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Job Chapter
Sixteen
New King James Version (NKJV)
INTRODUCTION TO JOB 16
This
chapter and the following contain Job's reply to the preceding discourse of
Eliphaz
in which he complains of the conversation of his friends
as
unprofitable
uncomfortable
vain
empty
and without any foundation
Job 16:1; and
intimates that were they in his case and circumstances
tie should behave in
another manner towards them
not mock at them
but comfort them
Job 16:4; though
such was his unhappy case
that
whether he spoke or was silent
it was much
the same; there was no alloy to his grief
Job 16:6; wherefore
he turns himself to God
and speaks to him
and of what he had done to him
both to his family
and to himself; which things
as they proved the reality of
his afflictions
were used by his friends as witnesses against him
Job 16:7; and then
enters upon a detail of his troubles
both at the hands of God and man
in
order to move the divine compassion
and the pity of his friends
Job 16:9; which
occasioned him great sorrow and distress
Job 16:15; yet
asserts his own innocence
and appeals to God for the truth of it
Job 16:17; and
applies to him
and wishes his cause was pleaded with him
Job 16:20; and
concludes with the sense he had of the shortness of his life
Job 16:22; which
sentiment is enlarged upon in the following chapter.
Job 16:1 Then
Job answered and said:
YLT
1And Job answereth and
saith: --
Then Job answered and said. As soon as Eliphaz had
done speaking
Job stood up
and made the following reply.
Job 16:2 2 “I have heard many such
things; Miserable comforters are you all!
YLT
2I have heard many such
things
Miserable comforters [are] ye all.
I have heard many such things
.... As those Eliphaz has
been discoursing of
concerning the punishment of wicked men; many instances of
this kind had been reported to him from his preceptors
and from his parents
and which they had had from theirs
as well as Eliphaz had from his; and he had
heard these things
or such like
told "many times" from one to another
as Ben Gersom interprets it; or "frequently"
as the Vulgate Latin
version
yea
he had heard them his friends say many things of this kind; so
that there was nothing new delivered
nothing but what was "crambe millies
cocta"
the same thing over and over again; insomuch that it was not only
needless and useless
but nauseous and disagreeable
and was far from carrying
any conviction with it
or tracing weight and influence upon him; that he only
gave it the hearing
and that was all
and scarce with any patience
it being
altogether inapplicable to him: that wicked men were punished for their sins
he did not deny; and that good men were also afflicted
was a very plain case;
and that neither good nor hatred
or an interest in the favour of God or not
were not known by these things; nor could any such conclusion be fairly drawn
that because Job was afflicted
that therefore he was a bad man:
miserable comforters are ye all; his friends
came to comfort him
and no doubt were sincere in their intentions; they took
methods
as they thought
proper to answer such an end; and were so sanguine as
to think their consolations were the consolations of God
according to his
will; and bore hard upon Job for seeming to slight them
Job 15:11; to which
Job here may have respect; but they were so far from administering divine
consolation
that they were none at all
and worse than none; instead of
yielding comfort
what they said added to his trouble and affliction; they
were
as it may be rendered
"comforters of trouble"
or
"troublesome comforters"F11מנחמי
עמל "consolatores molestiae"
Vatablus
Drusius
Mercerus
Cocceius
Schmidt
Michaelis; "molesti"
Beza
Junius & Tremellius
Piscator
Codurcus
Tigurine version;
"molestissimi"
Schultens.
which is what rhetoricians call an
oxymoron; what they said
instead of relieving him
laid weights and heavy
pressures upon him he could not bear; by suggesting his afflictions were for
some enormous crime and secret sin that he lived in the commission of; and that
he was no other than an hypocrite: and unless he repented and reformed
he
could not expect it would be better with him; and this was the sentiment of
them one and all: so to persons under a sense of sin
and distressed about the
salvation of their souls
legal preachers are miserable comforters
who send
them to a convicting
condemning
and cursing law
for relief; to their duties
of obedience to it for peace
pardon
and acceptance with God; who decry the
grace of God in man's salvation
and cry up the works of men; who lay aside the
person
blood
and righteousness of Christ
the consolation of Israel
and
leave out the Spirit of God the Comforter in their discourses; and indeed all
that can be said
or directed to
besides the consolation that springs from God
by Christ
through the application of the Spirit
signifies nothing; for if any
comfort could be had from any other
he would not be
as he is called
the God
of all comfort; all the creatures and creature enjoyments
even the best are
broken cisterns
and like the deceitful brooks Job compares his friends to
Job 6:15
that
disappoint when any expectations of comfort are raised upon them.
Job 16:3 3 Shall words of wind have
an end? Or what provokes you that you answer?
YLT
3Is there an end to words of
wind? Or what doth embolden thee that thou answerest?
