The Pulpit Commentary — Job — Section 144

II. TnE TEAOIIING. 1. The proverb of the papyrus. (1) The imago. A papyrus plnnt (Oypcrus papyrus, L.) n. 'gome, so named from absorbrng water, or a reed, an achu, liko the Nilo gmss in Egypt (Gen. xii. 2), springing up suddenly, not upon dry ground, but on river-banks, in mnrshcs, upon the margin of canals, wherever there is water (ver. 11), attaining to remarkable luxuriance even before it iR ripe for the sickle, being the finest of all n11.turol gra~ses (ver. 12), then quickly disappearing, withering before any other herb, when once tho fierce summer heats have licked up the scanty moisture which co.used it to flourish (ver. 12). (2) The interpretation, (a) The plant, an emblem of the ungodly man who lives in forgetfulness of God (ver. 13). Forgetfulness of God, of God's existence (Ps. xiv. 1), of God's omniscience (Ps. 1. 22), of God's cha.meter (Isa. Ii. 13; !xiv. 5), of God's works (Deut. vi. 12; Ps. lxxviii. 11), of God's Word (Eccles. xii. 1 ; Hos. iv. 6), the essence of ungodliness (Ps. ix. 17 ; Ezek. xxii. 12). (b) The water, a. symbol of that outward prosperity without which the hope of the ungodly cannot spring. A mel_e.ncholy truth that wic~ed men,_in whose thoughts God never is (Ps. x. 4), have sometimes a hope of eternal life. This not founded on a. sure b_asis; on their own morality, ability, formality, or on some mistaken view they possess of the cbamcter of God, instead of on God's mercy, Christ's work, and the Spirit's grace. Commonly dependent on outward circumstances, and not derived from an inherent principle of spiritual life. (c) The luxuriant verdure while the water lasts, a picture of the hypocrite's display of religion while things continue prosperous. (d) The speedy wilhering when the water fails, a. representation of the swift and utter collapse of the hypocrite's religion a.nd its hope when, in the providence of God, the fostering element of material prosperity is withdrawn. 2. The proverb of the spider's web. (Vers. 14, 15.) Changing the simile, the wisdom of the ancients likens the hypocrite to a spider, and his hope to a spider's web, in respect of (1) its construction, being deftly and dexterously, with much care and infinite elaboration, built up a.nd fashioned; (Z) its intention, being designed, like the spider's web, for a habitation, a. house for the soul in the day of trial and the day of death ; (3) its attenuation, being 8..5 unsubstantial as a thin cobweb spun from the insect's bowels, a.nd like that fabricated mostly from the hypocrite's own imagination; (4) its destruction, being easily cut asunder or detached from its main support, a.s the cobweb is by the lightest touch of broom or breath of wind; and (5) its deception, a.s miserably disappointing the sinner who trusts in it, leans upon it, expects to find support from it, as the cobweb does the spider who clings to it in vain, finding no safety in the threads of his gossamer palace, but along with them being precipitated into dark and dreary overthrow. 3. The proverb of the climbing plant.. (Vers. 16-U>.) Disentangling the moral from the fable, we have here presented, under the similitude of a. creeping plant, the fortunes of an ungodly man in five stages. (1) Luxuriant prosperity; like the succulent plant swelling with sap in the sunshine, shooting forth leaves a.nd branches over all the garden (ver. 16), twining its roots a.bout the heap of stone," seeing the inside of stones" (Carey), i.e. penetrating into the smallest interstices thereof," living in the midst of flints" (LXX.), clasping and em bracing the stony structure,-a. striking image of exuberant and seemingly stable prosperity. (2) Complacent satisfaction; looking down proudly upon his material fortune, as the plant upon its house of stones, regarding it e.s a solid structure which he has reared a.nd in which he anticipates finding repose. (3) Sudden destruction; being unexpectedly swallowed up, i.e. violently stricken down either by God (Delitzsch) or by it, the house of stones (Davidson); in the one case a monument of Divine retribu- tion, in the other a.n example of the self-destroying character of worldly prosperity- as the plant is, in a.n evil moment, torn up from its place among the stones. (4) Public contempt; the former boon companions of the hypocrite in his prosperous days ignoring him, feeling ashamed of him, denying all acquaintance with him, as if the very ground where the uprooted plant grew were to disown it (cf. eh. xviii. 18; x.x. 27). "Behold, thus oud<3tb his blissful course "-a grimly ironical expression. (5) Utter oblivion; the place left vacant 1:-y him in society being immediately filled, and himself completely forgotten; "others in succession springing up from the dust," What a. se1·mon on the vanity of human greatnoss I 'l'he disappearance from the stage ot time of one who has lived in 11.fllnence, grandeur, fame, but a momentary wonder, like the dropping of e. stone into the calm bosom of a lake-a. noise, a. ripple, and then t.he stillness resumes its sw11.y- JOB. ~  146 THE BOOK OF JOB. [oa. vm. 1-22.