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Job Chapter
Nineteen
New King James Version (NKJV)
INTRODUCTION TO JOB 19
This
chapter contains Job's reply to Bildad's second speech
in which he complains
of the ill usage of his friends
of their continuing to vex him
and to beat
and bruise
and break him in pieces with their hard words
and to reproach him
and carry it strange to him
Job 19:1; which he
thought was very cruel
since
if he was mistaken
the mistake lay with
himself
Job 19:4; and if
they were determined to go on at this rate
he would have them observe
that
his afflictions were of God
and therefore should take care to what they
imputed them
since he could not get the reasons of them
or his cause to be
heard
though he vehemently and importunately sought it
Job 19:5; and then
gives an enumeration of the several particulars of his distress
all which he
ascribes to God
Job 19:8; and he
enlarges upon that part of his unhappy case
respecting the alienation of his
nearest relations
most intimate acquaintance and friends
from him
and their
contempt of him
and the like treatment he met with from his servants
and even
young children
Job 19:13; all
which
with other troubles
had such an effect upon him as to reduce him to a
mere skeleton
and which he mentions to move the pity of these his friends
now
conversing with him
Job 19:20; and yet
after all
and in the midst of it
and which was his great support under his
trials
he expresses his strong faith in his living Redeemer
who should appear
on the earth in the latter day
and be his Saviour
and in the resurrection of
the dead through him
which he believed he should share in
and in all the
happiness consequent on it; and he wishes this confession of his faith might be
written and engraven
and be preserved on a rock for ever for the good of
posterity
Job 19:23; and
closes the chapter with an expostulation with his friends
dissuading them from
persecuting him any longer
since there was no reason for it in himself
and it
might be attended with bad consequences to them
Job 19:28.
Job 19:1 Then
Job answered and said:
YLT
1And Job answereth and
saith: --
Then Job answered and said. Having heard Bildad out
without giving him any interruption; and when he had finished his oration
he
rose up in his own defence
and put in his answer as follows.
Job 19:2 2 “How long will you torment
my soul
And break me in pieces with words?
YLT
2Till when do ye afflict my
soul
And bruise me with words?
How long will ye vex my soul
.... Which of all
vexation is the worst; not only his bones were vexed
but his soul also
as
David's was
Psalm 6:2. His body
was vexed with boils from head to feet; but now his soul was vexed by his
friends
and which denotes extreme vexation
a man's being vexed to his very
heart: there are many things vexations to men
especially to good men; they are
not only vexed with pains of the body
as others
and with loss of worldly
substance; but even all things here below
and the highest enjoyment of them
as wealth
wisdom
honours
and pleasures
are all vanity and vexation of spirit
as they were to Solomon; but more especially truly good men are vexed with the
corruptions of their hearts
which are as pricks in their eyes and thorns in
their sides
and with the temptations of Satan
which are also thorns in the
flesh and fiery darts
and with the conversation of wicked men
as was the soul
of righteous Lot
and with the bad principles and practices of professors of
religion; and sometimes
as Job was
they are vexed by their own friends
who
should be their comforters
but prove miserable ones
as his did
and even
vexations
and continued so to the wearing him out almost; and so some render
the words
"how long will ye weary my soul"F3תגיון "defatigabitis"
Schmidt
Michaelis. ? with
repeating their insinuations that he was a wicked and hypocritical man
and
therefore was afflicted of God in the manner he was; and which
knowing his own
innocency
extremely vexed him:
and break me in pieces with words? not his body
but his
spirit; which was broken
not by the word of God
which is like an hammer that
breaks the rocky heart in pieces; for such a breaking is in mercy
and not an
affliction to be complained of; and such as are thus broken are healed again
and bound up by the same hand that breaks; who has great
regard to broken
spirits and contrite hearts; looks to them
and dwells with them
in order to
revive and comfort them: but by the words of men; Job was smitten with the
tongues of men; as Jeremiah was
and was beaten and bruised by them
as
anything is beaten and bruised by a pestle in a mortar
as the wordF4תדכאונני "obtundetis"
Vatablus
Piscator
Schmidt; so Michaelis
Schultens. signifies
and is sometimes rendered
Isaiah 53:5; these
must be not soft but hard words
not gentle reproofs
which being given and
taken in love
will not break the head
but calumnies and reproaches falsely
cast
and with great severity
and frequently
which break the heart. See Psalm 69:20.
Job 19:3 3 These ten times you have
reproached me; You are not ashamed that you have wronged me.[a]
YLT
3These ten times ye put me
to shame
ye blush not. Ye make yourselves strange to me –
These ten times have ye reproached me
.... Referring
not to ten sections or paragraphs
in which they had done it
as Jarchi; or to
the five speeches his friends
in which their reproaches were doubled; or to
Job's words
and their answer
as Saadiah; for it does not denote an exact
number of their reproaches
which Job was not so careful to count; but it
signifies that he had been many times reproached by them; so Aben Ezra
and in
which sense the phrase is often used
see Genesis 31:7; it is
the lot of good men in all ages to be reproached by carnal and profane sinners
on account of religion
and for righteousness' sake
as Christians are for the
sake of Christ and his Gospel; and which Moses esteemed greater riches than all
the treasures of Egypt; but to be reproached by friends
and that as an hypocrite
and a wicked man
as Job was
must be very cutting; and this being often
repeated
as it was an aggravation of the sin of his friends
so likewise of
his affliction and patience:
ye are not ashamed
so that ye make yourselves strange to
me; they looked shy at him; would not be free and friendly with him
but carried it strange to him
and seemed to have their affections alienated
from him. There should not be a strangeness in good men one to another
since
they are not aliens from the commonwealth of Israel
and strangers to the
covenants of promise
to the grace of God
and communion with him; since they
are fellow citizens
and of the household of God; belong to the same city
share in the same privileges
are of the same family
children of the same father
and brethren one of another
members of the same body
heirs of the same grace
and glory
and are to dwell together in heaven to all eternity; wherefore they
should not make themselves strange to each other
but should speak often
kindly
and affectionately
one to another
and freely converse together about
spiritual things; should pray with one another
and build up each other on
their most holy faith
and by love serve one another
and do all good offices
mutually that lie in their power
and bear one another's burdens
and so fulfil
the law Christ: but
instead of this
Job's friends would scarcely look at him
much less speak one kind word to him; yea
they "hardened themselves
against" him
as someF5תהכרו לי "indurastis facies vestras contra me"
Vatablus; so Broughton. render the word; had no compassion on him or pity for
him in his distressed circumstances
which their relation to him obliged unto
and was due unto him on the score of friendship; nay
they "mocked"
at him
which is the sense of the word
according to Ben GersomF6"Erubescitis
subsannare me"
Pagninus. ; and of this he had complained before
Job 12:4; and with
someF7Drusius; so Schultens. it has the signification of impudence
and audaciousness
from the sense of the word in the Arabic language
see Isaiah 3:9; as if
they behaved towards him in a very impudent manner: or
though they
"knew" him
as the Targum paraphrases it
yet they were "not
ashamed" to reproach him; though they knew that he was a man that feared
God; they knew his character and conversation before his all afflictions came
on
and yet traduced him as an hypocrite and a wicked man. Whatever is sinful
men should be ashamed of
and will be sooner or later; not to be ashamed
thereof is an argument of great hardness and impenitence; and among other
things it becomes saints to be ashamed of their making themselves strange to
one another. Some render it interrogativelyF8So Junius &
Tremellius
Piscator.
"are ye not ashamed?" &c. you may well be
ashamed
if you are not; this is put in order to make them ashamed.
Job 19:4 4 And if indeed I have
erred
My error remains with me.
YLT
4And also -- truly
I have
erred
With me doth my error remain.
