent grief (2 S. 19^).
^S THE BOOK OF JOB [ill. 17-21,
1^ (There) the captives are at ease together ;
They hear not the voice of the taskmaster. 1^ The small and great are there ;
And the servant is free from his master.
20 Why doth he give light to him that is in travail, And life unto the bitter in soul ;
So Tj'l, agitation (though it cannot always be rendered In English by the same word), is used in 37^ of the rolling of thunder, Hab. 32 of wrath, in ch. 3^^ of a tumult of feeling, 14^ (cf. Is. 14^) of the unrest of life, here of the turbulence of passion (cf. for the unrest of the wicked. Is. 57^*^). The ** troubling" of others may be a consequence of this ; but it is not itself the idea which Til'l expresses.
18. Captives] As ^ shows, captives employed in forced labour, like the Israelites in Egypt. ^WY, priso7ters) but this so much suggests persons who are imprisoned, that it is here misleading and unsuitable. The Heb. (lit. the bound) is not limited to persons imprisoned, but is used in the broader sense of those confined in captivity (Ps. 69^* loa^i). — The voice of the taskmaster] (Ex. 3^ 5^- 1^- ^^' 1^), urging them to their work with shouts and curses. The word means properly the hard-presser (Is. 3^2 9^ 14^**; in the exaction of money, Dt. 15^- ^ 2 K. 23^^).
20-26. Why does God prolong life to those who in general ^2o-22j^ and like Job in particular (23-26j^ \^ their misery, long only for death ?
20. Doth he give] or, is given (see phil. n.). He does not name, though he alludes to God; and the indirect reference, though partly due to reverence, betrays a rising alienation in his heart (Da.). He hints in ^3 that he owes his calamity to God ; but it is only after Eliphaz's rebuke (c. 5) that he says it outright (6^). — Hijn that is in travail] Lit. one labouringy toil- ing'^ cognate to the word rendered travail m 1^. — Bitter in soul\ i.e. soured, disappointed, aggrieved. The combination (with adj., verb, or subst.) Is frequent: Jg. i8-^ i S. i^^ 22^ 30^, 2 S. 17^ (as a bear robbed of its cubs).
21. Search] Lit. dig (Ex. 72^); but 11 ^^ 3929 show that the
III. 21-25.] JOB 39
21 Who long for death, but it cometh not ;
And search for it more than for hid treasures ;
22 Who are glad unto exultation,
And rejoice, when they find the grave ?
23 Unto a man whose way is hid,
And whom God hath hedged in ? 2* For instead of (?) my bread my sighing cometh.
And my roarings are poured out like water. 25 For I fear a fear, and it cometh upon me.
And that which I dread cometh unto me.
word may be used without any thought of its lit. meaning : cf. Pr. 2* (n^b^snn D'^JIODDDI). It is, however, specially apposite here, as D^^D^D (from J pD, ** to hide ") were often *' hidden " in the earth (Jer. 41^ '31 Q^i^n mSJ^a D^3DDD i:i) B^^ ''3, Jos. 721
23. A many etc.] Job's way is ** hid," so that he cannot see in which direction to turn, and "hedged in," so that he knows no way of escape from the difficulties in which he finds himself. The reference is not, perhaps, merely to his physical sufferings, but also to the mental distress occasioned by them : the sense that the calamities which have befallen him are undeserved, the difficulty of reconciling them with his belief in the justice of God, — these form a riddle which he cannot solve, and place him in a situation of dire perplexity, from which he can find no outlet (cf. 19^^-). — Hedged in] (virtually) the word used by the Satan in i^® in a different sense : there of the protection which God had thrown around Job, here of the mental embarrassment which His treatment of him had occasioned. Cf. for the figure, Hos. 2^, c. 19^, La. 3^.
24. Instead of (?) 7ny bread] the rendering is doubtful (see phil. n.). For the thought, cf. Ps. 424<8^ So^^^^,— Cometh] Cometh constantly or regularly : the sense of the Heb. impf. — My roarings] Properly, the roaring of a lion (4^^) ; then fig. of loud groanings or complaints; so Ps. 222 32^; cf. 38^ — As 'mater] In a continuous stream.
25. I fear a fear] he has but to imagine some direful mis- fortune, and it comes upon him.
40 THE BOOK OF JOB [HI. 26-IV. V.
^ I have no ease, and no quiet,
And no rest ; and (yet) torment cometh.
IV. ^ And Eliphaz the Temanite answered, and said,
26. His hopeless monotony of unrest. He has no time to breathe {9^^), no time to recover from one thought of agony or despair before another overwhelms him. — To?7nenf] the strong word (tJ"!) explained on ^^. Here it denotes the vehement tumult of feeling — sense of injustice and desertion by God, despair, alarm (cf. 7I1-1*) — produced, directly or indirectly, by his disease. Cf. the TJl 37, or ** agitated heart," which Israel, in its anxiety for its life, its restlessness, its constant fear, is to have when in exile (Dt. 28^6, cf. ^6-67).
IV. V. Eliphaz's first speech. — Silent a whole week through, while Job was silent (2^^), the friends are driven into speech by his words ; partly from their concern for God, for Job's words, though not directly and by name accusing God, must have seemed to border on blasphemy, so that God needed to be defended (13^'' 42^) ; partly from their concern for Job, lest his attitude under trial (4^) should annul the merit of a life of piety (4*), and prevent that restoration to happiness which must certainly follow a humble acceptance of present calamity (5^"^^). Eliphaz is the first of the friends to speak, probably because he was the eldest of them (cp. 15^^, if this is a covert allusion to Eliphaz's own age, and 32^, where Elihu explains that, as the youngest, he had kept silence to the last), or, perhaps, because he was the most eminent (cp. 29^) of them. He begins with a word of apology (4^), and of surprise that Job, who has so often comforted others in their adversity, should, in his own trouble, abandon himself to despair {^-^). Then, so far from making an immediate attack upon Job, he recalls Job's former perfect life ; and to enforce the point that this should even now give him hope and confidence (^), he utters some general truths : the righteous man never perished under affliction (^) : it is the wicked who receive the reward of their deeds {^-^^) : above all, he had learnt by a mysterious revelation that no man is righteous before God (^2-21^^ pjg now turns to Job,
IV. 2-4.] ELIPHAZ 4 1
2 If one attempt a word with thee, wilt thou be impatient ? But to restrain words, who is able?
advising him to apply these truths to himself. Resentment against God only incurs disaster (5^~^). In Job's place he would betake himself to God (^), whose government of the world is wonderful and good (^^^), and whose chastisements are designed only to lead to ultimate blessing (i7-26j . jg^ Jq^ ^ake heed (2^).
In this first speech, Eliphaz, for the most part, applies his theory of life and of God's dealings to Job's case with con- sideration and tenderness; yet, in 4^, he is rather *' joining words together against Job" than placing himself in Job's place (16*), so as to be able to do for Job, in this greater distress, what Job had been wont to do to others ; Job used to speak to those in danger of despair, but not, like Eliphaz in ^, merely to tell them what poltroons they were ; and to the be- reaved (29^2f.j^ but not merely, as Eliphaz in 5^^, almost oblivious of the poignancy of the sudden loss of children, to speak con- ventionally of others yet to be.
2. Eliphaz begins with a question, as also in 15^ 22^; and so Bildad in 8^ 18^ Sophar in 11^; indeed, the only speeches of the friends not opening with a question are Sophar's second (20^) and Bildad's (mutilated) third (25^) speech. — If one attempt^ etc.] for an alternative translation of f^, see phil. n. It is doubtful whether ©, on which Be.^ is inclined to base a variant, is more than a paraphrase of J^. * is overlong in J^, but also in ffi ; it may originally have been shorter and more closely parallel to ^. — Impatient] Heb. wearied, ** Grieved" in EVV. is an archaism for troubled ox harassed", and "commune" is an archaism for ** speak."
3, 4. The second lines of each v. are complete parallels to one another, and, if united, would give a distich of the type a. b. c I a', b'. c'; with slight variations they actually do occur elsewhere (Is. 35^), so united in a distich of the form a. b. c I b'. c'. a' (cp. Forms of Hebrew Poetry^ p. 66 f.). In spite of this, it is unnecessary and even inadvisable to trans- pose 3b and ^; the parallelism of ^ with ^b and ** with '^^ though incomplete, is entirely normal (FormSy pp. 59 f., 72 ff.).
42 THE BOOK OF JOB [IV. 3-6.
^ Behold, thou hast instructed many,
And slack hands thou hast been wont to strengthen. * Him that was stumbling, thy words would raise up,
And bowing knees thou wouldst confirm. 5 Because now it cometh unto thee, and thou art impatient,
It reacheth unto thee, and thou art dismayed.
^ Is not thy fear (of God) thy confidence,
■^And^ thy hope the perfectness of thy ways?
3. Instructed\ i.e. according to the proper meaning of IDS ** instructed morally'" (see Dr. on Dt. 4^^), teaching them, for instance, to view their afflictions as a father's chastening, and as having a moral purpose. — Slack\ or, hanging down^ a sign of helplesness and despondency.
4. Him that was stumbling and the bowing knees are both figures for those unable to bear up under the weight of affliction ; cp. Is. 35^ (of the despondent Israelites in exile).
5. Becatise\ gives the reason why Eliphaz speaks as he has done in ^ [Lex. 474^) ; at the first taste of trouble, so it seems to Eliphaz the onlooker, Job has broken down entirely, losing patience and self-possession. With this reason for venturing to speak, the apologetic introduction to the speech is at an end; the speech proper, which Eliphaz feels compelled to address to Job, begins with ^.
6. Having briefly and rather Indirectly expressed his surprise at, and disapprobation of. Job's words a,nd present temper (^•^), Eliphaz starts the main argument of his speech with a recogni- tion of Job's character as reflected in his life before trouble came ; he admits that Job had been perfect (see on i^), and his life regulated by ''fear" (nt<T, which Eliphaz (15^ 22^), but he only, uses absolutely in the sense of the more usual phrase, '* fear of God " ; cp. the adj. in i^). This being so. Job ought not to have lost confidence and hope ; since, however, as his words had shown, he had done so for the moment at least, Eliphaz proceeds, in the light of his own observation of life (^), to show (j- ^) why a *' perfect " man has no need to despair even if affliction comes to him.
rV. 7-9.] ELIPHAZ 43
^ Remember, I pray thee, who (ever) perished, being
innocent ?
Or where were the upright cut off? ^ According as I have seen, they that plow naughtiness.
And they that sow trouble, reap it. ^ By the breath of God they perish.
And by the blast of his anger are they consumed.
7-9. No righteous man ever perished under affliction ; if the righteous suffer, their afflictions are disciplinary only, and not intended for their destruction. It is the wicked who, if they fall into misfortune, are reaping the fruits of their own misdeeds. Eliphaz's theodicy is that of the old-fashioned school represented by the author of Ps. 37. It is not very tactfully ex- pressed, however : Job's longing was to find release from misery by death : it is the reward of the righteous, Eliphaz begins, that they do not die {i.e, before completing the full tale of life).
8. Naughtiness\ \47ven seems to denote properly what is empty ^ disappointing^ valueless \ and it is used in different senses, according to the context. Thus it denotes {a) calamity^ misfortune^ Am. 5^, Bethel shall come to misfortune (i.l^^p HM^) ; Pr. 12^1 no calamity (f^^5) will happen to the righteous; 22^ He that soweth unrighteousness reapeth misfortune ; (d), as here, naught-y conduct, naughtiness^ a term of disparagement for wickedness, as Mic. 2^ Ah, they that devise naughtiness^ and work evil upon their beds; Ps. 7^^ 10^ 36^-^ etc., and often in the expression |.1.^? vVS, Ps. 5^^^^ etc. ; (c) a thijtg of nought^ especially an idol^ Is. 66^ He that burneth incense is as ( = no better than) he that blesseth a thing of nought (an idol). Zee. lo^. For the figures, expressing significantly how the consequence follows inevitably from the action, cf. Hos. 8^ lo^^ ^nd Pr. 22^. — Trouble^ ?^V, the word explained on 3^^. The meaning of the verse is thus that those who '*plow," ^dweii, in the form of "naughtiness," will reap it in the form of ''misfortune," and that those who "sow," 'amal, or "travail," for others will reap it in its consequences themselves.
9. The verse describes what the "harvest" implied in ^^is. The underlying figure is that of herbage, withered and burned
44 THE BOOK OF JOB [IV. 9-12.
1^ The roaring of the Hon, and the voice of the loud lion, And the teeth of the young lions are dashed out.
1^ The stout lion perisheth for lack of prey,
And the whelps of the lioness are scattered abroad.
^2 But to me was a word brought stealthily, And mine ear received a whisper from it.
up by a hot blast blowing up from the desert, with which Yahweh's breath is implicitly compared. Cf. Hos. 13^^ ("the sirocco shall come, the breath [or 'wind\ of Yahwehy coming up from the wilderness, and his spring shall become dry, and his fountain shall be dried up "), Is. 40^^.
lO-II. Another graphic figure describing the sudden de- struction of the wicked : the breaking-up and dispersion of a den of lions ; the lions, powerful and terrible as they were, have their strength broken by a sudden blow; the old lion perishes for lack of food, and the cubs are dispersed. Cf. 5^"^, where the actual breaking-up of the home of the wicked is described. The sudden blow is described in ^^ by the perf. tense ; the ptcp. and impf. in ^^ describe what then follows. Are dashed out (same word as Ps. 58^) belongs properly only to teeth ; roaring and voice are connected with it by zeugma.
12-21. Let Job remember that no man can be pure before God. Eliphaz has insisted that no righteous man perishes in his afflictions ; but the question still remains. What is the cause of Job's afflictions? This, he proceeds to impress upon Job, was not anything peculiar to Job himself: it was the general imperfection of all created beings, which Job shares not only with other men, but even with angels, the highest and purest of God's creatures. This truth he places before Job with delicacy and consideration : it had been impressed upon him by a voice from heaven, coming in the still hours of night : Job might not have had such an experience : Eliphaz thus at once excuses Job, and also instructs him.
12. To me] The words are emphatic: they contrast what was revealed to Eliphaz personally (cp. 15^^ 22^2) with what Job and other persons might have learnt from ordinary experi-
IV. 12-14.] ELIPHAZ 45
^3 Amid thoughts (arising) out of visions of the night,
When deep sleep falleth on men, " Fear came upon me, and trembling.
And filled my bones with dread.
ence. — A whisper from ii\ ** His ear caught it all, but the whole of it was but a whisper" (Da.).
13-16. How the truth was borne in upon him which he desires to impress upon Job. It was in the dead of night, when all around were in deep sleep. His mind was agitated by perplexing thoughts arising out of visions of the night. Suddenly a great terror fell upon him ; and he was conscious of a breath, or cold wind, passing before him. Then he seemed to perceive a figure standing before him, too dim, however, to be discerned distinctly, from which came forth a still voice, which said. Can a mortal be just before God, or can a man be pure before his Maker ?
13. Thoughts] The word (D^SVb^, 20^!; cf. D^ajnt5^, Ps. 9418 139^^ t) seems to denote divided (cf. fiepfirjpL^co), tangled, per- plexing thoughts. — Deep sleep] 33^^^ q^^ ^^i 1512^ i S. 26^2^ Pr. 19^5^
14b. Lit. made the multitude of my bones to fear ^ i.e, my bones, as many as they are : as we should say, my whole frame. The bonesy as the supporting framework of the body, are often in Heb. poetry taken as representing it; and affections, and even emotions, pervading or affecting strongly a man's being, are poetically attributed to them, or conceived as operating in them. See, for instance, Pr. 3^ (wisdom, moisture to thy bones), 12* (a bad wife, rottenness in the bones), 15^^ (D^y jlS'in nD^t3 ^V1Dt^'), 1722 (D"13 K'n^n nND3 mi); in prosperity they *' sprout," Is. 66^* (nDmen Nl^'ia DD'rilDVin) ; in sickness or trouble they are parched up, Jb. 30^^ Ps. 102* (nn3 ipiDD TIID^V), cf. Lam. i^^ (5^^ rh^ TllDVya), or shrivelled, Ps. 31IK10) (ic's:'^ '•OJ^ITi), or wear away, 32^ ('•D^yii^a); in great fear ** rottenness " enters into them (Hab. 3^^); in deep emotion they are dismayed, Ps. 6^^^ (^»Vy 1^n33), or rejoice, 5110(8) ^^^y^ ^^^^^ n:h^T\), and Ps. 3510 in the praise of God they even ''speak." And so here they *'fear" (not ''quake," EVV.).
46 THE BOOK OF JOB [IV. 15-17.
^^ And a breath passed before my face ;
The hair of my flesh bristled up. ^^ It stood still, but I discerned not its appearance ;
(It was) a. form before mine eyes:
I heard a still voice (saying), ^'^ ** Can a mortal be just before God?
Or can a man be pure before his Maker?
15-16. Notice the graphic imperfects.
15. A breatJi] An uncanny breath, or cold air, the symbol of a presence which he could not discern, seemed to pass over him. nn, ''spirit," does not occur in the OT. in the sense of an apparition (EVV.).
16. It {i)\ the mysterious object in his presence. — A foT^ni] Heb. r\y\'OT\ denoting here a form, the presence of which could be felt, though its appearance or contour could not be distinctly descried : cf. of the intangible, yet quasi-sensual, manifestation of Yahweh which was vouchsafed to Moses (Nu. 12^), and to which the Psalmist aspires to be admitted (Ps. lyi^^i*)) ; and see Dr. on Dt. 4^2, — ^ still voice] Lit. stillness and a voice — a hen- diadys = fl still low voice, Cf. i K. 19^2 p,p-| -jddT S"^, ^Hhe sound {ox a voice) of thin stillness''^ = ** a still, small voice."
17-21. The contents of the revelation. V.^^ states the revelation itself; ^^"^i gives the proof of it. With ^^~^^ com- pare i5i*-i6 (Eliphaz), 25*"^ (Bildad), where the argument and largely also the expressions are similar.
17. Just before God\ see phil. n. The grammatically possible alternative rendering "more just than God" (EV.) is unsuit- able, and whatever may be the case in 32^ (Elihu) was not intended here, as ^^ shows. Before God and before his Maker are emphatic : men might judge a man just and pure, not so God, who finds even angels imperfect, and, a fortiori^ men. For Job's attitude to the subject of this revelation, see 9^. It is noticeable that Eliphaz even here rather implies an Identi- fication of omnipotence and absolute moral purity; God is omnipotent and all-just (^^) ; the angels, as His servants, are inferior to Him in power and in liability to error {^^) ; men subject to the frailties of the body and the transltoriness ol
IV. 17-21.] ELIPHAZ 4Jr
^8 ** Behold, in his servants he putteth no trust;
And his angels he chargeth with error : 1^ How much more them that dwell in houses of clay,
Whose foundation is in the dust. They are crushed before the moth ;
20 Betwixt morning and evening they are beaten to pieces. Without any heeding, they perish for ever.
21 If their (tent-) cord is plucked up within them,
Do they not die, and that without wisdom ? "
human life are by far inferior to the angels in power, and in moral standing before God (^^).
18. Hzs servants] t\e. (cp. ^) His heavenly attendants. — Error] or, changing a letter, /(?//)/ ; see phil. n.
19. Houses of clay] bodies made of clay (cp. 10^ 33^), or dust (Gn. 2^ 3^^ I Cor. 15*^ Ik 775?, ;\;otAf09). For the fig. ** houses," cp. 2 Cor. 5^ r] eiTL'yeLO^ ^ficov oUla tov (Tktjvov^i Wis. 9^ TO 7eaj5e9 a-Krjvo^ : 2 P. i^^ -q air66eai<i tov (JKtjvcofiaro^ fiov. — Whose foundations^ etc.] their very foundation is of the earth ; they are derived from earth, and limited to earth. And that being so, they are the more fragile and destructible. For ** foundations" as a figure for the *' conditions of existence" (Bu.), cp. 22^6 (Eliphaz) and Pr. io25.
19c, 20a. These lines are obvious parallels (cp. FormSy 70 ; cp. 66 f.) forming together a distich, which expresses the frailty and, hyperbolically, the brevity of human life : man is the creature of a day, dying more quickly and easily than such a fragile insect as the moth i^^^\ cp. Is. 51^), born in the morning and dead before nightfall (20*; cp. Is. 3812, Ps. go^f-). The verbs, expressing man's destruction, appear to be chosen with reference to the clay houses of their bodies (^^) ; it is true that the first (D1^<^^^) is elsewhere used metaphorically (Lex.)^ but here it seems to be literal : they are crushed or pulverized back into the fine dust (SD^, Ps. 90^) from which they were made (Gn. 3^^, Qoh. 12^), beaten to pieces or reduced to fragments (in^"' : of a potter's vessel. Is. 30^*).
20b, 21. Scarcely a tristich ; but whether apparently so, or an isolated stichos and distich, the form is suspicious and the
48 THE BOOK OF JOB [IV. 21-V. 1.
V. ^ Call now ; is there any that will answer thee ? And to which of the holy ones wilt thou turn ?
text contains some questionable features (see phil. n.). — With" out any heeding\ if the text is correct, this should mean : so insignificant are they no one notices them, or cares for their ate.
21. If the text is correct, the end of life is compared to the collapse of a tent as soon as the cord holding it in its place is plucked up ; if the figure be pressed, the body will correspond to the tent (cp. Is. 38^2 <<my habitation (m)— fig. for my body — is plucked upy and carried away from me like a shepherd's tent "), and the life to the cord. The v. emphasises the quick- ness and completeness of man's end. Elsewhere the end of life is represented by the figure of cutting off a thread (6^ Is. 38^2bj, Qj. cutting the cord which suspends a lamp (Qoh. 12^). — And that without wisdom] Eliphaz has pointed out the physical imperfections of human nature ; here he reverts to the point /i7-i9aj which the thought of these is intended to lead up to, viz. its moral imperfection ; men die without having attained wisdom, i.e, without having realized the moral limitations of human nature, without having perceived — as Job, for in- stance, has not perceived — that no man (i^) can be morally perfect.
V. 1-7. Since no man can be just before God, it is only the foolish who resent God's dealings with them, and, in con- sequence, bring upon themselves disaster.
I. Call now, is there any, etc.] *'The imperative is not ironical, but merely a very animated way of putting a supposi- tion : if thou appeal then against God, is there any that will hear thee or aid thee?" (Da.). — Holy ones] angels: so 15^^ (Eliphaz) ; also Zee. 146, Ps. 896- », Dn. 410- 1^. 20 313, Ecclus. 42^^ En. i^ (and very often : see Charles, n. ad loc). The heavenly beings are so termed, not on account of moral perfection (ct. 4^^), but of their proximity to God. The v. appears to indicate that the writer was familiar with the custom of seeking the intercession of angels (cp. , perhaps, 332^, Elihu). The germ of this custom, though not the custom itself, may be found in
V. 1-2.] ELIPHAZ 49
2 (Nay) ; for it is the foolish man, whom vexation killeth, And the silly one whom jealousy slayeth.
Zee. i^^, where the angel of Yahweh, voluntarily and unsought by man, intercedes with God on behalf of Jerusalem. Later, Raphael is represented as bringing the **memorial of the prayer" of Tobit and Sara before God (Tob. 1212), and (Tob. 12^^ (&^^) as one of the seven angels who present the prayers of the saints ; **the holy ones of heaven" are besought by the souls of the righteous dead to bring their cause before God (En. 9^- ^®) ; and in En. 15^ it is implied that angels are the natural intercessors for men : see, further, on this doctrine between 200 B.C. and 100 A.D., Charles's n. on Test. Levi 3^. Though the doctrine of angelic intercession found here is different from, and presum- ably a later development than, that of Zee. i^^ ^^jg b.c.), and finds no clear and exact parallel earlier than Enoch (2nd cent. B.C.), it is scarcely necessary on this ground to treat the v. as a marginal comment on 4^^ that subsequently found its place here (Du.); and if the connection between 4^^ and 5^ is not altogether obvious, neither would that between 4^1 and 5^ be closer (see Peake's criticism of Du.) ; for, as Bu. and Peake point out, 4^1 speaks of the common lot of frail man ; 52^- of the destruction of fools in particular. And, again, 5^ may stand related to 5^ : let not Job appeal to the angels, thereby manifesting the irritation of the foolish ; but let him turn in the right temper to God Himself.
2. Since no man can be just before God, it is foolish, and indeed fatal, to cherish vexation or resentment at misfortune. — Vexah'on] J^V? (DV?) means always the feeling of chagrin aroused by treatment regarded (rightly or wrongly) as unmerited. Only the foolish man displays it under misfortune. Cf. especially Pr. 12^^ ** As for the fool, his vexation is made known presently." — Killeth II slayeth] viz., by causing them to murmur at their lot, and so bring upon themselves further calamities. — The silly one] nriD : cp. nns HDV, a silly dove, Hos. 7^^. The term is akin to the more frequent TlQ, the simple, credulous (Pr. 14^^) man ; see Toy on Pr. i^^^,— Jealousy'] nK3p is parallel to b^v^* vexation^ as are the corresponding vbs. in Dt. 32^^' 21. The word is here 4
50 THE BOOK OF JOB [V. 2-4.
3 / have seen the foolish taking root ;
But his habitation ^ was cursed 1 suddenly. ^ Far now are his children from safety,
And they are crushed in the gate with none to deliver
them.
almost equal to passion^ passionate anger-, cp. Pr. 14^"^, Is. 42^^ (a warrior's passion).
3-5. Eliphaz cites an instance from his own experience (see 4^) confirming the truth stated in ^i he saw a *' foolish" man prospering for a time, but suddenly overtaken by mis- fortune.— Taking root] The fig. is that of a tree, which is common in Job (8^^'- i^^'^ 15^' 18^' 19'' 24^0 2g^^).— Was cursed, etc.] ^ I cursed \ his habitation having been ruined, I suddenly cursed it as the abode of one who had been a sinner (cf. Ps. 37^^'- I passed by it, and, lo, it was gone, etc.). But " suddenly " goes badly with '' I cursed " : what we expect is a verb, stating directly what happened to the habitation, as, e.g,, that the curse of God fell on it : others, emending differently, render ''was worm-eaten," or *' was emptied out," or "was laid waste" (see phil. n.). — Habitation i^)}^\ properly a pastoral term, meaning a homestead, or abode of shepherds and flocks (Is. 65^^ Jer. 23^), but often used in poetry of a habitation in general (as Pr. 3^^, Is. 3320).
4. The effects of the disaster upon his family : deprived of their protector, his children are helpless, and cannot get their just rights. In the mention of the fate of the foolish man's house and family, there is an indirect glance at what has hap- pened to Job himself (i^^-i^). The ''gate" (or rather "gateway," — a passage of some length with seats on both sides) of an Eastern city was the place where justice was often administered; see, e.g., c. 31^^ Dt. 25^, Am. 5^^ Is. 29^1, Ps. 127^ (where a man with a number of stalwart sons to support him can " speak " successfully "with his enemies in the gate "). With are crushed, comp. Pr. 22^2 *< Rob not the poor because he is poor; and crush not the afflicted in the gate.'''' On this v. Wetzstein remarks {ap. Del.^ p. 84), "What a Semite dreads more than anything is the desolation of his family, so that its
V. 4-6.] ' ELIPHAZ 5 1
^ That which T they have reaped 1 the hungry eateth, And r their sheaf the poor taketh 1 (?), And ^ the thirsty draweth from their well ^ (?).
^ For affliction cometh not forth from the dust, Neither doth travail spring out of the ground ;
members all perish or come to misery, his home is laid waste, and its ruins become a proverb for future generations." This feeling is particularly strong among the Bedawin, although naturally in their case there can be no question of the traces left by their hair-tents.
5. The fate of the foolish man's possessions : with none to protect them, his crops become the prey of the hungry Bedawi plunderer. Literally rendered, 5^ reads: whose (sing.) harvest the hungry eateth, and unto from (szc) thorns he taketh it, and the snare is eager for their substance. Some of this is impossible, more improbable (see phil. n.). Alternative emen- dations of ^ give : And the thirsty drinketh their milk (or, their wine). If, as is probable, '* thirsty " is correctly restored in ^, ^ which would then separate the more immediate parallels ''hungry" and ''thirsty" may well be intrusive and respon- sible for an original distich becoming a tristich.
6-7. Eliphaz justifies ("For") his position, that it is foolish to complain of misfortune, by the principle that travail (3^^ n.) and affliction (fi&?, 4^ n.) do not spring out of the earth like weeds, are not something external to man, which might come upon him undeservedly, but result from causes inherent in human nature : Job ought not, therefore, to be surprised if he has to experience them. Eliphaz, as before (4^^"^^), seeks to make it easy for Job to reconcile himself to his position, by showing him that his case is no exceptional one, but merely the exemplification of a general law : there is nothing strange in his suffering affliction ; for it is natural to man so to do.
6. Cometh for^h] of vegetable growth, as 14231^0, Dt. 14^2, Is. w^.—The dust\ the soil: so S^^ (n.). "The dust" and "the ground," like "the dust" and "the earth" in 14^, and like the vbs. in both lines, here simply belong to the fig. of vegetable growth : and it is a mistake, therefore, to detect in
52 THE BOOK OF JOB [V. 6-16.
^ But man is born unto travail, As sparks fly upwards.
**from the dust" an implied contrast to **from on high" (Peake). — Spring out] nov is used regularly of trees, vegeta- tion, etc., growing up from the ground: cp. Gn. 2^ 41^.
7. Is bom unto trouble^ etc.] ** It is as natural for man to experience misfortune as it is for sparks (see phil. n.) to fly upwards. If pressed, Eliphaz would have said that man did not merely fall into misfortune, but brought misfortune upon himself by following the impulses of his evil nature ; but in his first speech he keeps the question of Job's sin in the back- ground, and alludes to it as lightly and indirectly as possible " (Dr.). This interpretation (see also on ^-^i and cp. Di. al.) has appeared to some to labour under difficulties either in itself, or as an interpretation of an original part of Eliphaz's speech. To avoid what appears to them inconsistency with other parts of Eliphaz's speech, We. (Jahrb.f. deutsche Theologie^ xvi. 557), Sgf. Be. Du. om. vv.^* ^. Bu. finds the sense almost identical with that of 4^ — that man is actively responsible for his own misfortune; and, pointing the vb. in ^* as a Hif., renders : But man begets travail. Du. urges that ^ Is pointless, since Job has not urged the contrary, and, taken affirmatively, inconsistent with Eliphaz's position in 4^**- ; nor is It probable that ^ should be taken interrogatively : torn, as they are, from their context the vv. remain obscure. Peake, not perhaps with- out reason, questions whether **not from the dust " in ^ really means not without a cause, and hazards the suggestion that ^ may originally have affirmed what it now denies (cp. Richter, who proposes '^x\ for ^ "^a), and that the meaning was : man Is doomed to travail by the conditions of his earthly life, but (v.^^) the angels escape, since they soar high above the earth. But the assumption that **sons of flame" mean not ** sparks" but ** angels " (ST demons)^ is precarious.
8-16. Were Eliphaz In Job's place, he would betake himself to God, who in His rule of the world is guided uniformly by purposes of good i^^~^^)y and who, even when He sends chastise- ments, designs them as a blessing (^^"^^j.
V. 8-12.] ELIPHAZ 53
* But as for me, I would seek unto God,
And unto God would I lay out my cause :
• Who doeth great things and unsearchable,
Marvellous things without number : ^® Who giveth rain upon the earth,
And sendeth waters upon the fields : ^^ r Who 1 setteth up on high those that be low ;
And they which mourn are exalted to safety.
8. Bu^] In the Heb. a strong adversative (2^), marking a contrast with the behaviour described in i- 2. — Seek unto God] as an inquirer (Is. 8^^ ii^^ al.), asking humbly for help and guidance.
9-16. A description of the wonderful power and operation of God, intended to show why Job should lay his case before Him. God is wonderful in power and goodness, both generally (^), and in particular in fertilizing the thirsty earth (^*^), and in adjusting the many inequalities of society, in encouraging and lifting up those that are abased, and in defeating the malicious devices of the crafty, and rescuing the needy from their clutches
(U-16).
9. Cf. 9^^ (almost the same words).
10. An example at once of God's power and of His benevo- lence : He supplies the thirsty earth with rain and streams of water. Cf. Ps. 147*; and (for ^) 104^^
II-16. In the moral sphere, God's providence acts by raising up and helping the lowly and the mourners, and by rescuing the poor from the devices of the crafty.
Iia. Cf. I S. 2^, Ps. 113^'*. He secures the mourner against the avarice of hard-hearted oppressors : cf. 2 K. 4^. The Heb. word (mp) does not denote a state of mind (sorrowing or grieving), but (meaning properly to be dirty) has reference to the squalid person and dark attire (head sprinkled with ashes, sackcloth, etc.) of a mourner in the East: cf. 2 S. 13^^, Est. 4I.
12 f. He frustrates the malicious devices of the crafty, who scheme, for instance, to benefit themselves at the expense of the innocent or the poor (cf. Mic. 3^-^ 7^, Is. 32^ etc.).
54 THE BOOK OF JOB [V. 12-15.
^2 Who frustrateth the devices of the crafty,
So that their hands cannot carry out sound counsel. ^^ Who taketh the wise in their own craftiness ;
And the counsel of the tortuous is carried headlong. 1^ In the daytime they meet with darkness,
And as in the night they grope at noonday. 1^ But he saveth ^ the fatherless^ from their sword,
And the needy from the hand of the mighty.
12. Frustrate\Q.{, Ps. 33^^*, Is. 44^^. — Carry out sound counsel] or, perhaps, achieve success: see phil. n.
13. Taketh] as in a net or trap, Am. 3*- 5, Ps. 35^ (the same word). — In their own craftiness] It becomes the means by which they are themselves ruined (cf. Ps. 7^^ 57^ ^^^ Pr. 26^7 28^^). — The tortuous] i.e. men who pursue tortuous or crooked ways to attain their ends. Cf. Pr. 8^ ** there is nothing tortuous or crooked in them" {^^yi\ i^riDJ Dna r5<) ; Ps. i827 ''With the crooked thou showest thyself tortuous " p^snri t^'i5y Dy) ; Dt. 32^ pjnpnp C^'ijjy "ih, — Is carried headlong] Lit. haste?ted [unduly), i.e. precipitated before it is ripe, and so frustrated, ^^a jg ^j^e only passage of Job quoted in the NT. (i Cor. 3^^ o Spaa-aofjLevo'; Tov? a-o(j>ov<; iv rfj Travovpryia avrojv). (& has 0 KaraXa/ji^dvcov aocfiov<; iv ^povrjaei (A + avTOiv) : St. Paul must, therefore, have either translated himself from the Hebrew or used some version of the OT. other than (&. For the implicit criticism of ''the wise," cp. 372*.
14. The perplexity and bewilderment of those whom God thus thwarts. They are like blind people groping about in the bright day. For the thought, cf. I224f-, i^ igisf. ; for the figure, 1225% Dt. 2829, Is. 59I0.
15 f. And so the poor, whose ruin these ** crafty" ones had been contriving, are .delivered from their clutches, and evil, abashed, is obliged to stop her mouth.
15. Lit. f^ reads : " So he saveth from the sword from their mouth. And from the hand of the mighty the needy." The imperfectly balanced parallelism shows that there must be some error in the text. The error cannot be certainly corrected (see phil. n.) ; but the general sense is clear.
V. 16-19.] ELIPHAZ 55
^^ So the poor hath hope,
And unrighteousness stoppeth her mouth. ^^ Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth :
And despise thou not the chastening of the Almighty. ^^ For he maketh sore, and bindeth up ;
He woundeth, and his hands heal ^^ In six troubles he will deliver thee ;
And in seven no evil will touch thee.
l6b. Cp. Ps. loy'^^b -,,pj -i^.pjp n^^V'i'31- These verses place before us a strange picture of the social customs of the time. But the prophets and the Psalms fully corroborate it. Then, as nov/, in the East, men of any wealth or position, landowners, government officials, tradesmen, money-lenders, etc., leave no stone unturned to aggrandize themselves at the expense of the defenceless and the unfortunate.
17-26. And so there is a purpose in Job's afflictions : they are designed to end in more abundant blessing ; and Eliphaz draws an idyllic and engaging picture of the happiness awaiting Job, if he will but receive God's chastisement aright. The passage is a beautiful and striking one, admirably adapted to move one differently circumstanced from Job to penitence and submission. But Job has not sinned ; and, naturally, Eliphaz's argument makes no impression upon him.
17. Eliphaz begins by applying to Job the maxim of Pr. 3^^- ^* (quoted Heb. \2^-^)^ ''^Despise not^ my son, the chastening of Yahweh, and spurn not His reproof; for whom Yahweh loveth He correcteth ; and (treateth) as a father (or, with ffi (cf. ^^^ here), and maketh sore ^ or paineth) the son in whom He delighteth."
18. For He does not make sore only, He also heals. "God's drastic surgery is for the sufferer's higher good, and the hand that uses the knife without flinching is also the gentle hand that tenderly binds up the wound" (Pe.). Cf. Hos. 6^, Dt. 3239; also Is. 3o26b.
19 ff. An eloqent enumeration of the blessings which Job may expect, if he but follows Eliphaz's advice.
19. Out of all troubles and dangers, however numerous they may be, he will be delivered. — Six . . . seven] is an
56 THE BOOK OF JOB [V. 19-21.
20 In famine he will redeem thee from death ;
And in war from the power of the sword.
21 r From 1 the scourge of the tongue thou shalt be hid ;
Neither shalt thou be afraid of T desolation ^ when it
Cometh.
example of the ** ascending numeration," of which there are a good many cases in the OT. The meaning is, that six would be a large number, but it is increased to seven. So in other cases : a number which would be complete or sufficient by itself is increased — or, if it denotes a sin, for instance, is aggravated — by a unit (cp. G-K. 134^). For six and seven (as here) see Pr. 6^*, where seven instances are given in the follow- ing vv.^^^"^^^; so with nine and ten in Sir. 25^; two and three^ Sir. 50^; three a,nd /our^ Pr. 30^^. In other cases, even when instances follow, they are not made to equal either of the numbers previously mentioned (so Am. i^~^^). Here, in vv.^^"^^, there is some appearance of the mention of seven distresses : viz. famine, 2^*; war, ^^^; slander, ^la; destruction, ^i^; destruc- tion and dearth, 22a. ^jj^^ beasts, ^^^. But if precisely seven instances were intended, the text must have suffered ; for two of the instances, at least in JH, are identical, viz., destruction, 21b (-iicjf) and 22* (l^) ; and famine and dearth are practically identical. Perhaps, however, in any case, one occurrence of '* destruction " should be removed by reading for l)^ in ^^ riNIt^, desolation (Dr.), or ItJ', a demon (Hoflfm.), in which latter case we might perhaps compare Ps. 91^. Seven instances were certainly not given by the writer, though they may have been intended by the interpolator, if Be. Bu. Du. are right in regarding 22 as interpolated, partly on the ground of the repetition of destruction and the virtual repetition of hunger, partly on the ground that ^^ is more forcible if not anticipated by 22b.
20. In famine and war — those scourges of the ancient East — his life will be secure.
21. The scourge of the tongtce] I.e. slander, calumny. Cf. for the figure, Jer. 18^^ ** Come, let us smite him (Jer.) with the tongue" "Slander" is a rather special ''distress" as com-
V. 21-24.] ELIPHAZ 57
22 At destruction and dearth thou shalt laugh ;
And of the beasts of the earth be thou not afraid.
23 For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field ;
And the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.
pared with the others instanced. Du. suggests that '* pesti- lence," perhaps "13*1, the only one of the four sore judgments mentioned in Ezk. 1421 and not mentioned here, may once have, been mentioned instead of the tongue ; Ehrlich suggests that tongue stands for tongue (of fire).
22. The beasts of the earth\ Wild beasts were much dreaded in Palestine in ancient times, especially if the country was depleted of its population (e.g. 2 K. 172^). They form one of Ezekiel's *' four sore judgments ": '* the sword, famine, noisome beasts, and pestilence" (142^).
23. Poetical figures, implying that stones will not accumulate to mar the fields, nor wild beasts attack the folds or trample down the crops. Job's flocks and herds, and his harvests, will thus be both plentiful and secure ; cf. Hos. ^^ ^^^^ (where covenant represents the same Heb. word as ** league" here). The text scarcely requires emendation ; otherwise an old suggestion of Rashi's, recently revised by Kohler (Archt'v fur Religionswissensch.y 19 10, 75 ff-) and Be. (ZATWy 191 5, 63 f.), would be attractive : for stones ("'33N) of the field they substitute elfsy or gnomes (•'33 or ^ns), impish beings which, according to widespread folklore, may be as injurious as wild beasts to agricultural prosperity; the parallel to ** beasts of the field" in ^ would be admirable. For the term sonSy or lords^ of the fields which on this hypothesis would be applied to them, cp. the Arabic 'ahlu^Vard^ people of the land {see, e.g.. Doughty, Arabia Deserta, i. 136). Be. suggests that these elfs may be com- panions or doubles of the sfirim (EV. ** satyrs": see EBi, S.V.), The emendations of Ehrlich (sling-)stones of the devastator ('M^)i and Kichtev, fatnesses ("'3DEJ'), may be dismissed.
24-26. His homestead will be prosperous, his offspring numerous, and he himself will be gathered to his fathers in a ripe and vigorous old age.
24. Know] His knowledge of his security will be the climax
58 THE BOOK OF JOB [V. 24-VI. VII.
2* And thou shalt know that thy tent is in peace ;
And thou shalt visit thy homestead, and shalt miss
nothing-.
25 Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be great,
And thine offspring as the herbage of the earth.
26 Thou shalt come to thy grave in firm strength (?),
As a shock of corn cometh up in its season.
27 Lo this, we have searched it out, so it is ;
^ We have ^ hear(d) it, and note ^/lou it for thyself. VI. ^ And Job answered and said.
of his happiness. — Visi^] or, inspect^ to see that all is right. So, e.g.^ Jer. 23^; of a shepherd inspecting his sheep. — Shalt miss nothing\ Nothing will have been stolen ; no animal will have strayed away, or been devoured by a wild beast.
25. His offspring will be numerous. His lost children (c. i) will thus be replaced. — As the herbage of the earth] For the comparison, cf. Ps. 72^^, they shall blossom out of the city like the herbage of the earth.
26. In firm strength] see phil. n. — Cometh up] to the thresh- ing-floor (which was usually situated on an elevation, that the wind might blow the chaff away).
27. This, then, is what we have ** sought out" [i.e. arrived at as the result of meditating on our experience) ; as we have thought it out, do thou take good note of it. Our conclusion has not been arrived at suddenly, and is worthy therefore o\ thy attention.
VI. VII. Job's reply to Eliphaz's first speech.— Address- ing first the friends (62-*^^: note the pi. in 62^29j rather than Eliphaz alone, Job defends the language of his previous speech (c. 3), for which Eliphaz had rebuked him, on the ground of his sufferings (2"^), and reiterates his desire to die (S-io) ; for why should he live, being without hope (^^~^^), and without help or sympathy from his friends in the hour of his need (i4-23j p j|jg friends rather have become his covert accusers : if they must accuse, let them at least do so openly (2*-^*^). Though innocent, his lot is hard — as is human life in general (7^^-)— and pitiable : for he is racked with disease, without hope in this brief life or
VI. 2-4.] JOB 59
2 O that try vexation were but weighed,
And my calamity laid in the balances together !
^ For then it would be heavier than the sand of the seas : Therefore have my words been rash.
^ For the arrows of the Almighty are present with me, The venom whereof my spirit drinketh up : The terrors of God array (themselves) against me.
when it is over (7^"^^). Addressing God, probably from 7^, at least from "f (*' remember" is 2nd sing.), and unmistakably from 7^2 onwards. Job, after a brief appeal to God's com- passion (^"^^), boldly and without restraint (^^) asks why He plagues him so continually (^^~^^).
VI. 2-3. Job only wishes that his ** vexation," i.e. (see on 5^), the sense of undeserved treatment under which he is smarting, and which he has expressed in c. 3, could be weighed against his sufferings : it would then quickly appear that it was not excessive, and that it formed an abundant excuse for his words. — My vexiition\ with which Eliphaz (5^) had taunted him. — Together] viz., with my vexation — of course, in the other scale.
3. Heavier than the sand of the sea] for the fig. cf. Pr. 27^. — I^ash] Job allows that his words have been rash, but submits that his sufferings form a sufficient excuse for them.
4. Job here — for the first time, distinctly — names God as the author of his afflictions. The thought of this is the sting which goads him to desperation — not the afflictions as such, but his feeling that they are sent upon him undeservedly by an angry God : it is on this account that his pains terrify and paralyse him. V.^ is a tristich, ^ (which is overlong) separating the more closely parallel lines ^•°. Like the similar case in 5''', this may be due to some dislocation of the text. Du. combines ^^ with ^* (emended : see phil. n. on ^^), thus obtaining two possible, though not very good, distichs. The separation of ^^ from ^^ is questionable ; and, '^% if it really goes with any part of*, is connected by ^' my soul " with the parallel ** my spirit " in *^ : in this case the first part of ^* would require to be suitably emended. But though * for the reasons indicated is doubtful
6o THE BOOK OF JOB [VI. 4-7.
^ Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass ?
Or loweth the ox over his fodder ? * Can that which is insipid be eaten without salt ?
Or is there any taste in the slime of purslain ?
and ^ very strange, no certain reconstruction can be suggested. — The arrows of God] ** Figures in the poetry of the OT. for the sicknesses, pains, and plagues with which He assails men, Ps. 383 <2) (Ps. 714(13)^ Dt. 3223, Ezk. 5I6; cf. c. i6i2f)," Di.— Present with me] On the idiom, see phil. n. He is constantly and intensely conscious of them. — Venom] lit. heat\ so Ps. 58^, Dt. 322^- 33. As a poisoned arrow causes — if nothing worse — fever and irritation, so the ** venom" of God's arrows — i.e, the intolerable thought that they are sent against him unjustly — penetrates his being, and disturbs his whole mental condition. — Array (themselves) against 7ne] By a change of metaphor he picturesquely represents God's terrors as arraying themselves against him like a hostile army (cf., for the figure, 10^^ i6^2f.j^ But, transposing two letters, we should, perhaps, read undo me (see phil. n.) — the vb. meaning properly, as Arab, shows, to make turbid) and hence fig. destroy the happiness of undo.
5-7. Job's complaints are proof of the reality of his pain ; does any animal complain when it has its natural and accus- tomed food ? But Job's suff'erings are like insipid and repulsive food, which no one can take without complaining.
5. Wild ass] 39^ n. — Grass] 39^ n. — Fodder] Wa (24^, Is. 30^* t) is properly mixed fodder ( J fe, to mix)^ fodder com- posed of different kinds of food ; Lat. farrago (of spelt, barley, vetches, and pulse) ; Verg. G. 3. 205.
6. The slime of purslain] a plant, the flower of which, as it fades away, resolves itself into an insipid mucilaginous jelly. It is this tasteless jelly which is here alluded to. EV. **the white of an egg " : very improbable ; see phil. n. In JQR XV. 704 f. an identification is suggested of the sli?ney or saliva (rir), of hallamilth with the insipid liquid exuding from a soft kind of cheese termed in Arabic hdliim or halltlm {Lisdnu 7 'Arab. xv. 38. 6f.).
7. Job compares his sufferings to repulsive food. The
VI. 7-10.] JOB 6 1
^ My soul refuseth to touch (them) ;
•" It loatheth "^ the sickness of my food. 8 Oh that I might have my request ;
And that God would grant (me) the thing" that I
^long^ for! • And that it would please God to crush me ;
That he would let loose his hand, and snip me off I ^® So would there still be my comfort ;
And I would ^ exult l in anguish that spareth not :
For I have not disowned the words of the Holy One.
"soul" is in Heb. psychology the seat of desire (e.g, Dt. 24^^, Hos. 4^), and, in particular, of appetite {e.g. Dt. 142* 23^^, Is. 29^, Mic. 7^, Pr. 232, where SJ'Qj ^"^i means a greedy man ; c. 33^^ where see note) ; hence its use here. See, further. Dr. Par. Psalt. p. 459 f. V.'' is in detail very uncertain ; see phil. n. 8-13. The intensity of his sufferings wrings from him the passionate cry for death (^~^*^). He has no strength for the patience and life which Eliphaz (4^ ^22-26^ jj^^j inculcated (^^"^^).
8. My request] the wish to die, expressed in c. 3. — The thing that Ilongfor\ J^ has my hope of death, " with a delicate allusion to the * hope ' of deliverance and ultimate happiness with which Eliphaz (4^ 5^^) had sought to support him" (Di.). But (cp. Pr. lo^*) my desire (see phil. n.) would agree better with the feeling which Job had really expressed; as EVV., by the rendering **the thing that I long for," which is not a legitimate rendering of J^, have unconsciously admitted.
9. Let loose his hand] not merely torment him and protract his misery, but give his hand free play and slay him outright. — Snip me o^(''3yV3'')] implying ** cut off the thread of my life " : cf. 278, Is. 38^2 ** from the thrum he will snip me ^("'JVVT)."
10. Comfort] death would speedily end his sufferings. — Exult] see phil. n. — Anguish that spareth not] i.e. the last quick agonies of death.
IOC. If the line is original it means, for I have not dis- owned or disregarded God's (moral commands) (cf. 23^^'- ; c. 31) — giving the reason (Di.) why God should grant his request, and at the same time showing that he has grounds for his
62 THE BOOK OF JOB [VI. 10-14.
^^ What IS my strength, that I should wait?
And what is mine end, that I should be patient ? ^2 Is my strength the strength of stones ?
Or is my flesh of bronze ? ^3 r Behold,! my help within me is nought,
And effectual counsel is driven quite from me. ^* r He that withholdeth ^ kindness from his friend
Forsaketh the fear of the Almighty.
" vexation " (^) at God's treatment of him, and for refusing to listen to Eliphaz's exhortations to admit his guilt. De. Hi. Bu. al. render, "Then would it be still my comfort — and I would leap in pain that spareth not — ikat I have not disowned the words of the Holy One," making the righteousness of his life the ground of his consolation in the last agonies of death. Du. also thinks the latter meaning was intended — but by an interpolator, who desiderated an explication of '^^^ ; with Sgf. he omits 1®°, thus making ^° a distich, not as now a tristich : on either view he thinks that ^^ only has meaning if Job believed in rewards and punishments after death (cp. Peake).
II-13. Job passionately describes his desperate condition. His strength is shattered : the only future he can ** hope " for is death ; and, how can he avoid being impatient when this is so long in coming and releasing him from his pains ?
II. Thai I should wattP] for the happier future which Eliphaz had promised him (s^^*^*)* — ^^^^ ^'s my endy etc.?] what hope have I of a happy end of my sufferings, that I should be patient under them? — Be patient] lit. prolong my soul: so the idiom for ** impatient" is short of soul \ cf. Nu. 21* (RVm.), Zee. ii^ and elsewhere with np, as Ex. 6^ Mic. 2^, Pr. 1429, Jb. 21*; and mi TjlK, Ec. f,
13. Inward (mental) help and resourcefulness also fail him, not less than physical strength ; he can imagine no means of extricating himself from his desperate plight.
14-23. His friends have failed him in the hour of his need : they have not shown him the sympathy that was his due.
14. Job charges his friends with themselves, by their lack of sympathy, forsaking true religion : so SF, whose text is at
VI. 14-17.] JOB 6^
^^ My brethren have dealt faithlessly like a wady, Like the channels of wadys that pass away :
1^ Which are turbid by reason of the ice,
When the snow hideth itself upon them :
^'^ What time they are scorched, they vanish away :
When it is hot, they are extinguished out of their place.
least more probable than J^ ; the difficult and uncertain text of 5^ is best rendered : Kindness is (due) to him that is in despair, And that forsaketh the fear of the Almighty ; according to this. Job, with allusion to himself, says that one who is in despair, and (in danger of) loosing his faith in the Almighty, deserves from his friends, not querulous insinuations of guilt, but help and sympathy, to strengthen his failing piety; and he is keenly disappointed at not receiving this from them. But against f^, see phil. n.
15-20. He compares his friends picturesquely to a wady, a stream — such as are common in and about Palestine — running along a rocky valley, which may be turbid and swollen in winter, but completely dry in summer ; and his own disappoint- ment to that of a thirsty caravan, journeying hopefully towards such a wady, only to find its waters dried up through the heat. Cf. for the figure Jer. 15^^ ** Wilt thou be to me as a deceptive wady" (3T3i< hn:)?
15. My brethren] so Job here terms the three friends ; op. v.^^, which applies the simile here begun to those whom he is addressing. — Channels] or bedy — which, when in summer the traveller comes to it, he finds dry.
16. Hide ih itself upon them] falls upon them, and disappears in them. **The streams of Lebanon," and the high parts of Gilead and Bashan, **send down great floods of dark and troubled waters in spring, when the ice and snow of their summits are melting ; but they dry up under the heat of summer, and the track of the torrent, with its chaos of boulders, stones, and gravel, seems as though it had not known a stream for ages " (Geikie, Holy Land and the Bible (1887), i. 124).
17. But in the hot summer these wadys, swollen in winter, dry up.
64 THE BOOK OF JOB [VI. 18-20.
^s Caravans divert their way ;
They go up into the waste, and perish. ^® The caravans of Tema looked,
The companies of Sheba waited for them. ^^ They were disappointed because ^ they ^ had hoped,
They came thither, and were abashed.
l8. Travelling" companies or ** caravans," expecting to find water in such wadys, divert their course towards them, but upon reaching them find none and perish through thirst (so abandon- ing the vocalization of JJl, Ew. Ol. Di. Du. RV.), **go up," meaning, in this case, go up into the hills in search of moun- tain streams, but only to find everything dried up and desolate. But De. Da. Hi. Bu., adhering to ilH, less probably render ** ^he paths of their way (the course of such streams) wind about (the thread of water, to which in summer they are reduced, has to make its way round every stone or other obstacle), they (the streams) go up into emptiness (evaporate) and disappear." On \r\T\i wastCy see Skinner, Genesis, p. i6; Dr. on Gen. i. 2; Lex. 1062b (where, however, the meanings rage, roar, bluster, for Aram, xnn must be deleted as due to an oversight : correct Levy, ChWB 836, 530^, by NHWB iv. 628). The word may denote either an empty waste (Jb. 12^*, Ps. 107*^, Dt. 32i<*), or (as in the second rendering) actual emptiness or (virtual) nothingness (cf. 26^, Is. 40^2, the judges of the earth he maketh as nothingness),
19. Temd\ a trading Ishmaelite tribe — mentioned in Gn. 25^^ by the side of Nebaioth, Kedar, and other tribes, as a "son" of Ishmael, and also in Is. 21^*, Jer. 2523. The name is still preserved in Teima, the name of a place in N.W. Arabia, about 250 miles S.E. of Edom, and the centre of trade-routes (cf. Hogarth, Penetration of Arabia (1905), p. 250, ** evidently of old a more important road-station than it now is"), where some interesting inscriptions have been found (Cooke, NSIy nos. 69, 70), the longest dating from about the 5 cent. B.C. — Looked\ expectantly and wistfully. The poet, in using the past tenses, pictures a particular scene. — Sheba\ i^^.
20. Job's friends, living like himself on or near the borders
VI. 20-23.] JOB 65
21 "^ So 1 are ye now become unto *" me ^ ;
Ye see a terror, and are afraid. ^ Did I say, Give unto me ?
Or, Offer a bribe for me of your substance ? 23 Or, Deliver me from the adversary's hand ?
Or, Redeem me from the hand of the terrible ?
of the Arabian desert, would feel the force of the simile. — Were disappointed] the Heb. idiom is lit. were put to shamey i.e, not "felt a sense of shame," but "were disconcerted by the frustration of plans and hopes." So frequently, as Ps. 6^^^^®^ 226 (5) 252. 3. 20 gtc. The word is often used of the disappointment experienced by those who rely upon false gfods, or untrust- worthy political friends, as Is. 20^ 44^^, Jer. 2^^. To be abashed (^) is often parallel, as Ps. 35^^ 40^^. Comp. Is. i^^ "and ye shall be put to shame ( = be disappointed) on account of the oaks ye have desired [not obtaining from them the expected help or deliverance], and ye shall be abashed on account of the gardens ye have chosen."
21. Job's friends now fail (disappoint) him in the hour of need, like such dried-up wadys (see phil. n.). — Ye see (isin) a terror^ and are afraid (iNTn)] notice the assonance in the Hebrew: so Zee. 9^, Ps. 40* 52^ al. The "terror" is Job's overwhelming calamity : judging this to be sent upon him by God, and to be sent upon him, moreover, as a punishment for his sins, they have not the courage to show him sympathy,
22-23. He had asked nothing very great of his friends, no expenditure of money, or deed of valour, for instance, on his behalf, but merely sympathy.
22. A bribe\ in accordance with the too prevalent Eastern custom (Is. i^^ Mic. 3^^ etc.), to secure his acquittal from a judge. — Substance] lit. strength (nb) : so Pr. 5^**.
23. He had never asked to be delivered from any situation of peril or difficulty : to be rescued, for instance, by arms from the hands of brigands, or to be ransomed, whether from brigands or from enslavement by a cruel creditor for debt. With ^ comp. Jer. 1521 "And I will deliver thee from the hand of the evil, and I will redeem thee from the clutch of the
5
66 THE BOOK OF JOB [VI. 23-28.
2* Teach me, and /will hold my peace :
And cause me to understand wherein I have erred.
25 How ''pleasant! are words of uprightness !
But what doth reproving from you prove ?
26 Do ye think to reprove words ?
But the speeches of one that is desperate are for the
wind.
27 Yea, ye would cast (lots) upon the fatherless,
And make merchandise over your friend.
28 Now, therefore, be pleased to look upon me ;
For surely I shall not lie to your face.
terrible.'" The *< terrible" (piy) may be any powerful and dreaded oppressor or tyrant, whether native or foreign: 1520 27^3 (each time 1| to - wicked "), Is. 25^- ^ 2^^' 20^ p^. 5^5 (|| 851^). Peake suggests that 27 once immediately followed 23 : so far from ransoming me, you would rather have bartered me away. 24-30. In answer to Eliphaz's covert insinuations, he claims to be told plainly what sins they impute to him. Hitherto they have only found fault expressly with his words, which, however, were merely wrung from him by his despair {^^), He reproaches them for their unfeeling treatment of him (27), and beseeches them to judge him fairly.
25. Pleasant] see phil. n. — Words of uprightness] honest, straightforward words, such as Job cannot discern in Eliphaz's speech. — Reproving from you] what do your vague and dark insinuations prove?
26. Is it your purpose to reprove — not my life indeed, but
my words (those spoken in c. 3) : but the words of one who
is desperate, such as those were, are for the wind — are quickly blown away, so that they need not be taken too seriously (cf. 3b).
27. His friends, he declares, are as heartless as ruthless creditors, who would cast lots for the orphan child of a man who had been their debtor, in order to sell it into slavery (2 K. 4^), or as men who would make a bargain over their friend. But see phil. n., and above on 2^.
28. Be pleased] i.e. Be good enough, or *' Please!" His
VI. J^8-Vn. 3.] JOB d'J
29 Turn back, I pray you, let there be no unrighteousness ;
Yea, turn back, my righteousness is still in ''me^. ^^ Is there unrighteousness in my tongue ?
Cannot my palate discriminate calamities ?
friends, we may suppose, had turned their eyes from him while he had been descanting on their lack of sympathy : so he entreats them now to look him in the face, as he can look them in the face, and judge from his countenance whether, in maintaining his innocence, he is lying to them. — To your face\ defiantly, as i^^.
29. Turn back] from the unfair course you have adopted : do not unjustly assume my guilt. — My righteousness is still in me] ^ in it\ i.e. (Hrz. Di.) in the matter under discussion, I am still unconvicted, or (Du.) I am justified in speaking as I do, or (Da.) my right is still hi it^ i.e. "is here, is present. I have a righteous cause." But all these explanations of in it are unsatisfactory and lame ; and it is better, with Hi. Bi.2 Bu. (note) Sgf. Be., to read in me {^1 for na), which at once yields the suitable and natural sense : I am still unconvicted.
30. Job insists on the soundness of his moral judgments. There is no unrighteousness in (or on) his tongue ; his tongue does not, when it declares his innocence, express a judgment morally unsound ; and his '* palate," the organ of taste (12^^) to which his troubles are loathsome (6^^-), has the power of distinguishing between ''calamities" (v. 2), and perceiving whether or not they are deserved and just. In maintaining that his calamities have been undeserved, he has been guilty of no unrighteousness.
VII. This consciousness of innocence, and of his capacity to judge his calamities correctly, makes him feel his position the more acutely ; and he breaks forth into a fresh and singu- larly pathetic cry of despair on his lamentable and hopeless condition.
I-3. Life is hard always : his own, vexed by loss of children and property, torturing disease, and a burning sense of in- justice, hard especiall}^
6S THE BOOK OF JOB [VII. 1-3.
VII. ^ Hath not man a warfare upon earth?
And are not his days like the days of an hireling ?
2 As a servant that is eager for the shadow,
And as an hireling that looketh for his wages :
3 So am I made to possess months of emptiness,
And nights of misery are appointed to me.
1. Warfare] a time of hard service, like a campaign, a constant struggle with difficulties and hardship, never ceasing till the time for which the soldier has been engaged has expired. The word is used similarly in 14^*, Is. 40^. — Of an hireling] a hired labourer, whose life is one of unceasing toil, and who has constantly to endure the '* burden and heat of the day" (Mt. 20^2). The word might also denote a mercenary (Jer, 46^^) ; but 2b makes the former sense more probable.
2. A servant] or slave : a field-labourer is more particularly thought of. — For the shadow, etc.] the shades of evening, which are so long in coming, but when he can enjoy cool air and rest, and when also he will be paid for his day's work. Labourers in the East were paid daily: cf. Dt. 24^^ (''in his day" thou shalt give him his wages), Mt. 20^. ''The point of compari- son between Job's life and the day of the hireling thus lies in their common toil and their common longing for the end of it" (Da.).
3. Am made to possess (or inherit] **A pathetic word, made to inherit, through no fault or cause of mine " (Da.^), but by the mere arbitrary will of him whose slave I am. — Months of empti- ness] months of uselessness, disappointment, and vexation. N^K' denotes what is hollow, groundless, and unsubstantial', and it is applied, according to the context, to what is (a) materially unsubstantial, i.e. unreal, or vain, or {h) morally unsubstantial, \.^, frivolous, false, or insincere. Cf. for {a) Ex. 23^ Thou shalt not take up a groundless report, Jer. 18^^ ( = unreal gods), Ps. 3i7(6) ^i unreal v2iV\\\\^s.^'* (of false gods), 60^^^^^^ for vain is the help of man, Sq'^^^*^^ O remember how short my time is: for what vanity (uselessness, emptiness of life, disappointment) hast thou created all the children of men ! and for {h) Ps. 12^^^^ ( = insincerity), 24* ( = what is either frivolous or insincere),
Vn. 3-10.] JOB 69
* When I lie down, I say, When shall I arise ?
But the evening is long ; and I am full of tossings to and fro unto the (morning) twilight. ^ My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust ;
My skin hardens, and then runneth (again). ^ My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle,
And are come to an end without hope.
26^ men of unreality (i.e. insincere or frivolous), 41^^^^ ( = in- sincerity), 119^^: so Ex. 20^ Thou shalt not take up the name of Yahweh thy God for unreality (i.e. use it for any false or frivolous object). Cf. on 15^^. — Nights of misery^ lit. of toil i^^V): see on 3^^. The ''months" indicate the duration, the * 'nights'* the intensity, of his sufferings (Pe.).
4-6. A graphic description of the condition to which his malady has brought him : his wearisome, restless nights, his loathsome disease, his days ebbing quickly (cp. ^*), without hope of recovery or relief (cp. ^^), to their close.
4. When shall I arise ?\ When will it be morning? (Dt. 28^^). — But the evening is long ; and] or, since the Hebrew is unusual and to gain a better parallelism, very slightly emending (see phil. n.). And as often as evening (comes).
5. His ulcers breed worms, form a hard crust, and then break out and run again.
6a. Cp. 9^5 My days are swifter than a post. On ancient weaving, from which the simile in * is derived, see Kennedy in EBi. iv. 5276-5290 (with illustrations). Ibn Ezra notes that ^ may continue the simile of * if nipn be given the sense it has in Jos. 2^^: and so Marshall renders ^, "They come to an end for lack of thread " ; but this would require "h^O rather than D2X3.
7-IO. He turns pathetically to God, beseeching Him to remember how brief his life is, and to have compassion on him for the short time that remains before he descends for ever into the grave. In Sheol, according to Hebrew ideas, there was no fellowship with God: the Shades, in their dreary, shadow- like existence, were "cut off from God's hand," and could neither praise Him, nor experience His benefits (Ps. 6^ 88^* ""i^, Is. 38^^).
70 THE BOOK OF JOB [VII. 7-21.
^ Oh remember that my life Is wind :
Mine eye will no more see good. ^ The eye of him that seeth me will behold me no more :
Thine eyes will be upon me, but I shall not be.
^ A cloud Cometh to an end and vanisheth away ;
So he that goeth down to Sheol cometh up no more. '® He returneth no more to his house,
Neither doth his place know him any more.
7. Remember] the vb., like the pron. in ^, is 2nd sing., addressed not to Eliphaz (cp. 26^ n.) but to God : but for what follows, 7^~^ (like 6^^"^^) could be regarded as still addressed to the friends ; as it is, these verses are best regarded as, if not transitional in the tone of soliloquy, the beginning of the address to God with which the speech most clearly closes (^2-21). — Wi'ftd] a symbol of what is transient and unsubstantial: Ps. 78^^, Is. 41^^, Qoh. i^* etc. — Good] i.e. happiness, pro- sperity: *'good" (niD), as Ps. ^ 34^^ (each time with **see"), Jb. 21^^ 36^^, and frequently: so also n31D, 9^^ 2\^^ al.
8. Soon * none will behold him any more : ^ even God, if He should wish to show him some kindness, will be unable to find him. The v. is absent from (Ur, repeats the words '* eye " (twice) and '*see" used in '', anticipates ^^ and the close of the speech (2^), and separates '^ and ^ which go well together ; it may, therefore, be an addition to the original text (so Bi. Bu. al.). * strictly rendered reads: the eye of him that seeth me will not behold me ; the translation above presupposes that ** seeth me" means seeth me no'w\ perhaps it rather means looks for me in the future ^ though 20'^ is scarcely decisive, and in passages such as 2 S. 13^, 2 K. 8^^ (cp. Lex. s.v. nj^l, 6 d), cited as justifying the rendering of nxi by lookfor^ the meaning is not exactly the same, not even in Gn. 392^.
9. 10. No return from Sheol is possible (lo^i). lOb. So Ps. 103^^^; cf. also c. 20^.
II-2I. A passionate remonstrance with God. Why does He thus torture him, and make his life a burden to him? Is not man too insignificant to be thus persecuted by his Maker? Why does He not at once pardon his transgression, and take
VII. 11-14.] JOB 71
^^ I also will not refrain my mouth ;
I will speak in the anguish of my spirit ;
I will complain in the bitterness of my soul. ^2 Am I a sea, or a sea-monster,
That thou settest a watch over me ?
pity on him? Job goes here far beyond the point he had reached in c. 3. There, though he had complained bitterly of his lot, he had said little against God. Here he openly charges Him with being his tormentor, and ironically taunts Him with turning His care for him into a means of persecuting him.
11. I also] As God shows no regard for man, but lets him pass from a life of misery into a night of darkness, so he also will show no regard for Him by restraint of speech, but he will give full vent to his complaint. The "also" expresses the correspondence of one action to another, especially in retalia- tion (the Da " correlativum " : Lex, i6gb) : cf. Hos. 4^ Jer. 4^^^ Ps. 52^(5) (EVV. "likewise") 7122.
12. He asks indignantly. Am I, frail mortal that I am, like a dangerous monster to be guarded strictly by its keeper? Am I like the turbulent sea, threatening, when its angry waves arise, to overpass the barriers imposed on it by God (cf. 38^"^^ ; Jer. 52231^5, Ps. 104^)? Or, with an allusion to the dragon Tiamat, — the personification of the unruly powers of chaos, and more or less identified with the roaring waters of the huge primaeval abyss (cf. Gn. i2^), — who, as Babylonian mythology told, had been slain by the Creator Marduk^ (cf. 9^^), Am la sea-tnonster^ that thou settest a watch over mey lest I should do some great damage in the world (cp. 38^-^2 n.)? — Sea-monster] |^:n, a serpent, sometimes of a land-reptile, Ex. 79.10.12^ j)^^ 32^^, Ps. 91^^ ; more often of a sea- (or river-) monster, Gn. i2i, of the Egyptians or Pharaoh under fig. of a crocodile, Ps. 74^2, Ezk. 322 (rd. p3n for D^in), of a mythological or imaginary dragoriy Is. 27^ 51^, Jer. 51^^.
13-14. The methods used by God to keep Job harmless : when he looks to the natural rest of sleep to give him some
^ Cf. the Fourth Tablet of the Creation Epic (Rogers, Cuneiform Parallels to the OT., 1912, p. 24 ff.), esp. 1. 95 fF.
72 THE BOOK OF JOB [VH. 13-18.
^^ When I say, My bed shall comfort me,
My couch shall ease my complaint ; 1* Then thou scarest me with dreams,
And terrifiest me through visions : ^^ So that my soul chooseth stranglingf,
And death rather than my •^pains^. ^^ I refuse (it) ! not for ever would I live !
Desist from me ! for my days are (as) a breath.
relief, then He scares him with terrifying dreams — such as are said to be one of the accompaniments of elephantiasis.
13, Ease] lit. bear in^ i.e. help in bearing: so Nu. 11^^ Heb. — Complaint] (sad) musing : see 9^^ n.
15. And so he prefers death to the continuance of these intolerable sufferings. Strangling (cf. the verb, 2 S. 17^^), i.e. suffocation, may be mentioned with allusion to the sense of choking, which is often experienced in elephantiasis. For my pains (••nn^v) (9^^, Ps. 147^), M has nty bones ("TllDVy), which, if correct, will be equivalent to what we should express by this skeleton : but the explanation is forced ; and it is better chang- ing one letter to read my pains.
16. He exclaims passionately that he cares nothing for life : he only entreats God to leave him at peace for the short time that he has still to live. — I refuse {it)] i.e. my life : the object must be supplied from the context; cf. 9^^ ** I refuse my life." — Not for ever] would he live^ even if he could, such a life as his has become : on these terms life is intolerable to him, though on other terms only the brevity of life would be distressing (6a) ^ — Desist] or cease (Is. i^^. Am. 7^), forbear (16^, i K. 22^, Zee. 11^2, and often): exactly as here, Ex. 14^^ cease^ desist
from us = let us alone. — A breath] Is. 57^^ **« breath vj\\\ take them": Heb. ^JH, also, like **wind" (^), a fig. of what is transient: usually in EVV. rendered vanity. Ps. 396.7.12(5.6.11) 6210.10(9.9) 1444 (all, of man); Qoh. i^ xihir\ bn, ''vanity of vanitiesy'' and constantly in that book : also in other books of what is unsubstantial and unreal, as false gods, Dt. 32^^ al.
17-18. A bitter parody of Ps. 8^^*^ ** What is man, that thou art mindful of him ? And the son of man, that thou visitest
VII. 17-19.] JOB "Jl
^^ What is man, that thou magnifiest him,
And that thou directest thine attention to him,
^^ And that thou visitest him every morning. And triest him every moment ?
1® How long wilt thou not look away from me,
Nor let me alone while I swallow down my spittle ?
him?" "The Psalmist, impressed with the wonders of the starry heavens, asks what is man that God should be so mindful of him, and place him in a position of such high authority in the world. Job asks, not why God should lavish on a creature so insignificant such honour and thoughtful care, but why he should be subjected to attention so alert and suspicious, as if he could really be of any importance. Job's morbid imagina- tion distorts the unsleeping care of God into a maddening espionage. . . . How petty His character must be, since He condescends to torture one so frail, and harry him with per- secution so untiring " (Peake).
17. Magiiifiesi\ i.e. ironically, think much of, consider of importance, viz. by counting him worthy of constant (unfriendly) attention. — Directest thine attention to hint] lit. settest thine heart upony a common idiom and meaning, pay heed to^ consider (Ex. 723, I S. 420, Ps. 48i4<i3). and with a synonym (sqm) for **set," Jb. I® 2^ al.). EVV. set thine heart upon suggests a false sense ; for in ordinary English it would mean set thy affection on', but in Heb. psychology the '* heart " is not the organ of affection, as in English (cf. ** heart-less"), but of understanding {ci. 81*^36^): so -^ pi< (Hos. 7^1) is not ** heart- less," but without understanding y or as we might say collo- quially ** without a head," or " without brains " (the ''head" in Heb. is never the seat of thought or intelligence).
18. Visitest hhn\ not, as Ps. 8^, with marks of providential care, but to prove him : cp. the parallel term here, and the same vb. (with the |1) in 31^*. — Triest\ i.e. test or prove, Gn. ^^215. 16. Qf God, as testing by His all-seeing scrutiny the thoughts and character of men, Ps. yi^^^^^ n^ ly^ 26^ 1392^, or as proving man's faith or obedience by discipline, Ps. 66^^ 81^ ^'^l
19. How long. Job mdignantly asks, will God continue to
74 THE BOOK OF JOB [Vn. 19-21
20 If I have sinned, what do I unto thee,
O thou keeper of men ? Why hast thou set me as a thing for thee to strike against, So that I am a burden to myself?
21 And why dost thou not take away my transgression,
And cause mine iniquity to pass away ?
direct upon him incessantly His malevolent glance? — Look away] so 14^, Ps. 39^*^^^^; cf. Is. 22*. — Let me alone] more exactly, let me drop or let me go (Ca. 3* 13Q"|N* vh] Vnmx ; Jb. 276, Pr. 4^^) ; often in a favourable sense, Dt. 4^1 ^^^ ^^^. i6 inMK^N 31^' ^ Jos. 1^. — Till I swallowy etc.] a proverbial ex- pression =ybr a moment: Schult. ad loc. (Ges. Thes. 213) cites the Arabic expression, *'Let me swallow my spittle" (abltni riki)^ meaning, '' Wait a moment."
20, 21. Even assuming that he has sinned, how, he asks, can this in any way injure God, that He should continue to persecute him ? Job denies consistently that he has ever sinned to a degree that would justify his extraordinary sufferings : why then, seeing his sins can be but venial ones, will He not forgive him before forgiveness is too late ?
20. The rhythm of ^- ^ is strange: Be.^ om. — What do I unto thee ?] What harm do I do Thee by my sin ? God is too holy, too exalted, to be affected by any of man's actions, whether good or bad (222-* 35^"^)- — ^ ^'^^^^ keeper of men] the verb, used often of God's fatherly care and protection of His servants (Is. 27^ Ps. 128^7^312*^23)^^0. [EVV. preserve^) is here, with bitter irony (cp. i^*-), applied so as to yield a title of reproach, to denote God as one who *' keeps," or guards, men closely, in order to prevent them escaping from Him, and to note their actions. — Thing to strike against] an object of deliberate and persistent attack. Cf. the cogn. verb in i K. 225.29.31 etc. (EVV. fall upon).—So that I am a burden to myself?] i.e. weary of myself and of my life. For the ex- pression, cf. 2 S. 15^'^. On the reading to thee^ see phil. n.
21. If he has inadvertently sinned, why, since his sin cannot affect God, does He not pardon it at once, instead of waiting to do so till it is too late ? — Take away] in EVV. usually
VII. 21 -VIII. 3.] BILDAD 75
For now shall I He down in the dust ;
And thou wilt seek me diligently, but I shall not
be.
VIII. ^ Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said, 2 How long wilt thou speak these things ?
And (how long will) the words of thy mouth be
(like) a mighty wind? ^ Doth God pervert judgment ?
Or doth the Almighty pervert justice?
rendered pardon or forgive ^ as Gn. 50^^, Ex. 32^^. — Cause . . . to pass away^ as 2 S. 12^^24^^, Zee. 3^. — Now] i.e. immediately. — Lie down in the dust] 21^6: cp. iq^^ n. — Seek me diligently] a single word in the Heb., occurring twelve times in poetry, and implying diligent, careful, or earnest search. Job still believes, in spite of all that he has said, that God is a God of love, who will one day seek earnestly to renew His former communion with His servant, and visit him again with His favour, but he will have passed into Sheol, and it will be too late!
VIII. Bildad's first speech.— In spite of Job's violent accusations, God is not unjust (2- ^) : Job's children have died an untimely death it is true, but that was because they were wicked (^) ; but Job himself still lives, and, if he is really righteous, God's justice will restore, and more than restore, his former prosperity (^~'^). Let Job learn from the experience of past generations (^"i^) that God does not suffer the wicked to enjoy any continuing prosperity ("~^^), nor ever subjects to continuing adversity the class to which Job claims to belong — that of the perfect (20-22).
2. Cp. 1 82 (Bildad's second speech). — These things] z'.^. such things as these, — especially the charge that God assails him unjustly (7^2-20j — £^1^^ ^ mighty wind] i.e. at once violent and empty.
3. An indignant retort; God does not, as Job declares, rule the world unjustly. As their position in the Heb. shows, "God" and ** the Almighty" are the emphatic words in the sentence: God, the Almighty, cannot pervert justice; what
"J^i THE BOOK OF JOB [VIH. 3-7.
* If thy children have sinned against him,
Then he hath delivered them into the hand of their
transgression.
^ If thou wilt seek diligently unto God,
And make thy supplication to the Almighty ;
has happened to Job cannot be unjust, because it comes from God.
4. Illustration of God's justice on its negative side : as God cannot do injustice, the death of Job's children is evidence of their sin. Bildad says ify from a desire to spare Job, but he means Because. The allusion to i^^ is obvious, and is not to be, and is not, avoided by making *"^* protasis, and, omitting ^^, making the apodosis begin at ^^ (Ehrlich). The conclusion is, of course, fallacious ; for though it is true that God does nothing unjustly, it is not true, as the friends throughout tacitly assume, that the sole principle by which God is guided in His dealings with man is that of retributive justice. — Delivered them^ etc.] that they might suffer the punishment, which it would naturally bring with it. For the thought, cf. Is. 64^ ^^^ RVm. (reading ^^P.5P^ for iJilDfl) ; for the quasi-personification of trans- gression, Nu. 32^3 (n.). — Into the hand] cp. i^^ n.
5~7* J^^ ^^^ suffered, but not to the extent that his children had ; his life had been spared : hence, if he will but turn to God — as Eliphaz also had exhorted him to do (5^) — if he is only, as he maintains, pure and upright, God will interpose on his behalf, and restore him to greater prosperity than ever. Bildad speaks with moderation and friendliness. From the severity of Job's sufferings he might (upon his principles) have inferred, and undoubtedly did infer, that he had sinned greatly ; but he leaves this inference unsaid. And in ^, though the condition. If thou art pure ^ etc., cannot, in the belief of the friends, be satisfied by Job, he still assumes it, and promises him, if it is true, a favourable issue, hoping that Job will be thus indirectly brought to see that, since God does not repel, or (2*^) cast off, the righteous, and he is cast off, and, as Bildad expects, will remain cast off, he is not himself as righteous as he maintains himself to be.
VIII. 5-8.] BILDAD 77
6 If thou art pure and upright ;
Surely now he will arouse himself on thy behalf,
And restore the habitation of thy righteousness. ^ And though thy beginning was small,
Thy latter end will be exceeding great. ^ For inquire, I pray thee, of the former generations.
And apply thyself to that which their fathers have
searched out:
5. Thou] emphatic, in opposition to his children. — Seek earnestly] 7^^.
6. Arouse himself \ interpose actively: cf. Ps. 35^3 *^ Arouse thyself and awake to my judgment." — Restore] properly make whole^ complete^ often in the sense make whole by payment^ pay in full, make good (Ex. 2i34.36 222(3X11(12), Lv. 24I8). (& airo- Karacnrjaei: cp. the Syr. ^N • 1 (Pa.) in Mt. 17^1 koX airo- Kara(7Trja€L irdvTa. — The habitation of thy righteousness] the habitation which, by its prosperity, will be evidence of the righteousness of its possessor. The ** habitation " (5^ n.) must be pictured as a homestead in the country with numerous slaves and abundant herds and flocks, such as is described in i^-s.
7. Keeping closer to the Hebrew idiom we may render : And so thy begifining, i.e. thy former estate, will be (seem) small in comparison with what thou wilt enjoy then, and thy latter end (the closing years of thy life) will be exceeding great. In these words the poet allows Bildad to utter a prophecy, the fulfilment of which is recorded in 42^^: **And Yahweh blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning."
8-10. Cp. i5"-i» (Eliphaz). The doctrine which Bildad propounds is no new one, derived from the ignorance of mere creatures of yesterday (v.^) : it is based upon the experience and research of the immemorial past.
8. Inquire, etc.] cp. Dt. 32'^^. — The former generations] the Hebrew phrase is sing. (jltJ'i^n nn) : hence EV. "the former age " ; but the reference is not to some particular generation in the past as, for example, as some have suggested, the genera- tion of such men as Methuselah, who lived vastly longer lives than the long lives of Job and his friends, who themselves
yS THE BOOK OF JOB [VIII. 8-9
® (For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, Because our days upon earth are a shadow :)
belong" to the patriarchal period. But the whole past of man- kind is regarded as a single generation (in) ; and this genera- tion is immeasurably more ancient than individuals like Job. The phrase is virtually equal to *' antiquity" in the phrase "the voice of antiquity," as the antithetical phrase fjnnN "in, the latter geyieration^ is virtually equal to *' posterity " (in such a phrase as ** the judgment of posterity ") in Ps. 48^* 78*- ^ 1021^^1^^ (II ''people yet to be created"), and, with the article in prose, in Dt. 29^^ The "former generation " is the generation con- taining all the former (people : D"'3tJ'X")); the "latter generation," the generation containing all the latter (people), mankind past and future being divisible into two groups — the former and the latter (people : Qoh. i^^). Men living at any particular moment are in touch with this former generation, and can ask it, now hoary aged, for its wisdom, as they are also in touch with the youthful generation to come, and can pass on to it in its child- hood what they have learnt from the past (Ps. 48^*). But if their fathers is correctly read in ^^ this quasi-personification of the entire past of mankind is resolved in the parallel line, and the appeal is to the fathers of those who composed the later individuals among the ' ' former people " ; to some degree, though not entirely parallel, is the combination of "the latter genera- tion" and "their sons" in Ps. 78^ — not entirely parallel, for there the insertion of the parallel term "sons yet to be born " eases the transition. But the fathers (ffi), or our fathers (see phil. n.) would be a stricter parallelism; cp. "the latter generation, your sons" in Dt. 29^^. — Apply thyself to] Heb.yfjc {thy mind) to ; but we should perhaps read attend to (see phil. n.).
9. Left to ourselves we shortlived individuals know nothing; but we can receive the knowledge of the past, Bildad's position is that what is true is not new, and what is new is not true ; that Job is wrong, because he is propounding a monstrous new doctrine ; and Bildad right, because he is simply repeating an old doctrine, so old that it must be true. Peake objects that
VIII. 9-19.] BILDAD 79
^® Shall not they teach thee, and say to thee,
And bring forth words out of their understanding?
** it is the heirs of all the ages who are the * true ancients,* and each generation adds its own quota to the stock, the former age being less wise than the most recent " : this is excellent philosophy, but questionable exegesis. The contrast in Bildad's mind is between modern individuals and the whole past of mankind ; and he conveniently forgets, after the manner of traditionalists, that that past, too, was composed of individuals, that the oldest doctrine was once new, and that novelty and antiquity are alike irrelevant as tests of truth. — Know nothing^ Heb. and do not knoWf the vb. to know being used absolutely, as in 34^ (where the part. **(Ye) that know," is parallel to ''(Ye) wise"), and, negatived as here. Is. 44^, Ps. 73^2. — Because our days . . . are a s?iadow\ cp. 14^, Ps. 102^2 10923^ Qoh. 6^^ 8^^, Wis. 2^, all of which passages the present would more closely resemble if we read, And our days . . . are like a shadow (tel for h'i "3 : so S).
10. They\ the pronoun is independently expressed in the Hebrew, and therefore emphatic. — Out of their understanding] as their position in the Hebrew shows, the emphatic words in the clause. Words of understanding (nS heart \ see on 7^^) are theirs, in opposition to the empty ill-considered words of Job (v.2).
II-I9. The teaching of the ancients, cast by the poet into his own words, and expressed in imagery, drawn from plant- life, so common in this book, and the fragile spider's web. And first (^^~^^) the rapid ruin of those who forget God, and are deprived of His sustenance and support, is compared to the speedy collapse of some lofty water-reed, when suddenly de- prived of water. The allusions to the papyrus and reed-grass, which are for the most part referred to in connection with Egypt, may be due to the poet's knowledge of, or personal acquaintance with, Egypt ; but in view of the growth of papyrus (at least in modern times) in the Jordan valley, and of the references to papyrus in Is. 35^ (if the text may be trusted) and (probably) to the reed-grass in Hos. 13^^, this is not certain.
8o THE BOOK OF JOB [VIII. 11-14.
1^ Will the papyrus rise up proudly without mire ?
Will the reed-grass grow without water? ^2 Whilst it is yet in its greenness, without being cut down,
Before any other herb it withereth. 13 So is the ^ end ^ of all that forget God ;
And the hope of the godless man perisheth : " Whose confidence is cut off.
And whose trust is a spider's web.
11. Papyrtis] Wehr^-w gomey Ex. 2^, Is. iS^ 35^ t* A tall reed, consisting of a bare stem, ten feet or more in height with a large tuft of leaves and flowers at the top (see illustration in Tristram, NHB ^2>^^ or EBi. 3557), abundant in ancient Egypt, but now extinct there and found only on the banks of the **Blue" and ** White" Nile. It also grows in the Jordan valley, especially in the Huleh swamps (Post in Z>^ iv. 212^). — Mire] or swampy ground: HJfa, 40^1 (EVV. y^«), Ezk. 47^^ t {miry place) ; cf. |**3, Jer. 38^21. — Reed-grass] Heb. ^ahuy Egypt. ahu (from aha, to be green): so Gn. 412- is j ( -f according to some, Hos. 13^^); and in the form a^^et in (& Gn. 412.3.18.19^ Is. 197, Sir 40I6; and 0 Jb. S^^. See, further, EBi, 1532/.