Shall vain words have an end?.... Or "words of
wind"F11לדברי רוח
"verbis venti"
Beza
Bolducius
Mercerus
Schmidt
Michaelis.
vain
empty words
great swelling words of vanity
mere bubbles that look big
and
have nothing in them; here Job retorts what Eliphaz had insinuated concerning
him and his words
Job 15:2; and he
intimates such worthless discourses should have an end
and a speedy one
and
not be carried on to any length
they not bearing it; and wishes they were at
an end
that he might hear no more of them; and suggests that it was weak and
foolish in them to continue them; that if they could speak to no better
purpose
it would be best to be silent:
or what emboldeneth thee that thou answerest? when men are engaged
in a good cause
have truth on their side
and are furnished with arguments
sufficient to defend it
this animates and emboldens them to stand up in the
defence of it
and to answer their adversaries
and to reply when there is
occasion; but Job could not imagine what should encourage and spirit up Eliphaz
to answer again
when he had been sufficiently confuted; when his cause was
bad
and he had no strong reasons to produce in the vindication of it; or
"what has exasperated" or "provoked thee"F12מה ימריצך "quid exacerbat
te"
Junius & Tremellius; so Codureus
Schultens. to make reply? here
Job seems to have thought that he had said nothing that was irritating
though
it is notorious he had
such were his grief and troubles; and so well assured
he was of his being in the right
that the harsh and severe words and
expressions he had used were not thought by him to have exceeded due bounds
such as Job 12:2.
Job 16:4 4 I also could speak as you do
If your soul were in my soul’s place. I could heap up words against you
And
shake my head at you;
YLT
4I also
like you
might
speak
If your soul were in my soul's stead. I might join against you with
words
And nod at you with my head.
I also could speak as ye do
.... As big words
with
as high a tone
with as stiff a neck
and as haughtily and loftily; or
"ought I to speak as you do"F13ככם
אדברה "sicut vos loqui deberem?" Schmidt. ?
that I ought not
nor would you think I ought
if you were in my case; or
being so
"would I speak as you do"F14"Etiam ego ut
vos loquerer?" Cocceius; so Broughton. ? no
I would not
my conscience
would not suffer me:
if your soul were in my soul's stead; in the same
afflicted state and condition
in the same distressed case and circumstances;
not that he wished it
as some render the words
for a good man will not wish
hurt to another; only he supposes this
as it was a case supposable
and not
impossible to be a fact
some time or another
in this state of uncertainty and
change; however it is right to put ourselves in the case of others in our own
imagination
that so it may be considered in the proper point of view
that we
may better judge how we should choose to be treated ourselves in such
circumstances
and so teach us to do that to others as we would have done to
ourselves:
I could heap up words against you; talk as fast as you to
me
and run you down with a great torrent of words; Job had a great fluency
he
talked a great deal in his afflicted
state
too much as his friends thought
who represent him as dealing in a multitude of words
and as a very talkative
man
Job 8:2; and what could
he have done
had he his health
and in prosperous circumstances as formerly?
he could have brought many charges and accusations against them
as they had
against him; or "would I heap up words against you?" or "ought
I?" &c.F15אחבירה עליכם במלים "nectere deberem
nexus contra vos verbis?" Schmidt. ; no
it would not be my duty
nor
would I do it; humanity and good sense would never have allowed me to do it;
but
on the contrary
I "would have joined myself with you"
in a social
free
and familiar manner
in wordsF16"Adjungerem
me super vos in sermonibus"
Montanus
Bolducius; so Vatablus
Cocceius.
in a friendly meeting with you
so the words may be read and paraphrased; I
would have come and paid you a visit
and sat down by you
and entered into a
kind and compassionate conversation with you about your case and condition
and
done all I could to comfort you; I would have framed and composed (as the word
used signifies) a set discourse on purpose; I would have sought out all the
acceptable words
and put them together in the best manner I could for youF17"Vobis
enim aptum sermonem accommodarem"
Tigarine version; so Codurcus. ; had I
the tongue of the learned
I would have made use of it
to have spoken a word
in season to you:
and shake mine head at you; by way of scorn and
derision
that is
he could have done it as well as they; shaking the head is
used as a sign of contempt
Psalm 22:8; or
"would I"
or "ought I to shake my head at you"F18אניעה־ראשי "et caput meum quassarem super vobis"
Cocceius; "movere deberem super vos caput meum?" Schmidt. if in my
case? no
I would not; as I ought not
I would have scorned to have done it; or
the sense may be
"I would have shook my head at you"
in a way of
pity
bemoaning lamenting
and
condoling your caseF19So Tigurine
version and Bar Tzemach
κινησας ρα
καρη
Hom. II. 17. v. 200. ; see Job 42:11.
Job 16:5 5 But
I would strengthen you with my mouth
And the comfort of my lips would relieve your
grief.
YLT
5I might harden you with my
mouth
And the moving of my lips might be sparing.
But I would strengthen you
with my mouth
.... Comfort them with the words of his mouth; so God strengthens
his people with strength in their souls
when he answers them with good and
comfortable words; an angel strengthened Christ as man when in an agony
comforting him
suggesting comfortable things to him; so one saint may
strengthen and comfort another when in distress
whether of soul or body; see Psalm 138:3; and
thus Job had strengthened and comforted others
with his words in former times
as Eliphaz himself owns
Job 4:3 and so he
would again
were there a change in his circumstances
and objects presented:
and the moving of my lips should assuage your grief: words uttered
by him
which are done by the moving of the lips
should be such as would have
a tendency to allay grief
to stop
restrain
forbid
and lessen sorrow; at
least that it might not break out in an extravagant way
and exceed bounds
and
that his friends might not be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow.
