PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
Expositor's Bible: The Book of Job
Watson, Robert A. (Robert Alexander) · 116,929 words · 160 reading sections
_The Outskirts Of His Ways._
"_I would teach you concerning the hand of God, That which is with Shaddai would I not conceal. Behold, all ye yourselves have seen it; Why then are ye become altogether vain?_" At this point begins a passage which creates great difficulty. It is ascribed to Job, but is entirely out of harmony with all he has said.…
878 wordsSECTION 122_Choral Interlude._
CHAP. xxviii. The controversy at length closed, the poet breaks into a chant of the quest of Wisdom. It can hardly be supposed to have been uttered or sung by Job. But if we may go so far as to imagine a chorus after the manner of the Greek dramas, this ode would fitly come as a choral descant reflecting on the vain a…
731 wordsSECTION 123_Choral Interlude._
"_He puts forth his hand upon the flinty rock, He overturneth mountains by the roots._" Slowly indeed as compared with modern work of the kind, yet surely, where those earnest toilers desired a way, excavations went on and tunnels were formed with wedge and hammer and pickaxe. The skill of man in providing tools and …
671 wordsSECTION 124_Choral Interlude._
"_Never is wisdom got for gold, Nor for its price can silver be told. For the gold of Ophir it may not be won, The onyx rare or the sapphire stone. Gold is no measure and glass no hire, Jewels of gold twice fined by fire. Coral and crystal tell in vain, Pearls of the deep for wisdom's gain. Topaz of Cush avails…
600 wordsSECTION 125_As A Prince Before The King._
JOB SPEAKS. CHAPS. xxix.-xxxi. From the pain and desolation to which he has become inured as a pitiable second state of existence, Job looks back to the years of prosperity and health which in long succession he once enjoyed. This parable or review of the past ends his contention. Honour and blessedness are apparently…
841 wordsSECTION 126_As A Prince Before The King._
"_The ear that heard me blessed me, The eye that saw bare witness to me, Because I delivered the poor that cried, And the fatherless who had no helper. The blessing of him that was ready to die came upon me, And I caused the widow's heart to sing with joy._" So far Job rejoices in the recollection of what he had …
693 wordsSECTION 127_As A Prince Before The King._
The thirtieth chapter begins with this. Job is derided by the miserable and base whose fathers he would have disdained to set with the dogs of his flock. He paints these people, gaunt with hunger and vice, herding in the wilderness where alone they are suffered to exist, plucking mallows or salt-wort among the bushes a…
744 wordsSECTION 128_As A Prince Before The King._
Standing up in his wretchedness he is fully visible to the Divine eye, still no prayer moves Eloah the terrible from His purpose. It seems to be finally appointed that in dishonour Job shall die. Yet, destined to this fate, his hope a mockery, shall he not stretch out his hand, cry aloud as life falls to the grave in r…
717 wordsSECTION 129_As A Prince Before The King._
"_For what is the portion from God above, And the heritage of the Almighty from on high? Is it not calamity to the unrighteous, And disaster to them that work iniquity?_" Grouped along with this "lust of the flesh" is the "lust of the eyes," covetous desire. The itching palm to which money clings, false dealing for…
758 wordsSECTION 130_As A Prince Before The King._
III. To the poor, the widow, the fatherless, the perishing, Job next refers. Beyond the circle of his own servants there were needy persons whom he had been charged with neglecting and even oppressing. He has already made ample defence under this head. If he has lifted his hand against the fatherless, having good reaso…
761 wordsSECTION 131_As A Prince Before The King._
In connection with this it is that he comes with princely appeal to the King. "_Oh that I had one to hear me!-- Behold my signature--let the Almighty answer me. And oh that I had my Opponents charge! Surely I would carry it on my shoulder, I would bind it unto me as a crown. I would declare unto Him the number of…
658 wordsSECTION 132_Post-Exilic Wisdom._
A farmer of the right kind would have great shame if poor crops or wet furrows cried against him, or if he could otherwise be accused of treating the land ill. The touch is realistic and forcible. Still it is plain at the close that the character of Job is idealised. Much may be received as matter of veritable history…
720 wordsSECTION 133_Post-Exilic Wisdom._
Elihu appears to represent the new "wisdom" which came to Hebrew thinkers in the period of the exile; and there are certain opinions embodied in his address which must have been formed during an exile that brought many Jews to honour. The reading of affliction given is one following the discovery that the general sinfu…
717 wordsSECTION 134_Post-Exilic Wisdom._
