The Pulpit Commentary — Job — Section 312

-maied that o~ who ol&imed to be • friend of hla ehould to l:lo'lnpletely ehow himaelfto 'be • • • • A lttony advlll'sal:'y, al'l inhnrnan 'Vri!toh Uncapable or pity, void 1tnd empty •- From any dram of mercy." (' The Merchant of Venioe,' aot iv. ao. I.) l. Urinece.uary croe'lty. (Ver. 4.) There was no "6.rm reason to be rendered" why they should thus remorselessly pursue him with their hate. They would not be called upon to expiate any of his unpunished crimes. Their theology 11,nd th~ir saintly virtues would corn bine to shield them from that. Believing, as they did,' that "the son' shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of t.he son," but that "the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him" (Ezek. xviii. 20), there was no occasion, to dread that any portion of the Divine retribution due to him would recoil, on thein,· Hence they might have i;pared him any wanton aggravation of his woes; Job'.11 language reminds us (1) that men may be guilty of sins of which they are unconscious; (2) that the only thing in which man can claim • true proprietorship on earth is his. sin; (3) that in the ultimate issues of Divine government every man must bear his own: burden; and (4) that this consideration should move a good man rather to commiserate than condemn the wicked. 6. Arrog(l/flJ assumption. In "pleading against him his reproach," i.e. in urging the intolerable miseries he suffered as a proof of his _guilt~ they were" magnifying themselves against him" (ver. 5), i.e. tacitly boasting of their superior goodness. .And as much perhaps as by anything in their µ1,I1guage, th~ soul of Job was stung by the solemn Pharissic aspect which eat upqn their marble visages, and the atmoephere of awful sanctity in which they wrapt their holy pei:sone. But true piety is ever meek and humble, never vaunteth herself, and is never puffed up; certainly never gloats over either the sins or the sufferings of others. A good man: may magnify the grace of God that is in him (1 Cor. xv. 10), or the office that has been entrusted to him (Rom. xi. 13), but of himself he ever thinks with lowlinefiS. of mind, esteeming others better than himself (Phil. ii. 3), whom he regards _but as "less than the least of all saints" (Eph. iii. 8), if not as "the cqief of sinners" (1 'l'im. i. 15), 6. Conspi= f al.8ehood. Bild.ad had alleged that Job, by his incorrigible wickedness, had been the author of his own misfortunes, that he had 'been cast into~ net by his own feet (eh. xviii. 8), that his calamity had come upon him as the recompense of his own crime; and to this Job replies with a direct contradiction, insisting that it_ WI!,~. God who had flung his net about him, a.nd that, if their theory of retribution was correct, God had wrested his cause and wronged him in so doing (ver. 6). That Job's feet were entangled in a net, the testimony of Job's senses proclaimed. That this net had been cast around him by God, the eye of his faith could.see. That God could not have done so on account of his wickedness, the inner witness of Job's spirit cried aloud. Hence this theory of the friends, which sometimes lay across his soul like a nightmare, was a blunder, and the allegation of the friends that he was being punished for his iniquity was a lie. II. Jon's DOLEJl"UL OOffl'LAINT AGAINST GoD. 1. Treating him like a criminal; And that in respect of two particulars. (1) Assailing him with violence: "Behold; I cry out of wrong;" literally, "I cry out Violence I" (ver. 7), "like a wayfarer sur- prised by brigands" (Cox). A strong metaphor, which may describe the suddenness and severity of the saint's affliction, but never can apply to the Divine motive or purpose in afflicting, since God doth not afflict the children of men willingly, but for their profit (Lam. iii. 33 ; Heb. xii 10); never rushes on his people like a giant (cb. xvi. 14), or overpowers them like a highwayman, but chastises and corrects them as a father (Heb. xii. 7) ; and in all his inflictions never does them wrong or evinces hate, but confers on them a bleRsed privilege and manifests towards them the purest love (Heb; xii. 6) (2) Disregarding hie out.cries, withholding from him sympathy and succour: "Behold, I cry, but I am not heard;" extending to him neither hearing nor redress: "I cry aloud, but t-bereist10 judgment" (ver, 7). A complaint, again, which may some- times receive colour from the eaint's own thoughts and feelings, but which never can be really true of God, who never fe.il.s to sympathize with his people in affliction (Ps. tiii. 13; Lia. hiii. 9; Heh. iv. 16), never disregards the prayer of the destitute (Ps. cii, OR, XIX, 1-29.] THE BOOK OF JOB, 328