Commentary on Job Part 2 (No. F018ii)

Job Chapters 7-12 (RSV)

Chapter 7 continues on from Chapter 6:1 concerning Job's Reply.

Chapter 7

Job: My Suffering Is without End

¹“Has not man a hard service upon earth, and are not his days like the days of a hireling? ²Like a slave who longs for the shadow, and like a hireling who looks for his wages, ³so I am allotted months of emptiness, and nights of misery are apportioned to me. ⁴When I lie down I say, (‘When shall I arise?’ But the night is long, and I am full of tossing till the dawn. ⁵My flesh is clothed with worms and dirt; my skin hardens, then breaks out afresh. ⁶My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, and come to their end without hope. ⁷“Remember that my life is a breath; my eye will never again see good. ⁸The eye of him who sees me will behold me no more; while thy eyes are upon me, I shall be gone. ⁹As the cloud fades and vanishes, so he who goes down to Sheol does not come up; ¹⁰he returns no more to his house, nor does his place know him any more. ¹¹“Therefore I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul. ¹²Am I the sea, or a sea monster, that thou settest a guard over me? ¹³When I say, ‘My bed will comfort me, my couch will ease my complaint,’ ¹⁴then thou dost scare me with dreams and terrify me with visions, ¹⁵so that I would choose strangling and death rather than my bones. ¹⁶I loathe my life; I would not live for ever. Let me alone, for my days are a breath. ¹⁷What is man, that thou dost make so much of him, and that thou dost set thy mind upon him, ¹⁸dost visit him every morning, and test him every moment? ¹⁹How long wilt thou not look away from me, nor let me alone till I swallow my spittle? ²⁰If I sin, what do I do to thee, thou watcher of men? Why hast thou made me thy mark? Why have I become a burden to thee? ²¹Why dost thou not pardon my transgression and take away my iniquity? For now I shall lie in the earth; thou wilt seek me, but I shall not be.”

Intent of chapter 7

vv. 1-2 Job asserts that man’s life consists of no more than hard labor and servitude with no hope no reward, as of a slave (Gen 3:17-19). The term time of service (and in 14:14) in the Heb. the word usually means “warfare” (Num. 1:3; 1Sam. 28:1). Here it is taken as hard service in the battle of life (Daath Mikra). Ibn Ezra and Rashi interpret it as a “determined or limited time” (Soncino) and Ralbag and Metsudath David hold it refers to “an end” and “an appointed time'” This gets to the point of Job as preparation for the end time at the return of the Messiah.

vv. 3-4 He finds not any rest at night, no refreshing, no relief, only torment. He is in the depths of exhaustion.

v. 5 Job graphically describes his skin condition, the sores, infection, even worms eat him and yet he is still alive. This is the agreement that Satan would be allowed to afflict Job, yet not kill him, and foreshadowed the prophecy in Revelation concerning the last days, when we are told that men will wish to die but cannot die (Job 2:1-6; Rev 9:5-6). This was because they had taken the false religion as their mark rather than the Seal of God under the Law and the Testimony.

vv. 6-10 Job speaks of the temporary human condition and asks that God remember how short and fragile his life is. He realises that he is but a vapor. (Pss. 39:5,11; 62:9; 78:39; James 4:14).

vv. 11-16 Job decides to complain and explain without restraint due to his misery and his perceived short time to be heard with bitterness and anguish. He would rather die than continue on like this. Job and the Psalms are both filled with the complaint of the common man, with the anguished cries of the tortured man in trials.

v. 12 Am I the Sea or a Sea monster personifies evil and uses sarcastic humour in his appeal. Likens also to the Babylonian religious forces which Marduk posts around the dragon in the creation poem. This conflict goes on through until the end of Satan’s Rule (see 3.8n). Every person can relate on some level to both of these texts, even in their most hopeless and lowest of times. This shows that God is compassionate and is not far away in our sufferings, but close and attentive. He can sympathize, as Christ was tempted in all points, as we are (Heb 4:15). It was not a sin for Job, nor the Psalmists, to voice their complaints and their mourning bitter cries. In this struggle, in these questions, and wrestling with the LORD, man comes to revelation and a relationship with God. All things work together to the good for those that love God and are called according to His Purpose, developing that growth through sufferings (Rom. 8:28).

v. 17 What is man that God is mindful of him? (Ps 144:3-4).

vv. 18-20 Why? Job is searching to know the purpose of his sufferings and the answer does not come. He feels unjustly persecuted and here we see that Satan’s sin is now revealed in this treatment of Job as not being entirely just, but perhaps harsher than it need have been. It is in this process that the development of mankind under the Rule of Satan is brought to consideration also over the Age. This aspect will provide a serious aspect for the Second Resurrection and the Judgment of the Demons (Nos. 080; 143B).

v. 21 He asks why God doesn’t just forgive his sin, and pardon him. Job knew that his sins could be forgiven and taken away. (Ps 103:12). After Job is dead, he will just lie in the earth and if God were to seek him, he states that he will no longer be. Shows that Job also knew there was no consciousness after death. (Ps 6:5; 88:11).