Job 16:6 6 “Though I speak
my grief
is not relieved; And if I remain silent
how am I eased?
YLT
6If I speak
my pain is not
restrained
And I cease -- what goeth from me?
Though I speak
my grief is not assuaged
.... Though he
spoke to God in prayer
and entreated for some abatement of his sorrows
he got
no relief; and though he spoke to himself in soliloquies
his sorrow was not
repressed nor lessened; he could not administer comfort to himself in the
present case
though he might to others in like circumstances
if his own were
changed;
and though I forbear speaking
hold my peace
and say nothing
what am I eased? or "what goes from me"F20מה מני יחלך
"quid a me abit"
Junius & Tremellius
Schultens. ? not anything
of my trouble or grief; sometimes a man speaking of his troubles to his friends
gives vent to his grief
and he is somewhat eased; and on the other hand being
silent about it
he forgets it
and it goes off; but in neither of those ways
could Job be released: or it may be his sense is
that when he spake of his
affliction
and attempted to vindicate his character
he was represented as an
impatient and passionate man
if not as blasphemous
so that his grief was
rather increased than assuaged; and if he was silent
that was interpreted a
consciousness of his guilt; so that
let him take what course he would
it was
much the same
he could get no ease nor comfort.
Job 16:7 7 But now He has worn me
out; You have made desolate all my company.
YLT
7Only
now
it hath wearied
me; Thou hast desolated all my company
But now he hath made me weary
.... Or "it hath
made me weary"F21"Dolor meus"
V. L. so Aben Ezra
& Cocceius.
that is
"my grief"
as it may be supplied from Job 16:6; or rather
God
as appears from the next clause
and from the following verse
where he is
manifestly addressed; who by afflicting him had made him weary of the world
and all things in it
even of his very life
Job 10:1; his
afflictions were so heavy upon him
and pressed him so hard
that his life was
a burden to him; they were heavier than the sand of the sea
and his strength
was not equal to them; he could scarcely drag along
was ready to sink and lie
down under the weight of them:
thou hast made desolate all my company
or
"congregation"F23עדתי "meam
congregationem"
Pagninus; "conventum meum"
Montanus
Bolducius. ; the congregation of saints that met at his house for religious
worship
as some think
which now through his affliction was broke up
whom
Eliphaz had called a congregation of hypocrites
Job 15:34; which
passage Job may have respect unto; or rather his family
his children
which
were taken away from him: the Jews sayF24Vid. Drusium in loc.
ten
persons in any place make a congregation; this was just the number of Job's
children
seven sons and three daughters; or it may be he may have respect to
his friends
that came to visit him
who were moved and stupefied as it were at
the sight of him and his afflictions
as the wordF25"Stupefe
isti"
Tigurine version; so Jarchi. is by some translated
and who were
alienated from him; were not friendly to him
nor administered to him any
comfort; so that they were as if he had none
or worse.
Job 16:8 8 You have shriveled me up
And
it is a witness against me; My leanness rises up against me And
bears witness to my face.
YLT
8And Thou dost loathe me
For a witness it hath been
And rise up against me doth my failure
In my face
it testifieth.
And thou hast filled me with wrinkles
.... Not
through old age
but through affliction
which had sunk his flesh
and made
furrows in him
so that he looked older than he was
and was made old thereby
before his time; see Lamentations 3:4;
for this is to be understood of his body
for as for his soul
that through the
grace of God
and righteousness of Christ
was without spot or wrinkle
or any
such thing:
which is a witness against
me; as it was improved by his friends
who represented his
afflictions as proofs and testimonies of his being a bad man; though these
wrinkles were witnesses for him
as it may be as well supplied
that he really
was an afflicted man:
and my leanness rising up in me; his bones standing up
and standing out
and having scarce anything on them but skin
the flesh being
gone:
beareth witness to my face; openly
manifestly
to
full conviction; not that he was a sinful man
but an afflicted man; Eliphaz
had no reason to talk to Job of a wicked man's being covered with fatness
and
of collops of fat on his flanks
Job 15:27;
Job 16:9 9 He tears me in His
wrath
and hates me; He gnashes at me with His teeth; My adversary sharpens His
gaze on me.
YLT
9His anger hath torn
and he
hateth me
He hath gnashed at me with his teeth
My adversary sharpeneth his
eyes for me.