And be it indeed that I have erred
.... Which is
a concession for argument's sake
but not an acknowledgment that he had erred;
though it is possible he might have erred
and it is certain he did in some
things
though not in that respect with which he was charged; "humanum est
errare"
all men are subject to mistakes
good men may err; they may err
in judgment
or from the truth in some respect
and be carried away for a while
and to some degree with the error the wicked
though they shall be turned from
it again; they may err in practice
and wander from the way of God's
commandments; and indeed their strayings and aberrations of this sort are so
many
that David says
"who can understand his errors?" Psalm 19:12; and
they may err in words
or make a mistake in speech; but then no man should be
made an offender for a word for he must be a perfect man that is free from
mistakes of this kind: now Job argues that supposing this to be his case in any
of the above instances; yet
says he
mine error remaineth with myself; I only am chargeable
with it
and answerable for it; it is nothing to you
and why should you
trouble yourselves about it? it will not be imputed to you
nor will you suffer
on account of it; or
admitting I have imbibed an error
I do not publish it abroad;
I keep it to myself; it lies and lodges in my own breast
and nobody is the
worse for it: or "let it remain"
or "lodge with me"F11אתי תלין "mecum
maneat"
Beza; to the same sense Mercerus
Schmidt
Junius and Tremellius
Piscator
Michaelis
Schultens. ; Why should my mistakes be published abroad
and all the world be made acquainted with them? or else this expresses his
resolution to abide by what his friends called an error; and then the so is
if
this is an error which I have asserted
that God afflicts both good and bad
men
and that afflictions are no argument of a man's being an hypocrite and a
wicked man
I am determined to continue in it; I will not give it up
I will
hold it fast; it shall remain with me as a principle never to be departed from;
or it may be rather his meaning is
that this notion he had imbibed would
remain with him
and was likely to do so
for anything they had said
or could
say to the contrary.
Job 19:5 5 If indeed you exalt yourselves
against me
And plead my disgrace against me
YLT
5If
truly
over me ye
magnify yourselves
And decide against me my reproach;
If indeed ye will magnify yourselves against me
.... Look and
talk big
set up themselves for great folk
and resolve to run him down; open
their mouths wide against him and speak great swelling words in a blustering
manner; or magnify what they called an error in him
and set it out in the worst
light they could:
and plead against me my reproach; his affliction which he
was reproached with
and was pleaded against him as an argument of his being a
wicked man; if therefore they were determined to go on after this manner
and
insist on this kind of proof
then he would have them take what follows.
Job 19:6 6 Know then that God has
wronged me
And has surrounded me with His net.
YLT
6Know now
that God turned
me upside down
And His net against me hath set round
Know now that God hath overthrown me
.... He would
have them take notice that all his afflictions were from the hand of God; and
therefore should take care to what they imputed any acts of his
whose ways are
unsearchable
and the reasons of them not to be found out; and therefore
if a
wrong construction should be put upon them
which may be easily done by weak
sighted men
it must be displeasing to him. Job had all along from the first
ascribed his afflictions to God
and he still continued to do so; he saw his
hand in them all; whoever were the instruments
it was God that had overthrown
him
or cast him down from an high to a very low estate; that had taken away
his substance
his children
and his wealth: or "hath perverted me"F12עותני "pervertit me"
Montanus
Mercerus; so
Vatablus
Drusius
Schultens. ; not that God had made him perverse
or was the
cause or occasion of any perverseness in him
either in his words or in his
actions
or had perverted his cause
and the judgment of it; Job could readily
answer to those questions of Bildad
"doth God pervert judgment? or doth
the Almighty pervert justice?" and say
no
he doth not; but he is to be
understood in the same sense as the church is
when she says
see Lamentations 3:9;
"he hath made my path crooked"; where the same word is used as here;
and both she and Job mean that God had brought them into cross
crooked
and
afflictive dispensations:
and hath compassed me with his net; and which also designs
affliction
which is God's net
which he has made
ordained
and makes use of;
which he lays for his people
and takes them in
and draws them to himself
and
prevents them committing sin
and causes to issue in their good; see Lamentations 1:13.
Job 19:7 7 “If I cry out concerning
wrong
I am not heard. If I cry aloud
there is no justice.
YLT
7Lo
I cry out -- violence
and am not answered
I cry aloud
and there is no judgment.
Behold
I cry out of wrong
.... Or of
"violence"F13חמס
"violentiam"
Junius & Tremellius
Piscator
&c.
"injuriam"
Montanus.
or injury done him by the Sabeans and
Chaldeans upon his substance
and by Satan upon his health; this he cried out
and complained of in prayer to God
and of it as it were in open court
as a
violation of justice
and as being dealt very unjustly with:
but I am not heard; his prayer was not heard; he could get no
relief
nor any redress of his grievances
nor any knowledge of the reasons of
his being thus used; see Habakkuk 1:2;
I cry aloud
but there is no judgment;
notwithstanding his vehement and importunate requests; and which were repeated
time after time
that there might be a hearing of his cause; that it might be
searched into and tried
that his innocence might be cleared
and justice done
him
and vengeance taken on those that wronged him; but he could not obtain it;
there was no time appointed for judgment
no court of judicature set
nor any
to judge. Now seeing this was the case
that the hand of God was in all his
afflictions; that he had complained to him of the injury done him; and that he
had most earnestly desired his cause might be heard
and the reasons given why
he was thus used
but could get no answer to all this; therefore it became them
to be cautious and careful of what they said concerning the dealings of God
with him
and to what account they placed them; of which he gives a particular
enumeration in the following verses.
Job 19:8 8 He has fenced up my way
so that I cannot pass; And He has set darkness in my paths.
YLT
8My way He hedged up
and I
pass not over
And on my paths darkness He placeth.
He hath fenced up my way that I cannot pass
.... A
metaphor taken from travellers
who not only meet with obstacles and
obstructions in their way
which make it difficult; but sometimes with such
enclosures and fences
that they are at a full stop
and cannot pass on
and
know not what course to steer: the people of God are not inhabitants of this
world
but pilgrims
strangers
and sojourners in it
and travellers through
it; they are bound for another country
and are travelling to it; and though
their way for far most part is indeed troublesome
but generally passable
or
made so; yet sometimes not only is their way hedged up with afflictions
and
they hedged about with them
that they cannot easily get out
and get through
and pass on; and it is with much difficulty
and with being much scratched and
torn
they do brush through; but they also at other times find God has built up
a wall against them
and enclosed them with hewn stones
and so fenced up their
way that they cannot pass on; such difficulties present as seem insurmountable
and they are at a standstill
and know not what way to take; which was now
Job's case
see Lamentations 3:5;
and this may not only respect the way of his walk in this world
but his way to
God
either to the throne of his grace
or the tribunal of his justice: the way
to God
as on a throne of grace
is only through Christ
the living way; which
though more clearly revealed under the Gospel dispensation
and therefore
called a new way
yet was known under the former dispensation
and made use of;
in which saints may have access to God with boldness and confidence: but
sometimes this way seems by unbelief to be fenced up
though it is always open;
and especially when God hides his face
and is not to be seen
nor is it known
where to find him
and how to come up to his seat; and which also was Job's
case
Job 23:3; and
whereas he was very desirous of having his cause heard and tried at the
tribunal of God
his way was so shut up
that he could not obtain what he so
much desired
and knew not therefore how to proceed
and what course to take:
and he hath set darkness in my paths; and was like
a traveller in a very dark night
that cannot see his way
and knows not what
step to take next; so good men
though they walk not in the ways of darkness
in a moral sense
as unregenerate men do; yet even while they are walking in
the good ways of truth and holiness
and while they are passing through this
world
God sometimes withdraws the light of his countenance from them
so that
they walk in darkness
and have no light
which is very uncomfortable walking;
and when God may be said to put darkness into their paths
he not granting them
the light of grace and comfort they have sometimes enjoyed; and so it is with
them when under such dark dispensations of Providence
as that they cannot see
the end of God in leading them in such ways; and then their case is such as it
now was Job's; that they cannot see any way of getting out of it; as the
Israelites at the Red sea
and Paul and the mariners when in a storm
and all
hope of being saved was gone.