Chapter 8

Bildad Speaks: Job Should Repent

¹Then Bildad the Shuhite answered: ²“How long will you say these things, and the words of your mouth be a great wind? Does God pervert justice? Or does the Almighty pervert the right? ⁴If your children have sinned against him, he has delivered them into the power of their transgression. ⁵If you will seek God and make supplication to the Almighty, ⁶if you are pure and upright, surely then he will rouse himself for you and reward you with a rightful habitation. ⁷And though your beginning was small, your latter days will be very great. ⁸“For inquire, I pray you, of bygone ages, and consider what the fathers have found; ⁹for we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, for our days on earth are a shadow. ¹⁰Will they not teach you, and tell you, and utter words out of their understanding? ¹¹“Can papyrus grow where there is no marsh? Can reeds flourish where there is no water? ¹²While yet in flower and not cut down, they wither before any other plant. ¹³Such are the paths of all who forget God; the hope of the godless man shall perish. ¹⁴His confidence breaks in sunder, and his trust is a spider’s web. ¹⁵He leans against his house, but it does not stand; he lays hold of it, but it does not endure. ¹⁶He thrives before the sun, and his shoots spread over his garden. ¹⁷His roots twine about the stoneheap; he lives among the rocks. ¹⁸If he is destroyed from his place, then it will deny him, saying, ‘I have never seen you.’ ¹⁹Behold, this is the joy of his way; and out of the earth others will spring. ²⁰“Behold, God will not reject a blameless man, nor take the hand of evildoers.²¹He will yet fill your mouth with laughter, and your lips with shouting. ²²Those who hate you will be clothed with shame, and the tent of the wicked will be no more.”

Intent of Chapter 8

8:1-22 Bildad’s first address

Bildad has heard quite enough of Job professing innocence and takes his turn to lecture him, claiming in essence, that people don’t suffer unless they have sinned; that God blesses the righteous, who only have sufferings when they sin. This is the basis of the modern “health and wealth gospel.” Bildad misses the mark because sufferings are part of how people come into a closer and more perfect relationship with God.

vv. 1-3 Bildad asks how long Job will continue as a wind-bag of defensiveness. He rightly states that God does not pervert justice.

v. 4 Bildad judges that Job’s dead children must have sinned. In Job 1:5, Job had wondered and made sacrifices on their behalf in case they had sinned, but Bildad’s statement would mean the sacrifices Job was in the habit of making were of no effect. They were in fact keeping birthdays which was the Babylonian elevation of the individual to a god state on the feast days (see (No. 287)).

vv. 5-7 Bildad surmises that if Job’s supplications to God were any good, if he was in fact righteous, then God would restore him and he would prosper more than ever before.

vv. 8-10 History shows, Bildad declares, and if Job would only look back and recall this, it would prove his opinion true; that Job clearly deserved this suffering as a punishment for unrighteous conduct. He appeals to proverbs from the traditions of the ancients of a bygone age (v. 8 see vv. 11, 20, 22) to develop this moralistic view of salvation as a reward for purity and uprightness (see v. 11-22). This is the very reason for the punishment of Judah at the end of this Age.

vv. 11-13 Bildad believes that Job has forgotten God and so turned away from Him, that he no longer has contact with God… as a plant dependent upon water, pulled from the water will die. (He is saying Job must have committed a sin which caused God to remove the Holy Spirit from him- the life-giving water. Such judgment is prevalent in congregations in the last days.)

vv. 14-17 Bildad condemns Job to death in an unrepentant state (unpardonable sin), and that he will be remembered no more, and his name will be as if he had never lived. This encouraging comfort, that Bildad came to offer Job, turned out to be a complete condemnation of his friend. Job suffered in this first round, yet another great loss… the loss of a friend’s esteem. Here we see the breach of the Second Great Commandment (No. 257).

vv. 18-19 ‘him’….’it’ refer to the tree. Thus [ends] the joy of its life. Where it grew other trees will spring up. (Bullinger)

vv. 20-22 Bildad believes Job may yet prove to be a blameless person and God will restore him. (v. 20) (see also OARSV).

