Commentary on Job Part 3 (No. F18iii)

Job Chapters 13-18 (RSV)

Chapter 13

¹“Lo, my eye has seen all this, my ear has heard and understood it. ²What you know, I also know; I am not inferior to you. ³But I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to argue my case with God. ⁴As for you, you whitewash with lies; worthless physicians are you all. ⁵Oh that you would keep silent, and it would be your wisdom! ⁶Hear now my reasoning, and listen to the pleadings of my lips. ⁷Will you speak falsely for God, and speak deceitfully for him? ⁸Will you show partiality toward him, will you plead the case for God? ⁹Will it be well with you when he searches you out? Or can you deceive him, as one deceives a man? ¹⁰He will surely rebuke you if in secret you show partiality.¹¹Will not his majesty terrify you, and the dread of him fall upon you? ¹²Your maxims are proverbs of ashes, your defenses are defenses of clay. ¹³“Let me have silence, and I will speak, and let come on me what may.¹⁴I will take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in my hand. ¹⁵Behold, he will slay me; I have no hope; yet I will defend my ways to his face. ¹⁶This will be my salvation, that a godless man shall not come before him. ¹⁷Listen carefully to my words, and let my declaration be in your ears. ¹⁸Behold, I have prepared my case; I know that I shall be vindicated. ¹⁹Who is there that will contend with me? For then I would be silent and die.

Job’s Despondent Prayer

²⁰Only grant two things to me, then I will not hide myself from thy face: ²¹withdraw thy hand far from me, and let not dread of thee terrify me. ²²Then call, and I will answer; or let me speak, and do thou reply to me. ²³How many are my iniquities and my sins? Make me know my transgression and my sin. ²⁴Why dost thou hide thy face, and count me as thy enemy? ²⁵Wilt thou frighten a driven leaf and pursue dry chaff? ²⁶For thou writest bitter things against me, and makest me inherit the iniquities of my youth. ²⁷Thou puttest my feet in the stocks, and watchest all my paths; thou settest a bound to the soles of my feet. ²⁸Man wastes away like a rotten thing, like a garment that is moth-eaten.

Intent of Chapter 13

vv. 1-3 Job acknowledges what they say and what they know, he also knows. He is not inferior to them but states that he will take his case up with God and not these men.

vv. 4-5 He dismisses them as worthless physicians whitewashed with lies. Their silence would demonstrate wisdom.

vv. 6-12 Job dismisses their arguments. They will not escape the Deity’s rebuke (v. 10).

vv. 13-14 Job asks for silence and begins to speak.

v. 15 I have no hope begins the time honoured rendering yet will I trust in him is based on the note in the margin of the Mss. The negative in the Hebrew text suggests a note of defiance, not of selfless devotion. Job no longer pretends he is blameless but in the depths of his despair he discovers his passionate desire is to see God, who controls his life, and argue his case face to face (see OARSV). This is indicative of the Judgment to follow the Resurrection and point toward the Resurrection of the Dead ahead of us all (Rev. 20:4-6; 11-12) (see Nos. 143A and 143B).

v. 23 Job is willing to find out his iniquities or sins and whether they are the cause of his infirmities.

v. 24 Job's prayer is unanswered and God continues to hide his face and count him as an enemy.

v. 26 Job goes on saying: God writes bitter things against him and makes him inherit the iniquities of my youth. Here he is referring to the Books of Judgment and that the sins are carried on through his life and after. Man wastes away like something rotten or a moth eaten garment. All this continues to develop and is in fact a developing indictment against Satan, the God of this world (2Cor. 4:4), for the transfer to the Christ in the Millennium (No. 300C) and on to the Second Resurrection (No. 143B).

