The Pulpit Commentary — Job — Section 270

a cloee? Or wh~t emboldeneth thee that company. The lose of hie children baa thou amwereat 1 rn.thar, ,chat provoket1, desolated hie household; hie other nffiioliona thed (Re¥ised Vereion) Job had begged have alienated his friends. ~he.! his friends would be silent (oh. xiii. 5, Ver. 8.-And thou hut filled me with 18). He supposes the.t they would he.ve wrinkle&. So St. Jerome, Profeeeor Lee, oompli<:>d with I.tie wish if he had not pro- Dr. Stnnley Lee.thee, and others; but the voked them, but professes an ine.bility to see generality of modern commentators prefer what provocation he he.d gi ,•en. His le.et the rendering, " Thou he.at hound me fnel," 11peooh, however, he.d certainly not been i.e. deprived me of all power of resisting or concilie.tory (see eh. xii. 1-3; xiii. 4, 7, eto.). moving (comp. Ps. lxxxviii. 8, "I am so faet Ver. 4. -I al.so oonld speak as ye do : if in prison that I oanuot get forth"). Which your soul were in my soul's stead, I oonld ia a witnesa e.ge.inst me; i.e. n wituess of thy heap up words against you. It is only too displeasure, and so (ae men suppose) of my ee.ey to heap up rhetorical decle.mation against guilt. And my leanness rising up in me an unfortunate sufferer, whose physical e.ud beareth witness to my faoe i rnther, niy lean- mentnl agonies absorb e.lmost his whole ness, rising up against me. This emaciation attention. If you were in my ple.ce and is taken as another witness of his extreme condition, and I in yours, I could moralize sinfulness. in your tone e.nd spirit for hours. And Ver. 9.-He teareth me in his wrath, who sha.ke my head at you. A Hebrew mode of h&teth me j literally, his wrath tearet11, and expressing coudemnati,,·, of a man's conduct M hateth me. God treats Job as severely (see I's. xxii. 7; Isa. xx:c Yii. 22; Jer. xviii. e.s if he hated him. That he is aotnally 16: Matt. :i;::i;:vii. 39, etc.). hated of God Job does not believe; ot.her- Ver. 5.-But I would strengthen you wise he would long since have censed to with my mouth. The meaning is somewhe.t call upon him, and pour out his heart before doubtful, and different renderings he.ve him. He gne.sheth upon me with his teeth been proposed. But the rendering of the (comp. Ps. x:uv. 16; xxxvii. 12). Mine Authorized V crsion is quite defensible, and enemy (or rather, adversary) sharpeneth his is nccepted by our Revisers. This gives the eyes upon me; i.e. makes me a whetstone 11Cnse, " I, if I were in yonr ple.ce, would on which he sharpens hie e.ngry glances. not aot e.s you have acted, but, @ the con- Ver. 10.-They have gaped upon me with trary, would do my best to strengthen you their mouth. The " me.n of sorrows '' of the with words of comfort nud encouragement." Old Testnment is, in mnny respects, a type The moving of my lips should assuage your of the " Man of sonowe" of the New ; and, grief. (Sn Rosenmiiller e.ud our Revisers.) in the Messianic pso.lms, David constantly The words are a covert reproach of the npplies to Christ expressions which Job had three " friends" for not acting e.s Job used in reference to himself (see Ps. :uii. declares that he would have acted if the 13). They have smitten me upon the oheek positions bad been reversr-d. reproaohfully (comp. Micah v. 1; Matt. Ver. 6.-Though I speak, my grief is not :uvii. 30; Luke x.xii. 64; John xviii. 22). usuaged : a.nd though I forbear, wha.t am They ha.Te gathered themselves togethel' I eased 1 A.s it is, nor speech nor silence against me (see Pe. xxxv. 15, and compare, are of nny avail. Neither of them brings in illustration of the literal and historical me any relief. My sufferings continue aa eenee, eh. l l L 1, 10-14). before, wl,icbever course I take. Ver. 11.-God ha.th delivered me to the Ver. 7.-But now. These words mark ungodly. A.11 that Job had suffered e.t the a transition. Job turns from complaints hands of wicked men, the gibes of his agaiust bis "comforter," to e.n enumeration •• comforters," the insults e.nd "derision'' of of bis own sufferings. Re hath made me "base men" (eh. u:x. I, 8-10), the desertion weary. God has afflicted him with an of many who might have been expected to intolerable sense of weariness. He ie tired have come to his e.id, being by God's per- of life; tired of di.9puting with his friends; mission, is attributed by Job to Goel him- tired even of pouring out his lamentations self, who bes "delivered" him up to these and complaints nud expostulatioue to God. " ungodly" ones, and permits them to ndd His one desire is rest. So I have seen to and intensify hie sufferings. He we.a in tLe pi-OmJ,i of Venice, where political not eo ruthlessly treated e.s hie great Anti- pris,Jners were tortured by cold e.nd beat, type ; he wae not bound with thongs, or and hunger and thirst, for long weeks or crowned with thorns, or smitten with a reed, months, and brought to de.3pair, such scratch- or scourged, or crucified-oven the smiting ings e.s the folluwing: "Luigi A. implora on the cheek, spoken of in ver. 10, was pace," "Giuseppe B. implore. eterna quiete." probably metaphorical; but ho suffered, no Joh has entreated for this boon of rest doubt, grievously, through the scorn e.nd repeo.l.edly (eh. iii. 13; vi. 9; vii. 15; x. contumely that e.seailed him, throuA"h hi1 18, etc.). Thou hut made desolate all my friends' unkindness, and hie enemiea' iaag. OU, :IIVI, 1-22.] THE BOOK OF JOB. 281