Chapter 9

Job Replies: There Is No Mediator

¹Then Job answered: ²“Truly I know that it is so: But how can a man be just before God? ³If one wished to contend with him, one could not answer him once in a thousand times. ⁴He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength—who has hardened himself against him, and succeeded?—⁵he who removes mountains, and they know it not, when he overturns them in his anger; ⁶who shakes the earth out of its place, and its pillars tremble; ⁷who commands the sun, and it does not rise; who seals up the stars; ⁸who alone stretched out the heavens, and trampled the waves of the sea; ⁹who made the Bear and Orion, the Plei′ades and the chambers of the south; ¹⁰who does great things beyond understanding, and marvelous things without number. ¹¹Lo, he passes by me, and I see him not; he moves on, but I do not perceive him. ¹²Behold, he snatches away; who can hinder him? Who will say to him, ‘What doest thou?’ ¹³“God will not turn back his anger; beneath him bowed the helpers of Rahab. ¹⁴How then can I answer him, choosing my words with him? ¹⁵Though I am innocent, I cannot answer him; I must appeal for mercy to my accuser. ¹⁶If I summoned him and he answered me, I would not believe that he was listening to my voice. ¹⁷For he crushes me with a tempest, and multiplies my wounds without cause; ¹⁸he will not let me get my breath, but fills me with bitterness. ¹⁹If it is a contest of strength, behold him! If it is a matter of justice, who can summon him? ²⁰Though I am innocent, my own mouth would condemn me; though I am blameless, he would prove me perverse. ²¹I am blameless; I regard not myself; I loathe my life. ²²It is all one; therefore I say, he destroys both the blameless and the wicked. ²³When disaster brings sudden death, he mocks at the calamityof the innocent. ²⁴The earth is given into the hand of the wicked; he covers the faces of its judges— if it is not he, who then is it? ²⁵“My days are swifter than a runner; they flee away, they see no good. ²⁶They go by like skiffs of reed, like an eagle swooping on the prey. ²⁷If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint, I will put off my sad countenance, and be of good cheer,’ ²⁸I become afraid of all my suffering, for I know thou wilt not hold me innocent. ²⁹I shall be condemned; why then do I labor in vain? ³⁰If I wash myself with snow, and cleanse my hands with lye, ³¹yet thou wilt plunge me into a pit, and my own clothes will abhor me. ³²For he is not a man, as I am, that I might answer him, that we should come to trial together. ³³There is noumpire between us, who might lay his hand upon us both. ³⁴Let him take his rod away from me, and let not dread of him terrify me. ³⁵Then I would speak without fear of him, for I am not so in myself.

Intent of chapter 9

9:1-10 Job’s reply

vv. 1-3 Job appears to reply primarily to Eliphaz rather than Bildad (comp. 9:2 with 4:17).

vv. 3-29 In a contest, the creator has the advantage. Job knows the Scriptures that his friend quotes, just as well as he does. He wonders how can any person ever be judged right before God since even if he wanted to argue points with God, a man could not prevail over God even once in 1000 points. No one has ever gone up in argument against God and emerged victorious. This identifies the requirement for the Christ as Mediator between God and Man, but the fact is ignored by rabbinical authorities and also Hadithic Islam and the Sun and Mystery Cults in the East.

vv. 4-10 Job asserts that God is wise in heart and mighty in strength and begins to declare some of His mighty works. He is dominant over mountains, over the pillars of the earth, the sun, the stars and all that is in the heavens, the sea and its waves. The works of God cannot even be numbered, so Job is saying he knows God is just and right, and yet he knows he has not sinned, so he does not understand how he can even defend himself against what he would have thought was a judgement from God against his behaviours. It is this problem in the functions of the Fallen Host under Satan and the misdirection of mankind in false religion, developed by Satan and the demons, using the Sun and Mystery Cults, that is at the heart of the conflict in human understanding.

vv. 11-12 God’s movements are not known to Job. No one can hold Him back or challenge Him when He takes something away.

vv. 13-15 God won’t take away His wrath. The helpers of Rahab get low under Him, then how could he dare to answer God to inform God, even if he considered he was right(eous).

vv. 16-17 At this point, Job doesn’t think that God has even been bothering to listen to him, when he cried out to God in prayer and supplication. He feels so helpless, knowing God is in no way obligated to give Job answers. He feels like he is lost at sea in a tempest of waves never even getting his head above water.

vv. 18-20 If he were even the strongest man, God is ever stronger. There is no one to police God, no one to bring God to justice. Mankind does not summon God to court to argue His judgements, because He Himself is the only authority that even exists. Job is clear in his own mind that even if he were to speak, he would just prove that he was perverse. Hence again he implicitly argues for the necessity of a mediator.

v. 21 Job points out again as he wracks his brain to reason and find the meaning of his calamities and why God has not delivered Him, but instead compounded his sufferings. Job is in great despair and doesn’t even have any remaining self- respect and he hates life.

vv. 22-23 The good and the wicked alike God destroys. He accuses God of mocking the calamity of the innocent by destroying both the blameless and the innocent. The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain (so OARSV). The Receptus uses SHD 4531 as trial. The Soncino renders it as if the scourge slay suddenly and hence it is rendered as a calamity in the RSV. Rashi holds that it is an expression of Satan, but the Soncino insists it refers to God. They seem not to understand that the demons are in that position.