Chapter 14

¹“Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble. ²He comes forth like a flower, and withers; he flees like a shadow, and continues not. ³And dost thou open thy eyes upon such a one and bring himinto judgment with thee? ⁴Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? There is not one. ⁵Since his days are determined, and the number of his months is with thee, and thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass, ⁶look away from him, and desist, that he may enjoy, like a hireling, his day. ⁷“For there is hope for a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that its shoots will not cease. ⁸Though its root grow old in the earth, and its stump die in the ground, ⁹yet at the scent of water it will bud and put forth branches like a young plant.¹⁰But man dies, and is laid low; man breathes his last, and where is he? ¹¹As waters fail from a lake, and a river wastes away and dries up, ¹²so man lies down and rises not again; till the heavens are no more he will not awake, or be roused out of his sleep.¹³Oh that thou wouldest hide me in Sheol, that thou wouldest conceal me until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me! ¹⁴If a man die, shall he live again? All the days of my service I would wait, till my release should come. ¹⁵Thou wouldest call, and I would answer thee; thou wouldest long for the work of thy hands.¹⁶For then thou wouldest number my steps, thou wouldest not keep watch over my sin; ¹⁷my transgression would be sealed up in a bag, and thou wouldest cover over my iniquity. ¹⁸“But the mountain falls and crumbles away, and the rock is removed from its place;¹⁹the waters wear away the stones; the torrents wash away the soil of the earth; so thou destroyest the hope of man. ²⁰Thou prevailest for ever against him, and he passes; thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away. ²¹His sons come to honor, and he does not know it; they are brought low, and he perceives it not. ²²He feels only the pain of his own body, and he mourns only for himself.”

Intent of Chapter 14

14:1-22 This text is considered to be one of the greatest poems in all literature.

v. 1 Man that is born of a woman The poem here commences with the human condition in general. It carries to implication as to the responsibility of the transmission of impurities which is the responsibility of both male and female (v. 4).

v. 5 Shows the Omniscience of God and the Predestination of mankind (No. 296) and a plea to let him enjoy the little time he has left to him.

vv. 7-9 Here the natural order is compared to man at vv. 10-22. The text concerns the fact that from the beginning man was confined to sheol or the grave and waited there until the Resurrection and knew nothing of the world or of the fate of his children and the world (v. 21). This text is avoided because it shows that the doctrinal position of the post-Christian Trinitarian Churches of the Sun and Mystery Cults are wrong. There is no “immortal soul” (see No. 092) and man does not go to “heaven or hell” (see No. 143A) on death. This position is further reinforced by Psalms and Ecclesiastes.

Ecc_9:5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward; but the memory of them is lost.

Ecc_9:10 Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.

The Bible doctrines have not changed. The perpetrators are relegated to the Judgment of the Second Resurrection, with the demons (Nos. 080; 143B).

Chapter 15

Eliphaz Speaks: Job Undermines Religion

¹Then Eli′phaz the Te′manite answered:

²“Should a wise man answer with windy knowledge, and fill himself with the east wind? ³Should he argue in unprofitable talk, or in words with which he can do no good? ⁴But you are doing away with the fear of God, and hindering meditation before God. ⁵For your iniquity teaches your mouth, and you choose the tongue of the crafty.⁶Your own mouth condemns you, and not I; your own lips testify against you. ⁷“Are you the first man that was born? Or were you brought forth before the hills? ⁸Have you listened in the council of God? And do you limit wisdom to yourself? ⁹What do you know that we do not know? What do you understand that is not clear to us? ¹⁰Both the gray-haired and the aged are among us, older than your father. ¹¹Are the consolations of God too small for you, or the word that deals gently with you? ¹²Why does your heart carry you away, and why do your eyes flash, ¹³that you turn your spirit against God, and let such words go out of your mouth? ¹⁴What is man, that he can be clean? Or he that is born of a woman, that he can be righteous? ¹⁵Behold, God puts no trust in his holy ones, and the heavens are not clean in his sight; ¹⁶how much less one who is abominable and corrupt, a man who drinks iniquity like water! ¹⁷“I will show you, hear me; and what I have seen I will declare ¹⁸(what wise men have told, and their fathers have not hidden, ¹⁹to whom alone the land was given, and no stranger passed among them). ²⁰The wicked man writhes in pain all his days, through all the years that are laid up for the ruthless. ²¹Terrifying sounds are in his ears; in prosperity the destroyer will come upon him. ²²He does not believe that he will return out of darkness, and he is destined for the sword. ²³He wanders abroad for bread, saying, ‘Where is it?’ He knows that a day of darkness is ready at his hand; ²⁴distress and anguish terrify him; they prevail against him, like a king prepared for battle. ²⁵Because he has stretched forth his hand against God, and bids defiance to the Almighty, ²⁶running stubbornly against him with a thick-bossed shield; ²⁷because he has covered his face with his fat, and gathered fat upon his loins, ²⁸and has lived in desolate cities, in houses which no man should inhabit, which were destined to become heaps of ruins; ²⁹he will not be rich, and his wealth will not endure, nor will he strike root in the earth; ³⁰he will not escape from darkness; the flame will dry up his shoots, and his blossomwill be swept away by the wind. ³¹Let him not trust in emptiness, deceiving himself; for emptiness will be his recompense. ³²It will be paid in full before his time, and his branch will not be green. ³³He will shake off his unripe grape, like the vine, and cast off his blossom, like the olive tree. ³⁴For the company of the godless is barren, and fire consumes the tents of bribery.³⁵They conceive mischief and bring forth evil and their heart prepares deceit.”