Job 19:9 9 He has stripped me of my
glory
And taken the crown from my head.
YLT
9Mine honour from off me He
hath stripped
And He turneth the crown from my head.
He hath stripped me of my glory
.... The metaphor of a
traveller may be still continued
who falling among thieves is stripped of his
clothes
to which the allusion may be: Job was not stripped of his glory in a
spiritual sense
not of the glorious robe of Christ's righteousness
nor of the
graces of the Spirit
which makes saints all glorious within; but in a civil
sense
and is to be understood not merely of his rich apparel
or of his robe
which he might wear as a civil magistrate
as an ensign of honour
and which
made him look glorious; but either of his wealth
riches
and substance
which
are a man's glory
and which he too often and too much glories in
though Job
might not; see Psalm 49:16; or of
his children
Hosea 9:11
Esther 5:11; and
indeed of everything that made him look magnificent among men; as an abundance
of this world's good
a numerous family
fine clothes
sumptuous living
and a
stately palace; all which Job might have had
but was now stripped of all by
one means or another; and whoever were the instruments
he ascribes it all to
God
as being according to his sovereign will and pleasure; and these things
are very properly and significantly expressed by clothes a man is stripped of
because they are outward things
as garments are
adorn and make externally
glorious
as they do
and of which a man may be as soon and as easily deprived
as to be stripped of his clothes by one or more of superior power to him:
and taken the crown from my head: meaning much
the same as before
either his wealth and riches
which are the crown of a wise
man
Proverbs 14:24; or
his children
which are the crown of old then
Proverbs 17:6; or
everything that gave him honour
reputation
and esteem with men; all was taken
away from him
and his honour laid in the dust. Some from hence have wrongly
concluded that Job was a king
and wore a royal diadem
of which he was now
deprived
mistaking him for Jobab
a king of Edom
Genesis 36:33; but
he had and wore a better diadem
and which he did not lose
but held fast
even
his righteousness
justice
and integrity
Job 29:14; and much
less could the crown of life
righteousness
and glory
to which he was
entitled
be taken from him.
Job 19:10 10 He breaks me down on every
side
And I am gone; My hope He has uprooted like a tree.
YLT
10He breaketh me down round
about
and I go
And removeth like a tree my hope.
He hath destroyed me on every side
.... To be "troubled
on every side" is much
as the apostles were
2 Corinthians 4:8;
but to be destroyed on every side
and all around
is more
and denotes utter
destruction; it may have respect to the rein of his substance and family
which
were all demolished at once; his oxen and asses
which were on one side
his
camels on other
his sheep on another
and his children on another
and all
destroyed in one day
and perhaps in a few hours; and also to his body
which
God had made
and had fashioned together round about; but now he had suffered
it to be smitten with ulcers from the crown of his head to the sole of his
feet; and this earthly tabernacle of his was demolishing on every side
and
just falling down; for the allusion is either to the demolition of a building
or to the rooting up of a tree
and so continued in the next clause; comparing
himself to a tree
that is dug about on all sides
and its roots laid bare
and
these and all their fibres cut off
so that it is utterly destroyed from
growing any more
but becomes dead; and this Job thought to be his case:
and I am gone; or am a dead man
just going out of the
world
the way of all flesh; and because of the certainty of it
and of its
being very quickly
in a few minutes
as it were
he speaks of it as if it
already was: wherefore it follows
and my hope he hath removed like a tree; not like a
tree that is cut down to its roots
which remain in the ground
and may sprout
out again
Job 14:7; nor like
a tree that is taken up with its roots
and removed to another place
and
planted in another soil
where it may grow as well or better; but like a tree
cut off from its roots
or pulled up by the roots
and laid upon the ground
when
there can be no hope of its ever growing again; and so the hope of Job was like
that; not his hope of salvation
of the resurrection of the dead
and of
eternal life
which was strong and firm
Job 13:15; nor can
a good and well grounded hope be removed; not the grace of hope
which is an
abiding one; nor the ground of hope
which is Christ and his righteousness
upon which hope
as an anchor
being cast
is sure and steadfast; nor the
object of hope
eternal glory and happiness laid up in heaven: but this is to
be interpreted of Job's hope of a restoration to outward happiness
which his
friends would have had him entertain
in case of repentance and reformation;
but Job
as he was not sensible of his need of the one
as his friends
understood it
he had no hope of the other
see Job 6:11.
Job 19:11 11 He has also kindled His
wrath against me
And He counts me as one of His enemies.
YLT
11And He kindleth against me
His anger
And reckoneth me to Him as His adversaries.
He hath also kindled his wrath against me
.... In this
and some following verses the metaphor is taken from a state of warfare
in
which enemies are engaged in an hostile way
Job 19:12; in which
way Job apprehended God was come forth against him; he imagined that the wrath
of God
which is comparable to fire for its force and fury
was kindled against
him; that it began to appear
and was bursting out in a flame upon him
and all
around him
to consume him; he thought his afflictions were in wrath
which is
often the mistaken apprehension of good men
see Psalm 38:1; and
that the terrors of it were set in battle array against him
Job 6:4;
and he counted me unto him as one of his enemies; all men are
by nature enemies to God
yea
enmity itself
and so are his own people while
unregenerate
until the enmity of their hearts is slain
and they are
reconciled to God by his spirit and grace; but as Job was truly a gracious man
and possessed of the fruits of the spirit
he must among the rest of his graces
have the love of God in his heart; and he was sensible and conscious to himself
that he was no enemy to God
and could appeal to him
as the searcher of
hearts
that he knew he loved him; nay
he could not believe that God reckoned
him his enemy
when he had given such a testimony of him
and of his fear of
him
that there was none like him; and when Job so strongly trusted in him for
salvation
and believed he should enjoy him for ever: but his sense is
that
God treated him
by afflicting him in the manner he did
as if he was one of
his enemies; had he really been one
he could not have used him
he thought
more roughly and severely; so that
judging according to the outward appearance
of things
it might be concluded
as it seems it was by his friends
that he
was a wicked man
an hypocrite
an enemy to God and godliness; but whereas Job
thought that God dealt with him as with an enemy
he was mistaken; since when
God afflicts his people
he deals with them as with sons
Hebrews 12:7.
Job 19:12 12 His troops come together And
build up their road against me; They encamp all around my tent.
YLT
12Come in do His troops
together
And they raise up against me their way
And encamp round about my
tent.
His troops come together
.... Afflictions which
are many
and of which it may be said
as was at the birth of God
who had his
name from the word here used
"a troop cometh": Genesis 30:11; and
these sometimes come together
or follow so quick one upon another
that there
is scarce any interval between them
as did Job's afflictions; and they are
God's hosts
his troops
his soldiers
which are at his command; and he says to
them
as the centurion did to his
to the one
Go
and he goes
and to another
Come
and it comes:
and raise up their way against me; as an army
when it
comes against a place
throws up a bank to raise their artillery upon
that
they may play it to greater advantage; or make a broad causeway
for the
soldiers to march abreast against it; or an high cast up way
as the wordF25ויסלו "aggerant"
Cocceius
Schultens;
"straverunt"
Montanus
Schmidt; a מסלה
"via strata et elevata"
Mercerus
Drusius. signifies
over a ditch
or dirty place in a hollow
that they may the better pass over: some read it
"they raise up their way upon me"F26עלי
"super me"
Pagninus
Montanus
Mercerus
Schmidt
Michaelis. ; he
opposing and standing in the way was crushed down by them
and trampled upon
and over whom they passed as on an highway
and in a beaten path; see Isaiah 51:23; but
most render it
"against me"; for Job looked upon all his
afflictions
as Jacob did Genesis 42:36
to
be against him
to militate against him
and threaten him with ruin
when they
were all working for him
even for his good:
and encamp round about my tabernacle: as an army
round about a city when besieging it. Job may have respect to the tabernacle of
his body
as that is sometimes so called
2 Corinthians 5:1;
and to the diseases of it; which being a complication
might be said to encamp
about him
or surround him on all sides.