He teareth me in his wrath
who hateth me
.... By whom
is meant not Satan
as Jarchi
though he is an enemy to
and an hater of
mankind
especially of good men; nor Eliphaz
as others
who had fallen upon
Job with a great deal of wrath and fury
tearing his character in pieces
which
Job attributed to his hatred of him; but it rather appears from the context
that God himself is intended
of whom Job had now a mistaken notion and
apprehension; taking him for his enemy
being treated by him
as he thought
as
if he had an aversion to him
and an hatred of him; whereas God hates none of
his creatures
being his offspring
and the objects of his tender care
and
providential regard: indeed sin is hateful to him
and makes men odious in his
sight
and he hates all the workers of iniquity
and those whom he passed by
when he chose others; though they are said to be hated by him as Esau was
yet
not with a positive but a negative hatred; that is
are not loved by him; and
considered as profane and ungodly persons
and as such foreordained to
condemnation; for sin may be said to be hated
but good men never are; God's
chosen ones
his children and special people
are the objects of his
everlasting love; and though he may be angry with them
and show a little
seeming wrath towards them
yet never hates them; hatred and love are as
opposite as any two things can possibly be; and indeed
strictly and properly
speaking
there is no wrath nor fury in God towards his people; though they
deserve it
they are not appointed to it
but are delivered from it by Christ;
and neither that nor any of the effects of it shall ever light on them; but Job
concluded this from the providence he was under
in which God appeared terrible
to him
like a lion or any such fierce and furious creature
to which he is
sometimes compared
and compares himself
which seizes on its prey
and tears
and rends it to pieces; Isaiah 38:13; thus
God permitted Job's substance to be taken from him by the Chaldeans and
Sabeans; his children by death
which was like tearing off his limbs; and his
skin and his flesh to be rent and broken by boils and ulcers: Job was a type of
Christ in his sorrows and sufferings; and though he was not now in the best
frame of mind
the flesh prevailed
and corruptions worked
and he expressed
himself in an unguarded manner
yet perhaps we shall not find
in any part of
this book
things expressed
and the language in which they are expressed
more
similar and to be accommodated to the case
and sorrows
and sufferings of
Christ
than in this context; for though he was the son of God's love
his dear
and well beloved son
yet as he was the surety of his people
and bore and
suffered punishment in their stead
justice behaved towards him as though there
was a resentment unto him
and an aversion of him; yea
he says
"thou
hast cast off and abhorred
thou hast been wroth with thine Anointed" or
"Messiah"
Psalm 89:38; and
indeed he did bear the wrath of God
the vengeance of justice or curse of the
righteous law; and was suffered to be torn in every sense
his temples with a
crown of thorns
his cheeks by those that plucked off the hair
his hands and
feet by the nails driven in them
and his side by the spear; and his life was
torn
snatched
and taken away from him in a violent manner:
he gnasheth upon me with his teeth; as men do when they are
full of wrath and fury: this is one way of showing it
as the enemies of David
a type of Christ
and the slayers of Stephen
his protomartyr
did
Psalm 35:16; and as
beasts of prey
such as the lion
wolf
do:
mine enemy sharpeneth his eyes upon me; the Targum
adds
as a razor. Here again Job considers God as his enemy
though he was not
misinterpreting his dealings with him; he represents him as looking out sharp
after him
inspecting narrowly into all his ways
and works
and actions
strictly observing his failings and infirmities
calling him to an account
and
afflicting him for them
and dealing rigidly and severely with him for any
small offence: his eyes seemed to him to be like flames of fire
to sparkle
with wrath and revenge; his thee
as he imagined
was set against him
and his
eyes upon him to destroy him; and thus the eye of vindictive justice was upon
Christ his antitype
when he was made sin and a curse for his people
and the
sword of justice was awaked against him
and thrust in him.
Job 16:10 10 They gape at me with their
mouth
They strike me reproachfully on the cheek
They gather together against
me.
YLT
10They have gaped on me with
their mouth
In reproach they have smitten my cheeks
Together against me they
set themselves.
They have gaped upon me with their mouth
.... Here Job
speaks of the instruments which God suffered to use him ill; and he has respect
to his friends who came with open mouth against him
loading him with calumnies
and reproaches
laying charges to him he was not conscious of
and treating him
with scorn and contempt
which such a gesture is sometimes a token of
Lamentations 3:46;
and in which manner also Christ was used by men
on whom the reproach of them
that reproached God and his people fell
and who exhibited false charges
against him of various sorts; and he was the reproach of men and the contempt
of the people
who laughed him to scorn
opened their mouths in derision; they
shot out the lip and shook the head
and mocked and scoffed at him; yea
"they gaped upon him with their mouth as a ravening and a roaring
lion"
Psalm 22:6; to
which the allusion is here
when they cried out themselves and called upon
others to join them
saying
"Crucify him
crucify him"
Luke 23:21
they have smitten me on the cheek reproachfully; to be smitten
on the cheek is a reproach itself
and is a suffering not very patiently
endured. Hence Christ
to teach his followers patience
advised when they were
smitten on the one cheek to turn the other
that is
to take the blow
patiently; and it is not the smart of the stroke that is so much regarded as
the shame of it
the affront given
and the indignity offered; see 2 Corinthians 11:20;
so that the phrase may be taken for reproaching him; and indeed it may be
rendered
"they have smitten on the cheek with reproach"F1בחרפה "cum opprobrio"
Beza
Vatablus
Drusius;
so Schmidt
Michaelis
Schultens; "with reproaches"
Broughton. ;
they reproached him
which was the same as if they had smitten him on the
cheek; they smote him with their tongues
as Jeremiah's enemies smote him
Jeremiah 18:18;
they threw the dirt of scandal and calumny at him
and which is the common lot
of God's people; and though since they are reproached for Christ's sake
for
the Gospel's sake
and for righteousness sake
they should not be disturbed at
that; but rather reckon themselves happy
as they are said to be
and bind
these reproaches about their necks as chains of gold
and esteem them greater
riches than all the treasures of Egypt. This was literally true of Job's
antitype
the Messiah
for as it was foretold of him that he should give his
cheek to those that plucked off the hair
and they should smite the Judge of
Israel with a rod upon his cheek
Isaiah 50:6
so
this was done unto him by the servants of the high priest in his hall
and by
others
Matthew 26:67;
they have gathered themselves together against me; Job's friends
got together in order to visit him and comfort him
but it proved otherwise
and he viewed it in no other light than as a combination against him: the words
may be rendered
"they filled themselves against me"F2יתמלאון "impleverunt sese"
De Dieu. ; their
hearts with wrath and anger
as the Targum; their mouths with reproaches and
calumnies
and their eyes with pleasure and delight
and satisfaction at his
miseries and afflictions; and so the Vulgate Latin version
"they
are satiated with my punishments;'
though
rather this may respect the high spirits they were in
the boldness and even
impudence
as Job interpreted it
they showed in their conduct towards him
their hearts being swelled with pride and haughtiness and passionF3Vid.