"_I am young and ye are very old; Wherefore I held back and durst not show my knowledge. I thought, Days should speak, And the multitude of years teach wisdom. Still, there is a spirit in man, And the breath of the Almighty giveth them understanding. Not the great in years are wise, Nor do the aged understand wh…
674 wordsSECTION 135_Post-Exilic Wisdom._
"_Behold, I am before God even as thou art; I also am formed out of the clay. Lo, my terror shall not make thee afraid, Neither shall my pressure be heavy upon thee_. Elihu is no great personage, no heaven-sent prophet whose oracles must be received without question. He is not terrible like God, but a man formed ou…
745 wordsSECTION 136_Post-Exilic Wisdom._
"_Why dost thou contend against God That He giveth not account of any of His matters? For God speaketh once, yea twice, Yet man perceiveth it not._" The first way in which, according to Elihu, God speaks to men is by a dream, a vision of the night; and the second way is by the chastisement of pain. Now as to the f…
674 wordsSECTION 137_Post-Exilic Wisdom._
The promise he virtually makes to Job is like those of Eliphaz and the others,--renewed health, restored youth, the sense of Divine favour. Enjoying these, the forgiven penitent sings before men, acknowledging his fault and praising God for his redemption. The assurance of deliverance was probably made in view of the e…
703 wordsSECTION 138_Post-Exilic Wisdom._
The attempt made by Elihu to establish his charge has an appearance of success. Job, he says, is one who drinks up impiety like water and walks with wicked men,-- "_For he hath said, It profiteth a man nothing That he should delight himself with God._" If this were true, Job would indeed be proved irreligious. Such …
689 wordsSECTION 139_Post-Exilic Wisdom._
Here the principle is good, the argument or illustration inconclusive. There is a strong foundation in the thought that God, who could if He desired withdraw all life, but on the other hand sustains it, must rule according to a law of perfect righteousness. If this principle were kept in the front and followed up we sh…
763 wordsSECTION 140_The Divine Prerogative._
"_Men of understanding will say to me, And the wise who hears me will say:-- Job speaks without intelligence, And his words are without wisdom: Would that Job were tried unto the end For his answers after the manner of wicked men. For he addeth rebellion to his sin; He clappeth his hands amongst us And multipli…
743 wordsSECTION 141_The Divine Prerogative._
If, however, the question must still be answered, What good end is served by human virtue? the reply is,-- "_Thy wickedness may hurt a man as thou art; And thy righteousness may profit a son of man._" God sustains the righteous and punishes the wicked, not for the sake of righteousness itself but purely for the sake…
717 wordsSECTION 142_The Divine Prerogative._
"_Even when thou sayest that thou seest Him not, That thy cause is before Him and thou waitest for Him; Even then because His anger visiteth not, And He doth not strictly regard transgression, Therefore doth Job open his mouth in vanity, He multiplied words without knowledge._" The argument seems to be: God rules…
942 wordsSECTION 143_The Divine Prerogative._
It is difficult to see precisely what Elihu considers the proper frame of mind which God will reward. There must be humility, obedience, submission to discipline, renunciation of past errors. But we remember the doctrine that a man's righteousness cannot profit God, can only profit his fellow-men. Does Elihu, then, mak…
879 wordsSECTION 144_The Divine Prerogative._
But the ode as a whole, though it has the fault of endeavouring to forestall what is put into the mouth of the Almighty speaking from the storm, is one of the fine passages of the book. We pass from "cold, heavy and pretentious" dogmatic discussions to free and striking pictures of nature, with the feeling that one is …
655 wordsSECTION 145_The Divine Prerogative._
"_He covereth His hands with the lightning, He giveth it a charge against the adversary. Its thunder telleth concerning Him, Even the cattle concerning that which cometh up._" Continued in the thirty-seventh chapter, the description appears to be from what is actually going on, a tremendous thunderstorm that shakes…
662 wordsSECTION 146_The Divine Prerogative._
The sensation of dry hot clothing is said to be very notable in the season of the siroccos or south winds, also the extraordinary stillness of nature under the same oppressive influence. "There is no living thing abroad to make a noise. The air is too weak and languid to stir the pendant leaves even of the tall poplars…
545 wordsSECTION 147"_Music In The Bounds Of Law._"
[9] "Modern Painters," vol. v., 141. CHAP. xxxviii. Over the shadowed life of Job, and the world shadowed for him by his own intellectual and moral gloom, a storm sweeps, and from the storm issues a voice. With the symbol of vast Divine energy comes an answer to the problem of tried and troubled human life. It has se…