12. His greenness] cf. Ct. 6^^ f ^njn ^3N, the freshy green shoots of the wady ; and the Aram. N?^^, fruity Dn. 4^- ^i- ^^ (12. 14. 21) I . in % N2l<, Gn. f 3.\.— It withereth] in its full luxuri- ance, without being cut off, merely by the withdrawal of its water.
13. Such is the fate of those that forget God. — The end] as ^ "^hdiS the paths {n'\m\<)\ but *' end " ((&) is much more suitable : so Me. Hi. Sgf. Gr. Bu. Klo. Du. — The godless man] Heb. hdnef'. Jb. 8^^ i^ie i^34 j^s 20^ 27^ 34^^ 36^3; elsewhere only Is. 916(17) 1063314^ Ps. 3516^ Pr. n^f, with derivatives in Is. 32^, Jer. 23!^ f. The cognate verb means to he profane y Jer. 23I1, or polluted, especially by bloodshed, idolatry, or other grave offence. Is. 24^, Jer. 3^ al. With ^, cf. Pr. lo^s << and the hope of the wicked perisheth'^
14. Whatever he relies upon to secure his position, and protect him against ruin, fails him. Line * slightly emended, to the great improvement of the parallelism, reads: *' Whose
VIII. 14-18.] BILDAD 8 1
^^ He leaneth upon his house, but it standeth not :
He holdeth fast thereby, but it endureth not. ^^ Full of sap is he before the sun,
And his shoots go forth over his garden. 1^ His roots are twined over the heap,
He ^ pierceth 1 the place of stones. ^8 If one destroy him out of his place,
Then it will deny him (saying), I have not seen thee.
confidence (on) gossamer is (placed), see phil. n. — Trust] i.e. object of trust, as iS^* Heb., 312*, Jer. 48^3, Ezk. 29I6 (EVV. confidence). — A spider^ s web] Heb. house. An obvious emblem of fragility: cf. 27^8 n.. Is. 59^- ^ Hirzel compares aptly Qor. 29**^ '*the likeness of those who take to themselves patrons beside God is as the likeness of the spider who taketh to herself a house ; and verily the frailest of houses is the spider's house (baitu H^ankabUti).'^
15. Development of, or (Bu.) a gloss on, 1*^. His own ** house" is as fragile as the spider's: though he leans upon it, and holds it firmly, it affords him no support. ** House " is naturally to be taken here in a broad sense, including his family, establishment, and the resources implied in the possession of an estate.
16-18. Another comparison to a plant. Such a man is like a creeper, firmly rooted in a garden, thriving in the warmth of the sun, and spreading luxuriantly, which, however, if it is once destroyed, is utterly and for ever forgotten. The figure and the thing signified are blended into one by the poet : the sub- ject of the description is the godless man, conceived and pictured as a plant.
16. Full of sap] properly moist; cf. the cognate verb, 24^ (EVV. are wet) f. — Before the sun] under the fostering heat of the s«n.
17. Pierceth] Or (with other points) taketh hold of: see phil. n. f&, beholdeth. — Place of stones] questionable : see phil. n.
18. Destroy] lit. swallow upy fig. for entire annihilation. So 2^ (see n.) al. The unnamed subject may be either **he"
82 THE BOOK OF JOB [VIII. 18 22.
^® Behold, that is the joy of his way,
And out of the dust another spring '^ethl.
2^ Behold, God rejecteth not a perfect man,
And taketh not hold of the hand of evil-doers
21 He will yet fill thy mouth with laughter,
And thy lips with shouting.
22 They that hate thee will be clothed with shame,
And the tent of the wicked will be no more.
(God), or Vhr2n ( = ««one"); see on 320 phil. n. ; and add E. Konig, Stilistik. Rhetorik, Poetik^ p. 115. — I have not seen thee\ a formula of emphatic repudiation (Dt. 33^).
19. That is the joy of his 7vay] i.e. of his path in life : the *' joy," of which he was himself so proud, and which may have been envied by others, is shortlived, and comes abruptly to an end. The expression is used with a touch of irony. There is no need to correct the text (see phil. n.). — Out of the dust another springeth\ the figure of the plant is still maintained. He is not missed : his place is immediately filled by another, just as though he had never been, npv, to spring up (as a plant), Gn. 2^ etc. ; fig. of men, as Is. 44*. "isy, dusty poet, for the soil forming the surface of the earth, as 5^ 14^ 282 30^ 4126(33)^ Is. 2^*- 1^. The fall of the godless man, here described, from the height of prosperity to the direst adversity resembles that of Job ; and Bildad, though he does not say it in so many words, no doubt desires Job to consider whether his own mis- fortune may not be due to the same cause.
20-22. But God does not forsake the righteous, not even when he is in adversity, if he only turns to Him for help (^~'^) : if, therefore. Job is really blameless (^), he may rest assured that he will again be blessed with prosperity.
20. Perfect\ i^ n. — Taketh not holdy etc.] to support him: the figure, as Is. 41^^ 42^ al.
21. Development of 2<^a: happiness is still in store for Job. — Befilled with laughter] Ps. 1262 ^rs pintT xi'D"' TX. — Shouting] i.e. joyous shouting : cp. the cognate vb. in 38^, Is. 442^.
22. Development of 20b . Job's enemies, who delight in his misfortune, will be filled with disappointment when they see
VIII. 22-IX. 4.] JOB S^
him again prosperous ; and disaster will overtake the wicked. Bildad's last words are double-edged. On the one hand, in so far as he seems to identify Job's enemies with the wicked, he implies that he does not class Job among them ; on the other hand, the last line suggests ominously that it is just Job's tent which is already no more. — Clothe themselves 'with shame] the figure, as Ps. 3526 10929 (nsijs) 122^^.— The tent] 52^.
IX. X. Job's reply to Bildad's first speech.— Though there is no unambiguous address to Bildad in particular, or to the three friends together (ct. 622-29)^ gi-24 ^nay be regarded as the direct reply to Bildad, opening, as it does, with reference to Bildad's opening words, and in 22-24 giving direct contradic- tion to his closing words in 82^-22^ g^^- jj^ ^j^g remainder of the speech Job, disregarding the friends (as in the latter part of his previous speech, c. 7), is rather musing to himself on God's mysterious ways (92^*- 32-35^^ ^^j^^j considering how he will ques- tion Him (io2^-), or directly addressing himself to God (928^31^^ In the direct reply Job takes up Bildad's conception of the divine might and justice. Certainly God is irresistible in His might (9*"^^) : if, then, to be almighty (cp. 8^ n.) is to be just, if justice is whatever an almighty being may do, God is just (92*-), and certainly, if He insists on holding Job to be guilty. Job cannot establish his innocence over against Him (9^^~2i), On the other hand, Bildad is quite wrong in maintaining (82^-22) that God's might or justice was discriminative ; it is not : for innocent and guilty alike go down before it (922-24). j^ ^.j^g remainder of his speech Job muses on the brevity of life (925-27 ,o20-22)^ on the futility of attempting to establish his innocence against God's determination to hold him guilty and treat him with severity {g^^~^)i and on the apparent contradictoriness of God's actions in thus treating him (lo^"*^- ^^"^"^j, after having lavished such care on him both before (^~^^) and after (^2) birth. Why did He bring him into life (10^^')? Why cannot He at least leave him alone for the few days of life that remain (20-22) p
IX. 2-4. Job ironically concedes Bildad's position (8^) that God never acts unjustly, and consequently whatever He does is right : man is powerless before Him ; what chance has he to prove himself innocent, when God, who sets Himself the
84 THE BOOK OF JOB [IX. 2-10.
IX. ^ And Job answered and said, 2 Of a truth I know that it is so :
And how can a man be just with God?
* If he were, to desire to dispute with him,
He could not answer him one of a thousand.
* Wise in heart, and mighty in strength —
Who (ever) hardened (himself) against him, and
prospered ?
standard of righteousness, and is irresponsible and omnipotent, is resolved to prove him guilty ?
2, Of a truth] ironically, as 12^. — That it is sd\ what Bildad has said (8^). — And how ^ etc.] Eliphaz's principle (4^^), with the change of IP into DV — perhaps (Dr.) to suggest the double sense, ** How can man be just in the estimation of (oy, withy as I S. 2^^, 2 S. 6^2) God? " and ** How can man have right (in a contest) with God ? " For DV> with^ suggesting in a contest
withy Cf. 3- 1* 10"^ 1 621, ps^ g^l6 j^sy-,^ Qy ^tJ j3^p^ s^^
3-4. If man did wish to contend with God, for the purpose of establishing his righteousness, he would be foredoomed to failure, he could not answer Him one of the innumerable ques- tions which, in His infinite superiority to man, He would put to him : His wisdom, combined with His might (** — a summary anticipation of ^*^-: cp. also ^^ Is. 40^^), would bring about his complete discomfiture. A less probable view of ^* is that it goes with **who" in ^ — who, however great and strong, hardened himself, etc. (Olsh. Ehrlich).
4. In heart\ in intellect^ 'f^ n. — Hardened (himself) against hini\ probably with an ellipse, hardened (his neck) against him^ i.e, (Da.) braved him : cf. Dt. lo^^, Jer. 7^^, Pr. 29^ (vb.), Ex. 32^ (adj.) al. Possible also is an ellipse, as perhaps in Ex. I3l^ of heart (Ps. 95^, Pr. 28I*) or spirit (Dt. 2^%— And prospered] or, more exactly, was (came off) whole (8^ n.), i,e. safe and sound.
5-IO. Description of God's omnipotence as manifested in the mighty works of nature. Cf. the picture drawn by Eliphaz, ^9-16^ who, however, in agreement with his line of argument, selects examples of the beneficent operations of God, whereas
IX. 5-9.] JOB 85
* Who removeth the mountains, and they know it not,
Who overturneth them in his anger :
* Who shaketh the earth out of her place,
And the pillars thereof tremble : '^ Who commandeth the sun, and it beameth not ; And sealeth up the stars :
Job selects examples illustrating His unlimited and even irre- sponsible and destructive power.
5. A hyperbolical description of the dislodgment of huge masses of rock from a mountain, either by an earthquake or, in a thunderstorm, by lightning, or of great boulders being rolled down the gullies by the torrents of water which in a storm rapidly fill them (as may be witnessed sometimes in the Sinaitic Peninsula; see **Neh.-Mal." in the Century Bible y p. 99 f.). — And they know it not] so quickly is it done: cf. (for the meaning of the expression) Ps. 35^, Is. 47^^, Pr. 5^, Jer. 502*. Or, to obtain a closer parallel with the last part of ^ reading the vb. in the sing., with God as the subj.. Who removeth mountains without knowing it^ so easily and without effort does He act.
6. Earthquakes. The description is again hyperbolical. The earth was supposed to be supported upon massive pillars : cf. 38^ I S. 28, Ps. 1045 (ct. 2^'. see n.). Or the pillars of the earth may be identical with what in 26^^ are called the pillars of heaven : i.e. the mountains rising from the horizon on earth and supporting heaven.
7. Abnormal obscurations of the heavens, whether caused by heavy thunderstorms, or by sandstorms (see Dr. on Ex. lo^^), or eclipses. — Beameth not] The word is the one regularly used of the sun's ** rising" : but its proper meaning is to beam or rhine forth ; and it is not confined to the literal rising of the sun (cf. Is. 5810).
8-10. Regarded by some as an insertion : see phil. notes. Note 8a= Is. 4424^ (cp. Is. 4o22b, Ps. 1042); b cp. Mic. i3b; » cp, Am. 58; 10 = 59.
8-9. God's power, as shown in the workmanship of heaven, and (8b) in His sovereign control of the billows of the sea.
S6 THE BOOK OF JOB [IX. 8-9.
^ Who alone stretched out the heavens,
And treadeth upon the waves of the sea :
* Who made the Bear (and) Orion,
And the Pleiades, and the chambers of the south :
8. Treadethy etc.] Viz. in a tempest, when the waves (Heb. *' high places ") rise mountain-high, and Yahweh was supposed to walk on their crest. Elsewhere Yahweh is described as treading, or marching, on the "high places" of the earth (Am. 4^^, Mic. i^). The expression implies undisputed posses- sion of, or uncontrolled sovereignty over : cf. (of Israel in Canaan) Dt. 32^3 3329, is. 581^; also Ps. i83*<33), Hab. 3I9.
9. Three constellations, which, though the ancients were completely unaware of their gigantic size, impressed them by their brilliancy and magnificence, as they glowed in the nocturnal heavens. The identifications are not certain : see more fully on 38=^1^-, Del. and Di. here and on 3831^-, EBi, s.v. Stars, § 3 (Burney). — The Bear] Heb. *ash, in 38^21 spelt more correctly * ayish, though (as Syriac shows) 'iyyush would be the best pronuncia- tion. In 38^^ the reference is to 'Ayish and her children, the children, if the identification with the Bear be correct, being presumably the three stars of the tail. But, on account of its greater meteorological significance (cp. 38^2-31), ^j^g Pleiades have been thought to be the constellation invoked, 'Ayish being strictly the principal star of the group (Alcyone), the remainder her children. — Orio7t] 38^^ Am. 5^; and in the pi. Is. 13^®!, '* For the stars of the heavens and their Orions — i,e, their constellations like Orion — shall not give their light," etc. The Heb. is Tp3, the common word iox fool (Pr. 122.32 etc.): c. 38^1 speaks of the '* bands " of Orion : as Orion was supposed by the ancient Greeks to be a giant bound in the heavens by chains, it is difficult not to think that some similar idea underlay the Heb. name, and that there was some legend of a giant who, confiding foolishly in his strength, and defying the Almighty, was, as a punishment for his arrogance, bound for ever in the sky. The identification of ^"'03 with Orion is as ancient as (& 38^^, Is. 13^^, and is generally accepted. Saad. and some others identify it with Canopus. — The Pleiades] 38^^, Am. 5^ f. If the first-named
IX. 9.] JOB Sy
^® Who doeth great things past finding out ; Yea, marvellous things without number.
constellation be rightly identified with the Pleiades, that now named (riD^a) must be something else — possibly Sirius. The Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades attracted notice at an early period among the Greeks also, partly, perhaps, on account of their conspicuousness, and partly because their risings and settings with the sun marked the seasons. Comp. Horn. //. i8. 483-9 (as depicted on the shield of Achilles) :
^Ev fiev yalav eT€v^\ iv S' ovpavov, iv he OdXaaaav, ^HeXiov S* cLKafiavTa, Xekrivrjv re irXTJOovaav, iv he ra leipea Trdvra, rd t ovpavo<; eVre^aj/WTat, Il\7)ldZa^ 0* 'Tdha^ re, to T€ <T6evo<i ^flprnvo^^^ "ApKTov ffy rjv KoX dfxa^av eTTCKXTjatv KokeovaiVy 7] T avTov arpe^erai, Kal t ^flplayva hoKevet, otrj S* dfjLfjLop6<; iarc XoeTpcov ^ flKeavolo. Od. V. 272-5 (Ulysses sitting by the helm, sleepless — IlXrjid8a<! T iiTopcovTi Kal oyfre Bvovra Bocottjv ^Apicrov 6 , ktX. — as in the three lines just quoted). //. 22. 27-31 (Achilles in his flashing armour compared to the dog-star) :
09 pd T OTTooprjf; elaiv, dpL^rjXoi, Be ol avyal <f)aivovTai TToXXolai fier aarpaat vvkto^ d/jLoXy^' 6v T€ KVV ^flpLcovo^ eTTLKXrjcnv KaXeovcTL' XafiTTpoTUTo^ fiep oB' earl, kukov Be re arjfia TervKTUc, Kal Te (f)epei, iroXXov irvperop BeiXolat ^porolaiv. The chambers of the south\ this translation of the Hebrew phrase assumes an unusual orthography (ion for jJOTl), but is more probable than the alternative the chmnhers of the Twins (JDn = |P^y^, Aramaic pi. for D^DXn). But the chambers of the south can hardly refer to a single particular constellation, though in the context it would be most natural to look for this ; if the text and translation are correct, the term probably refers to constellations which, as the poet knew, appeared above the horizon as a traveller journeyed south (Dr.). Less probable in the context would be the identification with ** the storehouses of elemental forces, such as the storm, or light and darkness: cp. 37® 38^2 " (Peake). Hoffm. by a slight emendation (iD^ni mn
88 THE BOOK OF JOB [IX. 9-13.
^^ Lo, he goeth by me, and I see him not :
He passeth on also, but I perceive him not.
^ If he seizeth, who can turn him back?
Who can say unto him. What doest thou ?
13 God doth not turn back his anger ;
The helpers of Rahab did stoop under him.
for 'n ''"iin) obtains the names of two constellations — Hdr and the Twins.
10. Repeated almost verbatim from 5^ (Eliphaz).
11-24. From the general truth that man cannot establish his right in a conflict with God (2'-), whose might is overwhelming (*~^^)> Job passes (^^"^^) to its special application to himself, and, in particular, first on the supposition that God summons Job to answer a charge (^** ^^), and then on the supposition that Job summons God (I6-20J . j^ either event he would be overwhelmed by God's might, terrorized into not maintaining, but at best supplicating for, his right P), or, having summoned God, to charge not Him, but himself, with wrong (^o). And so he returns to generalization : God destroys men indifferently, whether they are actually good men or bad men (^2), or, if He discriminates, it is in favour of the wicked (2*).
11. Job, like the mountains (^), lay in the path of God as He passed along in His anger ; and though He passed invisibly. Job knows that He has passed by the eff"ect of His passage ; like mountains overturned by the same cause. Job's life lies in ruins. Instead of directly stating this fact, Job speaks quasi-hypotheti- cally (see phil. n.), but only in order to suggest the more strongly the divine origin and, therefore, the irreparableness of his ruin, and the impossibility of withstanding or questioning God's action
(12-14).
12. Cp. 1 1 10 23^3^
13. Man cannot (^^j^ and God Himself (emphatic), who might (and, as others thought, often did, Ps. 78^^), does not, turn back His anger; the only thing to do then, as the mighty beings of ancient story found, was to sink down under Him as He passed along. The anger of God does not appear to Job as it did to the prophets (e.g. Is. 9^1 etc.), to be provoked or maintained in
EX. 13.] JOB 89
action by human sin : it is ethically uncontrolled, sheer power in action, destroying things and men indifferently, whether mighty mountains, or frail though innocent men like Job, who come in its way. The conception has its parallel in early popular thought of Yahweh (see, e.g.^ 2 S. 6^^-), which left its mark even on much later theology; see, especially in P, Nu. 1^^ 17^^ 18^ (see nn. on those passages in /CC, and also on Nu. 22^^) ; but Job rather heightens the picture of man's helplessness in a world subject to God's anger : popular thought pictured that anger aroused by man's intrusion, however unwilling and involun- tary, on what was holy or sacred to God ; Job thinks of man passively and helplessly exposed to that anger, if God merely happens to come his way. — The helpers of Rahab] Rahab, meaning boisterousness, arrogancy, and perhaps overbearing- ness (cp. Is. 3^ and n. on Is. 14*), is, apparently, a popular name given in Hebrew folklore to the sea-monster (pjn, 7^^), who in primaeval times (Is. 51^) had defied, but been vanquished by, Yahweh (26^2^ where Rahab is I| to the sea; Is. 51^, 1| pan, Ps. 89^^: cp. Is. 30^?). In. Ps. 87* Rahab is employed as a name for Egypt, which country in the person of its king is addressed elsewhere as : **Thou great monster (pJDn) which lieth in the midst of its streams (V"ii<''), who saith, Mine is the Nile (iN"*), and /made it " (Ezk. 29^). This sea-monster of Hebrew popular story is obviously derived from the Tidmat (philologically = Heb. fhSniy the abyss) of the Babylonian myth, the great dragon representing the sea and the forces of disorder, which were vanquished by Marduk before Creation. The helpers of Rahab come from the same source : in Tablet IV. lines 105 ff. oi Enuma Elish (L. King, The Seven Tablets of Creation ; Rogers, CP)y Marduk, after slaying Tiamat, deals with her helpers : When he had slain Tidmat, the leader, Her power was broken, her army was scattered And the gods, her helpers^ who marched at her side, Trembled and were afraid and turned back. They broke away to save their lives, But they were surrounded, they could not escape. He took them captive, he broke their weapons. In the net they were thrown, and in the snare they remained.
90 THE BOOK OF JOB [IX. 13-17.
^* How much less shall / answer him,
And choose out my words (to reason) with him ?
1^ Whom, though I were righteous, I could not answer; I should make supplication to mine adversary.
^® If I had cited (him), and he had answered me ;
I should not believe that he would give ear unto my voice
. . . The world they filled with cries of sorrow, They bore his punishment, they are shut up in prison
(Rogers' translation).
In Ps. 89^1 these helpers are referred to, in parallelism with
Rahab, as Yahweh's enemies.
14. Answer hini] rebut the charge brought against me by God, who is here represented as Job's opponent-at-law. So ^ means : how incapable should I be of selecting a successful line of defence in my conflict with (dj;, as ^ : see n. on 2) Him in the law court.
15. Though his case were perfectly good, with such an opponent, he could not so argue as to get a decision on its merits ; he could at best cast himself on the favour of his adversary ( = opponent-at-law : see phil. n.), with a view to obtaining as a favour what was really his by right.
16-18. Even though Job were to summon God to answer a charge (cp. 13^^^), and God were to appear in court in response to the summons, yet God would by violent methods (^^'•) in court prevent him from formulating his just charge against Him.
16. Cited (htm)] Heb. called, N"ip being used of a legal summons as in Is. 59* (|| DD^j). — Answered\ i.e. appeared in response to the summons, so rather similarly 5^, where appear- ance in response to Job's call, not a speech in reply, is intended. Du., understanding answer in the sense of speech in reply, reads '' he would not answer me " (after &) to harmonize * on this view with ^ : see phil. n.
17 f. The vbs. describe what would be God's conduct in court, if He were to appear there ; but if & be followed in '^^ they describe God's present actual treatment of Job : then render (Hi. Du., and in ^^ RV.): bruiseth^ muUiplieth, suffereth me not, 2i.n6. satiateth ; in this case with ^^, cp. 7^^^ and with ^^^ 132^.
IX. 17-20.] JOB 91
^^ For he would bruise me with a tempest,
And multiply my wounds without cause. 1^ He would not suffer me to take my breath,
But would satiate me with bitterness. ^^ If (it be a question) of the strength of the mighty, ** Here [I
am] ! " (saith he) ; And if of judgment (he saith), ** Who will appoint me a
time ? " ^^ Though I were righteous, mine own mouth would condemn
me; I am perfect ; and he declares me crooked !
17. Bruise] see phil. n. — Tempest] cp. 38^ 40^; and see phil. n. Hi. gives the word (myK^) the meaning of hatr (cp. QL : see phil. n.) as in 4^^, and renders ^'^*: who drags me by the hair (cp. i6^2j. But the sing, of the noun would be as questionable here as in 4^^, and the vb. does not mean to drag. — b. Cp. 2^.
19. ** God's might is such that he is ready for any contest, and superior to the summons of any judge " (Dr.). See, further, phil. n. — Appoint me a time] the Hif. (Jer. 49^^ = 50**^) of the vb. used in c. 2^^ (n.): the meaning here is: Fix the day on which I must appear to be judged.
20. Righteous . . . condem,n\ the second vb. is the declara- tive Hif. (G-K. 53c) of j;K'"j (the antithesis of pnv, righteous), and means would declare, or pronounce, unrighteous. Primarily both the vb. and adj. of piv and j;c^T mean right or wrong in a particular case, innocent or guilty of a particular charge (cp. e.g. Dt. 25^: judges are to *' pronounce the innocent innocent, and the guilty guilty " : EV. renders badly) ; and here, with the prevailing figure of the law courts, we might render : though I were in the right, mine own mouth would pronounce me in the wrong. But the implied charge here is so general (cp. ^), that there is no substantial difference in this particular case (ct. Dt. 25*) between the two renderings, in the right and righteous, — Mine own mouth . . . he] the parallelism would be more exact, if we read his mouth (but see phil. n.) in % or (better) treated ** mouth " not ** God " as the subj. in ^ render- ing " it declares." — Perfect . . . crooked] see i^ n.
92 THE BOOK OF JOB [IX. 21-24.
21 I am perfect ; I care not for myself;
I refuse my life.
22 It is (all) one ; therefore I say,
The perfect and the wicked he bringeth to an end I
23 If the scourge slay suddenly,
He mocketh at the trial of the innocent.
21, 22. A succession of short clauses giving a verse structure very different from the normal : this is perhaps original and intentional (Bu.), to give effect in form to the emotional con- tents of the vv. For a reconstruction of the text, see phil. n. The vindication of his integrity is all that Job any longer cares about ; life he is quite ready to hazard ; it is all one to him whether he lives or dies : consequently he can and will speak, and freely (cp. 13^^) : God may slay the wicked, as Bildad had asserted (S^^^-), but He also slays and so rejects the good, which Bildad had denied (S^*^) ; and so in reality by His undis- criminating action He perverts justice, which also Bildad had denied (8^).
21, / am perfect] perhaps merely an accidental repetition from 20 (Be.^). — / care not for myself ] Heb. I know (v^x) not my soul [i.e. myself: || " my life "), the vb. being used, as not infrequently, in the sense of caring, troubling about a thing ; cp. Gn. 39^ Dt. 33^. — I refuse my life] cp. 7^^ and see phil. n. there.
22, It is all one] ^ omits. % it is one measure t i,e, good and bad are requited alike (cp. Qoh. 92), so Del.^ (but not 2) and Ehrlich. But the phrase is to be explained with most moderns as above in the n. on 21- 22,
23, 24. Examples of God's moral indifference : when the scourge of God (cp. Is. io2*^) is applied in the form of some plague that suddenly carries men off by the thousands, the innocent die as well as the wicked, and God shows Himself more than quietly indifferent to their fate : He mocks at (cp. Ps. 2^) their trials or despair (see phil. n.). Again, the government is in the hands of godless men ; judges have been blinded so that they do not see the right, or perhaps, having been bribed, they deliberately overlook the right of the
IX. 23-26.] JOB 93
2* The earth is given into the hand of the wicked : He covereth the faces of the judges thereof; If not, then, who is it ?
innocent ; in such social and political conditions the innocent come to an end at least as often as the wicked : indeed, the wicked is uppermost. Yet who is responsible for this, if not God (2**^)? therefore God discriminates, if at all, against the innocent.
24. The earth] or possibly a landy i.e, a province. On the former view, cp. with the judges thereof^ Ps. 2^^ * 'judges of the earth" || to ''kings." In either case the writer may have had in view the government and administration of some world empire of which Judah formed at the time a province: pagans ruled, pious, innocent Jews suffered. — Is given] or, pointing differently: He, i.e. God, hath given it. Vomits ^'*^, and the words "it is (all) one" in 22 — probably to soften down the strong expressions in 20-24. ^p. ffi's substitution of "great" for "innocent" in ^^^.
25-35. Having completed his reply to Bildad with a direct contradiction of Bildad's contention, Job, musing now to himself, bemoans the brevity of his life (cp. 7^^-), and the impossibility of any alleviation of his distress while God retains His present attitude, the impossibility, too, of establishing his innocence so long as God is bent on besmirching (^^^■) him ; but if God would change His attitude and cease to overbear him with His terrible might, then Job would establish the integrity of which he is conscious (v.^^*-). The lament over the brevity and near end of his life follows immediately on his expression of readiness to have done with it in ^^^- : cp. conversely 7^^^- after 7^'-.
25 f. The speed with which his brief life is hurrying to its goal. Job illustrates by three finely varied and very suggestive figures, 25a that of the solitary runner (p) making all haste to deliver his message (cp. 2 S. 1822-24), 26a ^^at of the fragile craft of reeds (see phil. n.) that skim so swiftly over the surface of the Nile — another indication of the poet's acquaint- ance with Egypt (cp. 8^^ n.), and 26b that of a griffon swooping down on its prey.
94 THE BOOK OF JOB [IX. 25-28.
25 And my days are swifter than a post :
They flee away, they see no good.
26 They shoot along like skiffs of reed,
Like an eagle that swoopeth on the prey.
27 If I say, **I will forget my complaint,
I will put off my (sad) countenance, and brighten up ** :
28 I dread all my pains ;
I know that thou wilt not hold me innocent.
25. And my days] the and is better omitted, with 2 MSS, 5^U: cp. 7^. — I^lee . . . see] or have fled . . . have seen-, the terms are pf. : so in ^^, In 7^^- '^^ Job had no hope of any further sight of prosperity; here his present calamities have blotted out his memory of the prosperity that he had seen.
26. An eagle] strictly a vulture ^ a griffon-vulture : see Tristram, NHB 172 ff. ; Dr. on Dt. 1412 32II; EBu, s.v. Eagle: though Post in DB (cp. Lex, s.v. iB'j) claims that the Heb. nesher, like the Arabic msry might include eagles as well as vultures. In any case, the Hebrew associations with the word nesher were unlike the English associations with vultures ; for though the nesher' s habit of feeding on carrion was of course known, and is sometimes referred to (39^^ ; cp. Mt. 2428 a€Tot = Pesch. \ ^ i)j it is most commonly mentioned in the OT. in nobler comparisons; see, e.g.f Ex. 19*, Dt. 32^^, Is. 40^^. Its swiftness, the point of comparison here, is fre- quently mentioned : see Hab. i^ (swift on the prey, as here), 2 S. i23, Jer. 413, La. 419.
27a. Cp. 7^3^. — Complaint] (sad) musing, and the expression of it in words (see phil. n. on 7^^) : the whole phrase is nearly equivalent to our **I will forget my thoughts." — Put off my countenance] this curious expression has a close parallel in I S. i^^ ?^ (not ffi) : **her (sad) countenance was no more hers"; in Gn. 312-^ the expressions are much less similar. — Brighten up] icP-^ : see phil. n.
28a. Cp. 7^5. b. The pains (*) will continue, for God is bent on regarding Job as not innocent, and, therefore, on afflicting him as 2^* one guilty.
IX. 29-33.] JOB 95
29 I am to be guilty !
Why then do I labour in vain ? ^ If I wash myself with snow,
And cleanse my hands with lye ; '^ Then thou wilt plunge me in the ditch,
And mine own clothes shall abhor me. '2 For (he is) not a man, as I am, that I should answer him,
That we should come together in judgment. *^ There is no umpire betwixt us.
That might lay his hand upon us both.
29. If, whatever happens, Job must endure the sufferings of the guilty (^^) ; if, as often as he clears himself, God fastens on him afresh the false charge of guilt — this point being expressed by the figure of a man cleansing himself in the most thorough manner possible only to be flung back by one stronger into a filthy, stinking ditch {^^^•) — what use is there in any further attempt to clear himself p^) ?
30. IVtth snow] regarded not unnaturally, though errone- ously, as more cleansing than water. Me. As snow (cp. Is. i^®) — 103 for 103. — Lye] alkali, obtained from the ashes of plants and used for cleansing the person ; "13 in this sense only here and Is. i25(?); cp. 71^3, Jer. 222, Mai. 32. The parallelism strongly favours giving n3 this sense here (so ^ and most moderns ; S> took it in the sense of cleanness, as in 22^, 2 S. 22'^^).
31. The moment he has finished washing, before he has dressed again, God plunges him in the filthy mire ; when he issues from it his very clothes regard him as an abomination to be kept at a distance (cp. 30^^, Ps. 88^^^^), and so refuse to cover him. Some (Ew. al.), finding this powerful personifica- tion too strong or strange, think of Job as having been dipped in the filth clothed, and render (cp. Ezk. iG^^) : my clothes make me an abomination (to others) : others (see phil. n.) emend *' clothes" into '* friends" (then cp. Ps. 88^).
32. A just decision is impossible to obtain : for Job is human, God is not, and therefore Job cannot reply to (cp. ^^^•) God's charge.
33. Nor is there any one superior to them both to pronounce
96 THE BOOK OF JOB [IX. 33-X.
^ Let him take away his rod from me,
And let not his terror affright me : ^ Then would I speak, and not fear him.
For not so am I with myself.
a decision and arbitrate between them. — There is no] so JH : J^ might also be rendered : Would that there were an ; but see phil. n. — Umpire] n''3'iD is here one who gives a decision in a dispute between two parties : cp. the use of the vb. in Gn. 313^ and Is. 2* (Yahweh will arbitrate in the disputes arising among many nations). — Lay his hand upon] exercise authority and control over: cp. Ps. 139^.
34 f. But let God meet Job on equal terms, not taking advantage of His irresistible might to beat him and terrify him into silence, and Job will freely utter his conviction of his own innocence, and, consequently, of the injustice of God's present violent treatment of him.
34. See 1321 33^
35. Not so . . . with myself] I am aware of nothing to make me afraid of Him, if He acts not in might, but in right : with, as 10^3 J -9 23I4 27 11.
X. And yet, whether God remove His rod and His terrors (9^*) or not, since Job is sick of life (^*) and has, therefore, nothing more to fear (cp. 7^^^- 9'^^**), he will speak out his thoughts freely (^^•^), and unreservedly interrogate God as to the reason of His contention with him (3-6f.)j he asks God whether the reasons that occur to him, and yet seem so insufficient or irrelevant, are really the reasons : (i) Does God get any benefit or pleasure out of ill-treating and rejecting a life that has cost Him much labour to produce (^) ? (2) Is God after all of limited vision and perception like men, so that He judges Job wrongly, and contends with him because He really has concluded that Job deserves the treatment (*) ? or (3) Is God after all shortlived like men, so that He is in a hurry to seek out Job's sin before it has been committed (^)? Of these questions (2) and (3) are no further considered, perhaps because the answers to them are too obvious : God cannot see amiss and cannot die ; but the various elements in (i) are elaborated in ^"^2, viz. the pains
X. 1-8.] JOB 97
X. * My soul loatheth my life ;
I will let my complaint take its course upon me ; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. 2 I will say unto God, Do not condemn me ;
Make me to know wherefore thou contendest with me ? * Is it good for thee that thou oppressest,
That thou rejectest the work of thine hands, And that thou shinest upon the counsel of the wicked ?
taken by God to produce Job (8-i2)^ and, in spite of this. His vigilant and persistent hostility to Job (^^"^^), and the question itself; why so strange a combination, why not, at least for the few days that remain to Job, leave him alone (i8-22jp ^^^ transitions of thought at the beginning of the chapter are not too clearly marked : in particular, the precise point of ^ is rather uncertain, whether interpreted as above or otherwise, and ^ would follow more easily as an alternative presentation of the case to ^^ than as the conclusion to ^. Du. omits ^ ; possibly, if we omit at all to recover an easier connection, it would be better to omit ^^-^.
1. To avoid a tristich Bi. Du. omit ^ as a variation on 7^1 ; but of the three lines ^- ^ are the better parallels ; if omission were required 1* (a variation of 9^^) could be better spared. — . Complaint\ musing ; 9^^ n. — Let . . . take its course] Job will no longer keep his musings to himself (cp. y^^), but let them loose : 3rv, as 20^^ (antithetical to yjD, to hold back)y Ex. 23^, and in the proverbial expression aim ">1Vy, shut up or let loose, e.g, Dt. 2>2^^.— Upon me] as 302-16 i^^'ih^ Pg. 42^(5) al. : see Lex,
753^.
2. Do not condemn me] without formulating the charge (cp. ^), or giving me the opportunity to rebut it.
3. Is it good for thee] i.e. advantageous to Thee: so Ex. 14I2, Nu. 143, Jg. <^^.—That thou oppressest] ffir eav dBtKijaca ( = VK^IN), if I am guilty (cp. Ps. 51^), is not preferable to |^.— The 'work of thy hands] the product of the toil (y^i^) of thy hands, different from the phrase D^SD HK^VIO, commonly so rendered (see phil. n.). By this phrase, which he elaborates in 8"^i, Job refers to himself: but it is of course equally applicable
7
98 THE BOOK OF JOB [X. 3-6.
* Hast thou eyes of flesh,
Or seest thou as man seeth ? ^ Are thy days as the days of man,
Or thy years as man's days, ^ That thou seekest after mine iniquity,
And searchest after my sin.
to any man, righteous or wicked, so that the antithesis in ° is rather lame, and ° should perhaps be omitted (Bu. al.) and the V. reduced to a distich.
4. The supposition, if it could be entertained, might explain the present facts ; but it cannot, for, though men sometimes act in disregard of the fact, it was a commonplace that God was spirit and not flesh (Is. 31^), and did not see with limited human vision (i S. 16^).
5. Another supposition that merely needs to be stated to be rejected ; for God's years have no end (Ps. 102^^). — Man . . . man's] different words in J^ (12^ . . . K^13X) ; on the other hand, dajys is repeated, perhaps owing to an accidental replacement in ^ of days for years: cp. phil. n. on 8^. The point of the question has been diff"erently taken : either, is God shortlived, and, therefore, limited in experience like men ? in this case ^ is a variation of the thought of * ; or, is God so shortlived that He must make haste to achieve what He has set before Him before His years come to an end? In neither case does the question fit very naturally into the context : see above on 1"-.
6. Thai] or y I put these questions, yor(Du.). — Mine iniquity . . . my sin] sin not yet committed by Job, but which God by the infliction of severe suff"ering is, after the manner of an inquisitor, seeking to compel Job to acknowledge, and thereby give a ground for God's condemnation of him (Del. Di. Dr.) ; or, iniquity and sin such as Job admitted (7^^), while refusing to admit ** wickedness " (^*) such as would justify the severity of God's treatment of him : *♦ the fact of guilt he does not deny, but he cannot regard it as of primary importance : if God is regarded as a petty criminal judge, He is degraded to the (merely) human, and it is forgotten that He is the Creator, and
X. 6-9.] JOB 99
^ Although thou knowest that I am not wicked ;
And there is none that can deliver out of thine hand? ^ Thine hands have fashioned and formed me,
•^Afterwards thou turnest^ and destroyest me ! ^ Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast formed me as clay ;
And wrilt thou bring me into dust again ?
that man is not a stranger to Him, as the criminal to the judge, but a work of His own hands lovingly produced " (Du.).
7. The two lines express two very disparate ideas, and form very awkward parallels ; * seems most congruous with the context, and Be. Du. (see phil. n.), by a slight emendation, bring ^ into parallelism with it, rendering, And that there is no transgression (or, treachery) in my hand. Ehrlich, by an even slighter emendation (>V"J^ for Vt^^N in *), brings * into parallelism with ^ : in this case render :
Because Thou knowest that I cannot save myself.
And that there is none that can deliver out of thy hand.
8-1 1. Amplification of ^. By a variety of metaphors, or comparisons with human handiwork, the poet emphasizes the care lavished by God on the production of Job.
8. Fashioned] like a sculptor. — Afterwards thou tumesi\ see phil. n. J^ EV. together round about with % giving to the v. an unrhythmical structure. — Destroyesi\ 2^ : Job does not know of the Satanic instigation to God's action.
9. Formed vie as ctaj'] like a potter ; cp. Is. 64^ 45^. Clay is regarded as the actual material of the human body in ^19 ^^6 . SQ some would read here IDH (cp. ffir) as an ace. of the material (G-K. iiyhh) or "lona (cp. 2 in Ex. 38^: Ehrlich), and render : formed me out of clay. Varying the figure the writer repeats the thought of ^ : so much care (^*- ^*) expended in vain pb. 9bj . j^^g Jq5 been fashioned by the divine sculptor merely, through a change of whim, to be destroyed? has he been formed out of clay into a useful vessel merely to be broken up by the divine potter, and reduced again to meaningless particles of dust? It is true, this line of thought might easily have carried Job to the further point of questioning why man thus made should die at all so as to perish entirely ; but since it
lOO THE BOOK OF JOB [X. 0-12.
^^ Didst thou not pour me out like milk, And curdle me like cheese ?
11 Thou didst clothe me with skin and flesh,
And knit me together with bones and sinews.
12 rFavourl and kindness hast thou done with me,
And thy visitation hath preserved my spirit.
does not in any case do so in s, it is ill-advised, on the ground that it does not do so in ^ to subordinate ^^ to ** remember" in *: Remember that thou bringest men into dust again (Barth), i.e. that I am frail (cp. Ps. 103^*) and mortal: and, then, with Di., to draw the necessary conclusion that ^ with this new, and in itself correct, but between ^ and ^^ incongruous thought, is an interpolation. — Bring . . . into dust again\ cp., of the normal lot of men, Ps. 90^, Gn. 3^^ and see n. on i^i. 10, II. The poet has no thought of the sinfulness of the flesh : the human body is the noble workmanship of God : behind and in the human functions of procreation and gesta- tion lies the activity of God : it was He who poured the milk- like semen into the womb, transforming it there into the soft cheese-like substance of the unformed embryo (cp. ira^yeh iv ai/jLarc, Wis. 7^), clothing this with skin and flesh, and then within the flesh, providing a framework of intertwining (so also Ps. 139^^) bones (cp. Qoh. 11^) and sinews; and so made Job. Cp. Ps. 139^3-1^ and, with less detailed reference to the activity of God, 2 Mac. 722'- ; or without such reference. Wis. 7^. Ct. later, ignobler descriptions of man's (physical) origin {e.g. **know whence thou camest: from a fetid drop," nmiD HD'^DD, Pirke Abhotk, 3I), especially where there is a contrast between the natural man — born of blood, the will of the flesh and the will of man (John i^^) — and the spiritual man.
II. Might, perhaps, better be subordinated like ^^^ to the interrogative in ^^ Didst Thou not pour me out . . . curdle me . . . clothe me . . . knit me ... ?
12 f. The same care and pains that had been expended on his formation had been continued up through life, betokening, as it seemed, God's kindness to Job ; but {^^) from his recent and present experiences he must conclude that all this was but
X. 12-16.] JOB lOI
^^ And (yet) these things didst thou hide in thine heart ;
I know that this was in thy thoughts : ^* If I sinned, that thou wouldest mark me,
And wouldest not acquit me from my iniquity;
a mask to the real thoughts of God (unfolded in ^*~^^), which were not kindly but malignant. — Favour and kindness\ on the emendation, see phil. n. ; or, since alike in rhythm and sense the line would be complete without a second term, we might read simply : Kindness (hast Thou done with me). J^ (EV.) Life and kindness \ and this has often been taken to refer to birth — having formed my body in the womb, Thou gavest me life when I issued from it. Yet even if J^ is correct, ** ^ alike probably refer not to birth, but to the providence of God pro- tecting and enriching Job throughout his earlier years. Life would be, not the beginning of life, the introduction of the life principle at birth, but duration of life, as, e.g>^ in Ps. 21^ 34^^, or life as health or welfare ; cp. Pr. 4^^ (Wisdom's words are life unto those that find them, and healing to all their flesh), Mai. 2^ (DiS'CJ'ni D^'^nn), Pr. 2i2i (nu31 . . . D"'"'n) ; and with the coupling of life and kindness (lon), we might compare the parallelism of life and favour in Pr. rp (|n), 8^ (H^'i)- — Thy visitation^ i.e. Thy providence. The noun (mpD) in this sense occurs only here, but it corresponds exactly to the use of the vb. in, e.g.i Ps. 8^^^^ (cp. the ironical expansion of this in Job 7I8), Jer. 29I0.
13. These things . . . this\ pointing forward to and ex- plained in ^*~^^. — / know] 9^^. — Was in thy thoughts] Heb. was with Thee : 9^ n.
14-17. The secret purposes of God (v.^^), as Job imagines them.
14. If Job committed any of those sins which man is liable to commit (cp. 7^^, v.^n.), God would be on the alert that he should not escape punishment for it : there should be no letting of him off even for the least sin. — Mark] The same vb. ("DOE') as in 12 (preserve) : for the present nuance, cp. 132^.
15. Wicked] The stronger term after sin in 1* (cp. ^'•), or, rather (cp.*'), juridically (cp. 9^° n.) — alike whether guilty or
I02 THE BOOK OF JOB [X. 15 16.
1^ If I were wicked, (that it would be) woe unto me ;
And if I were righteous, that I should not lift up my
head, Being filled with ignominy, And "^sated with"" affliction. 1® And if (my head) rose up proudly, (that) thou wouldest
hunt me like a lion ; And again show thyself marvellous against me :
innocent of any charge you prefer against me, I should suffer. — Lift up mine head] cp. **Lift up the face," ii^^ 222^. — Filled with] vnC' : cp. 9^^ Dnin»2 ^:^3E'^ — Sated with] See phil. n. ; M- probably means look upon (EV. ** looking upon "). 15c d ^j.g two-stressed lines, and may be an addition (Du.), or corrupt.
16. But even if, being righteous, he were to lift up his head, proud in the sense of innocence (ct. ^^^), God would, as fiercely as a lion (cp. Hos. 5^* 13^), hunt him down. But neither is the connection with ^^^, after the intervening isc. d^ nor the figure of hunting down a man walking proudly erect particularly probable; further, ^^^ is more closely parallel to ^^* than to ^^* (note: " again "|| ** renew"), and if so taken, 17b. c. fQi-m a distich instead of the last two lines of a tristich as now. Not improbably ^^* is out of place (see phil. n. on ^^). Omitting ^^^* ^ with their rhythmical peculiarities and 1^% the presence of which is the cause of an apparent tristich, and read- ing E^inn'' in ^'^*, the three distichs of which ^^"^'^ then consist read as follows :
^ If I were wicked (that it would be), woe unto me ;
And if I were righteous, that I should not lift up my
head; ^•^ And (that) thou wouldest again show thyself mar- vellous against me, 1' And renew thy witnesses before me ;
(That) thou wouldest increase thy vexation against me. And bring fresh hosts upon me The structural redundance of ^^* remains, and the other diffi- culties are at best only alleviated, if we render (reading with S
X. 16-19.] JOB lO
1^ (That) thou wouldest renew thy witnesses before me, And increase thy vexation against me, ^And bring fresh hosts! upon me. 18 Wherefore, then, hast thou brought me forth out of the
womb ? I ought to have given up the ghost, and no eye ought
to have seen me. 1^ I ought to have been as though I had not been ;
I ought to have been borne from the womb to the
grave.
nX3N*l): **And if I do proudly, like a lion, thou wouldest hunt me"; or (reading riNini), *'And thou wouldest rise up proudly, like a lion, to hunt me"; or, following (&, *'For I am hunted ( == >:'-]))i^) like a lion for the slaughter " {rMinb for nwi). — jRose up proudly] See 8^^ phil. n.
l6b. Marvels now, not of creation (cp. n^sijW, 9^^) and providence (^"i^), but of destruction (cp. Is. 29^*), torment, and hostility.
17. Thy witnesses] Job's ''sufferings regarded as so many proofs of his guilt" (Dr.). — Vexation] 5^ n. — C. % is taken to mean ''relays and a host are against me," i.e. fresh forces — a military (cp. 16^* 19^2) simile — constantly assail me, my suffer- ings never cease ; this sense is better expressed, with direct reference to God as securing this constant supply of re- serves, this perpetuity of suffering, by the emended text (see phil. n.).
18 f. Cp. 3^1. For the omission of i^'- (Me. Be.) there is no sufficient ground : as Bu. points out, they connect well with what precedes, and the transition from them to 2^'- is no more abrupt than it would be from ^^ to ^°^- ; still less probable is Sgf.'s omission of ^^'^^ as a parallel to v.^: this would make the speech end with v.^^ — an unlikely conclusion.
19a. Cp. 3I6*.— ^^m^] Cp. 2l32.
20-22. Turning from the vain reflections of i^'- Job, on the ground of the brevity of life and of his rapid (cp. 92^') approach to the dark realm of death, appeals to God to leave him alone that he may cheer up a little. He retains, in spite of his present
I04 THE BOOK OF JOB [X. 20-XI.
20 Are not ''the'' days '"of my life"' few ?
•^Look away"" from me, that I may brighten up a little,
21 Before I gfo whence I shall not return,
Unto the land of darkness and dense darkness,
22 A land of gloom, like blackness,
(A land) of dense darkness and disorder, And where the shining is as blackness.
sufferings, which seem to betoken God's hostility, a certain remnant of his former trust in God and reliance on Him as a friend, which allows him to appeal to God for pity : but there is so much sense of the hostility that the relief he craves is that God may cease to take notice of him (ct. 292-^).
20. f^ literally rendered is: Are not my days few? Let him ceasef let him set (or, Qre, Cease^ then^ and set) from me that 1 may brighten up a little. The sense rather questionably im- posed upon this by interpreters does not differ substantially from that which is well expressed in the emended text (see phil. n.). — Brighten up\ g^^n.
2ia. Cp. 77-10 1410-12.
2lb, 22. Sheol, the land of darkness, whose very (sun)- shine is black. The text is probably not altogether in order ; see phil. n.
XL Sophar*S first speech. — By way of apology, yet not politely like Eliphaz (42), but, like Bildad (8^), bluntly, at once implying his condemnation of Job, Sophar begins (2-*) with a series of rhetorical questions : Is a man, voluble like Job, and a scoffer too, not to be answered ? He then (^~^2) takes up a point already alluded to by Eliphaz (5^^-), viz. the inscrutability of God's ways ; Job had pleaded that God, knowing him to be righteous, treats him as if he were wicked : Sophar answers : You have no right to say this, for you cannot read God's mind; you may think yourself righteous, but God may, and indeed, as His treatment of you shows, does, know that you have done wrong; God is beyond question and impossible to oppose. In 13-20 Sophar points the same moral that both Bildad (S^-^- 20-22) and Eliphaz (si*^^) have previously urged : Let Job turn to God and dispossess iniquity from his life and home : all will then be
XI. 2-4.] §OPHAR 105
XL ^ Then answered Sophar the Naamathlte, and said : 2 Should a multitude of words not be answered ?
And should a man full of talk be justified ? • Should thy boastings make men hold their peace ?
And shouldest thou mock, with none to make thee
abashed ?
well — but dark is the fate of the obstinately wicked (^^ ; cp. in Bildad, 811-19- 22b).
2-4. Referring plainly enough to Job throughout, Sophar descends in expression from the general to the particular : in general, should any man be allowed to establish his case merely because he commands an uninterrupted flow of language (^) ? Should Job in particular be allowed to silence every one by his speech, which is at once empty (^*) in spite of its amount and irreligious {^^) ? Should he be allowed to give the lie to God by claiming to be righteous (^), when He, by His present treatment of Job, is declaring Job to be wicked ? For this is tantamount to the blasphemy of charging God with being in the wrong, unrighteous (ct. Ps. 515*. (3f.)).
2. A multitude of words] as Pr. iqI^, Qoh. 5^, or, one (or, a man) of many words (cp. ^). — A man full of talk] lit. ** a man of lips " — ** insinuating (cp. Is. 291^) that Job's words are not really the expression of his heart" (Dr.). Cp. 16^ **the solace of my lips," i.e. hollow sympathy. Sophar is probably thinking less of the length of Job's last speech (Peake), which is scarcely longer than his first, and not greatly longer than that of Eliphaz, than of his apparent irrepressibility : the speeches of Eliphaz and Bildad ought to have silenced him, but they have not.
3, 4. Unlike 2, these vv. are not marked as interrogatives by the use of an interrogative particle ; in J^, therefore, they are ambiguous ; fSi intends both (not only *, as in EV.) to be taken affirmatively : Thy boastings silence . . . and thou mockest . . . and thou sayest; see phil. n. — Boastings] for the word (D'"*13) see Is. i6^ = Jer. 48^^ (with the same sense as here), and Is. 44^5, Jer. 50^^ f (meaning boasters^ praters). The punctuation of iUl presupposes the root 113 : even so compare the root Nna
I06 THE BOOK OF JOB [XI. 4-6.
* '"Shouldest'' thou say, ** My doctrine is pure,
And I was clean in thine eyes " ? ^ But oh that God would speak,
And open his lips (in argument) with thee ; ^ And that he would declare to thee the secrets of wisdom,
That it is '^marvellous^ in resourcefulness !
Know, then, that God causeth to be forgotten unto thee somewhat of
thine iniquity.
of which the vb. occurs in i K. 12^3, Neh. 6^t, in NH., which also employs the noun nK^3, a liar (see NHWB\ and in Syr. — Moc1i\ viz. God: cp. the use of the noun (jy^) in 34^, and cp. ^^• there with * here. The parallel might suggest that the implicit object is men: so Renan, **Te moqueras-tu des gens"; but this is less probable.
4. Whether taken interrogatively or affirmatively the saying attributed to Job refers not to what he will first say if he is left unanswered (De. Bu.), but is a specimen of the mocking or blasphemy {^) in which he has already indulged : is he to go on saying this kind of thing? The words are not an exact quotation, but summarize Job's assertions of his innocence, which do not appear at all in his first speech (c. 3), and but indirectly in his second (6io«' 24. 26. 29f. ^20f.)^ ^nd first become prominent and emphatic (9^^-21. 30. 35 jQ5f. 7j j^ the speech to which Sophar now replies. — My doctrine\ for np^, cp. Dt. 32^, Pr. 4^ ; but read rather, My conversation (i.e. 7nanner of life\ lit. my walking).
5. Job had expressed the wish to speak with God (9^), claiming that given fair conditions he could then establish his innocence: Sophar wishes God to speak with Job on a different subject, convinced that God could silence Job — a point which Job would have readily ceded (cp. 9^^^-) — by making him realize the infinite range of His wisdom (^*- ^- '^-^^) : here, as elsewhere, the friends cannot even perceive Job's point of view. — Wil/i] 92n.
6. Marvellous] % double^ paraphrased in EV. by ** mani- fold"; see phil. n. — Resourcefuhiess\ the word rendered sound counsel in 5^2 . gee phil. n. on 5^2^
6c. An isolated stichos, exceeding the usual length, and
XI. 6-9.] §OPHAR 107
^ Canst thou find out the immensity of God ?
Canst thou attain to the limits of the Almighty ? 8 (They are) high'"er than"" heaven ; what canst thou do ?
Deeper than Sheol ; what canst thou know ? ^ Longer in measure than the earth,
And broader than the sea.
curiously expressed. Its meaning, however, is clear: so far from being pure in God's sight, as you claim (*), and, therefore, unjustly treated by Him in being made to suffer, you are very wicked in His sight, and your sufferings, great as they may be, do not equal the greatness of your wickedness ; God forgets (cp. for the same idea expressed by other words, e.g. Am. 8^, Is. 43^5 64^, Ps. 25'^), i.e. lets you off the penalty of, part of your wickedness. The direct denial of * may be necessary (the view taken by Dr. in the phil. n.), though it is curious in this case that this direct denial is expressed by a single stichos in the middle of the half-dozen distichs devoted to the indirect repudiation of it : how can you claim such knowledge of God, who is infinite in wisdom, and familiar with man's iniquity (^^), as to assert that He thinks you just, though He treats you as unjust ? Unless Bi. Du. are correct in rejecting ^^ as a gloss, the words are probably a mutilated distich which may not have gone beyond contradicting Job's words somewhat as follows : Then thou wouldest know that God doeth rightly, that because of thine iniquity He chastiseth thee.
7. Immensity] the word (npn) ** means" properly something i'ohe searched out or explored', in 38^^ it is rendered [in EV.] ** recesses " : and it denotes here the entire range of the divine nature. **The rendering * by searching' is grammatically impossible" (Dr.), and, moreover, misses the point of the question, which is not whether, by a particular method^ God's nature can be read by man, but whether its vastness is by any method intelligible to him. The words emphasized by their position in the Hebrew are immensity and limits (nv3n : cp. 2610 283).
8, 9. The limits of the Almighty are beyond heaven and Sheol ; He knows everything in heaven and earth ; man cannot
I08 THE BOOK OF JOB [XI. 9-11.
10 If he pass through, and imprison,
And call an assembly (for judgment), who can turn him
back?
11 For he knoweth ernpty men :
He perceiveth naughtiness, also, without considering it.
escape his eye (cp. Ps. 139^"^) ; but what vast tracts of the divine knowledge are withdrawn from Job's ken ! Compared with the unknown and unattainable, his knowledge and efforts are nothing : how, then, does he claim (*) that he is righteous in God's judgment? Somewhere in these regions unexplored by Job, the judgment that Job is unrighteous may have been passed. Sgf. omits these vv., as also ^; cp. Du.
10. Du. regards this as a misplaced distich of Job's speech ; Be. (see phil. n.) as an interpolation. If the v. is original, Sophar takes up Job's words (9I2) and turns them back upon him ; certainly, as you say, no one can stay God, if He seize or call to judgment, by saying he is not guilty : but this, not because God acts without regard to whether men are right or wrong, but because (H) He knows the sins of men, however blind men like yourself may be to them. In this case we should perhaps read seize for pass through (see phil. n.), and possibly kill (^'''Dp"') for call an assembly (Richter) ; otherwise, for the judicial assembly, cp. Ezk. iG^*^ 23*^'-, Pr. 5I*.
11. God acts, unhindered (i^) and unerringly, because, unlike men who, even if they give the closest attention to the matter, are often deceived about both others and themselves. He knows all about men and their sins, instantaneously and with- out effort. The thought would be similar in 34^^, if the text there were correct. — Empty men] so Ps. 26* (1| ''dissemblers"). — Without considering it] Du. and it he considers, i.e. God gives heed to it ; al. which they co7isider, or one considers, not, i.e. God perceives what man does not — a thought actually present in the passage, but not naturally expressed by |^, nor quite satisfactorily by the emendation proposed (see phil. n.). Jacob (ZATW, 191 2, 283): being himself unperceived {^\y\'^^\ Hithpolal for Hithpolel of M) ; but this thought also is not required here.
XL 12-16.] SOPHAR IO9
^ And so a hollow man getteth understanding",
And a wild ass's colt is born (again) a man. ^ If ^hou direct thine heart aright,
And stretch out thine hands towards him — ^* If naughtiness be in thine hand, put it far away,
And let not unrighteousness dwell in thy tent — ^ Surely then thou wilt lift up thy face without spot ;
And thou wilt be established and wilt not fear : ^^ For thou wilt forget (thy) misery ;
Thou wilt remember it as waters that are passed away ;
12. **As a result of the judgments of the Almighty (i<^'-), conceit and ignorance are removed, and a wilful, defiant nature (like Job's) is softened" (Dr.). This view of the v. makes it a transition to the thought of ^^-20 . but no such transition is obtained, if the v. is taken, as in itself it quite well might be, to mean : it is as impossible to get sense into an empty-headed man as to tame the untameable (39^) wild ass. See for this, phil. n. ; and for a collection and criticism of many other interpretations of the v., see Di.
13-20. By submitting to God's judgments (10-12J and turning to Him, Job may yet return to prosperity and honour.
13. Thou] the pron. is emphatic: even thou, with all thy wickedness, if thou wilt abandon it (i*), mayest be restored. — Hands] the hands opened (d^M : cp. Ex. g^^- 33^ Ezr. 9^, Ps. 4421 88^0 <»> 635 1412), and stretched out (e>-iq: as i K. 822-54 al. : cp. nUK^, Ps. 881*') in prayer: see 3127 n.. Is. i^^ ^^ gQ^j^ here (see ^4*) and in Isaiah the context suggests that the idea of innocency may have been associated with the custom of stretching out the opened hand in prayer. But such associa- tion was scarcely constant, for with t)3 the term T inter- changes: cp. e.g, Ps. 143^ 28^.
14. Hand] n-: ct. D^S3 in i^.— b. Cp. 222^ (Eliphaz).
15a. Cp. lo^^b^ — Without spot] commonly and, if original, perhaps correctly taken as antithetical to lo^^b. c. Jq^'s face will no longer bear the marks of a guilty conscience.
16. Waters that are passed away] the whole line as a parallel to * can only mean : or if you remember your misery
no THE BOOK OF JOB [XI. 16-19.
1^ And "^thy^ life will rise up more (brightly) than the noonday ;
Though it be dark, it will become as the morning. ^^ And thou wilt be secure, because there is hope ;
And thou wilt search (around), and wilt take thy rest in
safety ; ^* And thou wilt lie down, with none to make thee afraid.
And many will make suit unto thee ; 2^ But the eyes of the wicked will fail ;
at all, it will only be a memory of something that Is past or has vanished; for waters as perilous and dangerous, cp. 12^^ 22^1 272^, Is. 43^ ; for the vb. (13^) in the sense required, cp. 6^^ (of water as here, but more commonly of time, e.g. Ps. 90'*). The vb. used of waters also means to overflow y to flood (Is. 8^, Nah. i^) ; but it is scarcely necessary to assume a play on the two meanings — waters once in perilous flood, but now vanished, and ill-advised to rob the line of its colour by reading (D'^D"'), as days that are passed away (Ehrlich).
17. Another striking antithesis to what Job had said (lo^^'-) : Job's future need not be a day of darkness whose very noon is night, it may, if he wills, be a day brighter than any ordinary day at noon, whose very night is bright as morning (cp. Is. 5810).
18. Searching round, before going to rest for the night, finding nothing amiss. Job will lie down with a sense of security. — Search (around)] the vb. (1Dn=^A»-) used in 3^1. Ehrlich suggests thoti shalt be protected (^"l^ni, from lan = ,irs^, the sense protect being that of the Arabic, but not elsewhere in the OT. of the Hebrew vb.). On the not altogether certain text, see phil. n.
19a. Recurs in Is. 17^, Zeph. 3^^; cp. also Is. 14^*^. — Lit down] the vb. (^3l) involves, as in the references just given, an implicit comparison with animals (cp. Gn. 49^).
19b. Lit. *'And many will make sweet thy face." For make sweet the face y cp. Pr. 19®, Ps. 45^^ (as here of men), and, e.g.y Ex. 32^^, Mai. i^, Jer. 26^^. Note the parallelism of ** thy face '* with " the eyes of the wicked " in ^oa. If Job turns to God, instead of being given the cold shoulder, as poor men
IX. 19-Xn.] SOPHAR 1 1 1
And their refuge is perished from them, And their hope is the breathing" out of the soul
regularly are (cp. Pr. 19"^), and avoided as he is now (cp. 19^^^®), he will become again a great and wealthy personage whose favour it is worth while to seek (cp. Pr. 19^).
20a. But if Job remains wicked, he will look in vain for any deliverance from his present miserable position. In contrast with the directness of the first line of the distich, the alternative fate that awaits Job is stated indirectly: cp. 8^^^ after 8^^-^^'^. —Eyes . . . will /ail] if, Dt. 28^2, La. 41^, Ps. 6g^<^\
20b, C. As there is no hope of deliverance for the wicked (2^*), so there is no way of escape ; consequently their only hope is death, or, perhaps (see phil. n. on 31^^), despair.
XII.-XIV. Job's reply to Sophar's first speech.— This, like his previous speeches (see on cc. 6f. and gf.), is only in part (122-1319) addressed to the friends: the rest (i^^-i^^^) is addressed to God. The connection in several places is difficult to detect, and some verses at least (12*'^-® if not also 7f. 10. iif.j seem out of place and no part of the speech. Grill {Zur Kritik der Komposition des Bucks Hiohs, p. i3ff.) goes so far as to omit 12^-13^, Sgf. 1 2*- 1 3^, but that 12}^^' with its description of the activity of God as might not guided by moral considerations was interpolated as proof that Job could speak of God's 'wisdom even better than Sophar, is improbable. Job begins by sarcasti- cally allowing that the friends are exceptionally wise (12^) — and yet their speeches have contained nothing but what was familiar to himself (^), and even to beasts (^"^^). What is said even on the authority of the aged must be received with discrimination (^^'•). Job now himself descants on the mighty (though also, he suggests, capricious) activity of God (^^~^), for he knows quite as much about this as do his wise friends (13^'-) ; but all this is irrelevant to the case he has to argue out with God (3) : let the friends, then, keep silence, and not continue to show by their interpretation of God's activities partiality on God's behalf: let them beware lest He punish them for such conduct (*~^^). Let them keep silence while Job states his case against God : for stating it God may slay him : but he will take the risk : for he
1 1 2 THE BOOK OF JOB [XII. 2-a
XII. ^ Then Job answered and said,
2 No doubt but ye are ""they that know\
And with you wisdom will die.
3 But I have understanding as well as you ;
I am not inferior to you :
Yea, who knoweth not such things as these?
is certain of his innocence, and his readiness to face God should be a pledge of victory (^^-^^). And now Job turns to address God directly: Let Him not overwhelm Job with terror (20-22^; but let Him state the iniquities p), if there are such, which would justify His present use of His might In pursuing so helpless a creature as Job (^*~^^), From his own case Job passes to that of mankind in general : Is any man — frail, shortlived and, unlike trees, without hope of reviving when once cut down in death — worth all the hostility shown by God ( 1 4^-12 jp jf Q^ly God's anger might pass and give way even after death to friendly intercourse with Job, how willingly would Job await this change! (13-15). But there is no hope for either Job or man : God persists in being hostile and dwelling on Job's sins (i^'-) ; and He brings men one and all to death in which knowledge vanishes, and only pain remains Q^~^^).
2f. In 2 Job ironically concedes that the three friends are the only living, and will prove to have been the last surviving, embodiment of wisdom ; in 3, dropping the irony, he claims that all the wisdom uttered was previously and independently in his possession, and indeed in that of every man ; their would-be wise speeches have consisted of well-worn commonplaces.
2. They that know] cp. 34^: ^ people \ see phil. n.
3. Understanding] cp. ii^^ : you were so good as to suggest that even I might get understanding ; judged by the standard of your ** wise " speeches, I have it already. — b = 13^^. — Who knoweth not] lit. with whom (are) not; with (riN) like lo^^ (dv) • see n. there and Lex, 86«, top.
4-6. The interpretation of these vv. is difficult, partly, it is probable, on account of textual corruption, partly because they are misplaced. Di. makes as good an effort as any one to establish a connection: Job ** complains of the manner in
xn. 4-6.] JOB 113
* I am to be (as one that is) a laughing'-stock to his neig-hbour, (A man) that called upon God, and he answered him I The just, the perfect man, is a laughing-stock !
' In the thought of him that is at ease there is contempt for mis- fortune ; (It is) ready for them whose foot slippeth.
which, on the ground of such wisdom, they treat him, a pious man, who can boast of his inward relation to God — though to be sure it is like the world, which has only contempt for the unfortunate, while the prosperous godless remain untouched." ** His neighbour" (**) is on this view an oblique reference to Sophar or the three friends ; but Sophar and the other friends, though they have expressed their concern at what appears to them the impiety of Job's present manner of speech, and though they have suggested that his sufferings are due to his sins, have not laughed (even in 1 1^^^ as Ley suggests) at him or his calamities, nor is it altogether satisfactory to say that though they have not actually done so, Job may feel that they have.
4. A laughing'Stock\ one at whose helplessness or mis- fortunes men laugh as an expression of their (malignant) delight: cp. the use of the nouns in Jer. 20^, La. 3^* (PHK^), Hab. i^^ (\>Wd)y and the vb. in 30^ Ps. 52^, La. i^. — b. The line is commonly taken as descriptive of the speaker (Job) whom God answered in the past (cp. 292-^) ; the part. (Nip) could of course refer to the past, but it is very questionable whether the line is a natural description of himself by Job at a time when, though he still calls, he appears to receive no answer. Ley treats the line as ironically descriptive of the neighbour (i.e, Sophar) ; in which case we should render ^-^ in English : To one that calls upon God and He answers him, A laughing-stock to the just, the perfect man.
5. The V. is curiously phrased, of unusual rhythmical form, and the text cannot be implicitly trusted : see phil. n. — Contempt for misfortune^ ^ may also be translated a contemptible torch ; but this yields nothing satisfactory, whether taken as continuing (*) **a laughing-stock, a contemptible torch," or as subj. of ^ (King).
8
114 THE BOOK OF JOB [XII. 6-8.
^ The tents of robbers prosper,
And they that provoke God are secure ;
(Even) he that bringeth (his) God in his hand ! ' But ask now the beasts, and they will teach thee ;
And the fowls of the heaven, and they will tell thee : 8 Or rthe crawling things ofl the earth, and they will teach thee:
And the fishes of the sea will declare unto thee.
6. Robbers] lit. wasters^ devastators, — b, C. The existing text is commonly taken to mean : those are secure who provoke God by their wicked conduct ^, and ^ who so entirely disregard God as to recognize only their own might as their god : cp. Hab. i^^ ** this his might becometh his god." Still the form of the V. (a tristich), the change from the pi. in ^ to the sing, in ^ and the curious phrasing of ^ together throw doubt on the correctness of the text.
7-10. So far from the wisdom on which the friends pride themselves being their exclusive possession P), not only Job p), but the very beasts share it, ^"^^. This, if the passage is in its right place, must be the connection of thought ; but it is strangely stated ; for Job's charge is not that the friends lack the particular knowledge in question, and need to be taught^ which is the point emphasized in ^^-^ but that they have no need to teach things so universally known, ^^. Inasmuch as there are other suspicious features in the passage it may be mis- placed ; the address to a single person is very unusual in Job's speeches (26^ n.), but would be at once explained if the passage originally stood in a speech of one of the friends (cp. '* with 8^^) ; yet ^, at least, with its use of the name Yahweh (see Introd.), is more probably altogether foreign to the book. — Ask] the vb., contrary to the prevailing use in Job's speeches, is sing., and, if the text and connection are original (but see above), addressed accordingly to Sophar exclusively ; Di. endeavours to account for this by suggesting that Sophar has deserved this special attention by his words *' hollow man" in 11^'^.
8. The crawling things of the earth] ^ might be rendered either talk thou to the earthy or the pla7its [vWy as in 30^) of (i? as in ^*: see phil. n.) the earth ; but the text needs emending as, or substantially as, above ; see phil. n.
XIL 9-10.] JOB 115
• Who knoweth not by all these,
That the hand of Yahweh hath wrought this ? *• In whose hand is the soul of every living- thing, And the breath of all flesh of man.
pa. By all these\ i.e. by means of (3, as Gn. 42^^, Ex. 7^^, Nu. i628 — all with j;t, as here), by observing, all these creatures. Or the line may be translated, who among {^^ as, e.g.^ Is. 50^*^; Lex. 88fl bot.), i.e. which of, all these (creatures) does not know. But the line may be merely a misplaced interpretation of s*^, and have meant : Who doth not know the like (a for 3) of all these things ? In that case ^ ( == Is. 4120°) would be an isolated stichos cited (originally on the margin) from Isaiah. In the present context it is not clear to what this refers. Some understand it to refer to the universe; and appeal to the similar meaning of **all these" in Is. 66^, Jer. 14^^; but in these passages the heavens, etc., are mentioned in the im- mediate context. Others have explained this as (Hi.) pointing backward and referring to the security of the wicked (^) — not a likely theme for the beasts to discourse on ; or to the irresistible activity of God described by Sophar (ii^^^-), or as pointing forward to the activities of God described in ^^^- ; but, as Di. observes, ii^^^'- lies too far behind to be naturally referred to thus, and the pf. tense and the intervening vv. (i^'-) render the reference forward to ^^^- improbable.
10. If ^ be an interpolation (see last n.), this v. contains the instruction given by the beasts, ^'' ; in this case render : that (-iK'i^ as Ex. ii7, Lv. 5^, Dt. i^i, Eccles.S^^. ^p. 9^ phil. n.; Lex. 83^ bot.) in His (God unnamed, as in v.^^) hand is the soul of every living thing, etc. — All flesh of man] a very strange expres- sion ; of many it is true (Bu.), limits the expression all fleshy which without it might, but does not always (34^^, Nu. 16^2 n.), include living beings not human ; but this fact does not make the expression natural or, least of all in poetry, likely. Equally insufficient is Del.'s suggestion that the addition of ^>i^ in- dividualizes the expression, as though the meaning were : the breath of each individual human being. (& omits all flesh ; but rhythm scarcely permits a shortening of the line. Possibly of man is a corruption of some term parallel to **in his hand"
Il6 THE BOOK OF JOB [XU. 10-13.
" Doth not the ear test words,
Even as the palate tasteth its food ? ^ With aged men is wisdom,
And length of days is understanding. 13 With him is wisdom and might ;
He hath counsel and understanding*.
in *, such as wt'ih hinty or he can 'withdraw (cp. 34^*, Ps. 10429).
II ( = 348), 12. The connection is still rather elusive : It has been claimed that ^"^^ refer to what one could see of God's power, 1^^- to what one might learn by hearing what the aged had to say; cp. 13^ (so Dav. Dr.): on this view ^^ means: ' ' does not the ear test the words which it hears, and accept those which, like the wisdom of the aged {y>% embody sound knowledge?" (Dr.). But does this allow for the unlimited range which ^^ claims for the discriminative faculty, or for the fact that the appeal to the wisdom of the ancients is elsewhere made by the friends, ^^'^- 15^^ and criticized by Job, so that the use made of it, on this interpretation, by Job in ^2, though not exactly inconsistent with what he has said before, is yet rather improbable ? The point of the v. may then be rather this : as the palate discriminates between good and bad food, and ac- cepts the one and rejects the other (cp. 2 S. 1 9^6 (35))^ go the ear discriminates between the true and false in whatever It is told ; you have poured your *' wisdom" Into my ears (la^), you refer me to what the ancients tell me ; but I will accept none of this unexamined : I will exercise my own judgment on It. On this view we must understand "you say" before ^: cp., on certain theories of those passages, 2\^^'^^, Sgf. rejects the vv. ; Di. suggests that if retained they might better stand between ^ and 9 ; alternatively the difficulty of the connection may be due to the vv. being the fragmentary survival of a once longer passage.
13. You say : ^^ wisdom resides in old men, ^^ I say it Is to be found with God : so if both ^^ and ^^ originally belonged here we may least awkwardly connect them in thought ; but the antithesis is formally unexpressed and is very artificial, for the friends have never asserted that wisdom resides only in old men
XII. 13-14.] JOB 117
and not in God, and Job in ^^ does not assert that wisdom resides only (cp. c. 28) with God, and is not imparted by Him to men. Further, while ^ speaks of wisdom, ^^ speaks of wisdom and mighty so that in this respect, too, the sharpness and clearness of an antithesis are sacrificed. But while ^^ connects at best rather awkwardly with ^2, it might form a starting-point for the illustrations which follow (i4-25j Qf God's power, and, though this is much less prominent, of His wisdom. If the reference to God unnamed (which must be assumed even if ^^ originally followed ^2) can be tolerated, ^^ might follow ^ as Job's proof that his knowledge is not inferior to that of the friends. Du., retaining ^i'-, rejects ^^ as a variant of ^^, — Counset\ read, per- haps, power: see phil. n.
14-25. Illustrations, derived from Job's own observation, of the way in which God's might (^^) ** frustrates all human endeavour, and overthrows all human institutions " (Dr.). In all this Job traces no moral purpose ; cp. especially ^*^, so similar to 11^^ (Sophar), but not followed as in 11^^ by any suggestion that the men imprisoned by God are doers of iniquity. The writer (if ^i- 24f. are integral to his poem) seems to have in mind not only Sophar's speech, but also Ps. 107, and perhaps Is. 442^-28 ; in any case ^la- 24b verbally reproduce Ps. 107^^ and, by reason of vocabulary or figure, ^^^ recalls
Ps. 107^^ 15 Ps, 10733-36^ 22b. 18 Ps. 107I4, 23. 24b. 25b Ps. jq;*. 7. 27a^ 25a pg. 107IO ; with 17, Cp. Is. 442^, with ^^a Jg. 4427. gut,
whereas alike in the Ps. and Is. both the constructive and the destructive activities of God are presented, and these as determined by the different moral characters of men, here only the destructive activity is presented : so, e.g.^ here (i^) waters are withheld or destructively employed, but in Is. 442^ bene- ficently employed, in the Ps. given or withheld according to the character of the men concerned. So the Psalmist's survey reveals to the ** upright" the loving-kindness, where the ** up- right" (ji) Job sees only the might, of God. As in 717'- Job parodies Ps. 8*, so here he sees facts noted by another Psalmist under a very different aspect.
14. Whether * refers to the destruction of cities (Peake) is not quite clear ; the line may refer figuratively to persons (cp.
I 1 8 THE BOOK OF JOB [XII. 14-18.
1* Behold, he pulleth down, and it cannot be built again ;
He shutteth up a man, and there can be no opening. ^^ Behold, he withholdeth the waters, and they dry up ;
Again he sendeth them out, and they overturn the ear h. 1^ With him is strength and sound counsel ;
He that erreth and he that leadeth into error, are his ; 1^ Who leadeth counsellors away stripped,
And who maketh judges fools. 1* He looseth the [bonds! imposed by kings,
And bindeth a waistcloth on their loins ;
Jer. i^^), both lines meaning : God ruins men's lives irretriev- ably.— Shutteth up] hv 13D ; but this does not necessarily refer to subterranean dungeons (op. Jer. 38^ La. 3^^) : for the same idiom is used in Ex. 14^
15a. Drought ; b, destructive floods. Ct. Eliphaz's reference to rain.
16. Sound counsel] 5^^ n. — b. All men belong to God, and are within the range and subject to the working of Ht's might. — He that erreth^ etc.] all men (see phil. n.), viewed particularly, perhaps, under the aspect of " nations misled by their states- men into a disastrous policy " (Dr.). In any case moral error is not primarily intended.
17. Doing with them as He wills, God makes even the wise ones of the earth look foolish. There is as little reason to limit the historical allusions to the fortunes of Israel as the illustrations from nature in ^^ to Palestine : indeed the plural '•kings" in ^^^ and the unmistakable reference to nations in 23'- make it as plain as may be that the author is reflecting on the rise and fall of nations, and of the ruin in which the most exalted and firmly established individuals in these nations are involved when their land and people are overthrown : there is no reason, therefore, to think with Du. specially of Jewish priests in ^^^ and of the descendants of David in ^^^. — Who leadeth . . . away stripped] probably due here to assimilation to ^** : the vb. in * originally was more closely parallel to that in ^ : see phil. n.
18. He sets at naught the power of kings, undoing the
XII. 18-23.] JOB 119
^^ Who leadeth priests away stripped,
And overthroweth them that are firmly established ; *^ Who depriveth the trusty of speech,
And taketh away the discretion of the elders ; 2^ Who poureth contempt upon princes,
And looseneth the belt of the Tstrongl ; *2 Who discovereth deep things out of darkness,
And bringeth out to light black gloom ; *3 Who increaseth nations and destroyeth them ;
Who spreadeth Tpeoplesl abroad, and leaveth them.
fetters they have placed on others % and reducing kings them- selves to the position of captives ^ (cp. Is. 47) ; see phil. n.
19. Similar treatment of other classes of ancient lineage and secure position. — Firmly established] men whose family have long held, and appeared likely long to hold (see phil. n.), their position : the priests in * are a particular illustration of such classes : in Israel, especially in later times, as among other peoples, the priesthood was hereditary.
20. Speech] Heb. lip, as, e.g., Gn. ii^, Is. 19^. — The trusty] especially perhaps ** trusted ministers" (Dr.) of state: cp. Is. 1911'-.
2ia. = Ps. 107*^. — Princes] or nobles (d''3^13) ; cp. 22^ 34^8 (II ''king"), I S. 28 = Ps. 1 138 (antithetical to **poor" and ''needy"; cp. (& here), Nu. 21^^ and Pr. S^^ (i| Q.-j^jf).— Looseneth the belt of] ' ' Fig. for incapacitates ; the flowing garments of the Oriental being girt up for active service (i K. 18^, Is. 527, cp. Is. 45^)" (Dr.). Looseneth is lit. causeth to hang down. — Strong] this word at least (see phil. n.), if not the whole line, requires emendation. Possibly ^ is a corrupt variant of (cp. Du.) ^^^, and the whole v. secondary : cp. vv. 2*' 2^.
22. Bu. omits the v. as in its complete abstractness alien to the context : if in its right place, it must be figurative ; the deep, dark things have been explained as hidden plans and conspiracies of men (cp. Is. 29^^; so Di. Dr.), the depths of the divine nature (Schl.), the treasures of conquered cities (Hi.), the poor (Hgst. Du.).
23. The rise and fall of nations illustrate God's caprice : He
1 20 THE BOOK OF JOB [XII. 23-XIII. 1.
** Who taketh away the understanding of the chiefs of
the earth, And causeth them to wander in a pathless waste. ^ They grope in the dark without light,
And '^theyl wander about (helplessly) like a drun- ken man. XIII. ^ Lo, mine eye hath seen all,
Mine ear hath heard and understood it.
makes them increase in numbers and extend their borders only thereafter to destroy and abandon them. This would form an effective climax and conclusion, and perhaps originally did so ; see on ^^\ — Peoples] J^ nations^ as in ^. — Leaveth] f&, leadeth them (away) : see phil. n. Leaveth is rather anti-climactic after destroyeth in * : Ehrlich makes the v. refer exclusively to the destruction of nations, rendering, Who misleadeth peoples and destroyeth them, layeth peoples low and (so) leaveth them, giving to ntDtJ^ a meaning of the Ar. sataha^ to prostrate.
24 f. From the "nations" in ^3^ ^^^ returns to leading indi- viduals of the nations (as ^^~2^). Since the opening words are identical, ^^a may be a variant of ^^a, and similarly ^^b of 24b^ and a single distich (24b-26aj ^ay have completed the description of the nations in ^^. Alternatively 2*'. may have originally stood after ^i, completing the allusions to prominent individuals.
24. Of the earth] J^ (not ffi) of the people of the earth. — Waste] Thu : cp. G^ n.
25. They grope] 5^*. — They wander about] f^ he causeth them to wander^ exactly as ^^^ (cp. Is. 19^^).
XIII. I-5. Resumes 12^: Job has himself observed every- thing relating to God's rule of the world, and is in such knowledge not a whit inferior to the friends, ^'- : he, indeed, interprets differently, and does not, as they have done, draw the conclusion that he is guilty. Of their false and worthless interpretation, he has had enough, and can only wish that they would keep silence, ^'- ; with God, not with them, he now wishes to speak and argue out the question of his guilt (^), and this is what from ^o onwards he actually does.
I. All] not this (ffi), or all [this) — EV. : see phil. n.
XIII. 2-5.] JOB 121
* What ye know, / know also :
I am not inferior unto you, ® But / would speak unto the Almighty, And to argue with God do I desire.
* But ye are plasterers of falsehood.
Physicians of no value are ye all.
* Oh that ye would but hold your peace,
And it should be your wisdom.
2b. = 1 23b.
3. Arg-ue] v.^^^
4. Plasterers 0/ falsehood] cp. Ps. 119^^; here, persons who use falsehoods as a whitewash or plaister (cp. ^) to hide defects : the defects which appear to Job so glaring in God's use of His might {i2^^~^^)y the friends whitewash over with the assertion, known to Job to be false, that all who suffer from that might are wicked. — Physicians of no value] the word rophe is used widely enough (cp. Gn. 50^, 2 Ch. 16^^) to justify such a trans- lation in a suitable context. But worthless healers^ or menders^ would perhaps be better here. The friends are men who try lightly but fruitlessly to mend the broken scheme of things ; Du. pertinently compares for the use of the vb. and the here implicit figure, Jer. 6^* ** And they lightly heal what is broken (in the body) of my people, saying. It is whole, it is whole, when it is not whole" (cp. Exp. TimeSy xxvi. 347 ff.). Others, falling back on a meaning of the root unknown in Hebrew, but paralleled in Arabic and Ethiopic {to mendj stitch together)y render stitchers together of worthless (assertions) (so Di.), then cp. ^2.
5b. Cp. Pr. 17^8: even fools, if they have but the wit to keep silence, may pass for wise.
6-I9. Before, in 2^^-, addressing God, as he has in ^ ex- pressed his intention of doing, Job, developing his accusation in *, warns the friends of the risks they are, as it would seem unwittingly, running in using falsehoods in defence of God, ^~^2 ; on the other hand, he himself will deliberately accept every hazard to which he may expose himself by asserting the truth, viz. that he is guiltless, i3-i6. yg^-^ fQj. ^-j^g moment at least, he is sure that as God will resent the falsehood uttered
122 THE BOOK OF JOB [XIII. 6-12.
* Hear now the argument •^ofl my Tmouthl,
And attend to the pleadings of my lips. ^ Will ye for God speak unrighteously, And for htm talk deceitfully ?
* Will ye show partiality for htm ?
Will ye contend for God?
* Is it good that he should search you out ?
Or as one deludeth a man, will ye delude him ? ^^ He will surely correct you,
If in secret ye show partiality. 1^ Will not his loftiness affright you?
And his dread fall upon you ? ^2 Your maxims are proverbs of ashes,
Your defences are defences of clay.
by the friends in His defence (^^), so He will admit the truth maintained by Job against Him (^^).
6. Argument] or, impeach7nenti reproof: cp. Pr. i^^- 25,_ Pleadings] or, accusations.
7. Cp. 27*.
8-10. Will you, as judges between me and God, show unfair favour to the stronger, pronouncing me guilty, though all the time I am innocent, in order that He may win His case ? But God sees through this kind of thing (^), and so far from rewarding it punishes it (^^). — Show partiality] lit. lift up theface^ here with the sinister implication that this is done from corrupt motives : cp. Dt. lo^^ " Who doth not lift up the face, nor take a bribe " ; Pr. i8^ " It is not good to lift up the face of the guilty, (thereby) turning aside the innocent (from his right) in judgment " ; c. 32^1 34^^, Ps. 82^. The phrase may also be used without this sinister implication : see 42®*-.
lOa. Anticipating 42^^-.
11. Loftiness] 3122, there also || to dread^ for which cp. Is. 2^^'^^ (II ''glorious majesty"), where it is explicitly used of the dread inspired by Yahweh when He rises up to judgment. In view of 41^^^^^^ we might also render uprising', so Du.
12. The sayings, which to the friends themselves seem so wise, will prove worthless defences against God (^i). — Maxims]
XIII. 12-16.] JOB 123
12 Hold your peace, let me alone, that /may speak,
And let come on me what will. 1* ^I will take my flesh in my teeth,
And put my life in my hand ! 1^ Behold, he will slay me ; I have no hope ;
Nevertheless I will maintain my ways before him. ^^ Even that is to me (an omen of) salvation ;
For not before him doth a godless man come.
see phil. n. — Defences\ scarcely ramparts (see phil. n.), but rather bosses (cp. 1 5^^) of shields ; being of clay instead of iron, their bosses are useless.
13-15. Job intends at all hazards (cp. g^^*-) to speak freely in maintaining his integrity.
14. / take\ 5^ wherefore do I iake^ which is incompatible with the context: RVm. **At all adventures I will take," is not a justifiable translation of Jl] : see phil. n. The idiom in * does not occur again, but must be synonymous with put my life in m.y hand in ^, which means to imperil one's life (see phil. n.). Herz (Orient. Literature. y Aug. 1913, p. 343, and /ThSxv, 263), arguing, on the ground of Egyptian parallels, that the idioms mean to take extra care of one's life, defends J^.
15. As in 7^^- 9^^ lo^*'. Job expresses his sense of the near approach of death. — / have no hope\ lit. / wait noty so. for anything better (cp. 14^*); Qre (cp. ^A ^2EU ^W.) for him (emphatic) / wait] see phil. n. — Maintain^ lit. argue, prove right y as v.^.