Job 19:13 13 “He has removed my
brothers far from me
And my acquaintances are completely estranged from me.
YLT
13My brethren from me He hath
put far off
And mine acquaintances surely Have been estranged from me.
He hath put my brethren far from me
.... As it is one part of
business in war to cut off all communication between the enemy and their
confederates and auxiliaries
and to hinder them of all the help and assistance
from them they can; so Job here represents God dealing with him as with an
enemy
and therefore keeps at a distance from him all such from whom he might
expect comfort and succour
as particularly his brethren; by whom may be meant
such who in a natural relation are strictly and properly brethren; for such Job
had
as appears from Job 42:11; who
afterwards paid him a visit
and showed brotherly love to him; but for the
present the affliction that God laid upon him had such an influence on theft
as to cause them to stand aloof off
and not come near him
and show any regard
unto him; and as this was the effect of the afflicting hand of God
Job
ascribes it to him
and which added to his affliction; see Psalm 69:8;
and mine acquaintance are verily estranged from me; such as knew
him in the time of his prosperity
and frequently visited him
and conversed with
him
and he with them; but now
things having taken a different turn in his
outward circumstances
they carried it strange to him
as if they had never
been acquainted with him: "si fueris felix"
&c.
Job 19:14 14 My relatives have failed
And
my close friends have forgotten me.
YLT
14Ceased have my neighbours
And my familiar friends have forgotten me
My kinsfolk have failed
.... Or
"ceased"F1חדלו
"desierunt"
Pagninus
Montanus
Vatablus
Mercerus
Drusius
Piscator
Schmidt
Michaelis; "cessant"
Schultens.
not to be
or
that they were dead
which is sometimes the sense of the word; but they ceased
from visiting him
or doing any good office for him; those that were
"near"F2קרובי "propinqui
mei"
Pagninus
Montanus
&c. him
as the word used signifies; that
were near him in relation
and were often near him in place
in his own house
in company and conversation with him
now ceased to be near him in affection;
or to come nigh him
to converse with him and comfort him
and sympathize with
him
which might be expected from persons nearly related:
and my familiar friends have forgotten me; such as were
well known to him
and he to them
and who not long ago were very loving and
friendly to him
and very freely and familiarly conversed with him; but now
they forgot him; the friendship that subsisted between them
the friendliness
with which they had visited him
and the favours they had received from him;
they so slighted and neglected him
that it seemed as if he was forgotten
as a
dead man
out of mind; or as if they did not remember that there ever was
or
at least that there now was
such a man in the world as Job: these could not be
true friends; for "a friend loves at all times
and a brother is born for
adversity"
Proverbs 17:17; a
real friend loves
and continues to love
in adversity as well as in
prosperity; and such an one
who sometimes sticks closer to a man than a
brother
is born and designed to be of service to him in a time of trouble; but
so it was ordered by divine Providence
and according to the will of God
that
Job should meet with such treatment from his brethren
relations
acquaintance
and familiar friends
for the trial of his faith and patience.
Job 19:15 15 Those who dwell in my
house
and my maidservants
Count me as a stranger; I am an alien in their
sight.
YLT
15Sojourners of my house and
my maids
For a stranger reckon me: An alien I have been in their eyes.
They that dwell in mine house
.... Not his neighbours
as the Septuagint; for though they dwelt near his house
they did not dwell in
it; nor inmates and sojourners
lodgers with him
to whom he let out apartments
in his house; this cannot be supposed to have been his case
who was the
greatest man in all the east; nor even tenants
that hired houses and lands of
him; for the phrase is not applicable to them; it designs such who were
inhabitants in his house. Job amidst all his calamities had an house to dwell
in; it is a tradition mentioned by JeromF3De loc. Heb. fol. 89. M.
that Job's house was in Carnea
a large village in his time
in a corner of
Batanea
beyond the floods of Jordan; and he had people dwelling with him in
it
who are distinct from his wife
children
and servants after mentioned; and
are either "strangers"F4גרי
"peregrini"
Schmidt
Schultens. as the word sometimes signifies
he
had taken into his house in a way of hospitality
and had given them lodging
and food
and raiment
as the light of nature and law of God required
Deuteronomy 10:18;
or else proselytes
of whom this wordF5Apud Rabbinos
passim. is
sometimes used
whom he had been the instrument of converting from idolatry
superstition
and profaneness
and of gaining them over to the true religion;
and whom he had taken into his house
to instruct them more and more in the
ways of God
such as were the trained servants in Abraham's family: these
says
he
and my maids
count me for a stranger; both the one
and the other
the strangers he took out of the streets
and the travellers he
opened his doors unto
and entertained in a very generous and hospitable
manner; the proselytes he had made
and with whom he had taken so much pains
and to whom he had shown so much kindness and goodness
and been the means of
saving their souls from death; and his maidens he had hired into his house
to
do the business of it
and who ought to have been obedient and respectful to
him
and whose cause he had not despised
but had treated them with great
humanity and concern; the Targum wrongly renders the word
"my
concubines"; yet these one and another looked upon him with an air of the
utmost indifference
not as if he was the master of the house
but a stranger
in it
as one that did not belong unto it
and they had scarce ever seen with
their eyes before; which was very ungrateful
and disrespectful to the last
degree; and if they reckoned him a stranger to God
to his grace
to true
religion and godliness
this was worse still; and especially in the proselytes
of his house
who owed their conversion
their light and knowledge in divine
things
to him as an instrument:
I am an alien in their sight; as a foreigner
one of
another kingdom and nation
of a different habit
speech
religion
and
manners; they stared at him as if they had never seen him before
as some
strange object to be looked at
an uncommon spectacle
that had something in
him or about him unusual and frightful; at least contemptible and to be
disdained
and not to be spoke to and familiarly conversed with
but to be
shunned and despised.
Job 19:16 16 I call my servant
but he
gives no answer; I beg him with my mouth.
YLT
16To my servant I have
called
And he doth not answer
With my mouth I make supplication to him.
I called my servant
.... His manservant
whom
he had hired into his house
and who waited upon his person
and had been his
trusty and faithful servant
and was dear unto him
and he had shown him much
respect and kindness in the time of his prosperity; him he called to him
to do
this and that and the other thing for him as usual; and of whose assistance and
service he might stand in more need
being so greatly afflicted in body as well
as in other things; and who ought to have been obedient to his call in all
things
and have served him with all readiness and cheerfulness
with all
heartiness
sincerity
integrity
and faithfulness; and given him the same
honour and reverence as before; but instead of all this
it is observed
and he gave me no answer; whether he would or
would not do what he ordered him to do; he took no notice of him
he turned a
deaf ear to him
and his back upon him; he came not near him
but kept his place
where he was
or walked off without showing any regard to what he said to him;
he neither answered him by words
nor by deeds; neither signified his readiness
to do what he was ordered
nor did it. In some cases it is criminal in servants
to answer again
when they thwart and contradict their masters
or reply in a
saucy
surly
and impudent manner; but when they are spoke to about their
master's business
it becomes them to answer in a decent
humble
and
respectable way
declaring their readiness to do their master's will and
pleasure:
I entreated him with my mouth; which is an aggravation
of his insolence and disobedience; such was the low condition Job was reduced
unto
and such the humility of his mind under his present circumstances
that
he laid aside the authority of a master
and only entreated his servant
and
begged it as if it was a favour
to do this or the other for him; nor did he
signify this by a look and cast of his eye
or by a nod of his head
or by the
direction of his hand; but with his mouth he spake unto him
and let him know
what he would have done; and this not in an authoritative
haughty
and
imperious manner; but with good words
and in submissive language
as it was
something he was beholden to his servant for
rather than obedience to be
performed.