Intent of Chapter 15

Second Discourse of Eliphaz

The Second Round now begins.

vv. 2-3 The speaker dispenses with introductions (comp. 4:1-4), Job’s remonstrances allegedly do not befit a wise man.

v. 4 Eliphaz in the insecurity of his traditional opinions is faced with the non-conformist of the Truth of Job. It is this conflict between tradition of the Sun and Mystery Cults that has tried to deal with the truth of Scripture over the three and a half millennia since Job and it is about to end with the Witnesses and the Messiah at the end of this Age in the 120^th Jubilee of 2027 and by 2030 (No. 300B). Moffat translates the text as You undermine religion which is the same charge levelled against those who advance this position today. Nothing has changed in millennia.

v. 7 Are you the first man that was born? So Job the heretic is also a rebel against God. Job allegedly speaks the language of the crafty as the serpent in Gen. 3:1 (see OARSV n. also) which refers to the Semitic myth of the Primeval Man who existed for the Creation, (perhaps the Adamic Creation, Gen. Ch. 1, as opposed to Job 38:4-7) where Eliphaz sees Job as judge of his creator. Like personified wisdom he thinks that he was brought forth before the Hills).

v. 11 Eliphaz here is committing the same error as he accuses Job as he calls his own word as consolations of God .

vv. 14-16 Here Eliphaz, as a traditionalist, repeats himself. (comp. 4:17-19)

vv. 17-35 follows as a diatribe of accusation against Job as a godless man and a briber that will be consumed by fire, conceiving mischief and bringing forth evil (v. 34-35). Eliphaz seems to have accelerated his breach of the Second Great Commandment and heaped more insult on what was once his supposed friend.

Chapter 16

Job Reaffirms His Innocence

¹Then Job answered: ²“I have heard many such things; miserable comforters are you all. ³Shall windy words have an end? Or what provokes you that you answer? ⁴I also could speak as you do, if you were in my place; I could join words together against you, and shake my head at you. ⁵I could strengthen you with my mouth, and the solace of my lips would assuage your pain.⁶“If I speak, my pain is not assuaged, and if I forbear, how much of it leaves me? ⁷Surely now God has worn me out; he has made desolate all my company. ⁸And he has shriveled me up, which is a witness against me; and my leanness has risen up against me, it testifies to my face. ⁹He has torn me in his wrath, and hated me; he has gnashed his teeth at me; my adversary sharpens his eyes against me. ¹⁰Men have gaped at me with their mouth, they have struck me insolently upon the cheek, they mass themselves together against me. ¹¹God gives me up to the ungodly, and casts me into the hands of the wicked. ¹²I was at ease, and he broke me asunder; he seized me by the neck and dashed me to pieces; he set me up as his target, ¹³his archers surround me. He slashes open my kidneys, and does not spare; he pours out my gall on the ground. ¹⁴He breaks me with breach upon breach; he runs upon me like a warrior. ¹⁵I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin, and have laid my strength in the dust. ¹⁶My face is red with weeping, and on my eyelids is deep darkness; ¹⁷although there is no violence in my hands, and my prayer is pure.¹⁸“O earth, cover not my blood, and let my cry find no resting place. ¹⁹Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and he that vouches for me is on high. ²⁰My friends scorn me; my eye pours out tears to God, ²¹that he would maintain the right of a man with God, likethat of a man with his neighbor. ²²For when a few years have come I shall go the way whence I shall not return.