16. Thai\ the fact that Job can and does maintain his integrity before God (^^^) : this is his ground of hope that he will ultimately have salvation, i.e. success or victory (so, e.g., Ps. 18^^, 2 S. 23^^), in his argument with God, and that God will admit and publish his innocence ; the reason for this hope lies in the fact (^^^) that a godless man does not thus of his own accord approach God to argue his integrity. The sense is substantially the same if the v. be rendered, Even that is . . . that a godless man doth not come before him ; in this case ^^^ contains not the ground for the assertion in *, but the explica- tion of the pronoun that : for the pronoun thus neutrally used.
124 THE BOOK OF JOB [XEH. 16-22.
1^ Hear diligently my speech,
And let my declaration be in your ears, 18 Behold, now, I have set out ""my^ case ;
I know that I shall be justified. 1^ Who is he that will contend with me ?
For then would I hold my peace and give up the ghost.
20 Only two things do not unto me.
Then will I not hide myself from thy face :
*i Thine hand withdraw far from me ; And let not thy terror affright me.
22 Then call thou, and / will respond ;
Or I will speak, and answer thou me.
see 15^ 31^^ The rendering, Even He, viz. God, is my salva- tion (RVm.), is unsatisfactory; since ^, which must be then rendered y(?r, etc., does not go well with it. — Godless] 8^^ n.
18 f. After an appeal (^^ regarded by Bi. Di. Du. as inter- polated) to the friends not merely to give him the opportunity to speak (^^), but also to listen carefully to his statement of his case. Job repeats in different ways his conviction of his innocence already expressed in i^'- : the clear statement of his case (i^*) must carry conviction ; he will obtain a verdict of innocent (i^^) ; so clear a case as his no one would care to challenge (^^") ; were it otherwise. Job would rather die than live (^^^).
18. I have set out my case] in ^^ff- : see phil. n. — /shall he justi- fied] the justice of my plea will be admitted, and I shall be pro- nounced to be in the right in the case at issue : cp. 1 1^, Is. 43^- 26,
19a. Is. 50^.
20. From here on Job addresses God ; and first he begs, as he has done previously (9^*), that God will allow the case to be decided fairly and in a legal way, and not by the exercise of God's irresistible might ; this only granted. Job is certain of establishing his case whether — he gives God the choice — he prefers a charge against God, or God prefers one against him.
21. Cp. 934 337.
22. Let God be plaintiff (*) or defendant (^), as He will ; cp. gi*''-. — Call] or cite\ 9^^ n. — Answer] 9^^ n.
Xm. 23-26.] JOB 125
23 How many are mine iniquities and sins ?
Make me to know my transgression and my sin, ** Wherefore hidest thou thy face,
And holdest me for thine enemy? 25 Wilt thou scare a driven leaf?
And wHt thou pursue the dry stubble? ^ That thou writest bitter things against me,
And makest me to inherit the iniquities of my youth :
23 ff. God failing to respond to Job's invitation in 22a to formulate His charges, Job speaks on ; not, however, strictly according to the figure of 22^, in the form of a legal indict- ment, but at first suggesting by a series of questions that he is suffering far beyond the deserts of any failings of his (23-28J . then passing on to reflections on God's pitiless treatment of mankind in general {i/^'^-^^)y returning in ^^-n to his own case, and appealing in ^^-15 to God's pity, only in ^^'- to record again the actual ruthlessness of His treatment of him, and (I8-22J Qf men in general.
23. Job, though ** perfect" (i-^ n.), does not deny that he has sinned (cp. ^^^) ; but how often ? how greatly ? not enough to deserve all the suffering that he endures ; hence his implicit charge against God that He is punishing undeservedly and unjustly.
24. Hidest thou thy face] refusest to be friendly; for the idiom, cp. Ps. 308^7^ (**in thy favour," and **thou hidest thy face " — antithetical parallels), 104^^, 27^ (** hide the face " || ** cast off in anger"). Is. 54^; for **the hiding of the face "in resent- ment for sin committed and wrong done against God (cp. v.^^ here), see Is. 571^, Dt. 31^^— b. Cited by Elihu, 33I0.
25 ff. Is it worthy of one mighty as God with such persistent severity to treat one so helpless and incapable of resistance as Job? cp. 7^0 iqI^. — Scare a driven leaf] make to tremble with fright (cp. pv in Is. 2^*- ^i) a dry leaf already driven (Lv. 26^) hither and thither by the wind. — Pursue dry stubble] put to flight (cjm in Dt. 32^0, Am. i^^) what scurries away of itself.
26. Writest bitter things] passest on me sentence to painful
126 THE BOOK OF JOB [XIII. 26-XIV.
^ And that thou puttest my feet in the stocks,
And markest all my paths :
About the soles of my feet thou drawest thee a line ; ^ Though (one such as) he falleth away like a rotten thing,
Like a garment that is moth-eaten.
punishment : on the custom of recording in writing judicial sentences, see n. on Is. lo^. In view of ^ a judicial is more probable than a medical figure here : the meaning of ^ is not, therefore, that Thou prescribest for me bitter medicines (Hi.); of written medical prescriptions among the Hebrews there is no evidence. — b. Job had sinned in the carelessness of youth like others (cp. i^, Ps. 25^^) ; but is it worthy of God to drag up these old offences, and make Job suffer for them now? Even in youth he had not sinned more than others ; why does he suffer more?
27. Job's condition figured as that of a prisoner whose movements are impeded, and who is kept under close watch. — Stocks] a different word from that so rendered in EV. of Jer. 2o2'- 29^^ and RVm. of 2 Ch. 16^®; on the ground that some move- ment along paths (^) is possible, some (Du. Peake) suppose that the Hebrew term used here (sad) denotes not fixed stocks, but a block of wood fastened to the legs of captives to impede, though not altogether prevent, movement from place to place. Yet it is doubtful whether the idiom favours this interpretation ; and in the Talmud sadda is certainly something that, like stocks^ confines the person to a single spot: Levy (NHWB^ s.v.) cites from Pes. 28* **The 5«^maker sits in his own sad'' — i.e. is punished by means of his own workmanship. If stocks is right here, Job ** compares himself to a malefactor, at one time (*) held fast in the stocks, at another (^) narrowly watched, and {^) unable to pass beyond prescribed bounds" (Dr.). — Soles\ Heb. roots. On Du.'s interpretation of *', see phil. n.
28. The text, meaning and position of the v. have been questioned ; but see phil. n.
XIV. I-3. How strange (cp. 13^^) that God should strictly call to account creatures so frail, shortlived, and (cp. y^-^) full of unrest as man ! The parallelism is better, if we render in ^%
XIV. 1-6.] JOB 127
XIV. ^ Man that is born of woman
Is of few days, and full of trouble. 2 He Cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down :
He fleeth also like a shadow, and continueth not. ' And upon (one like) this dost thou open thine eyes.
And bring- ''him'' into judgment with thee ?
* Oh that a clean thing could come out of an unclean ! not one (can).
* If his days are determined,
The number of his months is known to thee, (And) his limit thou hast appointed that he cannot
pass;
* Look away from him, "^and^ forbear.
Till he can enjoy, as an hireling, his day.
Man is born of woman ; or (Di.) i- 2, Man that is born of woman. Of few days, and full of trouble, Cometh forth . . ., Fleeth, etc. — Bom 0/ woman] of such frail origin. — Of few days] even a life of patriarchal length (42^^) may he regarded as brief (Gn. 47^).
2a. Cf. Ps. 90« 103I5'., Is. 4o6'-.— b. Cp. 89 n.
3. Cp. 7^^' .
4. Cp. 417'-, Ps. 5i^H and see phil. n.
5 f. If;^ as is the case (i'*), man's life is brief, the fact is both known to and ordained by God ; let God, then, desist (^*) from His unkindly gaze (^), that man may get at least some pleasure before his brief hard life is over. — If] the hypothetical is awkward : if correct, the whole of ^ may be protasis (so Di.) ; then render : If his days are determined, (And) the number of his months known, etc. — JIis days] (&-{-upon earth: rhythmi- cally the line would admit, and indeed be improved by some addition ; but something like by thee would be preferable. — Known to] Heb. with : see 9^^ n.
6. Look away from] 7^^ lo^^ n, — And forbear] or desist y 7^^ n. f^ That he may cease. — Till] or : to the point that (nj; as Is. 47^; Lex. ']2^by 3). — An hireling] a labourer hired by the day : 7"- n. — His day] i.e. the close of his life; at least let the evening of man's life be free from God's ill-treatment : cp. lo^^^^-.
7-10. The plea (^) for some brief snatch of enjoyment before
[28 THE BOOK OF JOB [XIV. 7-12.
'f For there is hope of a tree :
If it be cut down, it will sprout agaitii And its shoots will not cease. 8 Though its root wax old in the earth,
And its stump die in the ground ; * At the scent of water it will bud,
And put forth branches like a young plant. 1^ But a man dieth, and "^passeth away^ :
Yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he ? ^1 Waters fail from a lake.
And a river decayeth and drieth up ; 12 And (so) man lieth down and riseth not :
Till the heavens be no more, they will not awake, Nor be roused out of their sleep.
death is based on the impossibility of any enjoyment after death ; man once dead, unlike a tree that is cut down, cannot be rejuvenated and start life again, but passes away for ever leaving no trace behind. There may be some reference here to specific, deliberate treatment of trees such as Wetzstein (in Del.) reports as customary on the east of Jordan, especially round Damascus ; trees which through age begin to decay and to yield poor crops are cut down — close to the ground in the case of vines, figs, and pomegranates, and within a few feet of it in the case of the walnut ; the next year new shoots spring from the root, and these subsequently bear fruit freely ; all that is needed is what Job mentions as a conditio sine qua non — abundant water.
8. Stump] VM: Is. ii^ (seen, there). — The ground] Heb. the dusty as 5^.
g. At the scent of water] cp. *' As a string of tow is broken, when it scenteth the fire," Jg. i6^.
10-12. Cp. 77-10.
II. = Is. 19^; see phil. n.
12b, C. Man will never (cp. Ps. 72^' ^* ^^ 89^0. 37f.j awake from the sleep of death.
13-15. Would that it were otherwise, and that God would make Sheol not a land of no remembrance to which in His
XIV. 13-16.] JOB 129
13 Oh that thou wouldest hide me in Sheol,
That thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath turn,
That thou wouldest appoint me a limit, and remember me ! 1* If a man die, will he live (again) ?
All the days of my warfare would I wait,
Till my release should come : 1^ Thou shouldest call, and / would answer thee :
Thou wouldest yearn after the work of thine hands.
anger He sends men for ever, but an asylum (provided by His love for His creatures, ^^^), while His wrath is abroad. If only it were certain that after a fixed period, God would remember Job (as He remembered Noah, the object of His grace, in the asylum of the ark, Gn. 8^ P), and summon him back from Sheol and death ; how willingly would Job wait, thus knowing that in the end life and friendly intercourse with God would be renewed. But there is no hope of such a future Q^~^^ especially i9c-22j^ Thus Job here considers the idea, and the meaning if it were real, though he still dismisses the reality, of a future life of communion with God: previously (7^-^^) he has simply doubted the existence of such a future, without contemplating its significance if it were real.
13. Turn] cp. 9^^^ Qn. 27*^'-.
14. Line * is perhaps misplaced, or a marginal annotation. Even if rendered, as by Du. (see phil. n.), ** If only a man might die, and live again," it forms a bad parallel to ^2°. — Warfare] 7I n. — Release] or relief from Sheol; the word appears to embody a military figure of one soldier or troop being replaced and so relieved by another (cp. on 10^^); but obviously the figure is not to be pressed.
15a. Cp. 13^2% though t\vQ figure oi t)\2it line is not repeated here. — Yearn after] cp. ''seek diligently for," 7^1 n. — The work of thine hands] cp. lo^-^-^^^
16 f. Job has expressed the wish for a happier future in i^"^^, for God's present attitude to him is so unfriendly and unfor- giving that something different can but be desired, hut (I8-22J that happy future of his hopes will not be realized. Such is the meaning and connection of the vv. as expressed in the above
9
130 THE BOOK OF JOB [XI V. 16-19.
1* For now thou numberest my steps :
Thou dost not ""pass^ over my sin. i'^ My transgression is sealed up in a bagf,
And thou fastenest up my iniquity. ^^ But indeed a mouritain falling crumbleth away,
And a rock is removed out of its place ; ^^ The waters wear the stones ;
The overflowings thereof wash away the dust of the earth :
And (so) thou destroyest the hope of man.
translation. But it is not altogether natural, and much In the vv. is ambiguous : they have accordingly been by others under- stood to contain a continuation of the description in ^^ of God's friendly attitude hoped for in i\\Q future (see phil. n.); but unfortunately this view, too, cannot conveniently be accommo- dated to the vv. throughout ; if it were right we should expect in ^^^ the impf. as in the other lines rather than the part. (^^^C")*
16. For now] as 7^^; equally legitimate is the rendering /or then; so 3^^. — T/iou numberest my steps\ watches t my move- ments to take account of the least slip : cp. 31* (34^^) and for the thought, 13^''^. If the vv. describe the future, it would be best to read (cp. <S) : For then thou wouldest not number my steps. — Pass over] so ffi^ ; |^ watch over^ which would suit a descrip- tion of the future ; but to accommodate f^ to a description of the present, the line must be translated interrogatively (possible, but awkward) : ** Dost thou not watch over my sin ? "
17. Job's transgressions are recorded by God in a writing (cp. Jer. 17^) which is bound and sealed up (cp. Dinn 1")V, Is. 8^^). — Sealed up] for security in a bag (mx) to be brought forth thence for punishment: cp. Hos. 13^^ *' Bound up ("ipv) is the iniquity of Ephraim," Dt. 32^*. — Fastenest up] lit. plasterest (13^) over: here, parallel to is sealed up^ the phrase apparently means plasterest over with wax. Bu., who adopts the view that the vv. refer to the future, understands the figure to be that of giving a white appearance (cp. Is. i^^) to (red) sin; the line then means that God forgives Job's sins.
18. 19. The emphatic words in ^^ are mountain and rock : if even these mighty things come to destruction, how much more
XIV. 19-XV.] JOB 131
2^ Thou prevallest for ever against him, and he passeth ; Thou changest his countenance, and sendest him
away.
21 His sons come to honour, and he knoweth it not ;
And they are brought low, but he perceiveth them
not.
22 Only his flesh upon him hath pain,
And his soul upon him mo'urneth.
(^^) does man die without hope of living again ! On ^^ see phil. n. ; ^^^ is cited in 18^. — But] an emphatic adversative, which would be best explained by the view that the description of the desired but despaired of future extends down to ^'' ; but see on ^^'•.
20. Passeth] away, dieth : so lo^i, 2 S. 12^3, Ec. i* 3^0, Ps. 39^* — a common sense of halaka in Arabic. — Thou changest his countenance] in death, when *' Decay's effacing fingers. Have swept the lines where beauty lingers."
21. Dismissed i^-^^) to Sheol, the dead no longer have know- ledge (Ec. 9^) even of what would, if they were alive on earth, most intimately concern them : cp. 22^^. Since from ^^ and, in particular, ^^ onward, the direct personal reference is abandoned and the fate of man in general is depicted, ^i is not, of course, inconsistent with i^^ (the loss of Job's children). — Are brought low] come to dishonour : see phil. n.
22. Knowledge does not survive death : sentiency does : the dead man feels the pangs of decay, as the flesh still clothing him moulders away, and his soul can grieve for the dreary existence to which he is condemned in Sheol. Cp. Judith 16^^^ ''they shall weep at feeling," viz. the fire and worm sent into their decaying flesh : see also Is. 66^*. — Up07i him] lo^ n. On various mistaken views of the phrase (such as : only so long as his flesh is upon does he feel pain ; or, only for him does his flesh feel pain), see Di. or Bu.
XV. Eliphaz's second speech. — This, the opening speech of the second cycle, consists of a rebuke of the irreverent tone of Job's speeches, of his rejection of gentler correction, such as Eliphaz had off'ered in his previous speech ("), and of his hard
132 THE BOOK OF JOB [XV. 2-4.
XV. ^ Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said, 2 Should a wise man answer with windy knowledge,
And fill his belly with the sirocco, 2 Arguing with unprofitable talk,
And with speeches, wherewith he can do no good ? * Yea, thou doest away with fear.
And restrainest musing before God.
and obdurate temper (^~i*), leading up to the charge that he is wicked beyond the general unrighteousness of men (^*~^^), and a warning picture of the dark and hopeless fate of the wicked ^i7-35j^ The attitude of Eliphaz in his second is obviously severer than in his first speech : in the first he addresses Job as one who indeed fails to accept his sufferings with the patience which he had formerly recommended to others, but who is still held by religion (4^) ; here, as one who is abandon- ing religion (15*), and giving way to positive blasphemy (^^•) ; in the first speech Eliphaz introduces the universality of human unrighteousness (4-^^*^")> ^^^ "^t, as here (^*"^^), to suggest that Job's wickedness exceeds it; and, again, in the first speech Eliphaz seeks to induce resignation in Job by his closing picture of the ultimate felicity of those who humbly receive suffering, while here he seeks to terrify Job out of what he now regards as his exceptional wickedness by a closing picture of the fate of the wicked.
2. Cp. 8^ 11^. — A wise man] such as Job claims (12^ 13^*") to be: it is less probable (see phil. n.) that Eliphaz asks whether he as a wise man should make answer to Job's words. — Wmdy knowledge] cp. 8^ 16^. — His helly\ whence, and not from the heart (8^^), the seat of understanding, words expressing windy knowledge are spoken. — The sirocco] violent (cp. 8^) and hurt- ful (cp. i^^ n.).
3. Arguing] 13^-^: Job had desired to argue with God, but his words had been of no use : they had not helped to establish his case.
4. Doest away with] frustratest (5^^), annullest, destroyest. — Fear] of God, i.e. religion, as in 4^. Line ^ is doubtless parallel to * and expresses the same general idea, viz. that Job has
XV. 4-7.] ELIPHAZ 1 3 3
^ For thine iniquity teacheth thy mouth,
And thou choosest the tongue of the crafty.
^ Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and not I ; And thine own lips testify against thee.
^ Wast thou the first one born a man ?
Or wast thou brought forth before the hills ?
become positively irreligious, * referring to inward sentiment, ^ perhaps to the outward observance of religion ; but the exact meaning of both vb. and object is uncertain : restrainest should, perhaps, rather be impairest^ diminishest '. the vb. (yij) means to subtract (as opposed to add — Dt. 4^, Ec. 3^^, and in Nif. Nu. 36^*-), withdraw (v.^ 36^ and, pointed Piel, 36^^^ (o«))' diminish (Ex. 21^^). The Nif. in Nu. (^^ sometimes cited for the meaning restrain^ means to be withdrawn : see n. there. — Musing^ the noun (nn^E;) occurs also in Ps. 119^^ (''Thy law is (the subject of) my musing") ^^f: on the root see phil. n. on 7^^ Du. detects here a reference to the reverential silence required of worshippers (cp. Zee. 2^^, Hab. 2^0). Bu. renders ^ : And thou drawest complaints (nn^C^ as rT'C^ in f-^ (f^ lo^ 21* 23^) before God.
5. Not (RVm.) thy mouth teacheth thine iniquity^ i,e, your words show and prove that you are wicked : for this anticipates ^*, is against the usage of the vb. {^}^\ 33^ 35^^ t), and not favoured by the order of the words. — Choosest the tongue of] i.e. speakest like: Job, like the "crafty" serpent of Gn. 3^-, endeavours by what he says to misrepresent God. — The cra/ty] 5^2 — the only other place in Job where the term is used — Gn. 3^: in Pr. t the word is used with the good sense of shrewdy wise.
6. The V. is placed by Du. before ^^. — Thine own mouth condemneth thee] 9^^.
7f. But is Job so very wise (cp. 2*)? Is he the oldest, and so the wisest, of men? or does he attend God's council, and so possess wisdom withheld from other men ^? Some such extravagant hypothesis would be required, if Job were really wiser than Eliphaz, the aged recipient of revelations. V.^ is grammatically ambiguous (see phil. n.): it might mean, Didst thou in the past, or dost thou habitually in the present. Taking
134 THE BOOK OF JOB [XV. 7-10.
^ Dost thou hearken in the council of God ?
And dost thou monopolize wisdom to thyself? ® What knowest thou, that we know not ?
What understandest thou, which is not in our knowledge? ^^ Among us are both the grey-headed and the aged,
Older than thy father in days.
it in the former sense many see in ^ as well as ^ an allusion to the myth of a primeval man, older than creation : so Di. who compares the Indian Manu. In ^, if '^^ be taken strictly, some such idea certainly seems to be present ; unless with Bu. we see in ^ a reference to Pr. 8^-^-, and so take '^^ to mean : Art thou personified Wisdom itself? — Brought forth before the hills] Pr. 8^^ : cp. Ps. 90^. Du. before the high ones (DNn3: for niy33), i.e. the angels — unnecessarily.
8. Dost thou] or didst thou : see above. — Council of God] i.e, the circle of those admitted to intimacy with Him, especially the angels (Ps. 89^ ^^\ cp. i K. 22^^^-)^ but the council of Yah- weh is also conceived as accessible to true prophets (Jer. 2'^^\ — Monopolize] lit. withdraw (see v.* n.), i.e, withdraw (from others).
pf. So far from having the wisdom of the most ancient, Job has no wisdom beyond that of the friends : and so far from being the most ancient of men, amqng them are men (or is a man) old enough to be Job's father.
9. Cp. 12^ 132 (Job). — /// our knowledge] lit. with us: see 9^ n.
10. The experience of age is on the side of the friends and against Job. — Among us are] unless the first pers. pi. in ^ and here has different meanings, the meaning is : among us three friends is, one of us three is : in that case the adjectives, which are in the singular, refer to an individual, and doubtless to Eliphaz who thus with conventional modesty refers to himself : then render, Ainong us is one that is both grey-headed and aged. One that is older, etc. Others have taken the phrase to mean : among us Temanites (Hi.), or among ourselves (Umbr.), or among people who share our opinions (Hgst.) ; then the singular adjectives should be taken collectively as above.
XV. 11-16. J ELIPHAZ 135
^^ Are the consolations of God too small for thee,
And a word (that dealeth) gently with thee ? ^ Why doth thine heart carry thee away?
And what do thine eyes hint at? ^ That thou turnest thy spirit against God,
And lettest (such) words go out of thy mouth. ^* What is man, that he should be clean ?
And that one born of woman should be righteous? ^^ Behold in his holy ones he putteth no trust,
And the heavens are not clean in his sight. ^^ How much less one that is abominable and tainted,
A man that drinketh in unrighteousness like water.
II. Ought Job to have rejected as worthless and unadapted to his case Eliphaz's former gentle and (cp. especially 5^^^^) consolatory speech ? — The consolations of God] Eliphaz feels that, since he is the recipient of revelations (4^^^*), what he says is not merely his own, but God's speech : cp. 22^2 ; Job's sentiment is different (212). — Gentlj'] see phil. n. : AV. RVm. erroneously give to t3K7 the meaning secret (cp. ^N??, Jg. 421 = t2^2, I S. i822).
12 f. Why is Job so passionate as to turn his temper and speak against God : so, if the connection is right : between ^2 and ^^ Du. inserts ^, rendering ^^ For thou turnest^ etc. — Hint at] see phil. n.
13. Spirit] in the sense of passion or temper : cp. Jg. 8^, Pr. 16^. — Lettest {such) words g-o] or, emending, hringest forth defiance \ cp. 232 and see phil. n.
14 f. Varied from 417'- ; cp. also 921^ 25*'-. In ^^ the parallel- ism intended was perhaps of a. b | b^ a' type (Gray, Forms of Hebrew Poetry^ 64 f.), in which case render : What is man, that he should be clean, And (what) that he should be righteous, (is) one born of woman? — One horn of woman] 14^ n.
15. His holy ones] the angels : cp. 4^^. — The heavens] cp. **moon . . . stars "in 25^; and ** the very heavens for purity '* (int:!?; cp. intoN c. 4^^), Ex. 2410.
16. The «/tfr/zV?rz' after ^^'- is significantly different from4i^: there, how impossible for frail, shortlived mortals to be pure
136 THE BOOK OF JOB [XV. 16-19.
^^ I will tell thee, hear thou me ;
And that which I have seen I will relate ; ^^ (Which wise men do declare,
Without hiding it, from their fathers ; ^^ Unto whom alone the land was given,
And no stranger passed among them :)
in God's sight ; here, how impossible for Job (cp. 34"^), who deliberately soaks himself with unrighteousness, to escape the fate of the wicked, which Eliphaz now proceeds to unfold (^^^•). — DHnketh . . . like wafer] in great gulps, greedily like a thirsty man ; cp. Ps. 73^*^.
17-I9. The vv., as a solemn introduction to the main theme of the speech, correspond to 4^2-15 j^ Eliphaz's first speech : what Eliphaz is about to tell Job is the fruit of his own experi- ence (^^^) during his long life (^^), confirming and confirmed by that of past generations (cp. 8^~^^, Bildad) who had dwelt in the land as a pure, unmingled community, undiluted by aliens, and so maintaining an uncontamlnated tradition, a dogma of unimpeachable orthodoxy.
17. Seen] i.e. learnt, experienced : cp. 24^ 27^2^
18. From their fathers] having received it from their fathers.
19. It is tempting to infer from this v. some definite con- clusion as to the date of the writer, but perhaps delusive ; for it is not clear whether the writer intends by the land, the home of Eliphaz, viz. Teman, or Canaan (so Bu. Du.). If Canaan is intended, a contrast appears to be drawn between the present, when Canaan is not the sole possession of Israel and Israel is not an unmixed race, and a time in the past when Israel un- contamlnated held Canaan unshared and by undisputed right ; the event dividing the two periods has been held to be the Fall of Samaria (721 B.C.), and the settlement of foreigners In the Northern kingdom (cp. 2 K. 17^*^), or the Exile of Judah (from 586 B.C.). Du. by precarious detailed arguments Infers that Job is three or four generations removed from the pre-exilic *' fathers," and that about the middle of the 5th cent. e.g. is accordingly the latest date for the poet. But all this falls to the ground if Del., as Is possible, Is right in feeling thaf
XV. 19-22.] ELIPHAZ 1 37
^^ All the days of the wicked man, he travaileth with pain, And the number of the years (that are) laid up for the
tyrant.
21 A sound of terrors is in his ears ;
In prosperity the spoiler will come upon him :
22 He believeth not that he will return out of darkness,
And he is '^reserved^ for the sword :
Eliphaz, in genuine Arab fashion, is merely boasting of the purity of his own tribe of Teman, and placing the origin of the doctrine he is about to proclaim back in a remote past when that purity of the tribe was still greater than now. — The land] not, here, Ike earth. — Stranger] of alien race; 19^^* n. — Passed among them] passed to and fro among (^1313) them, became one of them (Del. Bu.), rather than passed through them as an enemy (Di.) — the force of 3 ")3y in Nah. 2^ (1^^); cp. "And Jerusalem shall be holy. And aliens shall no more pass through it"(J1.4").
20-35. The fate of the wicked.
20-24. Even while the wicked seem to prosper, they are in reality tormented by the expectation that misfortunes, such as are described in 21-2*^ vvill overtake them : such a theory — it is nothing more — helps to bolster up the orthodox dogma maintained by the friends that the wicked do not prosper : the apparent prosperity of the wicked, they argue, or rather assert, is not real ; the happiness which their outward possessions might seem to ensure is destroyed by inward forebodings : far truer to life is the delineation of the temper of the prosperous in Lk. 12^^. — The tyrant] the parallel term to ''wicked men" in * ; and, therefore, virtually equivalent to him : but see phil. n. For the meaning of the term, see 6^^ n.
21. Spoiler] or robber^ 12^.
22. Return out of darkness] This should naturally mean : recover prosperity after the misfortunes of his forebodings have befallen him : we should rather expect (cp. ^sbj^ even if it were necessary to read "iiD for aiK^, avoid darkness^ i.e. misfortune: he has no hope of escaping from misfortune, whether that take the form of violent death (22b), or (2^*) being reduced to beggary.
138 THE BOOK OF JOB [XV. 23-26.
^'^ He wandereth abroad for bread, (saying), ** Where is it? "
He knovveth that the day of darkness is ready at his
hand: 2* Distress and anguish affright him ;
They prevail against him, as a king ready for the fray : '^ Because he hath stretched out his hand against God,
And behaveth himself proudly against the Almighty ; 26 He runneth upon him with a (stiff) neck,
With the thick bosses of his shield ;
23. Possibly 2'^^' 23^ have been transposed ; adopting emen- dations noticed in the phil. n., we might then read:
22 He believeth not that he will avoid the darkness,
23^ He knoweth that his calamity is ready ;
23a f|g js wandering abroad for bread (saying), ** Where is it? "
22^ And he is reserved for the sword.
2* The day of darkness affrighteth him.
Distress and anguish prevail against him. The last clause of ^^ is then the third stichos of a tristich unless we place it after ^^^ (cp. Du.), to which it would form an admirable parallel.
24. Prevail against] 14^^. — As a king ready for the fray] irresistibly : though the ki7tg is not necessarily more irresistible than any other warrior, cp. Pr. 6^^ ''Thy poverty shall come , . . and thy want as a man with a shield."
25-28. The conduct of the wicked, tyrannical {^^^) man is described as the ground of his fate as just sketched : ^^ would follow 2* quite well, and Sgf. Be. Bu. omit ^5-28 — ^ot quite necessarily.
25 f. He has been defiantly hostile to God. — Behaveth him- self proudly] or mightily, playeth the, or acteth as a, warrior (")23n^): cp. Is. 42^^ " Yahweh will go forth as a mighty man ... he will act mightily against his enemies": c. 36^ "He declareth to them their transgressions, that they behave them- selves proudly (or mightily)."
26. With a {stiff) neck] or, emending, as a warrior (cp. Is. 42^^ ; see last n.) to which " as a king," etc., would be the parallel term if ^^b^ originally followed ^^a. — Bosses] 13^2 „,
XV. 27-30.] ELIPHAZ 1 39
2'' Because he hath covered his face with his fatness,
And made collops of fat on his loins ; 28 And he hath dwelt in effaced cities,
In houses which no man should inhabit, Which were destined to become heaps. ^ He becometh not rich, neither doth his substance endure,
Neither do his ears (of corn) bend to the earth. ^ He departeth not out of darkness. His shoots the flame drieth up,
And his l^bud^ is Tswept away! by the wind.
27. Grown rich and prosperous, he has become confirmed in his insensibility to God and all that is spiritual : for this figurative use of fatness, cp. Dt. 32^^, Jer. 5^^, Ps. 73^ 119^^
28. Being indifferent to God ('^'^), he builds up and inhabits sites which have been reduced to ruins by some judgment of God, and on which accordingly the curse of God rests, virtually carrying with it a decree of God that such places are not to be rebuilt (cp. Jos. 6^^, i K. 16^*, Dt. 13^^). Lines *-^ give a complete distich which is not improved by being transformed into a tristich by the addition of ^. Du., rather precariously appealing to ffir (see phil. n.), takes "^^^ (reading iNE'^ D"'"inj< nnj^nn) with 2^* : What he hath prepared others will take away. And his substance does not endure.
29. The statements in * are, strictly speaking, inconsistent, for the second implies that the man does acquire substance, or wealth (i>^n, 31^^), though he does not retain it. Possibly the first negative is due to error, and the line originally ran : He becometh rich, but his wealth endureth not — a sentence of the same type as 8^^. On line ^, which is also questionable, see phil. n.
30. Line * — an isolated stichos — looks like a variant of 22a. — b. C. The wicked man may be rich and prosperous (cp. ^9* n.), resembling a flourishing plant (cp. 8^^') which gives promise of fruit, but his wealth as suddenly vanishes as a tree ruined by lightning or wind. — S/ioots] 8^^ 14^. Line ^^ in |^ reads. And he departeth not with (or, by means of) the breath of his mouth, which is obviously corrupt, see phil. n.
1 40 THE BOOK OF JOB [XV. 31-33.
^^ Let him trust not in emptiness, deceiving himself: For emptiness will be his return for what he doeth.
32 I^His palm-branch^ is l^cut offl before its time, And his palm-frond luxuriates no more.
3^ He wrongeth, like the vine, his unripe grape, And casteth off, like the olive, his flower.
31. This v., too, in J^ is questionable, but satisfactory emendation is not forthcoming. The meaning, if J^ is correct, appears to be: "his vanity {t\e. emptiness), in the sense of frivolity or worldllness, brings as its reward ' vanity ' in the sense of what is worthless or disappointing " (Dr.). Between ^^ and 22^- (all figures from plant life), ^^ may well be out of place (Be. Bu. Du. Peake), unless this v. also in its original form referred to plant life : Richter's attempt, however, to recover such an original is unhappy. — Emptiness\ 7^ n. — His return for what he doeth\ lit. his exchange : cp. 20^^ 28^^.
32a. Or (see phil. n.) emending otherwise, it (viz. the shoots of ^^*) is cut off before its time. J^, which though improbable has found defenders, reads. Before his time it — which is taken to refer to ''his return" in ^^ (DI.), or to mean ''his fate" (Bu., if f^ were correct) — is fulfilled. — Before his time\ lit. on not his day^ i.e. on a day not, but earlier than, that on which he would normally have died — not at the end of his days, but in the midst of his days : cp. Ps. 55^*^2^^.
33. The wicked man, since he never really enjoys any pros- perity he may appear to possess or sees promise of success fulfilled, is like a vine that produces grapes indeed, but grapes that never ripen ; or like the olive that produces a profusion of flowers, most of which, however, do not set into fruit even in the alternate year in which the olive bears: ** every second year, though it bloom, it scarcely produces any berries at all " : see Wetzst. in Del., and Thomson, The Land and the Book^ 54 f. — He torongeth^ by failing to mature; cp. of the sinner. ** He that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul," Pr. 8^^. The paraphrase of the Heb. in ^T EV. (**shaketh off") is false to nature: the vine does not cast its unripe berries, but "the unriper the berries, the faster they stick" (Del.).
XV. 34-XVII.] ELIPHAZ I4I
3* For the company of the godless is sterile ;
And fire devoureth the tents of bribery. ^ They conceive mischief, and bring forth misfortune ;
And their belly prepareth disappointment (for them- selves).
34. The whole class of the viricked is like sterile ground producing no crops : the whole class furnishes no example of a really, permanently successful man. — Company^ cp. similarly Ps. 22^^^^^^^ and 86^* ; it does not here mediU family (Del.), even though that meaning could be established for 16^. — Godless] 13I6 8^^ n. — Steele] 3^ n. — Fire] one of the causes of Job's calamities (i^^) to which fact there is perhaps an oblique allusion here : cp. 20^^ (Sophar), 22^*^ (Eliphaz). — The tents of bribery] the homes of those who have grown rich by accepting bribes (cp. Is. 1^3), or have used their riches to bribe judges and pervert justice in their own interest : bribery is obviously selected as typical of gross sins.
35. Cp. Is. 59* 33II, Ps. y'^^^^^K—Mtschtef. . . misfortune] 4^ n. 3^^ n. — Belly] i.e. womb, as 3^^. Others (Del.) take belly here of the entire inward nature of man, including thought, feeling, and will (cp. Pr. i8^ 2o27-^<' 22^^)^ which would suit the vb. {prepareth)^ but would involve the abandonment of the figure in *.
XVI. XVI I. Job's reply to Eliphaz's second speech.— Like his previous replies, this speech also is only in part (most clearly in i6^~^ and, perhaps, 17^^) directly addressed to the friends. In 17^'- (in ffi also in ^) God is addressed, and in 16^^ earth is apostrophized. But more of this than of the previous replies is in the strain of musing or monologue ; so i6^~^^- 20-22 i^if. 5-9. 11-17 are not obviously addressed either to the friends or to God, and 16^^ is obviously not addressed to either. Opening with a brief and contemptuous dismissal of the com- fort offered by the friends (16^"^), Job passes on to describe God's violent treatment of him (^~^^), in spite of his innocence (1^^-). And yet God is his witness and vindicator (^^-17^) ; and accordingly, with death imminent, to Him and not to the friends he appeals (iG^o 17*). But from this bold appeal to
142 THE BOOK OF JOB [XVI. 1-4.
XVI. ^ Then Job answered and said,
2 I have heard many such thing's :
Troublesome comforters are ye all. ' Shall windy words have an end ?
Or what provoketh (?) thee that thou answerest? * I also could speak as ye do,
If your soul were in my soul's stead; I could join words together against you, And shake mine head at you :
God against God, he returns to describe further God's harsh treatment of him, and his hopeless outlook (17^"^^).
2-5. Job contemptuously rejects the commonplaces p*) which Eliphaz (2^), merely repeating what he and the others (^^) had said in their previous speeches, has just uttered. Instead of being silent, as Job had begged them to be (13^), what makes Eliphaz speak at all, if this is all he has to offer P) ? He and his friends may have come to comfort him, but so far from doing so (cp. 21^^) in reality (cp. 13*), they add to his trouble by forcing upon him conventional words of comfort, not springing from their hearts. How easily and how abundantly could Job, if their parts were reversed, let loose on them like words, and give them support of the same kind !
2. I have heard such things] already from you and your two companions ; and what they say has already been stigmatized as commonplace (12^). — Troublesome comforters] not conveying, as Eliphaz had claimed, the comforts of God (15^^), but com- forters (cp. 2^^) of, i.e. who cause to me, trouble (f^ny, 3^^ n.). — Are ye all] Eliphaz, whom very exceptionally (cp. 12^ 26^ n.) in ^^ he addresses by himself, is no better than the other two.
3a. A retort to 15^. — Provoketh] see phil. n.
4. If the circumstances of Job and the friends were reversed, Job could (not ** would"), only too easily and as vainly, have spoken like the friends ; what Job actually had done, and would have done again for sufferers like himself, was very different; for his words had really comforted, restored, and strengthened (4^'- Eliphaz, 29^"^^ Job). b. Or, If only you? soul were in my souVs stead! (see phil. n.) : would that ye could
XVI 4-7] JOB 143
^ I could strengthen you with my mouth,
And '^not^ restrain the solace of my lips. ^ If I speak, my pain is not restrained :
And if I forbear, how much (of it) departeth from me ?
look at and judge your comfort from the position of the sufferer. — Join words together\ or, make fine speeches (see phil. n.), thinking more of my own skill than your need. — Shake mine head a{\ the gesture is mentioned in cases in which mocking or satirical words are added or implied : Ps. 22^ (cp. the li ryf'n, and the words of »), Is. 3722 (|| i>^^r\^ nta), Ecclus. 12I8, Mt. 2f'^ (cp. 40).
5. The irony of * is continued ; mere lip comfort is easily given, b. iJH, And the solace of my lips should restrain (sc. your pain : cp. ^) ; then ^, and in that case * too, would be more naturally taken seriously, not ironically; but, if ^ expressed what Job would actually do, in contrast to * what he could, but would not, do, a strong adversative would be required at the beginning of ^: RV. accordingly supplies But\ this is, however, virtually an emendation, and a bad one, for if Job had been turning from irony to a statement of what he would actually do, he would not lay stress on mouth and lips (cp. 1 12 n.). — Not restrain] or, emending otherwise, ** encourage you with'' ; the translation above follows (& (see phil. n.).
6. Alike whether Job speaks or keeps silence, his pain is in no way alleviated. The connection is not obvious, and ** speak '* is rather ambiguous ; it is commonly taken (Di.) to mean : If I speak to my friends, I get no comfort from them ; I may as well, therefore, keep silence ; but that course, too, does not ease me. But a comparison with 7^^ 10^ suggests that it may mean: If I say to and of God what I think about His treat- ment of me, it is true He remains deaf to my appeals, and I get no alleviation, neither do I, however, when I keep silence ; therefore, I will repeat my case against Him.
7-16. In the tone of a soliloquy, Job describes the condition to which God in His hostility has reduced him.
7. He] The subject is God, unnamed (cp. 32'' n.) till ^^ ; not Eliphaz (for ^ and ^ are closely connected, and s^, in any case.
144 THE BOOK OF JOB [XVI. 7-9.
'^ Only now he hath weaned me out, (and) appalled ""me^, '^And^ all my '^ calamity^ hath seized hold upon me.
^ It hath been a witness and risen up against me ; My leanness testifieth to my face !
refers to a visitation of God), nor **my pain " (F). — (And) appalled me a7id all my calamity hath seized hold upon me] see phil. notes. ^ Thou hast appalledy or laid waste (EV. ''made desolate ") all my company (so iJH), or (,S) all 7ny tesii?nonyy i.e. all that testifies to me, my good fortune (?), or (Ehrlich), all that I testify y i.e. my arguments, ^ and thou hast seized hold upon me. The address in ^^- ^, if J^ were correct, must be to God, but the transition from the 3rd pers. in ^* to the 2nd in 7b. 8a jjj^(j back to the 3rd in ^ would be very awkward. '* Thou hast laid waste all my company" in J^ is supposed to mean that God has changed the entire circle of the adherents, house- mates, and friends of Job Into his enemies (Di. Da.), and so left Job deserted and alone ; but to speak of alienating a man's friends as a "laying waste," not of himself but of them, is very strange : nor perhaps would the estrangement of Job's friends (19^^"^^) be quite naturally referred to here. For the use of '* company " in J^, cp. 15^*.
8. All this misfortune testifies, on the current theory of prosperity and adversity, to Job's guilt; cp. lo^'^. — My leanness] cp. Ps. 109^^ : see phil. n.
9-14. In vv.^*- ^- ^^"^* we h.3.\e figurative descriptions of the treatment measured out to Job by God (the unnamed subj., as already in '^a(7b)^ Qf y^^g^ \^ ^j^g sing.); in ^^ description of the treatment of Job by human adversaries — the unnamed subjects of vbs. In the plural : ^^ states that God delivers Job up into the power of such human adversaries. Thus the present order of the vv. is anything but natural. Wr. places ^^ before ^^, Peake before ^ (reading the noun, vbs., and 3rd pers. In the pi.), and this would relieve the more serious difficulty. Sgf. deletes ^^^•, Du. ^^'^'^ allowing the figures of ^*- ^ to be continued uninterrupted by ^2. The omission of ^^^ only (fflr) does not ease the difficulty ; and the Insertion before ^^ in €r of the line (cp. 6*), " The arrows of his troops have fallen upon me," only
XVI. 9-12.] JOB - 145
^ His wrath hath torn me, and with hatred pursued me ;
He hath gnashed upon me with his teeth : Mine adversary sharpeneth his eyes upon me ; ^* They have gaped upon me with their mouth ; They have smitten my cheeks reproachfully ;
One and all they mass themselves ag^ainst me. *^ God delivereth me to the unrighteous,
And casteth me headlong- into the hands of the wicked, 12 I was at ease, and he hath cleft me asunder ;
He hath taken hold of my neck, and dashed me to pieces.
partially : it would account for plurals in ^^^- ^ (J^, but not i&), but hardly for the vbs. used : for the treatment described in these lines is scarcely that of those who composed God's (super- human) troops, but far rather of such terrors as those mentioned in 11.
pa, b. Yahweh, or specifically His anger, is figured as a wild beast tearing (cilD as Gn. 37^^, Ex. 22^2^ ^nd frequently in figures, e.^-.f Dt. 33^^ and, as here, of God, Hos. 5^'^) its prey. The figure is continued in ^^: see last n. — JVz^k hatred pursued me] or, transposing two letters, dropped me^ i.e^ from his mouth to the ground, which maintains the figure. — c. Mine adversary] No doubt Job might so have termed God, though "IX is not exactly the term suggested by the passages (9^ lo^- ^^ j^isff.j to which Bu. appeals ; but it would be curious that the expressed subject should appear first in the third line of the tristich (9*- ^- ^ being on this view a tristich). But ^^ is preferably taken as forming with 1^* a distich ; and the adversary, or rather the adversaries (^/.) are human : in this case read with % : Mine adversaries sharpen their eyes,
10. Cp. 30^- ^'- 12^-. — Gaped . . . with their mouth] in de- rision; cp. Ps. 22^*^1^^ Is. 57*. — Smitten mjy cheek] cp. Mic. 4^*, La. 3^0, Mt. 5^9.
11. The wicked] JH children \ see phil. n.
12a, b. If ^°~ii be an interpolation, this v. continues the figure of the wild beast in ^a. b^ completing a quatrain devoted to it. — Cleft me asunder] or mangled^ or clawed^ me (see the phil. n.).
I2C, 13. A fresh figure to which also a quatrain is devoted : 10
146 THE BOOK OF JOB [XVI. 12-16.
He hath also set me up for his mark ; 1* His archers compass me round about ;
He cleaveth through my reins, and doth not spare; He poureth out my gall upon the ground. 1* He breaketh me with breach upon breach ;
He runneth upon me like a warrior. 1^ Sackcloth have I sewed upon my skin, And I have laid my horn in the dust.
God is an archer (so, e.g., Ps. ^^^'^\ Job the butt (cp. La. 3^*) for His arrows. — Archers\ unless the word may be rendered arrows (see phil. n.), God is now in ^^* represented as a com- mander (so also implicitly 19^^) of archers (rather than, as in ^^c, actually Himself shooting), by means of whose shooting, rather than by arrows shot by His own hand, He pierces Job's vital parts. — He cleaveth through my reins] cp. ** until an arrow cleave through his liver," i.e. till he is mortally wounded, Pr. 7^^; ** He (God) hath caused the shafts of his quiver to enter into my reins," La. 3^^ — He poureth out my gall] cp. " My liver is poured out on the ground," La. 2^^ Cp. also the reference to the gall-bladder in c. 20^5.
14. Another fresh figure — this time developed in a single distich : God is a warrior engaged in breaching a fortified city, Job the city in whose walls breach after breach is made. — Breaketh] or makes a breach in ; so with ace. of the fence or wall. Is. 55, Ps. 80^3 89*^ (note the ||), Neh. 3^ ; for the noun of a breach in a wall, see 30^*, Am. 4^ i K. ii^^. — He runneth upon me] cp. i s^ \ also (if we there read mj for mi) Ps. iS^^^ ^29) . ** For by thee I run up to a fence, and by my God I leap over a vfdiW:'— Warrior] -iUi, not giant (EV.): cp. i S. 2*, 2 S. 238, Pr. 16^2, Is. 13^ 21^^ etc., and, as here, figuratively of God, Is. 42^3 (11 «*manof war").
15 f. Resuming ^ Job describes his miserable condition resulting from God's hostility, ^-w. He has i^* sewn together a garment oi sak^ and now wears it next his skin (cp. i K. 2i27, 2 K. 6^^), or, perhaps, the precise implication of the line is rather, the sackcloth never leaves me (Ehrlich). Job's wearing 0/ sackcloth, a frequently mentioned sign of grief or mourning
XVI. 15-18.] JOB 147
^* My face is red with weeping",
And on my eyelids is thick darkness ;
^^ Although there is no violence in my hands, And my prayer is pure.
^ O earth, cover not thou my blood,
And let my cry have no (resting) place.
(cp. Is. 22^2), is not referred to in the Prologue, but it is the normal sequel to the rending or removal of the garments (i^^) worn by the persons in question (cp. Gn. 37^*, i K. 21^^, 2 K. 19^, Jon. 3^). — Lat'd my horn in the dust] a fig. of complete humiliation; so, **to exalt the horn" is to lift into a position of pride and dignity. The fig. is often supposed to be derived from the bull, whose strength and pride lie in its horns : for another explanation, see phil. n.
l6b. Darkness is already settling on Job*s eyebrows and will soon close them in death ; or, as others think, * refers to the watering of the eyes which is a symptom of elephantiasis, and ^ to the loss of sight consequent on the weeping.
17. There has been no moral justification for God's reducing Job to such misery. Cp. 10^. The v. is scarcely, as it is often said to be, a contradiction of Eliphaz's charge in 15^'- : Eliphaz there charges Job with sms of speech about God in the course of the discussion ; what Job here denies is violence of deed in ^^*, and in ^, if the text be correct, insincere speech to God. But ^^^ is a curious parallel to ^ ; like * it may perhaps originally have repudiated insincere or deceptive speech towards men (cp. Is. 53^), or (with Tirni, my way (Du. ?), or Tisijnnn, my walkings course of life (Be.) for **my prayer") have contained a reference to conduct in general.
18-21. About to die an undeserved (^^) death, Job passion- ately appeals for the vindication of his innocence after death (i^), and, though it is God who will inflict the undeserved death, it is God to whom he looks to vindicate him {}^) both against Himself (2^*), who by the sufferings which He has inflicted has seemed to represent Job as wicked, and against his fellow- men (21^), who have definitely charged him with wickedness.
18. When he is dead, let his assertion of innocence and his
1 48 THE BOOK OF JOB [XVI. 18-20.
^* Even now, behold, my witness Is in heaven, And he that voucheth for me is on high.
20 My friends are my scorners :
Unto God mine eye droppeth (tears) ;
call for vengeance on his murderer go on ringing up to heaven ; let his blood lie uncovered that its voice may not be gagged with the dust of the grave, and let the cry of his blood find no tarrying place as it travels up to heaven. By a special develop- ment of the widespread belief in the dangers generated by shed blood (cp. Blood, § 2, in ERE)^ Hebrew folklore taught that such blood, so long as it lay on the ground uncovered and unabsorbed, or if, having been covered over, it was again laid bare, cried out to God for vengeance : cp. Gn. 4^^, Is. 26^^ and, especially, Ezk. 24^'^ with its emphasis on the unabsorbent rock in contrast with the ground in general (pN*), which would have been more absorbent: Woe to the bloody city ... for the blood she has shed is in her midst, on the bare rock she has (or, with ffir, I have) set it : she poured it not out upon the earth, so as to cover it over with dust ; (but) in order to arouse fury, that vengeance might be taken, I have put the blood she has shed upon the bare rock, so that it might not be covered. Thus the double aspect (cp. 7^^ n.) under which Job apprehends God at this stage is clear and striking : God is his murderer ; but Job's blood, shed by Him, will cry not in vain to heaven ; for there it will find a vindicator, and that vindicator will be — God. Ehrlich's explanation, on the basis of Talmudic usage, is singularly improbable : according to him the meaning is : O earth, let my blood — by which is meant the injustice done him by his opponents representing him as a sinner — cry to heaven, so that I have no need to cry out myself.
19. On high] or, in the heights — a synonym for heaven, as
20. Job's friends scorn him for his sufferings ; he turns his tear-stained face to God with the plea which follows in 21 ; so or similarly the v. is understood on the supposition that J^ is correct, and that * is to be translated as above. If ?^ Is correct, the above translation, which follows JH, is the least improbable;
XVI. 20-22.] JOB 1 49
21 That he would decide for a man (in his contest) with God,
And between a son of man and his neighbour.
22 For a few years will come,
And (then) I shall go the way by which I shall not return.
but it could also be, and has by some been, translated in various other ways: My friend, or (Hoffm.) my shepherd (z.e. God), is my scorner (or, translating pfjD as in 332^, my interpreter) ; or, they that mock me are friends of God (Wr.) ; or, my thoughts (or, aims ; see Ps. 1392* ^^ f) are my interpreters (Ehrlich). (& presupposes a better parallelism and a better rhythm: it renders, May my prayer come unto God,
Before him mine eye droppeth (tears).
21. Dependent on the sense of petition expressed in 20 — indirectly in ^, and perhaps originally directly In * : My prayer is that my witness in heaven (^^) would secure my right (riDVI : cp. 9^^, Is. II*), be the arbitrator whom I have longed for (9^), in my contest with God. — Man, son o/man] are simply parallel terms : cp. Ps. 8^^*^; the general term in each case refers spe- cifically to Job; for the **and" can scarcely, with Ehrlich, be taken as the **and " of comparison (cp. phil. n.), so that the v. would mean : that God may secure right for Job in his dispute with God, as (He is wont to decide justly) between a man and his neighbour (cp. i S. 2^^). — His netghbour\ or, friend : in this latter sense the term in the pi. is applied to Job's three friends (2^1 1921) : the sing, here does not refer to Eliphaz (Peake) in particular, but obliquely (as ** man " to Job) to all three friends, the sing, being chosen as common in such phrases (cp. e.g", Jer. 7^). Another mistaken view of the sing, is that It is a synonym for God (Du.) ; but there is no reason for the choice of such a strange term for God (note the antithesis between God and a man's neighbour in Ex. 33^^ and in 20 if the text there be correct), for if ^ had been an exact repetition of the thought of * the writer could, according to his usual practice, have used in ^ an alternative name for God (f)j< or nu').
22-XVII. 2. Job gives as the ground for the wish just expressed his conviction of the near approach of death.
22, This v. appears to say : only a few more years of life
150 THE BOOK OF JOB [XVI. 22-XVII. 2.
XVII. ^ My spirit is broken,
My days are extinct, The grave is (ready) for me. * Surely there is mockery beside me,
And mine eye abideth in their defiance.
remain to me, whereas the next (17^) naturally suggests that Job regards his life as already virtually at an end; thus the two vv. do not go well together. Further, if both verses alike contain a reason either why God should intervene speedilyy or why Job must make his plea without delay^ it seems out of place to speak oi years of life, even though but a few years, yet to come. Either 22 js out of place (Sgf.), or we must emend in such a way that 22 like 17^ implies that death is imminent (see phil. n.). — A few year s\ lit. ** years of number," the idiom being the same as in '* a few men," Gn. 34^^ Dt. 4^^ etc.
22b. Cp. io2i».
XVII. I. See phil. n. — My spirit is broken] i.e. my life (dT my soul) is destroyed ; death is more commonly described as the departure (Ec. 12"^, Ps. 1042* 146*), and in Is. 57^^ as an enfeeblement, of the spirit. AV. *' My breath is corrupt," but the vb. does not mean ** is fetid," and, even if it did, a reference here to Job's fetid breath (19^^) would not agree either with the parallel lines or the context.
2. The V. is very strangely phrased, and is probably corrupt. Apparently Job returns to the charge against the friends in 16^0 j^ (but see n. there), alluding, as Dr. puts it, **to his friends' illusory promises of restoration (e.£: 5^^"^^), and exasper- ating insinuations of his guilt" (e.^. 8^"^ ii4-6. 20. ^p. 12*'-). So Di., who also mentions and criticizes numerous other un- tenable suggestions. Du., reading bitternesses in ^ instead of their defiance, understands mockery in * of the constant dis- appointment of Job's hopes (cp. ^3*), and "bitternesses" in ^ of the bitter conditions imposed on him by God. — Surely there is . . . and] the rendering, in itself legitimate, if there is not , . . then yields no appropriate sense: for ^ DN, surely, cp. 31^^ Lex. 50^. — Beside me] the mockery of my friends, or of fortune, surrounds (dv» as 29^- 20 25'^), or is in conflict with (oy, as
XVII. 2-5.] JOB 1 5 1
* Lay down, I pray thee, the pledge for me with thyself;
Who (else) is there that will strike his hand in to mine ?
* For their heart hast thou hid from understanding :
Therefore thou wilt not exalt them.
* He that denounceth (his) friends for a prey,
Even the eyes of his children shall fail.
iqI^ n.) me. — Ahideth m] or, emending, faileth by reason of (see phil. n.).
3. Addressing himself now to God, Job, even more clearly than in 16^^22^ g^^g Qygj. against one another his two thoughts of God — God hostile and God friendly, God unjustly making him suffer and so taking away his character, and God able and ultimately willing to re-establish his character; or, in the terms of the present figure, God as the giver of the pledge or bail which releases Job, and God as the receiver of the bail who, till He receives it, holds Job a prisoner (cp. 13^^). He does not expect immediate vindication, else no need of bail, nor even in this life (cp. ig^^~^'^).
3b. There is no one else who can give this pledge to clear him from God's aspersions, alike before God and man (1621), but God Himself. — Strike his hand] i.e. make the gesture that accompanies the giving of a pledge: cp. Pr. 6^ 17^^.
4. The friends, who might naturally have gone surety for Job's innocence, will not do so, because God has deprived them of the power of seeing the true state of the case, and consequently they believe Job guilty. But since this conclusion of theirs is due to blindness, God who is not blind, but sees aright, cannot exalt them to the position of victors in their dispute with Job by allowing Job's innocence to remain per- manently unvindicated. Such is commonly taken to be the connection. Du. thinks the v., which ffi omits, due to an interpolator mindful of 42'^*^-, but unmindful of the immediate context.
5. It is probable that the text of • is hopelessly corrupt (so Sgf.), and that this accounts for the fact that all attempts to explain the v. either suffer from artificiality, or place on the words of the text a questionable meaning. Denou7iceth^ of
152 THE BOOK OF JOB [XVII. 5.
informeth againsty is the only meaning that can safely be placed on Tin, construed with an ace. of the pers. (see phil. n.); there is no justification in usage for rendering inviteth^ and speaketh to (AV.) is not to be supported by reference to 26* (see n. there), 31^^ (aec. of the suffix)y 2 S. 15^^ (see Dr. ad loc,)y and scarcely even by 2 K. 7^-^^, Ezk. 43^*^. Prey (RV.) is a unique rendering of \hj}y which is commonly rendered portion^ or sharey and may refer to, ifiter alia^ a portion of spoil or booty (Gn. 142*, i S. 302*), or of food (Hab. i^^)^ ^^ ^f i^nd (Jos. 19^ and often) ; so the vb. piri usually means to divide^ apportion (spoil, food, land, etc.); but in 2 Ch. 282^ it has virtually developed the meaning to plunder^ an exceptional meaning of the vb. which supplies some ground for the sense *'prey" given to the noun here (Ew. reaches much the same meaning in another way). Flattery (AV.) is, in itself, also a legitimate rendering of pfjpl (cp. Pr. 721). Literally rendered, according to the usual meaning of the words, the v. thus reads : For a portion one denounceth friends^ and the eyes of his children fail \ "his" in ^ refers to "one" in *; "his" in » (RV.) is not expressed in Hebrew. The following may be given as the principal efforts to impose a meaning on these words and to connect them with their context, i. Dr., retain- ing RV. without alteration, comments: "Job compares his friends (implicitly) to a man who heartlessly distrains (as we should say) the goods of a neighbour for debt, and whose children suffer for their father's cruelty." On this theory the V. is at once a charge and a threat : the friends of Job are cruel ; the children of the cruel suffer ; therefore their children will suffer — a curious threat for Job to make, for see 21^®*-. Hgst. makes the whole v. a threat, rendering, A prey [becometh) he who denounceth fHends^ A7id the eyes of his children fail, 2. Ew. al. (cp. Di.) take the whole v. as descriptive, thus avoiding the threat ; ^ is then treated as circumstantial ; and the sing. pron. in ^ is taken to refer not to the denouncer, but to the friends (plural) denounced ; for such enallage numeri'D\. refers to 18^ 24^- ^^'- 272^; and Ew. accounts for it here by the fact that while using the pi. with a general reference in % Job is all the time thinking of himself : he r^nderSy for allottingy i,e.
XVII. 5-7.] JOB 153
* He hath made me a byword of the peoples ;
And as one at whom men spit must I be. ^ Mine eye also is dim by reason of vexation,
And all my members are as a shadow.
that the lot may be cast for them as for prisoners, one denounces friends ^ while the eyes of his {i.e. the friends') children fail. In this case as * describes the folly, so ^ the ruthlessness of the friends of Job, both vv. giving motives for the request in ^ (Di.). 3. Bu. (cp. Peake) treats the v. as a proverb (hence the 3rd pers. sing.), one invites friends to share (one's table)^ while his own children's eyes fail (from starvation), applied to the friends who, actually bereft of wisdom (^), yet think they can impart a rich share of their wisdom to Job. This explanation is less forced than the preceding, but it really requires N"»p^ instead of T^y. 4. Du. also treats the v. as a proverb, and, regarding it as a marginal note not needing to be closely related to the context, renders : He who denouiices friends on account of a pledge^ his children! s eyes fail,
6 ff. Resumed description of God's hard treatment of Job.
6. He\ i.e. God: perhaps. And thou hast made should be read (see phil. n.). — A byword of the peoples'] Job comes to rank among neighbouring peoples, to whom the story of his sufferings spreads, as a great sinner, so that they say **as great a sinner as Job " : cp. 30^, and for similar phrases, Dt. 28^'', I K. 9^, Jer. 24^. — As one at whom men spit] i.e. an object of aversion (see phil. n.): fflr « portent before theni^ perhaps rightly : AV. aforetime (as) a tabrety confusing nsn with C]n.
7a. Cp. 16^^, Ps. 6^. — Vexation] at God's undeserved treat- ment of him : cp. 6^. — b. He has grown lean with suffering : cp. 16^.
8-10. If these vv. are in their right place. Job is asserting, in contradiction, it is said, to Eliphaz's charge (15*) that Job deflects men from religion, that this (^), viz. the pitiable con- dition (^) to which he is reduced, does indeed perplex other upright men ; but that they, nevertheless, cling to the path of righteousness (^*) : they do not follow the godless, though the prosperity of the godless angers them (^*'), but, keeping them-
154 THE BOOK OF JOB [XVH. 8-9.
' Upright men are astonished at this,
And the innocent is disturbed concerning the godless. • Yet the righteous holdeth to his way,
And he that hath clean hands increaseth strength. *• But return ye, all of '"you"', and come now :
And I shall not find a wise man among you. ^1 My days are past,
My purposes are broken off, (Even) the desires of my heart.
selves pure, ultimately grow strong and prosperous themselves (^^). Let the friends, then, come on again vv^ith fresh argu- ments : not one of them in so doing will prove himself wise to Job (^^). In ^^ the description of Job's miserable condition in ^ is resumed. Obviously, then, it is possible to pass from ^ to ^® at once ; whereas the intervening vv. can only be fitted in with difficulty ; for who are these upright men to be astonished at Job's plight ? Job's whole complaint is rather that his sufferings mark him out to all men as one smitten by God for his wicked- ness : then again, ^^ with its purely general reference follows awkwardly after ^ with its special reference to Job. It is no more satisfactory to generalize the *' this " of ^ completely, and to particularize the reference in ^ to Job, explaining the vv. to mean upright men are perplexed by ** these moral wrongs which they see prevail in God's rule of the world" (Du.); yet Job, who is one of them, is resolved to cling to righteousness. Du. and Peake are probably right, therefore, in regarding the vv. (Peake ^- ^ at least) as out of place, and probably a part of the speech of one of the friends ; Du. inserts ^"^^ after i8^; the meaning then being that upright men, like the friends, are astounded at Job's profanity (** this " (^) is then strictly parallel to ''the godless" (^^)), but hold firm to their righteous way of life (^*) and grow strong therein (^^). ^^* Du. alters to the sing, taking it closely with i8**; ^^^ he regards as an addition after the vv. had become misplaced.
8b. Me., transposing the terms, rendered: And the godless triumphs over the righteous ; but even this does not accommOi date the vv. satisfactorily to their present position.
Q. Vel] Hebr. and.
XVII. 11-13.] JOB 155
*2 They change the night into day ;
**The light" (say they) **is near unto the darkness."
XI in continuance of ^ describes Job's desperate condition. Cp. v.^ 7^ 92^'-. Bu., My days pass away to my death, Broken are the cords of my understanding: Du., My days pass away with- out hope, The desires of my heart are annihilated : see phil. n.
12. The V. has been taken to mean : while my condition is really desperate (^^* ^^- ^^), my friends say : You are passing through dark days now, but a brighter time is soon coming ; this would, indeed, be a correct account of the friends' ** com- fort" in the first series of speeches (see 5^^-26 320-22 nis-wj^ ^nd Sophar actually used the fig. of light and darkness : ** Thy life will rise up more (brightly) than the noonday, though it be dark, it will become as the morning" (11^^). But Eliphaz in his second speech, to which Job is now replying, says nothing of the kind. That the friends are the subject of the vb. in % and authors of the statement in ^, is not at all clearly indicated: if 10 is in place, we should expect at least ** Ye change" : and if ^"^^ are out of place (see above), the reference to the friends is still less natural. The v. would be more in place if it ex- pressed Job's conviction that the light of his life is fading into the darkness of death ; but no very satisfactory emendation has been proposed (see phil. n.).
13-16. Job, being already as good as dead, has no further ground for hope ; for the hope of restoration to former happi- ness and prosperity does not descend to Sheol, of which Job already feels himself an inhabitant : "all hope abandon ye who enter here." The general sense remains the same whichever view of the construction of the v. be taken — that represented in the translation above (so RV. Di. Da. Bu. al.), or the older (dSnTJ, AV.) and in many respects the more striking view adopted by Del. Du. (cp. Peake) according to which i^'- should be rendered: If I hope, Sheol is mine house; I have spread my couch in darkness; I have said to the pit. Thou art my father. To the worm. My mother and my sister. This does more justice to the identity of the root of the vb. in ^^ (n^pi^) and the noun in ^^ (^iipn). In the former case the thought
156 THE BOOK OF JOB [XVII. 13-16.
^^ If I look for Sheol as mine house ;
If I have spread my couch in darkness ; ** If I have said to the pit, Thou art my father ;
To the worm, My mother, and my sister ! ^ Where then is my hope ?
And as for my "^prosperity"*, who can see it ? ^^ Will they go down "^with me^ into Sheol ?
Or "^shall we descend^ together into the dust ?
more precisely is : If Sheol is all I have to look for (^^'•), what real hope have I left (i^)? In the latter: If I still hope, death, not life, faces me (^^^-j, and the certainty of death ex- tinguishes (^^^•) hope. If ^2 refers to the comfort given by the friends, ^^ doubtless replies to it: if all I have really to hope for is Sheol, what becomes of the false hopes with which you would buoy me up?
13b. Cp. Ps. 139^. — In darkness] the darkness of Sheol : cp. io2i.
14. For the form of expression, cp. Pr. 7* : also c. 30^®. — T/ie pit] EV. here and, following (!5, sometimes elsewhere, incorrectly connecting the noun nriK^ (from nWy to sink down, as nn3 from ni:, etc.) with ^T\TWi render comiption. The word, used of a hollow dug in the earth for catching prey (Ps. 7^^ 9^^ 94^^, Pr. 26^^, Ezk. 19*), or a natural hollow (9^^), is applied to the underworld (3318.22.24.28.30^ Is. 3317 (^jW)^ Ezk. 288, Jon. 2^, Ps. 1610 3oio(9> 4910(9) 5524(23) 103M), conceived as a hollow within the earth ; or, if as some suppose (Lex.)y the term originally denoted a pit in Sheol, "the depths of Sheol" (Pr. 9^^), the part is here, as usually in OT., used for the whole. — Thon art] the words should probably be omitted : see phil. n.
15. Both lines, by rhetorical questions, imply that hope does not exist for Job: with the form of % cp. 15^3 21^8, of ^ 7^. — Prosperity] so ^ : P^ kopey repeating *.
16. Cp. Ps. 4918(17). The translation follows (&: RV. is not a legitimate rendering of J^, which should mean rather, if it meant anything. To the bars (?) of Sheol they (fern.) shall go down, if together on the dust (there is) rest (or, into the dust we descend) : see phil. n. — The dust] of the grave : cp. 7^1 19^5 20I1.
XVIII. 2-3.] BILDAD 1 57
XVIII. ^ Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said, 2 How long wiKt thou^ lay snares for words ?
Understand, and afterwards we will speak. ' Wherefore are we accounted as beasts,
(And) are "^obtuse^ in "^thy^ sight ?
XVIII. Bildad *S second speech. — After impatiently asking whether Job will never stop (2), why he looks upon his friends as blockheads (3), and whether he expects the order of the world to be upset on his account (*), Bildad confines himself in the remainder of his speech to painting a dark picture of the fate of the wicked, harassed and tormented while he lives (^"^^), and (leaving no posterity) doomed to oblivion when he dies
2. According to J^, Bildad here and in ^, though no longer in S addresses himself not, as elsewhere, and here too according to fflr, to Job alone in the sing., but to Job and others associ- ated with him — How long will ye^ etc.. Wherefore are we obtuse myour eyes ? But it is improbable that the 2nd plurals are original (see phil. n.), and ^ perhaps originally read, ** When at last wilt thou cease talking; Leave off (now), that we may begin to speak." — How long] as at the beginning of Bildad's first speech (8^). — Lay snares for words] hunt and en- trap words, setting before us far-fetched arguments which turn out to be irrelevant and after all nothing but words. In 8^ Bildad's figure suggests the very opposite of this : there Job's words pour forth like a great wind. AV. ** how long (will it be ere) you make an end of words " is a questionable rendering of 1^, but may coincide with the meaning of the original text (see phil. n.). — Understand] not the friends as Job had asserted (17^), but Job himself has been lacking in intelligence; let him now exchange his logic chopping for an intelligent treatment of the question, and the debate may continue; cp. U, In- telligite prius, et sic loquamar. We in this case includes Job, and it would be better to point the vb. as Nif. (cp. Mai. 3^^- 1^), and render, we will speak to one another. But the reading of ffi (see above) is preferable.
3. Cp. 17^ ^^^\ — Beasts\ i.e. unintelligent: cp. Ps. 73^2^ —
158 THE BOOK OF JOB [XVIIl. 3-5
• • • • •
Thou that tearest thyself In thy anger,
Shall the earth on thy account be forsaken ?
Or a rock be removed out of its place ?
* Yea, the light of the wicked is put out,
And the flame of his fire doth not shine.
• The light is dark in his tent,
And his lamp above him is put out.
Obtuse] suits the parallel better than ** unclean" (fR EV.). Moreover, Job has not charged the friends with being unclean — not even in 17^ by implication. After ^ Du. inserts 17^'* : see on those vv.
4. Du. inserts 17^^* (corrected), thus obtaining a distich : But turn (cp. 6^*) and come now, Thou that tearest thyself in thy anger. It is not God, as Job has asserted (16^), who tears Job, but Job himself in his rage against God (cp. 5^). The two illustrations in *^'^ drawn from the physical order are commonly supposed to point figuratively to the moral order of the world, and to mean, therefore, " Is the established order of the world (viz. that suffering is a consequence and proof of sin) to be interrupted, in order that thou mayest continue to be reputed righteous?" (Dr.). — Forsaken] oi its inhabitants, and therefore depopulated (cp. Is. 6^^, Lv. 26*^), though it was God's inten- tion that it should be populated (Gn. i^s, Is. 45^^). — Or a rocky etc.] 14I8.
5f, However Job may rage (*), the fact remains that the wicked do not prosper, and that those who do not prosper are wicked.— ^* = Pr. 13^^ 242^^^; ^^-^•'^ are variations of the same statement : thus in proverbial and perfectly general terms Bildad denies that the wicked can or do prosper, at the same time suggesting plainly enough the particular application : Job is not prosperous. Job is wicked. The light, or lamp (®^, cp. I K. 11^^), burning in the house, and the fire burning on the hearth, are symbols that the fortunes of the owner are still intact; when those fortunes are broken, the light goes out (21^^). — His lamp above him] suspended from the roof of the tent ; it is unlikely that ^ introduces another figure than that
XVIII. 5-11.] BILDAD 1 59
^ The steps of his strength are narrowed,
And his own counsel casteth him down. ® For he is carried into a net by his own feet,
And he walketh upon the toils. » A trap taketh hold of This"" heel,
A snare layeth hold on him. ^® The noose for him is hid in the ground,
And the gin for him on the way. ^1 Terrors affright him on every side,
And chase him at every step.
in * and refers to the lamp that lights up the way of one walking (29^).
7. A fresh figure for the failing fortunes of the wicked : he no longer, as in the days of his strength (Gn. 49^), walks confidently and freely, with plenty of room (Ps. 18^'^ ^^®\ Pr. 4^^) to walk in, but slowly under the constraint of a narrow path, and that full of obstacles which cause him to stumble (*'). — Casteth him down] or, rather (see phil. n.), causeth him to stumble', cp. Pr. 4^^^.
8-10. The piling up of the terms and figures for snares and traps indicates the strength of Bildad's conviction that there is no escape for the wicked from doom ; by one means or another, as he treads his narrow way (^), he must be brought down.
8a. Or, rather perhaps (see phil. n.). For his foot is carried into the net : ** his own " above and RV. represents an emphasis which does not exist in Ji^. — The toils] another form of net (see phil. n.), or *' lattice work" (cp. 2 K. i^) laid over and con- cealing a pit, to capture wild beasts, which, walking on un- suspectingly, fall into the pit.
9. A trap] that closes when trodden on, and catches : Is. 8^^ (n.), Jer. 48^*, Ps. 124^, and often. — A snare] see phil. n.
10. Noose] Pr. 5^2, and in the phrase *' nooses (RV. ** cords") of death," Ps. i8« 3\.—Gi7i] see phil. n.
11. Terrors] ninb, ^^ 24!^ 2720 30^5 ; also Ps. 731®, Ezk. 2621 27^^28^^: sing. Is. 17^*1. Wherever he goes the wicked man hears spectral noises (1521 Eliphaz), and sees spectral forms, which make his life a constant terror to him.
1 60 THE BOOK OF JOB [XVIII. 12-14.
12 His strength ''is'' famished,
And calamity is ready for his halting". ^3 "^Through disease^ his skin is consumed,
The firstborn of death consumeth his limbs. 1* He is plucked out of his tent wherein he trusteth ;
And he is marched to the king of terrors.
12. Famished\ undermined by hunger. The line agrees better with ^1, and the parallel line if rendered, Trouble hunger- eth forhim'y but see phil. n. — Calamity^ final ruin, 21^^, Ob. ^^ —Is ready] i^^^.—For his halting] cp. Ps. 35!^ 38I8, Jer. 20IO ; if he halts, ruin sees to it that he never gets going again. Less vividly and less probably J^ may be rendered **at his side."
13. Fatal disease attacks the wicked man. On the text, see phil. n. — The firstborn of death] like the Arabic bint eU maniyyuy ''daughter of fate," meaning fever, this phrase should mean fatal disease, possibly the worst and deadliest form of disease, though the parallel cited for this superlative sense of firstborn, ''the firstborn of the poor," meaning the poorest of the poor (Is. 14^^), is textually doubtful; as in Is. 14^^ so here a superlative is not altogether in place ; not all the wicked die of elephantiasis, to which, with a covert allusion to Job (so Dr.), Bildad is here supposed to refer, and yet Bildad is describing the fate of the wicked in general ; otherwise it is tempting to see in the line a reference to a specific symptom of elephantiasis, the falling off of pieces of the limbs. Unsuitable or less probable explanations are : the angel of death (ST), the worm of corruption (cp. 24^^: Marshall), the terrors of death (Ley) ; or, one doomed to death (consumes his own limbs (cp. Is. 9^0) in his ravenous hunger, Ew.).
14. The wicked man is torn away from his home in death. — a. F avellatur de tabernaculo suo fiducia eius, whence AV. (cp. S), a possible, but in the context a less probable translation of JL^. — The king of terrors] Death personified as a king with spectral terrors as his subjects and ministers ; a different personification occurs in Ps. 49^^ where Death is the shepherd of the wicked gathered like a flock to Sheol : cp. also Is. 28^^
XVin. 14-17.] BILDAD l6l
15 In his tent there dwelleth that which is naught of his ;
Brimstone is scattered upon his habitation. 1^ His roots are dried up beneath,
And above his branch is cut off. 1^ His remembrance perisheth from the earth,
And he hath no name on the face of the open plain.
(Death (|| Sheol) a party to a treaty). Curiously the ancient versions, with the exception of C, do not recognize in the phrase " the king of terrors " (see phil. n.).
15. After his death, the wicked man's house lies uninhabited and accursed. — That which is naught of his] weeds (Hos. 9^, Zeph. 2^) and wild animals (Is. 1321'- 34^1), such as are found in desolate places, are probably intended, if the text is correct. In ^ the desolation of his homestead is differently expressed ; as a mark of the curse of God, brimstone falls on it and makes it uninhabitable: cp. Gn. 192^, Dt. 29^2, Ps. ii«. Vt for * has : His wife (J^ : she) shall dwell in a tent not his. According to Ehrlich the v. means that "it," viz. the infection of leprosy, continues in the house after it has ceased to be the leper's, and the house is disinfected with sulphur.
16. The wicked man leaves no posterity ; his whole family perishes with him, and consequently (i^) he not only dies, but is forgotten. For the figure, cp. Am. 2^ ; in ^^ the same state- ment is made literally. Bu. omits ^^ : (& i^^- ^^ (isa ^ 19c ^j . ^^^^ the author of Job is fond of referring to, or drawing figures or using metaphors derived from, plant-life: see 8^^^- 14^ i^30flf. 19^^. — Iscutoff\ rather than droops, withers {sqq, phil. n. on 14^) : since ^ scarcely states the sequence to *, there is no force in Di.'s argument that withering and not cutting off is the result of drying up the roots : the purpose of the figure is rather to depict the immediate and simultaneous destruction of branch and root : both perish at once, and from the dried up roots no fresh branches (ct. 14^) will ever grow.
17. He is forgotten in the cultivated country (cp. Ps. 49^^^ in which his own homestead and fields lay, and over the wide stretch of the steppe country beyond into which he sent his cattle to graze (see phil. n.).
II
1 62 THE BOOK OF JOB [XVni. 18-21.
18 He is thrust forth from light into darkness,
And chased out of the world. 1® He hath neither offspring nor family among his people,
Nor any survivor in the place where he sojourned.
20 At his day they of the east are appalled,
And they of the west lay hold on horror.
21 Surely such are the dwellings of the unrighteous,
And this is the place of him that knoweth not God.
18. 19. V.i^ repeats the idea of ^^ ^^ of 1^. — From light into darkness] from the light (s^^) of life (33^^ Ps. 56I* ; cp. c. 3^0 "light" II to 'Mife") into the darkness of Sheol (as lo^i'-
19. Nor any survivor] from God's judgment on his house and family. — The place (or, rather, the places) where he so- journed] enjoyed guest-right: the phrase (V"11JD3) is expressive: 1^ has already stated that no one of his will remain in his house after him ; this v. goes further ; no one will escape the judg- ment and be found casting himself on the hospitality of others (cp. the parallel ''among his people").
20. The whole world is horrified at the wicked man's fate. — At his day] the day of his death and of God's punishment of him : cp. i S. 26^^ Ps. 37^^ Jer. ^o^\ (& At him ()D'bv as 2q23 2^23^ fQj. i^ij^ Cjyj is inferior. — They of the east . . . they oj the 7vest] or, the later ones . . . the former ones (see phil. n.) ; i,e, the wicked man's contemporaries on earth, and, as the news reaches them in Sheol, those who have predeceased him ; so terrible is the death of the wicked that the very shades in Sheol are horrified at it. — Lay hold on horror] for the idiom, cp. 21^, Is. 13^: it is quite unnecessary to forsake J^ for ffi, on them of the west horror lays hold.
21. The V. clinches the argument implicit in the previous description of the wicked : such a fate and none other awaits the wicked : cp. the conclusion to Sophar's speech, 20^^ ; ct. the conclusion to Eliphaz's first speech, which summarizes the pre- ceding description of the man who fears God, and 8^^ where Bildad summarizes, as here, his description of the wicked, but then 8^^^^ closes on a happier and more hopeful note ; Sophar
XVIII. 21-XIX. 3.] JOB 163
XIX. ^ Then Job answered and said,
2 How long" will ye vex my soul,
And break me in pieces with words ? ^ These ten times ye put me to confusion ;
Ye are not ashamed that ye deal wrongfully against me.
alone in the first round of speeches closes on a sinister note, ii^O; all alike so close their second speeches.
XIX. Job's reply to Bildad's second speech.— How long are the friends to go on wronging Job by false accusations p'-); Job's calamities are due not to just punishment for sin, but to God's unjust and violent treatment of him {^''') ; God's hostility ^8-i2j has led to the alienation of Job's family and acquaintances ^i3-i9j a^i^fj igfi; him with nothing but bare existence {^^)? Cannot his friends pity him ? Why do they instead increasingly perse- cute him (2^*-) ? If only his assertion of innocence might be perpetuated (after his now imminent death) p^*-) ! It will be ; and, moreover, God will vindicate him and show Himself to be on his side (25-27J . ^nd so the friends will contiuue their perse- cution of him at their peril (^^*-) !
2-6. How long are the friends to go on aggravating Job's sufferings by what they say ? They have repeatedly and shamelessly wronged him {^) by suggesting that the cause of his great and extraordinary sufferings lies in his sin ; but it does not; on the contrary, the cause of his suffering is that God has turned the scales of justice against him (^), so that there has wrongly fallen to him the penalty of great crimes which he had never committed ; and thereby God has given a ground, according to the current theory, for an argument against his innocence.
2. How long] beginning like Bildad, 18^. — Vex my soul] by your severe and uncompassionate treatment of me; for the vb., cp. especially Is. 51^^, " I (Yahweh) will put it (the cup of my fury) into the hand of those that vexed thee^ that said to thy soul, Bow down that we may pass over"; La. i^- ^'^ of the pain caused to Sion by Yahweh's severe punishment of her ; 3^^ (antithetical to " show compassion "). Not only do his ''comforters" not alleviate (16^*), they positively add to his sufferings (cp. 16^).
164 THE BOOK OF JOB [XIX. 3-4.
* And be it indeed that I have erred, Mine error remaineth with myself.
3. These ten times] i.e. these many times : how often ! cp. Nu. 14^^; also for ten = many, Gn. 31^, Lv. 26^^.
4. The exact force of the v. is far from clear. In the first place, does it virtually admit error or (cp. No. 4 below) deny it ? Certainly an admission of such error as would deserve what Job now suffers is out of the question. But error is a mild word; cp. ** Errors, who can discern" (Ps. 19^^); the possi- bility of errors, unknown to himself, weighs upon the conscience of the religiously sensitive man, but these do not account, like great transgressions, for great sufferings. If, then, the v. admits such error (and even sin Job admits elsewhere, 10^ n. 13^^), it is best taken as meaning: granted that I have sinned, the penalty of that sin no doubt comes home to me, but it affords no ground for you (^) to argue from the reproach which my great sufferings cast upon me that I have greatly sinned. Richter (1^3 Di< for DDDN) gives a special turn to the kind of error admitted : If in my youth I erred (cp. 13^6, Ps. 25^), Is my error (for ever) to abide with me ? But the vb. {^) refers to a recurrent and temporary, rather than to a permanent stay. Other interpretations are ; (i) Granted I have erred, my error is my affair, not yours ; but this is only possible, and even then unsatisfactory, if the admission of error is tantamount to the denial of great sin ; for if Job has greatly sinned, that is altogether an affair of the friends, being the complete justifica- tion of their case against him : moreover, in 6^* Job appealed to the friends to make plain to him what his error was : (2) Granted I have erred, I alone am cognizant (nx as 12^ 14^ : cp. Dy, 9^ n.) of my errors, i.e. my sin is venial, not gross and open, and you, having no real knowledge of it, are charging me with sin without justification (Di.); but, as Hi. pointed out, one of the charges of the friends against Job is precisely what on this hypothesis he admits, viz. that he keeps his sin to himself, making no confession of it ; (3) my sin hurts only myself, not you — a parallel to 7^^ (Job's sin does not injure God): so Peake; (4), Du. : *' Have I indeed erred .^ With me
XIX. 4-7.] JOB 165
^ If indeed ye magnify yourselves against me,
And argue against me my reproach ; ^ Know then that God hath subverted me (in my cause),
And hath compassed me about with his net. '^ Behold, I cry out, Violence ! but I am not answered :
I cry for help, but there is no judgment.
doth error (so ffi) tarry ? " the question (expressed by the emotional PjN) instead of the interrogative particle) of course expecting the answer no. This would be the best explanation if, where the interrogation is so important, the particle could be omitted (G-K. 150^).
5 f. An alternative translation of ^ is : Will ye indeed magnify yourselves . . . and argue . . .? cp. Lex. s.v. DN, 50^. On the other hand, the translation. If indeed ye will magnify yourselves against me, then argue (or prove), etc., can scarcely be defended, the impf. with waw in the apodosis being ab- normal (Dr. § 136). Translated as above, the imperative (lyi) without waw may be paralleled by i S. 20^1 21^'' (Dr. 136/3'*).
6. God has done what Bildad (8^) and Elihu (34^2) think impossible : He has perverted justice : Job is ensnared like an innocent beast by a mighty, ruthless hunter. — IVet] see phil. n. : the word is different from any of those used in 18^"^^.
7-20. Description of God's severe dealings with Job, both C^"^^, a series of figures) generally, and (1^-20^ jj^ particular by estranging those to whom he might most naturally have turned for comfort and support, so leaving Job abandoned of men and alone.
7. Not Job (16^^), but God is the doer of violence, and Job is His victim ; he calls out, to attract the notice of passers-by (Dt. 22^*), Violence ! (cp. Jer. 20^, Hab. i^), but none of them respond or give him assistance to secure justice against his assailant. — I am no^ answered] by any man : this is the neces- sary implication of the pass, in Pr. 21 ^3; if the meaning is I am not answered by God (cp. 30^^ Hab. i^), then there is the same double thought of God which has appeared before (i 6^^-21 17311.): Against God assailing me I cry out to God passing by — but receive no help.
1 66 THE BOOK OF JOB [XIX. 8-13.
^ My path he hath fenced up that I cannot pass,
And upon my paths he setteth darkness. ® My glory he hath stripped from off me,
And he hath taken away the crown on my head. ^^ He breaketh me down on every side, and I am gone ;
And he hath plucked up mine hope like a tree.
11 He hath also kindled his wrath against me,
And he counteth me unto him as (one of) his adversaries.
12 One and all his troops come on,
And cast up their way against me, And encamp round about my tent.
13 My brethren he hath put far from me.
And mine acquaintance are wholly estranged from me. 1* My kinsfolk have failed,
And my familiar friends have forgotten me.
8. Fresh figures : God prevents Job pursuing his way by setting barriers across it and involving it in darkness : cp. La. 3®, and see on 3^^
9. God has stripped Job bare of the reputation for righteous- ness which he once enjoyed (29I*) ; bereft of his possessions he is in the estimate of the world a sinner.
10. Breaketh me down] The fig. in ^ is of a building : Job's life is in ruins : nor is there any chance of restoration : ^ any hope he might have had is like a tree not merely cut down and still capable of shooting up again (14"^), but uprooted.
lib. = 1324.
12. God's troops lay siege to Job : military figures are also used in iqI^ 16I* 30!^. — Cast up their way] i.e. create siege works from which to attack the invested fortress. — My tent] absent from ^, in which i^ is a distich.
13. He hath put far] ffir have gone far^ in agreement with the following lines (i3b-i9j^ where the vbs. indicate directly the action of Job's friends in avoiding him : so Di. — Mine acquaint- ance] cp. 42II; but a very slight change (i^T for ^yT) gives they have known it (and): so Me. Bi.i Bu., thus securing a whole distich for the "brethren," and avoiding the close juxta- position of '•j;T' 13^ and ^yn^D 1*^.
