; This deſervesthy ſerious confideratiori. Theſe and the follow- ing words ſeem to be the words of Eliphaz, explaning the former Vikon, and applying it to Job's Caſe, and enforcing it by further Arguments: «7.e. In his Angels,as appears both by the next words of this Verſe, where they ate called by way of Explication and Re- ſtriion, his Azgels ; and by the next Verſe where men are oppoſed ro them They are called his Servants by way of Eminency, that general Name being here appropriated to the chief of the kind, as is very uſual in all Authors in like caſes; and withal to intimate that Soveraign Dominion which the great God hath over the glori. ous Angels, and much _ over Men, by victue whereof he hath 4 3 4:2
* Chis 15. and 25:4; 2 Pet.2: 45; |. Or, ot in &is Angels in whom
he Put light,
hap, IV. @ =
unoneſtionable Authority to treat them according to his goo
—. And theſe God is ſaid to put no :wſt in, becauſe he could
not be confident that they, if left to themſelves, and deſtitute of the Succours of his Power and Grace, would continue to be loyal, and faithful, and ſerviceable to him. and would not revolt from him, as ſome of their Brethren had done. And for this cauſe God was pleaſed, after ſoine time of Trial, to give ſome ſpecial and fur- ther Grace, either by Chriſt or otherwiſe, whereby they ſhould be infallibly confirmed in the ſtate of Grace and Felicity. x Or, with Vanity: i. e, He diſcerned Folly and Vanity in the Angelical Na- tures,when he had firſt made them; which although he ſaw and pro- nounced them, no leſs than the viſible Creatures, Ger. 1-to be wery good in themſelves, and free from the leaſt degree or tinture of fin ; yet comparing them with himſelf, and conſidering them in them- ſelves alone, he ſaw ſomething of Folly and Vanity in their very Na- tures, becauſe they were Creatures, and therefore ſubje& to mani- fold changes, and, among others, to fall from God, or into ſin; as it appeared by the ſad experience of ſome of | them. Seing there- fore the Angels, which ſo far exceed Mankind in Wiſdom, and
Strength, and Purity, and Juſtice, and all other PerfeHions,do fall
incomparably ſhort of God in theſe things, it is moſt abſurd as well
as impious,to think that Man is more juſt or pure than God,as was faid, v, 17: and as thou, O Job, ſeemeſt to furmiſes Others, Nor
( Heb. And not ; the negative Particle being repeated out of the
former branch of the Verſe, as it is Pſal. g: 18; Prov. 17; 26. and
elſewhere, ) in his Angels, in whom ( both which Particles are fre- quently underſtood. as hath been proved before) he pur Light,or Splers dor,to wit, fingular Wiſdom,and Purity,beyond what he put in Man.
19 How much lefs y on them = that dwell in hou-
% ſes of clay s, whoſe foundation js in the duſt 5, hich
I are cruſhed c before the moth 4 ?
F y Underſtand, doth he put truſt in them, 8c. underſtand, deth he charge folly on them, &c. Either of theſe ſupple- ments are natural and caſie, being ferched out of the former Verſe, and neceſſary to make the ſenſe compleat. The ſenſe is, what ſtrange
reſumption then is it for a fooliſh and mortal man to pretend to an higher Priviledge than the Angels do,to make himſelf more juſt than God, or to exalt himſelf above or againſt God, as thou oſt ? z i.e. On men, as it follows, who though they. have 1mmorta) Spirits, yet thoſe Spirits dwell in mortal Bodies, which are great Debaſements, and Clogs, and Encumbrances, and Snares to them ; and which are here called Houſes,Cbecauſe they are the Receptacles of the Soul, and the places of its ſettled and continual abode ) and Houſes of Clay, and Earthly Houſes, 2 Cir: 5;1; partly becauſe they were made of Clay, or Earth, Gen. 2: 7: 1 Cor: 15: 47; and partly to note their great frailty and mutability ; whereas the Angels are free Spirits, onconfined to ſuch Carkaſſes,and dwell in celeſtial,and glorious, and everlaſting Manſions. bWhoſe very Foundation, no leſs thanthe reſt of the Building, i» the duſt; who as they dwell in Duſt and Clay, ſo they had their Foundation or Original from it, and they muſt return to ir, Eceleſ. 12: 7. And, asto their Bodies, lye down and fleep in it, Da. 124 2; as in his long home, Eccleſ. 12: 5: and the only continual City which he hath in the World. «c Heb. they cruſh them, 3. e. they are or will be cruſhed. The Attive Verb uſed imperſonally, as icis chap. 7: 3: and 34: 20! Prov. 6: 30: Luke 12: 20. 4d 1. & Sooner than a Moth is cruſhed, which is eaſily don: by a gentle touch of the Finger- An Hyperbolical expreſſion So the Hebrew word, {phnz, commonly ſignifying place, doth here note time, as it is uſed, Gen. 27: 7: and 29: 26: and 36: 31: Or, at the face, or appearance of # Moth. No Creature is ſo weak and con- temptible, butone time or other it may have the Body of Min in Its power, as the Worms, the Moths Couſin-Germans, have in the Grave, But he inſtancerh in a Moth rather than a Worm, becauſe It is the weaker of the two, and bzcauſe ir better agrees with the ſimilitude of anHouſe,in which Moths commonly are more frequenr, and powerful, and miſchievous, than Worms, How then canft thou think, O Jeb, to conrend with thy Maker, that muſt become a Prey to ſuch ſmall and impotent Creatures - : +Heb.bea. , 29 They are } deſtroyed from morning to evening e ; ten in pie> they periſh for ever f without any || regarding
Ces, z + Heb.put- ting the heart.
*2Cor.s © I,