De Dieu in loc. ; see Esther 7:5; or else
their numbers that came against him; so Mr. Broughton renders the words
"they came by full troops upon me"; Job's three friends
being great
personages
very probably brought a large retinue and train of servants with
them; who
observing their master's conduct
behaved in an indecent manner
towards him themselves
to whom he may have respect
Job 30:1; this was
verified in Christ his antitype
whom Judas
with a multitude of men
with
swords and staves
even with a band of soldiers
came to apprehend in the garden;
and when Herod and Pontius Pilate
with the Gentiles
and people of Israel
were gathered against him to do what God had determined should be done
Matthew 26:46.
Job 16:11 11 God has delivered me to
the ungodly
And turned me over to the hands of the wicked.
YLT
11God shutteth me up unto the
perverse
And to the hands of the wicked turneth me over.
God hath delivered me up to the ungodly
.... The evil
or wicked one
for it is in the singular number; and designs either Satan
into
whose hands God had not only delivered his substance
but his person
excepting
his life; though it may be
and which is an objection to this sense
Job as yet
knew it not; or else Eliphaz
or
the singular number being put for the plural
as the next clause explains it
all his friends
whom he in turn calls evil and
wicked men
because of their treatment of him; or else the Sabeans and
Chaldeans are intended
who were suffered to plunder him of his substance; the
words are very applicable to Christ
who was delivered to the Gentiles
and
into the hands of sinners and wicked men
and that by the determinate counsel
and foreknowledge of God
who with wicked hands took him
and crucified him
Matthew 20:19; or
God "shut him up"
or "delivered him bound"F4יסגירני "vinctum me tradidit"
Grotius
Michaelis
Schultens.
as the word signifies; which was literally true of
Christ
who was bound by the Jews
and delivered first to the high priest
and
then to the Roman governor
in such circumstances
John 18:12;
and turned me over into the hands of the wicked; signifying
the same as before
unless it should be rendered
"and caused me to
decline"
or "come down by the hands of the wicked"F5ירטני "divertere fecit a vita"
Pagninus;
"declinare me facit"
Beza
Drusius
Mercerus. that is
from his
former state of prosperity and happiness
into the low circumstances in which
he was
and which he was brought into by the means of wicked men
God suffering
it so to be.
Job 16:12 12 I was at ease
but He has
shattered me; He also has taken me by my neck
and shaken me to pieces; He
has set me up for His target
YLT
12At ease I have been
and he
breaketh me
And he hath laid hold on my neck
And he breaketh me in pieces
And he raiseth me to him for a mark.
I was at ease
but he hath broken me asunder
.... He was in
easy and affluent circumstances
abounding with the good things of this life
lay in his nest
as his expression is
Job 29:18; quietly
and peaceably
where he expected he should have died; and he was easy in his
mind
had peace of conscience
being a good man that feared God
and trusted in
his living Redeemer
enjoying the presence of God
the light of his
countenance
and the discoveries of his love
see Job 39:2; but now
he was broken to pieces
he was stripped of his worldly substance; his family
was broken up
and not a child left him; his body broken
and full of ruptures
through boils and ulcers; and his spirits were broken with his afflictions
and
a sense of divine displeasure; the arrows of God's wrath
in his apprehension
stuck in him
and the poison thereof drank up his spirits. Mr. Broughton
renders it
"I was wealthy
and he hath undone me"; though
once so opulent
he was now broken
and become a bankrupt. It may be applied to
Christ
his antitype
who
though rich
became poor to make his people rich
2 Corinthians 8:9;
and whose body was broken for them; and he was wounded and bruised for their
transgressions
and whose heart was broken with reproach:
he hath also taken me by the neck
and shaken me to pieces; as a
combatant in wrestling
who is stronger than his antagonist
uses him; or as a
giant
who takes a dwarf by his neck or collar
and shakes him
as if he would
shake him to pieces
limb from limb; or "hath dashed" or "broken
me to pieces"F6יפצפצני
"confregit me"
V. L. Pagninus; "minutatim confregit me"
Tigurine version; so Schultens
Jarchi
& Ben Gersom. ; or to shivers; as
glass or earthen vessels dashed against a wall
or struck with a hammer
fly
into a thousand pieces
can never be put together again; so Job reckoned of his
state and condition as irrecoverable
that his health
his substance
his
family
could never be restored as they had been:
and set me up for his mark; to shoot at
of which he
complains Job 7:20; a like
expression is used by the church in Lamentations 3:12;
and a phrase similar to this is used of Christ
Luke 2:34; and in
consequence of this are what follow.