XIX. 14-17.] JOB 167
^^ They that sojourn in my house, and my maids, count me for
a stranger :
I am become an alien in their sight. 1^ I call unto my servant, and he giveth me no answer ;
With my mouth must I entreat him. ^^ My breath is strange to my wife,
And I am loathsome to the children of my (mother's) womb.
14 f. The division of the lines in fE is probably faulty (see phil. n.): an alternative division allows the rendering, My kinsmen and my familiar friends have failed,
They that sojourn in my house have forgotten me ; And my maids count me for a stranger, I am become an alien in their sight. But not improbably the fourth of these lines has suffered transposition and originally was the parallel to the first.
Kinsfolk^ Heb. those that are near, used of those nearly related: cp. Lv. 212*-, where the range of the term is exemplified; cp. also Lv. 25^^, Nu. 27^^, and, in a similar context to the present, Ps. 38^^(11)^ << those that are near (of kin) to me stand afar off." — Failed] lit. ceased (cp. 14^), i.e. to treat me as a kins- man or the like. Du. for have failed and my fatniliar friends reads have ceased to know me : but see phil. n. — Familiar friends] ^n^» as Ps. 3112(11) 889(8) 5514(12)^ 2 K. iqIi.
15. They that sojourn] those who had sought the pro- tection of Job's house and enjoyed his hospitality — the^^?'(EV. ** stranger") of Ex. 20I®. — Maids] female slaves. — A stranger] or alien, properly one who belongs to another family, class, or community (cp. Nu. i^^ n.); the tables are now so completely turned that the very persons who owed their places in the household to Job now look upon him as one outside the family. — Alien] or foreigner.
16. Job's slave, instead of waiting for and immediately responding to the least gesture indicative of his wish (Ps. 123^), does not even obey an express command ; and at best now he only responds to humble entreaty and appeal for compassion.
17. The loathsome features of his disease (2^ n.) repel Job's nearest and dearest relations — his wife, and those who had
1 68 THE BOOK OF JOB [XIX. 17-20.
^ Even young children despise me ;
I would arise, and they speak against me! ^* All the men of my circle abhor me ;
And they whom I loved are turned against me. ^^ My bone cleaveth to my skin^,
And I am escaped ""with my flesh in my teeth.'
issued from the same womb as himself. — The children of my (another's) wo?nb] i.e. my uterine brothers (and sisters), a far narrower term than the ** brethren" of ^3; cp. the limiting clause attached to *' brother(s) " in Gn. 4329, Jg. S^^, ** My brethren, the sons of my mother." ** My womb," meaning **my mother's womb," has already occurred in 3^^. If it were neces- sary to explain the phrase of children (cp. Mic. 6^, Ps. 132^^) of Job, the passage would probably be in conflict with the Pro- logue (and also 8* 29^: see n.), according to which all Job's children had perished ; for the alternative suggestions are un- satisfactory, viz. that the children intended are children of concubines ((S Ew.), or grandchildren (Hrz.). W. R. Smith (Kiiiship and Marriage in Early Arabia^ p. 34) explained the phrase as meaning clansmen {beteii^ as in Arabia, mean- ing clan) ; but this would make ^^^ more nearly a repetition
of 13a.
18. The young children about his house (see phil. n.), though not, of course, his own children, mock at (cp. 2 K. ^^) his diseased appearance, or ^ the difficulty with which alone he can rise from the ground.
19. The men of my circle] or confidence (l)0 : 15® phil. n.) ; the men to whom he had been wont to communicate his secrets, or intimate thoughts (cp. Ps. 55^^ ^1^^).
20. Job is already little better than a skeleton, and his hold on life precarious. With * cp. Ps. 102^^, La. 4^. — To my skin] ^ + and lo my flesh \ but see phil. n. — With my flesh in my teeth] cp. 13I*. 1^ with the skin of my teeth : the words have passed into a proverb for nothing, or next to nothing ; but, as they are probably the result of an accidental corruption of the text, it is not surprising that the origin and exact meaning of *'skin of the teeth" has remained obscure; various theories
XIX. 20-22.] JOB 169
21 Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends ;
For the hand of God hath touched me.
22 Why do ye persecute me as God,
And are not satisfied with my flesh ?
are cited and discussed by Di. and Del. Other emendations of the V. are discussed in the phil. n.
21 f. Ruthlessly assailed by God and abandoned by other men, even those nearest him, Job, yearning for some support, appeals to the compassion of the three friends who, unlike others, were at least physically still near him : for the moment all thought of argument is abandoned ; he no longer seeks to convince them, or asks them to be just to him ; he asks them to be kind\ he makes his appeal on the two grounds that they were old friends of his and that he is sorely smitten ; but the second ground of his appeal is the very reason why the friends cannot be kind in the only sense that will satisfy Job ; he wishes them not to continue to hold him guilty of sin, and they, because he is smitten by God, are convinced that he is. The appeal of ^i, so unlike Job's other addresses to the friends, is abandoned : the friends give no sign of relenting ; and in ^2^ after his usual manner. Job asks them the cause and meaning of their cruel treatment. — Have pity upon me] or, be kind, gracious to me : cp. the use of the vb. in Dt. 7^ 28^*^, Ps. 37^1. — Touched] as i^^ (see n. there) 2^.
22. Why, relentless and persistent as God, do they never come to an end of calumniating him by arguing that he has committed great sins ? — Are not satisfied with myfiesh] here the meaning (ct. 31^^) rests on the use of the phrase *'to eat the flesh, or fragments, of a man," in the sense of to calumniate or accuse him; cp. in Aram. Dn. 3^ 52^^24) <<to eat the fragments of" (EV. ** accuse"); and **the eater of fragments" is the rendering of o Sia/3oXo? in the Peshitta of the NT. ; and in the Qor. (49^^) Mohammed plays on the two meanings of the phrase, the literal and the metaphorical : '* Let not one of you traduce another in his absence. Would any of you like to eat the flesh of his brother being dead? Surely ye would loathe it." See further, Schult. on this passage, Ges. Thes. gia. — Are not
170 THE BOOK OF JOB [XIX. 22-24.
23 Oh would, then, that my words were written !
Oh would that they were inscribed in a book I 2* That with an iron pen and lead
They were for ever graven in the rock.
satisfied 'with\ never come to an end of, never have enough of; cp. Pr. 30^^^'.
23 f. When Job dies, the insatiable hunger of the friends for calumniating him (2^^) will continue ; and, their accusations being unchallenged, he will pass down to posterity as a great sinner. His first reaction (a second follows in 2^) against this thought is a wish : this wish is expressed in ^^a^ and reinforced with details so arranged as to reach a climax in 2^^- 2* : would that my words were written (2^*), for an abiding testimony, in a book p^), or even more enduringly and conspicuously in (lead or) rock p^) : in that case, to the end of time, the charges brought against his name will, at least, never pass unchallenged ; and he, even after death, will continue to defend his integrity.
23. My words] not the words that follow in ^sff- (Hi.) (an inscription (2*) would start strangely with the conj. (""^Nl) at the beginning of 2^), nor the exact words of Job's previous speeches in their full extent, but the substance of those speeches, in so far as they maintained his integrity against the accusations (^2^) of the friends. — Inscribed] Is. 30^. — In a book] or scroll (31^^ n.), where they would continue as an enduring testimony : cp. Is. 30^. The term ** book " does not necessarily imply extensive contents: it is used, e.g'.y of a deed of purchase (Jer. 32^^), or divorce (Dt. 24^), or of a letter (2 S. ii^"^). Du., in his (i.e. God's) book, on the ground that Job would not express a wish which he could himself most easily satisfy ; the suggestion is well criticized by Peake : see also phil. n.
24. It is uncertain whether this v. referred to inscriptions on one, or on two (cp. &lrj) different materials, though J^ is most naturally taken as referring to but one, and this also seems most effective ; in this case the v. has been understood (since Rashi) to refer to engraving with an iron stylus (cp. Jer. 17^) in the rock, and then, for greater clearness and lastingness, filling in the letters with lead. If two materials are referred to, it
XIX. 24-25.] JOB 1 7 1
25 But I know that my vindicator liveth,
And that hereafter he will stand up upon the dust.
IS best, adopting two slight emendations (see phil. n.), to render, That with an iron stylus on lead. Or for ever in the rock they were graven. The climax is then reached in three stages : let my assertions of innocence be perpetuated in a written scroll^ or, in what is more enduring, on lead{er\ tablets), or, in what is more enduring still, immovable also, and so free from risk of being lost, and conspicuous too — in the rock. Is the poet thinking of inscriptions cut in the rocks over tombs ? Inscribed leaden tablets were much used in antiquity (Paus. ix. 31*; Pliny, H.N. 13. 669), especially for imprecations (cp. Tac. Ann. ii. 69, **nomen Germanici plumbeis tabulis insculp- tum "), and many such tablets have been discovered, including one containing a Phoenician inscription from Carthage of about the 3rd or 2nd cent. B.C. ; see Wiinsch, Defixionum tahellce AtticcB (cp. Bliss, Macalister, and Wiinsch, Excavations in Palestine^ pp. 185-187; Cooke, NSI^ No. 50, and the literature there cited).
25. But to the first (^^'-j there now succeeds a second re- action to the thought (2^) that his character after death will be undefended against the accusations which will still continue. This second reaction takes the form not, like the first, of a wish, but of a conviction under great emotional excitement (cp. 2^). For the moment, at least. Job is convinced that there is to be some better defence of his character than his own assertions recorded in writing for ever ; not the indelible letters of a dead man, but a living person will defend and vindicate his character : none other than the living God Himself will at last free his name from reproach. In another remarkable respect the second appears to pass beyond the first thought, though corruption and obscurity of the text leave this point more ambiguous than could have been desired. In ^3^. job is, relatively, satisfied to die, if he can be sure that as in life, so after death the accusa- tions against him will not pass unchallenged ; the written record made before his death will endure afterwards — a per- petual challenge. After death, as in life, Job will thus maintain
172 THE BOOK OF JOB [XIX. 25
his own integrity. But the second thought is that his integrity will be maintained not merely by himself, but established by another, and that other God : in other words, a great change will occur after death : and of this change Job, even in death, will become conscious (vv.^^- 2^*) ; in life, right up to death, God has seemed to himself as to his friends against him ; but when He vindicates Job, He will thereby range Himself on Job's side ; and this change Job will see : his eyes will behold God on his side at last. Even if, as on the whole (in spite of 14^^^-) seems best, we thus interpret, there is still no belief here in a continued life of blessedness after death in which compensation in kind will be made for the inequalities of this life ; the movement in the direction of a belief in a future which is here found is rather in response to the conviction that com- munion with God is real ; in a moment after death it will be given to Job to know that he was not deluded in maintaining his integrity, and that he had not really forfeited the confidence of God. An alternative theory of these verses (Bu. Kautzsch) makes Job expect the vision of God (^^j this side of death ; and, so far as the difficult and in part corrupt lines (25^. 26a. bj ^^^ concerned, there would be much to be said for interpreting the obscurities and ambiguities of the text towards this less startling conclusion ; but the theory does not appear to give due weight to the fact that in 2^^- (as also in 16^^^) Job clearly expects to die before his character is cleared, and that no transition to the contrary thought, that he will only die after that has taken place, is to be discovered in ^S; on the other hand, the stress laid on the fact that the vindicator lives can be most naturally, if not only, explained as due to the implicit antithesis that Job will die. The other thought would naturally have been expressed in some such form as : I know that I shall live, and that I shall yet see God upon the earth (cp. Ps. 42^ ^^\ Is. 38^^) and on my side ; and if this actually was the thought of the writer, it would be best to regard the word **liveth " as an intrusion into the text : but for this there is no sufficient reason (see phil. n.) Bruston [Revue de theologie et des ques- tions religeusesy I goo, 244; ZATWy 1906, 143-146) understands Job to be describing a present vision of God vindicating him in the
XIX. 25.] JOB 173
future, when he is dead and no longer conscious. The obscure renderings of ffi (understood by Clement of Rome [Cor, 26) and Origen (on Mt. 172^: P.G. xiii. 1566) of the resurrection, but otherwise by most scholars of the Eastern Church from Chry- sostom downwards) ^^T do not justify the conclusion that the translators detected a reference to experience after death : on the other hand, U (hence AV.), with all clearness, does so and even introduces the idea of the resurrection of the body (cp. Aug. De Civ. Deiy xxii. 29). On the history of the interpreta- tion of the passage, see Speer, Zur Exegese von Hioh i^^'^y in ZA TW, 1905, pp. 47-140 (with references to earlier discussions, p. 49). — My vindicator] The one who will vindicate me, estab- lish my character; cp. "My witness," "He that voucheth for me," 16^^. The Hebrew term goel (cp. 3^ n.) may, by itself, without the addition of Din, denote "the avenger of blood," and has sometimes been understood in this special sense here (cp. i6^s^); but the thought of murder is not suggested here, and the goel had many other functions besides that of securing an equivalent for blood slain ; he had to vindicate various claims and rights (cp. e.g. Lv. 252^). With the present usage, cp. especially Pr. 23^^: Do not oppress widows and orphans, " for their vindicator (i.e. God) is mighty, He will plead their cause against thee": also Ps. 119^^*. — Liveth] i.e. implicitly, for ever (cp. the phrase " the living God"): not something written for ever (2*), but a person who lives for ever will for ever vindicate Job. — Hereafter] lit. as one {coming) after (or, at the last) ; see phil. n. The particular nuance given to the phrase differs according to the view taken of the passage as a whole; by itself it might equally well mean as one coming after (I am dead) ; cp. Ec. 4^^ ; or, as one who comes last and says the last word — and that in Job's favour — in the dispute (Bu.). The line would read more easily if, instead of this phrase, there was a parallel to "my vindicator," such as "my afterman " (but see phil. n.). — Stand up] or rise upy as witness (cp. e.g. Dt. 1915'-, Ps. 2712), or judge (311*, Ps. 76^0 94^^ Is. 2i9 of God). On other interpretations and emendations, see phil. n. — Upon the dust] perhaps, of Job's grave; cp. 7^^ 17^^ 20^1 21^6 • (also, more remotely, 10^ 34^^, Ps. 1042^) ; though it is true, as Bu.
174 THE BOOK OF JOB [XIX. 25-27
26 And .
And away from my flesh I shall behold God. 2^^ Whom /shall behold (to be) on my side,
And mine eyes shall see (to be) unestranged.
My reins fail with longing within me.
urges, that in these passages, as in others (Ps. 7^ 22^^.30^ jg^ 26^^, Dn. 12^), the reference to the grave is much more clearly indicated than here. The alternative is to give the phrase the meaning ** upon the earth": cp. especially 412^^^^ also 5^ (II ''ground") 14^ 39I* (|| ''earth"): cp. also 8^^ 22^^ 27I6 282 30^ 40^^. If the implication is "upon the earth," there is a tacit advance on 16^^: there Job thinks of God his witness as in heaven ; ultimately in the judgment of God he is innocent ; here he is convinced that God will manifest his innocence to those on earth who have levelled accusations against him ; for another tacit antithesis between " dust" and " heaven," see 4^^ (after ^^). We. (see phil. n.) renders against dusty i.e. Job's friends and accusers; Bruston (ZATWy 1906, 144), on behalf of dusty i.e. of Job, who is soon to become dust ; but though man may be said to be dust (Gn. 3^^ Ps. 103^*), that particular individuals should be referred to simply as dust is unlikely.
26. Line * is altogether obscure and uncertain : see phil. nn. Unfortunately * being obscure, the phrase in ^ rendered above, away from my fleshy i.e. after death, is ambiguous; in itself it may equally well mean/ww my fleshy i.e. in life: on the reasons derived from the wider context in favour of the former, see on ^^.— I shall behold God] cp. Ps. ii^ "the upright behold God," Ps. 17^^; Job thus, even in this phrase, implies his conviction that he will see God recognizing his integrity, and reconciled to him ; but this thought is developed and more explicitly stated in the next distich.
27. In the vision Job will see that God is no longer, like men (^^' ^^), and as He Himself now seems, estranged, but ranged on his side. — /] emphatic — I, "of whom this might be deemed incredible" (Dr. T>\.).—On my side] /, as in Gn. 31*2^ Ps. 56^^^^^ 118^. — Mine eyes shall see] 42^. — [To be) unestrangtd]
XIX. 27-28.] JOB 175
28 If ye say, ** How will we persecute him !
Seeing that the root of the matter is found in "^him^ " ;
or (to be) not a stranger p n.). The grammatically possible alternative rendering of the line, And mine eyes and not (those of) a stranger^ shall see^ is far less probable ; no doubt Job alone might see God while others present at the time only hear Job's vindication or see some accompaniment of the vision (cp. 2 K. 2 ; Du. ; add Acts 9^) ; but Job is not at this moment interested in what will not happen to some one else, but in what will happen to himself, and in particular the aspect under which he will see God — God once more his friend. Moreover, what Job longs for is not the mere outward sight of a material manifestation, but direct inward vision or experience of God's attitude towards him : cp. n. on 42^.
27c. The thought of the vision fills Job with deep emotion, and longing to see it realized. — Reins^ in Hebrew psycho- logy the seat of intense feeling: cp. Ps. 16^, Pr. 2'^'^^. — Fail with longing] the vb. to fail (n^D) with the same meaning as in Ps. 843 <2) 11^81 (predicated of the soul), 69*^3) i ig82c. i23.__ Within me] not the usual phrase (^a"ip3), but lit. in my bosom : cp., perhaps, Ec. 7^ and c. 23^^ (emended). King (J.Th.S, XV. 76 ff.) to avoid ** my reins ... in my bosom " would render the line, "I am fully determined in my bosom," or '*I fully trust in my bosom " (cp. U) ; but this is hazardous. Possibly, however, the line, an isolated stichos, is corrupt.
28 f. A closing warning for the friends: if they persist in persecuting (^s* : cp. ^2) him on the ground that the sufferings of Job, the root of the matter at issue (nm, as Ex. 18^^) and under discussion, are due to sin in Job, let them beware lest they themselves become the victims of the sword (Dt. 2)^^^) of divine justice. — b. Him] 5^ me : see phil. n. Adopting this emendation we might alternatively render the line, And find the root of the matter in him ; but the order of the words does not favour this ; and if the point were that the friends will push their scrutiny into Job's case till they detect the hidden mischief that lurks within him (Peake), a stronger vb. than '*find," such as ** search out," would be used.
176 • THE BOOK OF JOB [XIX. 29-XX. 3.
^ Be ye afraid of the sword :
For ""such things^ are iniquities meet for the sword, That ye may know there is a judge. XX. ^ Then answered Sophar the Na'amathite, and said, 2 Therefore my thoughts '"disturb"' me,
And by reason of "^this^ my haste is within me. 5 The correction which putteth me to confusion must I
hear. But out of my understanding a spirit answereth me.
29. Lines ^' ° are more or less corrupt ; for alternative emendations, see phil. n. — Such things\ f^ wrath. — A judge\ j^ judgme7it.
XX. Sophar's second speech. — Provoked by Job's foolish words (2^-), Sophar asks, though exceptionally (see 4^ n.) the speech does not begin with the question, whether Job is un- aware (implying by the question that, of course, Job cannot be unaware) of the fact, old as history (*), that the wicked, if they are exalted for a brief space (^^•), perish ignobly (^), and utterly vanish (^^•), and their children are reduced to want (^'•). All in their life that promised well is turned to bitterness (n-is) ; they are forced to disgorge their unjustly and cruelly gained wealth (19-22) ; for God punishes them (2^), and if they escape one disaster, it is but to succumb to another (24-26^^ Heaven and earth turn witness against them (2^), and they lose all (2^) : such is the fate of the wicked (2^).
2. Disturb^ J^ answer', see phil. n. — b. |^ and by reason of my haste laithin me ; see phil. n. — Haste\ or, perhaps, emotiojt. The rebukes administered and advice offered by Job {e.g. jg2f.23f.)^ which are an affront (3*) to Sophar, call forth the present impetuous or passionate reply.
3. The correction which, etc.] ^nof^a IDID: cp. {\^iyb^ 'o, '* the correction which led to our peace," Is. 53^). — Which putteth me to confusion] a retort to Job's complaint, 19^. — b. A bad parallel to *, and scarely intelligible : but see phil n. Slightly emended, the line gives excellent parallelism and sense : And with wind void of understanding thou answerest me: cp. 8^ (Bildad), 15* (Eliphaz).
XX. 4-10.] SOPHAR . 177
* Dost thou know this (as being) from of old,
Since man was placed upon the earth, ^ That the triumphing of the wicked is short.
And the joy of the godless but for a moment ? ^ Though his loftiness mount up to the heavens,
And his head reach unto the clouds ; '^ Like his (own) dung he perisheth for ever :
They who have seen him say, Where is he ? 8 He flieth away as a dream, and is not found ;
And he is chased away as a vision of the night. ® The eye which saw him seeth him no more ;
Neither doth his place any more behold him. ^* His children court the favour of the poor,
And his hands give back his wealth.
4b. Cp. Dt. 432.
5. The triumphing] i.e, the exultant joyous shout (nan, as 37, Ps. ioo2 636).
6. Cp. Is. 14I3.
7a. Like his own dung] completely (cp. ^ i K. i/\^^, 2 K. 9^^) and shamefully. But the unnecessary suffix, though not the coarseness of the figure (for cp. ^^, though scarcely ii^^, which Di. also quotes), may throw doubt on the correctness of the text or translation. S like a whirlwind \ Ew. like his majesty (Ar. jaldl)\ Che. (ET, x. 382) like his glory (n33) ; King {J.Th.S. XV. 39), while he is confiding (l^i)jD, a vb. : cp. Ps. 22^ ^^^ 37^, Pr. 16^; but these passages do not justify giving to ^^j (lit. to roll) used absolutely the sense to confide). — Where is he] cp. 14IO.
8. For the figures, cp. Is. 29^, Ps. 73^^.
9. Line * closely resembles 7^* (Job), Ps. 103^^^, ^ y'^^^. Cp. also 818 (Bildad).
lOa. Or, The poor oppress his children ; or. His children are crushed into poor ones : see phil. n. In any case, the meaning is that his children are, or suffer as, the poorest of the poor (cp. 5* Eliphaz). Coming after ^ it would be easy to understand '^^^ of the impoverishment of the children after the wicked man's death ; but in that case ^ also should refer to 12
178 THE BOOK OF JOB [XX. 10-16.
^1 His bones are full of his youth,
But it will lie down with him in the dust. ^2 Though wickedness be sweet in his mouthy
Thoug-h he hide it under his tongue ; ^3 Though he spare it, and do not let it go,
But keep it still within his palate ; 1* (Yet) his food in his bowels is turned ;
The gall of cobras is within him. ^5 He swalloweth down riches, and vomiteth them up again ;
Out of his belly God doth cast them. 1^ The poison of cobras he sucketh,
The viper's tongue doth slay him.
the children, and their hands should be read (see phil. n.). Alternatively ^^ may, as ^^ certainly does, return to the lifetime of the wicked man ; even in his lifetime his children (like him- self ^ ^^) are reduced to beggary.
II. The wicked man dies in the full bloom and vigour of youth — before he has lived even half the allotted span of human Hfe (Ps. ^h^^—Of his youth] AV. follows F in gratuitously prefixing the sins. — The dust] i.e. the grave : cp. 19^5 n.
12-14. — Wickedness is compared to a dainty morsel (^2*- ^*^) which is kept in the mouth as long as possible (i^^) that full enjoyment may be had from the taste of it (^^), but which, when it passes into the system, proves poisonous {^^).
15. A different and coarser (cp, v.^ n., also Jer. 51^*) figure derived from eating : the wicked man, in his haste to be rich, gluttonously loads his belly with riches, but God administers an emetic, and he has to part with them again. It is curious that some should connect ^^ closely with ^* as continuing the same figure; in helping the wicked to part with what had become poisonous, God would be mitigating the punishment, and this is certainly not Sophar's thought.
16. The V. may have been a marginal parallel to ^^^ (so Bu.). ^ is, of course, physiologically incorrect ; but the darting tongue of the serpent naturally suggested itself as the instru- ment of death.
XX. 17-23.] SOPHAR 1 79
^^ Let him not look upon the channels of "^oin,
The streams of honey and curdled milk. 1^ Restoring that which he laboured for, he swalloweth it
not down ;
According to the gains of his exchange he rejoiceth not ! ^* For he hath oppressed (and) forsaken the poor,
He seizeth violently a house, but doth not build it up. 2^ Because he knew no quietness in his belly.
He will not escape with his valued possessions, 2^ Nothing escaped his greed ;
Therefore his prosperity endureth not. ^2 In the fullness of his sufficiency he is in straits ;
The hand of every one that is in misery cometh upon
him.
17. Let him not] or. Never can he , . . ! see phil. n. — Look upon] with delight and enjoy the sight of: cp. 33^^, Ps. 106^ etc. — Oil] see phil. n. — Curdled milk] a form in which milk was, and, in Syria, still is, specially enjoyed : see n. on Is. 7^5 (Isaiahy p. 129).
18. He cannot retain, or take pleasure corresponding to, his riches. The inconsistency with ^^ need not be pressed.
19-21. The greedy man acquires and consumes remorse- lessly (^^*) and greedily (2^*- 21*) ; therefore he is not allowed to retain and enjoy his acquisitions.
19. For] or rather, if the v. be left unemended, because^ as in 2^* ; in all three distichs the first line gives the cause of the moral consequence described in the second line, the cause being formally indicated in ^^' 2^, the consequence in ^i. Pos- sibly, however, this similarity did not exist in the original text (see phil. nn.): in that ca.se/or may here give the reason for ^^ : and ^ (And violently seized a house which he had not built) a second illustration of his violent conduct. — Build up] enjoy the possession of: cp. 20b, 21b ^^^ g^^ |^g^ ^
20. Because] ^ om. ; Du., following €r, renders *, He hath no quietness in his treasure — % then, gives not the cause of **, but is a parallel statement.
22b. Cp. 55.
l8o THE BOOK OF JOB [XX. 23-26.
» His belly must be filled ! (God) sendeth forth the heat of his anger upon him,
And raineth it upon him as his '^ bread \ 2* He may flee from the iron weapon,
(But) the bow of bronze will strike him through ;
25 He draweth it forth, and it cometh out of ""his] back;
And the glittering point out of his gall. Terrors '' are turned^ upon him ;
26 All darkness is laid up for his treasures.
23a. Be filled] **not with the food he loved, but with the rain of Divine judgments" (Ps. 11^) — Dr. But the line is probably a gloss or a fragment (see phil. n.), though Bu., if one line must be omitted, would omit ^, which is literal, between two lines that are figurative. — As his bread] J^ info his flesh ; ^^ is in general, and was originally, perhaps, more closely, parallel to ^ ; on the interpretation and proposed emendations, see phil. n.
24. The doom of the wicked is certain : if he escape one form of Divine judgment, it is only to fall a victim to another (cp. Am. 5^^ 9^^-*). Such is the point of the v., if the text of * in 5^ is correct ; but since weapon (plJ'j) is elsewhere a general term (39^^, 2 K. lo^, Ps. 140^, and, probably, even Ezk. 39^'), and collective, it should include bows ; in that case the anti- thesis would be reduced, unsatisfactorily, to iron and bronze. Possibly in the original text, * was synonymous with ^ (cp. (K), not antithetical. In itself ^ certainly does not suggest weapons used at close quarters in contrast to arrows that hit at a distance (Del. Di. al.). — Bow of bronze] Ps. 18^^ ; fig. for arrows shot from a powerful bow.
25. Lines ** ^ continue 2* ; the glittering point of the arrow has pierced his vitals (^) (cp. 16^^), before the smitten man can extract it (*). For the rest, owing to corruption of the text, the figure of the v. is blurred ; and it must remain uncertain whether the arrow was pictured as piercing the man in front, and so passing right through him (CEr), or as piercing him in the back as he flees (2^* |^).
25c, 26a are best taken as Independent, neither continuing
XX. 26-29.] SOPHAR l8l
A fire not blown (by man) devoureth him ;
It feedeth on that which is left in his tent. 2^ The heavens reveal his iniquity,
And the earth riseth up ag^ainst him. ^ The increase of his house goeth into exile,
As things swept away in the day of wrath. 2® This is the portion of a wicked man from God,
And the heritage appointed unto him by God.
the fig. of 24- 25a. b^ nor beginning that of 26^- °. On the other hand, the distich is anything but a necessary conclusion to ^y and 24- 25a, b need not be considered out of place (Du.), If it were necessary to find a continuation of 23, it would be better found in 26b. c^ The text is again very uncertain : on 25c^ see phil. n. It is strange that in 26a the calamity destined for his treasures (l^^lSV), unless indeed this should be taken personally for his treasured ones as in Ps. 83*, should be expressed figuratively by saying that darkness is laid up (lit. hidden) for them : for treasures are hidden things (32^), and darkness suggests security rather than peril for these. A personal term of some kind is re- quired : Me. for his offspring (r^«J^N^S' : cp. <S), Du. for him (if) : cp. 0^).
26b, C. A fre^h fig. : lightning (see phil. n. and cp. i^^ 1534 n.) strikes him dead, and destroys what has survived (18^^, phil. n.) previous disasters. That the "fire" is fever is im- probable.
27. ** Heaven and earth combine to testify to his guilt (viz. by the judgments which they conspire to send against him) " — Dr. A reference to i6^^^- i925ff. (Bu.) is far from certain.
28. A return to the judgments after 27 is not very satisfactory; and 27 and 28 may have become accidentally transposed — an accident which would have been facilitated by the similar be- ginning (^r) of the first lines of the two distichs. — Goeth into exile] similarly Is. 24^1, Hos. 10^; but J^ (pointed ??['') may also mean rolleth away (like a stream) : on this and the questionable text of ^ see phil. n.
29. Cp. 1 821 (fQj. i-j^g ioxm of conclusion), 271^ (for the con- tents of the V. : also 31^).
1 82 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXI. 1-3.
XXI. ^ Then Job answered and said, 2 Hear diligently my speech ;
And let this be your consolation. ^ Suffer me, and / will speak,
And after that I have spoken, mock on.
XXI. Job's reply to Sophar's second speech.— Vv.^^
introductory ; ^"^^ the facts are not as Sophar represents ; on the contrary, the wicked actually live even to old age, enjoying all manner of prosperity. Why ? For (^*'-) they are even openly defiant of God. No doubt it sometimes happens that calamity befalls the wicked ; but how often (^'^^•) ? Perhaps, too, God punishes the children of the wicked after the fathers are dead ; but that does not affect the wicked themselves (^^-^i)^ Vov^ once life is over, one who has enjoyed prosperity up to the end is no worse off than one who has lived miserably ; difference of fortune belongs to life only ; the dead share all a common fate p3-26j^ Not only are the friends wrong as to facts, but wrong also in their inference that because Job's house has been destroyed. Job is wicked (2^'-). It is in those that escape calamity that wickedness might more safely be suspected ; but men are afraid to accuse powerful sinners, however patent their sins ; they rather cringe before them in their lifetime, and honour them in death (29-33j^
The emphasis in this speech lies not on Job's suffering in spite of his righteousness, but on the appalling (^'•) fact that men prosper in spite of being wicked — an appalling fact since it seems to reflect on God (^) ; cp. Jer. 12^"^, Ps. 73^"^^.
2. The speeches of the friends gave Job no comfort (^* 16^ : cp. 15^^); but their attention, if they will give it, as he pro- pounds this dark riddle of God's conduct, he will accept as such. — Your €071501(111071^ ct. **the consolations of God," 15^^ n.
3. After he has spoken, they may, if they can or will, con- tinue to mock. — Mock 07i] in J^ (not ffi) the vb. is sing, as addressed to Sophar alone: cp. 16^ 26^ (n.); Bu. thinks the sing, original, and the correct reply to 20^ where Sophar alone speaks for the friends ; but it is difficult to see how 20^ could have been in the first pi.
XXI. 4-10.] JOB 183
* As for me, is my complaint of man ?
And why should I not be impatient? ^ Mark me, and be astonished.
And lay (your) hand upon (your) mouth ;
* Even when I remember I am dismayed,
And horror taketh hold on my flesh. ^ Wherefore do the wicked live.
Become old, yea, wax mighty in power?
* Their seed is established with them,
And their offspring before their eyes. ® Their houses are safe from fear,
Neither is the rod of God upon them. ^® Their bull gendereth, and showeth no loathing ;
Their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf.
4. Not of men, and therefore not of you, but of God I com- plain, whose ways with men give me good reason to be impatient, —Complaint] 7" (phil. n.) ^^ 927 ^q\ 2^,— Impatient] 6^^n.
5f. If the friends will lend Job their attention as he ex- pounds his theme, viz., the anomalies of God's moral govern- ment and His preferential treatment of the wicked, they will be astounded, as Job himself (^) is already, to find i^^-) that God suffers the wicked to prosper. — Mark me] lit. turn to me^ i.e. attentively : the two imperatives form a virtually hypo- thetical sentence. — Lay hand upon mouth] in awe-struck silence: 40*, Mic. 7^^.
7. Ct. 2o5 and, with 8. 11 20IO (Sophar) ; also iS^ff- 1^ (Bildad), i^20fif.33f. (Eliphaz).
8. The wicked continue to have their children as they grow old (^), their children's children also, about them, and to enjoy the sight of them ; they are spared the cruel bereavements which had been multiplied for Job. At present the reference to the children is broken off by ^'' and resumed in ^^ : Bi. Du. place 8 after ^^ — the best and simplest transposition : Me. rearranged vv.7-iiintheorder7.8.ii.io.9.
9. Safe from fear] prosperous (52*), with no fear of un- welcome change. — b. Another contrast to Job's lot : see 9^*.
10. No accident hinders the increase of their herd. — Their]
1 84 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXI. 10-14.
^^ They send forth their young ones like a flock,
And their children dance. ^2 They sing to the timbrel and harp,
And rejoice at the sound of the pipe. ^* They "^end^ their days in prosperity,
And in a moment go down to Sheol.
so ^ : f^ his^ and so in ^ in reference to the individual wicked man : cp. ^^^•. — Showeth no loathing] or cause th not (the cow) to loathe (see phil. n.).
II. Their children are as free from care as small cattle let loose on the pastures. — They send forth their young ones\ so JH (in?^^) ; better, because a closer parallel to the intrans. vb. in ^, their young ones are sent forth^ or let loose (^nfe*^ % irpo^aX- XovTaty U egrediuntur). For this idea expressed by the vb. cp. Is. 32^^. — Like a flock] as little here as in Ps. 114*-^ is the point of comparison the number of the flock (Du. Bu. Peake) ; the point, as in ^, is the careless, joyous freedom of the children. — Dance\ cp. Ps. 114^-^ — there of animals skipping about in terror at the storm (cp. Ps. 29^), here of the dance of joy (cp. Ec. 3*). The line is short, and has possibly lost the clause like rams (cp. Ps. 114*), parallel to like a flock ; if not, the compari- son is implicit.
12-13. The wicked live a merry life (^^j^ ^nd die an easy death (^^). The instruments mentioned in ^^ are (i) the timbrel^ i.e. the tambourine — an instrument of percussion ; (2) the harp or lyre (see Dr. Amosy p. 236 f.) — in any case a stringed instrument ; and (3) the pipe (bag-pipe) or flute (ST), or Pan's pipe (U) — in any case the term (3:iiy, 30^1, Gn. 421, Ps. 150**) probably denotes a wind instrument rather than another stringed instrument (ffi in Gn. 4^^) : see, further, EBi. s.v. Music, (i) and (2) are mentioned together as used for joyous music in Gn. 31^7, Is. 24^, and (together with other instruments) Is. 5^2.
13. JEnd] ^ lit. wear out; but see phil. n. — In a moment] and therefore painlessly, not, like Job, lingeringly and painfully; or in tranquillity y see phil. n.
14 f. All these tokens of God's favour are shown to the
XXI. 14-16.] JOB 185
^*^ Yet they said unto God, " Depart from us,
For we desire not the knowledge of thy ways,
^^ What is the Almighty, that we should serve him ?
And what profit should we have, if we pray unto him ? "
^^ Lo, "^is"" not their prosperity in their hand? (The counsel of the wicked is far from me.)
wicked C^"^^), in spite of the fact that they had treated God with disdain, and lived regardless of Him.
15. If men prosper, though they disregard God, they naturally and cheerfully conclude that nothing is to be gained by regarding Him ; the same conclusion is uttered in despair at the sight of the prosperous wicked by impatient ** servants " of God in Mai. 3I* 2^7,
16. On the text of * followed in the translation, see below : 5t| reads : Lo, their prosperity is not in their hand. Line ^ recurs in 22'^^^f and possibly * and 22^^ are merely variants, as Du. suggests, who considers the v. in place here and out of place there. On the other hand, Bu. suspects ^ of having here extruded a more exact parallel to *. The line is rhythmically more in place in 22^^ (see phil. n.), if the text there is correct.
"The V. has been very dififerently understood: (i) taking- the words [in J§] as Job's own : their prosperity is not in their own hands to retain (but is secured to them by God) : so Di. Del. ; (2) expressing the same sense by a change of text : (a) dBr Me. Be. (omitting «*?), Behold, their pros- perity is in their hands {i.e. secure) ; (b) Be. (alt.) liSn for ti*? |n, Du. nSd jn, (Behold,) is not their prosperity in their hands {i.e. secure)? — Du. continu- ing, (Is not) the counsel of the wicked far from Him (udd) ? viz. from God (who does not concern Himself with their projects : ffi ^pya S^ aaefiwv oix icpop^) ; (3) making the words an objection, quoted by Job : their prosperity is not in their own hands to retain (but may be lost by them at any moment); so RVm. (prefixing, Ye sajy), Schl. Kamph. Hi. Bu. (i) cannot be said to give a natural sense to the Heb. words of * : if that sense is thought to be required, it is better to change the text (2 a or b); and though the omission seems violent, it is, of course, possible that a scribe, finding it said that the prosperity of the wicked was in their own hands, inserted «*?, regardless of the context, to make the statement more orthodox. (3) gives an excellent sense, but there is nothing- in the text to indicate that the words are not Job's own : however, the same objection might be raised on "* (cp. 24^^), where the words [in |^] are certainly not Job's. ^ will be a protestation, — whether in Job's mouth or in that of the objector, — that the speaker does not suffer himself to be led into sin by the sight of the prosperity of the un-
I S6 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXI. 16-19.
^'^ How often is it that the lamp of the wicked is put out?
That their calamity cometh upon them ?
That cords '^ seize them^ in his anger? ^* That they are as stubble before the wind,
And as chaff that the whirlwind carrieth away ? ^^ (Ye say), ** God layeth up his iniquity for his children."
Let him recompense it unto himself, that he may know it !
godly : it would be more forcible ind pointed in Job's mouth (who believes in their prosperity : above, i and 2) than in the objector's mouth (who realizes that it is precarious : above, 3)." — Dr.
17 f. Sometimes, no doubt, calamity befalls the wicked, and they perish by an untimely fate : yet not as the friends main- tain regularly, but only exceptionally. With i^a. b ^,p^ igsa. 12b (Bildad), with "" 1810-12, with is* Ps. i*, and with is^ 2720 (? Sophar). — Cords seize theni] ^ cordsy or less probably pains (properly birth-pai7is) or portions^ He distributes: see phil. n.
19. In * Job is either citing from the friends (cp. on ^^), in order to reject it in what follows, a plea that the wicked are punished in the sufferings of their children ; or, if we read (see phil. n.). Let not [God) lay up^ etc., he is already in * rejecting such a plea. In any case, in i9^-2o. 21 j^g goes on to urge that punishment inflicted on a wicked man's children when the man is dead is no justification of God's government ; for, since once dead the man is beyond suffering in his own person, and also beyond knowing that his children suffer, he, the guilty, entirely escapes, they, the innocent, suffer : the plea, therefore, after all in no way assists the case of the friends, but rather supports Job's position, for it really states a particular illustration of what Job is all along maintaining to be the general rule in life, viz. that the innocent suffer, the guilty prosper. The friends, it is true, have nowhere expressly urged that the children suffer instead of the guilty fathers ; in 5* (Eliphaz) 20^^ (Sophar) the suffering of their children is rather an additional element in the punishment of the wicked. But Job has just previously challenged the main thesis of the friends, that the wicked are themselves regularly overtaken by calamity : what in effect
XXI. 19-22.] JOB 187
^^ Let his own eyes see his l^ calamity^,
And let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty !
*^ For what interest hath he in his house after him, When the number of his months is finished ?
'^ Will any teach God knowledge,
Seeing he judgeth those that are on high ?
he does here, if in ^^* he is citing- their plea, is to argue that if, as a fact, the wicked themselves generally (cp. ^'^^•) escape punishment, it is irrelevant whether as a matter of fact after their death their children suffer or do not. With this criticism of the principle that on account of the solidarity of the class or family innocent members of it are legitimate objects of punishment due to guilty members (which led to such applications of the blood feud as are illustrated in 2 S. 21 and such sanctions of law as that in Ex. 20^), cp. Ezk. iS^*'^-, Jer. 3i2^'-. — T/iat he may know it] experience, feel it: cp. Is. 9^, Hos. 9^ Ezk. 25!^
20. 3^ unsuitably crafi: ** destruction" (EV) is merely a conjectural and wrong translation of f^. — Drink] a piquant figure for feel the effects of: see, e.g-.y Is. 51^'^.
21. In^eres^] y^n as 22^. He can have no interest in what goes on in his old home, for being dead he knows nothing about it (1421^-: cp. Ec. 9^*-). Quite improbable is the view (Ew. Del.) that the meaning is : During his lifetime the wicked has no interest in what will go on in his home after he is dead.
22. Can any mortal, will you in particular whom I am addressing, instruct God (cp. Is. 40^*) ? Such a notion is absurd. He has the knowledge to judge (cp. 22^^) the in- habitants of heaven (cp. 25^ 4^^ '5^^)) a fortiori He knows all about earth and how to govern men. Such is the most natural interpretation of the v. taken by itself: the difficulty is to relate it satisfactorily to its present position. Job is commonly understood to be suggesting that the friends speak and act as though they could teach God: so, e.g.^ Da., ''By insisting on a doctrine of providence which did not correspond to God's providence as actually seen in facts, Job's friends
1 88 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXI. 22-24.
23 One dieth in his very completeness,
Being wholly at ease and quiet :
24 Ills pails are full of milk,
And the marrow of his bones is moistened.
were making themselves wiser than God and becoming His teachers." But the friends accept their reading of the facts of life without question ; they never suggest that those facts could be better or ought to be other than they are : Job, it is true, urges that the friends describe God's action incorrectly (cp. 27^- 2*) ; but incorrect or even dishonest description of what a person does do cannot naturally be regarded as teaching that person what he should do. On the other hand, Job, who arraigns God's actions and suggests that the facts of life might and ought to be other than they are, might not unnaturally be asked this question. Accordingly others (e,g: Hi.) have seen in v.22 a charge against Job cited (cp. ^^' ^'^) from the friends. Unfortunately this suggestion also breaks down, for in what follows Job makes no reply to the charge (ct. ^'^^- i9^-2i). It is possible to translate * differently: Will any for (cp. 13^) God teach knowledge? So Ehrlich, who understands the v. to mean, can any man on behalf of God explain such facts of earthly life as are described in 23-27 . Qq^j cannot Himself give the explanation, being so occupied with the affairs of heaven as not to notice what men are doing on earth. Du. translates * in the same way and, emending D^Ol to n^Dl, renders ^, Seeing that he judges deceit, and sees in the v. an angry protest against a dogma which takes no account of reality. But these explanations also are not convincing, and in its present con- text the V. seems to defy explanation.
23-26. Inequality, difference of fortune in life — ease for some, misery for others, but equality, a common fate, in death ; then for all alike the dust and the worm. In Ikts life, if justice is to be done, the wicked must suffer (2^*-).
24. Pails] see phil. n. : EV. breasts like the VV. not un- naturally seeks a closer parallel to ** bones" in ^; but for this emendation is required. — b. **He is well-nourished and pros- perous (cp. Pr. 38) "—Dr. Ct. Ps. 32^8),
XXI. 25-29.] JOB 189
25 And another dieth with a bitter soul,
And never tasteth of good.
26 They lie down alike in the dust,
And the worm covereth them. 2^^ Behold, I know your thoughts,
And the plots (wherewith) ye deal violently against me ; 28 For ye say, ** Where is the house of the noble?
And where is the tent wherein the wicked dwelt ? " 2® Have ye not asked them that go by the way?
And do ye not regard their tokens ?
25. A bitter sout\ 320 n. — And never tasteth of] never through life having tasted any good (192^), i.e. experienced any good fortune or happiness.
26. Lie down in the dust] 722. — b. cp. Is. 14^1^. — The worm]
27 ff. The arguments of the friends spring from hostility to Job (2^), and are based on a false and dishonest description of facts (3*) : they argue, wicked men go to ruin ; Job has gone to ruin ; Job is wicked ; but the major premiss is false, as they must or ought to know : any traveller could tell them that wicked men are kept from calamity in life, and after death are honoured.
27 [Wherewith) ye deal violently] **read, perhaps, which ye search out, or which ye devise''' (Dr.) — see phil. n.
28. For] or, when ; but in the latter case, 28 is better made the conclusion of 27 (Bu.) than a protasis of which 29 is the apodosis (Di.). — Ye say] the questions which follow are not cited verbally from the friends, but they correctly summarize such passages as 152* (Eliphaz), S^^ i8i5-2i (BiMsid).— Where P]
= nowhere : cp. e.g. 4'^ : the houses where once the wicked dwelt and seemed to flourish have vanished.
29. Them that go by the way] travellers : in La. 1^2 ^^b^ Ps. 80^2 89^2^ Pr. gi5 passers-by y with less if any suggestion that the persons in question have travelled far. — Tokens] the word (din), commonly rendered **sign," here means typical illustra- tions drawn by those travellers from their experience of men and life that {^) wicked men do not come to ruin.
I90 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXI. 30-33.
^ That the evil man is spared '^in^ the day of calamity?
That they are f^ delivered in! the day of wrath? 3^ Who doth declare his way to his face ?
And if ke hath done a thing, who doth repay him ? ^ And Ae is borne to the grave,
And keepeth watch over the tomb. ^ The clods of the valley are sweet unto him,
And all men draw after him.
As there were innumerable before him.
30. /» . . . delivered in] "^for . . . led along to — impossible in the context, and probably (the prepositions at least) due to a dogmatic correction of the text: see phil. n. — WratK\ i,e God's wrath : cp. Is. 2^^,
31. Wicked men are not only spared by God (v.^^), but are also left unrebuked by man. It is more natural to take this v as resuming Job's own description of the wicked than as con- tinuing the testimony of the travellers.
32. Honour and good fortune continue to be the lot of the wicked in death : they are buried with pomp (^2*), provided with a (fine) tomb (^2^), and laid in sweet soil (^^*). Job imaginatively endows his wicked men with sentiency even in death (ct. 2^) : they enjoy the sweetness of their grave, and (perhaps) look with satisfaction on the sepulchral monument erected in their honour. Not to enjoy such things as these, does Job demand for himself a moment of sentiency after death (19^^). — Bome\ lo^^ — The grave\ a stately grave ; see phil. n. on 17^. — Keepeth watch] the subject may be as in * the wicked man regarded as sentient (cp. ^*), or indef. and men keep ivatchy or and watch is kepty i,e, his tomb is carefully guarded, and his memory kept alive (ct. 18^^).
33. Valley] properly torrent-valley ^ wady, if not rather dust ; see phil. n. For the valley in which Moses was buried (Dt. 34^), to which Hi. appeals as a parallel, a different term (^<^i) is used, ^•^have been understood as meaning (i) though he does not escape the evil of death, yet in dying he only shares the lot of all who ever have been or will be (Del.) ; and for the wicked, even death, when it comes, comes sweetly : or (2), the wicked,
XXI. 33-34.] JOB 191
3^ How then comfort ye me with vanity,
Seeing that of your answers there remaineth (nought
but) faithlessness.
in consequence of the attractiveness of his lot, finds innumer- able imitators, as he himself followed the attractive path of innumerable wicked men before him (Ew. Di. Da. Dr. Peake). It is on the whole probable that whoever wrote ^ intended to express one of these two ideas. But is ^ original, or an addition (Du. Be.^).^ Certainly, if ^ stood without ^, it would most naturally be understood of the thronging procession that followed the wicked man to his grave, and in this case the hyperbole in **all men" would be more natural than in (2); for Job does not hold that all men are wicked. Hi. pertinently cites from Burckhardt the Arabic proverb: *'The bier of a stranger — no man before it or behind it," which might even justify taking ^ and ^ in this sense, but that the idea comes late after *. It is noticeable that at present ^- ° form strange second and third lines of a distich to * as a first line : and also that the funeral pomp is at present rather briefly expressed in ^^a . possibly 3^° was added by a glossator after 32a. 33b^ g^ distich describing the funeral pomp, and ^sa. 32b^ ^ distich describing the feelings imaginatively attributed to the wicked after death, had become dislocated.
34. Comfort] 2: 16^. — Wiih vanity] with unreal assertions such as that Job might prosper again, if he would confess and turn away from his sins, whereas in reality the beginning and condition of prosperity is wickedness. All that the friends say is but a dishonest attempt to prove him wicked.
XXII. The third speech of Eliphaz.— God derives no advantage from men, whether they are good or bad ; but men themselves derive advantage (viz. prosperity) from being righteous (2'-). For, of course, God does not make Job suffer (lof.) because he had been pious (*), but because he had sinned manifoldly (^), treating men inhumanly (^-9), and God as of no account in human affairs (^^-i*) ; yet how mistakenly, for wicked men in the past, as he does now, had paid dearly for their disregard of God (i^-so). Yet, even now, if he would let
192 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXII. 1-4.
XXII. ^ Then answered Eliphaz the Temanlte, and said, 2 Can a man be profitable unto God ?
Nay, he that doeth wisely is profitable unto himself.
* Is it any interest to the Almighty, that thou art
righteous ? Or gain, that thou makest thy ways perfect ?
* Is it for thy fear (of him) that he reproveth thee,
That he entereth with thee into judgment ?
God rule his life and abandon unrighteousness, prosperity might return to him (^^-^^).
Eliphaz had already, in his second speech, directly charged Job with impious speech concerning God (15^'); but it is a new feature, the only new feature, of the third speech, that he directly accuses Job of specific sins against men ; in this respect Eliphaz is in his last speech most severe in his treatment of Job ; and yet he, the kindliest of the friends, closes even this speech as he had closed the first (5^'^"^''), with a picture of the felicity that might yet be obtained by Job, and an appeal to him to take that course which alone can secure it.
2-4. God has nothing to gain from men ; therefore Job's sufferings cannot be traced to any self-seeking motive in God. They must be traced, then, to something in Job ; and, since it would be absurd to trace it to his piety, it must be traced to sin in him. Such seems to be the argument, but certainly ** Eliphaz puts his point rather strangely" (Peake).
2a, 3. Cp. 7^^, where Job urges that man's stn cannot affect God : Eliphaz combines both points that neither can man's righteousness benefit, nor his sin injure, God (35*'*). With ^^ cp. 35^, where the effect of man's action is limited to men, but not to the particular actor.
3. Interest] 2121 n. : here note the parallel term **gain." EV. ** pleasure" is misleading: Eliphaz is not denying that God may derive pleasure, but that he derives benefit, from human righteousness. — b^. Cp. 4^^ **The perfectness of thy ways."
4. Thy fear] i.e. thy religion ; cp. 4® (n.) 15*. — Reproveth]
5".
XXII. 5-8.] ELIPHAZ 1 93
^ Is not thy wickedness great ?
Neither is there any end to thine iniquities. • For thou takest pledges of thy brother for nought,
And strippest the naked of their clothing. ^ Thou givest not water to the weary to drink,
And from the hungry thou withholdest bread. ® And the man with the arm, he had the land,
And the man of repute, he dwelt in it.
5b. Or, the force of the interrogative in * extending to ^ : And are not thine iniquities endless ?
6-9. Specific charges (solemnly repudiated in 3119'- le'. 21J that Job has harshly treated (i) fellow-clansmen fallen into his debt (^); (2) the faint and hungry (^); (3) widows and orphans (*). The lines, except in ^% where the pf. appears for variety, are frequentatives, indicating Job's constant practice.
6. Not two charges, but the two parallel lines supplement one another : the accusation is not that Job took pledges for money lent, nor even merely that he did so for nought^ ue, for fictitious or trivial debts, or (cp. 2^ 9^^) without good ground, such as his own necessity ; but that he took clothing in pledge, and thereby reduced his debtors to nakedness. To lend to 2. fellow- Hebrew on interest was altogether forbidden by Hebrew law (Ex. 222*^25)). ^.q jg^d and to take something in pledge as security was permitted, but with the proviso that such pledges should not involve harsh treatment, such as, e.g,y depriving a man of his means of living (Dt. 24^), or of covering by night (Ex. 222^ <26)^ Dt. 2412. is). It is of such harsh and unconscionable treatment of those to whom he had lent that Job is here accused : cp. 24^- ^, Am. 2^, Ezk. 18^2^
7. Job with all his wealth had withheld food from the needy : cp. Mt. 25^2.35^ js. 587-10. — Weary\ or faint from thirst: cp. Pr. 2525, Is. 29^; so of unwatered land, Is. 322, Ps. 632.
8. Oblique references to Job ; ct. the direct address in ^- 7- ^. The V. may well be out of place (Sgf. Bu. Peake) ; if not, it appears to be a covert charge of harshly dispossessing the needy from their land in order to add their estates to his own : cp. Is. 5^. — The man with the arm] the man who had power
13
194 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXII. 8-12.
® Thou has sent widows away empty,
And the arms of the fatherless are crushed. ^® Therefore traps are round about thee,
And sudden terror dismayeth thee. ^^ Thy "^ light ^ is darkened that thou seest not,
And abundance of waters doth cover thee. ^2 Is not God as lofty as heaven ?
And behold the ^ stars, how high they are !
(cp. 35*^), and exercised it regardless of justice or humanity. — He had the land . , , he dwelt] or, his is the land {w\z. according to thy principles) , . . he should dwell (viz. as thou boldest), so Dr.; cp. Di. Rather differently Bu. : *'As Job left the helpless and poor in the lurch, and even ill-treated them, so on the other hand he left all power in the hands of the powerful."
9. The arms . . . are crushed] i.e. orphans are deprived of support: for the fig. cp. Ps. 3717 **the arms of the wicked are broken, but Yahweh supporteth the righteous " ; for arm used figuratively, see ^ 35^, Ps. 83^^^^ ''they have become an arm (i.e. have given help, support) to the children of Lot."
lOa. The fig. used by Bildad (18^"^^) for calamity closing in on the wicked in general, Eliphaz here applies directly to Job; so in 11* Bildad's figure in 18^.— Traps] i8»*.— b. Cp. 1811*.
Iia. Cp. 18^ (Bildad). % Or seest thou not the darkness? and this is understood to mean : Dost thou not even yet under- stand the meaning of the darkness, i.e. the calamities, in which you are involved on account of your sin? (so Di. Da.), f^ is no more probable if (cp. EV.) taken as a second subj. to the vb. in ^^^y Or darkness (dismayeth thee) that thou seest not. — b. For waters or floods as a fig. of calamity, see 1 1^^ (Sophar) n. The line recurs in 38^*, where the waters are literal.
12. The belief in God's transcendence or, as the Hebrews expressed it concretely, the belief that God dwelt in heaven, led in different minds to different conclusions; (i) the pious concluded : from such a lofty vantage ground God sees every- thing that men do on earth, Ps. 14^ 33^^^- ; but (2) the impious drew the opposite conclusion : God, being so far withdrawn from men, neither sees nor takes account of what they do: so
XXII. 12-14.] ELIPHAZ 1 95
18 And thou sayest, ** What doth God know?
Can he judge through the thick darkness ? " Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not ;
And he walketh on the vault of heaven."
Ps. lo*'-. The second of these conclusions is here attributed to Job by Eliphaz in ^^-is^ n ;§ commonly supposed that Eliphaz in ^^ is indicating the first as his own. Yet it is curious that all he actually does in ^2 jg to emphasize the common starting-point of the two opposite conclusions : he certainly does not express the conclusion he himself would draw from it. Du., therefore, omits this v. as a marginal citation to IS'' Job's erroneous conclusion (^^f.j js challenged by an appeal to history as Eliphaz read it; the untimely death of wicked men (i^'-) is proof that God does judge men in spite of His transcendence. If i^'- are in place, Eliphaz seeks still further to discredit Job's conclusion by the statement that it was wicked men who held it. — As lofty as heaven] cp. 1 1^ (Sophar). — T/ie stars] J§ the head of the stars^ which has been explained, precariously, as meaning the highest stars : judge how high is God's abode by looking at the highest point of heaven. Or, changing the punctuation, we may render. And He (God) beholds the top of the stars ; but this too is strange and im- probable, and, if it were right, would enhance the difficulty of the connection of ^^ with ^^^' : for to say that God sees the top of the stars, ue. presumably the side turned away from earth, would in no way invalidate the conclusion attributed to Job, that God does not see what goes on far below the stars. See phil. n.
13. And thou sayest] in what follows Eliphaz attributes to Job more than and other than he had said in c. 21 ; Job's point was not that God cozdd not see or judge what went on on earth : but that as a matter of fact He allowed the wicked to prosper. So, if 21^2 is original. Job says indeed that God does judge the inhabitants of heaven, but not that He could noty if He would, judge the inhabitants of earth as well. **Job observes reality, Eliphaz is always theologizing and assumes that Job does so too" (Du.). — Through] (looking) out through: Lex. 126a,
14. On the vault] above the clouds (cp. *) : see phil. n.
1 96 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXII. 15-ia
15 Wilt thou keep the old way
Which wicked men did tread ? w Who were snatched away before their time,
Whose foundation was poured out as a stream : " Who said unto God, " Depart from us " ;
And, "What can the Almighty do to '"us"'"? " Yet he filled their houses with good things :
But the counsel of the wicked is far from me !
15 f. Either: wilt thou persist in that unbelief in God's judg-ment which wicked men from the earliest times down to the present have cherished, and like them perish untimely? Or, with specific reference to some event of ancient days, whether the Deluge (so most), or, since 20** does not fit the Deluge story, some other (Ew. Du. Peake) : wilt thou perish in unbelief like that of the men in the well-known ancient story who refused to believe that God's judgment was com- ing, but perished by it none the less? Do you want to follow that ancient path that led then and will lead now to destruction ?
15, Keep the . . . 'voay\ continue to walk in the way : cp. Ps. i822, Pr. 2^^.— The old way] cp. **the (good) old paths," Jer. 6^6, In such phrases old (d^v) may imply existing formerly and also now (e.g, " the old, or everlasting, hills "), or, existing formerly, but no longer now (e.g, **the days of old"). Here, if the allusion is to a specific past generation of men, it would naturally be used in the second sense, but **wilt thou keep" implies that it has the first, which it would naturally have, if the allusion is general and not specific.
l6b. Fig. as 4^9 : whose life was ruined from its founda- tions: or, literally, the foundations of whose houses were carried away by the Deluge.
17, 18. i7» = 21I**; ^ cp. 2ii5*; 18*, cp. 2ii6»; "*> = 2Il«^ An elaborate retort in Job's own words to Job's assertion that those who dismissed God from their lives prospered : on the contrary, Eliphaz asserts, it is those who come to ruin who have dismissed God. Such a retort in itself is not unnatural or improbable ; but these verses are open to suspicion of being secondary : for (i) the purpose of such a retort has already been
XXII. 18-22.] ELIPHAZ 197
w The righteous '^saw'' it, and were glad:
And the innocent laugh them to scorn : 20 (Saying), ** Surely "'their substance^ is cut off,
And their affluence the fire hath devoured." *i Accustom, now, thyself to him, and be at peace :
Thereby will thine increase be good. 22 Receive, I pray thee, direction from his mouth,
And lay up his words in thine heart.
attained in "-w ; (2) nf. interrupt the connection between the picture of judgment on the wicked in i^'. and the emotion and comment of the righteous called forth by it (i^-)' Accordingly Bu. Du. Peake omit ^^f.; Me. Sgf. omit i^ only.— r^ us] ^ to them : but see phil. n.
19. The past tenses (see phil. n.) are likely to be right if the allusion in i^'- is to a specific event (see on i^'.) ; but if the reference there is general, the frequentatives of ^ should be re- tained here : the righteous see the fate which habitually befalls the wicked and are glad. The frequentatives would make the V. as a retort to 17^ (Bu.) more pointed, but see on 17^. With % cp. Ps. 107*2.
20. Their substance is\ so © : J^ is supposed to mean those that rose up against us\ but see phil. n. — Their affluence^ Dnn" : so Ps. 171*, cp. mn% Is. 15^ " The remnant of them " (EV.) is not a preferable rendering, even if J^ in * is retained. — Thefire\
15'* n.
21-30. There is still hope of happiness and prosperity for Job if he but leaves the way of the wicked and returns to God. This conclusion resembles that of Eliphaz's first speech, and contrasts with the dark close of the second speech.
21. If you will but acquiese in His dealings with you, you will find yourself at peace with Him, and your life prosperous. On ^, see phil. n.
22. Direction] min || mords (VIDK) : cp. Is. 5** (|| nnON), i^** (tl nan). Cp. also the use of the term of human directions or instructions {e.g. Pr. i^ 7^). The words of God that are to direct Job aright are given in ^sff- : Eliphaz is the mediator of a divine revelation: cp. 4^2ff. ^27 j^ii.
198 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXII. 23-29.
23 If thou return to the Almighty, "" and humble thyself ;
If thou put away unrighteousness far from thy tents ; 2* And lay gold-ore in the dust,
And (gold of) Ophir among the rocks of the wadys ; 2^ Then will the Almighty be thy gold-ore,
And '^his direction "• will be silver unto thee; 2« For then thou wilt delight thyself in the Almighty,
And lift up thy face unto God. ^ Thou wilt make thy prayer unto him, and he will hear thee ;
And thy vows thou wilt perform.
28 Thou wilt also decree a thing, and it will be eitablished unto
thee ; And light shall shine upon thy ways.
29 For '"God"' abase'"th^ pride,
But him that is lowly of eyes he saveth.
23. And humble thyself] J^ thou shall be built up; but see phil. n.
24. Let Job no more place his confidence in gold (312*), but rather throw it away as worthless. — Gold of Ophir] climactic after gold-ore : cp. 28^^. On identifications of the land of Ophir whence this highly-prized gold came, see EBi, and DB^ s,v, Ophir,
25. Possibly Eliphaz speaks with a recollection of the mean- ing of his own name, my God is fine gold : Job will have the same enjoyment of God as Eliphaz has. — And his direction will be silver] RV. "and precious silver" (as a second predicate to the ** Almighty" in •) — a conjectural rendering of J^: see phil. n. Direction as v.22 ; for the sentiment, cp. Ps. 19^^.
26. With * cp. 2710*, Is. 58I*; with ^ cp. 2f^^.—Lift up thy face] in confidence, to see Him and to show Him a face free from trace of shame and guilt : cp. ii^^. ^t. lo^^
27b. is parallel to the second half of 27a j job will have occasion to pay his vows, because God will have granted the prayer for the fulfilment of which the vows were promised.
28b. Ct. v.ii».
29a. 1^ is unintelligible and cannot bear the meaning, even if that were suitable, placed upon it in RV. See phil. n.
XXII. 30-XXra.] ELIPHAZ 1 99
^ He delivereth the innocent ''man'',
And ''thou shalt"* be delivered through the cleanness of
thy hands.
30. The metrically questionable and otherwise very improb- able text of 5^ reads : He delivereth him that is not innocent, and he is delivered, through the cleanness of thy hands : this has been understood to mean that God, on account of Job's innocence, delivers the guilty ; it would then be an unconscious anticipation on the part of Eliphaz of what happens subsequently to himself (42^). Even as emended, the text (on other emenda- tions see phil. n.) is not a very forcibly expressed conclusion to the speech.
XXIII., XXIV. Job's reply to Eliphaz's third speech. — Unlike any of the previous replies (but cp. cc. 3, 29—31), this speech contains no direct address to the friends : the whole might be monologue. The speech falls into two main divisions corresponding to the two chapters: (i) c. 23 — the riddle pre- sented by God's treatment of Job ; (2) c. 24 — by His treatment of men generally. Partly on the ground of form, partly on the ground of substance, much or all (except the last v.) of c. 24 has been regarded as added to, or substituted for a part of, the original text. But that Job should, as in his previous speech (c. 21), carry his consideration of the riddle beyond its purely personal reference is likely enough, and 24^5 forms, as is in- deed admitted by most, an altogether probable ending for a speech of Job. The exceedingly corrupt state of the text com- plicates decision on the critical problem : see further on c. 24. Assuming c. 24 to be in the main genuine, the speech may be summarized briefly thus : Job, suffering still (23^), still longs to find God and argue his case with Him (2"^) ; but he cannot do so (^'•): could he, he is certain what the issue would be, for God really knows as well as Job himself Job's steadfast adherence to the right (^^-^^). Yet since, in spite of this, God is evidently bent on carrying through His harsh treatment of him, there is no escape for Job (for what God wills. He does), but only dismay and darkness (^^^^). The same disregard of right by God which Job feels in his own case, he perceives in
200 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXIH. 1-3.
XXIII. ^ And Job answered and said,
2 Even to-day is my complaint '^ bitter^; "^His^ hand is heavy upon my groaning".
others (^^^) ; so that his question is more than personal ; it is not merely, Why must I suffer ? but, Why do so many victims of wickedness suffer, God remaining all the time indifferent and inactive (24^)? For the wicked pursue their nefarious practices (2-*), their victims suffer {^~'^^)t and God takes no account (^^cj^ Three classes of those who shun the light are described (^^~'^'^), Vv. 1^-24 ^re through textual corruption altogether obscure or ambiguous, but in part they apparently describe the fate of the wicked as unhappy (^^^o)^ jn part (^i'- • 2*) as happy. In the concluding v. (2^) Job insists that his descrip- tions have been true to facts. In all this Job makes no direct reference to what Eliphaz had just said; but indirectly he traverses his two main points : against Eliphaz's accusations (22^^')f he insists on his innocence and integrity (23^- 10-12J . against Eliphaz's closing appeal to him to return to God, he expresses his longing to find God ; but God is not to be found.
2. Even to-day] or to-day also ; this seems to imply that the debate lasted more than one day, and suggests that Eliphaz's third speech marked the beginning of the third day's discussion; and that this v. is thus Job's first remark on the day in question. On emendations suggested to avoid this implication, see phil. n. — Complaint] 21* n. ; complaint, i.e. complaining, is here closely associated with acute suffering; note the parallel '* groaning " and cp. 713. Job's sufferings still draw from him bitter com- plaining and groans. — Bitter] cp. 7^^ ; J^ defiant^ which would mean that Job is as little inclined as ever to admit that God was dealing justly with him, and as little likely as ever to satisfy Eliphaz: see phil. n. — His hand {y> as 19^1, cp. pj3, 1321) is heavy] cp. Ps. 32*, I S. 5*; in spite of Job's groaning (32^) under sufferings already inflicted, God afflicts him still ; so ffiS. f^ has my handy which is supposed to mean ; I do my best to check my groaning, but in vain: see phil. n. ; on AV. ** mj stroke is heavier than my groaning," see also Da.
XXIII. 3-e.] JOB 20 1
^ Oh that I knew where I might find huii, That I might come even to his tribunal !
* I would set out my case before him,
And fill my mouth with arguments. *• I would know the words which he would answer me, And understand what he would say unto me.
• Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power ?
Nay : but he would give heed unto me.
3-5. Why tell me to return to God (2223)? If only I knew where or how to reach Him ! That I do not is ground enough in itself for continued complaining. If Job could but reach God, how gladly (cp. 13^^) would he state his own case, and {^) hear God's reply to it. On the cohortatives in *'•, see G— K. loS/l
4a. Cp. 13^^. — Arguments] 13^: the vb. 13^
6 f. If only Job could reach God and argue his case before Him, right, not might, would decide, and Job's innocence would for ever be established. Job's attitude has changed since c. 9 ; there (3- 1^-20. 32f.) ^g jg possessed by the thought that, even if he could stand before God, God's might would deflect his right, that God would browbeat and terrify him into making himself out to be guilty; though even there (^*'-, cp. also 1320-22) he is sure enough that, if God would only abstain from exercising His might to terrify, he could establish his right. In some measure 13^* anticipates the present passage; and even here he has no confidence that he will reach God (quite the reverse, 8"^®), and is still convinced that, unheard by God, he must become the victim of His might (^^-iij, g^., with slight emendations, reads : Behold, in the greatness of His power He might contend with me, If only He [Himself] would give heed to me : in this case Job is reducing his conditions to a minimum : he is now ready to face even God's might, if God will but attend to him.
6. He] the exact force of the emphasis has been differently understood: **/ri?, being what He is "(Dr.); **God Himself, and not merely a man" (Di.) ; **He whom I now know as Him who is always on the side of right" (13^6 ig25j — Du.
202 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXIII 7-ia
^ There would an upright man be arguing with him ;
And I should be delivered for ever from my jud^. * Behold I go forward, but he is not (there) ; And backward, but I perceive him not ; ■■ I seek him "" on the left hand, but I behold him not ; r I ■• turn to the right hand, but I do not see him. w For he knoweth the way that I take,
If he trieth me, I shall come forth as gold.
7. An upright man] || I =Job the upright (i*); the line is not a general statement (RV.), but a statement of what would take place if Job could find God.
8f. But Job cannot find God, even with the most persistent seeking. The vv. explicate what is implicit in ^, and interrupt the close connection between 7 and 1^, and are, perhaps, as Bu. Sgf. Du. conclude, an addition to the original text, ffir omits ^ only. The vv. resemble, without however expressing quite the same thought as, g^^*-, Ps. 1395- '^"i®. — Forward . . . hack- toard . . . left hand . . . right hand] or, east . . . west . . north . . . south. — Perceive him not . , , do not see him] cp- 9^1 : in parallellism with these, he is not in ^* means of course : he is not to be found by me. — I seek him] f^ where he works, in which Del. detects an allusion to the belief that the North is the unfinished part of the world. But that, or where, God works, is not the point of the passage. — / turn] f^ he turns. RV. ** He hideth himself," giving to ?^ a meaning possible in itself (see phil. n), but unsuitable : ** for what is there remarkable in one not seeing one who hides himself" (Schult.).
10. For] If ^' are an addition, ^''"i^ originally gave the reason for Job's confidence that he would establish his case, if ever he could come before God: this confidence arises from the fact that his conduct has been right, and he himself true, and that God knows, or (JH.''.) would come to know, this. If ^'' are original, 10 must state **the reason why God will not let Him- self be found by Job : He knows that he is innocent (^^~'^^), but yet will not be diverted {^^- ^^) from his hostility towards Him " (Dr.). But in this case the real reason lies in is'., and 10-12 are virtually concessive : for, though He knows I am innocent. He will not abandon His purpose to treat me as guilty. Rendering
XXIII. 10-14.] JOB 203
^1 My foot hath held fast to his steps ;
His way have I kept, and turned not aside. " The commandment of his lips — I never seceded (from ftj ;
I have treasured up "^in^ my bosom the words of his
mouth. ^8 But he •" hath chosen "", and who can turn him back ?
And his soul desireth (a thing), and he doeth it. ^* For he completeth that which is appointed for me :
And many such things are in his mind.
^D by hut (so RV.) instead oifor^ Peake explains the connection thus : in spite of God's self-concealment (^*), He still closely watches Job's ways ; but if this had been the point, we should have expected s'- to have expressed not Job's fruitless efforts to find God, but God's successful measures to hide Himself from Job ; the latter point is, however, not put at all, not even in ^^ when correctly read and interpreted.
lOb. Cp. Ps. 17^ and with steps in 11*, Ps. 17^.
12b. Cp. Ps. 119I1. Job had done what Eliphaz exhorts him to do (2222). — In my bosoni] so (&: cp. **in my heart," Ps. 119^1. J^ froniy or more thauy my lawy which has been strangely regarded as anticipating the thought of Ro. 7^^
13-17. But in spite of his steadfastness in the right. Job recognizes that God remains immovable from His determina- tion to treat him harshly.
13. Cp. 9^2, — ffg hath chosen] on 1^, paraphrased in RV., **He is in one mind," see phil. n.
14. The V. appears to contain the application of the general truth, that what God wills, He does (^^j^ to * Job's destiny, ^ the destiny of like sufferers — the theme developed in c. 24 ; it is obvious that in fact Job is suffering though righteous : this must be because God wills it and prescribes suffering for Job; and He will go on undeterred till the full tale of Job's suffering has been exacted ; and the same morally inexplicable course He intends to pursue with others : they are and will be righteous ; but God allows, and will allow, them to suffer. But 4t is curious (i) that this application of ^^ is expressed in the form of a reason for it— for He completeth ; and (2) that what
204 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXIII. 14 XXIV
15 Therefore am I dismayed at his presence ;
When I consider, I am afraid of him.
16 For God hath made my heart faint,
And the Almighty hath dismayed me ;
17 Because I am not undone because of the darkness,
Or because of my own face which thick darkness covereth.
God appoints for Job, viz. that he shall suffer to the last, is not more explicity put ; (i) is not very satisfactorily avoided by reading l/ms (Bu.) for /or; and i^ would be still less adequately prepared for by i^ (which even less explicitly asserts that Job's sufferings will continue), if with dSt i* were omitted, or with Du. transferred to follow i^. It is, however, not improbable that i* was originally differently expressed. — Co7npletet}i\ makes the realization fully correspond to the intent: cp. Is. 44^^. — That which is appointed for me] viz. my disease hastening on to death : cp. 7^ 9^ etc. The same Hebrew word (pn) with different nuances occurs in 14^ (see phil. n.) 1^ ^8^^. With a mere change of punctuation, ^ may be rendered : And so (are, or turn out), such is the result of, processes at taw with him (so Hoffm.).
15, 16. God alone is the cause of Job's fear : the emphatic words are at his presence (lit. face), God, the Almighty.
17. 1^, translated as above, is taken to be the negative aspect of what has been said in i^'* : God, i.e. God in the mysterious, inexplicable ways of His providence (i^^), not calamity in itself ("*), or (^) his face disfigured (igi^^-) by his calamities, is the cause of Job's being overwhelmed : so Di. Da. Dr. (in Book of Job). But this is scarcely less improbable than an earlier explanation of J^ embodied in AV. : God dis- mays Job, because Job was not allowed to die before calamity came upon him. Under these circumstances most recent commentators have felt driven to emendation, and to read : Because I am undone because of the darkness. And because thick darkness hath covered my face ; God dismays Job, be- cause he cannot see the meaning of what He does.
XXIV. With the exception of ^^ the whole or a large part of this c. has been regarded by many as interpolated. Tha
XXIV.] JOB 205
grounds alleged are (i) the difference in poetical form ; (2) the unsuitability of the contents to the context.
(i) The poetical form.— Ule,^ rejecting "s*, claimed that this section con- sisted of two sets of six tristichs, each preceded by a distich, the distichs being • and i', the first set of tristichs i""- ", " w w lo^ w^ ^^le second is, i» (a line being assumed to have been lost), 20, 21. 22a^ 226.23^ 34^ gj^^ rejecting 6.8. jo-24^ regarded the remainder, together with 3o3-^ as a series of tristichs as follows: 24.^ *"• *, '^-^ '• ^^. * 10^ ***••* s- ^ ^t*- ' a/iiob. a 12 is i4 15 le i? (with three words added), ", »• (with two words added), 20 (with one word added), 21. 22a (altered), «»». as (altered), ^\ Du., rejecting 1-24, regards these vv. as consisting of four poems *-^ 5-i2 ( + 302-8), i3-i8a, i8b-24, ^11 written exclusively in tristichs. He divides this c. into the following tristichs : ^ (with two words added: see phil. n.), 2.3a, sb. 4^ sa. b.c, sd. 6^ 8. lo*^ lOb. 11 12 « i4 M w, 17. ite, 18b. 19^ 20^ Mb. 22a (20-22* ^^^h altered). Du. omits ', ». '"S and makes many changes (mostly noted in the phil. nn.) in the rest of the c. It will be seen that Me. Bi. Du. agree in detecting here tristichs to the entire (Bi. Du.), or almost entire (Me.), exclusion of distichs ; though they are not altogether agreed as to the constituent elements of some of the tristichs. If there were actually anything like so great a number of tristichs as even Me. claims, there would undoubtedly be a strong argument from form against this section, for the book of Job consists almost ex- clusively of distichs with tristichs occurring at most as very infrequent variations. But there is not : some details of form are discussed in the notes : here it may suffice to point out how illegitimately in some, how precariously in other instances, the appearance of tristichs is obtained : Du. divides the obvious parallel lines **• ** from one another to give to three distichs the appearance of two tristichs ; in ^ he expands two lines (one overlong) into three by the conjectural addition of two words ; thus in i-* he constructs three tristichs out of an existing text that shows no trace even of one. Me. Bi. Du. agree in finding five consecutive tristichs in 12-16, and here the existing text (cp. RV. ) lends them support ; yet the reasons for transposing *^ to follow ^^ are very strong ; and if the transposition is made, even in this part of the chapter distichs at least intermingle with tristichs. In ^'•2* the text is so corrupt that emendation is justified, not to say imperative ; but for that very reason from conjecturally constructed tristichs in this part of the c. no conclusion can safely be drawn that tristichs were exclusively used in the first part of it. The /orwa/ argument that c. 24 is mainly an interpolation cannot therefore be maintained.
(2) The nature of ike context.— Though the frequent corruptions of the text, especially in *'*2*, render interpretation in detail extremely uncer- tain, the chapter clearly has a certain character of its own : Me. finds in ••2* a characterization of the way of the world in a series of short popular character sketches presented without passing any moral judgment on the classes described ; and Bi. finds the miserable inhabitants of the desert, who arc described, neither bad enough to serve as examples of sinners that escape punishment, nor good enough to be a type of good men wronged ; vv.*'*' ***** seem to him " a libro quodam gnomico de cursu vitae desumpti." Du., with less probability, detects an eschatological element
206 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXIV. 1-2.
XXIV. 1 Why are times not laid up by the Almighty ?
And why do not they who know him see his days ? * ^ Wicked men "• remove land-marks ;
They violently take away flocks, and feed them.
in *•*. Hoffm. places *^"^ after 25' as part of Bildad's speech. The nature of the contents is, to a large extent, rightly characterized by Me. and Bi., but it does not necessarily follow that c. 24 is an inappropriate continuation of c. 23 ; and to Bu. it appears precisely what we ought to expect. In any case, the c. is certainly not throughout a mere cool and unconcerned description of life, in which case it would certainly differ greatly in tone and :emper from other speeches of Job ; for not only *, but also "°, reflect the fi:jeling of the writer, that the facts of life present moral anomalies and raise the question of the moral government of God — in other words, the feeling that constantly underlies and finds expression in Job's speeches.
The passages most open to suspicion of interpolation are (i) the very objective description of the ** night-birds," ^^-17^ which also, even in the original text, perhaps contained an unusual proportion of tristichs, and (2) those parts of ^*-** which refer to the swift doom descending on the wicked.
1. On the connection with c. 23, see the introductory nn. to 0. 23 and to this c. Why does God not appoint for Himself set times at which to judge men, measuring out punishment to wrong-doers, and rescuing the wronged from the violence done to them by their fellow-men ? Why do not men see (ct. 22^^ — Eliphaz) God thus judicially active ? The questions are wider than in 21^: attention is turned now not only on the wicked, but on their victims. — Times . . . days\ the parallelism is not favourable to Du.'s substitution for days of day y i.e. the day of Yahweh (eschatological). — Laid up] the same vb. as in 15^^ 2119. — TTiey who know him] not specifically those who know of God's future judgment (Du.) ; but, in general, the righteous; cp. **him that knoweth not God" (|| to the unrighteous, hy) in 18^1 ; cp. also Ps. 36^1. Or, possibly, the term here is due to corruption ; in what follows the wronged are not depicted under the aspect of those that know God ; the connection with what follows would be easier if some such term as the wicked, or th(? oppressed, were substituted.
2, 3, 9, 4. — The violent and their victims.
2. Wicked men] see phil. n. — Remove land-marks] the bound-
XXIV. 2-5.] JOB 207
* They drive away the ass of the fatherless,
They take the widow's ox for a pledge.
* They pluck the fatherless from the breast,
And take in pledge *" the infant "" of the poor.
* They turn the needy aside from the way,
All together the poor of the earth hide themselves.
* Behold as wild asses in the wilderness.
They go forth *■ to ^ their work, seeking diligently for
meat, The steppe (provideth) ^ food for the(ir) children.
aries between their own land and their neighbours*, in order to incorporate their neighbours' land in their own : cp. Dt. 19^* 27I'', Pr. 23^®. — And feed thern\ Cr nioith their shepherd \ see phil. n.
3. The most helpless classes are spoiled of their means of livelihood: cp. 22^- ^
9. The V. is certainly out of place between ^ and ^o : if not a gloss, it may have stood here: see phil. n. — The infant of the poor] JH over, or upon^ the poor: but see phil. n.
4. The exact point of * has been differently taken : they hinder the poor of their just rights (Da., cp. Am. 5^2) : they thrust the poor out of the public way, where every one has a right to walk (Di.), or where the sight of them displeases the high-handed wicked (Du.): they violently get rid of the poor when these run after them begging for restoration of what has been plundered from them (Hi.).
5-8. Description of certain miserable starvelings of the steppes, whose search yields them little food and no shelter : cp. 30^ Here there is no allusion to the authors of the misery: ct. ^-* and even i°'-.
5. The text is corrupt and the meaning in detail uncertain (see phil. n.): but probably "wilderness" and ** steppe" were originally parallel terms (cp. Is. 40^ 4i^^)» both describing not, as part of the fig. (Bu.), the home of the wild ass (6^ 1112 395^-), but the country remote from men and cities where this pitiable set of human beings, not naturally adapted to it like the wild
2o8 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXIV. 6-11.
6 The mixed fodder (of cattle) they reap in the field ;
And they take away the late-ripe fruit from the vineyard
of the rich. ^ They pass the night naked without clothing-,
And have no covering in the cold. 5 They are wet with the rain of the mountains,
And for want of shelter they embrace the rock.
^" (Others) go about naked without clothing",
And being an-hungered they carry the sheaves ;
^^ Between ^ the ^ rows (of olive trees) they make oil ; They tread the wine-vats, and suffer thirst.
asses (39^"^ n.), eke out their existence. — Food for the children] children (D"'"iyD) as 29^ (n.); connecting "the steppe" with ^ many read for ^: there is no food for the children^ or (Du.), in this case better, for those shaken (out of the land).
6. Again the text is uncertain ; but the meaning in general seems to be : even if they (stealthily) issue from the steppe into the cultivated land, they only secure poor and scanty food from the fields and vineyards. For details, see phil. nn.^ — The mixed fodder^ etc.] cp. 6^ n. Read, perhaps, in the night, — The late-ripe fruit] the few grapes left to ripen on the vines : these they pilfer from the vineyards, now less carefully guarded than when the main crop was ripe and ready for picking. — The 7'ich] 1^, the wicked^ which has been understood to refer to those who have driven the starvelings into the steppe (Di.), or, assuming that not starvelings but plundering Bedawin are described, to the agriculturalist who has broken covenant v/ith the Bedawin by refusing to pay the covenanted blackmail (Wetzst.).
8. Rain] the heavy rain (d^T) of the winter storms : cp. Is. 25* 30^. — Embrace] cp. La. 4^.
9. See after v.^.
10. II. Slaves, or ill-paid, hard- worked, weary labourers (72 14^), not allowed by these masters to still their pangs of hunger and thirst with any grains from the sheaves which all day long they carry, or the juice of the grapes which they tread
XXIV. 11-13.] JOB 209
*2 From out of the city the dying" groan,
And the soul of the wounded crieth out for help ; Yet God regardeth not the folly.
M Those are of them that rebel against the light ; That know not the ways thereof, Nor abide in the paths thereof.
out. The ill-treatment by the masters, violating the spirit of the law of Dt. 25*, is at least suggested : the scene has shifted back from the steppe (^~^) to the farms and the vineyards. 10*. 11a aj-e probably out of place or corrupt : ^^^- ^^^ are parallels : see phil. n.
Zia. The] J^ Ihetrf paraphrased by ** the . . . of these men" in EV. — Jiows] the meaning walls (EV. al.) is unsupported : see phil. n.
12. From the steppe p"^) and the cultivated country side (^^•), the description here passes, if the text is correct, to human suffering in the towns ; in any case ^^-iT probably con- template town-life. But in 12 there is nothing distinctive of town-life : men die everywhere and may be wounded anywhere. Bu. therefore places ^2 after i^^, as describing the result of the murderer's activity ; but this overloads the description of the murderer as compared with those of the adulterer and thief, and "out of the city" would be rather pointless. Others emend (see phil. n.), following S, which already, with no very different text, expressed quite a different sense : ** Out of the city, out of (their) houses they are driven forth, And the soul of the children crieth out for help." — The city the dying\ JH : the city of men. — c. Or, emending, Yet God heareth not their prayer. On folly y see i^,
13-17. Three classes of the enemies of light {^^) and lovers of darkness (i6^-° i^jj the murderer (i^*- b), the adulterer (i^), and the thief (i*°- i6*)_violators of the 6th, 7th, and 8th command- ments. For the emendation in and the transposition of "^^^^ see phil. n.
13' Those] now to be mentioned — an unusual use of the pron. — Are of] are, or have become, among the number of: H
no THE BOOK OF JOB [XXIV. 13-161
1* *" Before "• the light the murderer riseth, That he may kill the poor and needy.
15 And the eye of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, Saying, No eye shall see me : And he putteth on a covering for his face.
1*° And in the night the thief "" goeth about ^
1^ He diggeth into houses in the dark.
3 ,Tn as in Jg. 1 1^. — Them that rebel against the lighi\ a striking phrase, which in another connection might well be explained as a mythological allusion (Di.); but before ^*"^^ the light io question must be daylight, not the good principle. Certainly ^^ attaches loosely to what precedes : on the other hand it forma a good introduction to ^^""^^ with ^^^•°- ^'^ as a corresponding conclusion ; it is therefore precarious to omit the v. (Stud, cp. Di.), or to separate it from i^^- (Grill, who retains ^- *• '^^^^' ^^' as the genuine parts of the c). With ^, ct. ^^^
14. Before the light] ^ at the light, i.e, when it is light, which is inconsistent with the context : together with ^ in 1*** it would imply that the same persons murder by day and thieve by night (Del.). With **, cp. Ps. lo^'- and see phil. n. Line ° (placed above after v.^^. gee phil. n. on ^6) in J^ reads. And by night let him be like a thief! f^ in * could only be retained if nit< had already developed its later (Mishnic) meaning of evenings night (see, e.g., Pes. i^: NHWB, s.v, IIn).