Job 19:17 17 My breath is offensive to
my wife
And I am repulsive to the children of my own body.
YLT
17My spirit is strange to my
wife
And my favours to the sons of my [mother's] womb.
My breath is strange to my wife
.... Being corrupt and
unsavoury
through some internal disorder; see Job 17:1; so that
she could not bear to come nigh him
to do any kind deed for him; but if this
was his case
and his natural breath was so foul
his friends would not have
been able to have been so long in the same room with him
and carry on so long
a conversation with him; rather therefore it may signify the words of his
mouth
his speech along with his breath
which were very disagreeable to his
wife; when upon her soliciting him to curse God and die
he told her she talked
like one of the foolish women; and when he taught her to expect evil as well as
good at the hand of God
and to bear afflictions patiently
or else the sense
may be
"my spirit"F6רוחי
"spiritus meus"
Junius & Tremellius
Vatablus
Schmidt
Schultens; "anima mea"
Cocceius.
his vital spirit
his life
was
wearisome and loathsome to his wife; she was tired out with him
with hearing his
continual groans and complaints
and wished to be rid of him
and that God
would take away his life: or else
as some render it
"my spirit is
strange to me
because of my wife"F7לאשתי
"propter uxorem meam"
Schmidt. ; and then the meaning is
that Job
was weary of his own life
he loathed it
and could have been glad to have it
taken from him
because of the scoffs and jeers of his wife at him
her brawls
and quarrels with him
and solicitations of him to curse God and renounce
religion:
though I entreated her for the children's sake of mine own
body; this clause creates a difficulty with interpreters
since it is
generally thought all Job's children were dead. Some think that only his elder
children were destroyed at once
and that he had younger ones at home with him
which he here refers to; but this does not appear: others suppose these were
children of his concubines; but this wants proof that he had any concubine; and
besides an entreaty for the sake of such children could have no influence upon
his proper wife: others take them for grandchildren
and who
indeed
are
sometimes called children; but then they could not with strict propriety be
called the children of his body; and for the same reason it cannot be meant of
such that were brought up in his house
as if they were his children; nor such
as were his disciples
or attended on him for instruction: but this may respect
not any children then living
but those he had had; and the sense is
that Job
entreated his wife
not for the use of the marriage bed
as some suggestF8R.
Levi Ben Gersom; so some in Vatablus. ; for it can hardly be thought
that
in
such circumstances in which he was
there should be any desire of this kind;
but to do some kind deed for him
as the dressing of his ulcers
&c. or
such things which none but a wife could do well for him; and this he entreated
for the sake of the children he had had by her
those pledges of their conjugal
affection; or rather
since the word has the signification of deploring
lamenting
and bemoaning
the clause may be thus rendered
"and I lamented
the children of my body"F9וחנותי
"deploro"
Cocceius; "et miserans lugeo"
Schmidt; "et
miseret me"
Michaelis; "comploro"
Schultens. ; he had none of
those indeed to afflict him; and his affliction was
that they were taken away
from him at once in such a violent manner; and therefore he puts in this among
his family trials; or this may be an aggravation of his wife's want of
tenderness and respect unto him; that his breath should be unsavoury
his talk
disagreeable
and his sighs and moans be wearisome to her
when the burden of his
song
the subject of his sorrowful complaints
was the loss of his children; in
which it might have been thought she would have joined with him
being equally
concerned therein.
Job 19:18 18 Even young children
despise me; I arise
and they speak against me.
YLT
18Also sucklings have
despised me
I rise
and they speak against me.
Yea
young children despised me
.... Having related what
he met with within doors from those in his own house
the strangers and
proselytes in it
his maidens and menservants
and even from his own wife
he
proceeds to give an account of what befell him without; young children
who had
learned of their parents
having observed them to treat him with contempt
mocked and scoffed at him
and said
there sits old Job
that nasty creature
with his boils and ulcers; or using some such contemptuous expression
as
"wicked man"; so some translate the wordF11עוילים "iniqui"
Pagninus
Montanus;
"homines nequam"
Tigurine version; so Ben Gersom. ; he was scorned
and condemned by profane persons
who might tease him with his religion
and
ask
where was his God? and bid him observe the effect and issue of his piety
and strict course of living
and see what it was all come to
or what were the
fruits of it: the Vulgate Latin version renders it "fools"
that is
not idiots
but such as are so in a moral sense
and so signifies as before;
and as these make mock at sin
and a jest of religion
it is no wonder that
they despised good men: the word is rendered by a learned manF12"Clientes
egentissimi"
Schultens.
the "most needy clients"
who were
dependent on him
and were supported by him; but this coincides with Job 19:15;
I arose
and they spoke against me: he got up from his seat
either to go about his business
and do what he had to do; and they spoke
against him as he went along
and followed him with their reproaches
as
children will go after persons in a body they make sport of; or he rose up in a
condescending manner to them
when they ought to have rose up to him
and
reverenced and honoured him; and this he did to win upon them
and gain their
good will and respect; or to admonish them
chastise and correct them
for
their insolence and disrespect to him; but it signified nothing
they went on
calling him names
and speaking evil against him
and loading him with scoffs
and reproaches.
Job 19:19 19 All my close friends abhor
me
And those whom I love have turned against me.
YLT
19Abominate me do all the men
of my counsel
And those I have loved
Have been turned against me.
All my inward friends abhorred me
.... Or "the men of
my secret"F13מתי סודי
"viri secreti mei"
Montanus; "homines secreti mei"
Cocceius
Schmidt; "viri arcani mei"
Beza
Mercerus; "homines
arcani mei consilii"
Michaelis. ; who were so very familiar with him
that he imparted the secrets of his heart
and the most private affairs of
life
unto them
placing so much confidence in them
and treating them as his
bosom friends; for this is always reckoned a great instance of friendship
Job 15:15; and yet
their minds were set against him; their affections were alienated from him;
they abhorred the sight of him
and declined all conversation with him
even
all of them; not one showed respect unto him:
and they whom I loved; or "this whom I
loved"F14וזח "et quem"
V.
L. "et hie seu is quem"
Mercerus
Drusius. ; this and that and the
other particular friend
that he loved more than others: though all men are to
be loved as the creatures of God
and as fellow creatures
and especially good
men
even all the saints; yet there are some that engross a greater share of
love than others
among natural and spiritual relations; as Joseph was more
loved by his father than the rest of his children; and
even by our Lord
John
was loved more than the other disciples: and so Job
he had some particular
friends that he loved above others; and yet these not only turned away from him
in the time of his adversity
and turned their backs on him
and would have
nothing to say to him for his comfort
nor afford him any relief of any kind in
his distress
but
are turned against men; were turned against him
and became his enemies; and
as David says of some that he had a love for
for
my love
"they are my adversaries"
Psalm 109:4.
Job 19:20 20 My bone clings to my skin
and to my flesh
And I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.
YLT
20To my skin and to my flesh
Cleaved hath my bone
And I deliver myself with the skin of my teeth.