Job 16:13 13 His archers surround me. He
pierces my heart[a] and does
not pity;
He pours out my gall on the ground.
YLT
13Go round against me do his
archers. He splitteth my reins
and spareth not
He poureth out to the earth my
gall.
His archers compass me round about
.... Satan and his
principalities and powers casting their fiery darts at him; or rather
his
friends shooting their arrows
even bitter words
reproaches
and calumnies; or
the various diseases of his body
his boils and ulcers
which were so many
arrows shot into him
in every part of him all around
and gave him exquisite
pain and anguish; besides the arrows of the Almighty
or that painful sensation
he had of the wrath of God. This also is true of Christ
the antitype of Job
and of Joseph; of the latter of which it is said
"the archers sorely
grieved him
and shot at him
but his bow abode in strength"
Genesis 49:23; so
Satan and his ministers threw their fiery darts at Christ when on the cross
and the scribes and priests
his emissaries
surrounded him there
and shot out
their reproachful and blasphemous words at him
and the justice of God smote
him
and the law of God cast its curses on him. Gussetius renders the words
"his great ones"F7"Ejus magnates"
Comment. Ebr.
p. 773. רביו "ejus magni"
Montanus. ; and
such Job's friends were
men of great substance
and lived in great credit and
honour; some have supposed them to be kings
and such were those that opposed
Christ
and distressed him
the rulers of the people
civil and ecclesiastic:
he cleaveth my reins asunder; by causing his arrows to
enter into them
Lamentations 3:13;
the consequence of which must be death; a man cannot live
at least long
after
this is his case; though some think this is to be understood of the disorder of
the stone in his reins or kidneys
which was very distressing to him:
and doth not spare; shows no mercy or pity
though in such sad
circumstances and dreadful agonies; thus God spared not his own son
Romans 8:32;
he poureth out my gall upon the ground; which is done
by piercing the gall bladder with the sword
or any such instrument
see Job 20:25; which
must issue in death; and the design of both these clauses is to show
that Job
looked upon his case irretrievable
and he here makes use of hyperbolical
expressions to set it forth by.
Job 16:14 14 He breaks me with wound
upon wound; He runs at me like a warrior.[b]
YLT
14He breaketh me -- breach
upon breach
He runneth upon me as a mighty one.
He breaketh me with breach upon breach
.... Upon his
substance
his family
and the health of his body
which came thick and fast
one after another; referring to the report of those things brought by one
messenger upon the back of another
see Ezekiel 7:26;
he runneth upon me like a giant; with great fury and
fierceness
with great strength and courage
with great speed and swiftness
causing great terror and distress; he not being able to resist him
any more
than a dwarf a giant
and no more
nor so much
a match for him; see Isaiah 42:13.
Job 16:15 15 “I have sewn sackcloth
over my skin
And laid my head[c] in the
dust.
YLT
15Sackcloth I have sewed on
my skin
And have rolled in the dust my horn.
I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin
.... Which he very
probably put on when he rent his mantle
or sat in ashes
Job 1:20; which
actions were usually performed together in times of distress and sorrow
see Genesis 37:34; and
this was no doubt a voluntary action of his
like that of the king of Nineveh
and his subjects Jonah 3:5; though
some have thought that Job was so reduced that he had no clothes to wear
and
was obliged to put on such coarse raiment
which is not probable; and it seems
that he put this next to his skin
which must be very uneasy to one that had
been used to such soft apparel
as it seems did also the kings of Israel in time
of mourning
1 Kings 21:27; it
is not only observed by several Jewish writers
that the word here used in the
Arabic language signifies "skin"
as we render it
as Aben Ezra
Ben
Melech
and others; but the skin of the wound
the thin skin which is drawn
over a wound when it is healing
as Ben Gersom and Bar Tzemach; which
being
tender
must be very unfit to bear such rough raiment upon it; nay
Schultens observes
that the Arabic word more properly signifies "torn skin"F8עלי גלדי "super laceram
cutem"
Schultens; "cutis eaque laesa et ulceribus percussa"
Stockius
p. 188. גלד "cutim percusiit"
Hottinger. Smegma Orient. p. 135. Stockius
ib.