15. Cp. Pr. 7^. If ° is in place, the adulterer makes him- self doubly secure against detection : he waits till it is dark, and even then covers his face with his mantle, or disguises himself as a woman with a woman's veil (Wetzstein in Del.).
l6a describes the activity not of the adulterer (as in 5^), but of the thief (see phil. n.) whose practice was to dig through (Ex. 22^, Jer. 2^, Mt. 6^^) the clay walls of houses and steal, avoiding, probably from superstitious motives, any attempt to force an entrance by the door (Trumbull, The Threshold Covenant, p. 260 f.). That an adulterer should dig a hole through the wall of a house, creating the need for awkward explanations when the husband returned, is very improbable : his mode of ingress would be different <cp. Pr. 7^^) from that of the thief.
XXIV. 16-18.] JOB 211
16^ In the daytime they shut themselves up,
"^ One and all ^ they know not the light ; i^ For midnight is (as) morning to them,
For ""they are"* acquainted with the terrors of *" darkness \
18 ii^They"^ are swift" (ye say) ** upon the face of the waters. Their portion is cursed in the earth ;
No treader (of grapes) turneth towards ""their vineyard^.
l6b. All these nefarious persons keep at home by day. An alternative (cp. AV. RVm.) but less probable rendering of the line is, which they had sealed for themselves hy day : i.e, they set marks for purposes of recognition on that part of the house by which they intend to gain entrance. — Shut themselves up] securely ; lit. seal themselves up : cp. the use oisealm ^ 14^^ 37^.
VJ. Night is for them, as for wild beasts (Ps. 104^0-22^^ day, i.e, the time of their activity. An alternative rendering of * is. For morning is as midnight to them^ i.e, they dread morning as much as ordinary people dread darkness. — Midnight] lit, thick darkness ; 3^ n.
18-24. In part at least these corrupt, difficult, ambiguous or unintelligible verses describe the unhappy fate of the wicked; this is a constant theme of the friends, whereas Job admits at most and by way of concession (c. 21) that Jt?w^ wicked men meet with an unhappy fate, but only as rare exceptions to the general rule that the wicked prosper. It is necessary, there- fore, to suppose either (i) that the vv. are out of place (for some theories, see the introductory note to the c.) : or (2) that Job in ^^^^ is citing the opinions of the friends to reject them in v.22^ : so RVm. ; for other real or assumed examples of such citation, see 21^^* ^^ The difficulty is not to be avoided either (i) by translating optatively (let them be swift, etc. : cp. (&SiS)i for this would have required different forms in % (m^ ^p for Nin h\> and |Q> ijK for njD'' vh) ; or (2) by making i8~2i and 22-24 illustrations of God's different treatment of the wicked — severe treatment of some, easy treatment of others — without any appearance of moral discrimination (Di.), for of such difference the text says nothing.
2 1 2 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXIV. 18-20.
^® Drought and heat consume snow waters : (So doth) Sheol (those who) have sinned.
^^ The womb forgetteth him : The worm doth suck him : He is remembered no more : And unrighteousness is broken as a tree.
18. T/iey are] ^ he is — in either case, if * goes with ^'^-j the wicked generally (cp. ^^^ 20dj j-^ther than the special classes of ^3-17 are intended : their life is short ; they are swiftly (9^^) gone, like something hurried away by the stream (Hos. 10^). Portiofi] of ground, as in 2 S. 14^^'-, Am. 4*. — Is cursed] and in consequence unproductive (cp. Gn. 3'7'-) ; whether the curse on the wicked man's ground is thought of as pronounced by God (cp. Gn. 821, ti^e same vb. as here) or man (5^, a different vb.) is uncertain. — c. ?^ may be translated as above, the meaning being: as his (arable) ground is barren, so his vineyard no longer yields grapes. JH : he hi-meth not by the way of the vineyardsy which has been understood as the reverse of ** to sit under one's vine and fig-tree " (Da.).
19. In f^ the V. is unrhythmical, awkwardly expressed and no doubt corrupt (see phil. n.); ^ (apart from*) would be more naturally rendered, as it is in ©, his sin is asked for. Du., rejecting as glosses ^^^ and (in i^^) **the way of the vineyards,* and treating the remainder as two parallels to ^^^ (reading n3QDX: for n3D^ N^, T\hy' for 'h^'^), renders, Drought and heat take it away. Snow waters consume it : i.e. lack of rain in summer, excess in winter, alike serve to ruin the wicked man's land.
20a-C. The wicked passes out of all remembrance, even of the mother who bore him (cp. Is. 49^^'*), and only the worm now finds any satisfaction in him. But (see phil. n.) not improb- ably one or two slight errors in transcription have quite altered the figures of the lines, which rather read :
The square of his (native-) place forgetteth him, And his name is remembered no more.
20d. Cp. 19I®: but the line attaches awkwardly and sus- piciously to those that precede, whether these are read as in f^ or as emended (see last n.) ; nor is the awkwardness less, if
XXIV. 20-22.] JOB 213
21 He '^ill-treateth^ the barren that beareth not:
And doeth not good to the widow."
22 Yet (God) by his power maketh the mighty to continue :
He riseth up, though he believeth not that he will live.
with RVm. the line is connected with 21 : And unrighteous- ness is broken as a tree : even he that devoureth, etc. Du., assuming extensive corruption and transposition of words, reads : Like a rotten tree he is uprooted (ipy^ ]}]}") }^j;3).
21. Typical activities of the wicked man (cp. 2. *• 9) j jji. treatment of the widow is familiar, but we should expect as its parallel ill-treatment of the orphan; instead of this, J^ as rendered above refers strangely to ill-treatment of childless women, the point being supposed to be that such have no sons to defend them (Di. : on some curious earlier explanations, see Schult.), or if it be rendered he keepeth company with (Pr. 29^) the barren (so Marshall), to adultery with wives unlikely to conceive. Du., continuing his textual reconstruction of 2°**, reads, 21^ He doeth not good to the widow, 21a And hath no compassion on her child (Dm ^ nhvi— n!)lV from 20^^ Dm for li>n: rVl^V ^^T\ has already been taken back into '^^). — RU treateth] ^ grazeth on (see phil. n.), or keepeth company with (see above).
22-24. So far from the wicked suffering an untimely fate, as you say (^^"21), God prolongs their life (22a) beyond their ex- pectation (22^) and grants them security (2^*) and tenderly cares for them (2^^) : such is the point of 22f., if J^ is retained in 23 and is to be translated as above in 22 ; and the same line of thought would be continued in 24, if this really meant that though the wicked share the common fate of men, they do so only when they are like ripe ears of corn (526), i.e, after a long life. But the antithesis at the beginning of 22a is not marked in f^ (" Yet " is merely ** and "); and the verses have been understood by some (Du. for instance) as continuing throughout the descrip- tion of the unhappy fate of the wicked.
22. Yet (God) . . . maketh . . , , to continue] in life (see phil. n.) : f^ may also be translated. And he draweth away (ffiF EV), viz. to destruction, the vb. being the same as in Ps.
214 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXIV. 22-XXV
^ He granteth him to be confident, and he stands supported ;
And his eyes are upon ^ his ^ ways. '* They are exalted for a little while, and they are gone ;
Yea, they are brought low, they are ''plucked off ^ like
•" mallows],
And like the tops of ears of corn are they cut off. ** And if it be not so, now, who will prove me a liar,
And make my speech nothing worth?
28^ — Riseth up] from a bed of sickness (cp. Ex. 21^^). By itself the line might have a different sense : though he stand up ^ endure (8^^) for the moment, yet he has no confidence in his life continuing.
23a. Du., If he is pulled down, he has no hope of finding support: see phil. n. on 22. — 5. Ps. 33I8. For his eyesy Du reads his oppressor (vi3V») ; RVm. but his eyes understands the line of the punishment of the wicked : though God seems to give them security (*), yet all the time He is narrowly watching them to punish them.
24. Even in f^ this v. most naturally suggests the untimely end of the persons referred to ; for the alternative view, that it describes God's favour (see on ^^'^^ and phil. n.), reference is made to 21^^. — They are brought low] i.e, (if the word is rightly read) in death. — Plucked off] J^ contract themselves ^ i.e. in death. — Like mallows] So ^ : J^ like all (men). — Mallows\ 30*. — Tops of the ears of com] this appears to stand for : tops of the stalks of corn : corn was reaped by cutting off the tops of the stalk a little below the ear: see EBi. Agriculture 67 with illustrations. — Are cut off] or withered', so Di. who understands the line as referring to the withering of the tops of the ean (see last n.) as the corn ripens.
XXV. Bildad's third speech. — This speech, which speaks of the majesty of God (^f) and, echoing Eliphaz (4^^ S^"*'*)* ^^ the impossibility of man ranking as pure before God (*~®), opens abruptly, without a question (4^ n.), and is of extreme brevity. The brevity has sometimes been regarded as an indication on the poet's part that the arguments of the friends are exhausted ; more probably it is due to early mutilation of the text which
XXV. 2-4.] BILDAD 21 S
XXV. ^ Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said, 2 Dominion and fear are with him ;
Who maketh peace in his high places. ' Is there any number of his troops ?
And upon whom doth not his light arise ?
led to the loss or misplacement of the opening (see on 26^-*) and other parts of Bildad's speech : see the Introduction.
2-6. God rules in such a way as to inspire terror (2»), imposing His will on all who resist Him, even among the inhabitants of heaven {^^) ; in the execution of His will He can rely on innumerable and invincible powers {^). Should man oil earth, then, criticize Him, as Job had done (23^^-242^), or, again as Job had done (2^'^-^^^-)y claim to be innocent (^^)? Neither of the terror of God's rule (see 23^^^-), nor of the imperfection and impurity of human beings (see 9^), did Job need Bildad to instruct him.
2. With htm] i.e. with God (see phil. n. on 24^^), who may have been mentioned previously in some part of Bildad's speech now lost : in every other speech the friends begin with some direct address to Job, or indirect reference to him ; Du. prefixes 262-* which contains such an opening, but does not contain an antecedent to with him.
2b. Cp. Is. 2421 (with n. there) and cc. 9^* 26i2f. (with notes)
3. Troops . . . ligh{\ not very obvious parallel terms, but possible, if we think of the troops as the **host of heaven." Even so, however, ^^ remains rather strange, for arise (Dip : cp. 1 1^7) is not expressed by the usual word (mr) for the rising of the sun, and the idea of Mt. 5*^ that God graciously causes His sun to shine on all creatures, is obviously out of place here. The idea, if the text is right, is rather that of Heb. 4IS (Peake) : no-one is concealed from God ; no-one can secretly withdraw himself from His dominion. But fflc (see phil. n.), keeping up the fig. of *, and giving to the verbal idiom a well-established sense, reads And against whom doth not his ambush rise up (i>y Dip, cp. Dt. 19II).
4-6. A mere variation of Eliphaz's words in 15^*"^^ (cp. 4^^"')t insisting on a point admitted by Job in 9^: cp. 14*
2l6 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXV. 4-XXVI. S.
* How then can man be just beside God ?
Or how can he be pure that is born of a woman ?
* Behold, even the moon hath no brightness,
And the stars are not pure in his sight :
* How much less man that is a maggot !
And the son of man, which is a worm I
XXVI. ^ Then Job answered and said,
* How hast thou helped him that is without power I
How hast thou saved the arm that hath no
strength !
4. Beside God] ue, "having a righteousness independent of God's"— Dr.
5. Moon . . . stars\ without mention of the sun, as Ps. 8*^3^: in 15^^ ** his holy ones ... the heavens": 4^^ **his servants . . . his angels."
6. Son of man] in Job only here, and perhaps 16^^. — Maggot] or worm of decay and corruption (y** 17^*) : the term in ^ also ex- presses ** the idea of extreme abasement (Is. 41^*, Ps. 22^) " — Dr.
XXVI. 2-4. Job, if the words are his, ironically acknow- ledges the help which he has received from Bildad's speech ; such abundant and effective wisdom (cp. 12^^') must have God as its ultimate source (*^) — as Eliphaz, indeed, had claimed (15^). But the sustained use of the 2nd pars. sing, in the address (see below on v.^), and perhaps also the interrogative opening so customary with the friends (4^ n.), but only once employed by Job (19^), suggest that the lines may be the mis- placed opening of Bildad's third speech. In this case Bildad is taunting Job : By your charges against God you have represented Him as weak and ignorant (cp. 22^^ Eliphaz) ; but how have you helped and illumined Him with your wisdom uttered at such length? (^^r cp. 8^ 18^). Whence have you such wisdom that you venture to instruct even God? To which question Bildad leaves unexpressed the obvious answer : there is no wisdom above the wisdom of God : so Du. explains ; but the interpretation is perhaps a little laboured.
2. Thou] so **• 2*- ^ **• ^, There is no other example of such
XXVI. 2-4.] JOB 2 1 7
^ How hast thou counselled him that hath no wisdom, And plentifully declared sound knowledge !
* '^To^ whom hast thou uttered words? And whose spirit came forth from thee ?
sustained address by Job to one of the friends alone. Job's general habit is to address all three together in the 2nd pers. pi.; so in reply to Eliphaz, 621-24.26-29 152. 4f. j^io. to Bildad,
ig2t. 5f. 21f. 28f. ; to Sophar, 122'- 132. 4-13. 17 2l2- 3a(b (3). 5. 27. 29. 34^
The rare instances of the sing, in address to one of the friends alone are : to Eliphaz i6^, to Sophar i2^^- (probably not original), 21^^ (J^, not (Sr) ; there is no instance in the previous replies to Bildad. Eliphaz in 15^^- (scarcely also in 42) and Bildad in 8^ i82*- speak in the pi. as expressing not their individual, but their common standpoint; at other times Eliphaz (48.i2fF. ^3.8 j -6. i7j ^nd Sophar (202'-), but not Bildad, use the sing. There is nothing in Bildad's brief speech in c. 25, nor in 26^-14, if that be considered the misplaced conclusion to it, to account for this very excep- tional use of the 2nd pers. sing, in addressing him. — Htm that is 'without power] i.e. (if the words are Job's) Job himself, not (Mercerius, Schlottm., Ehrlich) God; but God, if the words are Bildad's. — The arm] the seat of strength: cp. 40^ and, e.g.f Hos. 715, Ezk. 3o24'-.
3. Sound knowledge] the term rW\T\ (5^2 n. and phil. n.) has been previously used by Job, Eliphaz, and Sophar, but not Bildad.
4. To whoiii] or, rather, with whose help ? With God's ? This certainly gives the better parallelism to ^. If we read or render (see phil. n.) to whom^ the point is : will you really teach me, who have no need of such teaching? (cp. Is. 28^).
4b. You cannot but have spoken by the inspiration of God (and * by His help : see phil. n.) : so rightly Di. Da. explain. The meaning is not : you have borrowed what you have to say from Eliphaz (Del.), or from me, Job (in cc. 9, 12, Bu.): you are comforting me with words that you have plagiarized ! (Bu.).
5-14. The power of God extends to Sheol (^^•), and is mani- fested in the incidents of Creation (doa) 12 (i3)j ^j^^j the recurring marvels of the enduring order of the world (7-9. iob.ii(?i3)j^ jj^
2l8 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXVI. 4-«,
'^ The shades do tremble
Beneath the waters and the inhabitants thereof.
the probably mutilated state of the text in cc. 25-27 (see Introduction), it is uncertain whether these vv. originally formed part of a speech of Job, or continued the speech of Bildad, following 25^ (Peake), or less probably 25^ (Reuss, Du. al.). The same general theme — the might and marvellous works of God — is handled elsewhere by Job {g^~^^ 12(7-10). is. more distantly parallel is the remainder of i2'^~25j . |^^t j^ jg ^Iso more briefly touched on by Eliphaz (5^'- 22^2), Sophar (ii^~^), and by Bildad (25^*-) ; and it forms a main theme of the speeches of Yahweh. So far, then, ^~i* might well occur in a speech either of Job or of one of the friends. But the theme is not closely related (ct. c. 9) to the opening of the speech (2-*), nor to what purports to be its continuation (after a pause, 27^) in 272^'. It is said, indeed, that Job's object is to show that he can outdo Bildad's brief attempt in 252-8(6) (Bu.), or that he stands in no need of instruction (cp. ^^) in the greatness of God (Da.) ; but neither the one nor the other object is really indicated in the present text ; and something has perhaps been lost between * and *>, if both 2-4 and ^^^ originally formed part of Job's speech. The connection is not improved by following 05, which omits 5-11- 14*-^ (cp. Hatch, Biblical Greeky 225): this, too, would leave the treatment of the theme in c. 26 as brief as in c. 25.
5. The text is probably in some disorder (see phil. n.). A mere change in the accentuation gives an — at least formally — better distich :
The shades do tremble beneath,
The waters and the inhabitants thereof. For the shades beneath^ cp. " Sheol beneath," Is. 14^ ; for the ** waters," regarded as ** under the earth," and therefore a possible parallel term to **the shades beneath," cp. Ex. 20*, Dt. 4^8 58. But the combination of the waters, the shades, and the inhabitants of the waters, i.e. the fishes, is strange ; and the text may have suffered more seriously. As a con- tinuation of 252 (the fear of God secures peace in the heights
XXVI. 6.] JOB 2 1 9
of heaven), 26^ (and causes those in the depths of Sheol to tremble) would be admirable ; but the v. is by no means so suitable as the beginning of Job's rejoinder to Bildad, as Di.'s attempt to justify it as such shows : *^ Not the heavenly beings alone (as Bildad has said)^ buty says Job, even the shades in the lowest deeps tremble before him " ; if what is here (though not by Di.) italicized had been intended, it would surely have been expressed. — The shades] D"'«D") as in Ps. 88^ ^^''^ (|| the dead), Pr. 2^^ ([| death) 9I8 (|| *<her guests in the depths of Sheol "), 2110, Is. 149 2614 (II *< the dead ") i^^ : so in Phcen., ** No seed among the living under the sun, nor resting-place with the shades" (Tabnith Inscription, 1. 8; Cooke, NSI 4): **may they have no resting-place with the shades, nor be buried in the grave " (Eshmun'azar's Inscription : CIS i^, Cooke, 5) — both passages of about 300 B.C. The term quite clearly denotes the inhabitants of Sheol, who had once lived on earth ; and to the author of Is. 14^- it denoted them as the weak and feeble sur- vivals of once lusty beings of flesh and blood. It is unlikely, therefore, that in and by itself it meant or implied giants (SSTH &X 'A here, Du. : cp. Peake), and, if the context really required such a reference, it would be better to assume that words now lost defined the special ** shades" intended as those of the primeval giants (cp. ** the shades, all the bell-wethers of earth ; all the kings of the nations," Is. 14^). For etymological speculations, which do not determine the meaning placed on the term by late Hebrew writers, cp. n. on Is. 14®; EBi. s.v. Dead. — The waters] of the sea (cp. v.^*', Gn. i9'-22j^ q^ ^j^g surface of which the earth was regarded as spread out (Ps. 136^) or built (Ps. 24^) ; where there was no dry land spread out or built upon and so concealing those waters, they appear as seas or rivers, or give evidence of their presence by springs welling up from below (Gn. 7"); but even these visible waters were, according to Hebrew mode of speech, ** under the earth " (Ex. 20*, Dt. 4^^) ; what was under the waters was therefore a fortiori under the earth. — The inhabitants] of the waters must be the fish in them ; alike the great mon- sters of the deep and the smaller fish with which the waters swarm (cp. Gn. i^i'-, Ps. 8^^^^ 98"^): a special reference to the
2 20 THE BOOK OF JOB [XX VI. 6-7.
• Sheol is naked before him,
And Abaddon hath no covering*: ^ Who stretcheth out the north over empty space,
(And) hangeth the earth upon nothing :
great monsters (cp. Peake) might be more appropriate, but is not in the present text : on the other hand, the strange description of the shades as being under the fishes is not necessarily expressed by the text, but disappears if we place the comma after *' beneath " ; see above. With *' beneath the waters and the inhabitants thereof" might be compared ** who spread out the earth and all that came out of it " (Is. 42^) ; but there, though the zeugma is extreme, the allusion to all that comes out of the earth is entirely suitable to the context.
6. Cp. Pr. 15I1, Ps. 139^^-, Am. 92*-. Sheol, stripped, with all covering that could screen it removed, lies exposed to the eye of God and defenceless before Him. — Abaddon] a term for Sheol as the place of destruction : so Pr. 15^^ 27-^ (coupled with Sheol), c. 2822 (coupled with Death), Ps. 58^2 (|| the grave), c. 3i^2|. In Rev. 9^^ = *-47roWi;c«)i/.
7, 8. Sheol conceals no mystery from God (^) ; and of what are to men the mysteries of earth ^(a). b^ ^j^^j sj^y 8^ Qq^j jg Himself the cause, and, as such, cognizant of them; He hangs the earth with its inconceivable weight on nothing, and keeps it so suspended ; He uses the clouds as vast water-skins to hold the rain, and they do not split in spite of the immense weight of the rain-water within them; the Hebrews had no conception of the contents of the clouds being the light vapour of water. — Stretcheth oiit\ the vb. (nt33) is that commonly used of stretching out the tent (-coverings over the supporting poles) : see, e.g.^ Gn. 12^, Jer. \d^-^\ hence it is used of stretching out the heavens (9^, Zee. 12^, and frequently in Is. 40-66, e.g.^ 45^^)> which were conceived as the coverings of a vast tent (Is. 4022, Ps. 1042). If it is here used of the earth (see next n.), it is so used exceptionally and as a synonym of VpT heaty spread outy the vb. used of the earth in Is. 42^ 442*, where ntD3 is used of the heavens (another term used of the earth in parallelism with nt3D of the heavens is ^D^ Zee. 12^, Is. 51^^). — The north] this
XXVI. 7-9.] JOB 22 1
^ Who bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds, And the cloud is not rent under them :
• Who closeth in the face of "^his^ throne. Spreading his cloud upon it.
might mean (i) the northern and highest region of the heavens: cp. Is. 14^^, though some think that even here '*the north" is the northern part of the earth ; or (2) the northern part of the earth, as Ps. 89^^, Is. 43^. The vb. (see last n.) strongly favours meaning (i) here; and, as against this, it is incon- clusive to plead that the dome of sky was thought to be supported by pillars (cp. ^^) at the horizon. Since (see last n.) the sky was certainly conceived as a tent-covering, the question may easily have presented itself: how is this vast tent-covering held up without any central tent-pole or poles such as earthly tents require, whether the pavilion of a monarch on campaign, puny though it be by comparison, or the constant home of the nomad : see EBi. 4970 f. for illustrations and descriptions of central pole(s). But if the usage of the vb. may be disregarded, and meaning (2) adopted, ^ is entirely concerned with the earth, and ^ with the (clouded) sky. — Hangeth . . . upon] i.e. suspends from (ijy ni^n as Gn. 40^^, Is. 22^*, Ps. 137^), or suspeiids over (as 2 S. 4^2) : the || favours the latter meaning ; but the conception then expressed of the earth poised over empty space would be paralleled, if at all, only in 38^ : moreover, unless we consider the pillars of the earth (9^) part of it, constituting, so to speak, its skeleton (Di.), and the waters under it (^ n.) also part of it, viz. its foundations (z*^.), the conception would not be strictly compatible with what is implied by these expressions.
8. For the clouds conceived as, or under the figure of, water-skins, see 38^*^, Ps. 33*^ ffir: for the marvel of rain, Pr. 30* ; also cc. 3627'. 383*.
pa might also be translated ** Who closeth in the face of the full moon," viz. when the moon is eclipsed; but this is less likely, though even the translation above is not free from difficulty; see phil. n. "Jehovah's throne was pictured by the Hebrews as being above the solid firmament of heaven (cp. 37^^ Am. 9^): its *face,* or outside front, was hidden from the
222 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXVI. 9-12.
1® He hath •" marked out a circle'' upon the face of the waters,
Unto the confines of light and darkness. ^ The pillars of heaven quiver,
And are astonished at his rebuke.
view of men upon the earth, partly by this firmament, partly by the clouds underneath it " (cp. 22^3- ^*) — Dr.
10. **The ancients supposed the earth to be a flat disk encircled by waters [cp. ^ n.]: and so this v. means that God has " marked out a circle ** (corresponding to what we call the * horizon,* though conceived by the Hebrews as a /fjv^c? boundary) upon the surface of these waters : along their inner edge rise the mountains supporting the great dome of heaven (cp. Am. 9*); and the * boundary' thus formed marks the confines of light and darkness, because within this dome the heavenly bodies revolve, while outside all is darkness " — Dr. See, fur- ther, Whitehouse's art. Cosmogony in DB with the sketch on
P- 503-
11. The pillars of heaven] the mountains at the horizon conceived as supporting the vault of heaven : see on v.^^. En. 18^ refers to the phrase and wrongly explains it. Even the mountains tremble at the voice, i.e. the thunders of God (cp. Ps. 29, 18^^^^). — J^ebuke] here of God speaking angrily in thunder: cp. Ps. 18^^ ^^^^ 104^ with the parallel and the context.
12 f. There have been two main lines of interpretation of these verses ; both vv. have been regarded as instancing either recurrent manifestations of God's power in the phenomena of sea and sky, or mighty acts of God at or before the creation of the world. Some interpret ^^ only in the second sense, ^^ in the first. The use of the perfect tense in both lines of ^^ and in 13b ^i3a i^as nQ yb j^ jn contrast to the imperfects and participles of recurrent divine action which predominate in ^~^\ favours the view that the verses — at least ^^ — refer to specific acts at creation, and the correspondence, again most clearly in ^^^ to conspicuous features of Babylonian mythology increases this probability. If the reference throughout is to recurrent action, present tenses (as in RV.), is stilled . . . smitethy should be substituted for the pasts in the above translation ; if ^^ as well
XXVI. 12-13.] JOB 223
^2 Through his power the sea was stilled ;
And by his understanding he smote through Rahab. ^ By his wind the heavens are brightened :
His hand pierceth the fleeing serpent.
as " refers to an act at creation, the past should be substituted for the present in ^^ were . . . pierced,
12. The V. is best taken (see last n.) as containing allusions, such as have already occurred in this book (9^^), to the Hebrew form (in which all creative activity was attributed to Yahweh) of the old Babylonian mythological account of creation : as, in Babylonian story, before the creation of the world, Tiamat, the representative of the sea and disorder, had to be subdued, and as Marduk, in conflict with Tiamat, "seized the spear, and tore her belly, cut her inward parts, pierced her heart, made her powerless, destroyed her life, cast down her body and sX.QO^.M'^oniX.^'' (Tablets of Creationy iv. 101-105: Rogers, CPy p. 29), SO, in Hebrew popular story, before the creation of the world Yahweh quelled the sea, and, like the wise Marduk of the Babylonian story, who used craft (ib. iv. 95-100), not by mere might, but by the use of his understandings slew the sea- monster Rahab (see 9^^ n.). The tenses do not favour the view that a fresh piercing of Rahab every time a stormy sea was hushed, is here referred to. — Was stilled] others render, he stirred up (to fight) : see phil. n. — He smote through Rahab] cp. Is. 51^.
13. " The V. describes how, after a storm, the wind, — God's * breath ' (as Is. 40'^), — clearing away the clouds, brightens the sky; and how the * fleeing serpent' (cp. Is. 27^), which was popularly supposed to be the cause of darkness at an eclipse (cp. 3^), is destroyed by His power, and the light of the sun restored" — Dr. On this view of the v., for which see also Di. Da. Del. Peake, the writer returns from illustrating the power of God shown in His mighty acts at creation (^^j tQ examples of His recurrent activity in nature (cp. ^-^^) ; and perhaps ^* more naturally attaches to examples of recurrent activity than of unrepeated acts in the past. Yet the pf. tense in ^, the similarity of ^ to ^^b, and of 1^^, ^^b combined to Is. 51^, together establish a strong presumption for referring ^^ ij^e 12 ^q ^^e
2 24 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXVI. 13-14.
^* Lo, these are but the outskirts of his ways ;
And what a whisper of a word do we hear of him !
But the thunder of his mighty acts who can comprehend ?
past, though perhaps none of the attempts so to explain it have been entirely satisfactory.
U ("Spiritus eius ornavit caelos, et obstetricante manu eius eductus est coluber tortuosus") and ^ (in which, as in U (ct. B), the vbs. in both lines are, as in |^ in ^ in the pf.) understand the v. to refer to the clearing: up of the heavens at creation (cp. Gn. i^'-) and to the creation of Leviathan (cp. 3^), which 'dL definitely names here. But modern interpreters of the v. appeal for support to the parallelism of ^^ with the Babylonian story, which parallelism, it is contended, with considerable probability, continues in " ; and to (&. ffir, though it implies in * a Hebrew text very slightly differing from £H, gives * a very different sense, viz. The bars of heaven shuddered before him-, this is adopted by Gunkel (Schb'pfung u. Chaos, 36 f.), who sees in * an allusion to the bars or bolts which were forbidden to let water stream down from heaven, except when God permitted, and shuddered to disobey the divine command. It will be convenient to cite the lines of the Creation story (iv. 130-132, 135, 137-141 ; Rogers, CP 2sS.) most immedi- ately concerned :
*' With his merciless club he broke her (Tiamat's) skull, He cut through the channels of her blood, And he made the North wind bear it away to secret places. Then the lord rested, he gazed upon her dead body. He split her open like a flat (?) fish into two halves ; One half of her he established as a covering for heaven. He fixed a bolt, he stationed a watchman. He commanded them not to let her waters come forth." But the "bars of heaven shuddered" would be a strange way of alluding to this. We might rather surmise that the allusion to the mytli lies not in the bars of (!Br, but the wind of f^ (the remainder of * being corrupt). For the part played by the wind in the conflict with Tiamat, cp. the third of the lines just cited, and, e.g., iv. 45-48 :
He created an evil wind, a tempest, a hurricane,
A fourfold wind, a sevenfold wind, a whirlwind, a wind beyond compare. He sent forth the winds, which he had created, the seven of them, To disturb the inner parts of Tiamat, they followed after him. In the "fleeing serpent" of ^ following Rahab in ^^^ Gu. sees evidence that the Hebrew myth spoke of two creatures slain by Yahweh, as the Babylonian myth speaks of Kingu as well as Tiamat. Daiches (ZA, 191 1, p. 3) finds in * a statement of the creation of the heavens, in ^ of the creation of the sea, in agreement (as he argues) with the order of events after the slaying of Tiamat in the Babylonian story ; but see phil. n.
14. Marvellous as are the ways of God just described, what is indescribable 13 immeasurably more marvellous ; the story of
XXVI. 14-XXVII. 2.] JOB 225
XXVII. ^ And Job again took up his discourse, and said, * As God liveth, who hath taken away my right ;
And the Almighty, who hath embittered my soul;
His mighty acts comes through to man as a mere whisper of the thunder of their far distant reality. Even what God does is but partially and faintly heard : how much less can the reason for what He does be discovered ! such is probably the indirect suggestion of the v.
XXVII. This c. (i) opens with an introductory formula stating that Job is the speaker, although it immediately follows what is, according to 26^, a speech of Job ; (2) is, for the most part of its contents, entirely at variance with the standpoint of Job, and in entire agreement with the standpoint of the friends. Both these features are probably due to dislocations of the text in this part of the book; see on cc. 25, 26^'*'^'^^ and Introduction. While 2-6 clearly, ^^ probably, and perhaps ^^ belong to a speech of Job*s, ^~^® and ^^^3 ^re most naturally referred to one of the friends, and perhaps formed parts of the apparently missing third speech of Sophar.
I. Took up his discourse f and said] So 29^, Nu. 23^- ^^ 2^3. 16. 20. 21. 23 . ggg f,^ jjj Numbers^ p. 344 f. — Again\ after c. 26, though no other speaker has intervened (cp. 34^ 35^ 36^ 40^). If dislocation of the text is not assumed (see above), it is usual to assume that Job pauses for Sophar to reply, and finding him silent resumes his own speech.
2-6. Job once again maintains, and now for the first time with a solemn oath (cp. 31^^), his integrity, and that his manner of life in no way accounts for the calamities that have befallen him; that these, on the contrary, prove not his unrighteousness, but God's perversion of his right ; and, consequently, that it would be a profane thing for him (^) to admit that his friends had spoken the truth. These verses read quite like the heginning of a speech of Job ; and do not require, scarcely even allow, 26^"* as an introduction to them. They are not very intimately related to what survives of Bildad's speech, even if 26^"^* be referred to him, nor to 27^'^^- ^^"^s conjecturally attri- buted to Sophar.
15
226 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXVU. 3-7.
' (For all my breath is still in me,
And the spirit of God is in my nostrils ;)
* Surely my lips do not speak unrighteousness,
Neither doth my tongue utter deceit.
* Be it far from me ! Surely I will not justify you !
Till I die I will not put away mine integrity from me.
* My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go :
My heart doth not reproach any one of my days.
2. Job swears by God, though in the very terms of the oath he charges God with doing him injustice. — Taken away my right] 34^: cp. (with r\^7\ for TDH) Dt. 24^^ 27^^, i S. 8^ the milder complaint against God in Is. 40^^, and the anti- thetical phrase in c. 36^. — Embittered my soul] cp. **the bitter- ness of my soul," 7^^ 10^; **a bitter soul," 2i25.
3. The parenthesis "is intended to add strength to Job's protestation : though worn by his disease, he still has life and energy to make it" — Dr. The alternative translation (see phil. n.), all the while my breath is in me^ would only be suit- able (cp. Ps. 1462'-) if Job were swearing that (*) he would always in the future speak truth : and here he is swearing to the fact that he always has spoken and still does speak truth.
5. Justify you] Admit your charges to be true. — I will not put away my integrity] the equivalent, stated negatively, of "I will hold fast to my integrity" (cp. 2^-^). To allow the charges of the friends to pass as true — a course repudiated in * — would make Job a liar, and so impair his integrity (i^ n.).
6. Heart] Conscience, as i S. 24^ ^^\ Never had Job com- mitted such sins as to account for his calamities.
7-10. The speaker — not Job, but possibly Sophar (see above) — expresses the wish (ct. 31^) that his enemy may be overtaken by the unhappy lot of the wicked, in particular, that he may — as Job does now (9^^'* 13^* 19^ 30^®) — find God deaf to him when trouble befalls him (S'). Such an execration would be intelligible in the mouth of the friends who hold the fate of the wicked to be the worst of fates, but not in the mouth of Job ; for in his mouth it would mean : May my enemy prosper in life and be honoured in death (cp. e.g, 2i^*-2^3sjj
xxvn. 7.] sophar(?) 227
[SOPHAR (?)]
^ Let mine enemy be as the wicked,
And let him that riseth up against me be as the un- righteous.
Two attempts to explain the words as Job's may be referred to. " The words being inconsistent with the condition of Job's mind as revealed in his speeches, it is supposed (a) that he has at last found his way to an assured trust in God, or that such a trust has suddenly, after the attacks of his friends are ended, flashed upon him, and filled his mind with the hope of a restoration to God's favour (Ew. Di.). This altered frame of mind, how- ever, though net in itself inadmissible, is difficult to reconcile with what follows: for in 3020-23 Jq^ expresses again the same thought, which ex hypothesi he would have overcome ; he denies, precisely as he has done throughout the debate, that God listens to his cry. And similarly in 31S5-37 he treats God still as his adversary. At the same time it is conceivable that the author only intended to represent Job as having gained a temporary calmness of mind, which afterwards, as the contrast between his past and present condition forces itself upon him (cc. 30-31), he fails to maintain. The alternative (6) is to conclude that the implicit reference is to Job's ^o^/ condition, and to suppose that the state of mind which Job denies to the ungodly is suggested by memories of his own former condition, as described in c. 29, when the tokens of God's friendship were abundantly bestowed upon him. Upon this view the words are considered to be introduced here as a continuation of vv.^-^, as though to say : How could one have ever been tempted to sin, who knew so well the miserable mental state into which the sinner falls? (Hengstenberg partly; Budde [ZATW, 1882], pp. 205-210, and in his Comm." — Dr. LOT^ 422. Bu. in the interests of this interpretation places ' after ^®.
7. For the form of speech, cp. Nu. 23^^ To wish the best for oneself — the lot of the righteous, and the worst for one's enemy — the lot of the wicked, was, in spite of better teaching (Pr. 24^^), doubtless the average moral practice of the day, and this the author might readily attribute to any one of the three representatives of the normal religious dogma : he represents Job as governed by a higher morality (si^^*). — Mine enemy] obviously quite general — any one who is my enemy, as, e.g.y in Ex. 23*. It is only, if the v. is assigned to Job, that artificial interpretation is required to establish a connection with 2-6 : Di., e.g.y explains: Let not me, but my enemy, i.e, him who denies my righteousness (v»^*-), be, i.e, appear, as the one wh(? is in the wrong.
228 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXVII. 8-13.
8 For what is the hope of the godless, when he risi cut off,
When God ''requireth'' his soul? ® Will God hear his cry,
When trouble cometh upon him? 1^ Will he delight hirtiself in the Almighty,
(And) call '^unto^ God at all times?
[Job]
^^ I will teach you concerning the hand of God ;
That which is in the mind of the Almighty will I not conceal. ^2 Behold all ye yourselves have seen it ;
Why then are ye become altogether vain ?
8. Is cut off\ cp. Is. 38^^. But in this context the expression almost seems to imply that, in contrast to the wicked, the righteous, when he is '*cut off," has a hope of immortality. But if so, the clause is inconsistent with the standpoint of the book. See, further, phil. n. — RequiretK\ JE draweth out,
lOa. Cp. 2226a (Eliphaz).
II, 12. In ^^ (as in ^2) the pron. you is pi. ; unless this be corrected to the sing, (see phil. n.), ^^ as well as ^2 must be part of a speech of Job to the friends. Apart from the question of the pron., v.^^ would be equally suitable in the mouth of either Job or one of the friends ; each claims to know the handy or action, and the mind of God, in regard to the righteous and the unrighteous. In ^^ the 2nd plural (four times) is too deeply embedded in the text for the v. to be anything but a part of Job's address through one to all three of the friends (cp. n. on 26^) ; if the pi. in ^^ is right, the vv. may have stood together : I will teach you how God treats the righteous and the unrighteous (v.^^), though, as a matter of fact, you ought not to need to be taught facts of life which stare you in the face (^2aj . ygt you do, for (^^bj your entire conduct of your argument has no relation to reality (see phil. n.). But that such a prelude should, in the mouth of Job, be followed by ^^^3^ cannot be shown to be probable (see on i3-23j^
13-23. The unhappy fate of the wicked man as described, perhaps by §ophar, in any case, not by Job.
XXVII. 13-14.] SOPHAR (?) 229
[SOPHAR (?)]
^^ This is the portion of a wicked man '^from"' God,
And the heritage of oppressors, which they receive from
the Almighty.
1* If his children be multiplied, it is for the sword ; And his offspring are not satisfied with bread.
For it would be " remarkable (a) that Job should undertake to teach his friends what they had continuously maintained, viz. the evil fate which overtakes the wicked; (A) that he should himself affirm the opposite of Avhat had been his previous position, viz. that an evil fate does not overtake the wicked (922-24 . c. 21 : c. 24) ; (c) that while coinciding- with his friends in opinion, he should reproach them with folly " (^^). *' The solution com- monly offered of this difficulty is that Job is here modifying his former extravagant expressions respecting the prosperity of the wicked, and con- ceding that, as a rule, or often, a disastrous fate overtakes them. But, as Professor Davidson remarks : (a) the limitation, * as a rule,' has to be read into the passage, for the language is as absolute as that of any of his friends ; (j8) if the passage be a retractation of Job's previous language, it is a retractation which errs equally in extravagance on the other side : for it asserts a law of temporal retribution without any apparent qualification whatever ; (7) it is singular that in describing the fate of the wicked at God's hands, Job should use the same figures, and even sometimes the same words, which he employs when speaking of his own destruction by God (21, cp. 9" 30^; 2^, cp. 16^^; ^, cp. 17^ SO*^'"). Perhaps, however, this coincidence is accidental. A decidedly better explanation is that of Schlottmann and Budde {ZATW, 1882, p. 211 ff.), who suppose the passage to be spoken by Job -with an eye to his three friends', v." he ironically declares that he will ' teach ' them, which he does by forthwith turning their own weapons against them ; they knovi (^■"*) what the fate of the wicked man is, and yet they strangely do not see that by their wicked insinuations against Job they are invoking it deliberately upon themselves ! Job has spoken strongly before of the wrong done to him by his friends ^,^4. 7. 9 jg2f. 2i34^^ and has threatened them with Divine vengeance (13^"^ 19^) ; and here, upon this view, he holds up to them, if they will make the application, a more distinct warning" (Dr. LOT^ 422 f.). This seems to be the only explanation ** which, while leaving the text as it is, and retaining the passage for Job, gives it a logical place in his argument. But it must be admitted that this explanation is artificial, and that there is nothing in z'f^''^ to suggest that it is spoken with a view to Job's friends : on the other hand, zf'^^- ^^'^ would be perfectly suitable in $ophar's mouth, and consistent with what he has maintained before " (c. 20) — Dr. Joh, p. 77.
13. Cp. 2o29 (Sophar).
14, 15. The wicked man may have many children and family connections, and so (cp. e,g» Ps. 127^"^, and see on i^)
230 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXVII. 14-18.
^^ Those that survive of him are buried in death,
And "^ their ^ widows weep not. ^^ Though he heap up silver as the dust,
And prepare raiment as the clay ; 1^ He may prepare it, but the just putteth it on.
And the innocent divideth the silver. ^8 He buildeth his house as the "^ spider^,
And as a booth which the keeper maketh.
apparently be an object of God's favour ; but he lives to see them come to an untimely end through sword, famine, and pestilence. Cp. 5* (Eliphaz), iS^^ (Bildad), 20^0 (Sophar) ; ct. 21^ (Job). Sophar might insinuate the conclusion that as Job's children had come to an untimely end. Job must be unrighteous; Job would not himself make his cruellest loss prove his dearest conviction, that of his own integrity, false.
15. This v. appears to mean : * those belonging to the wicked man who survive (cp. iS^^phil. n.) the sword and famine of 1* perish by the pestilence — death having this sense, as in Jer. 152 1 8^1; these not merely die by the pestilence, but receive no other burial than they receive from it, i.e. they lie unburied ; and ^ (cp. Ps. 78^^) they lack the solemn funeral wailing which their widows would normally have supplied. For the aggrava- tion of death by lack of burial, cp. e.g. 2 K. 9^^, Jer. 8^ 14^6. by the lack of the correct ceremonial of death and funeral, Jer. 22^^- ^^. — In death'] rather by death. — Their widows] f^ his widows^ which, unless it means the widow of each one of them (see phil. n.), would implicitly anticipate the death of the wicked man, which is not directly referred to before ^^, even if there (see n. there) ; it would also imply that in his lifetime he was a polygamist.
16, 17. Similarly the wicked man may for a time acquire much money and great possessions — here the man's wardrobe is taken as typical of the latter — but only to part with them ; his money and goods pass over to the righteous.
16. For the comparisons, cp. Zee. 9^.
18. Cp. 814'- (Bildad), ct. 2i9 (Job). The house of the wicked man, however strongly he may build it and however
XXVII. 18-20.] SOPHAR (?) 23 1
1^ He lieth down rich, but rdoeth so^ no ''more''; He openeth his eyes, and he is not.
permanent he may intend it to be, quickly collapses : it is actually as fragile as a spider's web, and has no longer endur- ance than that most temporary of human habitations, the booth (Is. i^) or shelter made of boards and matting for the use of watchmen in vineyards or gardens during the summer, which readily falls to pieces in the storms of autumn and winter ; see the picture of a modern "booth" in SBOTj Isaiah^ p. 162. — Spider] cp. 8^* ; this rather than moth (5^) is to be read.
19. A day comes when the wicked man goes to bed rich for the last time ; next morning he wakes up to find himself dead (cp. Is. 37^^), or, translating in ^ and it (viz. his wealth) is not, shorn of his riches. Dr., in the above translation and in the phil. n., with Ew. Di. Da. Del. al., refers this v. to the death of the wicked man. But (i) in ^0-23 the wicked man is depicted as still alive to experience the bitterness of his fallen fortunes ; (2) to continue rich to the last hour of life is rather the privilege (from the standpoint of the current theory of the lot of the righteous and the unrighteous) of the righteous than the fate of the wicked; it is Job's complaint (21^^) that, against the current theory, the facts of life show the wicked spending their days in prosperity, and then, when they must share the lot of all mankind, going down easily and in a moment to Sheol. For these reasons we may preferably, with, e,g.^ Hi. Bu., treat the v. as referring to the sudden loss of the wicked man's wealth. — But doeth so no more] or, but does not again (sc. lie down rich) ; fSi and is not gathered^ i.e. to the grave in burial. — He openeth his eyesy and he is not] if this line refers to death (but see above), cp. 2 K. 19^ **when they rose up early in the morning, behold dead corpses were they all."
20-23. The last scene ; but even here the death of the wicked man is not depicted ; death, which comes even to good men, is too good for him ; he is depicted as flooded by waters or hurled by the tempest out of his house where he had once seemed to himself so rich and secure, the mark of God's arrows, hurled unsparingly at him, and the object of man's
232 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXVII. 20-23.
^^ Terrors overtake him like waters ;
In the night a whirlwind stealeth him away. 2^ The sirocco carrieth him away, and he departeth ;
And it sweepeth him out of his place. 22 And (God) hiirleth at him, and spareth not ;
He fleeth away from (before) his hand. ^ Men clap their hands at him,
And hiss at him from his place.
merciless contempt and scorn — a terror-stricken fugitive from God and man.
20a. Cp. (implicitly) 20^8 (Sophar), 22" (Eliphaz). — Terrors] ninb: i8"-^* (Bildad), 24^^ 3016 ljoh).— Whirlwmd] 21I8 378.
21. Sirocco] 152382*; cp. i^^ n.
22. God, unnamed in f^, as in 320 (n.), is the subject. The object, too, of hurleth must be understood ; the arrows of God, i.e, the lightnings, are probably intended (cp. 16^^). This is the one v. in the entire description in which God, though even here unnamed, is referred to ; partly on this ground, partly on the ground that 21 comes haltingly after 20, and 22 in its present position is very much **post festum," Bu. omits 21'- but retains 23 as against ©, which omits 21-23 (go Bi.). See, further, phil. n.
23. Cp. 22^^ (Eliphaz). — Clap their hands] in malicious de- light : cp. La. 2^5, where also hiss (cp. Zeph. 2^^, Jer. 49^^) occurs in the parallel, and with a different vb., Nah. 3^^.
XXVIII. The c. is an independent poem ^ on the limitations of human achievement and, in contrast, the incomparable and inscrutable wisdom of God, rather than a speech either of Job,
* The main arg-ument, that c. 28 was not originally part of the Dialogue, is exegetical; but it may also be noted (1) that the c. avoids the divine names regularly used in the Dialogue ; in ^ 'Jn«, occurring nowhere else in the book, or m.T, occurring nowhere else in the Dialogue (for 12^ is no real exception), is used, and in ^ dtiSn, which occurs at most twice (5* 20^) in the Dialogue (as against 90 occurrences in all of niV»<, Vt<, and ns?) : see table in the Introduction ; (2) though the occurrence of unique words or meanings in the description of mining and precious stones — subjects not handled elsewhere — has little significance, the occurrence of my ^^ n'?D^^, iro '^ which might have been but are not used elsewhere in the book, is noticeable ; (3) the use of a refrain ("•^), is more natural to an independent poem than to a speech in the Dialogue.
XXVIIL] A POEM ON WISDOM 233
or, though this would raise less difficulty, of one of his friends, whether Sophar (Gratz, Monatsschrift^ 1872, pp. 241-250; Hoffm.) or Bildad (Stuhlm.). It contains no single obvious connection with the stage of the debate now reached, and only in 2^, which may refer obliquely to i^, has it any connection whatever with any preceding part of the book. On the other hand, in the mouth of Job it anticipates^ and that in such a way as to render nugatory, the speech (es) of Yahweh in cc. 38-40. What Yahweh there says, using the very words of ^^ in 38^^^ and, as in ^5-27 here, illustrating the divine wisdom by reference to certain marvels of creation, is unmistakably addressed to Job with the purpose of bringing him to realize that he does not possess the wisdom of God : consequently what Yahweh there teaches him he would himself here already expound, and that as calmly as if it were a position long reached by himself and generally recognized ; for c. 28 is not an argument, but a meditation ; it does not attempt to prove to the friends or any one else that God's wisdom is unattainable : it assumes and reflects upon the truth and its corollary, the limitations of human knowledge : this at least is true of the c. down to ^^ : only in the last v. does the poem take on a didactic character, and that v. is probably a later addition (see below).
The nature of the attempts to explain the c. as a speech of Job's, and Dr. 's attitude towards them, are indicated in the following citation from LOT^ 423 f. **It might, no doubt, be supposed that Job, no longer irritated by the retorts of his friends, has reached a calmer mood ; and abandoning the attempt to discover a speculative solution of the perplexities which distress him, finds man's wisdom to consist in the practical fulfilment of the duties of life. But a serious difficulty arises in connection with what follows. If Job has risen to this tranquil temper, how comes it that he falls back (30^°'^) into complainings, and dissatisfaction at not having been justified by God (31^)? And, further, if he has reached by the unaided force of his own meditations this devout and submissive frame of mind, how is the ironical tone of the Divine speeches (c. 38 ff.) to be accounted for? If he is already resigned to the inscrutability of the Divine ways, how does it need again to be pointed out to him? The difficulty is analogous to that arising out of 27^'' : the changed frame of mind, which both appear to imply, is not preserved in the subsequent parts of the book. It is hardly possible that such a noble and characteristic passage can have been inserted into the poem by a later hand. May it be supposed, as was suggested above, on 27''^*^, that Job's tranquil state of mind was conceived by the author as temporary only? It must, however, be allowed that
234 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXVIII.
there Is an imperfect psychological basis even for a temporary recovery of calmness : Job is unmoved by all the arguments of the friends ; and no other independent influence (as in cc. 38-39) has been brought to bear upon him. . . . According to Budde, Job's intellectual inability to reconcile his sufferings with his innocence having reached its climax in c. 27, he gives up the problem, explaining his incapacity from the fact that wisdom is reserved by God for Himself: what He has given to man under this name is a practical substitute for wisdom, not wisdom itself. Job, upon this view, accepts the ordinance of Providence, though not in a spirit of resignation, but in dissatisfaction and despair. This explanation brings the chapter into consistency with the context ; but it is open to the grave objection that (as Davidson, p. 201, already remarked) no trace of such a state of mind is discernible in the entire chapter : on the contrary, the writer seems to be stating, with an eloquence and warmth which cannot be misunderstood, the conclusions which satisfy himself. Cp. Di.^ p. 238, who, however, owns that the chapter so understood cannot state the ground (v.^ *for') of what has immediately preceded, and is consequently obliged to assume that something different stood originally in the place of what is now 27"*^ (p. 234). For another explanation of the for^ see Peake, 245 f., or Enc. Bi. 2482."
The argument of the poem is: ^"^^ Man by his marvel- lous inventions can discover the secret of the earth's mineral wealth ; the hidden treasure of darkness, which bird and beast cannot find ('^'•), his eye discovers, and he brings forth to the light for his use ; ^^"^^ but where wisdom is, he cannot discover, being as helpless in this quest as birds and beasts, nor with the most precious things which he has won from the earth, can he purchase it ; ^^"^^ for wisdom has no home, or secret lodging, on earth; it is known to God alone, who discovered it long ago, and by it made the world with all its marvels. ^8 Qq^j does not part with this wisdom to man (for man's work is other than God's and needs it not), but commends to him as his wisdom to fear God and avoid evil — in other words, to take Job as his example (cp. i^). There is in the last v. a play on two different conceptions of wisdom ; wisdom is generally in Hebrew literature practical wisdom, and this wisdom, of which the greater part of Pr. 1-7 may be taken as an exposition, is that referred to in ^^ as attainable by man and commended to him by God ; but the wisdom with which the greater part of this chapter is concerned is **the knowledge of the principles by which both the phenomena of the physical world (cp. Pr. 3^^') and the events of human life are regulated" (Dr.) — a concep-
XXVni.] MAN*S ACHIEVEMENTS AND DISCOVERIES 235
tion of wisdom which to Du. proves that **the author was as certainly acquainted with Greek ideas as Aristobulus and Philo, and may have lived in about the 3rd cent."
Apart from the question already considered, whether this c. or any part of it can have formed an original part of the book, questions have arisen as to the original arrangement and extent of the poem itself: is it complete, or have parts of it been lost ? has it been expanded by the incorporation of inconsistent matter ? have any of the verses become disarranged ? The question of completeness is raised in part by the initial particle, in part by the unexpressed subject of ^*". " Surely " (v.^) is a doubtful render- ing of '3 : if the particle has its usual meaning, ybr or because^ something obviously must have preceded it ; this may have been a strophe introducing the subject of man's attainments and expressly naming man. Du. suggests that the case is met by assuming that an initial refrain, found now (}^' ^) only at the beginning of what he regards as the last two of the four equal strophes into which the poem was divided, stood originally also before * and "^ ; this is at first sight attractive, though the resulting second strophe has been well criticized by Peake (on ''•). The poem then opens with the question : where is wisdom to be found, for \ since silver and gold have their place and can be discovered, so also should wisdom. But this does not overcome the difficulty of the unexpressed subject in ^*", nor does full justice to the thought. Man is unquestionably the subject of ^* ^'*^ and, in the light of this, other vbs., even if they were originally passive in form, must be understood ; consequently the thought is not merely : silver and gold and the rest can be found, wisdom cannot ; but : silver and gold and other secret and precious things, however hard to discover and acquire, can be discovered by man ; indeed the thought of marCs fruitful activity and attainments is most naturally taken to be the dominant thought of ^'^^ ; and this finds a far more vigorous expression, if it was not introduced by a question suggesting man's limitations. First the poet brings into the highest relief the powers of man, and only then passes on with ^^^* to the limitation of human attainments. The most important question of expan- sion is connected with ^ and is discussed on that v. : a more extensive interpolation in the middle of the chapter has been claimed by Di. Bi. Hatch, Bu., though they are not all in agreement as to its exact extent. Hatch {Biblical Greek, 225) follows ffir in omitting ^*"^' : ** the sequence of ideas is not in any way disturbed by the omission of the section ^^'^^ which amplify the main thought of the passage with singular poetical beauty, but do not add to its substance." Bu. omits ^^'^ {i.e. both less and more than fflr) because they separate the similar vv."-^"', are poetically feeble (ct. Hatch), and, in asking what is the price of wisdom, presuppose its discoverability and are therefore inconsistent with ^2-14^ But it is rather a question of taste whether the idea of vv.^^-^^'* is best emphasized by being exhausted in consecutive verses or by recurrence to it, and the logical objection to '^^'^^ would be inconclusive, even if it were as pointed as is suggested. As a matter of fact, the verses do not ask what is the price of wisdom, but say that at no possible price can man acquire it, and this is in entire sympathy with what has been already claimed to be the dominant
236 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXVIIL 1.
* Surely there is a mine for silver,
And a place for gold which they wash out.
note of *"^^ ; in spite of all his attainments and acquired wealth, ftian cannot at any price obtain wisdom. Bu. also omits *^-, and, perhaps rightly, ^* (see below). On the possible transpositions of lines in ^'"•, see below : two transpositions more related to the general thought of the c. may be men- tioned here : Du. places ^^, as applicable to man, after ", considering that in its present position it suggests as against the thought of the c. that wisdom is to be found on earth. Peake places '^* after ^^ ; but the contrast secured by their present position between man's superiority in knowledge to all other living things, and his inferiority to God is effective.
I. By driving in shafts men obtain silver and gold ore from the dark (cp. ^) secret interior of the earth, and then, at the sur- face of the mine, after crushing the ore, they wash the pure and precious metal free from the other components of the ore. — Surely] or, rather, /<?r ; see above and phil. n. — Mine] Palestine is poor in minerals, and mining, unlike agriculture, enriched the speech and literature of Israel with no figures or metaphors. The only other reference to mining in the OT. is Dt. 8®, where Canaan is described as *' a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig copper " ; the first of these clauses does not necessarily refer to iron mines, but the second clearly refers to copper mines (see Dr. ad loc). In part, at least, the poet is almost certainly referring to mines outside Palestine, which he may himself have seen when travelling, or heard of from others. Thus he may have had in mind the mines of Lebanon (iron: Seetzen, Reisen, i. 188-190); Idumaea (copper and ** formerly" gold: Jer. in Lagarde, Onom. log*"^); Midian (gold : Burton, Midian Revisited, i. 329) ; Upper Egypt (gold: Erman, Ancient Egypt, 463); Lycaonia (silver: EBi, s.v. Silver), and possibly even silver and gold mines of Spain, which were known to the Jews at least as early as the ist or 2nd cent. B.C. (i Mac. 8^); but whether the copper mines of the Sinaitic peninsula, frequently referred to in ancient Egyptian inscriptions (Breasted, as cited below), were still being worked as late as the age of this poem is doubtful (Di.) : see, further, Di. EBi. DB, s.v. Mines ; and the reference under Mines to Egyptian sources in Breasted, Ancient Records, v. 144. — Wash out] as the use of the same vb. in 36^^ shows, the separating
XXVIII. 1-3.] man's achievements 237
* Iron is taken out of the earth,
And stone is melted into bronze.
process referred to here and in Mai. 3^ (RV. ** purge "), Ps. 12^^^^ (RV. ** purify"), i Ch. 28^8 29* (RV. *« refined"), is not by fire, but by water. In the second, no less than in the first line of the distich, the reference is to the skill of man in and about the mine. The brutal treatment of man by man in this work is not referred to (ct. 24^^'*). The following description, based on modern observation of ancient workings in Nubia, and the description given by Diodorus Siculus (iii. 1 1 ft'.), may serve as an illustration of what may have been known to the poet by observation or report.
At Eshuranib in Nubia, the plan of the workings of ancient gold mines is plainly to be seen. " Deep shafts lead into the mountain, two cisterns collect the water of the winter's rain, and sloping stone tables stand by them to serve for the gold-washing. . . . Diodorus describes to us the procedure followed in the working of these mines, and his account is confirmed by modern discoveries. The shafts follow the veins of quartz, for this reason winding their way deeply into the heart of the mountain. The hard stone was first made brittle by the action of fire, then hoed out with iron picks. The men who did this hard work toiled by the light of little lamps, and were accompanied by children, who carried away the bits of stones as they were hewn out. This quartz was then crushed in stone mortars into pieces about the size of lentils ; women and old men then pounded it to dust in mills ; this dust was next washed on sloping tables, until the water had carried off all the lighter particles of stone ; the finer sparkling particles of gold were then collected." — Erman, Lt/e in Ancunt Egypt, 463 f.
2. As in ^, ^ refers to the separation of the metal from the ore, * probably to the extraction of the ore from the mine. Iron is taken . . . and stone is melted] the first vb. can be equally well, and the second is better, pointed as active (see phil. n.) : this would be in agreement with the following verses, and more forcible : render, therefore, (man) takes iron , . . and melts stone. — The earth] Heb. the dtist (iBj;) • cp. *' holes of the dust " (i.e. caves) in 30^ ; the shaft of the mine is a great artificial <*hole of the dust." — Bronse] or copper y not brass-, see Numbers^ p. 278. — Stone] ore : cp. Dt. 8^.
3. Even the darkness of the interior of the earth cannot hide its treasures, and so withhold them from man : if, as is commonly supposed, the writer is thinking of the darkness of
238 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXVIU. 3-6.
8 (Man) setteth an end to darkness, And searcheth out to every limit The stones of thick darkness and black gloom.
* He breaketh open a shaft away from them that sojourn ^ in
the light ■» ; They that are forgotten by the foot (that passeth by) ; That hang afar from men, that swing to and fro.
* As for the earth, out of it cometh bread,
Yet underneath it is turned up as it were by fire. « The stones thereof are the place of sapphires, And it hath dust of gold.
the mine as dispelled by the daylight let in by the shaft, or, by the light of the miner's lamp, he scarcely knew by personal experience the feeble glimmer of daylight that reaches down a mine shaft, or the darkness made visible by the miner's lamp. But perhaps he wrote something more nearly resembling Du.'s emendation: Man has sought out the darkness to its furthest bound, He has searched out the stones of the deepest darkness : see phil. n.
4. Another verse obscure in detail: probably it refers to man's skill in driving shafts into the earth, possibly also to his audacity in descending into the mine in cages that tremble on the rope. RV. is not a translation of ^ ; against RVm. ( = AV.), if it refers to the flooding of a mine, and for various attempts to remove or elucidate the obscure details, see phil. n.
5. Overhead, the peaceful operations of agriculture yielding bread (cp. Ps. 104^*) : underneath, confusion and disorder — like that caused by fire, or (U) actually caused by fire, t.e, blasting — due to man's restless energy in digging in the bowels of the earth for its hidden treasure.
6. Not only metals, but precious stones reward man's search into the earth. The v. is closely connected with i'-, and might have been expected to follow there; Bu. omits ^'- as breaking the connection between * and ^. — Sapphires] lapis lazuli', see phil. n. — //] the pron. is ambiguous, and might refer either to the place, to the sapphire, or (AVm.) to the mine: see phil. n., where Dr. decides in favour of the second possibility : the lapis lazuli has in it particles of iron pyrites
XXVIII. 6-11.] man's achievements 239
^ The path (thither) no bird of prey knoweth. Neither hath the falcon's eye seen it :
• The proud beasts have not trodden it,
Nor hath the fierce lion passed thereby.
• Upon the flinty rock he putteth forth his hand,
Mountains from the root he overturneth. 1® Among the rocks he cutteth out passages ;
And every precious thing his eye seeth. " He bindeth up the streams that they trickle not ;
And the thing that is hid bringeth he forth to light.
which have the hue and colour of gold. A slight emendation gives : and its dust is gold to him (the miner).
7, 8. The path to earth's secret treasures has been won by man only, not by birds with all their keenness of sight (cp. 3929), nor by the great and powerful beasts of prey. This, which must be the meaning of the verses if they are in their right position, seems ridiculous to Du., and unsuitable to Peake (see above). Even if, with Peake, we transfer the verses to follow 12, the mining operations are not described without interruption : between * and ^ would still stand ^ with its return to the description of the contents of the mine. — Falcon] a keen-sighted, unclean (Lv. ii^*, Dt. 14^3^) bird: not certainly identified.
9-II. Resumption of the description, begun in ^' *, of the operations of the miner, given as illustrations of man's per- sistence through difficulties, however great, to his end — the acquisition of treasure.
9. Neither * the hardness, nor * the mass of the rock, in which the treasure is concealed, can stay man.
10, II. The lines of the two verses have perhaps suffered transposition (so Du.): 10a. 11a ^^^ parallels, and so also are 10b. lib . 10b. iib^ If tai^en together after lo*- n*, form a very forcible conclusion (more forcible without, than (Du.) with, 2* added to them) to the description of man's attainments, and a striking preparation for the next paragraph : man discovers and brings to light everything hidden in the earth, but wisdom he cannot find.
lOa, Iia. The miner defends himself against the dangers of a flooded mine by staying the water at its source (11*), and.
240 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXVni. 11-16.
12 But where can wisdom be found ?
And where is the place of understanding? 18 Man knoweth not the '' way '' to it ;
Neither is it found in the land of the living-. 1* The deep saith, It is not in me :
And the sea saith, It is not with me. 1* Sterling- gold cannot be given for it ;
Neither can silver be weighed as the price of it, w It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir,
With the precious onyx or the sapphire.
perhaps (i^*), by cutting channels tn the mine to carry off the water harmlessly ; most, however, understand ^o* to refer once again to the passages tn^o the mine. See, further, phil. n.
12-19. In spite of all his discoveries (I'^i), wisdom lies, and always will lie, beyond man's ken (i^- 14)^ or his power to buy
(15-19).
12. Understanding\ nm II to njDDH as in Pr. 9I0 ; cp. n^UD II to n03n in 1212, Pr. 31^ 8I — in all these of wisdom in, or accessible to, man.
13. Way t6\ so ffi : cp. ^ and ^3. |^ price of', see phil. n. — In the land of the living\ i.e. on earth, man's place during life, in contrast to Sheol (to which 22 refers), whither he descends at death : cp. Ps. 2713 52^, Is. 3811 etc.
14. As men traverse the sea they may see marvels (Ps. 10723'), but get no tidings of wisdom : its home is not in the sea.
Ig-ip. Cp. Pr. 31*'- 8^*^- 11 : there the wisdom that man may find is similarly, though more briefly, described, in order to give a due appreciation of the treasure which man may have without buying ; here the wisdom that cannot be found is thus described in order to show how impossible it is to acquire it at any price.
16. The gold of Ophir] the most highly prized gold : cp. 222*. — Onyx] Heb. shoham, a highly prized (cp. Ezk. 28^^) gg^i^ found in the gold-producing land of Hawilah (Gn. 2ii'-) ; it was used for engraving (Ex. 28^), and was one of the gems used for the "breastplate" (Ex. 2820) and ephod (Ex. 25^) of the high-priest ; but whether it was the onyx {(& here : U generally), or the beryl (SST regularly ; (& in Ex. 2820), or malachite (Myers in EBi. 4808) is uncertain ; see, further, Lex. EBi, DBy s.v. ;
XXVIII. 16-19.] man's achievements 24
1^ Gold and glass cannot equal it ;
Neither can the exchange thereof be jewels of fine gold. 18 No mention can be made of coral or crystal ;
And the acquisition of wisdom is above that of pearls. 1^ The topaz of Ethiopia doth not equal it ;
Neither can it be valued with pure gold.
also EBi, Stones {precious). — Sapphire\ or strictly lapis lazuli^ as v.^.
17. Glass (see Smith's or Hastings' DB and EBi, s.v^ being highly prized in antiquity, suitably appears here; cp., for the same combination of gold and glass, Aristophanes, Ach, 73 f. iirivoiJLev ef vaXlvwv i/cirodficLTdiV Kot "^pvalSoyv. — jewels of fine gold] articles, especially perhaps the costliest ornaments, wrought in fine gold : with the phrase (td ^i)D), cp. ant "h^ (EV. "jewels of gold"), Gn. 24^3, Ex. 3^2 3522, Nu. 3i50.
18. Coral] niDNi, Ezk. 27^^ and ? Pr. 24^. Again the exact gem or precious substance intended is uncertain (see Lex. EBi. DB) : Di. infers from the difference in the verbal expressions in * and ^ that the objects mentioned in * are less costly than those in ^. On crystal^ see phil. n. — Acquisition] see phil. n. Yahuda iJQR xv. 704), taking Heb. meshek = Arab, masak (see phil. n. on 38^1), proposes : an armlet of wisdom (cp. Pr. i® 322 521) is more precious than one of pearls ; but this does not accord well with the thought that wisdom is unobtainable. — Pearls] EV. rubies. The Heb. D^33S occurs several times in comparison as the pre-eminently costly gem (Pr. 3^5 gn 2015 31 w sij.^ ^19 20I6). La. 4^ apparently suggests that these gems were red (whence G— B. al. corals) : in spite of this, Bochart, Hierozoicon, part ii. bk. v. cc. vi. vii., argued at length in favour of pearls, the meaning adopted, among others, by Del.2 Di. Dr. •* Rubies is the least probable rend, of the Heb. word ; and pearls on the whole the most probable " —Dr.
19. There Is a repetition in * of the vb. of 1^*, and in ^ of both the vb. and the subject (gold) of ^^* — the only cases of re- petition in 1^"!^. Du.'s suggestion is probable, that i^» is a variant of "a and ^^^ of "^^"^ ,— Topaz] Ex. 28^7 39IO, Ezk. 281^^ Uffi topaz. ** As the modern topaz was hardly known before
16
242 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXVIII. 10-24.
20 Whence then cometh wisdom ?
And where is the place of understanding ?
21 Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living,
And kept close from the fowls of the air.
22 Abaddon and Death say,
(Only) with our ears have we heard the rumour of it.
23 God understandeth the way to it.
And he knoweth the place thereof ; 2* For he looketh to the ends of the earth, And seeth under the whole heaven :
Greek times, and is indistinguishable, except by its superior hardness, from * false topaz * or yellow rock-crystal, it is possible that the latter is meant " (Myers in EBi. 4503 f.).
20-27. Wisdom, unknown to and unattainable by man ^2-19^ unseen and, at best, known only by rumour on earth and in Sheol, nevertheless has its place, and from before creation all its secrets have been completely known to God.
21 f. Resumptive of i*'-. Sheol has knowledge, which it can impart to the living ; but it has no knowledge of wisdom, which, in death as in life, man will for ever fail to find.
21. All living] Certainly includes and sometimes refers exclusively or at least mainly to men (12^^ 302^, Ps. 1432 145I6) : the line is thus substantially a repetition of ^^^. If a fresh point and a better parallel to ^ seem necessary, n^n i^D, every beast, must be read for '^rrh'^i all living- (Be.^) ; in this case the point is : no living creature other than man has knowledge of wisdom, though bird and beast at times have knowledge that man has not (cp. the Serpent of Genesis and Balaam's ass). If fSi is right, birds in ^ are singled out from *' all living" In * for special reference, as those that fly heavenwards, or as representing the air as a fourth region to earth 1^, sea 1*, Sheol 22.
22. Abaddon and Death y as 26^ (n.).
23. God, unlike man 1^, knows the way to wisdom. The mode of expression is dictated by the antithesis, and is the easier for one who, like the author of Pr. 8, hypostatizes the divine wisdom.
24. Deleted by Bu. ; transferred to follow i^, when it would refer to man, by Du. : see phil. n.
XXVni. 26-27.] WISDOM BEYOND MAN*S DISCOVERY 243
25 ''When'' he made a weight for the wind,
And regulated the waters by measure ;
26 When he made a decree for the rain,
And a way for the flashes of the thunder ;
27 Then did he see it, and recount it,
He set it up, yea, and explored it.
25-27. Wisdom was before the creation of the world (Pr.
•). Creation is indicated by reference to four of its marvels. The incomparable intelligence or wisdom of God is handled somewhat differently but with some of the same illustrations and phrases in 38^*-, Is. ^o^^-,
25. At creation God assigned to the wind its weight — a maximum of force or weight when it blew which it might not exceed ; and marked out with a measure the extreme limit to which the sea might overflow the land. — When he made] f^ making or to make^ connecting with 2* : see phil. n.
26a. Cp. 3825a; b is identical in both vv., but * is there more strictly parallel to ^ ; the decree (cp. Pr. 8^^) here corresponds to the measure and weight of 25 ; God determined at creation the laws of rainfall ** when, where, how heavily" (Di.) it should fall.
27. Again hypostatization of wisdom is as clear here as in Pr. 8 ; but the precise meaning of some of the vbs. is difficult to seize. Dr. (Book of foh^ p. 81) ; <* Wisdom is regarded here as a concrete object, or, as we should say, an idea of wonderful complexity, which, at the Creation (v.26), God *saw,' ^recounted,' or surveyed in all its various parts, * established,' or set up, as though it were a model, * searched out,* or thoroughly explored, and finally realized in the universe of created things." Similarly Du. : He set it up as a model for the work He had to do, and made proof of it in creation ; first was the X0709, the vo\)<i iroirjTi- Ko^y then the execution (of the idea). Yet it is difficult not to feel sympathy with Da.'s criticism of similar earlier explanations : " It is . . . contrary to the poet's vivid conception of Wisdom, as a real thing or being, to suppose that it was * established ' when embodied in the stable, permanent order of created things, as if, being merely an idea before, with wavering outlines, it then became fixed. Neither can the meaning be that God * set
244 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXVIII. 37-28.
28 And he said unto man,
Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom ; And to depart from evil is understanding".
up ' wisdom before Him merely as an object of contemplation : much less that He set it up as a * model ' after which to work in creating the world." Da. would give to the third vb. (nr^n), which he renders "established" (as RV. e.g, in Pr. 8^^), the meaning gave it existence (cp., with a different vb., Pr. 8^2) ; but this idea would be expressed too late by the third vb., if the four vbs. express a succession of activities : the vb. at the beginning of the second line of the distich might, of course, be simply parallel in sense to and express the same activity as the first vb. ; but if this were so, n^^an, he closely observed ity would be a more probable parallel than TST'yTk to HNl, he saw ity in *. For recount^ explore^ see phil. n.
28. Up to this point the c. has insisted without any quali- fication that wisdom is the exclusive possession of God, has no place on earth, and is not imparted to men (ct. 1 1^ Sophar). In this, it differs strikingly from Pr. 8, where the real wisdom that was possessed and used by God in the creation of the world presents itself as discoverable also by man. As against the previous part of this c, ^^ agrees with Pr. 8 that wisdom may be found by men, although it differs in defining the wisdom that may become man's in terms inconsistent with its being also a possession of God : wisdom is here identified with the fear of the Lord and the avoidance of evil. There is thus, at least superficially, a gulf between the thought of '^~^ and of 2^, and the only way to bridge it is to say that the author contemplates two different wisdoms : wisdom in God here conceived intellectually as including the understanding of the laws of the universe, unattainable by man, who must con- sequently remain without understanding of the universe, and wisdom in man, an ethical quality. God is thus represented here as saying to man : My wisdom cannot be yours, but your wisdom will be to fear Me : you cannot understand the universe which I have made, but you can fear Me like Job (i^), and avoid evil, and thereby find happiness and prosperity.
XXVIII. 28-XXIX.] man's WISDOM 245
But is this thought naturally expressed, and is the compatibility of the two radically different conceptions both expressed by the unqualified term ** wisdom" really indicated? Or have we not rather the fundamentally different thought of a different writer simply laid alongside the preceding poem ? Again, is a writer who wishes to express the supposed line of thought likely to have handled one part of his subject, the unattainable wisdom of God, so elaborately and the other part so briefly ? The prosaic opening 2^* and the lack of balance in ^^^-^ also suggest that ^^ is not from the same hand as the rest of the chapter.
XXIX. -XXXI. Job's closing monologue. — These cc were not originally, as in the present text they appear to be (see Introduction and Introductory Notes to 26, 28), merely the final section of Job's last speech in the debate ; but the whole of what he says after the friends' contribution to the third round of speeches is complete. He now takes no further account of the friends; in his last, as in his opening speech (c. 3), he is concerned alone with himself and God (to whom, however, he directly addresses himself only in 30^^"^^). The speech falls into three parts : (i) a pathetic survey of his life before calamity befell him, when God guarded him, men honoured him, and he helped men (c. 29) ; (2) the tragic contrast of the present — God assail- ing, men reviling him, in his humiliation (c. 30) ; and (3) a solemn reassertion that not in him or his conduct was any justification for the change, leading up to his final assertion of his readiness to meet God ; this would appear to have been followed immediately, in the original poem, by Yahweh's reply (c. 38 ff.); but at present the speech(es) of Elihu (cc. 33-37) intervene. Thus the effect of Job's last speech has been doubly spoilt : by the dislocation or interpolation of what now im- mediately precedes it, and by the interpolation of what now follows it.
XXIX. Opening with a wish (^) that he might be again as in his earlier years, Job depicts his happiness then, finding, as the quiet tone of this part of the speech, and the detail with which he fills in the picture (ct. c. 3), suggest, a momentary relief from the present in this musing on the past.
246 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXIX. 1-4.
XXIX. ^ And Job again took up his discourse, and said : 2 O that I were as in the months of old, As in the days when God guarded me ;
• When he caused his lamp to shine above my head,
(When) by his light I walked through darkness ;
* As I was in the days of my ripeness,
When God ■'screened"' my tent;
1. As 27I (n.).
2 ff. Job's reminiscences open with what was the ground of all his happiness — God's guardianship of him, God's friendly presence with him pb-5aj. j^g then very briefly refers to two immediate tokens of God's favour — his children gathered about him (^^), and the affluence of his life (^) ; he next dwells longer on the outcome of his affluence and of the manner in which he had used it — the esteem in which he was held by all, including the aged and the nobles (^""), and his practice of helping the weak and defenceless, making righteousness the warp and woof of his own life, and foiling violence and unrighteousness in others p"^^); he then (I8-20J recalls how in those days he looked forward to an end so different from the present cruel reality — prosperity continuing right up to a peaceful death ; and he closes (2i-25j ^j^^h ^ return to the topic of ^"^^ viz. the memory of the esteem which he had enjoyed, thus making a transition to what (30^^-) he feels so keenly now — the contempt that has fallen upon him. It has been questioned whether ^^'^^ was originally separated from ^"^® ; if not, and the chapter be rearranged in the order ^"^^ 21-25 11-20^ ^j^g transition to c. 30 is still good, viz. from Job's expectation of prosperity continued up to a long-deferred death to the present bitter contrast.
2. Guarded me] cp. Nu. 6^*, Ps. 16^ 91^^ 121^'-; ct. c. 13^^ — in all these passages the same vb. "iDiy.
3. Cp. Ps. i829(28). God lighted a lamp above Job's head to shed its light upon his path, so that in the darkness he should not stumble over obstacles.
4. Job's memory is not of his ** spring" or youth, but of his maturity, of the rich increase of his life's ** autumn," when the fruits of God's favour and his piety were being gathered and
XXIX. 4-8.] JOB 247
*> While yet the Almighty was with me,
(And) round about me were my children ; • When my steps were washed with curds,
And the rock poured me out rivers of oil. ^ When I went out of (my) gate up to the city,
(And) in the broad place prepared my seat, s The young men saw me, and hid themselves,
And the aged rose up (and) stood ;
enjoyed by him ; his children were about him (^^), but, as the Prologue shows, grown up ; and the position of authority and respect among his neighbours, on which he chiefly dwells, fits in well with the years of ripe manhood ; in certain connections the season of autumn or ripeness may disagreeably suggest winter and death, but it is part of Job's memory that in spite of the many years already lying behind him he looked forward to innumerable years yet to come (^). It therefore seems unneces- sary to emend away the term ripeness (see phil. n.). — When God screened^ so ffi; cp. 1^^: |§ lahen the friendship (cp. Ps. 25^*, Pr. 3^2. see phil. n. on. 15^) of God (rested) upon: see phil. n.
5a. Nothing marred Job's welfare (^), nor had he any evil turn of fortune to fear (^^2^), when God was still with (cp. Ps. 23* 46^ etc.) him, protecting him and fending off evil, and not yet, as now (30^^), turned into his cruel opponent. — b. Cp. ,2.4f.^ — Children (onyj) as i^^ (young men), and 2 S. iS^® of David's adult son Absalom.
6. Job's land flowed with milk (cp. and ct. 20^^) and oil — figures of his wealth. — Curds^ cp. 20^^ n. — The rock] possibly corrupt ; if not, either: the rockiest portions of Job's land, which might naturally have been quite barren, or the rocky soil in which the olive flourishes, and the rock in which the oil-presses were cut out.
7. Job's great estate (c. i) lay near a large (cp. ^~^^) town ; and in this large community he was held in the highest esteem, and in its aff'airs and in its public assemblies, held, according to the custom in Oriental cities, in the broad place (Ezr. 10^, Neh. 8^) or square within the city, he took a prominent part.
8. When Job reached the assembly the young men present
248 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXIX. 8-11.
^ The princes refrained from speech,
And laid their hand on their mouth ; ^^ The voice of the nobles was '^dumb"',
And their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth. " For when the ear heard, it called me happy ;
And when the eye saw, it attested me ;
withdrew into the background, and even the aged, who had previously arrived and sat down, rose and remained standing till Job had taken his seat.
9. 10. And men in the highest position kept silence in order, as 21 expressly states, if 21-25 originally followed i^, to hear what Job would advise ; in this case ^"^^ describes Job's entrance, 21-25 his speech and its effect : Bu. ; but see below.
10. Dumb] ^ erroneously (cp.^) hid themselves-, see phil. n. II ff. These verses contain further vivid pictures of Job's
past ; they also assign the reason for Job's position of esteem and authority (7-io + ?2i-25j . b^t there is some little uncertainty as to the exact connection : of this and of the proposed trans- position of 21-25^ Dr. wrote: <« Vv.^-i*^ describe the respect shown to Job in the assembly of his native place ; and the same thought is clearly resumed in 21-25 . ^nd Bu. Be. Du. St. Vo. would transpose 21-25 to follow 1^ : Job's dream of a happy old age (18-20J would then be forcibly followed at once by the description of the bitter reality in 301^-. On the other hand, it might be argued that the ground of the respect which Job enjoyed i^^-) might be mentioned immediately after it was first referred to (8-10)^ The ground of his respect (H) is not merely (Bu.) the prosperity which he enjoyed, but the prosperity, combined with righteousness, which he used rightly, to succour the helpless and the needy (i2-i3): there is thus no occasion with Bu. to regard vv.12-13 ^s a gloss, suggested by a false interpretation of * it attested me ' ('•jT'vni), as though this meant witness to his righteousness rather than to his prosperity ; it was not his prosperity, as such, but just the beneficent use of his prosperity that gained him his respect."
11. Attested me] t\e, bore witness to my wealth: cp. the parallel.
XXIX. 12-18.] JOB 249
12 For I delivered the poor who cried (for help),
And the orphan and him that had no helper. ^^ The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me,
And I caused the widow's heart to ring out joy. ^* I clothed myself with righteousness, and it clothed itself with
me;
My justice was as a robe and a turban. ^^ Eyes was I to the blind,
And feet to the lame was I. ^^ A father was I to the poor.
And the cause of him whom I knew not I investigated. I'' And I broke the great teeth of the unrighteous.
And from his teeth made him drop the prey. ^^ Then I said : ** I shall die with my nest(lings).
And make my days as many as the (grains of) sand ;
12. So, with slight verbal variations and in the 3rd pers., Ps. 72^2^ In i2f. 15-17 tjjg ijg direct is given to the charges of Eliphaz, 22^-^.
13. Him . . . ready to perish] 131J<, as 31^^ Pr. 31^.
14. It clothed itself in me] it filled or possessed me : cp. Jg. 63* : "the spirit of Yahweh clothed itself in Gideon": I wore righteousness and righteousness wore me : see phil. n. For the figure of clothing, cp. Is. 11^, Ps. 132^, of God, Is. 59^^. J?obe (i^^ n.) and turban (cp. Zee. 3^) represent complete dress.
15. Job led (cp. Nu. lo^^) the blind, and helped the lame to walk.
l6b. A case at law Job was always ready to look into, whether he had previous knowledge of the person claiming to be wronged or not, and, if the case were good, to carry it through.
17. The wrong-doer Job rendered harmless and deprived of his spoils: for the (implicit) figure, cp. Ps. 3^ 58^ ^^\ — Great teeth . . . teeth] Jl. i^, Pr. 30^*.
18. With my nest] nest as in Dt. 32^^, Is. 16^, of the occupants of the nest ; as he had lived (^^), so Job hoped after innumerable (cp. Hab. i^, Ps. 139^^: also Gn. 13'^) days to die, not merely in his nest (RV.), i,e. in his house, but with his nestlings, i.e, surrounded by his children. Others render :
250 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXIX. 18-24i
^^ My root open to the waters,
And the night-mist lodging in my branches ;
20 My glory fresh with me,
And my bow pliable in my hand,"
21 Unto me men gave ear, and waited,
And kept silence for my counsel ;
22 After I had spoken, they spoke not again,
And my speech dropped upon them ;
23 And they waited for me as for the rain.
And their mouth they opened wide for the latter rain. 2^ I laughed at them when they believed not.
And the light of my countenance they cast not down.
I shall die in my nest^ And (then) like the phoenix make my dayi ma7iy ; or, / shall die in my nesty And (then) like the palm^ etc. ; or emending, I shall grow old in my nesty And multiply my days as the sand: for a discussion of these and other suggestions, see phil. n.
19. Ct. 18^6 (Bildad, of the unrighteous): with ^ cp. Ps. i^: on the reviving night-mist (382^), see Is. 18* n.
20. Conscious of his rectitude and kindness, and mindful of the maxim (Pr. 2121) that those who make righteousness and kindness their aim find life and "glory," i.e. reputation am.ong men. Job had trusted that his reputation and the position it gave him would never grow less, and that his power, symbolized by the bow, would remain the same (cp. Gn. 492*). — Pliable^ so Dr. (see phil. n.) : Bu. sprouting^ the old, dry bow putting forth fresh shoots like Aaron's rod (Nu. i'j'^^^^^)y which he thinks a possible hyperbole in poetry.
21-25- The vv. should perhaps follow ^^ : see above.
21-23. Men waited silently for, and silently accepted. Job's advice, having no alteration or improv^ement to suggest, no desire to hear any one else ; for his words and advice fell upon men like fertilizing rain (cp. Dt. 322), and were as eagerly expected and received as the latter rain (Dt. 11^*, Pr. 16^^, Hos. 6^) that falls in April and May, refreshing the ripening crops.
24. *< Job's clear-sighted counsel encouraged them, if they
XXIX. 24-XXX.] JOB 251
^ I chose out their way and sat as chief, And dwelt as a king in the army. . • •
were despondent : on the other hand (line 2), their despondency never clouded his cheerfulness " — Dr. (Book of Job). See phil. n.
25. Their 'way\ what was best for them to do. — In the army] ^ ■}- as one who comforteth mourjiers.
XXX. 1-8. But now, in the present from which Job has just been wistfully looking back, the reputation he had hoped to enjoy up to his death has gone ; whereas the aged and the noble used to do him reverence (29^"^^), now youngsters (or inferiors or ** shepherd-boys " : see phil. n.) mock at him. ^b-a give, superfluously as it might seem, a detailed description of these mockers of Job (not of their fathers (i^), for see ^) : they are low-born, of poor physique, outcasts of ill-repute, driven to shelter in caves and to scrape a bare subsistence from the wilderness. In ^ hut now is repeated, and the contrast between man's past and present treatment of Job is resumed and con- tinued to ^®, or, on one view of the interpretation of ^^-^^^ to i^. Again in ^^ but now (in the present, but perhaps not in the original text) recurs ; this time, however, to introduce (if the description of marCs treatment of Job extends down to ^^) a fresh form of contrast — viz. between the tranquillity and pros- perity and fair prospect of his past life and God's friendliness to him (292-6- ^^"20), and the pain and hopelessness and God's hostility in the present (^6"^^). Thus whereas but now in i^ on one theory of interpretation would mark the beginning of the second main point of contrast, the same words in ^ are in any case merely resumptive of but now in ^ after a digression. How far such a digression is probable must be mainly a matter of taste; but a difference of tone also has been detected between the contempt expressed in ^"^ for, and the sympathy in 3115 with, those inferior to Job. If for these reasons we assume interpolation (of matter perhaps displaced from 24^^-), it is better to omit ^'^ (Du.) in its entirety than only ^-^ (Bi.) or ^-8 (Peake), thus eliminating the disdainful note of ^ (as well as of ^'•), which Peake is ready to retain and excuse as due to Job's **too natural irritation": then ^ introduces the contrast be-
252 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXX. 1-4.
