The Pulpit Commentary — Job — Section 43

~ angelic host c"me to preeent th81118elvee tbe.t of hia ne&r811t a.nd de&r81lt. Job, he before the throne of God, and Sa.tan ea.me insinuates, submitted to the loss of hie with them. To present himself before the children without. a mu~innr, beoRuse he Lord. The110 words are 11,dditional to those feared that otherwise God would. stretch UBed in the former pass,ige. We may g'lllher ~orLh hie hand a.gainei bis person, o.nd smite from them, that, wher~ns on the former 1t ·o! d01troy it,_ J:Ie cannot imngine any OO<"'R•ion Satan co.me onlv to observe, nnd motive for eubrn1se1on and apparent resignR- with no intention of drawing God's epecinl tion but a selfish one (comp. eh. i. '9). Yea, Rtl:ention to himself, he now had such in- all tha.t a man hath will he give for hia l;(>ution, e.nd looked forward to a colloquy. life; i.e. "a man will submit to ·the loss,; He nnticipated. doubtless, that the circum- not only of all his possessions, but even of, stances of Job's probation would be referred those wholll he loves.best, to save- hie OWi\ to, and he had prepared himself to me.ke life-he will do anything fur that." So the: answer. " false o.ecuser." All the numerous acts of Yer. 2.-And the Lord s&icl unto !lata.n, self-sacrifice which human history presents, From whenoe oomest thou ! And Satan and has presented from the first, are ignored. a.nswered the Lord, and said, From going to Ver. 5.-Bnt pnt forth thine hand ·now, a.nd fro in the earth, and from walking up &tul touoh his bone and his flesh ; i.e. " his and doWll in it (see the comment on eh. i. ·7, person "-any part of his body. And he will of which --this is an almost en.et :repetition). curse thee· to thy fuce{see the comment on Ver. 3.-A.D.d the Lord Ba.id 'llllto Sa.tan, eh.. i. 11). East thou conaidered my senrant J'ob, that Ver. 6.-A.nd the Lord add .unt_o Satan,. there is none.like him in the earth, a perfect Behold he is in thine h~;. i,e. " he is in and an upright ma.n, one that feareth God, thy power, to do with him OS thou J?leaeest" and eJICh.eweth evil t Thus faI is identical -ucept in one rll!lpect. 'Again itis strongly ~th eh. i. 1 (</."Od mile). The rest 6f the marked \hat Satin's· power is under God's verse is additional, having reference to the contro1, and extends only s6 far .as God condnd of Job under his earlier trials (cb. i. allows. But snve h.iil life; rather, only 20-22). And still he holdeth fut his spare his life (Revised· Version). ' The di- integrity. This ho.e been justly called-'"'the • dactic purposes for whioh God was allowing key-note of the whole book" (Cook). Satan his faithful servant to be tried in the furnace had declared that Job's integrity rested on of affliction·wonld have been.frustr!itcd by llO 110lid ha.sis, and wonld easily be over- Job's removal from, the !jarj.li. Indi_yidue.Uy. thrown and disappear. God, confident in ~e might equally well have been co~pens9:ted his servant's faithfulness and truth, had in another worla; but then .the lesson ot his· allowed him to n.ssail it. Wfill.t wa.s the example to living men, and the lesson of his result? God declexes it with his own story to all future generations of mankind, month. Job's "integrity" Lad not biien would have· been lost. Besides, G,od but wrested from him; he still maintained it rarely, in the old world, gave o. •faithful'· (eh. i. 21, 22), as he WBB a.bout to do till the servant, Atill in the full vigour of life (oh. end (eh. xiii. I~). Compare the ideal xlii. 16, 17), "over unto deatli " (Ps. cxviti. .. just man" of Horace- 1~. . Ver. 7.-So went· Satan forth from the .. Jnetam et tenacem propositi virnm pre&ence of the Lord(comp.ch. i.12, ad fin.). Non civium ardor prava jnbentinm, Satan, wo may be sure, is always anxious Non vnltus inete.ntis tymnni to quit the immediate presence of God; for Mttnta qne.tit eolidn, neque Auster, "what c01;nmunion he.th ,light with dark- Dux inqnieti turbidue Hadria,. . . . ness?., (2 Car. vi. 14-). But now· lie had a Bi fractDB illabatnr orbis, special motive for haste in his anxiety to Impa.vidum ferient rninm." put Job to the test. Doubtless he was (' Od.,' iii. 3,) confident that he would triumph. And Although thou movedllt me against him (see smote Job with sore boils. "With a me.lig- eh. i. 9--11), to destroy him; literally, to ne.nt inflammation" (Lee). It he.a been w,alJDUJ Mm wp; i.e. to ruin him, overwhelm generally concluded, from the scattered him with calamities. Without cause ; .i.e. notioes of his ma.lady contained in the Book " when he had done notbiDg to deserve such of Job (especially eh. vii. 4, 5; xvii, 1 ; xix. treatment." 17-20; and .xxx. 17-19), that the disease Ver. 4.-A.nd Satan an.nvered the Lord, with which Satan "smote Job" was ele- and Baid, 811:in for akin. No doubt a pro- phantia.sis-eometimes called Elephantiasis verbial expreBBion,M10mbling "Eye for eye, .A.rabum-a marked and strongly developed tooth for tooth;" "Tit for tat," and the form of leprosy (Rosenmiiller, Michaeli•, like· but not expressive of retaliation. Se.tan Professor Lee, Canon Cook, Stanley Lenthes, m~ that, to keep his own " skin" intact, etc.). Elephantiasis is thus ;eopnlarly a 11111.D. will sacrifice another's "skin," even described by Canon Cook, in the ' Speaker'e tfu. II, 1-18.] THE BOOK OF ,JOB. 35