v. 24 Here he says that the earth is delivered into the hand of the wicked. He ‘covereth the faces’ of the judges thereof i.e. so they cannot discern between right and wrong. This text mirrors Psalm 82:1-2 in the elohim where the Elohim of Psalm 45:6-7 (the Christ of Heb. 1:8-9) takes his place among the council of the elohim. Here the Council are specifically accused of judging unjustly and showing partiality to the wicked just as Job has stated here centuries before. It is this aspect of the Fallen Host that is at issue here in the text. The demons will be removed from authority at the end of the Age, in the 120^th Jubilee, at the end of the Six thousand years for the hand over to the Millennium under the Messiah (Deut. 20:4-6). This will come under Judgment of the Demons (No. 080) at the Second Resurrection but the worshippers of the Triune God and the Sun and Mystery cults are incapable of intellectually dealing with it doctrinally.

vv. 25-29 Job sees his time as speeding by but he has no power of addressing his complaint. If he makes light of them God will not allow it. If he is to be condemned why is he to labour in vain.

vv. 30-32 Snow water follows the Kere, Snow follows the Kethib. Job says then even in repentance and cleansing he will be thrown back in the wrong and he has no redress.

vv. 33-35 Here Job again raises the necessity of a mediator between man and God, so that man is able to be defended and justified. So here from the very first Bible text we see the necessity for the Christ outlined, and then continually mentioned in the texts of Scripture through the Psalms and the Prophets and the Writings that form the Law and the Testimony by which they must speak (Isa. 8:20).

Chapter 10

Job: I Loathe My Life

¹“I loathe my life; I will give free utterance to my complaint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. ²I will say to God, Do not condemn me; let me know why thou dost contend against me. ³Does it seem good to thee to oppress, to despise the work of thy hands and favor the designs of the wicked? ⁴Hast thou eyes of flesh? Dost thou see as man sees? ⁵Are thy days as the days of man, or thy years as man’s years, ⁶that thou dost seek out my iniquity and search for my sin, ⁷although thou knowest that I am not guilty, and there is none to deliver out of thy hand? ⁸Thy hands fashioned and made me; and now thou dost turn about and destroy me. ⁹Remember that thou hast made me of clay; and wilt thou turn me to dust again? ¹⁰Didst thou not pour me out like milk and curdle me like cheese? ¹¹Thou didst clothe me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews. ¹²Thou hast granted me life and steadfast love; and thy care has preserved my spirit. ¹³Yet these things thou didst hide in thy heart; I know that this was thy purpose. ¹⁴If I sin, thou dost mark me, and dost not acquit me of my iniquity.¹⁵If I am wicked, woe to me! If I am righteous, I cannot lift up my head, for I am filled with disgrace and look upon my affliction. ¹⁶And if I lift myself up, thou dost hunt me like a lion, and again work wonders against me; ¹⁷thou dost renew thy witnesses against me, and increase thy vexation toward me; thou dost bring fresh hosts against me, ¹⁸“Why didst thou bring me forth from the womb? Would that I had died before any eye had seen me, ¹⁹and were as though I had not been, carried from the womb to the grave. ²⁰Are not the days of my life few? Let me alone, that I may find a little comfort ²¹before I go whence I shall not return, to the land of gloom and deep darkness, ²²the land of gloom and chaos, where light is as darkness.”

Intent of Chapter 10

10:1-22 Job addresses God in prayer.

10:1-8 Job protests his innocence and he says he does not understand what charges are made against him. He reminds God that God's hands fashioned him and now he turns against him. That puzzled him and natural justice requires that punishment must follow due process. Satan has initiated this without due process and just cause. It is this very principle that deals with the heart of the issue for which the demons will be called to account in the Second Resurrection and their requirement to answer these forms of charges against them. So also will the devotees of the Triune God and the false religious systems also face charges for carrying out the false doctrines and antinomian persecutions of the elect following the Law and the Testimony and the Temple Calendar that flows from the Law (No. 156).

vv. 8-12 Job appeals to God as an artist that has the love of his handiwork (comp. Ps. 139:14-18).

vv. 13-17 He then attributes unjust motive to God in the execution of these punishments without due process and just cause. It is here that we strike at the very injustice that Satan exhibited against mankind in the process that he and the Fallen Host allowed and encouraged in mankind over the Age.

vv. 18-19 The sufferer canvasses the desirability of non-existence rather than this as the Plan of Salvation (No. 001A) which of course it is not.

vv. 20-22 Job then goes on to lament the proximity and the inevitability of death.