XXX. ^ But now they have derided me, That were of less age than I, Whose fathers I disdained To set with the dogs of my flock. ' The strength, too, of their hands — of what good is it
to me? Within them firm vigour hath perished.
• With want and with famine (each) is gaunt,
(Men), who gnaw the dry ground.
Whose '^ mother^ (?) is devastation and desolation,
* Who pluck salt-wort by the bushes.
Whose food is the root of the broom.
tween the former respect and the present contempt of the same people — the townsmen, young and old and noble. Peake, indeed, objects that these people are too remotely referred to if 29 ended at ^^ (not ^^); yet, the antithesis in 31^ with glo?y in 29^^ would be good. If ^ were resumptive of ^ we might rather have expected a different emphasis — urh nnyi or nf>J<ij nriiH, And now to such as these am I become a song !
I. The V. is badly articulated and perhaps corrupt : (& om. fathers. — The dogs of my flock] contemptuous: cp. Is. 56^'^'-.
2a. Du. : Yea the strength of their hands faileth. This improves the connection, and makes the description begin with *. Alternatively 2^-^* might be combined into a distich.
3, 4. The reason for their weakness (2) : they were starve- lings, fed only on the scanty produce of the wilderness.
3. Gnaw] so (RV.) rather than^^^ into (AV.). — Whose mother] i.e. the source from which they get their nourishment; but the text and meaning are very uncertain ; see phil. n.
4. Salt-wort] the Hebr. malluah (cp. melahy salt) here has, since Bochart's exhaustive discussion (Hieroz. lib. iii. cap. xvi.), been commonly identified with the sea orache, Atrdplex HalimuSy L. : it has ** small, thick, sour-tasting leaves, which could be eaten . . . but would form very miserable food " (Tristram, Natural History of the Bihle^ p. 486). — By the hushes] i.e. under the shadow of the bushes where, when all else is dried up, a scanty vegetation still subsists. But the force of the prep, is
XXX. 4-7.] JOB 253
* From the community they are driven forth,
A cry is raised against them as against a thief;
• In a gully of the wadys must they dwell,
In holes of the earth and rocks. ^ Among the (desert-) bushes they bray:
Under the nettles they are huddled together.
ambiguous. Possibly and leaves of (desert-) bushes should be read : see phil. n. — The broom] the Hebr. rothem^ like the Ar. ratavty was a kind of broom, ** the largest and most conspicuous shrub of these deserts"; the roots are very bitter, and are regarded by the Arabs as yielding the best [cp. Ps. 1 20*] char- coal " (Robinson, Bibl. Researches^ i. 299 ; cp. Hastings* DB ii. 825). — Whose food] Since an undesirable article of diet, and not an excellent fuel, suits the context, it is obviously unwise to render DOnS with RVm., to warm them,
5. These ill-fed starvelings are suspected of pilfering (cp. 24^); if, therefore, they ever appear near the homes of the better-to-do, the cry of <* thief" is raised, and they are driven away.
6. They are ill-sheltered (cp. 24^'-), as well as ill-fed (2'-). — In a gully of the wddys] or, less probably, tn the most dreaded of wadys.
7. They bray] not, as the same vb., with a different prep, in 6^, of their cry for or over their food ; nor of the impression made by their uncouth speech, in their assemblies (^), on the inhabitants of towns; but probably, though this particular meaning of the vb. cannot be paralleled, of the cry of lust. The V. describes them **misbegetting as they were themselves misbegotten" (^i Peake): the parallelism is then excellent; they bray^ like donkeys under the excitement of lust (cp. the neighing of the horses in Jer. 5^), and ^ copulate with no better bed or screen than the rough and scanty growth of the desert affords. — Nettles] " The rendering is uncertain; but, whatever the harul may have been, it must have been a plant characteristic of un- cultivated places (Job 30^, Pr. 24^1). * Thorns ' [the rendering in RV. of kimshonim] In Pr. 24^^ ought to be * nettles * (cp. Hos. 9^, Is. 34^^) : hence harul^ which stands in the parallel
254 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXX. 7-10.
5 Sons of the impious, sons of the nameless too, They have been smitten out of the land.
• And now I am become their song,
And I am become a (by-)word unto them. 1® They abhor me, they keep at a distance from me, And they spare not to spit in my face.
clause, must be something different: and in Syriac ^a;i9/ signifies a vetch (hence RVm.). On the other hand, Job 30^ seems to require some kind of shrub : and whereas the present passage \i,e. Z f. 2^] implies that the harnll would grow on a poor or salt soil, vetches love a good soil. Tristram (NHB 475) suggests t\\Q Prickly Acanthus I Post {DB^ s.v,) some kind of thorny shrub such as the Boxthom^ three species of which are indigenous in Palestine, and grow in waste places and salty soil" (Dr. on Zf. 29).
8. They are sprung from an accursed disreputable race, not fearing God and enjoying no esteem of man. On impious (2^<^ n.), see phil. n. ; and for the attitude of the settled popu- lation to the homeless, wandering people of the deserts, cp. Gn. 411'-.
9. Perhaps the direct continuation of 29^5 or 20 : see on 1. — Their song] La. 3^*.
lOa. Cp. 19^^' ^9. — In my face] cp. Is. 50^; or, at the sight of me (but see phil. n.), which is more compatible with **they keep at a distance from me," unless we are content, with Di., in spite of the order of the clauses, to explain : ** they step for- ward to spit in my face, and then immediately step back again to show their loathing of me."
II-15. The text (see phil. notes) is so uncertain or am- biguous that it is impossible to determine with confidence whether these vv. refer (i) entirely to the treatment of Job by God and His hosts ; or (2) entirely to the treatment of Job by the men of ^-^(lo) or of 298-^0. 21-25 . ^^ (3) \^ part ("») to God's treatment of Job, in part to the consequential conduct towards him of men (ni^-i^), and these (cp. i^^) the men of i-^^o). The translation above is accommodated to the first and, on the whole, perhaps the most probable view; the third view.
XXX. 11.] JOB
255
11 For my (bow-)string he hath loosened, and he hath
humbled me. And my ^ banner^ (?) from before me ^he'^ hath ^cast
downl (?).
however, is favoured by two features of the existing text, viz. the change from the 3rd sing, in ii» to the 3rd pi. in ^'^^-^^ and the terms of ^^^- ° (they set forward my calamity, they that have no helper) which are applicable neither to God's hosts, nor to the men of c. 29 ; on the other hand, the activities described in i^-^^ are not naturally connected with helpless {^^^) weaklings (i~^), and much of the existing text can only be defended by very artificial and improbable interpretation (see phil. notes). The second of the above views is only compatible with the existing text, if the sing, in n* refers to a typical individual of the class referred to in the plurals that follow ; but such a meaning can be restored to the text by emendations no more extensive than those adopted above. If such were the meaning of the original passage it may have read, though in form ^^-^^^ is very sus- picious, somewhat as follows :
" For, '"they"' have loosened •" their ^ cord, and humbled me,
And they have cast off the bridle before me. 12 Against r me ^ the (low) brood riseth up, ^
And heap up against me their paths of destruction, 1^ They have broken up my path.
They have helped forward my calamity, They have no helper
(Or, there is none to ''restrain'' them) 1* As through a wide breach they come on.
Under the crash ^V wallow, 1^ Terrors are turned upon me ;
My nobility "^is driven awayl like the wind, And like a cloud has my welfare passed away.
II. For] the change in the attitude of men (®- ^^) is due to God's hostility. — My {bow-)string he hath loosened] i.e. He (God unnamed as 3^0 n.) has disarmed me, rendered me defenceless : ct. 2^'^, If the K'^tib his for my were correct, the meaning, as
256 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXX. 11-14.
12 Against '^me his lines (of warriors) ^ arise,^
And heap up against me their paths of destruction.
13
^** As through a wide breach they come on. 1*^ Under the crash ^ 1 1 wallow, ^^ Terrors are turned upon me ;
Del. pointed out, could scarcely be: God has prepared to shoot at Job (cp. (5) ; but a violent and improbable anthropo- morphism : God has taken off the cord or girdle about his loins to chastise Job with it. Other interpretations are discussed in the phil. n.
lib. Banner . . . he\ On the emendations, see phil. n. If the reference is not to God but to Job's human opponents (see on ii~i^), |§ may be retained : they have cast off the bridle^ which used to restrain them from unseemly conduct in my presence.
12a. God's warriors (restored to the text by a slight emenda- tion) rise up against Job *; and make ready, as besiegers, to storm him ^. — Against me] 5H on the right hand. — His lines of warriors] cp. 19^^*, and then with ^^^ ^p. 1912^. J^ {the low) brood is commonly explained of the base-born crew that take advantage of Job's misfortunes to humiliate him. Between * and ^ in J^ stand the words. My feet have they sent on^ which has been explained to mean : they hunt me on from place to place ; but see phil. n.
I3-I4a. The figure of ^^ is carried on and developed in ^* : God's warriors not only storm, but carry the fortress, pouring in through a breach in the walls so wide as to admit an irresist- ible number of assailants. The intervening lines in J^ fall out of the figure and are abnormally short ; they may conceal a parallel to ^** (see phil. n.).
13a. They have broken up my path] t,e, "Job's path of life, which they seek to make impracticable for him (cp. 19^)," Dr. — b, C. See above on ^^"i^, and phil. nn.
14. / wallow] cp. ffi; f^ they wallowy or roll themselves, which has been explained to mean roll on irresistibly ; but see phil. n.
XXX. 16-18.] JOB 257
My nobility is '^ driven away^ like the wind, And like a cloud has my welfare passed away.
^^ But now upon me my soul pours itself out, Days of affliction take hold of me :
1^ By night my bones are corroded (and fall) away from mCj And (the pains) that gnaw me lie not down (to rest).
15. My nobility] ** Job's princely dignity and reputation j^gS-io. 21-25^^ »' j)j. — j^fy welfare] or wealth, together with the esteem associated with it : cp. Is. 32^ {nobley an: |1 wealthy, ]3W) : see n. there.
16. But now] see phil. n. and above on ^~^. — Days] read perhaps terrors or the like.
17. By night or (atid fall) away from me should perhaps be omitted (see phil. n.). — b. Translated as above, the line means: I never get any alleviation from my pains, since they never retire to rest. Just possibly (see phil. n.) we should render My fleshless hones lie not dowfi to resty i.e. I, thus worn to the bone, cannot lie down even when night comes : for the attribution to the bones of personal activities, feelings and emotions, cp. e.g. 41^ (n.), Ps. 35I0 5110, Is. 661^.
18. This v. appears to be hopelessly obscure or corrupt. The existing text has been translated and, with great improba- bility, explained to mean : By (the) great force^ viz. of my disease, or by the great might (23^), viz. of God, my outer raiment is disfigured, owing to my body being emaciated, and my clothing, in consequence, hanging badly upon me : it (viz. my outer raiment) bi7ids (lit. girds) me about as tightly as the collar of my under garment ; but the collar of the Hebrew under garment was not tight-fitting, and to render Job's garment ill-fitting seems a trivial eff"ect of the mighty power of God — not to speak of other improbabilities in this interpreta- tion. If the V. referred to Job's emaciation affecting the appearance of his clothing, it would be better to read thivugh {?ny) great leanness (cp. 16^) for by the great force ; but if the unfashionable set of Job's garments was due entirely, or as
^7
58 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXX. 18-20,
i» [Behold, God] hath "^ brought "i me •"down"' to the clay,
And I am become like dust and ashes. 20 I cry unto thee, and thou answerest me not ;
I stand (in prayer), and thou lookest not at me.
some have supposed, partly, to swellings on his body, we might even, with Richter, introduce a hapax legomeiioji (HB for nD) into the text in order to secure a proper expression of the idea : thi'ough great swelling (of my body) my garment is disfigured ; but the difficulty remains that in '' while the vb. may, the com- parison certainly does not, suggest tightness of fit. Possibly the reference to garments are entirely due to corruption, and as i<^ spoke of the soul, ^^ of the bones, so i^ spoke of the flesh (so, so far as ^^^ is concerned, Bu. : see phil. n.) ; or (so (5 in ^) the text may have run : In (his) great might he (God : Ehrlich, Job's pain) seizeth my raiment ; he taketh hold of me by the collar of my tunic (so Ehrlich and in part Sgf.) : in this case ''the underlying image is that of pursuit by an enemy : the pursuer seizes him by his garment and (v.^^) throws him down " (Sgf.).
19. God has so humiliated Job that he is no longer of any account. That both lines are metaphorical is more probable than that only one is, though some {e.g. Bu.) interpret * meta- phorically, ^ literally : God has so humiliated Job, that he, i.e. his diseased body, has a dusty appearance (cp. 7^). — Clay] the word (tlDn) is here a synonym of dust ("iDj;) and ashes ("ISX) : cp. 10^ 13I2419 27I6: the rendering mire (RV.) is, there- fore, slightly misleading ; and the line may be compared with 16^^ more closely than with 9^^.
20-23. Job now turns and addresses God, of whom he has just spoken in i^ if not already from ^i onwards. Job charges God with indifference to his cry, with actively enhancing his sufferings.
20b. The above translation, which gives complete parallelism, follows the reading of one MS only : the great majority of the MSS read / sta7id and thou (merely) lookest at me ; one MS and <% Thou standest and lookest at me. See phil. n. For / standy viz. in prayer, cp. Jer. 15I.
XXX. 21-25.] JOB 259
21 Thou art turned into one that is cruel to me,
With the might of thy hand thou persecutest me.
22 Thou liftest me up into the wind, causing me to ride upon it,
And thou dissolvest me into the storm. 28 For I know that to Death thou wilt bring me back,
And to the appointed meeting-place for all living. 2* Howbeit, will not "^one sinking^ stretch out a hand?
Or in his calamity "^will not one^ cry for help ? 25 Is it that I wept not for the unfortunate,
That my soul grieved not for the needy ?
21. Thou art turned into] cp. Is. 63^^ — Persecutest] cp. 16*; (& scourgest.
22. God in His might and majesty may ride on the wind (Ps. 18^1), but for man it is a giddy adventure, the prelude to (cp. ^ 23) destruction. The figure of Job as the sport of the winds is rather differently expressed in 9^^ (272^).
23. Death] — The underworld, as 2822 al. — Bring me back] cp. i2i n. With the phrase descriptive of Sheol in ^, cp. 3^^*^-.
24. ^ is unintelligible: for attempts to extort a meaning from it, see phil. n. Emended as above, the v. is an apology for what Job recognizes to be a last fruitless appeal to God : drowning m.en catch at straws, and so Job, though (2^) certain of death, still involuntarily cries out for help. By an alterna- tive emendation an entirely different meaning has been placed on the v., which then reads,
Howbeit, have "^P not stretched a (helping) hand to "^the
poor^ ? And "^was he not saved ^ (by me) in his calamity ? This would obviously go admirably with 25 ; and if it would come in abruptly, so also does 25 at present ; on the other hand, reading in 2* ^^ qj^ for ah !«, and rendering. If I have not stretched. . . , If I have not wepty both verses would fit well in c. 31 ; with the pf. tenses, cp. then 3120. 21^
25. The V. in its present position (but see last n.) is ex- plained as giving a reason for Job's cry for help (implied in 2*^) ; he had pitied others in their distress (cp. 29II-17) j ^hy then in his own distress should he not appeal for compassion ? Du.
2 6o THE BOOK OF JOB .[^XX. 25-29.
26 For I looked for good, and evil came :
And I waited for light, and darkness came.
27 My bowels have been made to boil, and are not silent ;
Days of affliction have come to meet me ; ^ I go about (in) dark (attire) '^uncomforted^,
I stand up in the assembly crying for help. ^ I am become a brother to jackals,
And a companion to ostriches.
emends so as to make ^ continue the thought of ^4 as emended and translated above: *' Or does not "^he^ weep that is un- fortunate? Is not Hhe"^ soul '^of him that is ready to perish^ grieved ? "
26. A (second) reason for Job's appeal : he is himself one of the class referred to in 2*, and in ^^ also as emended by Du. : all his hopes (cp. 29^^"20j ^re perished.
27. My bowels have been made to boii\ cp. **My bowels are in a ferment," La. i^^ 2^^; there, of violent emotion at the dis- tress of Jerusalem ; here, of Job's emotion at his own calamities, or at the conflict between (^6) his hope of good and fear, or i^'^^^ actual experience, of evil. But ^^b even so is not a very natural parallel to ^^a^ is suspiciously similar to ^6^, and may have dis- placed a line more closely parallel (cp. La. i^^ 2^^) to *. Bu. unnecessarily omits the whole v. — Are not silent] cp. of excited emotion, **my bowels sound, or make a noise," Is. 16^^; **the sounding, or noise (RV. yearning), of thy bowels," 63^^
28. I go about in dark attire] so Ps. 38^: cp. 35^*; and see 5^1 n. — Uncomforted] so, by a slight emendation, Du. ; jjK without the suny which has been explained to mean in a sun- less, miserable condition ; or, taken closely with the preceding word : dark, not with sunburn, but disease : see phil. n. — In the assembly] of those gathered around him (Del.), before people generally as many as are present about him, nearly (as Pr. 26^6) = opeiily (Di.), or in the public assembly of the community — whether Job actually still attends it, or, as a leper, could do so, being of no importance (Bu.) : see also phil. n.
29. Job's unalleviated and unpitied sufferings call forth from him, and no wonder (2^), cries as melancholy as those of
XXX. 29-XXXI.] JOB 261
2^ My skin is black (and falls) off me,
And my bones are scorched with fever-heat.
^^ And (the music of) my harp has turned into mourning, And that of my pipe into sounds of them that weep.
jackals and ostriches (cp. Mic. \^),-^Jackals\ see EBi. s,v, ; others render wolves {DB i. 62o5).
30a. See on 2^. — b. cp. Ps. 102*. The v. with its reference to a couple of the symptoms of Job's disease may be misplaced (cp. Bu.).
31. Job's harp and pipe instead of the merry and cheerful strains for which they were naturally adapted (21 ^2) play now only the saddest airs.
XXXI. Job solemnly repudiates all sin such as might have deservedly drawn upon him the overwhelming misfortunes, which had turned his joy (c. 29) into mourning (c. 30 : 30^^). The repudiation consists of three elements : [a] a general claim that his life had been virtuous, with the grounds which had led him to the deliberate choice of virtue, i~*; {h) a repudiation in detail of a large number of sinful deeds, feelings and attitudes, ^~^^, ^^"^^ ; (c) a passionate assertion of his readi- ness to lay bare before God the record of his life, and of the conviction of integrity which he could bring with him into the presence of God, ^-"^^ . At present (c) interrupts {h) ; but this must be due to misplacement, not, however, of ^'^'^ from the beginning of c. 31 (Che. EBi. 2479), ^^^ ^f 38-40b. these latter vv. originally stood somewhere between ^ and ^^, but whether after v.^, Bolducius (1637) as cited by Del. ; after ^^^ Bu. ; after 15, Honth. ; after ^2, Me. Du. ; after ^s^ Kennicott, or after ^*, where in the uncertainty they are placed in the present trans- lation, must be left undetermined. Having been accidentally omitted, the vv. were added at the close of the c. ; just as Is. 38^^^-, which originally stood after v.^ (see 2 K. 20^^*). It is possible (see n. on 30^*) that the c. has suffered further dis- arrangement, as Hatch, Bi. Du. argue. But (i) in spite of their absence from (&, it is improbable that ^"^ are an interpola- tion (Hatch, Bi. and Du.). For the vv. ring genuine, and if abrupt, are much less abrupt than ^'^^ would be without them.
262 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXXI. 1.
XXXI. ^ I made a covenant with my eyes ;
How, then, could I (even) look upon a virgin ?
(2) In ^~^* no sufficient means exist for restoring the original (if and in so far as it differed from the present) order. In these vv. and ^~^^ the repudiations of specific sins take the form of imprecations by Job on himself, if he had committed them; but, as Bu. has pointed out, the ** if" clauses occur 15 or 16 times, the imprecatory clauses only 4 times (8. 10. 22. 4oj . the relative infrequency of the imprecatory clauses may well be due in part to the fortunes of the text, but not entirely ; for there is at least much that is correct in Bu.'s further observation, that the **if" clauses are often combined into groups of stmzlar content (5- 7, 13.16.19.20.21^ 24.25.26^ 38.39) followed by a single imprecation ; that at other times, as often elsewhere (G-K 149), the imprecatory clause is simply omitted ; and that at times (^'* ^^') the *'if" clause is followed in lieu of an imprecation by a direct assertion that Job had pursued the very opposite course to that repudiated in the **if" clause. It would be a great mistake to reduce all this variety to the monotonous repetition of a single scheme.
I-4. Job, at that time unshaken in the belief that the portion allotted by God to wicked men was invariably disaster i^- 3), and convinced that nothing in his life would escape the eye of God, had from the first made it his rule not even to allow his eyes to wander where the lust of the eye might tempt him on to sinful act.
I. I made a covenant with] or, rather, I imposed a covenant^ or rule^ on^ the prep, being not Dy (see Lex. 5036), used when equal contracting parties are concerned, but f) {ib.') of the superior granting conditions to another: cp. e,g. 2 K. ii*^-: **Jehoiada made a covenant with (f)) them, and made them swear . . . and commanded them, saying, This is the thing that ye shall do." The terms of the rule imposed by Job on his eyes is not directly given, unless a virgin (nhna) is merely a corruption of some general term such as xhllt for wickedness^ impiety (Peake) ; but in any case ^f- suggest that the rule was perfectly general ; and, in the present text, ^^ by the rhetorical
XXXI. 1-5.] JOB 263
2 For what is the portion (apportioned) by God from above, Or what the heritage (given) by the Almighty from the
heights ?
' Is it not calamity for the unrighteous,
And disaster for the workers of iniquity ?
* Doth not he see my ways.
And number all my steps ?
* If I have walked with insincerity,
Or my foot hath hasted unto deceit ;
question (see phil. n.) indirectly indicates its nature, instancing one of the subtler temptations against which the general rule was directed (cp. Is. 33^^, Ps. 119^^). Du. amends, unwisely: made a covenant . . . not to look upon a virgin ; Job's covenant was much wider than this ; and ^ does not exhaust but illustrates its application : for example, I refrained from even looking upon (cp. Is. 33^^, Ps. 119^^) a virgin ; a fortiori from unchaste acts I kept myself free. The comparison with Mt. 5^^ is interesting, but the ethical judgment is not quite the same; for here the look is avoided not as being in itself sinful, but as liable to lead on to outward conduct, the " ways" and ** steps" of v.^, and therefore to the punishment of sin (cp. Ecclus. 9^).
2. Cp. 20^^ 27^^^- At the time when Job made his rule of life, he still held by the current doctrine of sin and suffering which had been maintained by the friends in the debate, and had been unquestioned by himself till his personal experience showed its falsehood. This doctrine then restrained him :
Pn 14. 23. 28
4. He\ emphatic : he whose general principle of action is as indicated in 2- » and who, therefore, will punish me, if my ways are wrong. — b. cp. 14^^.
5-8. First section of the special repudiation: vv.^-'^ '*if" clauses, ^ parenthetic, ^ imprecation. Repudiation of dis- honesty and (^ ?) covetousness.
5. Walked 'witK\ made a companion of. — Insincerity] or false- hood (xiK^, as Ps 12^ 26^). — Unto deceit] to commit some act of deceit or fraud (cp. Is. 59^), or, possibly, with personification
264 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXXI. 5-9.
^ (Let me be weighed In just scales,
And let God know my integrity:) ^ If my step turned out of the way,
Or my heart went after my eyes,
Or "^ought^ Qlave to my hands, ^ Let me sow and another eat,
And let my produce be uprooted. ^ If mine heart was enticed on account of (another's) wife,
Or about the door of my neighbour I lay in wait.
as in *, to (the home of) deceit, to make myself the housemate of deceit.
6. Job Is not himself a fraud ; if weighed he will be found full weight : cp. i^ n.
7. Job * had never departed from the way of rectitude, nor ^ consented to deprive his neighbour of anything of his that his eyes coveted, nor ° had any fruit or stain of unjust gain or fraud ever stuck to his hands : this. In view of ^, seems the more specific thought lying behind the rather general expres- sions. With % cp. 23^^. — After my eyes] cp. Nu. 15^^; even If ^ Is Inconsistent with '^, It Is not an Inconsistency that calls for removal. — Ought\ ^ a spot. Cp. Dt. 13^^, i S. 12^; see phil. n.
8. If Job had deprived others of what was rightly theirs (^- ^), let him be deprived of the fruit of his own labours. Cp. 5^ 27^^'- ; for the proverbial phrasing of *, cp. Dt. 28^^. — My produce] so (RV.) rather than my offspring (RVm.): see phil. n.
9-12. Second section: repudiation of adultery: * ** If" clause, 1° imprecation, ^^'- comment on the heinousness of the sin.
9. Job had never lurked about his neighbour's house, secretly watching till he should go out and Job so obtain access to his wife : cp. Pr. 7^- ^- ^^, — AbotU] In some cover in the neighbourhood, from which he could watch who came out of the door; not at (RV. ; see phil. n.), i.e. in, or immediately in front of, the doorway, where the husband coming out must see him.
XXXI. 10-12.] JOB 265
1° Then let my wife grind for another,
And let others bow down upon her. 1^ For that were wickedness,
And that were iniquity (to be punished) by the judges : ^2 For that were a fire that would consume unto Destruction,
And would ^ burn ^ all my crops.
10. Grind for another\ become another's meanest slave (cp. Ex. 11^, Is. 472, Jg. 16^1); so fE; ?^ will also, and was probably intended to, bear a meaning parallel to ^ (see phil. n.). But whichever way * be taken, it probably implies that Job's wife in the supposed but unreal case is not of her own will to be unfaithful to him, but to fall a victim to another's violence : cp. Dt. 2^^^. *'It does not satisfy our ethical sense that for Job's offence his wife who had no share in it, but was rather herself the sufferer by it, should bear the greatest part of the punishment : that is only possible because the wife still counted essentially as the man's property," Du.
11. Wickedness\ the term (HDT) is a strong one (Hos. 6^, Pr. 21^'^), used especially in connection with sexual offences (Lv. 18^^ 20^^ Jg. 20^). — b. A flagrant offence not only subject to the divine punishment, but dealt with by the magis- trates and the criminal law (Lv. 20^^).
12. For\ parallel to for in ^^ and giving a second reason for ^^ ; but in ^2 it could be well spared, ^^ being then climactic to ^^. For adultery as a fire consuming the adulterer, see Pr. (p-^^ ; cp. also Sir. 9^. — A fire that wotild consume unto Destruction] a fire so fierce that it would not burn itself out till it had burnt down to Sheol : cp. Dt. 32-^. — Destructio7i\ Hebr. Abaddon^ as 26^ (n.). — Bum\ ^ uproot. — Crops\ if crops is rightly read here, the misplaced section ^^~*^ dealing also with Job's agriculture may have originally followed ^2.
13-20. Third section : repudiation of having disregarded the claims of {a) his own slaves,^^"^^ ; {h) others in need — the poor, the widow, the fatherless, ^^~2^. The section contains several "if" clauses (i3. 16. 19^ y^^^ j^q^- 2oj interspersed with vv. indicating principles restraining or guarding Job's conduct ; but the imprecation is lacking, for the imprecation in ^^ too
266 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXXI. 13-17.
^^ If I rejected the cause of my slave,
Or of my maid, when they contended with me — 1* What then shall I do when God riseth up ?
And when he cometh to inquire, what shall I answer him? ^^ Did not he that in the womb made me make him?
And did not one fashion us in the womb ? ^* If I withheld ought that the poor desired,
Or caused the eyes of the widow to fail ; ^'^ Or ate my portion (of bread) alone.
And the fatherless ate not thereof —
exclusively corresponds to. ^^ to be regarded as referring to the whole group of repudiations in i3-2i^
13. Job had never treated his slaves despotically, but had been governed by the thought (^^) that the same God who had lavished such care on him in the womb (cp. lo^*^-) had lavished no less on his slaves ; before the law slaves had some (Ex 21^"^^), but few rights; but Job, when his slaves had anything to urge against him, even though they might have been unable to make of it a case at law against him, did not turn them contemptuously away, but examined the case as that between fellow-creatures of one God, and, so far as might be, as he expected God would judge it at His assize Q^).
14. Riseth up] to judgment ; see phil. n. — Cometh to inquire] IpD as 7IS (see n. there).
15. Cp. Mai. 2^^. — The ethical standpoint of the v. (see on ^^) is very remarkable, and a striking illustration of the influ- ence of the conception of God on conduct. In the womb is emphatic: earlier (lo^^-) Job had argued that all the marvel- lous care lavished by God on him in the womb gave him a right to be surprised at God's present dealings with him, which seemed to be purely destructive ; here a similar line of argu- ment is implicit : what God has fashioned with care must be treated with care and respect by God's other creatures.
16. Ought that the poor desired] or, the poor from [what they) desire[d). — The eyes , . . to /ail] through looking in vain for help : cp. 11^^.
17. Job shared his plain and simple everyday fare with the
XXXI. 17-21.] JOB 267
*^ For from my youth like a father he brought me up,
And from my mother's womb ■" he ^ led ^ me ^ — ^® If I saw one ready to perish for lack of clothing,
And that the poor had no covering, ^^ '" And "" his loins blessed me not.
And with the fleece of my sheep he obtained not warmth : 21 If I have swung my head against the ^ perfect ^,
When I saw my help in the gate,
fatherless : not merely on occasions of sacrifice when there was special and ample fare, but daily when his meal, according to custom (Nowack, Arch. i. 109 ff.), consisted mainly of bread (cp. the contrast in Pr. 17^), Job had shared his food with the fatherless. — Portion] (ns) denotes a piece of bread broken off the leaf (Lv. 2^), especially with a view to being consumed at a meal, but not necessarily a small portion (EV. ** morsel"), for see i S. 28^2, 2 S. I23, Ru. 2^K
18. Job's care for the needy (^^) rested on another (cp. ^^) principle of religion, viz. gratitude for God's fatherly care of himself from his earliest days (cp. Ps. 22^^'-), and the conse- quent desire to be like God in his conduct towards his needy fellow-men. The v. so read (see phil. n.) and understood is a little abrupt : unless with Du. we place ^* (which mentions God) between ^^ and 1^. But ?^ (EV.) is not less abrupt : — (It was not the case that I disregarded the fatherless) for (on the contrary) from my youth up he grew up unto me as unto a father, and from my mother's womb I led her (i.e. the widow, ^^) ; or, emending ^ (so as to avoid the strange picture of Job from his babyhood guiding widows), and from his mother's womb I led him (the fatherless, as in *).
19. Ready to perish] 29^^ n. — For lack of clothing . . , no covering] 2^.
20a. Cp. 2^^''.—And] f^ //.
21-23. Fourth section : repudiation of having smitten with his hand him in whom no fault was to be found. V.^^, **if" clause; 22^ imprecation on the offending part of Job's body ; 2^, reason for Job's conduct — the fear of God's lofty justice.
21. Swung my hand] in order to smite; cp. Is. ii^^ 19^,
2 68 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXXI. 21-25.
2=^ May my shoulder-blade fall from its shoulder,
And may my arm be broken from its socket. 2* For the dread of God [restrained me],
And by reason of his loftiness I could not (do so). 2* If I made gold my hope,
Or to fine gold (ever) said, (Thou art) my confidence; 2^ If I rejoiced because my wealth was great,
And because my hand had secured much : —
Zech. 2^^. Job had not used undeserved violence, though he might in doing so have relied on his influence (cp. 29^^-) to parry a charge brought by the injured party before the elders sitting for judgment in the ^^/^-way (cp. 5^ n.) of the city. — Perfect^ "^ orphan : see phil. n.
22. Sockei\ see phil. n.
23. Du. places this v. after 28, Bi. after 1*.— a. 5^ For a terror (coming) unto me was the calamity (^*) of God ; see phil. n. — Loftiness\ 13^^.
24 f. Fifth section. **If" clauses without an expressed imprecation. Job repudiates the idolatry of wealth as in ^^ another form of idolatry. He had no need of Eliphaz's exhor- tation (22^3-26) J for all along he had put his trust not in gold, but — this is implicit — in God. — Hope || confidence] 8^*. God (as implicitly here) is the ground of hope (^D2) in Pr. 3'^^, Ps. 78^, of confidence (nD3D), e.g. in Ps. 71^, Jer. I'f : cp. especially Ps. 40^, '* the man who maketh (Db^n as TIDC' here) Yahweh his confidence."
26-28. Sixth section : repudiation of having yielded to the temptation to worship the sun and moon, ^ef.^ '*if" clauses; no expressed imprecation follows, but ^s (cp. n) emphasizes the heinousness of the oflfence. The worship of the heavenly bodies becomes prominent in Judah in the 7th cent., and would appear to have been prominent in the age of the poem, since it is the only form of outward idolatry specially repudiated. This prominence it is unnecessary, if not indeed ill-advised, to attri- bute to Persian influence ; for, as Du. observes, the special prominence given to the majestic appearance of the vioon may be Semitic rather than Persian. The direct appeal of the
XXXI. 26-27.] JOB 269
26 If, seeing the sun when It shone,
And the moon moving gloriously along,
27 My heart was secretly enticed,
And my hand kissed my mouth,
beauty and awe of the heavens to the writer is obvious ; but, like others (Ps. 8, 19 ; cp. Dt. 4^^) of similar sensibility to these impressions, he does not confound the moon with the Maker : these glorious bodies of light are God's creatures, their glory a witness to Him ; to worship or pay homage to them is tantamount to denying the one true God, the creator of all. The passage is a striking illustration of the writer's convinced monotheism. Cp. the more direct development of the idea in Qor. 41^^ 6^^ (cited by Davidson).
26. The sun] the term "ilN, commonly Izo-h^ or luminary y is best understood here of, or with special reference to, the sun (II the moon) : cp. 37^^, Hab. 3*. — Shone\ or (note the impf.) began to shiney the reference being to the salutation of the rising sun in particular: cp. Tac. Hist, iii. 24, et orientem Solem (ita in Syria mos est) tertiani salutavere ; and in the hymn to Aton (the sun) by the Egyptian king Ikhnaton {c. 1400 B.C.), **when thou risest in the horizon . . . the two lands are in daily festivity . . . their arms uplifted in adora- tion to thy dawning" (see, e.g.y Breasted, History of Egypt ^ 372).
27. Secretly] seems rather otiose, since the movements of the heart are essentially secret : in any case the repudiation is not of secret idolatry^ an idolatry of the mind only, but of a particular idolatrous act ^, for which (^s) the judges could exact a penalty (Dt. 17^**). — My hand kissed my mouth] so as to throw a kiss to the sun or moon : the hand rather than the mouth is made subject of the vb., as being more active in throwing kisses. Kissing idols with the mouth as an act of adoration seems to be referred to in i K. 19^^, Hos. 13^; and the act ol throwing kisses to objects of worship, though not again alluded to in the OT., is frequently attested elsewhere : see S. Langdon, *' Gesture in Sumerian and Babylonian Prayer," in \\\^ Journa. of the Royal Asiatic Society^ 191 9* PP« 531-555 (with many illus trations).
270 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXXI. 28-31.
28 That, too, were iniquity (to be punished) by the judges :
For I should have lied to God above. 2* If I rejoiced at the ruin of him that hated me,
And '^shouted for joy^ when evil found him ; so Neither did I suffer my mouth to sin.
In asking his life with a curse. »i If the men of my tent said not,
<* Who is there that has not been sated with his meat?"
29 f. Seventh section : repudiation of having found pleasure in an enemy's misfortune, or of having attempted by cursing to secure his destruction. ^9^ *' if" clause : ^0, direct denial ; no expressed imprecation. With the standard of conduct towards personal enemies here expressed, cp. Ex. 23^'-, Pr. 20^2 24^^^- 2521'- ; ct. Bildad's standard in 8^2 and that expressed in the words of 27^ (wrongly) attributed to Job. How far the so- called imprecatory Psalms [e.g. 58, 109, 137) betray an exactly contrary temper, depends on the extent to which in them purely personal enmity is subordinated to national and religious opposition.
29. Shouted for joy\'^ stirred myself up i in joy: otherwise
if.
30. Not really parenthetical (RV.); but the direct negation of another sin is simply added by the copula to the indirect negation of v.^^ (so without the conjunction ^2 js direct asser- tion after ^^ indirect assertion) : I did not rejoice at the ruin of my enemy, neither (AV.) did I curse him ; the Yea of RV. is unsuitable ; ^^ is not climactic ; the more striking disavowal is that of 29. — In asking his life\ i.e. in asking God to take the life of his enemy ; cp. i K. 3^^ i<^^.
31 f. Eighth section : repudiation of having ever shown less than universal and unstinted hospitality. ^^ "if" clause; ^^^ direct statement : no expressed imprecation.
31. J^ in ^ may be rendered, would that there were one not sated with his flesh, that our master might be gratified by finding yet another recipient of his hospitality. In any case the point is : Job*s hospitality had been so universally and richly shown to all strangers and passers-by i^'^) that the 77ien of his tent, i.e.
XXXI. 31-33.] JOB 27
^2 The sojourner passed not the night in the street, My doors I opened to the wayfarer.
^^ If I concealed . . . my transgressions, In hiding mine iniquity in my bosom ;
his household and entourage, had asserted in praise of it that no one was to be found who had not eaten to his fill of Job's festal fare. Job, speaking of himself in ^'', refers to his every- day fare of which the staple was bread ; his household, speaking in praise of him, refer to exceptional fare, not eaten every day, viz. the flesh of animals (sacrificially) slain on special occasions, including commonly the advent of guests. — Flesh] a meat diet : cp. e.g. Nu. iiS Dt. 1215, I S. 213.15, I K. 176.
32. Cp. the narrative of Gn. ig^^-, Jg. ig^^-si,
33 f. Ninth section : repudiation of hypocrisy. The whole is subordinate to the **if," and there is no expressed impreca- tion. The form of the section is suspicious, and the expression of the thought a little strange. At present a distich {^^) is followed by a tristich {^^) ; this is certainly not improved by omitting ^^^ with ffir, and (with Du.) separating the obvious parallels (3**- ^) from one another, in order to obtain in appear- ance two distichs, ^^' 3** and ^^^- "". Nor is ^^^ to be taken with ^^! (Bi.). If the tristich is intolerable, it would be better to omit ^^^ or to assume the loss before it of a line parallel to it. Moreover, at present ^^^' ^ are good parallels, the construc- tion, to which Du. takes exception, being as in 3^, to which he takes no exception. What Job appears to assert here is not that after committing sins he publicly confessed them, but that not having committed transgressions he had none to conceal ; in mingling freely, as he had done (29^*^-), among men, he had been secured against fear of being condemned by the crowd, or losing the esteem of the clans of his own and neighbouring tribes, not by a skilfully maintained hypocrisy, but by a conscience wholly void of offence.
33. If I concealed] what follows in |^ has been rendered like Adaniy who, however, did not conceal sin through fear of men (3^), or like {ordinary) men, which would cast a quite uncalled for reflection on the rest of mankind. Slightly emending, we
272 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXXI. 33-34.
^* Because I dreaded the great multitude,
And the contempt of the clans terrified me,
So that I kept silence, not going out of the door ;
may obtain from nperif which would be suitable, but before ^^ otiose.
34. *■ ^ The reasons which might have induced Job to conceal his transgressions, if he had committed any ; ^ describes what would have been the consequence of the supposed action : as a matter of fact Job did not remain at home. — Kept silence\ or rather, perhaps, kept still (u^^l as in Jos. lo^^^ i S. 14^).
38-40. Tenth section (wrongly placed after ^^~^^ ; see above p. 261 f.): repudiation of having committed any wrong in his agriculture. ^^^•, *' if " clauses parallel to, or closely related to, one another : ^^, imprecation. What precise wrong Job is here repudiating is not clear. Certainly, if ^^ were not followed by ^^ it would be attractive with Du. to think of unfair exhaustion of the ground by depriving it of its year of rest (Ex. 22,^^^-^ Lv. 2^2!. 26^^^-), or the violation of some taboo such as the sowing of the land with two kinds of seed (Lv. 19^^). In this case the imprecation corresponds closely to the sin repudiated, but it is arbitrary with Du. to reject ^^ as an ancient and incorrect attempt to explain ^ ; for ^^ reads as anything but a gloss, and its own unusual phrasing calls for explanation. Is it possible, however, that ^^ is consistent with ^^ as explained by Du. ; is the money or payment of ^^ a payment in discharge of re- ligious claims connected with the land ; and are the owners of ^^^, the spirits of the land, the elves or the like, to which some have found allusion in 5^^ ; and instead of caused . . . to expire should we render grieved or disappointed? Unless we can admit this, we must start with the common interpretation of ^^, and explain ^^ in accordance with it : ^^^ then means that Job had not withheld their wages from those who had worked the land for him, or the purchase price from the former owners pobj of his fields ; and ^'^^ that he had not, in violently appro- priating (Is. 5^, Mic. 2^) the land, slain the former owners out- right (cp. the case of Naboth, i K. 21), or caused them through loss of their patrimony to die of want. In this case ^^ means
XXXI. 37-40.] JOB 27,
^ If against me my land cried out,
And the furrows thereof wept together;
2^ If I have eaten its produce without paying, And caused the owners thereof to expire ;
*^ Instead of wheat let thorns come forth, And instead of barley stinking (weeds).
that the land cries out for vengeance for a crime not committed directly against it, but on it, or in connection with it, against others. Certainly, in the nearest parallels, it is not the land, but the blood shed on it that cries out (16^^, Gn. 4^^) ; but since blood profanes (Nu. 35^^ n., Dt. 32*^, Ps. 106^^) the land on which it is shed, we may perhaps infer that the land itself could be regarded as wronged by such crime, and as itself crying out for vengeance, and perhaps even as weeping (^^), though this last would certainly be more naturally said in the case of a wrong more directly and exclusively done to the land : with the cry in this case, cp. the cry of the stones, apparently of buildings built or procured violently and unjustly, in Hab. 2^^.
38. Against me] emphatic : unlike that of some men (on the usual interpretation of ^'•, cp. 24^), none of my ground had cause to cry for vengeance. — My land] the phrase is most natural on Du.'s interpretation (see above) ; on the usual inter- pretation it means that part of my land which I had obtained by fraud or violence.
39. Produce] lit. strength : so Gn. 4^2^ — Paying] lit. silver, money. — Owners] or owner: cp. Ex. 21^^, Is. i^; G-K. 124 i.
40. On account of the murder of his brother, the land tilled by Cain was no longer to yield its strength ; the im- precation of a similar misfortune, therefore, cannot prove, as Du. claims, that the crime repudiated here by Job was not the violent appropriation of land and causing the death of its former owners. No doubt restoration to the lawful owners or their heirs would have been the correct reparation ; but the prayer that no good might come of Ill-gotten possessions is far from unnatural. At the same time, as remarked above, ^^ would be even more appropriate on Du.'s interpretation of ^^.
35-37- Conclusion of the speech P^^^^ being misplaced):
274 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXXI. 35.
35 Oh that ^God would^ hear me !—
Behold my mark — that the Almighty would answer me!
And the scroll which my accuser hath written ;
Job expresses a final wish that God would answer him, and a conviction that (in this case) he would be able triumphantly to maintain his innocence and integrity. The tone of desire in ^ and of triumph in ^^'- is clear; but in detail the passage is extraordinarily ambiguous, and has received many different interpretations. In large part this ambiguity may be due to the probable loss of a line, as indicated above, between ^^^ and ^°, in part also, perhaps, to some further textual corruption.
35. Oh that God would hear me] J^ 0?i that I had one to hear me^ i.e. as variously understood, would that God, or some sympathetic human ear, to which he may entrust the declara- tion he is about to make (cp. Peake), or (Hi.) an arbitrator who will decide between (cp. 9^^) God and himself, would listen to Job. — Behold my mark] parenthetical; Bi. Hoffm., assuming that in already was and is here used as the name of the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet, render. Behold my Taw, [i.e. my last word is said) : (now) let the Almighty answer me. But more probably (unless, as may well be, the word is merely due to a corruption of the text) Taw has here the more general sense of mark (cp. Ezk. 9*-^t), whether it signifies a mark resembling the early Taw, X, in lieu of an actual signature, or, which is more probable, since Job is scarcely to be thought of as incapable of writing, the signature itself; in either case, it implies a document thereby acknowledged or attested by Job. On the other hand, apart from this particular interpretation, there is no indication of such a document : for the document of ^° is obviously something different, and the vbs. of ^^*- ^, though they may be compatible with a written document, which God is to answer, certainly do not require it, but more readily suggest spoken words of Job which God is to hear and answer. If, however, the lines implied a document signed by Job, of what nature was it? It is commonly held to be a docume?tt containing **the protestations of his innocence " just spokejiy or
XXXI. 36.] JOB 2
/D
similar assertions of innocence (Da. Dr. Peake, Richter, Honth.); but (i) protestations of innocence do not naturally demand an answer, they are rather themselves answers to a charge : (2) the protestations just made have taken the form of imprecations ; the natural ** answer" of God to an impreca- tion would be to inflict the ill imprecated. Others (Ew. Bu. Du.) see in the document signed by Job his charge against God : Job ''the accused has become the accuser. His document is first presented : it is accordingly the charge : the answer, i.e. the defence of his opponent, is not yet forthcoming: he charges God with violating justice (272), and of this charge He is said to be unable to clear Himself. Complete confidence in his victory over God with a justification of the charge in its entire extent marks accordingly this conclusion of Job's speech" (Bu.). Others combine (Hi.), or (Di.) leave as alternative con- stituents, in the book charge and defence. If we might follow STl^' AV. (which last is not a rendering of J^), this ambiguous book disappears from the text, and ^^^ becomes completely parallel to ^^* without any disturbing parenthesis : in this case (emending '•in into "rnNn) render. Behold my desire (is that) the Almighty may answer me (see phil. n.). — That the Almighty would answer me] the words may also be rendered : let the Almighty answer me. — And the scroll which my accuser hath writteti] these words have been taken (i) as dependent on Oh that in 35a J And (that I had) the scroll, etc. (EV.), ^^b being parenthetical ; or (2) on Behold in ^^ ; Behold here is my signature . . . and the scroll, etc., the last clause of ^^^ (let the Almighty answer me) being then parenthetic (Del. Me.); or (3) as a casus pendens to ^^ : As for the scroll which mine accuser hath written — Upon my shoulder would I bear it, etc. (ffir Hi. Bu.). All these suggestions are unsatisfactory in them- selves and involve a tristich (3^*- ^- ^ or ^^^' ^^^- ^) ; and it is prefer- able to assume the loss of a line. Du. would prefix to ^^ such a line as : would that I had the roll. But the last line, if such there was, may, of course, have been very different from this : it must be remembered that ^^^ is most naturally (though not in the existing and probably mutilated context) rendered : And a scroll hath my accuser written. Such are the ambiguities
276 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXXI. 36-361
^^ Surely upon my shoulder would I carry it, I would bind it around me as a crown ;
of construction: further ambiguities of detail remain. — The scroll] so the Heb. "iDD is best rendered here, if it is the object of the vb. in ^^: a scroll, but not a book (RVm.), may be pictured as bound round the head or spread over the back of the neck. For scroll, cp. Is. 34*: " the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll." In form a scroll, in virtue of its contents it is a legal document (cp. Dt. 24^ (EV. bill), Jer. 32^^^- (EV. deed)); and if written by Job's accuser it is a written statement of the charges made against him, an indictment. The custom of accuser and accused (cp. ? ^^^) furnishing a written statement of the accusation and defence is attested for Egypt at least by Diod. (i. 75). — My accuser] or opponc7it (at law) : see phil. n. This has been taken collectively as referring to the three friends of Job (so, e.g., Del. Che. mEBi. 2^yg) ; but more frequently, in its more natural singular sense, as referring to God (so Di. Da. Bu. Du. Peake) : this involves, indeed, a sudden change from the attitude towards God in the appeal of ^^*- ^ and a further change in ^'^^ where God appears as judge, but (so Di.) is in accord with </■ i^*- ^2 lo^ 1319 236 402.
36. If, as he desired ^^^, God's accusations against him were written on a scroll and given to him, so confident is Job In his innocence of the sins to which his sufferings appear to point, that he would receive the scroll without fear or shame, on the other hand would display it openly on his person, and wear it proudly like a crown of honour — treating the very accusations of God (which would turn out to be no accusations) as so many marks of honour, and (^'^^^) handing back to God the scroll, not humbly like a criminal, but proudly like a prince : so substanti- ally Da. DI. Dr. Du. Peake ; and this is the least bizarre In- terpretation of the existing text. — Carry il] f^ can, of course, equally well be translated carry hitn ; and it has actually been maintained that Job is expressing his intention of carrying on his shoulder either (i) victoriously (cp. Hoffmann), or as a cherished child (Ehrllch), the one who fulfils his wish (^^*) by listening to him, i.e. (HofTm.) God Himself; or (2) the accuser
XXXI. 36-40.] ELIHU 277
3^ I would declare the number of my steps,
Like a prince I would present it. ^^ The words of Job are completed.
oi^^^'.—Upon my shoulder] cp. Is. 22^2: the Heb. term aatr denotes the back of the neck or shoulder, on which burdens were borne (e.g, Gn. 49^^) ; the scroll is thus pictured rather strangely, as spread out to be read not by those who meet Job, but by those who come up behind him. Some, however, think the suggestion is that the scroll is worn as an easy burden (Lex. ioi4«) : the accusations would hang lightly on Job. The idiom would, of course, at once suit the personal reference (see last n.) if that were otherwise tolerable: for persons borne on the shoulder see Gn. 21^^ ; and for the figure of a crown applied to persons, see Pr. 12* 17^.
37. The number of my steps] all my actions ; cp. * (steps |1 ways), 14^^. — / would present it] a better parallel to * than the questionable alternative rendering : I would go near unto him (see phil. n.).
40c. An editorial note: cp. Ps. 722*^, Jer. 51^* last clause. Freely rendered the clause was connected by €r with 32^ (so Bu.).
XXXII.-XXXVII. Elihu.— This entire section of the book must for reasons given in the Introd. §§ 22-29 be regarded as an interpolation. It consists scarcely of four speeches, but of a single speech outwardly divided in the existing text into four sections by means of the formulae in 34^ 35^ (as 3^ etc.) and 36^ (cp. 27^ 29^). In some, perhaps even in all cases, this formula may not be original ; the additional occurrences in 6r (32^^ and HP23 in 34^^ ; cp. the variant in ^ 33^^) point at least to a tendency to multiply the use of it ; still in 34^ the formula stands after words that suggest a pause, and before Elihu turns to address a fresh party ; and with 36^ a fresh main part of the speech begins. As Job in his speeches now addresses the friends, now God, and now soliloquizes, so Elihu in part addresses himself to the friends (32^-^*, including ^^ : see n.), in part falls rather into the tone of soliloquy (32^^'22), in part addresses the wise men (34^"^^), or others (37^, if |^ be correct), in the audience, but mainly addresses Job (33^'^^ 34^^-37"^ except 37^ ?^ and
278 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXXII. 1-2.
XXXII. ^ And these three men ceased to answer Job, because he thought himself righteous. 2 ^^d Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the clan of Ram, was hot with anger : against Job he was hot with anger, because he considered himself righteous rather than God ; ^ and against his three
? 35^^). The speech falls into three main parts : (i) in 32^-33*^ by way of introduction Elihu explains to the three friends (32^-^*) and to Job (33^"''') and to himself (32^^-22^ ^j^y qj. j^q^ j^^ is going to intervene ; (2) in 33^-35^^ thrice citing or summar- izing words of Job (33^'^^ 34^' ^ 35^^), Elihu refutes the claim made in them by Job to be righteous and not to have deserved the sufferings inflicted on him by God ; (3) in 36, 37 he presents independently his own view of the greatness of God, of His creative activity, and of His government of men. Certainly much common ground is covered in (2) and (3), and the dis- tinction between them would largely fall away, if Du.'s recon- struction (see on 35^^) of 35^^-36^ were adopted.
XXXII. I-6a. — Prose introduction to the speeches : angry alike with Job for maintaining that he was righteous 2, and with the friends for at last silently acquiescing^, Elihu breaks the silence, which he had observed hitherto out of regard for the superior age of the friends, not at all from any doubt as to how Job could be shown to be in the wrong*. — For inconclusive reasons, Bu. HofTm. regard as interpolated the vv. (^•^) which give the grounds (cp. ^^•) for Elihu's intervention.
1. Three meit\ so also in ^ {i.e. both in what Bu. (see last n,) considers the original and the secondary part of this intro- duction) Job's three friends are named. The change from the term friends (2^^ 19^^ 42^^: here also in ^J^ and in ^-^^i in ^0 = 5^1) is due to a difference of writer rather than to *'the correct feeling that they could no longer be termed" friends (Bu.).
2. Elihu f the son of Barachel] the father's name is added, not because so much stress is laid on Elihu's youth (Bu.), but in accordance with a common custom when a name is intro- duced into documents (cp. e.g. Is. i^, Jer. i^, Ezk. i^, the Elephantine papyri, passim). In observing this custom this writer differs from the author of the Prologue. Both names
XXXII. 2-6.] ELIHU 279
friends he was hot with anger, because they had found no answer, and had not shown Job to be unrighteous. * Now Elihu had waited for Job with words, because they were older in days than he. ^ And when Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of the three men, he was hot with anger. ^ And Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite answered and said :
I am young in days,
Whereas ye are aged ; Therefore I was in dread and afraid
To declare my knowledge to you.
may have been selected by the interpolator on account of their meaning: Elihu (i S. i^, i Ch. 12^^ 26^ 27^^) means (my) God is he, and Barachel (^^) bless, O God, or bless God, or God hath blessed or blesses (see phil. n.). Ba-rik-ili is the name of several (Jewish) persons named in the documents of Murashu sons (temp. Artaxerxes i., see Bah. Expedition of the Univ. of Pennsylvania y Series A, vol. ix. p. 52). — The Buzite\ since Buz was the '* brother" (Gn. 22^1) of Us. (i^), Elihu is represented as more closely akin than the friends to Job. — Of the clan of Ra7ii\ whereas Buz as a son of Nahor is Aramaic ^ Ram is only known as Jewish or Jerachmeelite (Ru. 4^*, I Ch. 2^-25). Disregarding this, the author perhaps selected this clan name, too, on account of its meaning — lofty, exalted. In any case it is unwise to treat Ram as an abbreviation of Aram in order to make both descriptions of Elihu Aramaic, or Buzite as equivalent to Bo'azite (nu = "'tiva : cp. Ru. 4^1) to make them both Jewish. — Rather than] less probably, before : see phil. n.
3. No answer] no further answer: cp. ^^'- — Had not] less probably yet had: see phil. n.
4a. See phil. n.
6-22. Elihu, not (see ^^ n.) addressing Job till 33^, explains, partly (^•^*) in direct address to the three friends, partly (i5-22j soliloquizing, why he had kept silent hitherto, and why he is now speaking. He had kept silence, not because he had any hesitation as to the right thing to say, but merely from con- ventional respect for old men (^- ^). He had been confident enough about his own knowledge all along, knowing whence
2 8o THE BOOK OF JOB [XXXII. 7-8.
7 I said, ** Days should speak,
And multitude of years make known wisdom."
8 But indeed it is the spirit in man.
And the breath of the Almighty, which makes them
understand.
it came — from God Himself (^). God, as he thus knows by his own experience, gives knowledge to the young ; but since He may sometimes impart to old men also, Elihu had given the old men before him (^- ^^), Eliphaz, Bildad and Sophar, the opportunity of showing whether they were inspired as well as old : the event had proved that they were not {^- ^^^■'^ i^^-) ; for he is not to be put off with the excuse that the task set them had been so hard that only God Himself could discharge it (^^) : he will soon show the hollowness of this excuse, when he gets to work himself. The words of these old dotards have dried up (^^^) ; how different is it with him ! He is so uncomfort- ably flooded with words that, had he no better reason, he must needs speak in order to relieve the intellectual stomach-ache which his many words of wisdom, so long kept inside, have given him (i8-2oj^ ^nd when he speaks, let no one expect compliments ; for they will not get them {^^^•). This apology is not a dramatic description of a speaker whose contribu- tion the writer ridicules as that of a bombastic youth, but a self-revelation of the tone and temper of the writer himself.
8. The dispute whether ^he spirit and the breath are merely the spirit of God which imparts life (27^ 33*) and intelligence to all men (Gn. 2^), or the spirit inspiring or giving special knowledge to prophets (cp. Joel 3^), is, in the present connec- tion, rather beside the point : the spirit of God which is imparted to all men and the spirit given in inspiration, or to impart exceptional skill and ability, to special mt^n (Is. 11^ n., Nu. 27^^ Gen. 41^8^-, Ex. 31^; cp. c. 33*^ n.), are not two essentially different things, but the same spirit in less or greater measure, working for and achieving different ends. Both ^ and ^ though expressed in perfectly general terms, have a specific implication : ^ indirectly asserts that the three friends (cp ^^), in spite of their age, are not wise, and ^ that
XXXII. 8-14.] ELIHU 28 1
^ It is not r the aged "• that are wise,
Nor is it the old that understand right ; 1^ Therefore I say, Listen to me ;
1 also will declare my knowledge. ^1 Behold I waited for your words, I listened for your wise sayings ; .Whilst ye sought out words, 12 Even unto you I attended ;
And behold there was none to convict Job, None among you to answer his sayings. ^^ (Beware) lest ye say, *' We have found wisdom ;
God may drive him away, not man." 1* ■" I will "■ not set forth •" such "• words •" as these "^j Nor will I answer him with your sayings.
Elihu through the presence in him of the spirit of God (cp. Gn. 41^^^*), in spite of his youth, is wise.
9. Cp. 12^2 1^10^ — ^ many^ or the great (see phil. n.). — The aged] Eliphaz, Bildad and Sophar in particular are intended : see on ^.
IO-I7. If ^^'^^ were placed after '^, and ^'^ omitted as a variant of ^^ the reasons for Elihu's former silence (^^- i^'-) and present speech (i^. sf.j would stand together with ^^-^^ as transitional. But neither this nor other proposed reconstructions (see phil. n.) can be regarded as certain.
10. Listen] sing, in most Hebrew MSS, but, in spite of Di.'s argument (see phil. n.), the pi.. Listen ye^ should be read.
II f. Elihu had waited, but in vain, for the friends to prove their wisdom by putting Job in the wrong.
13. *' Do not think you have found in Job a wisdom which only God can overcome" (Dr.). An alternative rendering, scarcely to be adopted, is : Lest ye say, We have found wisdom, God (speaking through Elihu) will drive him away, not man (i.e, Elihu uttering merely his own wisdom); so Richter : cp. AV. RVm.
14a, f^. And he hath not set forth words against me: and so, slightly paraphrased, RV. J§ is commonly supposed to mean "Job has not yet tried conclusions with me" (Dr.). In any case the meaning is : when I have spoken, in a manner very different from you {^^^, if not also ^^*), you will see that it is not necessary to call in God in person to vanquish Job ; a
282 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXXH. 14-20.
^5 They are dismayed, they answer no more ;
Words have failed them. 1^ And am I to wait, because they speak not.
Because they have stood still, (and) have answered no
more? i'^ I also will give my allotted answer,
I will declare my knowledge, I too.
18 For I am full of words,
The breath in my belly constrains me ;
19 Behold, my belly is as wine that hath no vent ;
Like skins (filled with) new (wine) it is ready to burst.
20 Let me speak that I may get relief ;
Let me open my lips and answer.
21 Let me not, pray, show partiality to any man ;
Neither will I give flattering titles to any creature ;
man, viz. myself, though youthful, yet inspired, will do what you, though old, have failed to do. The promise not to answer like the friends is not in reality fulfilled : in substance the speeches of Elihu supply nothing that the friends have not previously alleged.
15-22. The tone of soliloquy (see on xxxii.-xxxvii.) imparted to these vv. by ^^-^^ can be avoided by omissions (of i^-^^, Bu.) or transposition (see phil. n. on i^^^) ; but for such there is no sufficient independent reason.
15. Have failed] lit. have moved away from.
17. Cp. ^^. — Give my allotted aftswer] lit. answer my portion ; the meaning, in the context, is scarcely, I will give my portion of the reply needed to convict Job, but (since Elihu is convinced that he has himself a complete answer) I will off"er in reply the portion of knowledge which has fallen to me from God, and that portion will constitute a complete answer.
18-20. Elihu is painfully full of words and of the breath in which they should pour forth : he must therefore get his words out in speech, or else burst like tightly closed skins containing wine in fermentation. — My belly\ briefly for *'the words in my belly," the words strictly corresponding to the wine, the belly to the skins (^) ; similarly new wine-skins (|^) is briefly put for skins containing new wine ; new skins in themselves are least liable to break, and as such are the proper receptacles for nevi wine (Mt. g^^).
xxxn. 22-xxxin. 4.] elihu 283
'2 For I cannot give flattering titles ;
My Maker would soon take me away.
XXXIII. ^ Howbeit, hear now, O Job, my speech,
And listen to all my words. 2 Behold now, I have opened my mouth,
My tongue in my palate hath spoken. ® My heart ^overflows^ with sayings '^of ^ knowledge ;
My lips speak that which is pure. * The spirit of God hath made me.
And the breath of the Almighty giveth me life.
22. He will not give fair titles to men ^i, because he could not 22% if he wished, and would not, if he could, for fear of divine punishment, ^^^.
XXXIII. I-7. Elihu now turns to Job, with an invitation to listen (i'-) and if possible to answer (^), repeating to him (^'•), what he had already said to the friends (32^- 1^^-), that he is full of words, due to the action on him of the divine spirit, and assuring him that they meet on equal terms (^^') as follow human-beings.
1. O Joh\ Elihu, unlike the friends, addresses Job by name ^31 2714 ; cp. the references to Job by name in 34^- ^- 2^'- 35^^). The difference is not completely explained by the fact that, unlike the friends, he does not address himself exclusively to Job. The change from address to the friends to address to Job would have been sufficiently marked by the change from 2nd p. pi. to 2nd p. sing. (cp. 34^^ after 34^^). The difference is rather due to difference of writers.
2. The poverty of this v. seems to Bu. to be cured by making it hypothetical : If I have opened my mouth . . . ^ my heart, etc.
3. ?^ my words (utter) the uprightness (6^^) of my heart (Dt. 9^, Ps. 119^, I Ch. 29^^); and the knowledge of my lips they speak sincerely : see phil. n.
4. Cp. 32^ n. — ** Elihu appeals to the Divine spirit which both created him and maintains him in life : it is a spirit which is common to all men ; but ' in his animated zeal for God against the charges of Job he feels that it is within him in a powerful degree and gives him a higher wisdom than ordinary ' (Dav. :
284 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXXIII. 4-8.
^ If thou canst, answer me ;
Draw up before me, (and) stand forth. ^ Behold, I (stand) towards God even as thou (dost) ;
From the (same piece of) clay I also was snipped off. 7 Behold, my terror shall not affright thee,
And my urgency shall not be heavy upon thee. * Nevertheless thou said'st in my hearing.
And I heard the voice of (thy) words : —
similarly Del.). It thus both guarantees his sincerity ^, and gives him strength to confront Job confidently ^. Bu. Be. Du. omit the v. as in a sense a duplicate of ^, premature here, and superfluous after ^. But ^ speaks only of the material side of man's nature ; this v. emphasizes his being made and kept alive by God's spirit : so that the points of view of the two verses are different. Peake would transpose to follow ^ ; but the point in ^ is that Elihii is a man^ made from the dust like Job, and therefore ^ he will not browbeat him like God ; between ^ and '^ the thought of the Divine spirit as his maker and sustainer would be out of place " (Dr.).
5. Draw up\ sc. your case, or arguments : or, fig., your line of battle : see phil. n.
6b. Cp. lo^. — From the clay . . . snipped off\ cp, the phrase, used of Eabani's creation in the Gilgamesh Epic (Tab. I, col. 2, 1. 34), "snipped off clay" (ti-ta ik-ta-rt-is), and also that in the cosmological fragment cited in Rogers, CP p. 45, Ea ik-ru-sa ti-ta-[am] ib-ni it lihitii^ Ea broke off the clay, he created the god of bricks.
7. Elihu comes " not in terror as the King of kings " : cp.
8-33. This, . the first part of Elihu's refutation, begins (9-11. (13)^^ like the two subsequent parts (34^-^ 35^* ^)> with a summary of Job's position as Elihu understands it. Job has asserted ^ (i) that he is without sin,^; (2) that consequently God's hard treatment of him proceeds from mere enmity, and is without moral justification or purpose, ^^^' ; (3) that God refuses to answer him, ^^f. (corrected text). Elihu addresses himself primarily to (3), though his reply even to this is so far indirectly expressed that he answers Job's assertion about his
XXXm. 8-13.] ELIHU 285
own particular case by reference to God's general treatment of men ; still more indirectly — though clearly enoug-h, does he express his dissent from (i) and (2). Job's assertion that God does not answer /^^V;^, Elihu argues, arises from his not dis- cerning God's many modes of speaking to men, 1^, as for example (i) by vision, ^^-^^ ; (2) through suffering, i^^-. Suffer- ing rightly received (not wrongly, as by Job), through the activity of angels, leads (good) men to say, *' I have sinned," ^7 (not, like Job, ^, '* I am sinless ") : and, thereupon, God redeems the sufferer. In whatever way God speaks or answers, it is with the aim of rescuing men from sin, and so from the suffering which sin entails, i^^- 29'-. Let Job answer Elihu if he can, and if not, silently listen to him, ^^-^^.
8-13. Here as in 34^*- 352'- Elihu makes, as Sophar had done in 1 1*, his starting-point words used by Job, or thought by Elihu (for the quotations are not all exact) to have been used by him in the course of the debate with the friends. But Bu. exaggerates and misrepresents the significance of this when he says : '* the friends seek Job's sins in his conduct (Tun) before the time of his sufferings, Elihu only in his assertions, since these have befallen him. They embittered Job by false suspicions. Elihu confines himself only to the facts known to all con- cerned." For if the assertions attributed to Job in ^ are true, they are not sinful ; and if not true, their falsehood is due to Job's conduct before his sufferings befell him. As a matter of fact, ^ is not a true statement of Job's point of view : he had never claimed immunity from all sin ; on the contrary, had recognized that he, like all men, had not been free from sin j^2i 1^26^ (,p^ jq6j^ What he had maintained was his integrity (i^ n.), that he was not contumaciously vv^icked, that he was in the right (9^^^- lo^ 13IS ^^\i 237.10-12 274-6 ^jj -^^ ^j^g j^g^g which, on the current theory, was being decided against him by the very fact of his sufferings : in other words, that he belonged to the class of those whose whole soul was set against the sins to which human nature is prone and devoted to the ways of God, and to whom accordingly, on the current theory, prosperity was due. Why these unparalleled sufferings ? Not, Job had asserted, because I had so sinned as to deserve
286 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXXIII. 8-13.
® ** Pure am I, without transgression ;
Clean, and I have no iniquity (in me) : ^^ Behold, he findeth Tpretexts^ against me,
He holdeth me for his enemy. 1^ He putteth my feet in the stocks,
He marketh all my ways."
12 Behold, hefein thou art not in the right a ;
For God is greater than man.
13 Wherefore contendest thou with him (saying),
' * He answereth none of ^ my ^ words " ?
them ; yes, the friends had been driven to say, inventing sins in Job's past life to justify their answer because your sins had deserved them : yes, Elihu seems to say all irrelevantly, because no man is without sin : neither are you.
g. Not an exact quotation : see on ^. — Pt/re] in reference to Job (8^ Bildad; ii* Sophar) ; to Job's prayer i6i7 (Job); to the heavens (I5^^ Eliphaz) ; the stars (25^, Bildad). The parallel term clean is peculiar to Elihu.
lOa. Cp. iqI^-i^ ; ^ is, allowing for the necessary change of persons, an exact quotation of 13^*: cp. also 19I1 3021. — Pretexts\ for picking a quarrel with me : f^ frustrations : see phil. n.
11. = 13^^
12. In consequence, probably of corruption of the text, the exact point of the v. is uncertain. In * ffi reads, For how sayest thou, I am in the right, and (yet) he answereth me not. For this and some attempts to emend the text — none of them quite satisfactory, see phil. n. — Herein\ in the statements just cited in ^-11. — In the righi\ ft + / {will) answer thee, — For God is greater than man] **and consequently above all arbitrary, unreasoning hostility " (Du.) ; or the meaning may be : greater than and so unaccountable to men. fflr represents a very differ- ent text, which, though not so understood by fflr, might have meant: for God hideth Himself from men (cp. 9^^').
13. Why quarrel with God ? the reason you allege, that He does not answer you, is false ; He does answer, 1*. — Afy words] f^ his words: if this were right, the pronoun would refer directly to man (i^^), in general, and only implicitly to Job.
XXXIII. 14-16.] ELIHU 28/
1* For God speaketh in one way,
And in two, without (man's) perceiving it : — 1^ In dream, in vision of the night, When deep sleep falleth upon men,
During hours of slumber in (their) bed ; 1^ Then he uncovereth the ear of men.
And dismayeth them with admonishments (?) ;
14. God speaks in more ways than one, by dreams, suffer- ings, etc., and men fail to recognize the fact — not, of course, always (for see ^^'^•), but often ; Elihu is content to omit the qualification, because the general law is exemplified by Job, whom he has particularly in view. In view of the general terms of '^^^', it is doubtful whether we ought to make ^^ specific in form, as it is in implication, by reading '* without /ky perceiving it." — /?i one way . . , in two ways] i.e. in several ways (see phil. n.).
15-18. First illustration of the ways in which God speaks. He speaks to men, as He had spoken (cp. 7^^) to Job in particu- lar, by means of dreams with the immediate aim of deflecting them from their evil courses ^^, and the ultimate aim ^^ of saving them from the evil fate to which their courses would lead.
15. Dreamy vision of the night] cp., in parallelism, 20^; so in the pi. ** dreams" 1| "visions," 7I*. — b. =41^^: see nn there. — Hours of slumber] Hebr. slumherings\ the pi. as in Pr. 6'*' (a few moments, or snatches, of slumber ; ct. the sing, in*).
16. Uncovereth the ear of] i.e. imparts a communication to ; the phrase is used of a man revealing a purpose or secret to another (i S. 20^, Ru. 4*), especially one that closely concerns the person whose ear is ** uncovered " (i S. 20^^ 22^- 1^); and then of God's imparting to man a promise (2 S. 7^''), warning (here, 36^^- ^^) or direction (i S. 9^^). — b. A very ambiguous line (see phil. n.). Even fE seems to admit, and indeed to suggest, two different renderings : (i) And he sealeth their fetter, i.e. strengthens the bond that binds them to God — very improbable ; or, (2) he sealeth their instruction, which has been interpreted in several ways (see Di.) ; e.g. : [a) *'puts the seal to, or con-
288 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXXIII. 16-19.
1'' In order to turn mankind aside ^ from his "> (evil) work,
And to Tcut away"" pride from man ; 1* To keep back his soul from the pit,
And his life from passing away through (God's) missiles. 19 He is also disciplined with pain upon his bed,
While the strife of his bones is perennial ;
firms, their moral education" (Dr.); or (^) imparts instruction to them under seal, i.e. secretly (Ges. T/ies. SsSa): this would correspond admirably to the sense of the parallel, but it is doubtful whether the Hebrew naturally expresses it. With a change of punctuation, J^ may also be rendered as above, though Di. in criticism of it remarks, not altogether without force, that admonishments are not the means to create dis- may, nor is dismay the purpose of admonishment ; this criti- cism can be obviated by taking a suggestion from ^, and rendering : And dismayeth them with what they see (d^5<1^3) : by night God suggests to men words * of counsel, and brings before them ^ visions of their fate (cp. i^), if they persist in sin (cp. 1^). This reading would connect i^^« even more strikingly with 7^* : Job there refers to visions sent by God which scared him ; but they had not, in EHhu's view, turned Job from his sin.
17 f. Cp. 36^^-12, por the emendations adopted above, see phil. n. Pride, according to Bu., is specially mentioned (cp. 36^) as, in Elihu's view. Job's besetting sin, but see Introd. § 41. f^ can be rendered, but only in such ways as at once indicate the improbability of its correctness : e.g. that mankind may put away work, and hide pride from man (cp. RVm.); or, that mankind may put away work and pride from man, who hides (both : Hoffm.). Ehrlich, with no more extensive alterations than those adopted above, renders : Hiding from mankind his work, and concealing (his) majesty from man.
18. The pit] 17^^ n. — Passhig away through (God's) missiles] i.e. perishing owing to the divine retribution for persistent sin overtaking him; or y passing on into fnissiles, i.e. rushing un- consciously to their fate ; or, emending, passing on into Sheol: see phil. n.
19. Secondly, God speaks to men through the discipline
XXXIII. 19-22.] ELIHU 289
20 His appetite abhorreth food,
And his soul dainties.
21 His flesh wasteth away so that it cannot be seen,
And his bones . . .
22 And so his soul dravveth near to the pit,
And his life to the slayers.
of pain and sickness (cp. Ps. 38*) : all Job's pains, if Job but understood it, are words of God admonishing- him. Eliphaz had said the same (5^^'-); **Elihu's originality is confined to a long-winded description of suffering " (Du.). — The strife of his bones] fig. for racking pains. On the alternative reading, "the multitude of his bones," and emendations, see phil. n. — Perennial] see phil. n. on 12^^.
20. Sickness produces nausea, so that, though hungry, the sick man finds even favourite foods disgusting : see phil. n.
21. His flesh wasteth away] cp. Pr. 5^1 "at thy latter end, when thy flesh and thy body waste away " ; Ps. 73^^. The vb. is used with other subjects in 7^ (of a vanishing zXqsm^ compared with man's vanishing in death), 7^ (of the days of a man's life), I i^o (of the eyes), \(f^ (of the reins). — So that it cannot he seen] if legitimate, the rendering, so that it is not (any longer) sightly^ would be preferable; but see phil. n. — His hones . . .] the words left untranslated are very questionable. The line has commonly been rendered and interpreted, And his hones^ which were (formerly) not seen (because then covered with flesh) are (now that they are denuded of flesh % laid) hare ; improbable : see phil. n.
22. The slayers] the only allusion (for 2 S. 24^*^, Ps. 78*^ are not strict parallels), itself not absolutely certain (see phil. n.), in the OT., to the angels of death, who take the soul of the dying man to its place in Sheol. These play a considerable part in later Jewish literature ; so first in Test. Asher 6*, "For the latter ends of men do show their righteousness (or unrighteousness), when they meet (so read with Charles) the angels of the Lord and of Satan " ; and later the idea was elaborated, see, e.g., Kethiiboth, 104*: " When a wicked man is destroyed, three bands of destroying angels meet him ; one cries. No peace, saith God, for the wicked ; another, Ye shall
19
290 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXXIII. 22-23.
23 If (now) there be for him an angel, An interpreter, one of a thousand, To declare unto man what is right for him ;
lie down in pain; and a third, Go down and lie with the un- circumcized." See, further, Charles's n. on Test. Asher 6* : Bousset, Die Religion des Judenthunis^ 284 f.
23-28. But in the very article of death (^2), an angel may visit the sick man, and interpret to him what God had been saying to him through his sufferings (2^), viz. that he had sinned ; if the sick man acknowledges his sin and repents, then he is brought back from death's door to complete health P*'*). On his recovery the man publicly recites in song how he had sinned and been saved (26-28j^ T^g general sense, so far, of the vv. is clear ; owing probably to more or less mutilation of the text, several details are obscure.
23 f. The verses are irregular in form, probably as a result of the loss, and, perhaps, also of the addition of words : see phil. n.
23. If\ Du. reads TX, then (there is for him, etc.), on the ground that Elihu's theory is futile, if it is a mere accident whether God sends an angel, and so saves the sick man. — For him] working for the good of the sick man (see phil. n.) ; Hi. Wr. beside (cp. i K. 22^^) hiniy viz. God ; but this is equally improbable, whether we continue in ^ **to declare unto man (God's) uprightness" (Hi.), or **to proclaim on man's behalf his (man's) uprightness" (Wr.). — An interpreter] of angels intermediating between God and man 5^ appears to speak (see n. there) ; here, as the context indicates, the function of this special class of angels was to interpret to men, as it were, the foreign and unintelligible language (Gn. 42^^) of God's dealings with them. As. Du. well points out, the angel here performs the same function as, in earlier stories, was discharged by prophets (Is. 38) ; and it is to prophets or the like that the same term ** interpreters" is applied in Is. 43^7. — One of a thousand] No sick man need fear that there are not enough angels deputed for this service to serve all needs, for angels with this one duty of interpreting numbered thousand(s) : angels of all classes numbered myriads (Dn. 7^^). — What is
XXXIII. 23-26.] ELIHU 29 1
24 And (If) he be gracious and say,
" Release him from going- down to the pit ; I have found a ransom [for his life] " ;
25 His flesh becometh fresh with youth,
He returneth to the days of his lustihood ;
right for him] ^ his fault'. Du. his discipline^ i.e. the meaning of it. In (5r a line parallel to ^^^ follows: And to bring him to a knowledge of his sins ; this may have formed part of the original text ; see phil. n. on ^3-25^
24. And if he he gracious\ much less probably, then he is gracious (RV.), since ^^ by itself much less clearly even than ^3* indicates that the sick man has recognized his sin — the condition of favour being shown to him. The subj. is the interpreting angel, who now addresses a particular angel of death (-2) who was on the point of carrying off the sick man to Sheol, a situation which foreshadows the later highly developed doctrine of opposed types of angels interested in the death of men : cp. also Michael's contention with Satan over the body of Moses, Jude ^. Others take God as the subj., on the ground (Di.) that the right of showing favour and receiving ransom does not belong to the angel ; and certainly, if it is not to the " slayer," it must be to God that the ransom is ultimately paid (cp. the illuminating parallel in Ps. 498-10(7-9)). y^^ the angel may speak as God's agent. — Ransom\ kopher, the price paid in lieu of forfeiting life (Ex. 21^^). The whole sentence implies that the sick man has confessed and repented, even though we need not with Di. Dr. say that the ransom is the repentance.
25. If the angel succeeds in his purpose of bringing the sick man to repentance, ^sf.^ then he renews his youth. Du., who eliminates the hypothetical in 2^, takes this v. (rendering, let his flesh become . . . let him return) as continuing the words spoken by the interpreting angel to the angel of death. — With youth\ or, more than in youth : or (ffir), as that of a youth.
26. Being recovered from his sickness, the man (makes a solemn visit to the Temple, offers sacrifice and) prays to God acceptably ; such are probably the implications of the v. ; cp. the similar passage in Eliphaz's speech {22^'^)^ "Thou shalt entreat him (God), and he will hear thee, And thou shalt pay thy vows."
292 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXXIII. 26.
26 He entreateth God and he is favourable to him,
And he seeth his face with (the sound of Temple) music ; And he '"proclaimeth"' his righteousness unto man,
27 He singeth unto men, and saith,
He seeth his face] the alternative rendering of f^, He (God) lets
(him) see His face, would be against the analogy of 222^^. The meaning is rather: he (the man restored to health) sees His (God's) face, i.e. visits the temple (cp. 22^'*^), and makes an offering for his recovery: cp., Thou shalt not see my face empty handed (Ex. 231^ 3420) ; see also Is. 1^2 (with n. there). Other terms in the v. are also probably used with special reference to the cultus ; thus, the vb. to be favourable (to a person: n^"i) is predicated of God frequently, though not ex- clusively, in connection with sacrifices : cp. 2 S. 242^, Hos. 8^^, Jer. 14^^, Ezk. 20*^- *^ 43^^ ; cp. also the recurrent phrase jivifj in connection with sacrifices {e.g. Lv. i^, Is. 60"^). The last phrase of the v. might mean simply : with shouts of joy, the noun (nynn) being used as in 821 (|| pint^) ; but perhaps it refers to the joyous sounds or music that accompanied ritual acts ; cp. Ps. 33^ 47^ and especially Ps. 27^, (107^^), *' sacrifices of nvnn," i-e. accompanied by music. Others, however, interpret 26b of admission in a spiritual sense to God's presence (so Dr.); then cp. Ps. 11^.
26c, 27, 28. The man not only prays to God (26^) in the Temple, but there also he makes public (27a) confession of sin (27b) which caused his sickness, and of God's goodness in not dealing with him according to his deserts {f^% but, instead, bringing him back from death's door (28*), and allowing him once again to enjoy health (28^).
26c. He proclaims his righteousness] i.e. the sick man pro- claims God's *' righteousness," as shown, namely, in His faith- fulness in restoring the penitent to health ; cp. Ps. 40^0'-, and also Ps. 2223- 32 (22. 3i) 25I8. Thus emended the line becomes an admirable parallel to 27*. 5^ must be rendered: He (God) restoreth unto man his (man's) righteousness^ i.e. looks upon him again as righteous ; but, besides involving an awkward change of subject from 20^, this is really a hysteron proteron ; for the
XXXIII. 27-28.] ELIHU 293
** I sinned, and made crooked that which was straigfht, Yet he requited me not '^according" to my iniquity^ ; 2^ He redeemed my soul from passing on to the pit, And my life (now) seeth its fill of the light."
sick man is already again treated as righteous when his health returns to him (^^).
27. He singeth unto\ ^ probably intends he looketh upon (RVm.), which is quite inappropriate. It is difficult, as Du. remarks, to see how otherwise the convalescent could publicly sing such a psalm of confession and thanksgiving as follows in 2^^* ^' 28 than by means of the Temple services ; when a man presented a thank-offering (min) for recovery, the Temple singers may have sung on the man's behalf an appropriate psalm appointed for such purposes ; we may compare the title to Ps. 100 *'for (an offering of) thanksgiving" (mini'; cp. Lv. 7"'-), though this psalm is not suited for the thanksgiving in particular of a convalescent, and the custom attested in the Mishnah of appointing Psalms to be recited by the Levites in connection with the offerings made by groups of individuals, e.g. Ps. 30, when the inhabitants of a particular district pre- sented firstfruits at the temple (Ber. iii. : see Numbers^ p. 228). For the close association of fruah (2^^) and Temple-singing, cp. Ps. 27^, **I will sacrifice in his tent sacrifices oifriiah^ I will sing and make melody unto Yahweh." — Made crooked that 'which was straight] cp. Mic. 3^ (with a synonymous vb. EJ»py, here ^n^lVn), **who abhor right, and make crooked all that is straight, building up Jerusalem with blood," etc. ; cp, also (with mi; as here) *'he (God) hath made crooked my ways," Lam. 3^: *' they have made their way crooked," Jer. 3^1 ; and
with EJ'py) Is. 59^, ** the way of peace they know not, and right IS not in their paths, their tracks they have made crooked," Pr. 10^. — 27c. see phil. n.
28. From passing on] V. '^^^.— The pzty^^: see phil. n.—^'^t^^A its fill of] ox has pleasure in the sight of the expressive idiom used so often in the psalms and commonly rendered **tosee one's pleasure on." — The light] as in 3i'^- -^, the light of day, or, as ^^ calls it, ** of life," contrasted tacitly with Sheol, to which the sick man had drawn sufficiently near to be involved in its darkness.
294 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXXIII. 29-XXXIV. 4.
2^ Lo, all these things God doeth,
Twice, thrice with man, ^^ To bring back his soul from the pit,
That he might '^see his fill of^ the light of life.
31 Give heed. Job ; hearken to me ;
Keep silence, and /will speak.
32 If thou hast ought to say, answer me ;
Speak, for I desire to pronounce thee innocent,
33 If not, do thou listen to me.
Keep silence, and I will teach thee wisdom, XXXIV. 1 And Elihu answered and said,
29. God repeatedly applies the methods just described (^~^°), chastisements, dreams, angelic messengers. — TwicCy thrice] 5i»n.
30. See his ^11 of] cp.^^. f^ has been rather questionably taken to mean e^ilighten (him) withy or, still more questionably, be enlightened with : see phil. n. — Light of life] the parallel terms of 3^^ are here combined into a genitival phrase.
31-33. Elihu invites Job to listen to further wisdom from his lips (31- 33)j unless (32) he has any words ready with which to reply to what Elihu has just said. To reduce Elihu's wordiness, Bu. omits 33 J ^ improved Elihu even more thoroughly by omitting 31^-33. with 32, cp. 5.
XXXIV. I. cp. 35I, and see above, p. 277,
2-37. The second part of Elihu's refutation of Job. In the first part (33^'^^) Elihu, though he cited (33^) Job's assertion of innocence, actually confined himself to meeting Job's complaint that God does not speak to him : here, once again (cp. 33^"^^ 353) summarizing Job's assertions (^*-^), he takes up Job's claim to be righteous, with its corollary that God is the sub- verter of right, and, addressing himself at first (^~^^) to the wise (2- 1^), and then (16-37 . ^ote the 2nd p. sing, i^*- 33) to Job, replies that Job is wicked (^^•), that God is not a subverter of right (^^"^2)^ nor can be, for He is beyond question (^3. 29-32) ^^^ supreme, unerring in the observation and unfailing in the punishment of wickedness (1^-28) : he concludes with the opinion of the wise, that Job speaks foolishly in multiplying his wicked words against God (3^-37).
2-4. Let the wise, exercising their power of intellectual and
XXXIV. 2-8.] ELIHU 295
2 Hear, ye wise, my words.
And ye that have knowledge, give ear to me ;
3 For the ear testeth words.
As the palate tasteth ^ food ^. * What is right, let us choose for ourselves ;
Let us know among ourselves what is good. ^ For Job hath said, ** I am righteous,
And it is God who hath taken away my right ; ^ Notwithstanding my right, I am ^ in pain ^ !
My arrow(-wound) is incurable, though I am without
transgression." '^ Who is a man like Job,
Who drinketh up scorning like water, ^ And taketh his path to associate with workers of naughti- ness,
And to go with men of wickedness ?
moral taste or discrimination (^ = 12^^ Job) choose (cp. Is. 7^^) or discriminate what is right and ^ood (Is. 7^^) over against Job's blasphemous assertions.
