The Pulpit Commentary — Job — Section 14

hl}he ~11bit of feasting" (Rbeenmitller, Lee). Heb!a.ists to the expre1Bion o•nS1t -,-,:i. Ac- Th: their house■. Each had his own resi- cor<lLDg to some, 7-0 he.a its nsual senso, 1fence, nnd the residence was not a tent but a "house." • Job llnd his sons were not " to bless," e,nd □•riS1t signifies" f11lse god" " inere nomads, but belonged to the settled or "idols;" according to the others, who popul11tion. The same is implied by the form the great majority, □•riS1t he.a its Tisuo.l "ploughingofthe oxen" (vor .14), and indeed sense of "God," and 7,::1 has the unTisnal by Job's "yol,e of oxen" in ver. 3. Every sense of" curse" (so Buxtorf, Rosenmilller on, his day. Moat comment11tors regard Schultens, Uook, Stanley Lea.thes, amon; these feasts as birthd11y festivities. E11ch moderns, and among ancient authorities th~ lion in his tnrn, when his birthday arriver!, Septuagint and the Vulgate). How the ;o.me entertained his six' brothers. Others think word comes to have the two wholly opposite tbat eBCh of the seven brothers had his own senses of "to bless" and "to curse" has been special day of the week on which ho received differently explained. Some think that as his brothers at his table, so that the feasting men blessed their friends both on recei;iog was continuous; But this scarcely suits them and on bidding them adieu, the word the context. And it is admitted that "his 71::1 got the sense of "bidding adieu to,'' day" (in eh. iii. 1) means "his birthday." "dismissing," '' renouncing." Others re- The celebration of birthdays by means of gard the use of 7,::1 for " to curse " ea a mere a foast was a very widespread custom in euphemism, and compare the use of sacef' the East (see Gen. xl.. 20; Herod., i. 133; aud sacrari in Lo.tin, and such expressions ix. 110; Mark xiv. 21). Aud sent and e._s "Bl.ess the stupid man [ " ·' What a oa.lled for their three sisters to eat and to blessed nuisance! " in English. The m:de~ drink with them.· Thi's by itself is sufficient diet~ry sense SE;ems to be establi.,,hed by io show that the feasts were occasional, not eh. n. 9 and 1 Kmga xxi. 10. By "cur,in"' continuous. Constant absence of daughters, God in their hearts.'' Job probably meau~ day after day, from the parental board is "forgetting him," "putting him out of inconceivable. • sight,'' "not giving him the honour which • Ver. 5.-And it was so, when the days i~ his due." . Thll8 did Job continually; of their feasting were gone about ; rather, ~1terally, as m the margin, all the days; when the days of the feasting had come 1.e. whenever one of the festival-days f'i>und; i.e. wheniwer one of the birth- occurred. days had arrived in due course, and the feasting had taken place. That Job sent Ver. 6.-Now there was a day when tha and ea.notified them. In the old world, out- sons of God came to present themselves side the Mosaic Law, the father of the family before the Lord. By "the sons of Goel" was the priest, to whom alone it belonged it is generally admitted that, in this place, to bless, pnrify, and offer sacrifice. Job, the angels are meant (so again in eh. after ea.eh birthday-feast, sent, it wonlcl xxxviii. 7). The meaning of the phrase in seem, for his sons, and purified them by the probably different in Gen. vi. 2. A.ngeln accustomed ablutions, or possibly by some and men are alike " sons of God," as crea.te<l other ceremonial process, regarding it as by him, in his image, to obev a.nd serve probable that, in the course of their fee.sting, him. Christ, the "Only Begotten,'' i.s his they had contractecl some defilement. It Son in quite a different sense. We may would seem by the next cle.nse that the gather, perhaps, from this place and eh. puri.fica.tion took plo.ce at the close of the ii. l that there are fixed times at which day of festivity. And rose up early in the the angelic host, often sent out by the morning, and offered burnt offerings. Burnt Almighty on distant errands, has to gather offerings were instituted soon a.rt.er the Fall, together, one and all, before the great as we learn from Gen. iv. 4, and were in white throne,,to pay homage to their Lord, common use long before the Mosnic Law and probably to give an 11ecouut of their was given (see Gen. viii. 20 ; xxii. 8, 13; doings. And Sata.n came also among them. xxxi. 54; Exod. xviii. 12; 'Records of the The word " 81\tan" has the article prefued Past,' vol. ii. pp. 20, 21 ; vol. xii. pp. 49, 71, to it ( 1nim) here and elsewhere in Job, as oto.). The practice was common, so for as in Zech. iii. 1, 2 and in Luke xni. 31; appears, to all the nations of antiquity, except Rov. xii. 9. Thus accompanied, it is less a the Persiaus (Herod., i. 132). According to proper name than an appellative--" the the number of them all. One, apparently, ndvorsary" (comp. l Pet. v. 8; <l cb,-rl6u,os). for each child,sinoe each might have sinned In 1 Chrou. xxi. 1, without the article, it in the way suggested. The offerings w01·e is undoubtedly a proper na.me, a~ in the clearly intendecl as expiatory. For Job New •.restament, passim. Accusation of said, It may be that my sons ha.ve Binned, men before God is one of the special offices and oursed God in their hearts. Two wholly of the evil spirit (see Zech. iii. l, 2), who ia durerent meanings are assigned by good "the aocuser of the brethren, he that accuses  THE BOOK OF JOB.