Intent of Chapter 16

Job's Reply 16:1-17 In the face of what he perceives as God's continuing hostility out of the mouths of his supposed friends, and contrary to Law (vv. 6-16). Job restates his innocence in v 17.

vv. 18-22 Here again we see Job reinforce the fact of his witness being in heaven. Here we get the dichotomy of the Subordinate God of Psalm 45:6-7 acting as witness for him to his God (Eloah) as Father and One True God is obvious and has been advanced as God the Slayer and God the heavenly Witness. There is no difficulty in seeing the duality of the Ps. 45 and the identity of the Messiah in Heb. 1:8-9. The relevance is avoided as it shows that as early as Job, before the Law was given to Moses at Sinai, the position was understood by Job and Moses. He says: My eyes pour out tears to God, that he would maintain the right of a man with God. Here the texts use Eloah in both v. 20 and v. 21. Thus he is referring to the One True God in both instances. In v. 11 he refers to the subordinate El. (SHD 410) and in 18:21. He is referring to Eloah in 9:13-12:4, 6, and 15:18. These are not accidental variations in the Hebrew. They are deliberate and specific.

Chapter 17

Job Prays for Relief

¹My spirit is broken, my days are extinct, the grave is ready for me. ²Surely there are mockers about me, and my eye dwells on their provocation. ³“Lay down a pledge for me with thyself; who is there that will give surety for me? ⁴Since thou hast closed their minds to understanding, therefore thou wilt not let them triumph. ⁵He who informs against his friends to get a share of their property, the eyes of his children will fail. ⁶“He has made me a byword of the peoples, and I am one before whom men spit.⁷My eye has grown dim from grief, and all my members are like a shadow. ⁸Upright men are appalled at this, and the innocent stirs himself up against the godless. ⁹Yet the righteous holds to his way, and he that has clean hands grows stronger and stronger. ¹⁰But you, come on again, all of you, and I shall not find a wise man among you. ¹¹My days are past, my plans are broken off, the desires of my heart. ¹²They make night into day; ‘The light,’ they say, ‘is near to the darkness.’ ¹³If I look for Sheol as my house, if I spread my couch in darkness, ¹⁴if I say to the pit, ‘You are my father,’ and to the worm, ‘My mother,’ or ‘My sister,’ ¹⁵where then is my hope? Who will see my hope? ¹⁶Will it go down to the bars of Sheol? Shall we descend together into the dust?”

Intent of Chapter 17

17:1-10 Job's fate has made him famous. His friends have failed him spectacularly.

v. 6 Comp. Ps. 69:11 for David’s words. Job is a byword among the people (even to this day). spit (see 30:10).

v. 5 He questions their motives.

v. 10 He says “they come on again and he will not find a wise man among them.”

vv. 11-16 Job turns again to the thought of his death. He understands that in death there is no life and this brings him to the reconsideration of what is to happen after his death. There is no consideration of, or doctrine of, the Eternal Soul (see No. 092) and the pagan antinomian Heaven and Hell doctrine inserted into Christianity by the Baal-worshipping antinomians of the 2^nd century CE that corrupted Trinitarian Christianity and Hadithic Islam.

Chapter 18

Bildad Speaks: God Punishes the Wicked

¹Then Bildad the Shuhite answered: ²“How long will you hunt for words? Consider, and then we will speak. ³Why are we counted as cattle? Why are we stupid in your sight? ⁴You who tear yourself in your anger, shall the earth be forsaken for you, or the rock be removed out of its place? ⁵“Yea, the light of the wicked is put out, and the flame of his fire does not shine. ⁶The light is dark in his tent, and his lamp above him is put out. ⁷His strong steps are shortened and his own schemes throw him down. ⁸For he is cast into a net by his own feet, and he walks on a pitfall. ⁹A trap seizes him by the heel, a snare lays hold of him. ¹⁰A rope is hid for him in the ground, a trap for him in the path. ¹¹Terrors frighten him on every side, and chase him at his heels.¹²His strength is hunger-bitten, and calamity is ready for his stumbling. ¹³disease his skin is consumed, the first-born of death consumes his limbs.¹⁴He is torn from the tent in which he trusted, and is brought to the king of terrors. ¹⁵In his tent dwells that which is none of his; brimstone is scattered upon his habitation. ¹⁶His roots dry up beneath, and his branches wither above. ¹⁷His memory perishes from the earth, and he has no name in the street.¹⁸He is thrust from light into darkness, and driven out of the world. ¹⁹He has no offspring or descendant among his people, and no survivor where he used to live. ²⁰They of the west are appalled at his day, and horror seizes them of the east. ²¹Surely such are the dwellings of the ungodly, such is the place of him who knows not God.”