as Job's skin must be full of
ruptures through the boils and ulcers upon him; he himself says
that his
"skin was broken
and become loathsome"
Job 7:5; now to
have sackcloth put on such a skin must be intolerable; the phrase of sewing it
to it is very unusual; though it may signify no more than an application of it
a putting it on him
and clothing himself with it; yet it seems to denote its
sticking close to him
as if it was sewed to his skin
through the purulent
matter of his boils clotting and cleaving to it; for he says in Job 7:5 that his
"flesh was clothed with worms and clods of dust"; and those
running into one another were like one scab
and
as it were
a garment to him;
his "disease bound him about as the collar of his coat"
and
his "skin was as black" as sackcloth itself
Job 30:18; the
design of the expression is both to show the wretched and miserable condition
he was in
and his great humiliation on account of his present circumstances;
and that he was not that proud and haughty man
or behaved under his affliction
in the insolent manner Eliphaz had suggested
Job 15:12; but was
one that humbled himself under the mighty hand of God
which is further
confirmed by the next clause:
and defiled my horn
in the dust: as he did when he sat in
ashes
as he afterwards repented in dust and ashes; and it was usual in the
times of mourning to put dust or ashes upon the head; which may be meant by his
horn
the horn of a beast
to which the allusion is
being in the head; and
this may be put for the whole body
which sometimes
on such occasions
was
rolled in dust and ashes
see Joshua 7:6; and the
horn being an emblem of grandeur
power
and authority
may denote that Job now
laid aside all the ensigns of it
and was content to have his honour laid in
the dust
and lie low before God
and not lift up his horn unto him
and much
less stretch out his hand against him; the Targum is
"I
sprinkled my glory in or with dust.'
Job 16:16 16 My face is flushed from
weeping
And on my eyelids is the shadow of death;
YLT
16My face is foul with
weeping
And on mine eyelids [is] death-shade.
My face is foul with weeping
.... On account of the
loss of his substance
and especially of his children; at the unkindness of his
friends
and over his own corruptions
which he felt working in him
and
breaking forth in unbecoming language; and because of the hidings of the face
of God from him: the word used in the Arabic languageF9חמרמרה "intumuit"
V. L. Tigurine version;
"fermentescit"
Schultens. has the
signification of redness in it
as Aben Ezra and others observe; of red wine
and
as Schultens adds
of the
fermentation of it; and is fitly used to express a man's face in excessive
weeping
which looks red
and swelled
and blubbered:
and on my eyelids is the shadow of death; which were
become dim through weeping
so that he could scarcely see out of them
and
like a dying man
could hardly lift them up; and such was his sorrowful
condition
that he never expected deliverance from it
but that it would issue
in death; and which he supposed was very near
and that he had many symptoms of
it
of which the decay of his eyesight was one; and he was so far from winking
with his eyes in a wanton and ludicrous way
as Eliphaz had hinted
Job 15:12; that
there was such a dead weight upon them
even the shadow of death itself
that
he was not able to lift them up.
Job 16:17 17 Although no violence is
in my hands
And my prayer is pure.
YLT
17Not for violence in my
hands
And my prayer [is] pure.
Not for any injustice in my hands
.... Came all
those afflictions and calamities upon him
which occasioned so much sorrow
weeping
mourning
and humiliation; he does not say there was no sin in him
not any in his heart
nor in his life
nor any iniquity done by him
he had
acknowledged these things before
Job 7:20; but that
there was nothing in his hands gotten in an unjust manner; he had taken away no
man's property
nor injured him in the least in a private way; nor had he
perverted justice as a public magistrate
by taking bribes or accepting
persons
and could challenge any to prove he had
as Samuel did
1 Samuel 12:3;
also my prayer is pure: he prayed
which
disproves the calumny of Eliphaz
Job 15:4; and his
prayer was pure too; not that it was free from failings and infirmities
which
attend the best
but from hypocrisy and deceit; it came not out of feigned
lips
but was put up in sincerity and truth; it sprang from an heart purified
by the grace of God
and sprinkled from an evil conscience; it was put up in
the faith of Christ
and as a pure offering through him; Job lifted up pure and
holy hands
and with these a pure and holy heart
and for pure and holy things;
so that it was not for want of doing justice to men
nor for want of devotion
towards God
that be was thus afflicted by him; compare with this what is said
of his antitype
Isaiah 53:9.
Job 16:18 18 “O earth
do not cover my
blood
And let my cry have no resting place!
YLT
18O earth
do not thou cover
my blood! And let there not be a place for my cry.
O earth
cover not thou my blood
.... This is an
imprecation
wishing that if; he had been guilty of any capital crime
of such
acts of injustice that he ought to be punished by the judge
and even to die
for them
that his blood when spilt might not be received into the earth
but
be licked up by dogs
or that he might have no burial or interment in the
earth; and if he had committed such sins as might come under the name of blood
either the shedding of innocent blood
though that is so gross a crime that it
can hardly be thought that Job's friends even suspected this of him; or rather
other foul sins
as injustice and oppression of the poor; the Tigurine version
is
"my capital sins"
see Isaiah 1:15; then
he wishes they might never be covered and concealed
but disclosed and spread
abroad everywhere
that all might know them
and he suffer shame for them; even
as the earth discloses the blood of the slain
when inquisition is made for it
Isaiah 26:21;
and let my cry have no place; meaning if he was the
wicked man and the hypocrite he was said to be
or if his prayer was not pure
sincere
and upright
as he said it was
then he desired that when he cried to
God
or to man
in his distress
he might be regarded by neither; that his cry
might not enter into the ears of the Lord of hosts
but that it might be shut
out
and he cover himself with a cloud
that it might not pass through
and
have any place with him; land that he might not meet with any pity and
compassion from the heart
nor help and relief from the hand of any man.
Job 16:19 19 Surely even now my witness
is in heaven
And my evidence is on high.