My bone cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh
.... Or
"as to my flesh"F15בעורי ובבשרי "cuti meae ut carni meae"
Tremellius
in
one edition of his version.
as Mr. Broughton and others render the words; as
his bones used to stick to his flesh
and were covered with it
now his flesh
being consumed and wasted away with his disease
they stuck to his skin
and
were seen through it; he was reduced to skin and bone
and was a mere skeleton
what with the force of his bodily disorder
and the grief of his mind through
the treatment he met with from God and men
see Lamentations 4:8;
and I am escaped with the skin of my teeth; meaning not
as some understand it
his lips
which covered his teeth; for those cannot be
properly called the skin of them; rather the fine polish of the teeth
which
fortifies them against the hurt and damage they would receive by what is ate
and drank; though it seems best to interpret it of the skin of the gums
in
which the teeth are set; and the sense is
that Job had escaped with his life
but not with a whole skin
his skin was broken all over him
with the sores and
ulcers upon him
see Job 7:5; only the
skin of his teeth was preserved
and so Mr. Broughton renders it
"I am
whole only in the skin of my teeth"; everywhere else his skin was broken;
so the Targum
"I
am left in the skin of my teeth.'
Some
have thought that Satan
when he smote Job from head to feet with ulcers
spared his mouth
lips
and teeth
the instruments of speech
that he might
therewith curse God
which was the thing he aimed at
and proposed to bring him
to
by getting a grant from God to afflict him in the manner he did.
Job 19:21 21 “Have pity on me
have
pity on me
O you my friends
For the hand of God has struck me!
YLT
21Pity me
pity me
ye my
friends
For the hand of God hath stricken against me.
Have pity upon me
have pity upon me
.... Instead
of calumny and censure
his case called for compassion; and the phrase is
doubled
to denote the vehemence of his affliction
the ardency of his soul
the anguish of his spirits
the great distress he was in
and the earnest
desire he had to have pity shown him; and in which he may be thought not only
to make a request to his friends for it
but to give them a reproof for want of
it:
O ye my friends; as they once showed themselves to be
and
now professed they were; and since they did
pity might be reasonably expected
from them; for even common humanity
and much more friendship
required it of
them
that they should be pitiful and courteous
and put on bowels of mercy and
kindness
and commiserate his sad estate
and give him all the succour
relief
and comfort they could
see Job 6:14;
for the hand of God has touched me; his afflicting hand
which is a mighty one; it lay hard and heavy upon him
and pressed him sore;
for though it was but a touch of his hand
it was more than he could well bear;
for it was the touch of the Almighty
who "toucheth the hills
and they
smoke"
Psalm 104:32; and
if he lays his hand ever so lightly on houses of clay
which have their
foundation in the dust
they cannot support under the weight of it
since they
are crushed before the moth
or as easily as a moth is crushed.
Job 19:22 22 Why do you persecute me as
God does
And are not satisfied with my flesh?
YLT
22Why do you pursue me as
God? And with my flesh are not satisfied?
Why do ye persecute me as God
.... As if they were in
his stead
or had the same power and authority over him
who is a sovereign
Being
and does what he pleases with his creatures
and is not accountable to
any for what he does; but this is not the case of men
nor are they to imitate
God in all things; what he does is not in all things a warrant to do the like
or to be pleaded and followed as a precedent by them; they should be merciful
as he is merciful
but they are not to afflict and distress his people because
he does
and which he does for wise ends and reasons; for such a conduct is
resented by him
see Zechariah 1:15. God
persecuted or pursued and followed Job with one affliction after another
and
hunted him as a fierce lion does his prey
Job 10:16; but this
was not a reason why they should do the same. Some read the words
"why do
ye persecute me as those?"F16Ben Gersom. you that profess to be
my friends
why do ye persecute me as those before mentioned
as those wicked
men? or "with those"
with such reproaches and calumnies; but the
original will not bear it:
and are not satisfied with my flesh? It was not enough that
he was afflicted in his body
and his flesh was ulcerated from head to feet
and was clothed with worms and clods of dust; they were not content that his
children
which were his own flesh
were tore away from him
and destroyed; and
that his substance
which is sometimes called the flesh of men
see Micah 3:3; was
devoured
and he was spoiled and plundered of it; but they sought to afflict
his mind
to wound his spirit
by their heavy charges and accusations
by their
calumnies and reproaches
and hard censures of him; he suggests
that they
dealt with him more cruelly than savage beasts
who
when they have got their
prey
are satisfied with their flesh; but they
who would be thought to be his
friends
were not satisfied with his.
Job 19:23 23 “Oh
that my words were
written! Oh
that they were inscribed in a book!
YLT
23Who doth grant now
That my
words may be written? Who doth grant that in a book they may be graven?
O that my words were now written!.... Not his thingsF17מלי "res meae"
Polychronius apud Pinedam in loc.
as some render it
his affairs
the transactions of his life; that so it
might appear with what uprightness and integrity he had lived
and was not the
bad man he was thought to be; nor the words he had delivered already
the apologies
and defences he had made for himself
the arguments he had used in his own
vindication
and the doctrines respecting God and his providence which he had
laid down and asserted; and was so far from being ashamed of them
or
retracting them
that he wishes they had been taken down in writing
that
posterity might read and judge of the controversy between him and his friends;
but rather the words he was about to deliver in Job 19:25
expressing his faith in Christ
in the resurrection of the dead
and in a
future state of happiness and glory; these he wishes were "written"
that they might remain as a standing testimony of his faith and hope; for what
is written abides
when that which is only spoken is soon forgot
and not
easily recalled:
O that they were printed in a book! not written on loose
sheets
which might be lost
but in a book bound up
or rolled up in a volume
as was the custom of ancient times; though this cannot be understood of
printing properly taken
which has not been in use but little more than five
hundred years
but of engrossing
as of statutes and decrees in public records;
and the word for "statutes comes" from this that is here used.
Job 19:24 24 That they were engraved on
a rock With an iron pen and lead
forever!
YLT
24With a pen of iron and lead
-- For ever in a rock they may be hewn.
That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for
ever! Or "that they were written with an iron pen and lead
that
they were cut or hewn out in a rock for ever"; not with both an iron and
leaden pen
or pencil; for the marks of the latter are not durable
and much
less could it be used on a rock according to our version; but the sense seems
to be
that they might be written with an iron pen
which was used in writing
Jeremiah 17:1; upon
a sheet of lead
as the Vulgate Latin version; for it was usual in ancient
times
as PlinyF17Nat. Hist. l. 13. c. 11. Alex. ab Alex. l. 2. c.
30. Pausaniae Messenica
sive
l. 4. p. 266. & Boeotica
sive
l. 9. p.
588. and others relate
for books to be made of sheets of lead
and for public
records to be engrossed
as in plates of brass
so sometimes in sheets of lead
for the perpetuity of them; or else it refers to the cutting out of letters on
stones
as the law was on two tables of stone
and filling up the incisions or
cuttings with lead poured into them
as Jarchi suggests: so Pliny
F18Nat.
Hist. l. 6. c. 28. & 29. speaks of stone pillars in Arabia and the parts
adjacent
with unknown characters on them; also this may have respect to the
manner of writing on mountains and rocks formerly
as the Israelites at or
shortly after the times of Job did. There are now
in the wilderness through
which the Israelites passed
hills called Gebel-el-mokatab
the written
mountains
engraved with unknown ancient characters
out into the hard marble
rock; supposed to be the ancient Hebrew
written by the Israelites for their
diversion and improvement which are observed by some modern travellersF19See
a Journal from Cairo
&c. in 1722
p. 45
46. and Egmont and Heyman's
Travels
vol. ii. p. 171
181. . In the last age
Petrus a Valle and Thomas a
Novaria saw them; the latter of which transcribed some of them
some of which
seemed to be like to the Hebrew letters now in use
and others to the
Samaritans; and some agreed with neitherF20Antiqu. Eccles. Orient.
p. 147. ; and Cosmoss the EgyptianF21Apud Montfaucon
tom. 2. p.