Chapter 11

Zophar Speaks: Job’s Guilt Deserves Punishment

¹Then Zophar the Na′amathite answered: ²“Should a multitude of words go unanswered, and a man full of talk be vindicated? ³Should your babble silence men, and when you mock, shall no one shame you? ⁴For you say, ‘My doctrine is pure, and I am clean in God’s eyes.’ ⁵But oh, that God would speak, and open his lips to you, ⁶and that he would tell you the secrets of wisdom! For he is manifold in understanding. Know then that God exacts of you less than your guilt deserves. ⁷“Can you find out the deep things of God? Can you find out the limit of the Almighty? ⁸It is higher than heaven—what can you do? Deeper than Sheol—what can you know?
⁹Its measure is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea. ¹⁰If he passes through, and imprisons, and calls to judgment, who can hinder him? ¹¹For he knows worthless men; when he sees iniquity, will he not consider it? ¹²But a stupid man will get understanding, when a wild ass’s colt is born a man.¹³“If you set your heart aright, you will stretch out your hands toward him. ¹⁴If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away, and let not wickedness dwell in your tents. ¹⁵Surely then you will lift up your face without blemish; you will be secure, and will not fear. ¹⁶You will forget your misery; you will remember it as waters that have passed away. ¹⁷And your life will be brighter than the noonday; its darkness will be like the morning. ¹⁸And you will have confidence, because there is hope; you will be protected and take your rest in safety. ¹⁹You will lie down, and none will make you afraid; many will entreat your favor. ²⁰But the eyes of the wicked will fail; all way of escape will be lost to them, and their hope is to breathe their last.”

Intent of Chapter 11

11:1-20 First Discourse of Zohar.

vv. 1-3 Zohar cannot restrain his theological passion. He attacks Job as a windbag that should not be vindicated nor allowed to silence men. Here again they fail to grasp the fundamentals of the Second Great Commandment (No. 257) and that by exercising the Second Great Commandment they show thereby they exercise the First Great Commandment (No. 252). These comments are held to be a mockery of religion (Soncino). This is the basic reason Sardis and Laodicea are declared Dead and Spewed from the mouth of God in the Last Days (Rev. 3:1-6; 3:14-21; Nos. 122; 170; 266; 269).

v. 4 Job did not claim purity of doctrine but that pointed towards the final conflicts of the religious systems in the Last Days when very few have any truth of doctrines. The very problem of doctrinal purity was the result of Satan's lies.

v. 6 Zohar then makes the direct charge that Job deserves his misery as a punishment for his guilt in sin. This is the ancient and still present sickness equals sin doctrine that permeates most faiths to this very day. Again a breach of the Second Great Commandment (No. 257). For example the sicknesses experienced by the world populations often date from practices of social systems millennia ago and are not related to any sins of the individual. So also the attitude does not provide support and help in any meaningful way and demonstrates self-righteousness in the extreme.

The text demonstrates a train of thought among the three friends of Job up to that point. From here on the arguments are merely repeats in various forms. Bildad is quite wrong in charging Job with ethical crimes but he is correct in stressing man’s finitude in the face of God's infinity and Omniscience (see No. 296). The text here skillfully shows the complexity of truth mixed with error in the minds of all three friends. This problem has been developed by Satan and the host over the Adamic creations to destroy their capacity to become elohim in the First Resurrection. (No. 143A). Zophar explains the fact that God expects of us less than our guilt deserves. The problem here is that none of the friends understand the intensity of the plan of Salvation and its stages (Nos. 001A, 001B, 001C and 001D). Correctly, the deep things of God are dependent on God's Willing Self Revelation which is only revealed to man through the Scriptures. This text is but the beginning of that revelation.

v. 12 But a stupid man will get understanding when a wild ass's colt is born a man. This text is that repentance is key to the conversion and repentance of the individual. It is not inherent in the creation for man to survive of his own understanding and requires the individual to repent and be given understanding in the Holy Spirit (No. 117). It is in this text that base structure is delineated, when God has as yet revealed it only to the patriarchs.

vv. 13-20 Here the steps of repentance are detailed with the failure of the Wicked repeated in v. 20. Zophar details the cessation of sin and its removal from our dwellings. Then we will lift up our faces without blemish, free from fear, and there will be confidence because there is hope. We will be protected and rest in safety. We will lie down and none will make us afraid, and many will entreat our favour. Yet again we see the failure to understand or advance the Two Great Commandments under the law, which is absent from the discourse and from all subsequent religious systems to the end of the Age.

Job then answers the simplistic intellectualism of Zophar.

Chapter 12

Job Replies: I Am a Laughingstock

¹Then Job answered: ²“No doubt you are the people, and wisdom will die with you. ³But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Who does not know such things as these? ⁴I am a laughingstock to my friends; I, who called upon God and he answered me, a just and blameless man, am a laughingstock. ⁵In the thought of one who is at ease there is contempt for misfortune; it is ready for those whose feet slip. ⁶The tents of robbers are at peace, and those who provoke God are secure, who bring their god in their hand. ⁷“But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the air, and they will tell you; ⁸or the plants of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. ⁹Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? ¹⁰In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind. ¹¹Does not the ear try words as the palate tastes food? ¹²Wisdom is with the aged, and understanding in length of days. ¹³“With Godare wisdom and might; he has counsel and understanding. ¹⁴If he tears down, none can rebuild; if he shuts a man in, none can open.¹⁵If he withholds the waters, they dry up; if he sends them out, they overwhelm the land. ¹⁶With him are strength and wisdom; the deceived and the deceiver are his. ¹⁷He leads counselors away stripped, and judges he makes fools. ¹⁸He looses the bonds of kings, and binds a waistcloth on their loins. ¹⁹He leads priests away stripped, and overthrows the mighty. ²⁰He deprives of speech those who are trusted, and takes away the discernment of the elders. ²¹He pours contempt on princes, and looses the belt of the strong. ²²He uncovers the deeps out of darkness, and brings deep darkness to light. ²³He makes nations great, and he destroys them: he enlarges nations, and leads them away.²⁴He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth,

