The Pulpit Commentary — Job — Section 313

~ 7), never doclines to aid them in distress (lea, xii. 10; :xliii, 2; 2 Cur. xii. 9), auu eertainly ne\i~t denies them justice unless to give them mercy. 2. PwniBhing him as a convice. • ·(V«iril, 8-10.) . 'And that by: (1) Consigning him to prison (ver. 8). The image that of a cell, or na,rrow spoce, bounded by a high wall or fence, shutting out the light of heaven, nnd shutting in the captive it confines (cf. eh. iii. 23; :xiii. 27). Two frequent offecte of affiiction: to darken the soul's look-its i11ward look by bringing sin to romelnbrance (1 Kings xvii. 18), its upward look by hiding God's face (eh. xiii. 24; rs. xiii. 3, 10), its onward look by beclouding the path of dnty (Isa. I. 10); and to shorten the soul's way, so that it can neither escape from its misery nor enjt,y its wonted freedom in religious exercises or in ordinary duties, but feels itself shut up, first to absolute submission, and then to cheerful resignation. (2) Arraying him in prison robes (ver. 9). Job's robe and crown were his-righteousness and integrity (eh. x:tix. 14). Of these he had been divested, and clothed in the unsightly as well as humiliating garmento(.affiiction, which was to him, what a prison dress is to a convict, an oµtward badge o( guilt. Job in this, however, doubly erred, first in thinking that al'll.icti01;i., was either a ·P,rbcif of condemnation or a mark of degradation, and secondly in supposing that he had. really" lost either his crown or his robe. If by these latter he alluded mer~ly to his former. prosperity, that was certainly ta.ken from him ; and so ~hatever of1ID earthly nature man may glory in-,-wealth, honour, friends-God can strip him of at any moment, Brit the crown of righteousness which God sets upon a saint's head is never w,antonJy 4isplaceq,and the garment of salvation which God wraps round a saint's person·can riev'er, without his own fault, be removed. (3) Extinguishing his hope of liberty (ver.10). Like a ruined house whose stones lie scattered on every side, like a great tree plucked up by the roots, Job had no further expectation of seeing the splendid edifice of his·,prosperity rebuilt, or the expiring life of his sad heart revived. Lik~ the prisone~ of Chillon,, h!l bad no earthly hope of returning to freedom. :, "I had no thought, no feeling-none: , r Among the stones I stood a stone, ,.Al!d.was sc.arce conscious what I wist, . As shrubless crags within the mist," etc. (Byron,' Prisoner of Chillon,' iL) Such a·picture is true, not of the .saint in the correction~house of affliction (Ps. xxxiv. 17), not even of the sinner in the prison-house of condemnation, who is yet a prisoner of hope (Zech. ix. 12), bu.t only of the lost in the dungeon of everlasting death. 3. Count- ing him/or. an. ·enemy. (1) Regarding him with anger (ver.11). Against this conclu- sion, however, Job manfully struggled, especially when replying to the friends, and ultimately triumphed; but at snch times as he fell back to brood upon his inward misery, or turned his weary face upward to God, the thought threatened to overmaster him (cf. cK'xiiii24; ·xvi.'9). Yet all the while God was his real Friend, and regarded him .with tenderest affection, which shows that God's dealings with his people are often full,'of painfu'l and inexplicable mystery (Ps. lxxiii. 16; luvii. 19), that "behind a frowning providence" God frequently "hides ·a smiling face" (Rev. iii. HJ), that God's people cannot always see the bright light which is in the cloud (eh. xn:vii. 21; John xiii. 7), and that God only is a competent E_xpounder of his own acts. (2) Besieging him with trouble (ver,' 12). The magnificent imagery here employed is borroweJ from the operations connected with a siege (vide Exposition). God's armies were the calami- ties that had befallen Job. Afflictions and the causes that produce them, diseases aud the. germs from which. they spring, misfortunes and . the instruments that bring them about, aro all under God's command (Exod. viii. 8; ix; 6; xi. 4; 2 Kings xix. 35; Luke vii. 7), advttncing and retiring as he directs. 4. Cutting hi"m oJf from human sympathy. (Vers. 13-19.) A pitiful picture of abject degradation, even worse than that which Bililad predicted for the wicked man who should be cbusc'd from the world (eh. xviii. 