205.
who wrote A. D. 535
declares on his own testimony
that all the
mansions of the Hebrews in the wilderness were to be seen in stones with Hebrew
letters engraved on them
which seemed to be an account of their journeys in
it. The inscription on a stone at Horeb
brought from thence by the above
mentioned Thomas a Novaria
and which KircherF23Prodrom. Copt. c. 8.
p. 201
207. has explained thus
"God
shall make a virgin conceive
and she shall bring forth a son
'
is
thought by learned men to be of a later date
and the explication of it is not
approved of by them.F24Vide Hottinger. Praefat. ad Cipp. Hebr. p. 6
7
8. Wagenseil Carmin. Lipman. Confut. p. 429
&c. Job may have in view
his sepulchre hewn out of a rock
as was usual
and as that was our Lord was
laid in; and so his wish might be that the following words were his funeral
epitaph
and that they might be cut out and inscribed upon his sepulchral
monument
his rocky grave; that everyone that passed by might read his strong
expressions of faith in a living Redeemer
and the good hope he had of a
blessed resurrection.
Job 19:25 25 For I know that my
Redeemer lives
And He shall stand at last on the earth;
YLT
25That -- I have known my
Redeemer
The Living and the Last
For the dust he doth rise.
For I know
.... The particle ו
which is sometimes
rendered by the copulative "and"
by an adversative "but"
and sometimes as a causal particle "for"
should not be rendered here
by either; but as an explanative
"to wit"
or "namely"
as
it is by NoldiusF25ואני "nempe
ego"
Nold. Ebr. Concord. Partic. p. 696. No. 1750. ; in connection with
the preceding words; in which Job wishes some words of his were written in a
book
or engrossed on sheets of lead
or were cut out on some rock
and
particularly were engraved on his tombstone; "namely"
these
following
"I know that my Redeemer liveth"
&c. and to this
agrees Broughton
"how that my Redeemer liveth"; let these be the words
written
engraved
and cut out there: by my Redeemer
he means not any mere man
that should rise up and vindicate him; for the account of his then living
and
of his standing on the earth in the latter day
will not agree with such an
one; nor God the Father
to whom the character of a Redeemer is seldom or ever
given
nor did he ever appear or stand on earth
nor was his shape seen at any
time
John 5:37; but the
Son of God
the Lord Jesus Christ
who is our "Goel"
the word here
used
our near kinsman
and so our Redeemer
to whom the right of redemption
belonged; and who was spoken of by all the holy prophets
from the beginning of
the world
as the Redeemer of his people
who should redeem them from all their
sins; from the law
its curses and condemnation; from Satan
and his
principalities and powers; from death and hell
and everlasting destruction;
and that by giving himself a ransom for them; all which was known in the times
of Job
Job 33:24; and
known by him
who speaks of him as living; he then existed not only as a divine
Person
as he did from all eternity
but in his office capacity as Mediator
and
under the character of a Redeemer; for the virtue of his future redemption
reached to all the ages before it
from the foundation of the world; besides
the epithet "living" points at him as the "living God"
as
he is
Hebrews 3:12; and
so equal to the work of redemption
and able to redeem
and mighty to save; of
whom it is said
not that he has lived
or shall live
but "liveth";
ever lives; and so an expression of the eternity of Christ
who is from
everlasting to everlasting
the same today
yesterday
and for ever; and who
though he died in human nature
yet is alive
and lives for evermore; he has
life in and of himself
as he is God over all blessed for ever; and has life in
him for all his people
as Mediator; and is the author of spiritual life in
them
and the donor of eternal life to them; and because he lives
they shall
live also. Now Job had an interest in him as the living Redeemer
and knew he had
which is the greatest blessing that can be enjoyed; an interest in Christ is of
infinitely more worth than the whole world
and the knowledge of it exceeds all
others; this knowledge was not merely speculative
nor only approbational and
fiducial
though such Job had
Job 13:15; but the
knowledge of assurance of interest; to know Christ as a Redeemer of men
and
not our Redeemer
is of no avail; the devils know him to be a Redeemer
but not
theirs: men may have an interest in Christ
and as yet not know it; interest is
before knowledge; it is neither knowledge nor faith that gives interest
but
God of his grace gives both interest and knowledge: and such a knowledge as
here expressed is a peculiar favour; it is owing to an understanding given to
know him that is true
and that we are in him that is true; and to the spirit
of wisdom and revelation
in the knowledge of Christ
and to the testimony
which he bears; and such knowledge will support under the greatest afflictions
and sorest trials; under the ill usage of friends
and the loss of nearest and
dearest relations
and in the views of death and eternity; all which was Job's
case:
and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the
earth; appear in the world in human nature; be the seed of the woman
and born of one
be made flesh
and dwell among men
and converse with them
as
Jesus did; who stood upon the land of Judea
and walked through Galilee
and
went about doing good to the bodies and souls of men; and this was in the last
days
and at the end of the world
Hebrews 1:1; as a
pledge of this there were frequent appearances of the son of God in an human
form to the patriarchs; nor need it seem strange that Job
though not an
Israelite
had knowledge of the incarnation of Christ
when it is said toF26Huet.
Alnetan. Quaest. l. 2. c. 13. p. 234. be the opinion of the Indian Brahmans
that God often appeared in the form and habit of some great men
and conversed
among men; and that Wistnavius
whom
they say
is the second Person of the
triune God
had already assumed a body nine times
and sometimes also an human
one; and that the same will once more be made by him; and Confucius
the
Chinese philosopherF1Martin. Sinic. Hist. l. 4. p. 131.
left it in
writing
that the Word would be made flesh
and foresaw the year when it would
be: or
"he shall rise the last out of the earth"F2ואחרון על עפר
יקום "qui postremus ex palvere (terra)
surget"
Nold. ib. ; and so it may respect his resurrection from the dead;
he was brought to the dust of death
and was laid in the grave
and buried
in
the earth
and was raised out of it; and whose resurrection is of the greatest
moment and importance
the justification
regeneration
and resurrection of his
people depending on it: but this is not to be understood as if he was the last
that should rise from the dead; for he is the firstfruits of them that sleep
and the firstborn from the dead
the first that rose to an immortal life; but
that he who
as to his divine nature
is the first and the last; or that
in
his state of humiliation
is the last
the meanest
and most abject of menF3"Novissimus"
i.e. "miserrimus et abjectus"
Bolducius; "sic ultimus
miserorum"
Ciceron. Orat. pro Flacco 24. ; or rather
who
as the public
and federal head of his people
is "the last Adam"
1 Corinthians 15:45;
and who did rise as such for their justification
which makes the article of
his resurrection an unspeakable benefit: or
"he shall stand over the
earth in the latter day"F4"Supra pulverem"
Cocceius
Schultens. in the last times of all
in the close of time
at the end of the
world
at his appearing and kingdom
when he shall come to judge the quick and
dead; those that will be alive
and those that will be raised from the dead
who will meet him in the air over the earth
and shall be for ever with him;
and even then "he shall stand upon the earth"; for it is expressly
said
that when he shall come
and all the saints with him
"his feet
shall stand on the mount of Olives"
Zechariah 14:4; or
"he shall stand against the earth at the latter days"F5"Adhibebit
suam vim pulveri"
Tigurine version. ; in the resurrection morn
and shall
exercise his authority over it
and command the earth and sea to give up their
dead; and when at his all commanding voice the dead shall come out of their
graves
as Lazarus came out of his
he shall stand then upon the dust of the
earth
and tread upon it as a triumphant Conqueror
having subdued all his
enemies
and now the last enemy
death
is destroyed by the resurrection of the
dead: what a glorious and enlarged view had Job of the blessed Redeemer!