Intent of Chapter 12

12:1-14:22 The Reply of Job

12:2-3 Job is sick and he is getting no support or love from his brethren. He states he understands these things as well as they do.

v. 4 And he answered me. The Hebrew, with a change of vowels, may read 'That he might answer me” or better, translated “and he oppressed me.” (see OARSV n.).

v. 6 Who bring their God in their hand Heb. Uncertain. Here Job indicates a spiritual idolatry that seeks to idolise the works of one’s hands or activities. This will end this Age with the Empire of the Beast and the final religious form.

vv. 7-25 Divine Omnipotence is not confined and has no obstacles. All law proceeds from the Nature of God and is thus all powerful and does not change. As God is omnipotent so is His law immutable. He confers it where He wills and establishes nations and leads them away.

v. 19 Leadeth away priest stripped is to remove the leadership of the priests as a class.

v. 20 Taking the sense of the elders is to remove the understanding of the elders of the Sanhedrin. He also takes away understanding from the Chiefs of the earth and leaves them to stagger. Thus it is God that allocates the Holy Spirit (No. 117) to man. This was made available to all mankind with and through the Messiah.

We will move to the next section in Part F018iii, in chapters 13 and 14.

Bullinger’s Notes on Chs. 7-12 (for KJV)

Chapter 7

Verse 1

Is there not. ? Figure of speech Erotesis. App-6 .

an appointed time = a warfare. Compare Job 14:14 .

man = mortal man.

are not. ? Figure of speech Erotesis.

Verse 2

the shadow = the shade: i.e. daytime.

work. Put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Effect), App-6 , for the wages or reward gained by work: i.e. evening.

Verse 4

dawning. Hebrew. nesheph. A Homonym, having two meanings: (1) as here, daylight; (2) darkness. See notes on 1 Samuel 30:17 . 2Ki 7:5 , 2 Kings 7:7 .

Verse 7

wind. Hebrew. ruach. App-9 .

Verse 9

the grave. Hebrew. Sheol. See App-35 .

Verse 10

know = recognize.

Verse 11

spirit. Hebrew. ruach. App-9 .

Verse 12

Am I. ? Figure of speech Erotesis. App-6 .

whale = a sea-monster.

watch = a bound. Compare Jeremiah 6:22 .

over = about, as in Job 13:27 . Proverbs 8:29 .

Verse 13

complaint = complainings.

Verse 15

rather than my life = by mine [own] hands.

life = bones, or limbs: i.e. hands.

Verse 16

loathe [it] = loathe [life], Job 7:16 is parenthetical, being the thought of suicide, which intrudes itself upon him.

Verse 17

What is man . . . ? Figure of speech Erotesis. App-6 .

Verse 18

every morning. Figure of speech Synecdoche (of Part), App-6 , put for all time: i.e. continuously.

Verse 20

men. Hebrew. 'adam. App-14 .

to myself. One of the emendations of the Sopherim ( App-33 ), by which the primitive text "unto Thee" was altered to the current text (by the omission of the last letter) to "unto myself".

Verse 21

transgression. Hebrew pasha'.

iniquity. Hebrew. 'avah.

Chapter 8

Verse 2

How long . . . ? Figure of speech Erotesis. App-6 .

words = sayings.

wind. Hebrew. ruach App-9 .

Verse 3

Doth . . . ? Figure of speech Erotesis. App-6 .

GOD. Hebrew. El. App-4 .

THE ALMIGHTY. Hebrew. Shaddai. App-4 .

Verse 4

children = sons.

for = by the hand of; by their own act.

transgression = rebellion. Hebrew. pash'a. App-44 .

Verse 6

awake for thee: i.e. hear thy prayer. Compare Septuagint and Psalms 7:6 ; Psalms 35:23 ; Psalms 44:23 .

habitation of thy righteousness = thy righteous home. Figure of speech Antimereia (of Noun). App-6 .

Verse 10

Shall. ? Figure of speech Erotesis. App-6 .

and. Some codices, with Aramaean, Septuagint, and Syriac, read this "and" in the text.

heart. Supply Ellipsis ( App-6 ), by adding the words "such as these": referring to what follows in verses: Job 8:11-19 (see below).

Verse 11

Can . . . ? Figure of speech Erotesis. App-6 . This is the first simile. See the second, verses: Job 8:16-19 .

Verse 13

So are, &c. The application of the first simile.

the paths. The Septuagint reads "the latter end".

Verse 14

hope = confidence.

