The Pulpit Commentary — Job — Section 47

2. Some men will even prnt with a good conscience to eave life. 3. But there are those who would rather die than renounce their integrity. Vere. 7-10.-Tlie patri<Jlrch'B second trial. I. Tm: TWOFOLD ASSAULT UPON Tm: PATBIABOH, 1. TIUJ inftictiO'TI of a loathsome disease. (1) Its author. Satan. Tbat diseases genern.lly come through violation of hygienic Jaws is matter of everyday observation nnd of special scientific affirmation. But that .Job's malady had a diabolic origin, as bad also many of the physical ailments that prevailed in the Ea.~t about the time of Christ, must be accepted on the ground of revelation. And as in Christ's day Beelzebub was permitted to wield e. larger influence than usual over men's horlies, that the power of Christ in destroying the works of the devil might be the more conspicuously· displayed, so the exceptional ability of Satan to produce bodily malady in Job's case- existed solely for a special purpose. It would therefore be contrary to good theology as well as sound science to ascribe the "ills that flesh is heir to" to diabolic rather than to natural causes. (2) Its nature. "Sore boils;" supposed, and with probability, to have been a malignant form of elephantiasis, a disorder having many of th& characteristics of leprosy. From inoide-ntal allusions scattered throughout the poem, it appears to have been an exceedingly painful disease, accompanied in its early stages. by severe bodily itching ( eh. ii. 8; ix. 17, 18), and attended in its progress with. extreme debility, and titter prostration of mind as well as body, leading to disturbed slumbers,. terrifying dreams, arid even suicidal temptations (eh. vi. 4, 11, 14; vii. 4, 13, 14). A.quickly spreading disease, rapidly covering the body with pustules, or boils, some- times from head to foot (eh. ii. 7; vii. 5). A certainly corrupting disease, producing emaciation, and causing rottenness in the flesh and bones (eh. xiii. 28; xvi. 8; xxxiii." 21).. A ,truly,loathsome disease, rendering the wretched sufferer an object of disgust even to his nearest relatives and friends (eh. xi.x. 13-19), and ultimately, though not immediately, a mortal disease (eh. xvi. 22; :xvii. 1; xxx. 23). (3) Its design. To try the patriarch (a) by weariDg out his strength, and so rendering him more accessible to the entLance of diabolic temptations; (b) by making him an object of abhorrence to mankind, and so in a manner cutting him off from human sympathy; and (c) by leading him to regard his malady-as· a special visitation from Heaven, and so tempting him to eutertain harsh thoughts of Jehovah. 2. The injection of a vehement temptation. (1) 'l'he time when it was made. Not at the beginning of his malady, but after it had somewhat developed, when his strength was impaired, his nerves were unstrung, and his mind was depressed, and when, no longer permitted to enter the dwellings of men, he sat himself.down upm(:the mez.bele, or ash-heap, outside his dwelling-an object of loathing and disgust to passers-by. (2) The person through whom it was directed. Not the devil himself,.since then it would scarcely have acquired the force of a tempta- tion; nor even a frieb:d like Eliphaz, Bildad, or Zophar-counsellors who afterwards fared rather badly at Job's hnnds; but she who of all on earth was his nearest and dearest-his wife, the bride of his youth, the mother of his noble sons and fair girls now dead, the companion of his joys and sorrows. Beyond question, it was politic tO: attack the patriarch through his wife; and probably. for this reason she was spared- not because having her was a greater trial to the good man than losing her would have been, but because the devil wanted a.tool against her husband (cf. Adam's temptation through Eve). (3) '.l.'he counsel which was offered. "Bloss God" (sc, for the last time; i.e., 0 renounce him"), 'I and die I" perhaps words of wifely sympathy wrung from her loving bQsom by the cruel sufferings which had been heaped upon her husband; certainly words of passionate ,..ehemence calculated to bear. down the opposition of a· sufferer growing every day feebler through incessant pain; and word~ of much plausi- bility, suggesting a thought which s·eemingly had much in its favour;thathis sufferings were to be ascribed purely to his religion ; but also words of essential wickedness, since: not ocly was the thought they suggested untrue, but the advice itself was wrong. II. THE TWOFOLD VIOTOBY OF THl!l:P.ATlllAROH. 1. The i11.road of physical diseasa he met with patient ,aubmission. "He took a potsherd and scraped himself withal." Indulging in no complaints against Providence for e.ffiictiug him, and, when the malady had so far developed that his presence became offensive to his friends and neighbours. quietly retiring to the ash-heap. Admirable meekness I Exquisite patience l lncom-  THE BOOK OF JOB. [os:. n. 1-18,