19) . . Surrounded l'ly kinsmen nnd relatives, and still attended by wife and servants, he is to one and all an object ·of supreme contempt. (1) 'l'hose immediately outside the circle of his household (vers. 13, 14), his "brethren" and "acquaintance," meaning probably his neighbours, with his "kinsfolk" and "familiar friends," who were, as distinguished from the former, his relatives, hatl !\bandoned him. (2) Those withm the circle 'of his household, from whom better things might have been expected, had  fo~ow'9d their exampll!. His dome!!ties, not excepting the t.endet .maiden~ ~lto,ie a~~ mtght baTl! •touobed" them" with human gentleness and love," gave l*n no ·1nore obedience than a stranger. His body-ser~nt, who ·was 'to hib'l as Elteier to Abraham (Gen. niv. 2), 11.nd the centurion's servant to his roaster (Luke n1. 2), toust ·now be entreated fur what was formerly performed at the slightest gl11.nce or gesture. Even hia wife, the mother of his noble sons and fair daughters .now dead, had fors11.lteli him 'her delicate ,eusibilities unable to endure the offensive exhalations from his bo4,y:. His 'own broth<'rs, ,on~ of the s11.me womb, turned away from the intolerable stentli,· •(3) Iii short, all who !>Bw him poured on him supreme contempt. The boys, probably of neighbouring families or clans, laughed at his feeble efforts to raise himself ot st-and upon his ash-he11.p. His" inward friends," those to whom he conlideq, his secret thouahtll and plans, now abboTreJ. him. His -very friends, to whom he had given, ~is love,,m:an:-'. ing probably Eliphaz, Bildlld, and Zophar, had turned 11.gll.i.nst him.. . • . • '. , I!I. ~OB's PITEOUS APPEAL FOR RrMSELF: 1._ Apathetic repr~»'tatt;on. (Ver. 20.). lnd1catmg the gronnd of Job's appeal. Bodily disease and mental a.ngul$h li11.d t_edticea him to a skeleton, so that his bone,i; appeared through his skin;. the second ·clatise, a crulii interpretum (vide Exposition), probably depicting extreme ~maclafXon/ His conditit>n' may remind ns of the value of physical health, of its instability, and of the ease ~ith which it can be made to consnme away lik~ a. moth (t's::~xxi;x:, ii).' ~- A mdti~f, 11Upplirotion. (Ver. 21.) Expressive of the fervour of Job's apP';a;I. It 'ral! not,~i:n~ch !).tj craved-only pity, and that on two pleas: U) Tho bond of friendship .t.hat subsrst43d between them. His terrible emaciation was enougb to • ' -' ' • • • ' • '· <-'' l • I "Pluck eommieera.ti.on of. his nate . :,l l'rom brassy bosoms and rough h ~ of filt1t." . Much more, then, from those who ,vere united. to him by ties of a1recti6ri (~f. eli'.\,t 14~ homiletics). (2) The severe a.ffliction that had been laid ·ti:pi>n him. "The hand of God bath touched me." The phrase descriptive of the source of Job's affliction, but pointing chiefly to its intensity. 3. .A tffider -ea:postuULtwn. (Ver. 22.) Were the miseriei, he was suffering at God's hand not enough to satisfy their insatiable appetite; or was God not able to exact retribution for his supposed iniquities, that they must assist him to crush the poor emaciated skeleton who had b~om.e Iµe,yicti7i11?, ."W~s:i~ really come to this, that they were less merciful than GQd_; that G;o.c!'s t41~st for ven~, geance, if so be it was that he was being punished, was more: ~Uy slaked t~an their.sJ So, alas! it has been found that man's tender mercies _,are cruel (? Sam, ;x::1!.IV:. 14:),_.&I;ld. in particular that wben bigots turn persecutors they never .cry,, '.',Eo,011-gh_~ '.' . . .. • ·: Learn : l. There is a limit beyond which even good. .!]lell are not expecied to, !3qdure. aspersions against their c.b.ara.cter. 2. It is a shame for prof~ss.cirs o'f religion to indulge in, suspicions, or utter slanders, against th,eir brethren. 3. The greatJlst ~feguard-a s~ff~r-:-. ing saint has, if also one of his acutest pa.ins, is to connect ~s afflictions with God .. ~-- It is better to direct the sonl's plaint to God than to .utter aloud the soul's complaint: against God. 5. The man has fallen low illdeed who, besides being de~erted by ~q~· (or appearing to be so), is &leo abandoned by man. 6. The woman who f~rsakes 'her, husband in his hour of sorrow, not only violates her J:Il!lrriage vow, but proves hl'rself unworthy of the honour of wifehood, and brings disgrace upon the name.of woman. ,7,, It is an infinite mercy that God's heart is not so little pitiful as man'11. 8, A man•a flesh is all that a persecutor can devour.