Intent of Chapter 18

18:1-21 Bildad's Second Discourse.

vv. 2-4 Counted as beasts Perhaps a reference to Job's word's in 12:7. Rock be removed comp. 14:18.

vv. 5-21 Here Bildad outlines the fate of the ungodly (implying Job). Through his sins he is afflicted with disease, which is the firstborn of death, his ultimate fate. In that he will be brought before the king of terrors (v. 14). Job has spoken of a witness that will vouch for him after his death, But he now has no living offspring, descendant or survivor (v. 19). Job has faith in the Mediator of Israel as its subordinate God of Ps. 45:6-7 which is the Christ of Heb. 1:8-9. Only Job understands what is ahead for Israel and later Moses under instruction from Christ (Acts. 7:30-53; 1Cor. 10:4). Here Bildad uses the Health Wealth Gospel to condemn Job, when it is Job's three accusers that are without knowledge of the Destiny of Man (No. 001) and the Plan of Salvation (No. 001A; 001B; 001C; 001D).

v. 20 Bildad thinks that only the memory of Job's crimes will remain forever as a thing of horror among the peoples of the West and the East. Which is the case, even today, where the true Plan of Salvation is concealed by the false doctrines of both the East and the West. To this day they are corrupted with the Heaven and Hell doctrines of the Sun and Mystery Cults.

Bullinger’s Notes on Chs. 13-18 (for KJV)

Chapter 13

Verse 1

Lo. Figure of speech Asterismos. App-6 .

all this. Some codices, with Syriac and Vulgate, read "all these things". Compare Job 33:29 .

Verse 3

THE ALMIGHTY. Hebrew. Shaddai. App-4 .

Verse 4

forgers of = besmearers with. Occurs only here, Job 14:7 and Psalms 119:69 .

Verse 5

O. Figure of speech Ecphonesis. App-6 .

Verse 7

Will ye . . . ? Figure of speech, Erotesis. App-6 .

Verse 9

Is it . . . ? Figure of speech, Erotesis. App-6 .

mocketh = befooleth.

another. Hebrew. 'enosh. App-14 .

Verse 12

remembrances = memorable or weighty sayings.

like unto ashes = similitudes of ashes: i.e. light.

bodies = defences. Hebrew. gab = mounds. Add "[like to] clay defences ": i.e. weak.

Verse 14

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

take my flesh in my teeth. Figure of speech Paroemia. App-6 . Still preserved in Arabic for rushing into danger. Like the next clause, which is a proverb preserved in English.

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

hand. Some codices, with Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate, read "hands" (plural)

Verse 15

trust in Him = wait for Him. Hebrew. yahal. See App-69 .

Verse 17

Hear diligently. Figure of speech Polyptoton. App-6 . "Hear ye, hearing": i.e. Listen attentively; or, give diligent heed. Compare Isaiah 6:9 . See note on Genesis 26:28 .

declaration = opinion. Occurs only here.

Verse 18

ordered = set in order.

Verse 19

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

give up the ghost = to expire. See note on Job 3:11 .

Verse 23

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

Verse 27

settest a print = they make a print on my feet.

Verse 28

He, &c. = they (my feet) waste away.

Chapter 14

Verse 1

Man. Hebrew. 'adam. App-14 . "Man" is to Job 14:1 what Job 14:1 is to the whole paragraph. The Hebrew accent ( Dehi ) emphasizes the word "man", and divides the verse into two members; viz. (1) man and (2) his characteristics which are three: (1) his origin (born in sin), (2) his brevity of life, and (3) his fullness of sorrow.

Verse 3

dost. ? Figure of speech Erotesis.

me. Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate read "him".

Verse 4

Who . . . ? Figure of speech Erotesis.

Verse 5

bounds. Four early printed editions read "fixed times".