Verse 16

He. Supply Ellipsis ( App-6 ), "He [like a tree]". This is the second simile, and the application is in Job 8:20 . The first simile is in Job 8:11 , with its application in verses: Job 8:13-15 .

Verse 17

the heap = a spring, or fountain, as in Song of Solomon 4:12 . Hebrew. gal. Plural in Joshua 15:19 , &c.

seeth = overlooks: i.e. overtops.

place = house.

Verse 18

him . . . it. See translation, below: "him" and "it" refer to the tree.

Verse 19

Behold. Figure of speech Asterismos.

is. Supply "ends" instead of "is".

Verse 20

help = take by the hand.

Verse 21

rejoicings = shouting for joy.

Verse 22

clothed with shame. Compare Psalms 35:26 ; Psalms 109:29 ; Psalms 132:18 .

dwelling place = tent.

wicked = lawless. Hebrew. rasha'. App-44 .

Chapter 9

Verse 1

answered = responded. See note on Job 4:1 .

Verse 2

how. ? Figure of speech Erotesis. App-6 . This is the one great question of the book.

man = mortal man. Hebrew. 'enosh. App-14 .

GOD. Hebrew El. App-4 .

Verse 3

will = desire to.

Verse 4

who . . . ? Figure of speech Erotesis. App-6 . Compare 2 Chronicles 36:13 .Isaiah 48:4 .

Verse 5

they know. Figure of speech Prosopopoeia. App-6 .

Verse 8

waves of the sea. The celebrated Mugah Codex (the earliest quoted in the Massorah itself), App-30 , reads "cloud": i.e. thick cloud.

Verse 9

Arcturus. Hebrew. 'ash. A name still connected with "the Great Bear" (the more ancient name being "the greater sheepfold": Arab, al naish, the assembled (as in a fold). See Job 38:31 , Job 38:32 , and App-12 .

Orion. Hebrew. kesil. Compare Job 38:31 .Amos 5:8 . A strong one, or the coming prince. See App-12 .

Pleiades. Hebrew. kimah = the congregation of the judge. See Job 38:31 , Job 38:32 .Amos 5:8 , and App-12 . A constellation in the neck of Taurus.

chambers of the south: i.e. the [hidden] recesses, or the invisible spaces; on the latitude of Job's residence.

Verse 11

Lo. Figure of speech. Asterismos . App-6 .

Verse 12

Behold. Figure of speech. Asterismos . App-6 .

Verse 13

GOD . Hebrew. Eloah . App-4 .

withdraw = avert.

helpers = confederates.

Verse 15

not answer = not [dare to] answer.

Verse 18

breath. Hebrew. ruach. App-9 .

Verse 21

my soul = myself. Hebrew. nephesh. App-13 .

life. Hebrew. chayai.

Verse 22

the wicked = a lawless one. Hebrew. rasha, App-44 .

Verse 24

covereth: i.e. so that they cannot discern between right and wrong.

Verse 25

post = runner, or courier. Compare Esther 3:13 , Esther 3:15 .

Verse 26

swift ships = ships of ebeh. Hence vessels of bulrush (eb) ; vessels of desire ('abeh), i.e. desiring to reach their haven; vessels of enmity ('eybah), i.e. pirate vessels; or vessels of the Nile ('abai, Abyssinian for Nile). Others, vessels of Joppa. Perhaps the last is best.

Verse 27

complaint = complaining.

Verse 29

why . . . ? Figure of speech Erotesis. App-6 .

Verse 30

never so clean = clean with soap.

Verse 31

abhor. Figure of speech Prosopopoeia.

Verse 33

Neither is there. Some codices, with Septuagint and Syriac, read "Oh that there were".

any Daysman = any umpire, arbiter, or mediator. In Job's case He was found in Elihu; in ours, in Christ.

Verse 34

His fear = the fear that He causes.

terrify = startle, or scare. Compare Job 13:21 ; Job 33:7 .

Verse 35

Then would I = Fain would I.

Chapter 10

Verse 1

soul. Hebrew. nephesh. App-13 .

life. Hebrew. chayai.

leave = let go, let loose: i.e. tell forth, give vent to.

complaint = complaining.

upon = about.

Verse 3

hands. Figure of speech Anthropopatheia. App-6 . Compare Psalms 119:73 ; Psalms 138:8 , and Psalms 139:5 , Psalms 139:10 .

wicked = lawless. Hebrew. rasha'. App-44 .

Verse 4

Hast. ? seest. ? Figure of speech Erotesis. App-6 .

man = mortal man. Hebrew. 'enosh. App-14 .

Verse 5

man's = a strong man's. Hebrew. geber. App-14 .

Verse 7

wicked. Hebrew. rasha'. App-44 .

Verse 11

fenced me = knit me together.

Verse 12

spirit = breath. Hebrew. ruach. App-9 .

Verse 14

iniquity. Hebrew. 'avah. App-44 .