2. Ve wise] not the three friends (Bu.), for the tone of reproof used in addressing the latter (32'^^-) is no longer present, but a wider circle of wise men whom the author either pictures as gathered together to consider Job's case, or addresses by a literary convention (cp. *'my son" in Proverbs).
5 f. Elihu in part cites (^^ = 27^), in part summarizes Job's
position; cp. gl^. 20 jQ7a^
6. / am in pain] J^ / am to lie^ which is supposed to mean I am to be accounted a liar when I maintain that right is on my side ; see phil. w.—My arrows-wound)] the wound inflicted by God's arrows (6*).
7. Cp. 15^^ (Eliphaz) ''a man that drinketh \x^ iniquity \\V^& water " ; Elihu specifies derisive speech about God as one of Job's sins, and gives (as Eliphaz, 221^*-, before him) a specimen in ^ ; but Elihu does not limit his charges against Job to sins of speech (Bu.); the terms in ^ (y^n |1«) are as wide as that in 15^^^ (nhv)' — Scorning] jy^, like the synonymous term (d^^'^) in Ps. i^, of scornful speech about God.
8. Cp. 22^^ (Eliphaz). Elihu depicts Job as a man rnaking a practice of selecting a path in which he could be sure of companions in wickedness.
296 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXXIV. 9-ia
' For he hath said, " A man profiteth not By being well pleased with God." ^® Therefore, [ye wise, give heed] ;
Ye men of understanding", hearken to me. Far be it from God to do wickedness,
And from the Almighty to do unrighteously. ^^ For the work of. man he repayeth unto him,
And as (is) the path of each (such is what) he causes
to befall him. ^2 Yea, surely, God doth not do wickedly.
And the Almighty doth not pervert right. 12 Who entrusted to him the earth?
And who hath laid ^ upon him^ the whole world?
9. The citation again is not exact (cp. on •^^•) ; but cp. (f^- ^^'' jq3 2i7ff-. An exacter parallel outside Job is Mai. 3^^- ^*. In 35'^ Elihu substantially repeats his present charge, and then (not in this c.) proceeds to refute it; on this ground and because it comes in lamely here, Bu. rejects the present v. ; note also the occurrence oi^lohim (see p. 232 n.).
10. Ye wise^ give heed] see phil. n. For wise and men of understanding (Heb. heart'. 7^'^ n.), see ^* ; cp. 2-. Bi. Bu. Nichols om. lo''-^-. — c. d. Cp. 83(Bildad). — To do unrighteously] ffi to pervert justice^ as in 8^: see phil. n.
11. So far from perverting justice (^*^- ^2) by granting to the wicked prosperity and to the righteous adversity, God scrupu- lously and exactly makes a man's lot in life correspond to his deeds*, and path of life, i.e. his conduct ^ — Elihu here contra- dicts in general terms, as Bildad (8*) had contradicted in particular terms by reference to Job's children, the assertion (1^ 8^) that God makes men suffer beyond their deserts. — a. The same principle Is frequently stated in similar terms : see Is. 3I1, Pr. 12^^^ iq^^, Ps. 28*.— b. Lit., And the likeness of the path of a man ({^''N) he causeth to find him : on the idiom, see phil. n. Job's sufferings correspond to the wicked path (^) he had habitually followed.
12. Cp. 10 and 8^.
13. God does not do wickedly (^2) j for (i3) He rules the earth, not as the deputy of someone else (cp. 36^^^), but as supreme and answerable to none : consequently no one can call Him to account, and say to Him (36^3^), Thou hast done wickedly :
XXXIV. 13-16.] ELIHU 297
^* If he were ^to cause his spirit to return"' to himself, And were to gather unto himself his breath ;
^^ All flesh would expire together,
And man would return unto the dust.
^^ And if r thou hast^ understanding, hear this ;
Give ear to the voice of my words. ^^ Can one that hateth right govern ?
And wilt thou pronounce wicked the mighty just one ?
consequently again He cannot do wickedly. Such seems to be the line of argument underlying the v., the idea of God's supremacy being further enforced in ^*^- God may call the '* sons of the gods " to account for unjust administration (Ps. 82), but the "sons of the gods," and still less men, have neither right nor power to call God to account : He can do no wrong. — Hath laid upon hini\ though uncertain, this rendering is preferable to the alternatives disposed (RV.), founded {i.e. at creation), observedy attended to (see phil. n.); for all these are open to the objections (i) that, whereas the first line expects the answer : No one, the second would require the answer : No one but He ; and (2) so interpreted, would obscure the line of thought suggested by *.
14 f. All human life is absolutely dependent on God, who creates human life by imparting spirit and breath (Gn. 2'^, Is. 42^, Ps. 104^^), and ends it by withdrawing (Ps. 104^^, Eccl. 12^) these. God could, if He wished, demonstrate His supremacy by depriving every living thing of life in a single moment. Whether the further thought is present, that man's still living on proves God's benevolent care (Peake), or freedom from unrighteousness (cp. Bu. Di.), is doubtful. With the phraseology here cp. particularly Ps. 104^^: "He gathereth their breath, they expire, and return unto their dust": Eccl. 12^, " the spirit returneth unto God." The spirit of life in man may be described either as man's spirit from its residing in man during life (so Ps. 104^^), or as God's spirit from its originating with Him (here, Ps. 104^^). On the text translated above, and on J[^ (quite illegitimately translated in RV. ^^*), see phil. n.
16. Elihu turns from the wider audience (^"^^) to address Job in particular.
298 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXXIV. 17-20
18 Him who saith to a king, ** Thou scoundrel " !
And to nobles, ** Ye wicked " ; ^^ Who showeth not partiality to princes,
Nor regardeth the opulent above the poor ?
17. The point of the question appears to be : God actually governs, and is ipso facto a lover and securer of right within His dominion ; for, * hatred and rejection of right brings govern- ment to naught : injustice and government are incompatible ; similarly, ^ God is the mighty just one : therefore He is not unjust, and you must not say that He is. Since whether the government of God and perversion of right, God and injustice are incompatibles, is the question that Job has raised, Elihu's questions imply assertions which, as Du. (cp. Peake) well points out, are really a petitio prhicipii.
18. Develops and expands the idea of "the mighty just one " in ^^ : God is not deflected from the path of equity by the fear or favour of the great ones of the earth ; as their maker (1^) He is immeasurably mightier than they ; kings and princes no less than the poorest of mankind, if they are wicked. He calls and treats as such ; men may, and too often do (Is. 32^), call wicked men in high places good : not so God. On the indefensible interpretation of ilH followed by EVV. see phil. n. — Scoundrel] Heb. Jfliyycial^ belial^ the term used of various forms of contemptible or outrageous conduct, such as con- temptible niggardliness (Dt. 15®, i S. 25^^ 30^^), outrageous sexual offence (Jg. 19^^), professional perjury (i K. 21^^; cp. Pr. 19^^) ; here it is best taken widely as implying any form of peculiarly heinous wickedness.
19c, 20a. The reason why God does not excuse wickedness in the rich and powerful is {^^^) that they are His creatures with whom He has no cause to curry favour, and the proof (2^*) that they are wicked is the fact that such persons die suddenly. But this is awkwardly expressed, and the form of the distich is suspicious : see phil. n. — At midnight] death steals upon them when they are not expecting it : cp. 27^^^-, Jer. 49^, i Thess. 5^, Lk. 1220.
20b. C. ?^ is corrupt, and the emended text not certain ; see phil. n. — The opulent] v.^^^ ; J^ (the) people, — Smitten] of
XXXIV. 20-23.] ELIHU 299
For the work of his hands are they all ;
20 In a moment they die and at midnight : The '"opulent^ are "^ smitten "•, and pass away,
And the mighty are removed without hand.
21 For his eyes are on the ways of a man,
And all his steps he seeth.
22 There is no darkness, and there is no thick gloom.
For the workers of iniquity therein to hide themselves.
23 For not for a man doth he appoint a ^ stated time \
That he should go before God in judgment.
24 He breaketh in pieces mighty men without investigation,
And setteth others in their place.
25 Therefore he knoweth their works,
And overturneth (them) in the night so that they are
crushed.
God II to "without (human) hand'* in °, the vb. being the pass. (Ps. 73^) of that used in i^^ (n.) ig^i : f^ shaken violently, — Without hand] mysteriously, not by the hand of men, but by God : see phil. n.
21 f. As God allows no sinner, however powerful, to escape through fear of Him i^^-, so He never, through limitation of knowledge, fails to observe and punish sin : He is omniscient. Cp. 22^^^-, where Eliphaz misrepresents Job, who, no less than the friends, admits (31*) the omniscience of God, but draws the different conclusion that He must therefore be aware of his innocence (10^).
22. Ps. 1391"-; Jer. 23^*.
23 f. The punishment of God descends on man in a moment {^^) ; for, being omniscient (^^'•), He has no need to be hindered by 'Maw's delays"; unlike a human judge, He appoints no future day for the hearing of the case, nor has any need to carry on a lengthy and laborious investigation of it. The words seem to be directed against the wish which Job has expressed that the case between God and himself might be heard, and that the reason of God's treatment should thus be revealed (23^^-), though he has anticipated Elihu in pointing out that as a matter of fact God and man do not meet at a tribunal (<f^-). — For . . . a stated time\ J^ is most simply rendered : for of a man he takes no further notice ; against this and other renderings of fl^, see phil. n.
;00 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXXIV. 25-33,
26 [His wrath] shattereth the wicked,
He slappeth them in the place of (all) beholders.
27 Forasmuch as they turned aside from following him,
And heeded none of his ways, 2® That they might cause the cry of the poor to come unto
him,
And that he tnight hear the cry of the needy. 2^ And if he giveth quiet, who then can condemn ?
And if he hide the face, who then can behold him ?
30 , . . .*.'.!.
^^ For unto God hath one (ever) said, ** . . .
• •••••••
^2 . . . do thou teach me :
If I have done iniquity, I will do it no more."
^3 According to ^'/zj' judgment, . . . ? For thou must choose, and not I ; And what thou knowest, speak.
25. If the V. is in place (Du. om. ^^y Bu. 25-28 . ggg ^^Jsq pjjjj^ n. on 26)^ and rightly read, therefore^ as in Is. 26^'*, does not denote consequence, but develops what is implicit in what pre- cedes, here in 23f- {^Lex. 487^).
26a. 5^, unsuitably : instead of the wicked he slappeth them, etc. See, further, phil. n.
28. That they might\ the consequence being represented as the intention : cp. e.g. Am. 2^, Jer. 7^^ (Lex. s.v. ly^i' ; cp. 775^).
29-33. These verses are as a whole unintelligible, the details being, if not unintelligible, then (as in -^) very ambigu- ous, and the ambiguities, in face of the extreme uncertainty of the remainder, insoluble. In addition to its unintelligibility, the formlessness of much (29^- ^^- ^i- ^) of the passage points to considerable corruption of the text. By the help of emenda- tions, necessarily conjectural, for C& omits the vv. and the other VV. give no help, or by forced and utterly improbable interpretations of the existing text, translations have been attempted, but none, at least of 29c-32a jg sufficiently probable to be reproduced above. One or two alternatives may be given here ; discussion of further details may be found in the phil. nn. Without emendation, and without attempting to make indi- vidual clauses more intelligible in English than they are in
XXXIV. 33.] ELIHU 3OI
J^, the vv. may be rendered : ^9 And (if) he Is (or, giveth) quiet, who, then, can condemn? And (if) he hide the face, who, then, can behold him ? Both upon (or, toward, or agfainst) a nation, and upon (or against) man together ; ^^ That the godless men reign not. That (there be) no snares of the people. ^^ For unto God hath one said, I have borne, I will not offend (or, without offending) ; ^^ Beyond (that which) I see, do thou teach me : if I have done iniquity, I will do it no more. ^^ According to //zy judgment, will he repay it? that (or because) thou hast refused it. For (or, that) thou shouldest choose, and not I : and what thou knowest, speak. If this strangely expressed passage was really written originally as it now stands, it might, perhaps, with least improbability be explained (cp. Dr. in the Book of Job) as follows : — ^9 When God gives respite from tyrannical rule, who can condemn Him for indifference or injustice ? and when He hides His face from the deposed tyrants, which of them can recover His favour ? In acting as these questions suggest, God keeps in view alike the interests of the individual and of the nation, ^^ preventing godless men from continuing to reign and from alluring the people to ruin. This point of view must be put, ^^ for Job has spoken as no one ever had done before him, asserting that he had suffered, though he had committed no offence, ^^ insisting that God should show him the sins he knows not of, and saying that if he has sinned (but not admitting that he has done so), he will do so no more. 3^ Elihu is satisfied with God's system of recompence : Job is not, but insists on one according to his judgment of what is fitting : it is for Job then, and not for Elihu, to choose what this alternative system of recompence shall be : let Job say what it is. Apart from minuter details, the chief difference among those who attempt to interpret the text as it stands, or as it has been variously emended, turns on the ambiguity of 29, and on the nature of the speech in ^^^- ^2. According to an alternative interpretation, ^9 refers to the (seeming) inactivity of God ; even when God, in spite of cries for help (^s) directed to him, keeps quiet and hides his face so as not to give the help asked for, as many psalms show that he frequently seemed to do, man must not criticize, as Job has done (Du.). The
302 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXXIV. 33-86.
34 Men of understanding will say to me,
And (every) wise man that heareth me, 85 *<Job doth not speak with knowledge,
Nor are his words (uttered) with discretion. 36 Would that Job were tried unto the end.
Because of (his) answers like those of wicked men."
speech in 3ib. 32 j^^s not only been understood as above, but (i) as containing a genuine and penitent confession of sin which certainly seems to be the most natural way to take ^2^^ the least suspicious and ambiguous line in the whole passage (Bu.) ; then, if 31* be left unemended, Elihu implies that Job has never made such a confession ( ' ' for unto God hath he ever said ? no, never ") ; or, if 31* be emended, it is (reading "^^g for nDsn) an exhortation to Job to make such a confession, or (reading "ip^^n?) a state- ment of what is the fitting course to take when God seems inactive in the face of appeals for help ; or, (2) 3i. 32 ^as been taken hypothetically, the virtual protasis beginning with 33 (Du.). 31 If unto God one hath said ... 33 on thy account must he repay it ? In c. 21, Job had demanded the punishment of the godless as the price of his believing that the government of the world is moral, but if, says Elihu on this interpretation, the godless makes a penitent confession, must God still punish him in order that you may believe? This, too, involves emendation, and even the emended text states the hypothesis in an extraordinary manner (see phil. n.).
34. All wise (cp. 2*) and intelligent (cp. ^^*) men must agree with Elihu, that Job's wicked words against God display ignor- ance and lack of insight.
35 f. The text is again uncertain ; but as Job is clearly referred to in the third person (ct. ^^' 32), it is better to take the vv. as continuing the citation of the opinion of the wise men begun in 35 : the opinion cited is that which Elihu assumes must be that of those (^) for whom he had summarized in ^'• Job's words. If the opening word of 36 (^35^) really meant J would that, and retained its force, the words of the wise would be confined to 3^, and with 36 Elihu would resume.
36. Tried] cp. 7^^. — Un^o the end] i.e. till he ceases from his wicked answers. But the sense of 36 may have been rather
XXXIV. 86-37.J ELIHU 303
37 ** For he addeth unto his sin rebellion, Among- us he slappeth (his hands),
And multipiieth his words against God."
different; an emended text (see phil. n.) would read, But would that Job would let himself be warned for ever, And let him not class himself among wicked men.
37. Jle addeth unto his sin rebellion^ i.e. he persists in sinning, becoming even more contumacious as fresh opportunities arise. With the idiom cp. Is. 30^, ** to add sin unto sin*' ; i S. 12^^, ** We have added unto all our sins what is bad in asking for ourselves a king," and the different though similarly constructed phrase in Jer. 45^. — Rebellion\ the term (ytJ'S) often occurs as a mere synonym of other words for sin or iniquity; so || to iniquity (py), 7^1 1417 3183 3^9 . ^q sJ,^ (nt<Dn) 13^3 and (ndh, vb.) 8* 35^; if so used here, the entire phrase *'add to sin rebellion" is merely a variant on ** add sin to sin." But the use of two different terms rather suggests that the second in contrast to the first is stronger ; so in 8* 35^ it stands, climac- tically perhaps, in the second line of the distich : yet in Ps. 32^ it stands first. Such a climactic use of ytJ'D as contrasted with nXDn would be in accordance with certain usages of the nouns or vbs. ; the vb. j;5J>D is used at times of political revolt or rebellion {e.g, 2 K. i^, i K. 12^^), whereas nSDH starts from the less positive meaning of missing the mark (see phil. n. on 5^*). Yet even if a difference is intended here, it is a difference in the intensity rather than in the character of the sin ; it is very doubtful, therefore, whether *' sin " refers in particular to Job's earlier conduct, assumed by Elihu as by Eliphaz in c. 22, to have been evil, and rebellion to his speeches against God (Di. : cp. Dr.). Even more probably if ^sf. belong to the speech of the wise men of 3*, if << answers " in ^^b is the correct text, and if ^^b should be omitted, ^7* would refer rather (like its parallel 37c) to Job's persistent and increasingly violent blasphemous speeches.
37b. The line is short and elliptical, and separates the two far more closely parallel lines * and °. It may be out of place. — He slappeth his hands] makes mocking gestures at God (cp. rather differently 2723).
304 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXXV. 1-a
XXXV. ^ And EHhu answered and said, 2 This thinkest thou to be right,
(And) sayest (of it), ** My righteousness before
God," 8 That thou sayest. What advantage hast thou,
** Wherein am I better off than if I had sinned ? "
XXXV. In this third part (cp. 33^ 34^) of Elihu's refutation much is awkwardly expressed ; and the argument is none too clearly articulated. Elihu starts afresh (cp. 34^) with a sum- mary of what he supposes Job to have maintained, viz. that righteousness does not pay (^^•), and argues {^~'^) that God is too exalted to derive any benefit from Job's (or, implicitly, from any man's) righteousness, even if this were a reality. It is perhaps implied, though certainly not explicitly stated or even clearly indicated, that God accordingly is not, like human judges, deflected from the even course of j'ustice by the receipt of bribes : consequently He does reward the righteous : and therefore righteousness pays. It is, then, only men who benefit by or suffer from the righteousness or wickedness of their fellow- men (^) ; but men do so benefit or suffer, and so there are both wicked oppressors and victims of oppression (^) ; these victims often cry to God for redress, and often, it is true, they are not heard {^^). This, however, is not because God is unjust, but because these very victims are not really religious Q^^- ^^) ; and Job (though not the victim of oppression) is pre-eminently one of those who have not appealed to God in a truly religious spirit (1^-16).
2f. Do you really think that you are placed in the right before God by your repeated (-IDNH, freq.) assertions that man gets no advantage from being righteous? — This] viz. ''that thou sayest," etc. (^). On different views of the construction and translation of ^^, see phil. n.
3. Cp. 34^ with n. In ^ (hast) ^/loti (=Job) is indirect narration ; in ^ / ( = Job) is direct ; see phil. n. Richter takes the whole to be direct narration, so that thou in * = God, and Job's saying consists of two questions : What advantage does God get? (cp. 22^). What advantage do I get? But this would probably have required more emphatic expression of the
XXXV. 3-9.] ELIHU 305
* /will answer thee,
And thy friends with thee. ^ Look to the heavens, and see ;
And behold the skies — they are higher than thou. 6 If thou hast sinned, what achievest thou against him?
And if thy transgressions be many, what doest thou unto
him? 7^ If thou be righteous, what givest thou to him?
Or what from thy hand doth he receive ? s A man like thyself thy wickedness (affects),
And a son of man thy wickedness ! ^ By reason of the multitude of oppressions men cry out ;
They call for help by reason of the arm of the '^mighty'' ;
pronouns than is found in ^. Richter's view of the chapter is that Elihu is refuting the doctrine that religion is to be judged from the standpoint of utility; but though it is true that ^-^ deny that man's religion is useful to God^ on the other hand ^"^^ are anything but a denial of the utility of religion to man : the argument there is not that man gets no advantage from being religious, but that victims of oppression fail to get the help they cry for because they are not really religious ; in other words, Elihu is attempting to harmonize certain obstinate facts with the eudaemonistic view of religion which he shares with the friends (cp. especially Eliphaz in c. 22), and with the Satan of the prologue ; but which the author of the prologue repudi- ates, and from which in the dialogue he depicts Job emancipa- ting himself.
4. Thy friends] the three friends (ffi Bu. Di. Du.) must be intended, not the wicked men of 348-86 (Del. Da.) who would scarcely have been referred to by the term elsewhere used for the three friends (2^^ 19^1 and ? 32^).
5-7. Elihu proceeds to "answer" Job and his friends by an appeal to the transcendence of God which places Him beyond receiving either hurt or help from man — a point already urged by Eliphaz (222^-) and admitted by Job [f^) !
5. God in heaven is beyond the reach of man : cp. 1 1^~^ (Sophar) 22^2 (Eliphaz).
6f. In substance a repetition of 222'- (Eliphaz) : cp. 7^0 (Job)* 8, 9. See the introductory n. to this chapter. 20
3o6 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXXV. 9-12.
I*' And none had said, '* Where is God my Maker,
Who giveth songs in the night : 1^ Who teacheth us more than the beasts of the earth,
And maketh us wiser than the birds of the heaven." 12 There they cry out — but he answereth not —
Because of the pride of the wicked.
9. Oppressions] or, oppressors', see phil. n. — Call for help] cp. 24^'-. — Ar?7i\ fig. for might: cp. 22^-^ n.
10. II. The kind of confession which truly religious men, whether actually under oppression or not, ought to make, but which none of these victims (^) of the violence of their fellow- men actually had made. Du. places ^^ before 1^, rendering ^^*, And he (i.e. Job) said not. Possibly Elihu is actually citing some psalm; with ^^^ cp. Ps. 42^ ^^\ — And none had said, Where is\ all these victims had neglected to seek God : cp. in Jer. 2^ ; the parallel clauses '' said not. Where is Yah weh . . . knew me not . . . rebelled against me." — My Maker] cp. Ps. 95^. As addressed to Job, the terms of the question are ill chosen ; Job was not unmindful that God was his Maker ; but the fact that He was such, so far from easing rather complicated the riddle of his sufferings (lo^^-). — So7igs in the night] the night is fig. for times of suffering and sorrow (cp. Is. 21^^, Ps. 30^) ; in the very midst of distress, before the morning comes when His help would be more expected (cp. Ps. 46^ 90^* i43^)) God suddenly intervenes and by His deliverances gives occasion for songs
(Ps. 777 (6), Is. 24l«, Ps. 952).
11. More than] he teaches the beasts: not from, by means of, for the requirements of the present context are quite different from 12^.
12. The V. is now most commonly (Ew. Di. Da. Del. Dr. Bu. Peake) taken as in the main resumptive of ^ — the oppressed cry out because of their treatment by those who are here called the wicked ; the fresh point, viz. that God does not answer these oppressed persons, is, on this view, introduced paren- thetically, the reason for their receiving no answer being suggested, though not formally expressed, in ^^- 1^- ^^ ; they do not seek God or pray sincerely. This is certainly very awkward ; and it is with a true instinct for what would be
XXXV. 12-14.] ELIHU 307
^3 Surely God doth not hear unreality,
Nor doth the Almighty behold it ; 1* How much less when thou sayest (that) thou beholdest him
not,
(That) the cause is before him, and thou waitest for him.
more natural that some {e.g. Hi.) have sought in ^'^ the reason not for the cry, but for the cry remaining unheard : they are not answered because they are proud ; on the other hand, to refer to the oppressed allusively as the wicked, when the oppressors have at least a better title to the term, is unnatural. For the pride of the wicked as the source of suffering to their fellow-men, cp. Ps. 10^, Zeph. 2^^.
13. Unreality] ** mere empty complaining (^), not the voice of true religious trust (^^'•)," Dr. — Behold] favourably ; cp. Hab. i^^.
14- 16. The connection is very obscure and uncertain; and the transition from the address to Job in ^^ to the reference to him in the 3rd pers. in ^^ is strange. This may be due to the loss or misplacement of entire lines or distichs. Taken by itself ^^ is easy and straightforward, and the lines of ^* taken separately would present no great difficulty, but within ^^ some mutilation of the text has occurred. Di. suspects the loss of two lines between ^^^ and ^ : Du. places ^^ between ^ and ^^, and takes ^^ with 36^. Nichols places ^^'- immediately after 34^'^ and im- mediately before 34^'^. V.^^ (in f^ or as emended above) is neither satisfactorily taken as complete in itself, nor as com- pleted by 1^. But the attempts to surmount these difficulties by further conjectural emendation or rearrangement are them- selves too uncertain to be embodied in the above translation.
14. If God does not listen to those who call to Him without true religious feeling and resignation (i^), much less will He listen to Job who assumes a positively irreligious and complain- ing attitude. — Thou beholdest him not] summarizing such sayings of Job as 132* 23^'- 24^^ 30^^ — That the causey etc.] ^ unless emended, is most naturally taken (Di. RV.) as continuing, and parallel to, Job's words at the end of *: in this case the meaning is : Job's cause (cp. 13^^ 23*, but there tOBC'C, here pn) lies unheeded before God, and Job waits in vain for God to give it attention. Less naturally the line has been taken as Elihu's
i.o8 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXXV. 14-16.
\j
15 And now, because '" his anger visiteth not 1,
And he careth not greatly about •" transgression "• —
16 And Job openeth his mouth (to utter) emptiness ;
Without knowledge he multiplieth words.
reply to Job's objection in *: Nay, if thou sayest that thou beholdest Him not, (I say in reply) the cause is before Him, i.e. is receiving His attention, and thou shouldst wait patiently for His decision; so RVm. Del. Bu. Emending Perl. Du. (cp. Peake) render. Be still before Him, and wait for Him, where the sense would indicate that the words are Elihu's reply.
15. In this V. too, taken by itself, and as it stands in f^ or is emended above, it is most natural to take ^ as parallel to *. But there are two serious objections to so interpretinglhe v., if it states the cause of which ^^ gives the effect : for (i) this would naturally imply that Eliku thought God inactive in the face of transgression, which he did not ; and (2) it would give too secondary a reason for Job's speeches ; he had, it is true, referred to the failure of God to punish the wicked (cc. 21, 24I2), but it is the sufferings of the righteous that are the primary cause of debate. These objections are only partly met by the less natural interpretation of the v., which has been adopted in order to avoid connecting ^^ and ^^ as cause and effect : accord- ino- to this, ^^ means : And now because (hitherto) his anger has not visited (the evil-doers in circumstances such as those described in ^'^•), (You say) he careth not much about transgression : and so righteousness profits a man no more than sin (2- 3) ; 16 jg then an independent statement closing the speech. Both these methods of interpretation are so unsatisfactory, that the prob- ability of textual disorder is great. Du. (who places ^^ before 1^ and omits 36^), treating ^^ as exclamatory, and as the starting- point of a new division of Elihu's speech in which he does actually reply to the position assigned (implicitly) to Job in ^^ (see 36^- ^' 12-14)^ interprets 35^^ 36^ thus : And now (as for your further assertion) that His anger punishes nothing, and that He troubleth Himself not much about iniquity, wait for me a little, and I will show thee. For another attempt to surmount the difficulties of the connection by conjecture, see phil. n. 16. Cp. 34''.
XXXVI. 1-4.] ELIHU 309
XXXVI. 1 And Elihu said further,
2 Wait for me a little, and I will declare to thee ; For •" P have yet words (to say) on behalf of
God. 8 I will fetch my knowledge from afar,
And I will ascribe righteousness to my Maker. * For of a truth my words are not false ;
He that is perfect in knowledge is with thee.
XXXVI. XXXVII. In this final section of his speech, Elihu, after briefly justifying his continuing to speak ^-'^, main- tains that God treats men severely or with favour according as they are righteous or unrighteous, •^■'^, and more especially according to the temper in which they receive disciplinary suffering, ^-^^ ; and Job, he points out, is viewing the fate of those who receive such suffering in the wrong temper, ^^-^i : he should rather (36^* 37^*) magnify God whose works are great, past finding out, or (37^^^*) participating in ; who is therefore teacher, not taught, nor open to condemnation (37^-^-), but humbly to be marvelled at and praised by men
2. Waz^ a little] while Elihu sets forth his further defence of God. — / have] J^ (there are)^ or, the entire line in J^ might (Fried. Del.), but should not, be rendered, God has yet words [to say). — On behalf 0/ God] cp. I3''' ^ 42^ 2122.
3. In justifying God ^, Job will speak comprehen- sively *.
4. Elihu's words for God {^) are not, as Job had pronounced (13^*"-) those of the friends to have been, false. — He that is perfect in knowledge] here Elihu : in 37^^, God. — Is with thee] is con- versing with thee.
5-7. Without actually citing Job as in 33^-^^ 34^'- 35^**, Elihu briefly states as the theme of what follows (down to 2^) that God is not, as Job had alleged, indiscriminate in His treatment of men ; this theme is then developed in ^-^i. In J^ (see on ^) two themes seem to be indicated : i. God's might and wisdom ; 2. His discriminating treatment of men : both these themes are treated subsequently, but in the reverse order (God's might, etc., from 36^2 onwards).
3IO THE BOOK OF JOB [XXXVI. 5-7.
^ Behold, God rejecteth not '^the perfect 1,
^* '"And "• keepeth not the ungodly alive.
7* He withdraweth not his eyes from the righteous,
^^ And he granteth the right of the wronged ;
7^ And with kings upon the throne,
He caused them to dwell for ever, and they are exalted.
5. 1^, awkwardly and with questionable rhythm, Behold God is mighty (34^^) and rejecteth (8^^) not {i.e. regards nothing and no one as too small to receive attention — Di.), Mighty in strength of heart, i.e. of intelligence (9^ 34^* 7^^ ("•))• ^^^^ translation above follows (& (cp. 8^^). — Rejecteth not the perfect] so ^; Du., conjecturally, rejecteth the hardened in hearty i.e. the obstinately wicked who persistently refuses to obey God : cp. Ex. 7^^ 9^. Between ^ and Du. (see phil. n.) the choice is difficult ; it is in favour of Du.'s conjecture that it gives an entire distich to God's treatment of the wicked followed by a distich on His treatment of the righteous.
6a. Job had asked, ''wherefore do the wicked live" (21^): the answer is that Job is wrong as to the fact : the wicked do not live : God does not suffer it. — Keepeth not ative] cuts short life judicially, as Ex. 22^^; ct. Ps. 30* 33^^ 41^. As God keeps the righteous in life, not, of course, for ever, but to the full normal period of human life, so He cuts off the wicked long before that period is reached (^*).
7 (with ^^). While God rejects the wicked, bringing them to an untimely end ^- % he never fails to look after the righteous : even though they may be wronged and for a time brought low, He rights them and greatly exalts them. — The wronged] Heb. *dnt, which '* means properly one humbled or bowed down, especially by oppression, deprivation of rights, etc., but also, more generally, by misfortune . . . the d?iiy while often, no doubt, a person in need, was primarily a person suffering some kind of social disability or distress " — Dr. in DB iv. 19.— 7 b. C. Cp. 5I1 n.
8-I4. The right and the wrong way of accepting discipli« nary suffering.
8-1 1. The right way : men who are afflicted are to recognize that they have transgressed, to give up their sin and to serve
XXXVI. 8-15.] ELIHU 3 1 1
^ And if ^ he have"' bound them In fetters.
(And) they be caught in the cords of affliction, * Then he declareth to them their work,
And their transgressions, that they behave themselves
proudly. 1^ And he uncovereth their ear to instruction.
And commandeth that they return from naughtiness.
11 If they hearken '^to his voice ^, and serve.
They complete their days in prosperity and their years in
pleasure.
12 But if they hearken not, a they pass away,
And they expire without knowledge. 1^ And they that are godless in heart cherish (?) anger ;
They cry not for help when he hath bound them. 1* Their soul dieth in youth.
And their life among the temple-prostitutes. 1* He rescueth the wronged by the wrong which he suffers,
And uncovereth their ear by means of distress.
God : their reward is release from affliction, length of days and prosperity : cp. 33!*"^^.
8. If he have hound them] cp. ^^^ : f^ zf {they are) bound. — Fetters . . . cords] fig. (cp. Is. 28^^) of calamities and afflictions rather than literally, so that there would be an allusion to captives (i2^'^~^^) loaded with fetters (Ps. 149^ Nah. 31^: Is. 45^*) and bound with cords.
9. Declareth] 33^^. — Their work] i.e. their evil work : cp. 33*^. — Behave proudly] or mightily: iS^^n. ; Introd. § 41.
10. Cp. 33!^ II f. Cp. Is. ii^'- On the text see phil. n. 12-14. The wrong way of accepting suffering — angrily 1^*
and sullenly 1^^.
13. Godless] 8^^ n. ; the godless in heart occurs here only. — Anger] against God : on the strangeness of the Hebrew ex- pression, see phil. n. — They cry not] to God ; cp. 30^^ 38" where, however, the object is expressed.
14 b. They die the premature death (see phil. n.) of a temple-prostitute. If the text may be trusted, these male devotees to unchastity [k'dSshim'. Dt. 23^^; see Dr.'s n. there) must, worn out by their excesses, have died, as a rule, at an early age, so that they became proverbial as victims of an untimely death. — Life] parallel to soul: see 33^^ phil. n.
15. God uses the suffering inflicted on men by their fellow
3 1 2 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXXVI. 15-17.
^® But thou wast enticed away from (?) the mouth of confine- ment, By amplitude without straitness,
And by what was set on thy table which was full of
fatness. ^'^ And of judgment on the wicked thou art full ; Judgment and justice take hold (on thee).
men as a means of delivering and instructing sufferers who receive suffering in the right temper (cp. c. 35 with introductory n.). Possibly the v. consists of doublets of, or glosses on, 6b. loa^ j)j^ places it between ^^ and ^^. — The wronged] "^ n.
16-21. In ^-^^ Elihu has spoken in general terms of the righteous, the wicked, the wronged ; he now deals specifically with Job. The text is scarcely intelligible ; and details in the above translation are uncertain. Alternative translations of ^^"^^ by Di. and Du. will be found in the phil. nn. (p. 279 f.).
16. Job has not learned by what he suffered ; on the other hand his ample and rich life had been his undoing : and (^'^) he now suffers the lot of the wicked. Others have understood the V. quite differently, viz. as applying the comfort of ^^ to Job's case: then render: Moreover he [i.e. God) hath enticed thee . . . unto amplitude . . . and what is set on thy table is full, etc. ; or with Bu. making one or two slight emendations : Thee, too, he (i.e. God) entices out of the jaws of adversity; Amplitude, not straitness, is under thee; And what is set on thy table is full of fatness. — Confinement] ■^^^ (narrowness, fig. for distress, as 7^^ 38^^; cp. the vb. in 18^ 20^2) is exactly anti- thetical (cp. Ps. 4^) to width, amplitude (3m) in ^. But the entire phrase /ww the mouth of narrowness (or, of the adversary — "IV as 19^^ and often) is extraordinary and perhaps corrupt. It is highly artificial to interpret, as some have done, month of confinement as meaning the words or prayer addressed to God by a humble and patient sufferer. — A7nplitude'\ lit. width; see last n., and cp. Ps. 18^^ 31^ ('*a wide place," as fig. of prosperity). — Full of fatness] loaded with rich fare ; cp. Is. 25«.
17. fudgment on the wicked] is punishment : cp. the use of the vb. pn, to judge y in Gn. 15^*: the v., then, if it has any
XXXVI. 17-21.] ELIHU 313
*^ For (beware) lest wrath entice thee into mockery ;
And let not the greatness of the ransom turn thee aside. 1^ Will thy riches be equal (to it) without affliction,
Or all the exertions of strength ?
20 Long not after the night,
That peoples may go up •" from "^ their place.
21 Take heed, turn not to Iniquity ;
For thou hast chosen r unrighteousness ^ rather than
affliction.
meaning, should mean Job is now suffering to the full the penalty assigned by God to wickedness. Others give the phrase the unparalleled meaning, the judgment passed by the wicked on God, and take the v. to be hypothetical : if you wickedly criticize God, God's justice will seize you.
18. Extremely uncertain ; but apparently the meaning Is : let not your anger at God's dealing with you lead you into irreverence ; nor the severity of your sufferings, which form the ransom, or price {ss""^), which God will accept in lieu of your life, deflect you, from the resignation with which suffering should be received, into rebellion against God. Unsatisfactory are such alternatives as : Because (there Is such a thing as the) wrath (of God, beware) lest thou be enticed by (thy) suffici- ency (cp. RV.); or, If (thou hast) wrath, let it not entice thee (Hi.). — Mocker)'] lit. smiting (of the hands in mockery) : cp. 27^3 ; for the renderings chastisement, sufficiency , see phll. n.
19. Also very uncertain : see phil. n. — Affliction] "iv, as ^^,
20. Perhaps the most unintelligible of all these verses. Dr. explains : *' challenge not the divine judgement (* night ' being named as a time of disaster, 34-^- ^6), which may prove to be of a kind in which whole peoples perish. Job has often desired to meet God in judgement {e.g. 13^^ 23^-'^)."
2lb. Or, For on this account hast thou been tried through affliction: see phil. n. — Unrighteousness]'^ upon this, which, referring to iniquity in *, would express practically the same sense.
22-25. Let Job (2^) join in the praise, which as human experience has shown, is called forth from men i^^^) by their sight, distant and incomplete ("^^^), yet admiring i^^^), of the
3 1 4 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXXVI. 22-27.
22 Behold, God doeth loftily in his strength ;
Who is a teacher like unto him ?
23 Who (ever) assigned to him his way?
And who (ever) said, *'Thou hast wrought unrighteous- ness " ?
24 Remember that thou extol his work,
Whereof men sing.
25 All mankind look on it,
Man seeth it from afar.
26 Behold, God is great, and we know not (how great) ;
The number of his years is unsearchable.
mighty (22*) work of God, who takes His orders from (23a), and gives account to (2^^), none.
22. Doeth loftily] (a^rkJ^n) far beyond (cp. 25b) man's compre- hension; cp. Ps. 139^ **the knowledge (of God's ways) is too wonderful for me: it is lofty (najt^j)." — A teacher] the term of God, as (probably) Is. 3020 : the idea is common in the speeches of Elihu (9^- 35I1 33i^ff- 34^2). But the idea that God teaches '' through the operations of His providence" (Dr.) is not quite naturally introduced into the present passage ; and ^ hvvd<TT7]<;y lord^ rulery gives a far better parallel to * and transition to 23.
23. Who ever, as His superior, laid down for God His line of action beforehand, or subsequently charged Him (as God was thought to charge the **gods" (Pss. 58. 82)) with having done His work badly? In view of 34^3^ the alternative rendering of * (who ever visited upon Him, i.e. punished Him for. His way) is less probable. With *, cp. 2i3i ; with ^, 9^2^ — jj{^ way] 2i^^»
24. Si7tg] cp. Ps. 10433 in reference, as here (cp. 27ff.)^ to the works of God in nature : of God's forgivenness, c. 332^.
25. Look on it] with delight : cp. 332^ n. — b. Men catch only a far-off and therefore incomplete view of God's work (cp. 26I*).
26b. Cp. Ps I0228 : the line is not related to what follows here, and is awkwardly followed hy for in 27. Du. om. 26, Bu. 25f. j but possibly 26b ^t most is out of place, or corrupt.
27 ff. The illustrations of God's greatness and might (22-25 (26*)) are drawn from atmospheric phenomena: rain, 3627^- 37^*^ ; snow, 37^ ; ice, 37^^ ; thunder and lightning, 362^- 33 372-4. 11'. ; light, 3630^372". ; winds, 37»- 21b; clouds, 37I6 (see also
XXXVI. 27.] ELIHU 3 1 5
2'^ For he withdraweth ■" drops from the sea"" ;
'' He ^ filtereth ^ them ^ through as rain ^ from ^ his mist ;
under thunder) ; the sky, 37^^. With these illustrations are mingled a reiteration of the general theme, 37^ ; reflections on the beneficent purpose of these works of God, 36^^ (cp. ^^^) ; or their effect on the activities of men and beasts, 37'^'- ^^, or of Job in particular, 37^'^ ; an exhortation to Job, 37^* ; and a statement of the effect of the thunderstorm in particular on the emo- tions of Elihu, 37^. The illustrations in this last part of Elihu's speech largely anticipate the first part of the immedi- ately following speech of Yahweh, and some of them in a manner very unfavourable to unity of authorship. On the other hand, Bu. finds a strong argument for such unity by assuming that the thunderstorm described by Elihu is drama- tically conceived as approaching as he concludes his speech (cp. 37^), and as raging when Yahweh speaks, 38^. The point would have more force if the description of the thunderstorm formed the climax to Elihu's speech ; as it is, it is mingled with the description of other phenomena, such as ice, which were presumably not to be observed at the moment of speaking. The passing backwards and forwards from one phenomenon to another, and the interspersion of reflections, etc., are only partly removed by omitting 3629*- 3713. i5f. (Bu.), or 37^^ 12b
(Sgf.), or 3626. 27b. 28a 29-32 3^2.4. 6b. 11. 12a. b. 13 (Nichols, who
regards the vv. as " a psalm of the Rainstorm," and (& which, however, also omits much more). Honth. rearranges as
follows : 3627f. 31. 26 3y5b.i0. l-5a ^gogf. 32f. 37II-24.
27 f. The production of rain. — **The author knows that clouds are formed by evaporation from the sea ; the author of the divine speeches (38 ff.) is still ignorant of this, and assumes that God has somewhere store-houses for the atmospheric elements. . . . The author of the Elihu speeches must have lived a few centuries later than the poet, and had, probably through some Greek influence, acquired some new knowledge of physics " (Du.).
27a. S^ /or he withdraweth the drops of rain', this is obscurely expressed ; it may have meant the same as the
3 1 6 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXXVI. 27-32
28 Wherewith the skies pour down,
(And) drop upon many men.
29 ^And who^ understands the outspreadings of the clouds,
The crashings of his pavihon? ^^ Behold, he spreadeth his ^ mist ^ about him,
And he covereth (with it) the '"tops"' of the ''mountains''. 3^ For by means of these he ^ nourisheth "^ peoples ;
He giveth food in abundance. 32 He covereth both hands with the light,
And commandeth it against the ■" mark \
emended text translated above ; others render J^ he draweth dowHy viz. from the ** waters above the firmament" (Del. Du.); or questionably, he gathers^ collects, viz. from the atmosphere (Bu.). — b. See phil. n. — Mist] or cloud, seems to be the mean- ing of the obscure word ^ed here and in ^^ ; in any C2ise flood (so Assyr. 'edu), preferred by many in Gn. 2^^- (see Skinner, ad lac), is unsuitable here.
28. Many men] or perhaps, in showers on men : see phil. n.
29. The v., if the text may be trusted, refers to the clouds of (^) the thunderstorm. — And who understands] J^ Yea, can one understand. — His pavilion] i.e. the thunder-cloud: see phil. n.
30. The clouds, and in particular, perhaps, as most take it, the thunder-clouds (though for these "mist" (cp. ^7) is not perhaps the most suitable term), screen God, and also, settling on the mountain tops, blot them out from sight ; cp. Ex. 19^^. — Mist] 5^ light : see phil. n. — ( With it) the tops of the mountains] f^ the roots of the sea : see phil. n.
31. The beneficent effect of God's activity in producing rain (cp. Is. 55^^) would be more naturally described immedi- ately after 28 (Bu. Honth. Feake).— Nourisheth] ^judgeth, * in this case referring to the destructive thunderstorm of ^^'.^ ^ to the fertilizing rain of 27*.. But the structure of the verse does not suggest an antithesis. — Bjy mea?ts of these] if ^^ immedi- ately followed 28 the streaming skies of that v. are referred to : if not, these must be explained more generally of (Dr.) ** the agencies of rain and storm alluded to in 27-3o "
32. The v., strangely expressed, appears to mean that God fills His hands from the volume of light that encompasses Him (see phil. n. on ^^), and despatches the light so seized earth-
XXXVI. 32-XXXVII. 4.] ELIHU 3 1 7
33 ffhe thunder'' declareth ""his indignation'', r And"! the storm "^ proclaimeth his"" anger.
XXXVII. ^ Yea, at this my heart trembleth,
And leapeth out of its place. ' Hearken unto the rumbling of his voice,
And to the muttering that goeth out of his
mouth. 8 He letteth it go under the whole heaven.
And his light(ning) to the ends of the earth. * After it a voice roareth ;
He thundereth with his majestic voice ; And he delayeth not •" his lightnings "•,
r From his mouth ^ his voice is heard.
wards in the form of lightning. ** But as though the poet had shrunk from carrying this half-mythical conception of God as the lightning-slinger further, he does not say "in order to sling it," but more in the spirit of his religion and com?nandeth it against'' (Di.) : on the other hand, Du. by emendation makes the figure still clearer: On the sling he balanceth the light, And slingeth it against the mark.
33. The above translation is very conjectural, but at least more probable than J^, his shouting (or, more questionably rendered, his war-cry ^ or, as taken by ^A'X S^TU, his friend) declareth concerning hiniy the cattle also concerning him whoy or that which ^ cometh up : see phil. n.
XXXVII. I, 2. An expression of Elihu's emotion at the thunderstorm (^), and (2) an appeal to Job (and the friends — 2^ J^, not ffi (0)) to listen to it. Originally (cp. (&), perhaps both vv. were addressed to Job alone, and read : At this do not thy inward parts (ffi 36^^ = 5^ 37^) tremble. And doth not thy (S) heart leap out of its place ? Hearken thou unto, etc.
2. His voice] the thunder; see Ps. 18^* ^i^) <<uttereth his voice" II "thundereth," 2g^-^, i S. 7^^ Ex. 928 "voices of God."
3. The roll of the thunder fills, and the blaze of the lightning lights up, the whole expanse of sky and earth — poetical hyper- bole, which scarcely proves that the writer shared the popular (ct. perhaps 362^^) conception of the smallness of the earth (Du.). — The ends] lit. wings or skirts: cp. 38^^, Is. 11^2 2^16,
4. His lightnings^ from his mouth] ^ them (i.e. the lightnings)
3 1 8 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXXVII. 4-7.
5 A He doeth wondrous things [past finding- out],
Great things which we cannot comprehend ; ^ For he commandeth the snow, *' '' Saturate '' the earth " ;
The downpour '^and^ the rain, "^Drop down\ "^ He sealeth up the hand of every man.
That all ^ men ^ may know his work, •Then the beasts go into lairs,
And rest in their dens.
when ; an alternative emendation giving a better parallel is : He restraineth not his throat {c^g. Is. 58^), From his mouth, etc. : see phil. n.
5. At the beginning of the v. In f^ stands, increasing the tautology of *, the line, God thunders with his voicCy a virtual repetition of *^. The remainder of the v. (cp. 5^), translated as above, resumes (after the completion for the present of the description of the thunder in *) the general statement of God's marvellous action (cp. 36^^), in order to illustrate this afresh from the phenomena of snow (^ introduced hyfory as in 36^^ after 3626).
6-8. The snow and heavy rains of winter, which do their work at God's bidding, fertilizing the earth, and (^) stopping for the time man's labour in the fields, and (^) driving the beasts to shelter, are illustrations andproof of (^) God's marvellous activity.
6. Saturate] cp. Ps. 65^^ and (with snow) Is. 55^^ J^ means, if anything, Fall (to the earth). — The downpour] not "shower" (RV.): for DE'J is the heavy continuous rain of winter (Ca. 2^^, Am. 4^, Ezr. 10^) ; in virtue of its fertilizing function (Lv. 26^ i K. 17^*, Is. 44^* 55^^) it was primarily regarded as a blessing (cp. Hos. 6^), though it might also be an agent of destruction (Gn. 7^2^ gzk. 13^^). — ^ is overloaded in J^ : see phil. n. ; as otherwise emended the line would read. And the downpour of His mighty rains, which gives a poorer parallelism, or. And the downpour and the rain, " Be strong."
7. In winter man's hand must cease from (outdoor) work ; or (emending. He sealeth up every man) men must stop at home. Hrz. Di. cite Homer's (//. xvii. 549 f.) description of Zeus : 09 pci re epycDv avOpaairovi aveTravaev iirl '^Oovl. J^ in ^ may be rendered either, that he may know all the men whom he
XXXVII. 7-11.] ELIHU 319
^ Out of the chamber cometh the whirlwind, And out of the •" store-houses "> (?) the cold.
1^ By the breath of God ice is given,
And the breadth of the waters is narrowed.
11 Yea, heladeth the thick cloud with ''lightning'',
(And) the cloud scattereth its light ;
12 And it [goeth hither and thither] round about,
Turning itself by his guidance. To do whatsoever he commandeth them, Upon the face of his habitable world,
hath made, or, that all the men whom he hath made may know (it) ; neither is satisfactory ; see phil. n.
9-IO. The cold of winter and its freezing of water : cp. 382^'-. It is more probable that ^ refers to the store-houses where wind, cold, etc., were thought to be kept in readiness for God's use (cp. 3822, Ps. 135^ Ecclus. 43^4) than to the regions from which, or the seasons, defined by the rising of stars and constellations, at which storm and cold come ; but there are peculiarities and uncertainties in the text ; see phil. n. — Cha7nber\ synonymous with <* treasury" (38^^) rather than (RV.) an abbreviation for ''chamber of the south" (9^ n.), or (Hoffm.) the name of a constellation. — Whirlwind] cp. 21^^, Is. 21^.— -Store-houses] f^ scatterersy winnowerSy which has been taken as an epithet for (north) winds, or for a constellation (F Arcturus).
10. The cold wind freezes the streams and pools (Ecclus. 4320), which, shrinking, as they freeze, from the edges, become narrower. But, the contraction of water through frost is a much less conspicuous phenomenon than its solidifying (cp. 38^^ and Ecclus. 43^^): and so, some (Bu.) take ^ to mean: the whole broad expanse of waters is constrained, i.e. congealed, frozen. Ehrlich emending in * (melts for is given) ^ and render- ing hecomes fluid (instead of is narrowed) in ^^ refers the v. to the melting of the ice by the warm breath of God : cp. Ps. 147^^. — The breath of God] the wind : so Is, 40^^.
11. Description of the thunder-cloud and lightning resumed (cp. 1,6^^ -i,f).— Lightning] or, by an equally slight emendation, hail (cp. hail and thunder and lightning in Egypt, Ex. 92^- ^^) ; 5^ saturation^ i.e. moisture; but see phil. n. — b. On the in- correct translation of RVm. see phil. n.
220 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXXVII. 12-15.
13 Whether it be for a rod T and T for •" a curse "i,
Or for mercy, that he causeth it to find (its mark). 1* Hear this, O Job, (and) stand still ;
And consider the wonderful works of God. 15 Knowest thou about God's ordaining ■" his works \
And causing the light of his cloud to shine?
12. The lightning, which flashes in jagged lines, does not, as it might seem, move first this way, then that, at random, but always under the guidance of God (cp. 38'^^), to fulfil His purposes of (i^) punishing or blessing men. — //] The Hght(ning) (Bu. Dr. Peake), not the cloud (Di. Del. Da.) of ^^,—Goeth hither and thither] see phil. n. : cp. the same vb. of God's <* arrows" [i.e. lightnings) in Ps. 77^^ — Turning itself] the vb. used in Gn. 3^*. — The7?i] i.e. the flashes of lightning; or, emending, it, i.e. the lightning.
13. Rod] 21^. — And for a curse] ^ has been rendered (i) or for his earthy which between **for a rod" and <'for mercy"
(clauses of identical form) is altogether heterogeneous and im- possible ; or (2) if (that be) for (the good of) his earthy which is scarcely more probable. Emendation is necessary : with the translation above (Du.), cp. En. 59I : They lighten for a blessing and for a curse as the Lord of Spirits willeth. An alternative emendation (Dr. al.) is to omit or, leaving a rod for his earth. — Or for mercy] ** viz. for the deliverance of His people from their foes (Ps. 18I*, Is. 30^^- 31)" — Dr. ; but a national allusion is not altogether probable. Certainly thunder and lightning are not generally mentioned as agents of mercy (yet cp. En. 59I) ; Bu. therefore (since it would be awkward to refer back to the cloud of 11) omits the v. Since with 1* Elihu takes a fresh start, this V. might perhaps be regarded as a conclusion, not merely to n'-, but to the whole section beginning with ^ : God does wonderful things ^, as illustrated in ^^^y whether i^ to punish or to bless.
15-18. Questions after the manner of, and in some degree anticipating, the speech of Yahweh (c. 38 f.), and intended to imply that Job has not knowledge of, and cannot (i^) perform, the works of God.
15. Knowest thou] cp. 38^2 39"-. — Ordaining his works] ^ laying (his charge) upon thenty i.e. the natural agencies just
XXXVII. 15-20.] ELIHU 32 1
1^ Knowest thou the balancings of the clouds,
The wonders of him that is perfect in knowledge?
^7 Thou whose garments are warm,
When the earth is still by reason of the south wind,
^8 Wilt thou with him beat out the skies (into a firmament), (Which are) strong as a molten mirror?
19 Make ^ me ^ to know what we (men) shall say to him ;
We cannot state our case by reason of darkness.
20 Should it be told him that I would speak?
Or did ever man say that he would be swallowed up?
described. Parallel to the general reference to God's works in * is the special reference to the marvel of the lightning in ^ ; in ^^ the special marvel of the (rain-laden) clouds poised in the air in * is fol- lowed by the general reference in ^ So at least in the present text ; but ^^^ is clumsy, and ^^^ rather uncertain : see phil. n.
17. Every time a sirocco is coming, in the stillness that precedes it, Job suffers from the suffocating heat ; if he is thus a helpless victim of forces that God controls, can he really (^^) perform mighty works like God? — South wind] elsewhere in the OT. the sirocco, which blows up from the deserts E. and S.E. of Palestine, is termed the east wind; but cp. Lk. 12^^.
18. €r omits this v.: Bi. Du. place it before 21 ; Ehrlich, before 38*. — Can Job, like (40^^ n.) God (Gn. i^), create the firmament ? Can he beat out that vast solid metal-like (^ ; cp. Dt. 28^^) fixed expanse of sky ? The firmament was a solid sur- face supporting above it waters, which could only come through when the ''windows" of this firmament, generally closed, were opened (Gn. i^ y^^).—Skies] cp. (|| to ''heavens") 35^, Pr. 8^^ Ps. 36^ 57I1. But the word may also refer more particularly to the clouds (cp. 38^^ (|| "water-skins of heaven"), Ps. 77^^ (II "clouds")) in which sense Bu. understands the term here. But ^ (of which Bu. takes no account) is very unfavourable to this. — Molten mirror] the ordinary mirror was a polished metal (Ex. 38^) surface.
19. Me] most MSS of J^, us\ i.e. Elihu and those like- minded with him (cp. 34^). — Darkness] ignorance : cp. Eccl. 2^^^-.
20. For ignorant {^^^) man to utter to God a case against Him would be equivalent to seeking his own destruction — an unheard of thing ('^^^), which Elihu has no desire to attempt (-^^),
21
32 2 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXX VII. 20-21.
21 And now men saw not the light, It was obscure (?) in the skies ; But a wind passed and cleansed them.
unless, indeed, Job, who has often expressed a wish to speak to God, could, in reply to Elihu's ironical request (^^*), tell him what words he might safely plead. Such, if 5^ is correct, appears to be the meaning and connection. Du. cleverly emends : Hath He (God) a reprover when He speaks, or doth a man say that He (God) is perplexed? But see phil. n. — Swallowed vp\ destroyed, by God ; cp. 2^ n.
21-24. The conclusion of Elihu's speech is exceedingly obscure and ambiguous, in spite of the fact that, with the exception of one word ("l\n3, meaning perhaps ^^^^^c^^r^, perhaps bright (see phil. n.), in 2^^), the vocabulary is unusually familiar. The tristich in ^i, and the rhythm in ^3^ suggest that the obscurity may be partly due to the loss or misplacement of lines or clauses. The point of the whole is expressed in ^4, which probably means : men in general fear God % let Job do the same (implied) ^ In what precedes 2*, it is possible to suspect, though not to discern with any certainty, allusions to certain remarkable observations or theories of natural phenomena.
21. The opening phrase And now is ambiguous, and has been understood temporally of the present in contrast whether to the past or the future, or (as in 35^'^) consequentially, as drawing a conclusion from what has been just said. Among the translations and interpretations which have been proposed, there may be noticed: **(i) * And now men cannot look upon (ni<"i in this sense without 2 as Pr. 23^^) the light ( = the sun, as 31^^), ^ (When) it is bright in the skies, ^ And the wind hath passed and cleansed them " : so Ros. Ew. Da. RVm. and (at least in preference to RV.) Dr. Peake ; but on this view of % ^ is obviously otiose ; the sun shining brightly in a clear sky is always too dazzling to look at, and not only just after a wind has cleared clouds away; moreover, in * ''cannot" would be more naturally expressed by the impf. ; it must here, if correct, be explained as a paraphrase of: *'men, as we know from experience, do not ** ; and, further, " When it is " in ^ would be
XXXVII. 21-22.] ELIHU 323
22 Out of the north cometh '"splendour"', Upon God is terrible majesty.
more naturally expressed by a different order of words (N^ni Tnn). The connection with 22 on this view is: If men cannot look on the sun, how much less on the majesty of God. (2) '* And now men see not the light, (Though) it is bright in (i.e. behind) the clouds (on the alternative renderings '^ clouds" and "skies " see ^^ n.). But a wind passeth over and cleanseth them " (and then men do see the sun) : so F (in * and ^) Hi. Del. RV. (virtually). This is taken to be a figurative way of saying that God now hidden may at any moment reveal Himself. But the use of pf. tenses or the impf. with waw consec. throughout renders any translation involving such a sharp contrast between present and future most improbable. (3) Bu. emends and renders, And now we see not the light. While it is obscure owing to the clouds. But the wind passeth over, etc., and interprets the v. of the weather actually prevailing at the moment when Elihu is speaking ; the sun is for the moment obscured by the thunder-cloud, but the cloud will pass, and (22*) the sky clear up from the northwards. The use of the tenses in ^ is as unfavourable to this view as to the last. (4) Du. places 21b (It is bright in the sky) after 22*^ with which it forms a quite possible distich ; and 21*- c ^fter 1^, taking 21a- ^ precariously as conditional : And if (at any time) men see not the light (owing to clouds obscuring it), A wind passes over and cleanses it (?).
22. The north] is not here introduced as the quarter from which the ancients obtained their gold (for see phil. n.), or as the quarter in which the sky cleared up (2^^) after rain, for according to Pr. 252^ the N. was the proverbially rainy quarter; but more probably (Dr.) "the allusion maybe to the Aurora Borealis, the streaming rays of which, mysteriously blazing forth in the northern heavens, may well have been supposed to be an effulgence from the presence of God Himself" (cp. ^) ; from the N. came the chariot of Ezekiel's vision (Ezk. i*): in the N. was the seat of the Most High (Is. 14^^). — Splendour] 3^ gold) see phil. n.
324 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXX VII. 23-24.
23 The Almighty — we have not found him out :
Great in strength and judgment,
And abounding in righteousness, he doth not '"pervert"'. 2* Therefore men fear him ;
He seeth not any that are wise of heart.
23. God is incomprehensible, yet we know enough to assert that He is righteous : this seems to be the meaning, though it is loosely expressed. — We have not found him ont\ discovered Him, fathomed the wisdom that rules His action ; cp. 1 1^, where, however, as also in Eccl. 3^^, the obj. is not personal ; and in 233 (Job's wish that he might find God) where the obj. is personal as here, but the sense rather different. — b. C. ?^ may be rendered as above ; f$l, much less probable, means He is great in strength, and He doeth no violence to (lit. afflicteth not) judgement and abundance of righteousness ; see phil. n. — Pervert\ sc. justice (cp. 8^ 34^"^)> or subvert^ so. a man in his cause (cp. 19®). f^ may mean either afflict (so jjH), or a?is7verf viz. man's questions (but see 38^ and even 33^^^).
24. This V. also is awkwardly expressed : but * is clear, and the meaning and implication of the whole apparently is : ordinary men fear God ; so should you ; for to the wise in their own conceit (qui sibi videntur esse sapientes : U), God pays no regard (cp. 5^^). — Seeth] regards, pays heed to: cp. Ps. 138^ and (with a different vb.) 35^^
XXXVIII.-XL. 2. Yahweh's speech in reply to Job, now separated from Job's appeal at the end of c. 31 by the interpolated cc. 32-37 : see Introd. Yahweh now responds to Job's frequently expressed and (31^^) just reiterated wish that He would answer him; but not, as he had asked {^i^^-^"^ and previously 13'^^), by formulating charges which were, as soon as formulated, to be shown to be baseless, but, as he had feared ^g3. i4ff. 5^20-25^^ overwhelming him with questions which he cannot answer ; and yet, if not altogether as he had hoped, by no means altogether as he had feared ; for Yahweh's questions are not directed, as Job had feared (9I6-20. 28-35j^ towards impugn- ing Job's integrity, or fastening on him the guilt of sins punish- able Dy such sufferings as his had been ; but towards showing Job that in maintaining his own he had in his ignorance im-
XXXVIII. I.] YAHVVEH 325
pugned God's integfrity. The current theory of sin and suffering" had led the friends through ignorance to condemn Job, and Job through ignorance to obscure the wider purposes of God and to misrepresent Him. Job had been right in maintaining his integrity and that his sufferings were not due to his sins, as Yahweh subsequently (42'') makes clear : he had been wrong in passing beyond this matter of personal knowledge, and in reproving God whose range of purpose and action lay so far beyond his knowledge. The main point of the speech that Job in his ignorance had misrepresented God is briefly put in the challenging questions with which the speech opens (38^) and closes (40^). The main body of the speech (38'^-3g^^), also consisting for the most part of questions, is designed to bring out the immensity of Job's ignorance and the greatness of God's knowledge and His beneficent use of it. These questions fall into two main groups, referring (i) to the inanimate world, its creation and maintenance, 38*"^^; and (2) to animals, and in particular wild animals, their maintenance and habits, 38^^-39^^. The first group of questions refers in detail to the creation of earth (*-^), and sea (S-") ; the succession of night and day (i2-i5j . the extent of the sea (^^), of the realm of death {^'^), and of the earth {^^) ; the home of light and darkness (^^^ ), snow and hail (-2), wind p**) ; the descent of rain and lightning to the earth (25-27) J the origin of rain, dew and ice (28-3oj . ^he stars (3i-33) . clouds and lightning p*^-), clouds and rain {^'^^'). The animals which form the subjects of questions are lions ^^^•, (ravens ^^ n.), wild goats 39^'"*, wild asses ^'^, wild oxen ^-^^, ostriches ^2-18^ horses ^^■-^, hawks and vultures '-'5-30 — Qj^g domesticated (the horse), the rest wild. Some of these passages (39^^'^^- ^^"-^) have been suspected of being interpolations, but for reasons that are inconclusive : see on 39^^-^*.
I. Va/iwek] as 40^- ^' ^ 42^ and throughout the Prologue and Epilogue ; (see Introd. § ig).—/ob] is mentioned by name, although he was the last speaker (cc. 32-37 being an interpola- tion) and had but just finished speaking, in accordance with the writer's manner ; cp. i^^-. And the Satan answered Yahweh . . . and Yahweh answered the Satan: and so i^- ^2 2^-^. — T/ie tefiipest] (myo) which was considered to be the normal
326 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXXVIII. 1-3.
XXXVIII. ^ And Yahweh answered Job out of the tempest, and said,
2 Who is this that darkeneth the purpose (of God),
With words (spoken) without knowledge? ^ Gird up thy loins now like a mighty man ;
And I will ask thee, and declare thou unto me.
accompaniment of a theophany : cp. Ps. i8, Hab. 3, Ps. 50^, And fire goeth before Him, and round about it is very tem- pestuous (r[T/^:)y Nah. i^ Ezk. i^ Zee. g^* (all myo), Ps. 8^^^ (iVD). Out of this tempest there now comes the voice of God (cp. Ezk. I*- 2^, ct. I K. 19^1^-) challenging and questioning, but not, as Job had feared, crushing him (9^^). On Bu.'s view that the tempest is that described in ^7^^' see on 36^^^- 37^^.
2. The question implies a double rebuke : (i) Job has spoken ignorantly, ^ ; and (2) he has thereby obscured what should be plain, viz., that a divine purpose underlies the constitution and maintenance of the world, *, The questions that follow have a corresponding double aim : they suggest the repeated answer that God knows and Job does not, and that God achieves, as Job cannot, the end to which His knowledge is applied (cp. 42^). — DarkenetK\ i.e. hides or conceals (cp. 42^) ; cp. Ps. 139^^. The darkness darkens not from Thee. — The purpose^ in Hebrew unde- fined (purpose y or a purpose) and used with the widest reference to God's purpose or purposes in the world-order ; for the meaning of the word (nvy), though in several of the following passages it is cited of more special plans or purposes of God, cp. Ps. 33^, For He spake and it came to pass ; He commanded, and it held good (lit. stood) : Yahweh frustrateth the purpose of the nations, An- nulleth what the peoples devise : The purpose of Yahweh holdeth good for ever, What His heart deviseth to all generations ; Pr. 19^^, Many devices are in a man's heart. But Yahweh's pur- pose is realized (Dipn) ; Is. 19^^, The purpose of Yahweh which He purposeth against it; 46^^, What I purpose is realized (Dipn ^n^'y), and what I wish I do ; see also Is. 5^^, Mic. 4^^, Jer. 49^^
3. Gird upy etc.] prepare for action (12^^ n.) ; into the com- ing conflict of argument with God, Job, like a warrior (iJH like a man)s must enter with loins girt (Is. ^^'^).
XXXVIII. 4-5.] YAHWEH 327
* Where wast thou when I founded the earth ?
Declare, if thou hast understanding*. ^ Who fixed the measures thereof, since thou knowest ?
Or who stretched the line over it ?
4-7. The creation of the earth. — The earth is represented as a vast building carefully constructed according- to plan (^), and its foundation stones laid (^) to the jubilation of the on- lookers (^) ; Job was not among these onlookers, and had no part in or first-hand knowledge of the ceremony (cp. 15^*), though he has spoken as if he had {^^' ^*). For earth conceived as a building, cp., if Esharra is the earth (so Zimmern in KAT^ 496, 510, after Jensen), the Babylonian poem of Creation, iv, 143 fF. (Rogers, CP32): And the Lord measured the construc- tion (Zimmern : building; see Jensen's note in KB vi. 344) of the Deep, And he founded Esharra (i.e. the earth), a mansion like unto it, The mansion Esharra which he built like heaven.
4. If Job was present at Creation (*) and if thereby ^ he acquired wisdom (cp. 15®^), let him answer the questions that follow in ^^^ — Founded] so commonly with the earth as obj. : see Is. 481351I3.16, Zee. 12I, Ps. 24^89^2 ^q^'^q jq^s^ pj.. 3i9._ b. Cp. ^^ 42^. — Hast understanding] lit. knewedst (or knowest) understanding'^ the idiom as Is. 29^*, Pr. 4^, i Ch. 12^^, 2 Ch. 2^^- ^2 ; understanding is a synonym for wisdom, and often used in parallelism with it; see, e.g.^ 28^2 ^917^ ot. 46, Is. 29I*.
5. The scale of this great house and its parts was deter- mined beforehand, and marked off on the site which it was to occupy. Cp. for the measurements and the use of the measur- ing line preparatory to building, Ezk. 40^-43^^, Zee. i^^, My house shall be built in it (Jerusalem), and a line shall be stretched forth over Jerusalem, i.e. both temple and city will be rebuilt; Jer. 31^^. — Who\ or, njohat is he w?io: and so in ^ the question asks not what being (for this is already defined in ^*), but what manner of being planned the world ; the inter- rogative is used rather similarly in Am. 7^, As who (RV, '*how") shall Jacob stand; cp. also Ru. 3^^ — Siiice] ironically (Cp. 21) or 2/'(cp. Pr. 30^^), or that: see phil. n.
328 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXXVIII. 6-7.
^ Whereupon were the sockets thereof sunk,
Or who laid the corner-stone thereof, ^ When the morning' stars sang together,
And all the sons of the gods shouted for joy ?
6a. On what were the sockets (Ex. 26'^, Ca. s^"*) of the pillars that support the earth (9^ n.)made to rest? On nothing- (26^ n.)? Is Job prepared to assert this marvel ?
7. The ceremony of laying the foundations of the earth was an occasion for joyous music, as were the foundation ceremonies of earthly buildings (Ezr. 3^^'). The singers were stars, here conceived as existing before the world (ct. Gn. i^^), and the sons of the gods (i^ n., cp. Ps. 29^). As the world's first morning broke, the stars still shining sang their song of praise ; cp. Ps. i(f 148^ (after the mention of the angels and the host of God in v.-). — Sa7ig\ rang out their joy at the mighty work of God; so the same vb. (|n), e.g.y in Is. 12^ 24^^^, Zee. 2^*, Is. 49^^ (subject, the heavens) and in parallelism with the same vb. (ynn) as here in Is. 44-"^, Zeph. 3^*. — The vioming stars\ to be explained as above, not with Hi. Del. on the analogy of the ''Orions" of Is. 13^^ of the morning star (Ecclus. 50^ ^, not ft^) and others next to it in brightness.
8-II. The origin of the sea. — The sea is a being that was born (so ^^ at least ; cp. Ps. 90^ of the earth) — a monster need- ing to be held in restraint (^*^^-) lest (such may be the thought) it should endanger ('*'^) God's building, the earth. From whom or how this monster was born is not said ; the womb from which it issued is left undefined ; and thus its origin, unlike that of the earth, is not traced directly to God. Nevertheless its dependence (^) on God at and from birth, and God's supremacy over it (^^*-) from the beginning onwards, illustrate the power and wisdom and the uniqueness of God. The original indepen- dence of the sea and the stern conflict with it before it was sub- dued, which belong to the mythology lying behind these verses, are blurred by the fundamental monotheism of the writer, who for purposes of poetry does not, however, refrain from intro- ducing traits that only receive their full explanation from polytheistic thought : see on 7^^ 9^^ 26^2^
XXXVIII. 8-12.] YAHWEH 329
^ [Or where wast thou] ^ when^ the sea ^ was born,^
When it burst out, issuing from the womb ; * When I made the cloud its garment,
And the thick cloud its swaddling-bands, 1^ And f prescribed its ^ limit for it.
And set bars and doors, ^1 And said, *' Hitherto thou mayest come, and no further,
And here shall thy proud waves •" be stayed "• " ? ^ Hast thou (ever) since thy days (began) commanded the
morning, (Or) hast thou caused the dawn to know its place ;
8a. J^ A?td he hedged about the sea with doors^ which Is un- satisfactory: see phil. n. Gu. [Schopf. u. ChaoSy 92), who helpedy i.e. rendered the first services (cp. Ezk. 16*), whe7t etc.?— The wo77zb] it is questionable whether the writer at all clearly defined to himself what or whose was the womb, whether chaos (Du. Peake) or the interior of the earth (Di.).
9. The fig. of the newborn child is continued ; immediately after birth, it must be ^ clothed and ^swaddled (Ezk. 16^), and for these offices the newborn giant was dependent on Yahweh. Its garments are the clouds that gather over its surface; its swaddling-bands the darkness conceived as surrounding the horizon.
10. 5^, Afid I brake my limits or boundary ^ upon, or against it, which is supposed to mean I made the broken, indented coast line its boundary: see phil. n. — b. Yahweh prevents the monster from escaping from its allotted limit by means of barred doors.
lib. See phil. n. Cp. Ps. 89^^
12-15. The constant return of morning and the effect of light. — Every day since the world began morning has broken and light has played its marv^ellous part — ethical {}^- ^^) and physical (^*) — at God's command ; but (^^) has Job, not in- deed throughout his brief life, but on any single day of it, issued the command and secured its discharge ? On these vv. see phil. n. on ^* (end).
12. Each day takes its appointed place (cp. 3^'^^) at God's command.
330 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXXVIII. 13-17.
^^ That it might take hold of the skirts of the earth,
And that (so) the wicked might be shaken off it? ^* It changeth like clay under a seal,
And ^ is dyed ^ like a garment ; 1^ And their light is withholden from the wicked,
And the raised arm is broken. 1^ Hast thou come unto the springs of the sea?
Or hast thou walked in the recesses of the deep? ^^ Have the gates of Death been revealed to thee ?
Or have the gate-keepefs of Darkness ever ^ seen thee ^ ?
13. **The fact that the light has the effect of detecting and dispersing evil-doers is expressed under a beautiful poetical figure : the earth is pictured as a vast coverlet ; and the dawn, which darts in a moment from east to west (Ps. 139^), seizes this by its extremities, brings to light the wicked upon it, and shakes them off it like dust" (Dr.) ; cp. for the opposition of light to evil-doers, 24^^-^^. — Skirls of the earth] 37^.
14. The earth, deprived by night of both form and colour, receives both again at dawn, which * stamps it afresh, so that all objects on it stand out in clear relief, and ^ colours it afresh as a garment that is dyed. — Is dyed] J^ they (i.e. the objects on the earth) stand forth.
15. Overtaken by morning in the pursuit of high-handed crime, the wicked are brought to justice and punishment. — Their light] which is night, darkness ; 24^^.
16-18. The depths and breadths of the earth.— As limited as is Job's range through time, is his range through space : he has never fathomed the depth ^^^•, nor traversed the breadth 1^, of God's creation.
16. Spri7igs] if this be the meaning (see phil. n.) the refer- ence is to the "hidden channels connecting the sea with the great abyss of water (the ''great deep"), which the Hebrews conceived to extend under the earth (Ps. 24^ 136^: cp. Gen. 49^^, Ex. 20*), and from which the waters of the sea were supposed to be derived " (Dr.). — Recesses] see phil. n. and 1 1^ n.
17. If the depths of the sea (^^) are unknown to Job, still more the greater depths (11^ 7^ 26^, Ps. 86^^ Ezk. 32^^) of
XXXVIII. 17-21.] YAHWEH 33 1
^^ Hast thou shown thyself attentive to the breadths of the earth?
Declare, if thou knowest it all. 1^ Which way dwelleth light ;
And darkness — where is its place ; ^^ That thou shouldest take it to its boundary,
And ^ bring- it into ^ the paths to its house ? 21 Thou knowest, for then thou wast born,
And the number of thy days is great.
Sheol. The dark underworld, the gated realm of death, is open and wholly known to Yahweh (26^) ; even its outside is unknown to Job ; one day, no doubt. Job will see those gates, but he will gain his knowledge, unlike Yahweh, at the expense of freedom and life. Death = Abaddon (2822) = Sheol (26^ Ps. 6^).~Gatesof Death] Ps. 9I* 107I8 ; cp. ''gates of Sheol," Is. 38^^ in all which passages, differently from here, the gates of death are conceived as approached in severe sick- ness.— Gate-keepers] so fflt : -ffl, gates ^ as in ^ — Darkness] cp. lo^i'- : for the word (nici?^*) see 3^ n. Cp. the use of darkness {y^n II land of oblivion) of Sheol in Ps. 88^^ (12). 7 <.&),— Have . . . ever seen thee ?] |^ canst thou see ? © have . . . terrified theCy the gate-keepers being conceived as terrifying monsters.
18. Attentive to] see phil. n. ; or, to have understanding (4b) of.—h. Cp. ^^.— Bi. Du. see in 21 the direct continuation of this v., Du. placing ^^^' after i^.
19 f. The homes of light and darkness.— Light and darkness, since they were separated (Gn. i^^-) at creation (cp. "then," 21), have separate dwellings: light at close of day, its daily work abroad being done, returns to its house, and so does darkness at the close of night. Does Job know which way these houses lie ? Can he take light or darkness even to the confines of its home, to the paths that lead up to it ? Some (Di. Bu.) understand ^oa ^q refer to fetching light or darkness out of its house into the territory or region in which it has to exercise its daily function, 2ot> to taking it home. — Bring it unto] iJH discern or understand.
21. Ironical: of course Job knows; for he is as old as creation: cp. 15^ (Eliphaz).
33^ THE BOOK OF JOB [XXXVIII. 22-25.
22 Hast thou entered the treasuries of snow,
Or seest thou the '^store-houses^ of hail,
23 Which I have reserved against the time of distress,
Against the day of war and of battle? 2* Which is the way to where the ^ wind "" is distributed,
(And) the sirocco scattered over the earth ? 25 Who hath channelled a conduit for the rain-flood,
And a way for the lightning of the thunder ;
22 f. Snow and hail— Treasuries] cp. 37^ n., Dt. 28^2 ^a j-jj^ goodly treasury the heavens"), Jer. lo^^ {'' He bringeth forth wind from His treasuries "), En. 41* 60^1-21 (chambers of winds, snow, mist, rain, treasury of peals of thunder). — S/ore- houses] 5^ treasuries, as *.
23. Snow and hail are kept by God in His store-houses till He requires them for purposes of judgement, e.g. for ruining the crops of evil-doers, or ^ confounding them in battle. Cp. Ex. 922-26, Is. 281^ Ezk. 13^^ Hag. 2^^ Sir. 3929*. (fire and hail . . . these also are formed for judgement ... all these are created for their uses, and they are in His treasury, against the time when they are required) ; for hail in battle, Jos. 10", Is. 3o^''^- ; for snow, i Mac. 1322 (not cited as a divine judge- ment), Ps. 6S^^ (?).— Reserved against] see phil. n. and 21^^^
24. Winds have their chambers, too ; but where ? Cp. En. 41* 60I2, <<and the angel . . . showed me . . . the chamber of the winds, and how the winds are divided." — Wind] J^ light', see phil. n.
25-27. Two marvels connected with the descent of rain, one common also to lightning. The rain (i) descends by a way determined (cp. 282^) for it, a§ also does the lightning, however much it may appear to flash at hazard : (2) the rain falls (not only for the service of man, but), fulfilling purposes of God which have wider objects than men, on uninhabited country ; for this wider range of God's providence left uncon- sidered by Job in his anthropocentric discussion of God's ways, cp. 39^ff- and Ps. 10416-18.20-22.25^
25. Channelled] pillag, cp. peleg, channel (29^^). — A conduit] the same word is used of channels for irrigation (Ezk.
XXXVIII. 25-31.] YAHWEH 3^
-^ Causing it to rain on a land (which) none (inhabiteth), On the wilderness wherein is no man ;
27 To satisfy (the land of) devastation and desolation,
And to make ""the thirsty (land)'' sprout with young
grass ?
28 Hath the rain a father?
Or who hath begotten the drops of night-mist?
29 Out of whose womb came the ice ?
And who gave birth to the hoar frost of heaven ? ^^ Like a stone waters '" cohere together ''j
And the face of the deep •" is hidden\ ^^ Dost thou fasten the bands of the Pleiades (?),
Or untie the cords of Orion (?) ?
31*), pipes feeding a reservoir (Is. 7^), a trench to contain water (i K. iS^"^): here of pipes conceived as existing to con- duct the rain down from heaven to earth. — Rain'flood\ here (ct. Ps. 32^ and the vb. in Is. 8"^) of a heavy rain descending. 25b. = 2826^
27. Thirsty land] f^ place of coming forth : see phil. n.
28. Rain and night-mist. — These things have no human source ; with the figures of begetting and birth, cp. 82^. — Night-mist] 29^^ n.
29-30- Frost and ice. — Frozen water is solid as stone 3% and ^ hides the still unfrozen water beneath ; see phil. n.
31 f. The stars and constellations— can or does Job, like God, regulate the movement of these, causing them to rise and set, and at different times of year to take different posi- tions in the heavens ? This in general seems to be the sense of the vv., though in details these are full of uncertainties. The constellations appear to be mentioned here, after the meteoro- logical questions of 22-2^^ on account of the ancient association of their movements with changes in the seasons and weather (see on 9'^).
31. The vbs. are certainly antithetical, the nouns (though their meaning is uncertain) are probably synonymous ; the identification of the constellations, particularly the Pleiades is disputed (see on 9^). The meaning in general appears to be :
334 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXXVIII. 31-32.
can you, like God, fasten together (something belonging to or something constituting) one constellation or unfasten another ? In view of the consistent tone of the questions throughout the speech — can or does Job do what God does ? — we must rule out what in itself would be a perfectly possible alternative : can Job fasten what God looses, or loose what God fastens ? Con- sequently the constellation named in * was actually conceived as being, at least at times, bound, that in ^ as unbound. But with the ambiguity of the nouns, the uncertain identification of the constellations, and our imperfect knowledge of the Hebrew- mythology or stories of the constellations, it is impossible to get beyond very uncertain conjectures as to the exact meaning or the exact nature of any of the myths which may be alluded to. — Fasten the hands of] or ^fasten into a cluster: this has been explained of the closeness of the stars to one another in the Pleiades (Ew. Di. : do you perpetually keep the stars of the Pleiades clustered close together?), or, in various ways, of restraining the constellation in question ; e.g. those who identify the constellation not with the Pleiades, but with Canis major think of the chains with which Orion restrains his hound (so Burney, EBi. 4782) ; but this makes the activity of God secondary, and the question equivalent to. Can you, like Orion^ hold the Dog in check? On AV. RVm. (meaning. Canst thou bind the sweet influences of the Pleiades, so as to restrain the gracious season of spring, or ^ dismiss winter before its time ?) see phil. n. — The Pleiades\ other identifications are Canis major (see last n.) which contains Sirius, or the Scorpion (Jensen in ZA i. 264). — Untie the cords 0/ Orion] if ^ refers to the closeness of the stars to one another in the constellation, this should refer to the greater distance between the stars of another : so, e.g.y Bu., who sees a reference to the conspicuous change in apparent distance between the stars of Orion according to its height in the sky. But in the cords it is now more usual to see a reference to the bonds which kept Orion for ever fixed in the sky (see on 9^) ; the untying or loosening of these may refer to Orion's being dragged higher up or lower down the sky (Di.).
32. Bring fortK\ Is. 40'^^. — Mazzaroth\ doubtless the name of
XXX Vin. 32-34.] YAHWEH 335
^ Dost thou bring forth Mazzaroth in its season, Or lead the Bear with her children ?
^ Knowest thou the laws of the heavens ?
Dost thou establish their rule in the earth ?
3^ Dost thou lift up thy voice to the cloud,
That abundance of waters may cover thee ?
a star or constellation, but what is altogether uncertain : see phil. n. — Or lead, etc.] P| may also be translated (pointing DH^n), or comfort the Bear for (the loss of her) sons ; this would pre- sumably refer to some unknown mythological trait ; but the translation, as giving a bad parallel to *, is improbable. — The Bear] Hebr. 'Ayish (or ^ lyyusK) : the meaning of 'Ayish is quite unknown and cannot be invoked to assist in identifying the star(s) intended. If the constellation referred to be the Bear, *Ayish is, strictly, the name of the four stars composing the square, her children (or sons) the three stars of the tail : cp. the Arabic name for the constellation nds (in no way connected with the Hebr. ^AyisK), the bier, for the four stars, which resemble the bearers of a bier, and banal ndl, the daughters of the bier, for the three stars, which resemble the followers (Lane, Arabic Lex. 2816c). If the constellation intended is the Pleiades (9^ n.), 'Ayish is probably the name of its brightest star, her children the remaining stars : ST renders the Hen with her children — a description actually applied to the Pleiades by some peoples.
33. The laws of the heavens'] the laws (mpn) enjoined by God on the heavens in respect to the appearance or disappearance ot constellations, the change of night and day, etc. Cp. Jer. 3i35f. 3325 : and (pn) 2826 and ? Ps. 148^. EBi. 2989, giving to npn a sense not elsewhere found, though not difficult to derive from the root meaning to inscribe, renders the pictures of the heavens, understanding these to be the signs of the Zodiac. — b. Under God (Gn. 1^^), the heavens rule the earth.
34. The clouds — does Job make them give rain? The same subject is continued in ^^^- ; cp. also 25-28^ Whether both ^* (which Bi. omits : ^^^ = 22^^) and 3^'- were original, and, if so, whether they were originally separated by ^*- may be questioned. — Ccver] aSc answer: but see phil. n.
336 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXXVIII. 35-38.
35 Dost thou send forth lightnings that they may go,
And say unto thee, ** Here we are "? ^ Who hath put wisdom in the . . . ?
Or who hath given understanding to the . . . ? 3^ Who counteth the clouds by wisdom,
Or who tilteth the water-skins of the heavens, 88 When the soil becometh hard as metal,
And the clods cleave fast together?
35. Lightning: cp. ^^^ With the phrasing of * cp. Bar. 3^3 (of light), of ^ Bar. 3^5 (of stars).
36. The terms left untranslated have been the subject of many guesses (see phil. n.). (i) If the v. is in its original context, it should refer to celestial phenomeiia : so, e.g.y RVm. dark clouds in *, meteor in ^, the thought then being that such phenomena ''from their movements and the figures they assume . . . are apparently endowed with intelligence" (Dr.). (2) In another context the questions might refer to the origin of tnan's wisdom ; but if the terms really mean inward parts (cp. Ps. 51^) in * and mind (of man) in ^ (RV.), the v. is probably misplaced. (3) A third theory Is that anim,als are referred to : the cock^ according to an ancient theory, in ^, spinning (spiders), perhaps, in *. If these animals were referred to as prognosti- cators of the weather, the reference would not be out of place in the context ; but if as possessing some other form of wisdom, the V. would fall rather somewhere between 38'^^ and 39"^. That * refers to man, ^ to the cock (TJ al.), is quite improbable.
37. Rain (cp. ^*) for ^^ the thirsty earth. — CountetJi\ or, emending, spreadeth out', but see phil. n. — Tilteth the waters skins\ the clouds (*) are in ^ pictured (cp. 26^ n.) as vast water-skins from which, when laid down or tilted, the water pours forth as rain.
38. Soi1\ -IDV, 5^ n. 8^^ n. — Becoineth hard as metal] lit. is casty or poured into a casting (as of metal); cp. *'the earth (shall be as) iron," Dt. 28^^; ''your earth as copper," Lv. 26^^. Du. Peake interpret the phrase of the powdery dusty earth turning, as the rain falls on it, into mud (Du. ; clods, Peake) ; but see phil. n.
XXXVIII. 39-41.] YAIIWEH ^^y
^^ Dost thou hunt prey for the lioness,
Or satisfy the appetite of the young" lions, ^® When they crouch in dens,
(And) sit in the thicket to lie in wait? *^ Who appointeth for the raven what he hunteth down,
When his young ones cry unto God,
(And) •^pipe^ for lack of food.
39-XXXIX. 30. Marvels of the animal world.