Verse 7

For there is hope of a tree. This is a positive independent statement, about which there is no doubt. There should be a full stop here. Then the Hebrew accents mark off two hypotheses: (1) if it is cut down (Job 14:7 ) the Spring will wake its sap; (2) if waxing old (Job 14:8 ) it may still send forth a new growth. But there is no hope of man's living again like a tree. If he is to "live again" he must be raised from the dead.

Verse 9

plants = a new plant.

Verse 10

man = strong man. Hebrew. geber. App-14 .

wasteth away = will decompose.

giveth up, &c. See note on Job 3:11 .

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

Verse 12

man. Hebrew. 'ish. App-14 .

Verse 13

O. Figure of speech Ecphonesis. App-6 .

the grave = Sheol. App-35 .

Verse 14

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

live again: i.e. in resurrection. Compare John 11:25 , John 11:26 .

appointed time = service, or warfare.

change = improvement. Hebrew. halaph = a. change for the better. See note on Leviticus 27:10 .

Verse 15

desire = a longing.

Verse 16

sin. Hebrew. Chata App-44 .

Verse 17

transgression. Hebrew. pasha'. App-44 .

iniquity. Hebrew. 'avah. App-44 .

Verse 19

The waters, &c. Figure of speech Paroemia. App-6 .

man = a mortal. Hebrew. 'en6sh. App-14 .

Verse 22

But. This verse describes what happens while he is alive. See below.

his soul = he himself. Hebrew. nephesh. App-13 .

within = over.

mourn: i.e. mourn "over himself". Hebrew. 'alaiv, as in Hosea 10:5 .

Chapter 15

Verse 1

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

Eliphaz. See note on Job 2:11 . This is the second of his three addresses.

Verse 2

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

vain = empty. i.e. windy science.

wind. Hebrew. ruach. App-9 .

Verse 4

fear = reverence.

GOD. Hebrew El. App-4 .

Verse 5

iniquity. Hebrew. 'avah, App-44 .

Verse 7

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

made = brought forth.

Verse 8

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

heard = overheard.

secret. Hebrew. sod = secret counsellings, used of two or more in council. GOD. Hebrew Eloah. App-4 . secret = concealed. Hebrew. la'at. Rendered by Theodotion (R. Sept.), musterion (= secret); Aquila (R. Sept.), aporrheta (= forbidden); Symmachus (R. Sept.), homilia (= intercourse).

Verse 12

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

Verse 13

spirit. Hebrew. ruach. App-9 .

Verse 14

man = a mortal. Hebrew. 'enosh. App-14 . See note on Job 14:1 .

clean = pure.

Verse 15

trust = faith. Hebrew. 'aman. Compare Job 15:31 . App-69 .

saints = holy ones. Here = angels. Compare Job 4:18 .

sight = eyes.

Verse 20

wicked man = lawless one. Hebrew. rasha'. App-44 . From Job 15:20 to Job 15:35 Eliphaz repeats what he had heard from tradition.

travaileth = "he travaileth".

Verse 22

waited for of the sword = destined to the power of the sword.

Verse 25

THE ALMIGHTY. Hebrew El Shaddai. App-4 .

Verse 27

collops = lumps, or slices.

Verse 29

shall he prolong the perfection thereof. The Septuagint reads "shall their shadow stretch along upon the ground".

Verse 30

breath. Hebrew. Ruach.

Verse 34

congregation = assembly.

tabernacles = tents.

Verse 35

mischief. Hebrew. 'amal. App-44 .

belly. Put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Subject), App-6 , for the thoughts produced by emotion.

Chapter 16

Verse 1

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

Verse 2

miserable = wearisome.

Verse 3

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

vain words = empty words. Heb, words of wind.

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

Verse 4

your soul = you (emph.) Hebrew. nephesh. App-13 .

my soul = me (emph.) Hebrew. nephesh. App-13 .

Verse 8

is = is become.

leanness. Figure of speech Prosopopoeia. App-6 .

Verse 11

the ungodly = an evil one. Hebrew. 'aval. App-44 .

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

Verse 14

giant = mighty man. Hebrew. gibbor. App-14 .

Verse 15

sewed sackcloth, &c. Put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Adjunct), App-6 , for the sorrow which accompanied it.

Verse 16

shadow of death. Not a mere shade or shadow, but the deep darkness of the grave. Compare Job 3:5 ; Job 10:21 ; Job 12:22 ; Job 24:17 ; Job 28:3 ; Job 34:22 , &c.