Verse 15

confusion. Hebrew. kalon = shame. First occurrence.

Verse 17

changes and war = successions, yea hostile successions. Figure of speech Hendiadys ( App-6 ) = one thing: i.e. a constant succession.

Verse 18

Wherefore . . . ? Figure of speech Erotesis. App-6 .

Oh . . . ! Figure of speech Ecphonesis.

given up the ghost = died. Hebrew. gava'. Compare Job 3:11 ; Job 13:19 ; Job 14:10 . Not Job 11:20 .

Verse 20

Are not. ? Figure of speech Erotesis. App-6 .

Verse 21

of darkness and the shadow = deep darkness. Figure of speech Hendiadys. Not two things, but one.

darkness. Hebrew. hashak. See note on Job 3:6 .

Verse 22

darkness. Hebrew. 'eyphah. See note on Job 3:6 . darkness itself. Hebrew. 'ophel. See note on Job 3:6 .

as darkness. Hebrew. 'ophel. See above.

Chapter 11

Verse 1

answered = spake. See note on Job 4:1 .

Zophar. See note on Job 2:11 .

Verse 2

Should . . . ? Figure of speech Erotesis. App-6 .

man. Hebrew. 'ish.

Verse 3

lies = babblings.

no man = none.

Verse 5

lips. Figure of speech Anthropopatheia. App-6 .

Verse 6

double: i.e. manifold.

that which is. Compare note on Proverbs 2:7 .

exacteth. Theology. Zophar's mistake. God is no exactor.

Verse 7

Canst. ? Figure of speech Erotesis. App-6 .

THE ALMIGHTY. Hebrew El Shaddai. App-4 .

Verse 8

what. ? Figure of speech Erotesis. App-6 .

hell. Hebrew. Sheol. App-35 .

Verse 10

cut off = pass by.

who . . . ? Figure of speech Erotesis. App-6 .

Verse 11

wickedness = iniquity. Hebrew. 'avert. See App-44 .

will He not then, &c. = although He seemeth not to perceive it.

Verse 12

vain man would be wise. Figure of speech Paronomasia. App-6 . "A man", nabub yillabeb = "a, man senseless [would become] sensible" if God did always punish immediately.

Verse 13

If thou prepare. This was Zophar's false theology.

Verse 14

tabernacles = tents. Some codices, with one early printed edition, Aramaean, Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate, read "tent" (singular) App-40 .

Verse 16

Because. Syriac reads "For now".

Verse 17

age. Put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Adjunct), App-6 , for the things done in it. See below. Hebrew. heled, like Greek. aion.

shine forth = soar or shoot upward like the rays of the rising sun.

Verse 18

be secure. On this verse see translation below.

dig = look about, as in Joshua 2:2 . Compare Ch. Job 39:29 , i.e. before lying down (Job 11:19 ).

Verse 19

make suit, &c. Hebrew intreat thy face: i.e. seek thy favour.

Verse 20

wicked = lawless. Hebrew. rasha'. App-44 .

ghost = breath. Hebrew. nephesh. App-13 .

Chapter 12

Verse 1

answered. See note on Job 4:1 .

Verse 2

No doubt, &c. Figure of speech Eironeia. App-6 .

Verse 3

who knoweth not. ? Figure of speech Erotisis. App-6 .

Verse 4

GOD Hebrew Eloah. App-4 .

Verse 6

GOD Hebrew El. App-4 .

Verse 7

they shall, &c. Figure of speech Prosopopoeia. App-6 .

Verse 9

the hand. Figure of speech Anthropopatheia. App-6 .

the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4 .

Verse 10

soul = life. Hebrew. nephesh. App-13 .

breath = spirit. Hebrew. ruach.

mankind = flesh of man. Hebrew. 'ish. App-14 .

Verse 12

ancient = aged. Hebrew word found only here and Job 15:10 ; Job 29:8 ; and Job 32:6 .

Verse 13

Him: i.e. Jehovah (Job 12:9 ).

Verse 14

Behold. Figure of speech Asterismos. App-6 .

shutteth . . . opening. Hebrew idiom for exercising authority. Compare Revelation 3:7 . Figure of speech Paroemia. App-6 .

Verse 16

wisdom = stability. See note on Proverbs 2:7 .

Verse 20

the speech = the lip. Put by Figure of speech Metonymy ( of Cause), App-6 , for what is spoken by it.

trusty = faithful. Hebrew. 'aman. See App-69 . Rendered by "trust" three times in Job (Job 4:18 ; Job 15:15 , Job 15:31 ).

Verse 21

weakeneth = looseneth.

strength = girdle. Occurs only here and Psalms 109:19 and Isaiah 23:10 .

Verse 22

discovereth = uncovereth.

Verse 23

increaseth = maketh them great. Occurs only here and Job 36:24 .

Verse 24

heart. Put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Cause), App-6 , for the courage given by it.

wilderness = a pathless tohu. Compare note on Genesis 1:2 .