: | TP Eliphaz the Temanite « anſwered, aid a Who ſpake firſt, becauſe poſſibly he was the eldeſt, or of great- eſt Authority or Zeal. 2 If we aſlay * to commune with thee, wilt thou be grieved þ ? but F who can with-hold himſelf from,
ſpeaking c? THeb.who | G6Or,( without a Note of Interrogation ) thou wilt be grieved.Onr can refrain ' words will undoubredly vex thee, and not comfort thee, as we in- from wird; ' tended and deſired to do. We muſt not uſe wordsof Comfort, but of ſharp Reproof, which will be irkſome ts thee: and this makes me ; deſire to be ſilent, if it were poſſible. c When he hears ſuch unres- : ſonable and ungedly words coming from ſuch a perſon as thou art, ; Whereby rhou doſt accuſe thy Maker, and reproach his Providence, and contemn his Bleflings. No man who hath any reſpe& ro God, . Or Iove to thee, can forbear reproving thee. ' 3 Behold, thou haſt inftruted many 4,and thou haſt ſtrengthened the weak hands e. 4 Teaching them thoſe Leſſons which thou haſt not learned and wileſt notpraGtiſe, to wit,patiently to bear afflictions,and to ſubmit to Gods Will and Providence in all things, which thou moſt ſhame. Y , Fully refuſeſt rodo. e By adminiſtring Supperts and Comforts and : ———_ to ſuch as were unable to bear their Burdens, or todo their | Duty. | | 4Thy words have upholden him that was falling f,and thou haſt ſtrengchened Þ the feeble knees g. Th f Ready to ſink under their preſſures, or to fall from God, or bowing into ſin, ( as that wordis uſed, 1 Cer, 10. 12. Gal. 6. 2. and elſe. ener where) through deſpondency and diſtruſt of Gods Providence and _ Promiſe, or through Impatience. g Such as were weak hearted and fainting under their Trials. See 1/a. 35. 3. Dan. 5. 6. Heb. 12. 12.
{ 5 But nowit his come upon thee,and thou fainteſt ;, 1t toncheth thee & and thou art troubled.
þ i: e: The evil whichthou didſt fear, Chap: 3: 25. and which was come ypon thoſe whom thou didſt ſo comfort. « Thou alloweſt in thy ſelf what thou wouldeſt not bear in others. Whar in them was a Vice,in thee it ſeems. is become a Virtue. Thou art wiſe for Others, but not for thy ſelf ; a good Phyſician to cure others, bur not thy ſelf ; quick ſighred ro ſee the faults of others, bur blind to thine own. k It is now come to be thine own caſe. |
6 Is not this thy fear,thy confidence, the uprightneſs of thy ways, and thy hope &?
: & So the Senſe is, We now plainly ſee what was the Nature and Complexion of :hy Fear of God, thy Confidence in him, the uprightneſs of thy ways, andthy Hope in Gods Mercy, which thou didſt make
: ſhew and boaſt of, and tor which thou waſt become ſo famous. 'Thy
{ preſent carriage diſcovereth to thy ſelfand others, that it was but
; meer talk andappearance, and there was nothing ſound and fin«
cere in it. Inthy proſperity ir was eaſie to make a ſplendid pro-
feſſion of Religion ; but men are beſt known by affliftion, and this now ſfhewethof what Meral thou art made: For now thou doſt caſt off thy Fear of God, and ali thy Confidence and Hope in him, and haſt ler go that Integrity of thy ways, which hitherto thou gidſt ſeem to hold faſt ; whereas true Piery is uniform, and conſtant,
and
F Heb. s
Heb: the
: | and ſtedfaſt in all varieries of Conditions, and under all Trials and
| Temprations, But this Tranſlation removes the and from its pro | per place, and changeth the order of the Words, which is this in the Hebrew, thy hope, and the uprightneſs of thy ways, which words j may be reſtored to their own order, and with that variation our { Tranſlation may ſtand, and this ſeems to be the true ſenſe. And ſo { here are four diſtin&t Queſtions, Is net this thy Fear ? - Is net this thy Confidence * Is not this thy Hope? Is net this the uprightneſs of thy ways? , But others make only two Queſtions and render the words either thus ; Is not ( or rather, Was no? ) thy Fear ( of God ) thy Confidence? And the uprightn:(s of thy way thy Hope ? i e. Did not thy Fear of God, and the Integrity of thy Life, of which thou didſt make ſuch eminent Profeſſion, proceed only from the love of thy ſelf, and of this preſent World ? And from thy Confidence and Hope that God would bleſs and proſper theefor it? For now when God with- draws his Favour and Blefſings from thee,thy Religion is vaniſhed, and thou haſt caſt off all Fear and Reverence of God, as thy 1mpi- .ous Speeches fkew. Or thus : Would nt thy Fear be thy Confidence, | and the uprightneſs of thy ways thy hope? i. e. If theu hadſt indeed | that Fear and Integrity to which thou pretendeſft, it would give thee good ground of Hope and Confidence in the midſt of all thy Diſtreſles,
and thou woulgſt not ſo faintand finkurder thy Calamaties as _ ; Tag
Hof:
i Heh balth
L ly
'L | O thap. IV. | 8 | - thou dot, for want of a ſolid foundation of true Piety, Burt bor" ; th:ſe Tranſitions, beſides orher Inconventencies, ſtumble ar the ſam? ſtene, and pervert the order of the words in the Hebrew Text, of which ſee before ; which is nor to beallowed without ſome kind of necefſity, which is not in this caſe. :
7 Remember, I pray thee/,who ever periſhed »» be- ing innocent s ? or where were the righteous cut offo >