Verse 17

injustice = violence. Only occurrence of English word in O.T.

Verse 18

O. Figure of speech Ecphonesis. App-6 .

cover not. my blood. The reference is to the practice which remains to this day, based on Numbers 35:33 .Leviticus 17:13 . Job's desire is that the evidence of his sufferings may not be hidden.

Verse 20

friends = neighbours.

GOD. Hebrew Eloah. App-4 .

Verse 21

man = strong man. Hebrew. geber. App-14 .

man = son of man. Hebrew. ben-'adam. App-14 .

Verse 22

the way, &c. Figure of speech Euphemism ( App-6 ), for death.

Chapter 17

Verse 1

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

is = has become.

corrupt = consumed.

extinct. Hebrew. Za'ak. Occurs only here.

the graves. The Septuagint reads as in translation below.

Verse 2

continue in = constantly dwell on.

Verse 3

Lay down now = Appoint it so, I pray.

put me, &c. = be thou my bond. Compare Isaiah 38:14 ("undertake").

who is he . . . ? Figure of speech Erotesis. App-6 . The answer is given in Job 17:4 by Figure of speech Ellipsis ( App-6 ), "[not they]".

strike hands. The idiom for making a compact. Compare Proverbs 6:1 ; Proverbs 11:15 ; Proverbs 17:18 ; Proverbs 22:26 , &c.

Verse 5

He that, &c. Supply Ellipsis, as in translation below; and treat Job 17:5 as a quotation.

children = sons.

fail = look in vain.

Verse 6

aforetime = in former times. Compare Ruth 4:7 ,

tabret = a drum. Hebrew. topheth. To the sound and warning of which people gave heed. See note on 1 Samuel 10:5 . After this verse imagine a pause.

Verse 7

members = limbs.

Verse 10

you. So some codices, with Syriac and "Vulgate, which Authorized Version and Revised Version followed. Other codices read "them".

Verse 12

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

Verse 13

the grave. Hebrew. Sheol. App-35 . Compare Job 17:16 .

Verse 16

the pit. Hebrew. Sheol. App-35 . Compare Job 17:13 .

Chapter 18

Verse 1

answered. See note on Job 4:1 . Bildad. See note on Job 2:11 .

Verse 2

How long . . . ? Figure of speech Erotesis. App-6 . an end: or, a perversion.

Verse 3

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

vile: or, stupid.

your sight. Septuagint and Syriac read "thine eyes".

Verse 4

himself = his soul. Hebrew. nephesh. App-13 .

shall. ? Figure of speech Erotesis.

Verse 5

light. The reference is to the universal practice of burning a light during the night.

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

Verse 6

dark. Hebrew. hashak: see note on Job 3:6 ; showing that the man is dead, and not alive to keep the light burning.

tabernacle = tent.

candle = lamp.

with him = over him: see note on "dark", above.

Verse 7

steps of his strength = his firm step. Genitive of character. App-17 .

Verse 8

walketh = walketh habitually.

Verse 9

the gin = a gin. Authorized Version, 1611, reads "grin" = a snare. Same meaning, but now obsolete.

the = a

robber = noose.

Verse 10

laid = hidden.

Verse 11

drive him to his feet = follow at his feet. Compare 1 Samuel 25:42 .

Verse 12

strength, &c. i.e. shall be weakened by hunger. Same word as Job 18:7 , not same as Job 18:13 .

Verse 13

strength = parts or members of his body.

skin. Put by Figure of speech Synecdoche (of the Part), App-6 , for the whole body. Compare Exodus 22:26 .

firstborn of death: i.e. the chief, or worst, or cruellest death. Figure of speech Euphemismos. App-6 .

Verse 14

king of terrors. Euphemy, for death.

Verse 15

It: i.e. every one of the terrors.

none of his = not, indeed, his own.

Verse 19

nephew = grandson (Judges 12:14 ).

Verse 20

day. Put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Adjunct), App-6 , for the thing done in the day: i.e. his fall.

Verse 21

wicked. Hebrew. 'aval. App-44 . Occurs elsewhere only in Job 27:7 ; Job 29:17 ; Job 31:3 , and Zephaniah 3:5 .

GOD. Hebrew El. App-4 .