Job 19:26 26 And after my skin is
destroyed
this I know
That in my flesh I shall see God
YLT
26And after my skin hath
compassed this [body]
Then from my flesh I see God:
And though after my skin worms destroy this body
.... Meaning
not
that after his skin was wholly consumed now
which was almost gone
there
being scarce any left but the skin of his teeth
Job 19:20; the
worms in his ulcers would consume what was left of his body
which scarce
deserved the name of a body
and therefore he points to it
and calls it
"this"
without saying what it was; but that when he should be
entirely stripped of his skin in the grave
then rottenness and worms would
strip him also of all the rest of his flesh and his bones; by which he
expresses the utter consumption of his body by death
and after it in the
grave; and nevertheless
though so it would be
he was assured of his
resurrection from the dead:
yet in my flesh shall I see God: he believed
that though
he should die and moulder into dust in the grave
yet he should rise again
and
that in true flesh
not in an aerial celestial body
but in a true body
consisting of flesh
blood
and bones
which spirits have not
and in the same
flesh or body he then had
his own flesh and body
and not another's; and so
with his fleshly or corporeal eyes see God
even his living Redeemer
in human
nature; who
as he would stand upon the earth in that nature
in the fulness of
time
and obtain redemption for him
so he would in the latter day appear again
raise him from the dead
and take him to himself
to behold his glory to all
eternity: or "out of my flesh"F6מבשרי
"e carne mea"
Tigurine version
Mercerus
Piscator
Cocceius
Schmidt
Schultens; so Gussetius
p. 446.
out of my fleshly eyes; from thence
and with those shall I behold God manifest in the flesh
my incarnate God; and
if Job was one of those saints that rose when Christ did
as some sayF7"Suidas
in voce" ιωβ
& Sept. in ch. xlii. 17.
he saw him in the flesh and with his fleshly
eyes.
Job 19:27 27 Whom I shall see for
myself
And my eyes shall behold
and not another. How my heart yearns
within me!
YLT
27Whom I -- I see on my side
And mine eyes have beheld
and not a stranger
Consumed have been my reins in
my bosom.
Whom I shall see for myself
.... For his pleasure and
profit
to his great advantage and happiness
and to his inexpressible joy and
satisfaction
see Psalm 17:15;
and mine eyes shall behold
and not another; or "a
stranger"F8זר "alienus"
Pagninus
Montanus
Junius & Tremellius
Piscator
Mercerus;
"extraneus"
Drusius. ; these very selfsame eyes of mine I now see
with will behold this glorious Person
God in my nature
and not the eyes of
another
of a strange body
a body not my own; or as I have seen him with my
spiritual eyes
with the eyes of faith and knowledge
as my living Redeemer
so
shall I see him with my bodily eyes after the resurrection
and enjoy
uninterrupted communion with him
which a stranger shall not; one that has
never known anything of him
or ever intermeddled with the joy of saints here
such shall not see him hereafter
at least with pleasure; like Balaam
they may
see him
but not nigh
may behold him
but afar off: though "my reins be
consumed within me"; or "in my bosom";
though; this word may be left out
and be read
my reins are consumed within me; or
"within my
bosom"F9בחקי "in sinu meo"
Pagninus
Montanus
&c. ; and both being the seat of the affections and
desires
may signify his most earnest and eager desire after the state of the
resurrection of the dead; after such a sight of God in his flesh
of the
incarnate Redeemer
he believed he should have
insomuch that it ate up his
spirits
as the Psalmist says
zeal for the house of God ate up his
Psalm 69:9; it was
not the belief of restoration of health
and to his former outward happiness
and a deliverance from his troubles
and a desire after that
which is here
expressed; for he had no faith in that
nor hope
nor expectation of it
as
appears by various expressions of his; but much greater
more noble
more
refined enjoyments
were experienced by him now
and still greater he expected
hereafter; and his words concerning these were what he wished were written
and
printed
and engraven; which
if they only respected outward happiness
he
would never have desired; and though he had not his wish in his own way
yet
his words are written and printed in a better book than he had in his view
and
will outlast engravings with an iron pen on sheets of lead
or marble rocks.
The Vulgate Latin version seems to incline to this sense
"this
here is laid up in my bosom
'
that
is
of seeing God in my flesh; so the Tigurine version
rather as a paraphrase
than a version
"which is my only desire".
Job 19:28 28 If you should say
‘How
shall we persecute him?’—Since the root of the matter is found in me
YLT
28But ye say
`Why do we
pursue after him?' And the root of the matter hath been found in me.
But ye should say
.... Here Job directs his friends what use
they should make of this confession of his faith; they should upon this say
within themselves
and to one another
why persecute we him
seeing the root of the matter is found in me? Why should we
pursue him with hard words
and load him with censures and reproaches
as if he
was an hypocrite
when it appears
by what he says
that he has truth in the
inward parts
the true grace of God is in him; that he is rooted in the love of
God
and in the person of the Redeemer; that he has the Spirit of God in him
and the divine seed which has taken root in him
and brings forth fruit: or
that "the root of the word"F11שרש
דבר "radix verbi"
Montanus
Mercerus
Schmidt
Michaelis; "radix sermonis"
Cocceius; "fundamenta negotii
salutis"
Tigurine version. is in him; the word of God has a place in him
and is become the ingrafted word; the root doctrines
the principal and
fundamental truths of religion
are believed and professed by him
such as
respect the incarnation of the Messiah
his resurrection from the dead
and
coming to judgment
the resurrection of all the dead in the same body
a future
state of happiness
in which saints will enjoy the beatific vision; since these
things are firmly believed by him
though he may differ from us in some points
about the methods of divine Providence
let us cease from persecuting him any
further; see Romans 10:8.
Job 19:29 29 Be afraid of the sword for
yourselves; For wrath brings the punishment of the sword
That you may
know there is a judgment.”
YLT
29Be ye afraid because of the
sword
For furious [are] the punishments of the sword
That ye may know that
[there is] a judgment.
Be ye afraid of the sword
.... Not of the civil
magistrate
nor of a foreign enemy
but of the avenging sword of divine
justice; lest God should whet the glittering sword of his justice
and his hand
should take hold of judgment
in order to avenge the wrongs of the innocent;
unless the other should also be considered as his instruments:
for wrath bringeth the punishments of the sword
or "sins
of the sword"F12עונות חרב "iniquitates gladii"
Montanus
Schmidt
Michaelis; so Cocceius
Schultens. : the sense is
either that the wrath of
men
in persecuting the people of God
puts them upon the commission of such
sins as deserve to be punished with the sword
either of the civil magistrate
or of a foreign enemy
or of divine justice; or else the wrath of God brings on
more punishments for their sins by means of the sword; and to this sense is the
Targum
"when
God is angry for iniquities
he sends those that slay with the sword:'
that ye may know there is a judgment; that is
executed in the world by the Judge of all the earth
who will do right; and
that there is a future judgment after death
unto which everything in this
world will be brought
when God will judge the world in righteousness by
Christ
whom he has ordained to be Judge of quick and dead; and which will be a
righteous judgment
that none can escape; and when
Job suggests
the
controversy between him and his friends would be determined; and it would be
then seen who was in the right
and who in the wrong; and unto which time he
seems willing to refer his cause
and to have no more said about it; but his
friends did not choose to take his advice; for Zophar the Naamathite starts up
directly; and makes a reply
which is contained in the following chapter.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》
New King James
Version (NKJV)