39-41. Lions, ^^^-y and ravens, ^^ : who secures that the young of these are fed? Job, as a man, would rather starve and destroy than sustain beasts of prey ; but God in His wis- dom so orders His world that all His creatures are sustained ; cp. especially Ps. 1042^-2*. — Lioness] 4^^**. — YoJiiig li07is\ 4^°^.
40. Cp. 37^. — Crotich\ lie low: cp. 9^-^, Ps. 10^^.
41. For the rave?i] cp. Ps. 147^. |^, differently pointed, may be rendered i?t the evening \ in this case, *^ continues the subject of the lions, and the raven disappears. The compara- tive brevity of the treatment of lions and ravens, if both are dismissed in 2^"*^, is suspicious : so also is the tristich in "^^ ; but there are difficulties in the way of adopting- the rendering* in the evening', see phil. n. — Pipe\ a term parallel to cry in *, and suitable to ravens, if ravens are the subject of the v., is more probable than they wander (|^), or it — the parent bird — wanderSy as others conjecturally emend ; see phil. n.
XXXIX. 1-4. The rock- or wild-goat. — The animal intended is generally understood to be Capra heden^ Wagfn. (DB ii. 195). "It is a shy animal, with a keen scent, and its coloration is so like that of the surrounding rocks, etc., that it is very difficult to see. It usually goes in small herds of eight or ten, and, when feeding, has a sentry on the look out for enemies" {EBi. 1743): see, further, Tristram, Fauna and Flora of Palestiney p. 6 (with coloured plate). The rocky (i S. 24^) mountain haunts of this animal, inaccessible to or at least unfrequented by man (Ps. 104^^), impressed alike the author of Ps. 104 and of this passage. When they give birth, these creatures in their mountain retreats are beyond man's observation and care, but not God's : He has given to them 22
^7,S THE BOOK OF JOB [XXXIX. 1-4.
XXXIX. ^ Knowest thou ^ the rock goats ?
Or dost thou observe the calving of the hinds ?
* Dost thou count the months that they fulfil ?
Or dost thou "^ appoint^ the time when they
bring forth ?
* They bow down, they give birth to their young,
They let go that wherewith they were pregnant.
* Their young ones are healthy, they grow up in
the open ; They go forth, and return not again.
to bring forth with ease P), and to their young to grow up healthily, and quickly to become independent (*).
1. Knotvest thou\ do you take thought and care about : for the force of know, cp. 9^^ n. ?^ + the time of bringing forth of. Some prefer to read, Knowest thou the time of the wild goats , i.e. the time or season of heat in the males \ see phil. n. — The hinds\ here the females of the wild goats (cp. Ps. 29^).
2. The 7nonths that they fulfil] the period of their pregnancy. — Appoint] 1^ know.
3. They bow dow7t] i S. 4^^. The v. describes the rapidity and ease of the parturition. Rabbinic interpreters understood it of difficult parturition ; on both Rabbinic and classical stories about the parturition of the wild goats, see Bochart, HieroB., lib. iii. c. 17. — That wherewith they were pregnant^ EV. al. their sorrows, (lit. *' birth-pangs"), i.e. the young as the cause of their pains ; with which it has become customary to com- pare Ovid, Her. 11. iii, *'Nate, dolor matris." Cp. also the addition in ® in 2^ " sons and daughters the pains and sorrows of my womb." But see phil. n.
4. Again] \\t. for the77iselves \ or unto them, i.e. the herd. 5-8. The wild ass. — God (^), not man, who would rather
have kept it in bondage, has given to the wild ass, now the most elusive and least tameable (ii^^ n.) of creatures, its freedom (^) ; and made the open country far from human dwellings, not some human master's stable such as housed its domesticated brother (Is. i^), its home (^) ; and given it a con- tempt for man's angry shoutings such as compelled the domestic
XXXIX. 5-8.] YAHWEH 339
^ Who hath let the wild ass go free ?
And who hath loosed the bands of the brayer ? ^ Whose home I have made the steppe,
And whose dwelling-places the salt land. ^ He laugheth at the tumult of the city,
He heareth not the shoutings of the taskmaster ;
asS; most widely used of all beasts of burden, to work in servitude to man (^), and fleetness of foot to find its food over wide stretches of country (^). References to the wild ass, especially to its fleetness, intractability, shyness and avoidance of the haunts of men are frequent in the OT. (see ii^'^, Gn. 16^^, Hos. 8^, Is. 32^^, and references in the following nn.), and even more so in the Arabic poets (see Ahlwardt, Chalif Al-Ah?nary 341-360; ^oXdekey Beitrdge zurarahischen Poesiey 143, n. i, and Fi'mf Moallaqaty ii. 72 ff.); for various ancient references see Bochart, Hieroz.y lib. iii. c. 16 ; and for a modern account of the wild ass of the Hauran, Wetzstein in Del.
5. Wild ass . . . braj'er] the two terms are used for the sake of parallelism, and do not refer to different species. Neither, like the English translation in * and the Arabic hinidr alwahs^ defines the animal by its similarity to the domestic ass {ffmor) ; but the first (pere^ : cp. Ar. fara)y which has already occurred in 6^ n^^ 24^^ probably means etymologi- cally the fleet(-footed), the second the brayer, or less probably the fleer away (viz. from man: see phil. n.). — Let go free] released from captivity; cp. Dt. 15^2^ Is. 58^. — The ba?ids] such as kept the domestic ass in servitude to man.
6. The home of the wild ass is in uncultivated country far from the dwellings of men (Dn. 5^^) — in the wilderness (24^, Jer. 2^*, Sir. 13^^: cp. ovut ipefMLTr}, c. ii^^ ^^ jej.. 31^ ^j^ the steppe (24^), the salt-land. — The salt land] uninhabited country (Jer. 17^), unfit for cultivation (Ps. 107^^; cp. Jg. 9^^); a secondary reason for the use of the term here may be that as a graminivorous animal (^), the wild ass is fond of salt.
7. He laugheth at] has no fear of; cp. 18-22 ^121 522^_5, Cp. 3'' n.
8. The wild ass must search far and wide for the green
THE BOOK OF JOB [XXXIX. 8-9.
^ He spleth out the mountains as his pasture ground, And he searcheth after every green thing.
* Is the wild ox wiUing to serve thee?
Or doth he spend the night over thy manger?
stuff on which it lives, but being fleet of foot finds it with an ease denied to the unfortunate human outcasts mentioned in 24^. — The nioiintains\ cp. Ps. 104^^'-. — EveTy green thing] the food of the wild ass : cp. 6^, Jer. 14^.
9-12. The wild ox. — Ass and ox are constantly associated as domesticated animals and beasts of burden (Ex. 21^^ 23^- ^2, Dt. 22^^, Is. i^ 32^^, Lk. 13^^); and so from his contrast of the wild [pere) to the domestic ass {Jfmdr)^ the poet now passes to contrast the wild ox {/^ini) with the domestic ox {lor). The great strength of the wild ox (^^) might make him a suitable servant of man, if he would serve ; but he will not (^^) : no manger (^^) will entice him to tolerate servitude and to endure, like the domestic ox, being harnessed (^^*) to the plough or the harrow (1*^^) ; but even if he would so submit, man would never have any confidence that his innate love of freedom and his strength would not make him break loose and cause loss (i^'-) to his employer.
9. The wild ox\ that what was regarded, whether with zoo- logical exactitude or not, as a wild ox of some kind is intended, is sufficiently clear from this passage alone : cp. the parallel- ism of the same Hebrew term (Dt^l) with ox (Dt. 33^^), cows (Is. 34^ D"'1S, unless we should there read D''N1D), calf (Ps. 29^). Its dangerous (Dt. 33^^, Ps. 22-^ ^2^^), lofty (Ps. 92^^) horns accord with this. The Hebrew r^^ein is now commonly identified with the Assyrian m;z7/, a wild bull hunted among other large game by the Assyrian kings (Tiglath-Pileser i. in KB i. 39), and depicted in enamel, alternately with dragons, on the great Ishtar Gateway of Babylon (cp. KB iv. 21). Reproductions of this representation are given in R. Koldewey, Excavations in Babylon^ plates 26 (in colour), 27 and 30 (in colour), and R. W. Rogers, History of Babylonia and Assyria, i. 3 18. ** Among the Assyrians it was often employed in metaphors of strength, and at times occurs in parallelism with pi?'iiy elephant. Hence
XXXIX. 9-11.] YAHWEH 34 1
^^ Dost thou bind ''him^ to the furrow •"with"' cords?
Or doth he harrow the valleys after thee? 11 Would'st thou trust him, because his strength is great?
Or would'st thou leave to him what thou hast toiled for?
it is not improbable that the animal referred to is the Aurochs, the Ums of ]u\ius Caesar {BG 6. 28) . . . and the Bos primi- genius of naturalists. Its teeth were found by Tristram in Lebanon, in the valley of the Nahr el-Kalb, which is just in the neighbourhood where Tiglah-Pileser i. {c, iioo B.C.) claimed to have killed the rimu, ... A similar animal is the wild cow or wadiha which, according to Doughty (Ar. Des. i. 328), may probably be the DN"). Though of no great size it has dangerous horns, measuring sometimes 23 inches . . . with which, when maddened with wounds, it will inflict fatal injuries " [EBL 5229). An alternative name for the last-mentioned animal in the northern Bedawin dialects is bakar al-ioahl^ i,e, the wild cow, wadiha^ denoting it as white. Doughty {ih, 327) gives an illustration of the horn. This animal is strictly an antelope {ih. 328), and, in particular, the Oryx Beatrix^ Gray, an animal about 35 inches high at the withers, and of a pre- vailing dirty white colour with the long conspicuous horns already referred to. A coloured illustration of it is given in Sclater and Thomas, The Book of the Antelopes^ iv. plate Ixxxi. In Arabic the term ri7n^ on the other hand, is given to quite another species of antelope, a graceful little gazelle, that does not correspond to the animal called r^'em in Hebrew, viz. Gazella MaricUy Thos., depicted in Sclater and Thomas, op. cit, iii. Ivi. ; cp. Hess, in ZATW, 1915, \21-1 2:i^,—Manger\ Is. i^: cp. DUX-llE^, Pr. 151^.
10. Him to the furrow with cords] f^ the wild ox in the furrow of his cord. — After thee] in harrowing (unlike ploughing) the animal must have been led.
11. No doubt the strength of the wild ox would be most useful to you ; but suppose you could catch him and put him to work, would you trtist him? See on ^~i^. — What thou hast toiled for] the fruit of thy labour in the field (cp. lo^ phil. n.).
342 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXXIX. 12.
12 Would'st thou confide in him, that he would return, ^ And 1 gather ^ thy seed "" to the "" threshing floor ?
12. If you were to send the wild ox out to bring home your harvest, you would never expect him to come back. — Seed] in the sense of the matured product of the seed sown, corn-crop, as Lv. 27^^ Is. 23^, Hag. 2^^. — Return] or (Qre) bri7ig back ; on this and the emendation adopted above, see phil. n.
13-18. The ostrich. — There need be no doubt that the ostrich (F) is the subject of these verses, though the earlier VV. did not recognize it, and the term used for the bird in * is strange (see phil. n.), nor that the cruelty (^*"^^), and, if ^^ be original, the stupidity also, commonly attributed to the bird (cp. Bochart, Hieroz.^ lib. ii. cc. 14-17, and Schultens on this passage) are here referred to. But the first and last vv. of the passage (^^- ^^) are obscure, and in consequence the exact point and reference of the entire description uncertain. Accord- ing to one view of ^^ there is an implicit contrast between the cruelty of the ostrich and the kindness of the stork: then the marvel, as in ^~^ and ^"i^, consists in the striking differences between animals that in other respects closely resemble one another. Failing this, we must fall back for an explanation of the ostrich, though a bird, appearing in the midst of the quadrupeds, on the fact that it, like wild asses and wild oxen, is a notable inhabitant of the desert (see, e.g.y La. 4^, Is. 13^1 34^^; Schult. 11 18 top); or we may suppose that the section has been misplaced — Wr. places it after ^^ — or, though this is much less probable than the preceding or following suggestion, that it has been separated from ^ef. through the interpolation of ^^"^s (Ehrlich), or that it has itself been interpolated (Bi. Hatch, Du. Che. in EBi. 2481 ; cp. Di. Peake). Those who adopt the last view appeal in proof to (&, from which i^~i^ were absent, to the length of the section (six distichs as against four in the three preceding sections ; yet 19-25 js s^iji longer), the mention of God in 1^, and the pre- dominance of the directly descriptive over the interrogative mode of expression. If the section is original, ^^^ as well as 1^^ was probably interrogative; and the remainder of the
XXXIX. 15.] YAHWEH 343
^2 Is the wing of the ostrich . . ., Or ;
^* That she leaveth her eggs on the earth, And warmeth (them) in the dust ;
^^ And forgetteth that a foot may crush them, And the wild beasts trample upon them ?
section for the most part dependent on the question (cp. ^) : but, even if it were independent of the opening question, cp.
7f. 21-25. 28-30^
13. Schultens (cp. Bochart, op. cit, c. 16) was already able to collect twenty different translations or interpretations of this v., and this number could now be considerably increased. Many of these, including AV., can be ruled out as impossible ; several remain from which an uncertain choice may be made. Probably^ contained one, if not two terms, parallel to ** wing" in *; whether it contained even (cp. ^) one (AV.), not to say two (2rU Rashi), terms parallel, synonymously or antithetically, to ** ostrich" is uncertain. In RV., **The wing of the ostrich rejoiceth ; (But) are her pinions and feathers kindly (mrg. (like) the stork's)?," the renderings ** rejoiceth," ** but "and "her" are all questionable ; as is also (see above) the absence of in- terrogation in *. Less improbably, with two slight emendations, we may translate. Is the wing of the ostrich sluggish. Or is pinion and feather lacking (to her), That she leaves, etc. Wr. rendered, Does the wing of the ostrich soar aloft. Or is it strong on the wing like the hawk and the falcon ? Nay, it leaves, etc. ; if such a contrast between the ostrich's eggs laid on the ground, and the hawk's i^^) or the stork's (Ps. 104^^) in lofty trees was the point expressed in the original text, f^ requires more change than Wr. allowed himself to make in it (see phil. n.).
I4-16. The cruelty of the ostrich : cp. *' cruel as ostriches," La. 4^ — If 5^ in ^ is correct, the v. refers to two actual habits of the ostrich, viz. that having laid its eggs in holes scooped in the sand, it * then leaves them (frequently during the early period of incubation and in the daytime to go in search of food), but ^ at other times (and continuously during the final periods of incubation) sits upon them to hatch them : but ^ in
344 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXXIX. 16-18.
^^ She useth her young ones hardly, (making them) into none
of hers ;
Her toil is in vain : (there is) no fear. " For God hath made her to forg-et wisdom,
And hath given her no share in understanding. ^8 What time she spurreth herself (?) on high,
She laugheth at the horse and his rider.
this case forms a bad introduction to ^^, and we should prob- ably read in ^ depositeth them (see phil. n.) for warmeth'y then in * we may render by the stronger word ahandoneth (cp. Jer. 14^); and the whole v. refers to a single striking habit of the bird, viz. that it lays its eggs not high up out of danger, but on the ground^ and leaves them there (i^), exposed to the risk of any man or beast that may pass by.
16. The V. is a reflection on such habits of the ostrich as that in addition to the eggs laid and concealed in the sand for hatching, it lays others which it leaves exposed in the sand and uses for the nourishment of the chicks; and that ''when the ostrich is surprised with her brood she runs away from her chicks " (Post in Hastings' DB iii. 635). — Her young ones] the unhatched birds. — b." cp. Is. 6$^^. — Her toii\ in laying and in sitting on her eggs. — There is no fear\ ''she is unconcerned about it" (Dr.).
17. The stupidity of the ostrich : cp. the Arabic proverb, "stupider than an ostrich" (see Bochart, o/*. czV., who cites many ancient testimonies to its stupidity). The v. in giving the reason for the cruelty described in i*"^^, so far blunts that charge; and it stands awkwardly before ^^, which suggests wis- dom rather than stupidity. Since also the v. mentions God (cp. 40*- ^\ it is perhaps an addition (cp. Peake). In lacking wisdom, the ostrich lacks what was not confined to man, but found also in animals (12^'-, Is. i^, Jer. 8^, Pr. 6^), and in some pre-eminently (Pr. 30^^).
18. The speed of the ostrich : " If helped by the wind, the fleeing ostrich spreads its tail-feathers like a sail and with constant flapping of its outspread wings easily escapes its pursuers" (Wetzstein in Del.). To this habit the unknown
XXXIX. 13-24.] YAHWEH 345
^^ Dost thou give strength to the horse?
Dost thou clothe his neck with ^ might ^? ^^ Dost thou cause him to quiver like a locust,
In the majesty of his terrible snorting?
21 r He T paw'^ eth ^ in the valley, and rejoiceth ;
In strength he goeth out to meet the weapons.
22 He laugheth at fear, and is not dismayed ;
And he turneth not back away from the sword. 2^ The quiver twangeth upon him,
The flashing point of the spear and the javelin. 24 Quivering and excited he swalloweth the ground,
And he standeth not still (?) at the sound of (?) the
horn.
word rendered above spurreth herself \s supposed to allude (see phil. n.). — Laugheth at\ the slow and ineffective pace of her pursuers: cp. ^ n.
19-25. The horse, and in particular the war-horse; its excitement, eagerness and absence of fear as it carries its armed rider (2^) into battle.
19. Might] a conjecture based on the parallel term. Guesses at the meaning of 5i^ 'mc\ud& fear (ffi), thunder (AW .)y neighing (^)> quivering mane (RV.); see phil. n.
20. Much in this v. is uncertain : see phil. n. — Quiver] cp. 24. — Like a locust] the comparison of the war-horse with a locust seems less natural than the reverse (Jl. 2^ Rev. 9^).
21. The valley] cp. "thy choicest valleys were full of chariots: and the horsemen," etc., Is. 22^: also, for valleys as battlefields or the sites of encampments, Gn. 14^, Jg. 7I, Is. 2821. — Rejoiceth ; In strength] JH rejoiceth in strength^ which unduly limits the ground of the horse's joy : both sense and rhythm could well spare in strength altogether.
22. He laugheth] vJ n. — The sword] of the enemy: this would form an excellent parallel term to ''weapons" in 21^: the order of the lines may have been 21a. 22a. 21b. 22b^
24b. The translation is very uncertain, but on the whole preferable to the alternative : he helieveth not that^ or whefi^ or t/" (there is) the sound of the horn. Possibly the line is merely
346 THE BOOK OF JOB [XXXIX. 24-26.
■^^ As often as the horn (soundeth), he saith, ** Aha ! " And from afar he scenteth the battle, The thunder of the captains, and the shouting.
26 Is it through thy understanding that the hawk taketh flight, That he spreadeth his wings towards the south ?
intrusive, and ^4. 25 originally consisted not of a distich and a tristich, but of two distichs : see phil. n.
25. He neighs out his delight when the horn, the military (Am. 3^, Jer. 4^^) musical instrument, sounds an advance. — The thunder of the captains\ if the phrase is correct, this must mean the orders of the military captains (Nu. 31^*, Is. 3^) given in tones of thunder. — Shouting\ or war-cry : cp. Am. i^"*, Jer. 4^^, Zeph, 1I6 C the day of the horn and the battle-shout ").
26-30. The hawk and, at least in J^, the vulture. — Birds have been previously mentioned — the raven (38*^ iJH) and the ostrich (13-18J J here two further birds conclude this survey of the animal world. Is it through wisdom given to it by Job that a sure instinct leads the hawk southwards at the approach of winter, or, at his command, that the vulture (unlike the ostrich, 1*) places its nest high up out of reach, on those rocky fastnesses where it makes its home and from whence its keen and far-seeing eye detects its carrion ^^) food ?
26. The hawk] p; in Lv. iji^, Dt. 141^1 the term is generic for a class of birds including (inrDf5) several species ; birds of the Falconidas class appear to be intended (Bochart, Hieroz.^ lib. ii. c. 19 ; Tristram, NHB^ p. 189 f. ; Thomson, Land and Book, 326; EEL and DB, s.v. hawk); some of these, as, e.g-.f the lesser kestrel, migrate south in winter. — The allusion to migration (cp. Jer. 8") in ^\ is not to be eliminated by rendering to the south-wind, ** in which case the reference would be to the strength of wing that enabled it to fly in the teeth of the south wind " (Peake after Du.), for this would surely require a stronger prep, than \).
27 f. Du. (see phil. n.). Or is it at thy command that it maketh its nest on high. And hath lodging upon the crag of the rock? This removes the vulture, and makes the whole strophe describe the hawk. Du.'s emendations greatly improve
XXXIX. 27-XL. 3.] JOB 34]
27 Or is it at thy command that the vulture mounteth up,
And maketh his nest on high ?
28 Upon the rock he dwelleth and hath lodging,
Upon the crag of the rock and the fastness.
29 From thence he spieth out food ;
Afar ofif his eyes behold it. ^^ His nestlings also gulp down blood : And where the slain are, there is he. XL. 2 Will the reprover contend with the Almighty ? He that argueth with God, let him answer it.
^ And Job answered Yahweh, and said.
the parallelism, and one bird rather than two would be more according to the analogy of the other sections ; on the other hand the habits described in ^7-30 agree with those elsewhere associated with the vulture.
27. The vulture\ g^^ n.— b. (with ^S), cp. Jer. 49^^.
28. Crag\ Heb. tooth ; cp. Dent Blanche, Dent du Midi.
29. The vulture and its prey; cp. 9'^^ Hab. i^, Dt. 28^^ (note *'from afar"), Jer. 48^0 49^2: cp. Ezk. \f^'.
30a. Did Job endow the bird *'with her terrible instincts, that show themselves at once in her young, which suck up blood"? Cp. also Pr. 30^^, Hrz. compares Aelian, H.A. ID. 14, aapKoov TjSerai jSopa koI Trivet aifxa kol to, veoTTta
€KTp6(f>6C T0t9 aVTol<^. b. Cp. Mt. 24^^.
XL. I. Between 39^^ and 40^ p], not ^, inserts, And Yahweh answered Job and said, thus cutting off the conclu- sion (40^) of Yahweh's speech in 38^-39^^ 40'-.
2. Very effectively the speech closes as it opened (382*-) with a challenge : — Will Job, who has taken upon him the part of reprover and admonisher of God (cp. 38^), still carry on the dispute ? if so, he must answer (cp. 38-^) the questions Yahweh has put to him, and explain the marvels of creation which have just been brought before him in 38^-39"^ ; if he cannot do so, he has no right to criticize and reprove.
4f. ( + , probably, 422-'^). Job's reply to Yahweh: he admits without reservation that he cannot answer God's questions {^^) : he will therefore give up the role of critic (^^),
348 THE BOOK OF JOB [XL. 4-6.
* Behold, I am too mean : what can I answer thee?
I lay mine hand upon my mouth. ^ Once have I spoken ; but I will not ^ do so again "• ; Yea twice, but I will no further.
• Then Yahweh answered Job out of the storm, and said :—
which he confesses he had several times assumed (^). In con- trast to his own weakness (40*), he acknowledges the omni- potence of God (42^) ; and, now that he has been challenged (38*), he sees that he had spoken confidently of what really was beyond his comprehension (42^) ; and this had been because his previous knowledge of God had been by hearsay ; whereas his present knowledge is the outcome of direct vision ; this vision, and new kind of knowledge, have led him to humility and repentance (^) for what he had said in criticism of God, though the text and meaning of 42^ are by no means certain.
4. Too i?iean] unequal to the task. — b. Cp. 21^ 29^.
5. Once . . . ^wzce] i.e. more than once, several times : cp. 33I*. — Do so again] J^ answer.
6-XLI. 26 (34). According to the present text (^ = 38^) a second speech of Yahweh clearly begins with ^ ; to this second speech Job then makes a second reply in 42^-^- But it is probable that in the original form of the poem Yahweh made only one speech (38^-39^^ 40^), and Job only one reply and con- fession (40*'- 422-^).
In favour of this conclusion there are weighty considerations : (i) Even as they now stand, unassociated with 42^"^ 40*^* contain a confession, without any reservation, that Job has thrown up his case, and that he has nothing further to say ; in other words, so far as Job is concerned, Yahweh's object in speaking is already achieved, and there is no need for him to deliver another speech ; (2) after such a confession Yahweh's rebuke in ■^■1^ "comes perilously near nagging" (Peake) : this objection could be slightly mitigated, but not removed, by merely omitting ' and retaining ^"^^ as a second speech ; (3) the speecii, if the descriptions of leviathan and behemoth be omitted (see below), is suspiciously short ; and (4) though it treats of a new subject, it has no sufficient distinctness oi purpose from the first speech ; nor does it draw from Job a really distinct or different con- fession ; Yahweh here refers (40^) to Job's impugnment of His righteous- ness, and to His government of men (^'"^^), whereas in 38. 39 He had spoken of His work m Nature ; but this still leads up, as do 38. 39, to the povverlessness and ignorance of Job in contrast to the might and wisdom of God ("); and
XL. 6-9.] (yahweh) 349
' Gird up thy loins like a mighty man :
I will ask thee, and declare thou unto me. * Wilt thou even disallow my right ?
Wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be justified ?
Job's reply in 42^-^ offers no particular withdrawal of his impugnment of God's righteousness, but rather continues, and gives the reason for what he has already said in 40*'; thus he specifically acknowledges the mi^h^ of God (42^), as in 40^ he had recognized his own impotence, and he gives as a reason for the silence on which he is now resolved (40*''), the humility to which the vision of God has brought him (42^*' )• Most of those who adopt the view that there is but one speech of Yahweh, include in this one speech, and that as its conclusion, 40^"^^ (so Bi. Du. Peake) ; but it is more probable that that speech concluded with 40^, and that 4o''-4i26 should be looked on as a variant of the original speech of Yahweh; for (i) the forcible effect of the brief challenge in 40^ is weakened by the addition of a few distichs presenting a new subject ; (2) 4o'*'- admitting Job's incapacity to answer and announcing his retirement from the argument, follows far better immediately on Yahweh's challenge to him to answer, and justify his argument if he can (40^), than after ^-i* ; (3) if the poet intended to deal with the impugnment of God's righteousness, it is prob- able that he would have done so more nearly on the scale of his treatment of the divine wisdom and power in 38. 39 ; (4) if the speech of Yahweh dealt separately and concluded with the question of the divine righteousness, it would be strange that Job's confession should make no reference to it, but only to the might of God (42^). Da. feeling this remarked (on 42^), "Job does not, as might have been expected, acknow- ledge the divine righteousness " ; but then proceeded very inconclusively to explain that "any one divine attribute implies all others. Omnipotence cannot exist apart from righteousness " ; if this reasoning were valid at all, it would render Yahweh's second speech unnecessary.
7-14. As Job had questioned the justice of God's rule of the world, he is now ironically invited to assume Divine attributes, and rule it himself; since he cannot accept the invitation, and so gain by experience a knowledge of all that is involved, he has no right to criticize. '
7. =383.
8. Disallow] or, make wzVf (15*, Is. 14^7, Nu. 3o9- is^s- 12)). — Afy righi\ that which is my due (34^, Is. lo^), i.e. my claim that I rule the world justly? Or '•DDE^D might mean my rights in the sense of the right, or justice, which I execute in the world (Di. Da.) : wilt thou condemn me that thou mayest be in the right, in thy claim, viz. to have been treated differently ?
9. Arjn\ the symbol of might, as 22^ n. ; of God, Ps. 89^* and often. — Thu7ider\ mentioned as an imposing manifesta-
350 THE BOOK OF JOB [XL. 9-13.
• Or hast thou an arm Hke God ?
And canst thou thunder with a voice Hke his? ^^ Pray, deck thyself with majesty and loftiness ;
And array thyself with glory and state : ^^ Shed abroad the overflowings of thine anger ;
And look upon every one that is proud, and abase him : ^2 Look on every one that is proud, (and) bring him low ;
And pull down the wicked where they stand : 13 Hide them in the dust together ;
Bind up their faces in the hidden (world) :
tion of God's power (cp. 37^"^). — There is a sudden transition here from the thought of God's justice to that of His might. The world is so large, the circumstances and situations of human life so infinitely varied, that none but an omnipotent Ruler could rule them all with perfect justice: **one, there- fore, who does not possess God's might, must refrain from passing judgment upon God's justice " (Di.).
10-12. God challenges Job, if he really thinks he can rule the world even as well as, not to say better than God does, to assume His attributes of majesty and power, and to abase the wicked as God abases them.
10. Deck thyself^ put on as an ornament (^"IV) : so Hos. 2^^, Is. 6\^^ 2X.— Majesty (|i«:i)] of God, as 37^ Ex. 15^ Is. 2^^ 2\. — Loftiness {^'y^)\ cp. 22^^^ — Glory and state ("nm lin)] the attributes of a king (Ps. 21^ 45*); of God, Ps. 104^ 96^.
11. Shed abroad] lit. scatter^ or disperse (Pr. 5^^). The figure is that of an impetuous, overflowing stream : cp. to pour out wrath, Hos. 5^^, and often. — b. cp. Is. 2^^^ — Look tipoft] lit. see : do, if thou canst, as I do, who merely see the wicked, and they are instantly brought down !
12a. = ^^^, except one word : the repetition, if original, was intended to give emphasis to the thought. — b. Where they stand] immediately, and on the spot.
13. The reference might be to some dark, underground cavern, used as a prison, such as that in which Azazel is con- fined in En. lo'^*- (bind Azazel hand and foot, and cast him into the darkness : and make an opening in the desert, which is in Dudael, and cast him therein. And place upon him rough and jagged rocks, and cover him with darkness, and let him
XL. 13-14.] (yAHWEh) 351
" Then will I also praise thee,
That thine own right hand can save thee.
abide there for ever, koI rrjv oyjnv avTov ircofiaaov, koI ^w? fir) decopelrco, — quoted by Di.), or, more probably, perhaps, to the dust of the grave in % and to the dark and hidden recesses of Sheol in ^. — I/zde them in the dnst\ Is. 2^^.
14. If Job succeeds in a position in which (as his com- plaints imply) he deems God to have failed, God will acknow- ledge— not, indeed, that he is equal to Himself in all things, but that he has an arm like God's (^^) — that at least his own power is sufficient for the task which he has undertaken, and that he is able to wield effectively his sword for the punishment of evil-doers. The hand^ right hand or arm^ is said in Heb. to save^ or give salvation {deliverance^ victory) to a person, when, with none to help him, he himself triumphantly over- comes his foes ; of men, Jg. 7^ (<< lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying. Mine own hand hath saved me "), i S. 2^^' 2^, Ps. 44* ^^^ ; of God, Is. 59^^ and 63^ (no one else could do any- thing, so **his own arm brought salvation to him"), Ps. 98^.
15-XLI. 34 (26). Behemoth and Leviathan.— For various reasons it seems probable that the description of these two animals was not written by the author of 38 f.
(i) The descriptions are longer : the longest description in 38 f. extends to six distichs and a tristich ; that of behemoth to ten, that of leviathan to thirty-four distlchs. (2) Questions, so frequent throughout 38 f. and never intermitted for more than a few distlchs (at most five, 39^^'^^) at a time, are here entirely absent from twenty consecutive distichs In 4115-34 (7-;.o) ^^^ from nine or ten in 40^""-^ (2^). The questions that do occur are massed together in 4i^-'^- ^^^- ^^^' (4025-31 4i2f. 5f.). (3) The constant recurrence of questions in 38 f. serves to keep the sense that God is speaking vivid, and to give an accumulating urgency to the divine challenge to Job ; in the prolonged absence of questions In, and the purely descriptive character of especially the close of, 40^^-41^ C^^), the force of the challenge expressed, as in 38 f., In 4ii-" (40^5-41^) dies away, and It is easy to forget that God is speaking. (4) This effect is not prevented by the direct assertion of 41^2(4)^ which, if the text be correct, has no parallel in 38 f. (5) In 38 f. it is the habits, actions and temper of the animals, and especially what Is striking or strange in these, that are referred to ; In 40^^^- descriptions of the bodily parts of the animal assume prominence (see especially ^o^^-^'^ 4112.15-23.30 (4. 7-15. 23))^ (5) Whether behemoth and leviathan are respectively the hippopotamus and the crocodile, in which case they are pre-eminently
352 THE BOOK OF JOB [XL. 14.
Egyptian aiiimals, or w/y/A/ca/ monsters (see below), they contrast strikingly with the actual animals of Palestine described in 38 f. It is questionable whether much or any weight can be attached to (7) linguistic and stylistic differences: Di. detecits such in Jordan ( = a river) 40-^ leviathan 40^ (assuming that it differs in meaning from leviathan in 3^), joi 41^ (ct. 30^'), S3 and BID 4l^^ '"^a negativing the finite vb. 41'^ nn 41^5 (ct. nnn 6"'); but both jDi and nn, even if in themselves significant, are textually doubtful ; on the negatives, the most noticeable among the points adduced, and on BID, see phil. nn. on 411^-^^; on leviathan see the end of this introductory note ; the use of Jordan in 40^^ is no doubt remarkable, but there is no obvious opportunity for its use elsewhere in the book. Di. also alleges the style of 41'* ^^' ^^' ^^, but this is partly the result of textual corruption and for the rest inconclusive. In view of the indecisiveness of (7), it must no doubt remain largely a matter of taste whether the author of 38 f. is con- sidered to be also the author of 4o^''-4i^(2«> or any part of it, and whether there were originally two speeches of Yahweh or only one. But such a second speech as the present text offers, with its brief introduction (4o''^'^'*) followed by these lengthy descriptions of two animals, with its small inter- rogative element and entire absence of challenge at the close, is certainly greatly inferior in conception to the first with its vivid, brief descriptions of several animals, its recurrent challenging questions, and its final question (40^). To transfer the descriptions of behemoth and leviathan to the first speech, as some have proposed, merely mars the first without rendering the second speech thus reduced to great brevity (4o'-i4) more probable.
A further question is whether the whole of 40^*^-41** (^6) is from the same hand. If not, it is safest to distinguish from the rest 41^*^^ (4o^'-4i') which is mainly interrogative (and so in contrast to the rest which is almost entirely descriptive), and possibly treats of a sea monster in contrast to the Nile animals that form the subject of the rest. This passage (41^'") mightt\\&n have originally formed part of the first or rather the only speech of Yahweh. Others have distinguished (1) the description of leviathan (41^2-34 (4-26^ from (2) the description of behemoth and the interrogations about leviathan (40^''- 4i^M3)), attributing the whole of (2) to the author of 38 f. : so, e.g., Stuhlmann ; see also the discussions by Bu. (on 40^^-4126) and Ku. {Jlist. Crit. Onderzoek, iii. § loi, n. 17).
The identifications of behemoth and leviathan with the hippopotamus and the crocodile respectively are now commonly accepted : the only modern competing theory is that which, reviving- in a fresh form ancient Jewish interpretations (En. 5q7-9. 24^ Apoc. Bar. 29*, 4 Es. 6'*^~^2. gee also references, s.v. in^llj in Levy, NHWB) sees in these beasts mythical monsters described partly on the basis of mythological tradition, partly by means of traits derived from the hippopotamus and the crocodile (Che. EBi. 2483) : see Che. Job and Solomon^ 56, and Behemoth and Leviathan^ in EBi. ; Toy, Judaism and Christie
XL. 15.] BEHEMOTH 353
^^ Behold, now, behemoth, which I made with thee ; Grass, like the ox, doth he eat.
anity^ 162 f. ; Gu. Schopfungu. Chaos^ 57, 61 fF. ; and for a full and keen criticism of the theory, Bu. The supposed mythical traits are found mainly in the interrogative passage (41^"^^ (40^^-41^)), though not exclusively, for Che. and Gu. find such also in 40^*- 2* ^i25 (17)31-34 (23-26)^ ^ud especially in the fact that both animals, though this so far as the hippopotamus is concerned rests pre- cariously on 40^^, are represented as beyond the power of men to capture, whereas the ancient Egyptians hunted and captured both the crocodile and the hippopotamus. Yet this point can- not be pressed too far, for, as Bu. (on 40^5) has pointed out, the Egyptians themselves could speak rhetorically of the animals as unapproachable : so in a hymn of victory Amon-Re says of Thothmes : '' The lands of Mitanni tremble under fear of thee: I have caused them to see thy majesty as a crocodile, lord of fear in the water, unapproachable" (Breasted, Egyptian Records, ii. 659). Possibly, however, those who put forward this theory are so far right that two distinct animals are described in 41^"^* (40^^-4 1^^). In the interrogative passage, which is dominated by the idea of the beast's invincibility, there is nothing, unless we should so regard 41^ (40^^), that points necessarily or at all strikingly to the crocodile, and one or two points (see on 41^) seem inconsistent with it. We should, perhaps, distinguish (1) in 41^"^^ (40^^-41^) a description of a ^^^-monster, leviathan, which is implied in Ps. 104^6 to be seen of sailors on the sea, but is more often mentioned with distinctly mythical associa- tions (38, Is. 27I, Ps. 74!^ En. 6o7-9, 4 Esd. 6^9-52, Apoc. Bar. 29*), from (2) a description in 4112-34(4-26) ^f ^j^g M'/^-monster, the crocodile, which was never termed leviathan, but may have been mentioned by name in the rhythmically irregular and more or less corrupt opening v. of the description (41* ^^2)^^
15-24. Behemoth.— Its habits (i^- 20-23)^ bodily parts (i^-is), and avoidance of capture (2'*).
15. Behemot}i\ apparently the pi. of the common Hebr. term for beast with intensive force — tlie great beast — here applied to a particular animal which may, on the strength of the details 23
54 THE BOOK OF JOB [XL. 15.
*^ Lo, now, his streng-th is in his loins,
And his force is in the muscles of his belly.
given, especially of its amphibious character (^^^•), be identified with the hippopotamus (so most since Bochart, Hierozoicon^ lib. V. c. 15). On the possibility and extent of mythical elements in the description see above, and the notes that follow. Schultens, himself inclining to the elephant, records and criticizes a number of other identifications, mostly ridiculous, such as the worms feeding on Job's body, the domesticated ox, or, allegorically, the Devil or Christ. The hippopotamus, even if in the time of the author found outside Africa, and the crocodile were probably mainly thought of by the author as the two most conspicuous animals of Egypt and the Nile : cp. Herod, ii. 68-71, w^here the hippopotamus is described immedi- ately after the crocodile: Diod. i. 35; Pliny, HN. viii. 95. '' At the present time the river-swine (as the ancient Egyptians called them) \i,e. the hippopotamus] do not extend north of Dongola, between the second and third cataracts, and even there they are rare ; but both the frescoes and writings of the Egyptians and the fossil remains found in the Delta of the Nile show that in former times it inhabited Lower Egypt, and was harpooned by the inhabitants. During the Pleistocene and Pliocene epochs an animal specifically indistinguishable from the hippopotamus was widely spread over southern and middle Europe, extending even into England, so that although at present there is no distinct evidence of its existing in the Jordan, it is possible that it may formerly have done so " {EBi. 2073).
15. With thee] i.e. like thee (g^^ 37I8) ; both alike are God's creatures (cf. for the thought, 31^^ 33^). Or, omitting which 1 made with (Er, w^e may render is beside thee (seephil. n.). — Grass^ like the ox] from its size and strength it might have been judged to be a carnivorous animal ; but like other cattle it feeds merely on grass. The hippopotamus, especially at night, issues forth from its reedy ferns and "treading its way into the cultivated lands, makes sad devastation among the growing crops" (Wood's Mammalia^ p. 762).
16-18. The immense strength of the animal.
XL. 16-19.] BEHEMOTH 355
" He bendeth his tail like a cedar :
The sinews of his thighs are knit together.
" His bones are tubes of bronze ; His limbs are like bars of iron.
" He is the first of the ways of God :
Let him that made him bring near his sword I
l6a. Not very distinctive, since the loins in general, or at least in men, were proverbially the seat of strength (Nah. 2^, thy loins 1| thy power, Ps. 69^* ^^^\ Dt. 33^1 ; cp. Latin delum- hare^ to weaken) ; on the other hand, b. the muscles of the belly in the hippopotamus are said to be peculiarly thick and strong; and, unlike the elephant (i Mace. 6*^; Jos. Ant. xii. 9*), for example, it was not peculiarly vulnerable in the belly.
17a. A hyperbolical description of its tail. This is short, similar to that of a pig, hairless, very thick near the root, about the thickness of a finger at the end ; its muscular stiff- ness, regarded apparently as indicative of strength, forms the point of its comparison to a cedar. — Are knit together] intertwined, so as to form a compact mass of muscle. Perhaps (Del.) there is in ^yw"* an allusion to a closely intertwined bunch, or cluster, of vine-tendrils (cf. y^y^^ a cluster of tendrils^ Gn. ^o^^- 12 [EVV. bra7ich]).
18. Tubes of bronze] so strong and firm are they. — Limbs] or perhaps, strictly, bones: see phil. n.
19. Cp. in the description of leviathan, 4i33f. (25)^ — First] or, chief; n^SJ'Xl, lit. firsts beginnings may denote either what is first in timcy as the ^^ beginning oi vjisdom^^' Ps. iii^^, or first season (of a tree, Hos. 9^^), or what is first in rank, as Am. 6^ the chief of the nations, v.^ the best of unguents. Ways mean here the creative work of God : cf. 26^*, and especially Pr. 8^2 * * Yahweh got me (Wisdom) as the beginning of his way{s: ^ ^ U)." Is ** first," now, here to be taken in the sense of first in time (Gu. Schopf u. Chaos, 62) — according to Jewish Haggadah, Behemoth was not created until the 5th day (Bar. 29*, 4 Esd. 6^^) — or (Del.) first in rank, ''the most majestic work of creation, un chef d^oeuvre de Dieu (Bochart) " ? ** Perhaps (Hrz. Di. Bu. Du.) both ideas are to be thought of: behemoth was the masterpiece of God's creative work,
356 TFIE BOOK OF JOB [XL. 19-20.
^ For the mountains bring^ him (their) produce ; All the beasts of the field do play there.
because (Hrz.) His full, fresh creative force had embodied itself in it (cp. the expression ^3N l, Gn. 49^ al. ' th^ first [or firstfruits) of my virile strengthy of the firstborn, reg-arded at the same time as the fullest representative of his father's physical nature). *As mytholog^y peopled the primaeval times with g-iants, it is natural they should look on huge beasts like the hippopotamus as remnants of such times ' (Wr. 192)" — Dr. — God\ in a speech of Yahweh : cp. * 39^^ (perhaps interpolated). — Let him that made bring 7iear his sword f] viz. to assail him ; for no one else can do so. This is the only meaning which iW can have ; but it is not satisfactory : in particular, it anticipates 2* and it gives no reason for the following For {^^). The conven- tional rendering is, ** He that made him bri?igeth near his sword " (fig. for his powerful teeth), i.e. furnishes him with it : but this, though it satisfies the following For (see on ^'^) is for other reasons still less satisfactory (see phil. n.). The emenda- tion (Che. after Du.), which is made to he ruler of his fellows (i.e. of the other animals), is attractive and may be right, ffi suggests which is made for hiin to play with (cp. Ps. 104^^), i,e> to be God's plaything. Gu. very precariously, which was made that he should nde the dry land^ cp. En. 60""^, 4 Esd. 6*^-^2 (Behemoth created lord of the desert; Leviathan, lord of the deep).
20. For the mountains bring Jmn (their) produce\ — So iW, **For," however, agrees only with the conventional rendering of ^^ just mentioned (it requires such a weapon ; for it needs abundant vegetation for its nutriment), which (see phil. n.) is far from satisfactory; Du.'s emendation, '*For the produce of the mountains he taketh to himself," gives a better sense. Produce, as 20^^, Lev. 26^^, Ps. 67^ ^^^ al. (EVV. usually increase). ** Mountains " in Egypt are, however, at some distance from the Nile, and also bare : probably smaller cultivated heights, near the river itself, are meant. The thought of the line is, not that the animal feeds on mountains as opposed to plains, but that whole tracts of wooded and grassy heights are depastured
XL. 20-23.] BEHEMOTH 357
•^ Under the lotus trees he lieth,
In the covert of the reed, and the swamp. ^ The lotus trees screen him as his shade ;
The poplars of the wady compass him about. ^ Behold, if a river i" overflow!, he is not alarmed,
He is confident, though Jordan burst forth against his mouth.
by him. — b. The line according to the existing text suggests the harmlessness of the animal : huge as it is, it does not assail other creatures ; they can play fearlessly beside it. Gu. (see phil. n.) suggests that the original text expressed the subjec- tion of other animals to behemoth in some such form as all the beasts of the field look up to him.
21-22. Its favourite haunts : under the shade of lotus trees, or poplars, and among the reeds and swamps of the river's side. The "lotus" meant is not the water-lily called Nymphcea lotus^ though this is common in Egypt, but the Zizyphus Lotus^ a low thorny shrub, which (Wetzst.) loves warm and moist low-lying regions (e.g. the shores of the Sea of Galilee), and is common in N. Africa (cf. the \(OTO(f>dyoCj Od, 9. 82 ff.; Hdt. iv. 177).
21. The reed] the papyrus: Is. 19^ Ps. 68^^ **the beast of the reed." Cf. Ammian. Marc. xxii. 15 (cited by Bochart) : Inter arundines celsas et squalentes nimia densitate haec bellua cubilia ponit.
22. The poplars of the V5ady\'s>o Lev. 23*^; cf. the "wady of poplars" Is. 15^: D^my, also Is. 44^ Ps. 1372!. The Arabic equivalent is gharah : and branches of this, brought to Europe and examined, are found to belong to the Populus Ettphratica^ which is very common in Palestine, being found on the banks of the Jordan and all other rivers (EBi. iv. 5302). The ** wady" suggests Palestine rather than Egypt.
23. The animal may be asleep on the edge of the river, or even in the river itself, with just its eyes, ears, and nostrils above the water ; but it can dive and swim ; so even though the stream rises suddenly and dashes against it, it is not alarmed. In ^ {\i forda7t is correctly read there) the imagery is derived from Palestine (cp. last n. end) : ev^en though Jordan, a rapid and impetuous stream, dashed against it, it would still
358 THE BOOK OF JOB [XL. 23-24.
^ Can any take him •" when he is on the watch ', Or pierce through f his ^ nose with metal teeth ?
have no fear. — Overflow] in RV. ** overflow" is a paraphrase: RVm. be violent y is a doubtful rendering (see phil. n.). Gu., also by a slight emendation, obtains Falleth^ and then restores the whole v. as follows : Behold, if the river falleth, he is not alarmed ; He is confident, though the stream burst forth — alike whether the Nile rises or falls, the hippopotamus remains un- alarmed. — Is alarmed] Dt. 20^, Heb. (EVV. tremble). The word implies hurry mingled with alarm: i S. 23^6, 2 S. 4*, Ps. 48^ ^^^ 104^ (the waters **at the voice of thy thunder sped in alarm^'). 24. A very doubtful v. : by itself it would most naturally express the ease with which the animal is captured : this being impossible in the context, it has been often understood to mean, It cannot be taken like an ordinary land-animal : when it could see him, no one would be able to take it, nor can its huge nostril be pierced by metal teeth. — Can any . . . ?] No inter- rogation is expressed in |^ ; and it is not improbable that the v. was originally, like the rest of the passage, descriptive ; it may have read. No man can^ or similarly. Gu. surmises a mytho- logical reference : God taketh or took him : see phil. n. — Metal teeth] ^^^\>\o is not a 'snare' (EVV.), i.e, (Germ. Schnur^ a string) a cord^ or noose ; but, as its fig. use in the sense of a lure to destruction suggests (Ex. lo^ 23^^^, i S. 18^^, 'that they may be a mdkesh to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be upon him) the trigger, or metal tooth, on which the bait was placed which, when the animal touched it, was released either by the action of the animal itself, or (as in Egypt) by the fowler concealed near it, who pulled it by a string, so that the trap, or frame holding the net — see the illustration of an Egyptian trap-net in Dr. Joel and Amos, p. 157 — closed upon the animal; or sometimes — as the present passage would suggest — pierced its nostril, and so secured it (Del.). Such an instrument might effectually capture smaller animals ; but it would be useless against the huge, thick- skinned muzzle of the hippopotamus " — Dr. See Burney, Judges 40.
XLI. 1.] LEVIATHAN 359
XLI. (XL.) ^ <25» Canst thou draw out leviathan with a fish hook? Or press down his tongue with a line ?
XLI. 1-34 (XL. 25-XLL 26).— Leviathan : Can Job
capture leviathan ? ^■^. If not, how stand before God ? ^-^^ (but the text, meaning, and connection of ^-^^ are uncertain). In 12 34 there follows a description of, in all probability, the crocodile. Whether this animal is also the subject of ^-^^ is less certain (see above, p. 353). In describing the crocodile after the hippopotams, the writer probably had at least mainly in view the crocodiles of the Nile (cp. 3i (23) j^ j^ j^q^ crocodiles of the streams flowing into the Mediterranean south of Carmel, even if crocodiles at the time were found in any of the streams of Palestine. The OT. never refers to crocodiles in Palestine, though it is commonly inferred, from the names KpoKoSelXtov TToXfc?, attaching to a town between Ptolemais and Straton's Tower (Strabo, 16. 27), and Crocodilon (Pliny, UN. 5. 17), attach- ing to a stream generally identified with the Nahr ez-Zerka, which flows into the Mediterranean south of Carmel and north of Caesarea, that crocodiles existed in Palestine at least as early as these writers. Several mediaeval writers speak, mainly on hearsay, of crocodiles especially in the stream north of Caesarea (see Tobler, Dritte Wanderung nach PaldstinUy 375 fF.), and the presence of crocodiles, particularly in the Nahr ez-Zerka, has been reported by many modern travellers (see Memoirs of the Survey of Western Palestine^ ii. 3 ; H. B. Tristram, Faima and Flora, 155; Conder, Palestine, 70; Macgregor, The Rob Roy on the fordan, 432 f. (who also claims to have seen a crocodile in the Kishon, ib. 447 ff.) ; PEF Qu. St. 1887, p. i), and the skin of a crocodile said to have been killed in this stream is in the possession of the PEF (see Qu. St. 1893, pp. 183, 260). See more fully PEF Qu. St. Oct. 1920. XLL I (40^^). Can leviathan be taken by an ordinary hook and line ? — Leviathan] a term with mythological associations (3^n.), and never, presumably, the current Hebrew term for the crocodile, but here, if throughout down to ^* the same animal is referred to (yet see above, p. 353), applied to the crocodile to which the details in ^^-si gQ strikingly point that, with the
J
60 THE BOOK OF JOB [XLI. 1.
exception of Schultens, who still inclined to identify the animal described with the whale, most since Bochart have acquiesced in the identification, even those who argue for a mythical character of both behemoth and leviathan agreeing that ele- ments in the description in ^^-s* are taken from the crocodile. — Or press down, etc.] this has been explained as meaning that when the hook is swallowed and the cord drawn tightly, it presses down the tongue (Di. Da.). But the language is strange (see phil. n.). Du. Peake take the line to refer to lead- ing about the animal, after capture, by means of a rope fastened round the tongue and lower jaw ; and they find the idea carried on in 2. In this case ^^ and ^^ have probably changed places ; note that the more closely parallel terms line and cord^ fish hook and hook would by such a transposition be associated in the same distich ; ^^ in this case refers to what is done before capture : cp. Ezk. 29*. — His tongue\ this reference is not favourable to the identification of leviathan, ^-^ (as distinct from the animal described in ^^ff.) with the crocodile : for Herodotus (ii. 68) records a widely prevalent popular opinion when he remarks of the crocodile that *' unlike all other beasts, he grows no tongue"; similar statements (collected by Bochart, Hieros, V. 16) are made by Aristotle, Plutarch, Pliny, and Ammianus and others. The difficulty cannot be satisfactorily avoided by pleading that as a matter of fact the crocodile has a tongue, though it is immobile and adheres to the lower jaw ; for the question is not what is known to modern and some ancient (see Bochart) correct observers of the crocodile's anatomy, but what was the popular opinion in the age of the writer ; it is possible, though not probable, that the Jewish author of this passage did not share the opinion current in Egypt, carried home thence by Herodotus, who was probably nearly contemporary with him, and accepted by Aristotle. Peake very rightly rejects another explanation, remarking, the line hardly means **you cannot press down his tongue, for he has none ; but rather you cannot press down his tongue, for he is too formidable to be attacked." But would a writer so speak of the tongue in reference to an animal popularly believed to have none? 1^ (see phil. n.) admits of being rendered into his teeth ; but
XLI. 1-2.] LEVIATHAN 36 1
^ <^' Canst thou put a cord into his nose ?
Or pierce his jaw through with a hook? »(«) Will he make many supplications unto thee?
Or will he speak soft words unto thee ?
this rendering- involves an improbable construction, and the text probably refers, as most have assumed, to the tongue. There is another consideration unfavourable to the identifica- tion of the beast described in ^-^ ^^^^ with the crocodile : Herod, (ii. 70) describes the method of capturing crocodiles as follows : *' A man puts the back of a pig upon a hook as bait, and lets it go into the middle of the river, while he himself upon the bank of the river has a young live pig, which he beats : and the crocodile hearing its cries makes for the direc- tion of the sound, and when he finds the pig's back swallows it down ; then they pull, and when he is drawn out to land," etc. Now, as already remarked, though crocodiles were captured, even the Egyptians could speak of them rhetorically and in general terms as unapproachable ; but is it natural to ask incredulously ifi detail whether that was done which was done, or at least was believed by such a traveller as Herodotus to have been done ?
2 (40^^). Can it, after capture, be treated like other fish ? The reference may be either to the method of carrying fish when caught, cp. the illustration in Wilkinson, Ancient Egyptians^ ii. 118 {190), or (Del.) to the practice of passing a cord through their gills, and letting them down into the water again, to keep them fresh ; or there may be an allusion to the custom of leading about a bull or wild animal with a cord and ring (see on ^). — Cord] lit. a rush (4112(20)^ Is. 58-5), i.e. a cord either made of rushes, or spun of rush-fibre : cf. <t-^oIvo^ and a^oivioi. — Hook] nin is properly a drier (2 K. 14^), then a thorn (Pr. 26^), and fig. a spike or pointed hook for holding captives ; cp. 2 Ch. 33", and they caught (and held) Manasseh (D'^nhs) with hooks : and so (nn) Ezk. 19^ 29*, and Is. 37-^, I will put my hook in thy nostril : cf. the representation on a stele in the British Museum of Esarhaddon holding Tirhakah of Egypt and King Baal of Tyre, who are kneeling before him, by two cords, with rings at their end passed through their noses (PI. 40 in Rogers, CF).
362 THE BOOK OF JOB [XLI. 3-7.
4 (28) Will hg make a covenant with thee,
That thou shouldest take him for a servant for ever ? 8 (29) Wilt thQu play with him as with a bird ?
Or wilt thou bind him for thy maidens? 6 (30) Will the companies (of fishermen) bargain over him ?
Will they divide him among the merchants? '<2^> Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons,
Or, his head, with fish spears ?
3 (40^^). Will he beg to be spared or treated kindly?
4 (40^^). Will he consent to make an agreement with thee to be thy servant as long as he lives, receiving in return his food from thee? — Covenant\ as Gn. 31**, 2 S. 3^2* ^^ etc. — A servant forever] i.e. to the end of his life: so Dt. 15^^, i S. 27^^.
5 (40^^). Can Job play with him as a bird, or keep him in his house as a pet for his maidens ? Bochart and others compare Catullus' *' passer deliciai meae puellae."
6 (40^^). Is leviathan an article of traffic ? Will fisher- men make bargains (6^7) over him, or merchants be ready to take portions of it from them ? — Compafiies] D^")3n is associates^ partners : fishermen often worked in partnership ; cf. Luke 5*^ Karepevcrav rot? fieTo^oL^i iv toJ eTepo) irXoia), ^^ ot Tjaav Kocvcovol tw Si'fJ^oyvi. — Merchants] lit. Canaanites (i.e. Phoenicians), these being the principal ** merchants" known to the Hebrews. Cf. Is. 238, Zech. 1421, Zeph i^\ Pr. 312*, Ezk. 17*.
7 (41^^)' This V. might well refer to the crocodile : can spears pierce his sides so as to enter his flesh ? But it would anti- cipate, so far as the reference to the shield-like scales is con- cerned, ^^'^^ ^'^~^\ and, so far as the futility of weapons is con- cerned, 26-29 (i8-2i\ If ii^Q reference is to a sea-monster, the meaning is : as he is not to be captured with hook, so he is not to be slain by spears, for ^ no one assails leviathan with impunity : it is the assailant, not leviathan, that in such a case would suffer. — Fish spears] or, harpoons only here ; lit. a whizzing implement. Spears of various kinds were much used in ancient Egypt for fishing, and are often represented on the monuments. " The bident was a spear with two barbed points which was either thrust at the fish with one or both hands as they passed by, or was darted a short distance,
XLI. 7-11.] LEVIATHAN 363
8 (32) Lg^y ijy^ thinc haHcl upon him ;
(Then) think of the battle ; thou wilt do so no more ! ' <^> Behold, the hope of him (that assaileth him) proveth itself false ;
Even at the sight of him '^ he is "• prostrated. 10 (2) r Is i^g 1 j^Qf_ (too) fierce for one to stir him up ?
Who, then, is he that can stand before me ?
a long line fastened to it preventing its being lost, and serving to secure the fish when struck . . . sometimes a common spear was used for the purpose" (Wilk. B. ii. 121, cited in £Bi. i. 1527: the line and net were, however, also used; see illustr., zbz'd. 11 5- 117).
8 (41^^). I.e. If thou merely layest thy hand upon him, the thought of the struggle thou wilt have with him will deter thee from ever doing so again.
9-II (I-3). It is hopeless to expect to conquer in a contest with the monster (9-ioa) . who, then, can expect to stand in a contest with God ? (lo^-n). The thought of ^o^-^i, however, occasions difficulties, and it is very doubtful if the text through- out is correct. For mythological allusions found (after emenda- tion) in these vv. by Gu. and Che., see phil. n. Me. and Du. consider the vv. not only in need of emendation, but also out of place ; see on ^2.
9. Of him [that)y etc.] The pron., as happens sometimes in Heb. (see phil. n.), refers to the person whom the poet has in his mind, here the assailant. — b. The very sight of the monster will paralyse his assailant. — He is] J^, impossibly, is he ? EVV. silently emend by inserting not.
lOa. Commonly rendered, **He (the assailant) — or (Del.), One — is not fierce (enough), that he should stir him up" (Di.): but "JT3fc< is strictly cr^el and is better, as above, applied to the animal (see phil. n.). The general thought is in both cases the same : no one dares to molest him.
lib. The sudden introduction of God here, without the least emphasis in the Heb. on me to suggest that a different reference is intended, agrees indifferently with the context; hence Gu. Du. Ehrlich, Honth. read the 3rd p. instead of the ist. ** Who, then, is he that can stand before him {i.e. Leviathan) ? Who ever con- fronted him, and prospered?" - *'i$l is, however, attested (in
364 THE BOOK OF JOB [XLI. 11-12.
11(3) Who hath ever confronted me, and prosper^ cd"* ? Under the whole heaven such a one is •" not "■ I
both words) by © ; it is not apparent why, if the 3rd pers. stood ori^'-jnally in ^^^- ^^% it should, after the 3rd pers. in ^^, have been changed into the ist: and though 27 Heb. MSS and 3r read him for me (VDsi' for ^i^i^) in 1^^, this may be an error, due to faulty assimilation to * stir him up' just before: the remainingf Versions all read nie^ and there is no variant in either MSS or VV. in 'confronted me' in i^^" (Dr.).— 5'/tf«^ (av^n") before tjie] the expression, as Dt. 7^* (^353) 92 ii25 (^333), Jos. i^.
11. Me] or, emending-, him (see on ^^). — And prospered] so, virtually, S : see phil. nn. pp. 335, 337. — lia. jiH Whoever came before me, or to meet me (Mic. 6^, Dt. 23^^*^) (sc. with a gift), Iha^ / shot/ Id repaj' (it)? (so U, RV.); and the verse is alluded to in this sense in Rom. 11^'* ^ Tt9 irpoehaifcev av7w, Kal avTairoSo- Oyjaerat avrw ; This would be an indirect way of saying that no one has any claim against God, or ground of complaint against Him, such as Job had raised : man has given God nothing, so He owes no man anything. But the manner in which the thought that God owes no man anything is introduced, and the application made of it to the question what God owes man morally j are both improbable. For the form of sentence emended as above, see 9^ ; for D"'lpn in a hostile sense, Am. 9^^ f, and more usually D"!.!?, Is. 37^3^ Ps. iS'^-i^.— b. **(EVV. Whatsoever is) under the whole heaven is mine"; this is, of course, true in itself (Ps. 50^^), and would perfectly agree with *, as read in fE ; but unfortunately there is no word in the Heb. for What- soever. The clause can only be rendered, ''Under all the heaven it [or he) is mine." " It " has no antecedent : ** he " is adopted by Bu., with the meaning, he [i.e. whoever under the whole heaven thus confronted me) is mine, cannot escape me. On the emended text followed above see phil. nn. p. 335 f.
12-34. (4-26). Description in detail of the bodily structure of the crocodile, and of the formidable powers with which it is endowed.
12. (4). The V. appears to be corrupt (see phil. nn.), and
XLI. 12-14.] THE CROCODILE 365
12 (4) I vvill not keep silence concerning: his limbs,
Or the account of ^ his "> migfht, or the ^ strength ^ of his build.
13 (5) Who hath (ever) stripped off his outward garment ?
Within his double '' coat-of-mail "^ who can come? 1* «6) Who hath opened the doors of his face ? Round about his teeth is terror.
may perhaps in its original form have expressed a meaning radically different from the above, possibly in * naming the crocodile. Me., placing ^"^^ before 38^, renders, I will not silently tolerate his (Job's) prattlings (11^) and the word of pride and his artificial (kunsfliche) speeches: Du., placing ^~^- after 40-*, renders, He (the assailant of behemoth) would never (again after a single conflict) renew his boastings, or his talk about valiant deeds and his practical outfit. But these render- ings, though they involve no more extensive emendations than that given in the text above, strain the meaning of some of the words (see phil. nn.). It is unwise to use this v. to depreciate the literary skill of the author of the following description ; this certainly does not reveal the same kind of genius as the brief descriptions in c. 39, but it is in its own way vivid and vigorous; in order to appreciate c. 39, it is unnecessary to depreciate 41^'-^-. — Strength] reading ^>n (of physical strength, as 2i7, Ps. 1833.40(32.39)3317). j^^ perhaps, ^r^2c^ (see phil. n.); but the crocodile is not exactly remarkable for its gracefulness ; and the point here is not the animal's comeliness, but its formidable character. — Build] lit. arrangement \ see phil. n.
13 (5)- Stripped off] n^j as Is. 22^ (n.) ^f.~His outward garment] the animal's scales. — His dcuhle coat-of-mail] i.e. the animal's scales (cp. EBi. i. 605) and hide: so © Wr. Du. Be.. JH '*his double bridle,'' which is interpreted as meaning his upper and lower jaws, each furnished with a powerful array of teeth. But *' bridle" would be a strange term to use of either the jaws or the rows of teeth.
14 (6). The doors of his face] i.e. his upper and lower jaws. — b. The teeth of the crocodile, *'in the upper jaw usually 36, in the lower 20, long and pointed, are the more formidable to look at, as there are no lips to cover them " (Di.).
15-17 (7-9). His armour of scales.
366 THE BOOK OF JOB [XW. 15-18.
15 (7, r Hjs back ■• is (made of) channels of shields,
(Each) shut up closely, (as) a compressed seal.
16 (8) One is so near to another.
That no air can come between them.
17 (9) They take hold of one another ;
They stick togfether, that they cannot be sundered. 18 (10) fijs sneezings flash forth light,
And his eyes are like the eyelids of the dawn.
15 (7). His hack is channels of shields] The creature's scales are called fig. *' shields " ; each scale of the crocodile is a hard, horny, rectangular plate ; they extend in rows along the animal's back, forming a strong protective covering, and the "channels" (6^^ 40^^) are the spaces between these rows found by their sides (see the illus. in Wood's Reptilian p. 29). The term " shields " is appropriate. ** The plates which cover the skin of the crocodile are of exceeding hardness, so hard, indeed, that they are employed as armour by some ingenious warriors. A coat of natural scale armour formed from the crocodile skin may be seen in the British Museum" {ib.). And even modern zoo- logists call the scales ** scutes" (i.e. scutay shields); see the quotation given on v.^^. — b. The scales are firmly attached to the body : each is like a seal pressed tightly against the underlying surface. A seal, in the ancient East, was made of clay, sealed while it was soft, and hardened afterwards by burning. The rows of scales are like rows of seals, each of the same rectangular shape, and each pressed down firmly against the skin.
16-I7 (8-9). How firmly the scales are attached to one another ; no air can enter between them, and they are insepar- able from each other.
18 (lOa). The spray breathed through his nostrils, as he sneezes, flashes in the sunlight. The crocodile often lies, with its mouth open — looking towards the sun ; and hence its ten- dency to sneeze. Cf. Strabo, xvii. : ^Xcd^ovrai Ke^^rjpoTG^y and ^lian. Hist. iii. 11 : ^EttI rr]v S^Orjp 7rpo€\6cov Kara rfj^; dKrlvo<i K6^rjv6Pj cited by Boch. Hieroz. lib. v. c. 17. — b. Like the eye- lids of the dawn (3^)] The allusion is apparently (Di.) to the reddish eyes of the crocodile, which appear gleaming through the water before the head appears above the surface. In the Egyptian hieroglyphics the dawn is denoted by the crocodile's
XLI. 18-23.] THE CROCODILE 367
19(H) Qut^ of his mouth go burning torches,
(And) sparks of fire leap forth. ** <i2) Qyj. Qf j^jg nostrils a smoke cometh forth,
As of a boiling pot and rushes. ^ <i'> His breath setteth coals ablaze,
And a flame goeth forth from his mouth. *2<"> In his neck abideth strength,
And before him danceth dismay.
eyes ; Bochart cites Horus, Hieroglyph, i. 65 : *AvaTo\rjv XiyovTe'i, Bvo 6^6a\fJiov<i KpoKoSelXov ^(oypacfyovaiv iireihriirep (lege iTreiBrj irpo) 7ravTo<i trdofjiaTo^ ^(oov oi 6(j)9a\fiol ex rod fiuOov ava4>aivovTaL,
19-21 (II-13). A hyperbolical description of the spray, which, as the monster rises above the water after a long sub- mergence, is expelled with some vehemence when its pent-up breath is released, and sparkles in the sunlight.
20 (12). As of a boiling pol, and rushes (2(4o26))]._The monster's breath is compared to steam issuing forth from a boiling pot, intermingled (if the text is correct) with the smoke of the rushes used as fuel and burning beneath it. But we should perhaps rather read \ as of a pot blown upon and boilijtg^ i.e. brought to the boil upon the fire : Wycliffe (after F) ** as of a pot set on the fier and boilynge." Smoke must here be what we should call steam.
21 (13). The drops of spray, flashing in the sunlight, are compared to sparks thrown out by burning coal, and the stream of spray itself to a flame of fire.
22 (14a). The neck, mentioned between the conspicuous features in the head (I8-21) ^nd the body i^^- 3<>, originally, perhaps, consecutive vv. : see on 30-32j^ jg inconspicuous in the crocodile (see Bochart) ; and so here no description is given of its out- ward appearance. — Before him^ etc.] cp. Hab. 3^. — Danceth dis)nay\ a beautiful and expressive figure, denoting the con- sternation which his approach occasions, which it is an injustice to the poet to emend away — especially into questionable Hebrew (see phil. n.). Boch. quotes Hes., after the description of the chariot of Ares, irapa 5e Beifio^ re (f>6po<i re "Earaaav, Up^evoL iroXep-ov KaTahvp^evai avhpwv.
23 (15). Even the ''flakes," lit. fallings i.e. pendulous,
368 THE BOOK OF JOB [XLL 23-25.
» <^5) The flakes of his flesh are joined together,
(The whole) firm upon him (and) unmoveable.
« (i«) His heart is as firm as a stone ;
Yea, firrti as the nether millstone.
»<i" At his uprising the mighty are in dread :
By reason of consternation thej^ are beside themselves.
parts of his body, under the neck and belly, which in most animals are soft, are in the crocodile firm and hard. **The skin of the -vohole body is scaly, with a hard, horny, waterproof covering of the epidermis, but between these mostly flat scales the skin is soft. The scutes or dermal portions of the scales are more or less ossified, especially on the back, and form the characteristic dermal armour" {Encycl. Brit. vii. 478*).
24 (16). His heart is as Jittti as a stone]. — **The firmness " meant is not merely physical firmness, but the staunch moral firmness, as shown in undaunted courage, of which the physical strength and firmness of the heart were often regarded by the ancients as the foundation : cp. how |'0N and ptn, each mean- ing to be strong or Jirniy are regularly applied to the heart to denote courage (e.g. Ps. 27^* 'Met thine heart be strong^'' i.e. courageous). Boch. (op. cit.) quotes from Elmacinus' History of the SaracenSy the statement that after a certain warrior was dead, his heart was cut out, and found to be as ''hard and compact as a stone." — The nether millsione\ the Eastern domestic handmill used for preparing corn for daily use, consisted, as it consists still, of two circular stones, each about 18 inches in diameter, the lower one resting upon the ground, and the upper one having a hole in the centre to admit the corn being turned round upon it by a woman (Ex. 11^), or sometimes (Mt. 24*^) by two women. The lower stone is always he^-yier, and often made of harder material, than the upper stone (cf. Jg. 9^^).
25 (17). When the monster prepares himself to fight, the bravest are in consternation. — The 7nighty\ or the gods. — By reason of consternation they] the Hebr. is very questionable (l .e phil. n.) ; perhaps we should read a7id at his teeth mighty men : for this and other suggestions see phil. n.
26-29 (18 -21). Every weapon the monster defies.
XLI. 26-30.] THE CROCODILE 369
26 08} Though the sword reach him, it doth not hold,
Nor the spear, the dart, nor the pointed shaft.
27 (19) j|g counteth iron as straw,
(And) bronze as rotten wood.
28 (UO) 'Yhe arrow caiinot make him flee :
Sling-stones are turned for him into stubble. * <3'> A club •" is "• counted as a "" reed ^ ;
And he laugheth at the rushing of the javelin. ** '--> Beneath him are the sharpest potsherds :
He spreadeth (as it were) a threshing-drag upon the mud.
26 (18). The dart, nor the pointed shaft] the Heb. is un- certain : see phi!, n.
28(20). Arrow] Heb. son of the bow. cf. La. 3^^ nst^^x ^33, sons of the quiver ; and above, on 5^. — Slingstones] cf. Zee. 9^^ ; also Jgf. 20I6 (cf. I Ch. 12^), I S. 1740- *^f- 2^-\ ''The sling is a simple and, with practice, effective weapon, still in frequent use in Syria, Egypt (where I have seen it used myself), and Arabia. Cf. EBi. iv. 4659" (Dr.).
29 (21). A reed] '^ ''stubble," as 28(20). jhe reed is a fig. of weakness : Is. 36^, Ezk. 2cf .—Laugheth] cf. 397- is- 22,
30-32 (22-24). Description of the underpart of his body i^\ and of his progress through the water (^^^•). The verses would be more in their place after 24(16)^ while conversely vv.^^^- ^^sf.) would more suitably be immediately preceded by the description of the invincibility of the animal in vv.2^~29 ^i7-2ij . possibly they have become accidentally misplaced. They are omitted by % ; but that is no sufficient reason for questioning their originality.
30 (22). Beneath him] i.e. on the underpart of his body. — The allusion is to the scales of the belly, which, though less hard than those on the back (cf. on ^^), are still sharp, particularly those under the tail, so that, when the animal has been lying in the mud by the river-bank, they leave an im- pression upon it as if a sharp threshing-drag had been there. The same comparison to potsherds, at least of the scales of the backy is made by ^lian, Hist. x. 24 (cited by Boch.) : Ta vcora Se ire^^VKS koX ttjv ovpap apprjKTOfi, Xeiriat, fiep yap re Kal (poXiai irecf-^paKTai, kqI co? ap eiiroi rt? &7r\iaTaL, Kal ioiKaaiv oarpd- KOL<i Kaprepol^. The threshing-drag no doubt resembled the one, usually about 7 ft. long by 5 ft. broad, still in use in
24
370 THE BOOK OF JOB [XLI. 30-31.
»i <28) He maketh the deep to boil like a (perfume-) pan ;
The sea he maketh like (seething) perfume. 82(24) Behind him he maketh a path to shine ;
One would think the deep to be hoary.
Syria, consisting of two oblong- planks, fastened together by two wooden cross-pieces, slightly curved upwards in front (in the direction in which the instrument would be drawn), and set underneath crosswise with sharp pieces of hard stone, or basalt : the driver stands upon it ; and being drawn round the threshing-floor by oxen, it shells out the grain, and cuts up the straw into chaff. It is referred to in the OT. by the same name han'is or harts (something "sharpened") in 2 S. I2^\ Am. i^, Is. 28^^*, and under the name morag in 2 S. 24^^, Is. 41^^ ** Behold, I will make thee (Israel) as a sharp new threshing-sledge^ possessing edges." See, further. Driver y /oel and Amos, p. 227 f. (where an illustration is given). The rendering (EVV.) ** threshing-wam" (i.e. wagon) is un- fortunate; for it does not at all suggest what the implement was like: the *^ threshing-wagon" itself (Is. 28^7^) being, more- over, of entirely different construction.
31-32 (23-24). The froth and foam which he stirs up, as he rushes through the stream, and lashes the water with his tail ; and the shining track of white bubbles which he leaves behind him.
31 (23). A (perfume-) pan] t.e, a pan, or pot — **pan" is merely adopted for the sake of variety in the English such as there is in the Heb., in this v. as compared with v.^^^^®^ — in which oil and other ingredients, being boiled together to produce an unguent or perfume (v.^), yielded a white frothy foam : nj^T and its derivatives include the ideas of unguent, perfume, and spice (Ca. 8^, of spices mixed with wine). The "ointment" (EVV.) ^, or perfume, of ^ must be thought of as a boiling liquid. Cf. Ex. 30^^ (of the holy anointing oil, made of myrrh, cinnamon, aromatic reed, cassia, and olive oil), "a perfume of perfumery, the work of the perfumer," and 30^^ (of the incense, compounded of spices, myrrh-oil, onycha, galbanum, and frankincense) : also i S. 8^^ female perfumers (or perfume- makers), Is. 57^ thy perfumeries or imguents. In his choice
XLI. Sl-XLH. 8.] JOB 371
w <26) Upon earth there is not his like,—
That is made without fear. M<86) Every thing that is high Teareth him''; He is king over all the sons of pride. XLI I. * And Job answered Yahweh and said,
2 I know that thou art omnipotent,
And that no plan is impossible for thee.
of this particular figure for the appearance of the water after being v^^s^*^^ by the crocodile, the writer may have been influenced by the musk-like smell of the crocodile which, as Bochart showed, was frequently and widely observed. — The sea] i.e. the Nile (as Is. 19^, Nah. 3^), still called by the Arabs el- Bahr^ i.e. the sea.
32 (24). Hoary\ Hf 55', as i K. 2^' » al. Hrz. compares //. i. 350, %lv e</)* ako^ TToXirjfSy and Od. iv. 405 (of seals) . , , 7ro\c'fj<; aXb'i i^avahvarat.
33 f. (25 f.). He has no rival, he fears no one and nothing, he is king over all proud beasts upon the earth.
33 (25). That is made^ etc., the antecedent to ** that " is not, of course, his like^ but the pronoun to be elicited from **his." '*He that is made without fear" would be clearer: but un- fortunately it would also, as English, be ungrammatical.
34 (26). ilE has, ''Everything that is high he seeth," viz. unconcerned and unmoved : but the thought is weakly ex- pressed ; and Gu.'s emendation, while changing little, yields a much more forcible sense. — The son of pride] i.e. other proud beasts : so 28^.
XLI I. 1-6. In the present state of the text, 2-6 contain Job's reply to Yahweh's second speech (40^-41^*), ^ being the ordinary introductory formula ; but originally, as it would seem, 2~^ formed the conclusion (immediately following 40*-^) of Job's reply to Yahweh's only speech. See on 40*'- and ^ (p. 348 f.).
2. Job acknowledges that God can achieve all that He plans, and that He plans knowing that He can do all things. — Is impossible for] lit. is cut off from : see phil. n.
3. a. b = 38^, a marginal note. Dr. (Book offob)^ treating it as an integral part of the text, remarks ; ** understand here. Thou didst say truly. Job repeats the question addressed to him
372 THE BOOK OF JOB [XLII. 3-5.
• Who is this that hideth the purpose (of God),
*" With words (spoken) '' without knowledge ? Therefore I have declared, without understanding- Things too wonderful for me, without knowing.
* Hear, I pray thee, and / will speak ;
I will ask thee, and do thou inform me. ^ By the hearing of the ear I had heard of thee, But now mine eye hath seen thee.
in 38^, for the purpose of admitting (lines 2 and 3 [ = *'•'' above]) the justice of the rebuke implied in it." — C. Cp. 38*^- 1*. d. Cp. Ps. i39«.
4. Cp. 2i2f- 3331 ; t) = 383b. Like 3»-t> the v. is probably a marginal note; otherwise Dr.: **Job repeats, in line i, the substance [merely abandoning the figure of battle, Di.], and in line 2 the actual words of God's challenge to him in 38^ ( = 40^), prior to confessing (v.^) his inability to meet it, and retracting (v.*) his former presumptuous utterances."
5. In speaking of the wonderful ways of God (3) on the ground of what he had heard about God, Job now realizes that he had spoken unwisely and ignorantly; for there has now come to him through vision intimate first-hand personal know- ledge of God, which does not indeed clear up for him all mysteries, but does show him that, if they are mysteries, they are the mysteries of one in the vision of whom there is peace and blessedness. Vision is here contrasted as direct personal experience of what a person is and does with hearing as knowledge at second-hand, knowledge of some other's experi- ence or report of that person, knowledge which, even if not mingled with error, as was the traditional doctrine of God, which had been passed on to Job, must at best be blurred and indistinct ; for the contrast, cp. 2821'-, Ps. 48^ (the stories of the fathers about God (cp. Ps. 44^) verified by the direct sight, ue. experience, of the present generation). The vision spoken of is not the sight of any form or appearance of God ; for there is no indication that Job is conceived as having seen such, and, moreover, the sight of an appearance or outward form is just as far as hearing from giving direct, intimate, true knowledge (cp. Js. ii3, I S. 16^). What Job has seen, ue, experienced.
J
XLII. 6-7.] THE EPILOGUE 373
* Wherefore I repudiate (what I had said), And repent, (sitting) upon dust and ashes.
^ And it came to pass after Yahweh had spoken these words to Job, Yahweh said to Eliphaz the Temanite, ** My anger is hot against thee, and against thy two friends, because ye have not spoken concerning me what is right, as my servant Job
is just what he had wished to see (19^^), viz. that God is not against him or estranged from him ; and his wish has been more than fulfilled, for the vision has come to him before death.
6. The V. is probably corrupt, the words / repudiate and re- pent being uncertain and ambiguous (see phil. n.); and the phras- ing of the V. rather tame and unsatisfactory. — Upon dust and ashes\ 2^ : the clause, if repent is rightly read, enforces Job's grief and penitence ; cp. Is. 58^, " Is this the fast that I choose . . . that (a man) should spread ashes " : Jon. 3^, ** And the king of Nineveh . . . covered himself with sackcloth and sat on ashes."
7-17. The Epilogue recording (i) Yahweh's condemnation of the three friends, whom He exempts from the punishment due to their wrong speech about Him after, at His direction, they have obtained Job's intercession on their behalf ; and (2) the restoration of Job to more than his former prosperity. If the whole of the Epilogue and Prologue are from one hand, that hand had lost its cunning before it reached the Epilogue ; the repetition in ^^ of the clause in ^^ may indeed be a mere textual accident : if not, it is very different in character from the repetitions in the Prologue ; but the contrast comes but more strongly in the absence of concentration and compression which contributes so largely to the effect of the Prologue. We may note especially the irrelevant particularity which gives the names of Job's three daughters, and the detail as to their inheritance (^** ^^) ; and the detailed explanation in ^^^ of the general statement in ^^**.
7a. The last words spoken were Job's not Yahweh's, but the writer wishes to define the order in which Yahweh addresses Job and his friends, and so he refers to Yahweh's last words. — Yahweh said to Eliphaz] apparently not while Eliphaz was in
374 THE BOOK OF JOB [XLII. 7-10.
hath. ^ And now, take you seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up a burnt-offering on behalf of yourselves, and let my servant Job pray for you ; for him will I accept that I deal not mercilessly with you ; because ye have not spoken concerning me what is right, as my servant Job hath. ^ And Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Sophar the Na'amathite went, and did as Yahweh had said unto them. And Yahweh accepted Job.
1^ And Yahweh changed Job's fortunes, when he prayed on behalf of his friends : and Yahweh increased all that Job had
Job's presence, for it is necessary for Eliphaz and his friends to go to Job (^), but, perhaps, when alone and by night (Bu.) ; cp. 4^^. — Concerning me] not to me (Bu.), for the friends had spoken to not God, but Job. God confirms (cp. iG^i) the truth in general of Job's account of His ways and condemns as false that of the friends. — What is right] i.e. true, certain (n:i33, cp. Ps. 5!^ Dt. I3l^ I S. 2323).
8. The sin of the friends having been great must be expiated by an exceptionally large burnt-offering, and even so the offer- ing must be reinforced by the prayer of one who has proved himself an exceptionally steadfast servant of Yahweh. — Hi7n will I accept] lit. his face will I lift up', cp. 13^ n. — Seven bullocks and seven rams] in Nu. 23 f. Balaam offers on seven different altars seven bullocks and seven rams in all ; Ezekiel required as burnt-offerings for the entire people (Ezk. 45^^"^^) seven bullocks and seven rams daily during the two great annual festivals ; but the expiatory sacrifices required by the law from individuals were much smaller (Lv. 4). — A burnt-offering] seen, on i^. — And let fob pray for thee ^ etc.] cp. Gn. 20^, Nu. 21^, I S 7^'-. — That I deal not mercilessly with you] "(lit. do no nebaldh to you, do nothing regardless of your feelings or claims : see on 2^^), i.e. lest I punish you without compunction or regret ... of course, the expression implies an anthropomorphism " (Dr.).
10. Changed fob' s fortmies] lit., according to the view taken of the etymology of the noun brought back the captives of fob (see especially Preuschen in ZATW^ 1895, i ff.) or turned the
XLII. 10-12.J THE EPILOGUE 375
two-fold. ^^ And all his brethren and all his sisters and all who formerly knew him came and ate bread with him in his house ; and they showed their grief for him, and comforted him for all the evil which Yahweh had brought upon him ; and they gave him each a kesitah and each a ring of gold. ^^ ^nd Yahweh blest the last part of Job's life more than the first part : and so he came to have fourteen thousand sheep and goats, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she-asses. ^^ And he had seven sons and three daughters :
turning of Job (Ew. al.) ; see phil. n. — When he prayed on behalf of his friends\ probably Hi. was right in surmising that the clause originally stood at the end of ^ (cp. *). In its present position it has been variously understood as defining the time (Di.), or the ground, of the change in Job's fortunes ; in the latter case render because he prayed^ etc., and cp. Is. 53^2^ (q^ And when he prayed for the friends, he forgave them their sin : but between the first and third clauses of the v. this is not likely to be the true reading. — b. Explicated in detail in ^2. — Increased] strictly, as Du. points out, gave back is required : RV. eases the sentence by inserting ''before " after had.
II. Job's kinsmen and acquaintance, who had kept away during his illness and poverty (19^^^-), now that he is restored ^^^^ to health and wealth, visit him, and express their sorrow for the troubles now past, accept his hospitality, and give him presents such as were customarily given by visitors. — Showed their griej\ 2}^ n. — A kesi(ah\ a piece of money mentioned else- where only in JE (Gn. 33^^, Jos. 24^^^^ ^nd introduced here, perhaps, as a mark of the patriarchal age. The kesitah was presumably of no great value, since Abraham gave a hundred kesitahs for a piece of ground ; speculations on the curious rendering lamb by ffi and on the etymology may be found in EBi.^ s.v. Kesitah and Levy, NHWB'w, 396. — A ring\ such as was worn (by women) on the nose (Gn. 24**^, Is. 3^1), or (by men) especially among the Bedavvin (Jg. 8^*), in the ear (Gn. 35^).
12a. Cp. 8^. — b. Cp. i^; the numbers of the cattle are exactly double (cp. ^^) of those there given of Job's earlier
376 THE BOOK OF JOB [XLII. 12-17.
1* and he named the first (daughter) Jemimah, the second Kesi'ah, and the third Keren-happuch ; ^^ and women as fair as the daughters of Job were not to be found in all the earth : and their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers. ^* And Job lived after this a hundred and forty years, and saw his sons, and his sons' sons, (even) four genera- tions. 1^ And Job died old and full of days.
possessions ; the servants of which no exact number is given in 1 3 are here not mentioned : and the children (^^) are the same in number, not twice as many, as formerly (i-).
14. The names appear to have been chosen to correspond to the beauty or charms of the bearers of them ; Jemimah probably means dove (cp. Ca. 2^* 5^ 6^) or little dove ; Kesiahy a powdered fragrant bark, prized for its scent (Ps. 45^), and Keren-happuch^ horn, i.e. flask (i S. i6\ i K. i^*), of antimony, a black mineral powder used (2 K. 9^^, Jer. 4^), and still used, by women in the East, to darken the edges of the eyelids and so increase by contrast the lustre of the eye.
15b. According to Nu. 27^ (P) the daughters of a Jewish father only inherited when there were no sons ; the statement may be a remnant of a fuller story about Job's daughters (Du.), and the reason for it is best left undetermined : Hi. Bu. al. see in it proof of Job's wealth and fatherly regard, Di. a provision for allowing the daughters after marriage to continue to live among their brothers — a parallel trait to i*.
16. According to ffi. Job lived after his restoration to pros- perity 170 years, and in all 240, i.e. he was 70 years old at the time of his trial ; this last point may belong to the tradition on which the Epilogue draws : then assuming the one hundred and forty of 3^ to be correct, he not only enjoyed double prosperity (^®), but enjoyed it for double as long.
16. And Job lived after] Gn. 5^ (P). — b. Cp. Gn. 502s, Ps. 1286.
17. Cp. Gn. 258 35'^* (P). On the longer conclusion in (&. which records that Job will share in the future resurrection from the dead, see lutrod. § 45. 48, and Exp. 1920 (June), 428 if.
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