703 wordsSECTION 148"_Music In The Bounds Of Law._"
Besides this, Job's own suspense remains, of more importance from a dramatic point of view. He is not yet reconciled to providence. Those earnest cries for light, which have gone forth passionately, pathetically to heaven, wait for an answer. They must have some reply, if the poet can frame a fit deliverance for the Al…
1,035 wordsSECTION 149"_Music In The Bounds Of Law._"
Is it disappointing? Does the writer neglect the great question his drama has stirred? Or has he not, with art far more subtle than we may at first suppose, introduced into the experience of Job a certain spiritual gain--thoughts and hopes that widen and clear the horizon of his life? In the depth of despondency, just …
796 wordsSECTION 150"_Music In The Bounds Of Law._"
But now Job is given to understand that liberty has its limitation; and the lesson is for many. To one half of mankind, allowing the mind to lie inert or expending it on vanities, the word has come--Inquire what life is, what its trials mean, how the righteous government of God is to be traced. Now, to the other half o…
584 wordsSECTION 151_The Reconciliation._
CHAPS. xxxviii. i-xlii. 6. The main argument of the address ascribed to the Almighty is contained in chaps. xxxviii. and xxxix., and in the opening verses of chap. xlii. Job makes submission and owns his fault in doubting the faithfulness of Divine providence. The intervening passage containing descriptions of the gre…
669 wordsSECTION 152_The Reconciliation._
Next there is the great ocean flood, once confined as in the womb of primæval chaos, which came forth in living power, a giant from its birth. What can Job tell, what can any man tell of that wonderful evolution, when, swathed in rolling clouds and thick darkness, with vast energy the flood of waters rushed tumultuousl…
867 wordsSECTION 153_The Reconciliation._
"_Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lioness? Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions. When they couch in their dens And abide in the covert to lie in wait? Who provideth for the raven his food, When his young ones cry unto God And wander for lack of meat?_" Thus man is called to recognise the care of God for cr…
752 wordsSECTION 154_The Reconciliation._
Such is the Divine law perceived by our inspired author "through the things that are made." The view of nature is still different from the scientific, but there is certainly an approach to that reading of the universe praised by M. Renan as peculiarly Hellenic, which "saw the Divine in what is harmonious and evident." …
734 wordsSECTION 155_The Reconciliation._
Job makes no confession of sin. His friends and Elihu, all of whom endeavour to find evil in his life, are entirely at fault. The repentance is not from moral guilt, but from the hasty and venturous speech that escaped him in the time of trial. After all one's defence of Job one must allow that he does not at every poi…
944 wordsSECTION 156_The Reconciliation._
The doctrine of the sovereignty of God, as set forth in the drama of Job with freshness and power by one of the masters of theology, by no means covers the whole ground of Divine action. The righteous man is called and enabled to trust the righteousness of God; the good man is brought to confide in that Divine goodness…
259 wordsSECTION 157_Epilogue._
[10] "Modern Painters," vol. iii., p. 307. CHAP. xlii. 7-17. After the argument of the Divine voice from the storm the epilogue is a surprise, and many have doubted whether it is in line with the rest of the work. Did Job need these multitudes of camels and sheep to supplement his new faith and his reconciliation to …
740 wordsSECTION 158Index
A third point is that for dramatic completeness the action had to bring Job to full acquittal in view of his friends. Nothing less will satisfy the sense of poetic justice which rules the whole work. Finally, a biographical reminiscence may have given colour to the epilogue. If, as we have supposed, the author was onc…
651 wordsSECTION 159Index
Irresistible power, 141. Isaiah compared with Job, 10. Jauf, 20. Jehovah, servant of, 15. Jewel in the lotus, 364. Jewish Church, 14. Job, a real man, 22; religion of, 24; character of, 28; early prosperity of, 29; dream-life of, 30; when he lived, 31; trials of, 63; type of righteous sufferer, 67; his in…
509 wordsSECTION 160*** End Of The Project Gutenberg Ebook Expositor'S Bible: The Book Of Job ***
Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will be renamed. Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission an…
172 wordsSource & rights
Public domain in the USA; original historical text digitized by Project Gutenberg.
Project Gutenberg source record →
Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.