'Whioh l,ymns his .praise for e'Vermore. But she brought forth, butter in t\ lordly dish" whe.t is on<' drop ndd<'d to "n OOOl'D? (Judg. v. 25). And thou hut withholden. Ver. 4.-Will he reprove-thee for f8"1" of bread trom the hungry. Later on Job abso- ·11iee 1 rather, I~ ;1 for thy fear of him that lutely denies this, 11e well 11s many of the 1k repr-ot•eth th-,e f Surely not. IT he reproveH other chargos. " lfl have withheld,'' ho snye thee, it mu•t be beoause thou feareist him " the poor from their d~ire, or have oauscd not. ThC' fitd of thy reproof is sure evi<lence the eyes of the·widbw t.o f11il: or have eaten of the fa<'! "f thy guilt. Will he enter with my mor,el, mytelf alont,and the fatherless hath. thee into judgment ! rathC'r, that he entereth not eaten thereof, ... then let mine arm fall w,tll, tliJ'e ,,.t" judgrnen:t (see the Revised from my shoulder-blade, and mine arm be Version). broken from the bone" (oh. xxxi. 16-22). Ver. 5.-Is net thy wi.okedneas great 1 Ver. 8.-But as for the mighty man, U Judging from the greatne88 of Job's punish- had the earth; literally, t1.41. for the man °,[ ment, Eliphaz concludes, logically from his arm; i.e. 1the. man strong of 1mu. Job.lJ premisses, the.t hie wiokednees must be com- retainers are prob11bly meant, whom Eliph1µ1 mensurate. He muet hitve been guilty of supposes to have been allowed by Job to almost ever:v form of ill-doing. And thine oppress the poor, and have their own way iniquitie& udillite; literally, a11d is there not ' in the world. This charge wns doubtless a.s ,w e,id to thine iniquities i These general baseless ae the others (oomp. eh. x.xix. 16, conclusions seem to Eliphaz to justify him 17). :And the honourable man dwelt in it; in proceeding to the enumeration of details. or, the a,ocepted man-" the 'favoured mau;" Ver. 6.-For thou hast ta.ken a pledge i.e. those of whom Job approved aud whom -from thy brother for nought; i.e. thou hast he f11vomed. . • lent to thy brother on pledge, without Ver. 9.-Thou hut . sent widows away reaeone.ble ea.use, when thou wert rich enough empty. Job, on the ,contrary, ·declares that to need no security (comp. Neh. v. 2-11). he "co.used the widow's heart to. sing. for And &tripped the naked of their i:lothing. joy " ( eh. xxix. 13). . The sin of oppreS11ing When thy brother, on borrowing from thee, 'l\"idows was one of which Job deeply felt pledged bis raiment, thou didst retain it, the heinou·sness. He is certainly a priori and so didst leave him to shiver all night not likely to have committed it (eh. i. 1; without covering (see Exod. xrii. 26, 27). iv. 3, 4), and the. prejudiced testimony of We may, perhaps, gather from this that the Eliphsz will scarcely convince any dis- Mosaic Law on the subject wne foo.nded on pB,Sllionate person to the contrary. And the an anterior custom widely prevalent in South- arm.a of the fatherless have been broken; ·western .Asia. i.e. the strength of the fatherless has been , er. 7.-Thou hast not given water to (by thy fault). .tRken. from' them. Job has the weary to drmk. To give water to the allowed them to be oppressed and ruined. thirsty was regarded in the East e.e one of The reply of Job is, "When the e11r heo.rd, the most elementary uuties of man to man. then it blessed me; and· when·the eye saw, The self-justification of the dead in the it gave witness to me:. beoause·J:deli1,ered Egyptian Hades contained the followiDg the poor that, cried, and the fatluirles,. o.nd p1166age: "I gave my bread ro the hungry, him that had none to, help him" (eh. xxi:1:. a,,d drink to .bim that wa• athirst; I clothed 11, 12; see also _eh. :u:xi. 21, 22). the uaked with garments; I sheltered the Ver. 10.-Therefore snares are round about wanderer" (' Ritual of the Dead,' eh. c:a:v. thee. AB Bildad had threatened ( oh. xv:iii. § 38). Tl.ie aawe claim appears continually 8-10), andae Job himself had acknowledged on Egyptian tombs. ".All men reepect.ed (cb. xu:. 6), Aud sudden fear :troubleth m.,," we read on one ; " I ga'De water to the thee (comp. eh. ill. 25; vii. 14; xiii; 21, tliir@iy; I set tbe wanderer in his path ; I etc.). . . , took away the oppreeeor, and put a stop Ver. 11.-0r da.rkneBB, that thou canst not to violence" (' Non-Biblical Systems of see. Job bad complained of the "darkness" 1 Rt:ligion,' p. 46). In the proverbs assigned that was "set in hie paths'' (eh. xix. 8), to Solomon, •• which the men of Hezekiah meaning probably. his inability to discover copied out" (Prov. xxv. 1), the duty was the cause of hie afflictions. And abu.n.danoe , declared to be one owed ev.en to enemies of -,,vaten COJ.er thee. The comp11,riso;1.of (su, Prov. ix11. 2 I, "If thine enemy be severe afll.ietfon to an overwl).elming llood hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he is very common in Scripture (sf!;e- P11. xliL bf: thirsty, giue 1.im water to driM "). Isaiah 7; lxix. 1-8, 14, 15: cxdv. 4, l!': Lam. iii. notiCt:~ it e.s praiseworthy in the Temanitea .54, etc:). & Shakespeare speaks of" a ,ea (Elipbaz's people), that they "broughttDater of troubles." ' Le, Mm that tDml tJ.irst11, 11.nd prevented with Ver. 12.-Is not God in the height ot their bread him that fie, I " (Isa. u,i. l4). l!AAf"' l J!'JOw 'ta:rJog Job .with definite J 11.el ie prai.acd for goi.n,g further than thjs : ~n sips, Elip.bu·,1>1oeceds to e.ccnee.'i1im 0
" Rt li8ked. water.,~ J!he l,Ull h.µiJ. .uulk; of jJJipioutt thought, and principles, lie OR, :llm, 1-80,] THE BOOK OF JOB. 371