YLT
19Also
now
lo
in the
heavens [is] my witness
And my testifier in the high places.
Also now
behold
my witness is in heaven
.... That is
God
who dwells in the heavens
where his throne is
and which is the
habitation of his holiness
and from whence he beholds all the sons of men
and
their actions
is the all seeing and all knowing Being; and therefore Job
appeals to him as his witness
if he was guilty of the things laid to his
charge
to bear witness against him
but if not to be a witness for him
which
he believed he would
and desired he might:
for my record is on high; or "my
testimony"; that can testify for me; who is an "eyewitness"F11שהדי "oculatus meus testis"
Schultens.
as some
render it
before whom all things are naked and open; who has seen all my
actions
even the very inmost recesses of my mind
all the thoughts of my
heart
and all the principles of my actions
and him I desire to bear record of
me; such appeals are lawful in some cases
which ought not to be common and
trivial ones
but of moment and importance
and which cannot well be determined
in any other way; such as was the charge of hypocrisy against Job
and
suspicions of his having been guilty of some notorious crime
though it could
not be pointed at and proved; see 1 Samuel 12:3
2 Corinthians 1:13.
Job 16:20 20 My friends scorn me; My
eyes pour out tears to God.
YLT
20My interpreter [is] my
friend
Unto God hath mine eye dropped:
My friends scorn me
.... Not that they
scoffed at his afflictions and calamities
and at his diseases and disorders
that would have been very brutish and inhuman
but at his words
the arguments
and reasons he made use of to defend himself with
see Job 12:4;
but mine eye poureth out tears
unto God; in great plenty
because of his very great sorrows and
distresses
both inward and outward; and it was his mercy
that when his
friends slighted and neglected him
yea
bore hard upon him
and mocked at him
that he had a God to go to
and pour out not only his tears
but all his
complaints
and even his very soul unto him
from whom he might hope for
relief; and what he said
when he did this
is as follows.
Job 16:21 21 Oh
that one might plead
for a man with God
As a man pleads for his neighbor!
YLT
21And he reasoneth for a man
with God
And a son of man for his friend.
Oh that one might plead for a man with God
.... That is
that one might be appointed and allowed to plead with God on his account; or
that he be admitted to plead with God for himself; or however
that there might
be a hearing of his case before God
and that he would decide the thing in
controversy between him and his friends
when he doubted not but it would be
given on his side:
as a man pleadeth for his neighbour; using great
freedom
and powerful arguments
and having no dread of the judge
nor fear of
carrying the cause for his neighbour; so Job wishes
that either one for him
or he himself
might be freed from the dread of the divine Majesty
and might
be suffered to speak as freely to his case as a counsellor at the bar does for
his client. The words will admit of a more evangelic sense by observing that
God
to whom Job says his eye poured out tears
at the close of Job 16:20
is to be
understood of the second Person in the Godhead
Jehovah
the Son of God
the
Messiah; and then read these words that follow thus
"and he will plead
for a man with God
and the Son of man for his friend"; which last clause
perhaps may be better rendered
"even the Son of man"
&c. and so
they are expressive of Job's faith
that though his friends despised him
yet
he to whom he poured out his tears
and committed his case
would plead his
cause with God for him
and thoroughly plead it
when he should be acquitted.
The appellation
"the Son of man"
is a well known name for the Messiah
in the New Testament
and is not altogether unknown in the Old
see Psalm 80:17; and
one part of his work and office is to be an advocate with the Father for his
friends
whom he makes
reckons
and uses as such
even all the Father has
given him
and he has redeemed by his blood; for these he pleads his blood
righteousness
and sacrifice
to the satisfaction of the law
and justice of
God
and against Satan
and all enemies whatever
and for every blessing they
want; and for which work he is abundantly fit
because of the dignity of his
person
his nearness to God his Father
and the interest he has in him.
GussetiusF12Ebr. Comment. p. 320
321. goes this way
and observes
that this sense has not been taken notice of by interpreters
which he seems to
wonder at; whereas our English annotator on the place had it long ago
and Mr.
Caryll after him
though disapproved of by some modern interpreters.
Job 16:22 22 For when a few years are
finished
I shall go the way of no return.
YLT
22When a few years do come
Then a path I return not do I go.
When a few years are come
.... As the years of
man's life are but few at most
and Job's years
which were yet to come
still fewer
in his apprehension; or "years of number"F13שנות מספר "anni
numeri"
Montanus
Vatablus
Bolducius; "numbered days"
Broughton; so Tigurine version.
that are numbered by God
fixed and
determined by him
Job 14:5; or being
few are easily numbered:
then I shall go the way whence I shall not return; that is
go
the way of all flesh
a long journey; death itself is meant
which is a going
out of this world into another
from whence there is no return to this again
to the same place
condition
circumstances
estate
and employment as now;
otherwise there will be a resurrection from the dead
the bodies will rise out
of the earth
and souls will be brought again to be united with them
but not
to be in the same situation here as now: this Job observes either as a kind of
solace to him under all his afflictions on himself
and from his friends
that
in a little time it would be all over with him; or as an argument to hasten the
pleading of his cause
that his innocence might be cleared before he died; and
if this was not done quickly
it would be too late.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》
New King James
Version (NKJV)