The Pulpit Commentary — Job — Section 359

mettn "imbetanC<>," but" 11dverenn•." Trane- bC'siilea nmtcriAl cllJ\aider11t1011e 11.rc clearly l ate. Surely they that rMe "l' again8t us (or, taken into 110001mt, nnd the worldly pros•· 011r orif'er3aries) ore <'Ill off; and compare parity which EliphAz pl'Oruiecs forms "11art the Rc\'ised Version. The "adversaries" only of the good result which ho antloipo.tcs of the rightc-nus are the "wicked men·" from the patriarch making hia pee.co witb who hn'I'<' been "snnf<'.hed away before their the AlmiglJty. time." nnd have had their "foun<lRtion over- Ver. 22.-Reoeive, I pray thee, the law flown wit.h A flood" (ver. 16). But the rem- from :hi■ mouth; or, reoeivi! now i"8truotion nant of them the fire ooneumeth; rather, .from his mmtth, The supposition of some and the remnm,t of them hath ·the fire oon- oommentators, that the '! LMv of Moses" is ,,.,med (see t.he ile,·ised Version). The intended, is uegatived by the entire abeonce "fire" here, like t.he "flood" in ver. 16, is from the Book of Bny alhieion to tho details· n metaphor. and thPrcfore not to be proseed. of the Mosafo legislation, ns well oe by ,\h~ All tbnt is essential is that the wicked are primitive character-of the life depicted in tfle· destroyed. O'l'er this ·the" righteous" o.nd book, and the certainty that no one• or the the '' innocent " l'<'joice. interlocutors is an Israelite. The Hebrew, ;,i\r.i, without the article prefixed, is pro:-• Vers. 21-S0.-At this point a tro.™1ition perly "instruction," and is only to be as•. 011Curs. Eliphaz turn~ awa-y from reproaches, sumed as weaning "the Law'.' when. the open or covert, designed to exhibit Job as cont.ext shows this meaning t.o be probable. an example of extreme wickeclneBB, and falls The "iustruction" to which Eliphaz ·here· point.a, and which he regards as instruction back on those topics whioh were the main from God's mouth, is probably the t.eaohirig subjects of hie first exhortation (eh. v. 8- of religious men, such· as himself,,which he' 27), viz. an earnest appeal to Job to return considered to have come from· God' origin~ to God, to repent and amend (vere. 21-23), ally, though, perhaps, he could not have and a lavish outpouring of promises, or pro- explained how. •And lay up hill ·words iJl, thine heari.. This is a mere variant of the- phecies, that in that case he should be preceding clause, and addil' no fresh ·idea, ··'. delivered from all his troubles, should re- Ver. 23.-If thou llhalt return to the Al•. oover hie weo.lth and prosperity, obtain of mighty. Eliphaz, like Bildad in: eh: viii. 5, God all th11t he should pray for, succeed in and Zophar iu oh, :xi. 13, taxes Job with all his enterprises, and be able to help and having fallen away from God, almost with having apostatized.: AU hili prophecies of ease others, even those who might be guilty future prosperity rest upon the. asenm:ption: in God's sight (vers. 24--30). that Job, having fallen away, is now about to turn to God, repent .of hie misdoings,· Ver. 21.-.6.cquaint now thyael.f with and be age.in received with ·favour, .Thou him (i.e. God), and be at peace; or, make, 1halt be built up , i.e. "restored, . re-estab- I be$e,ech thee, a trial of him, and be at peace; lished." Thou :■halt put away iniquity far i.e. risk everythiug, throw thyself upon hie from thy tabemaolila"(comp. eh. :xi.14, where mercy, and so mo.ke thy peace with him. Zophar implies that .Job!e •tents have ill- To do so is well worth thy while, fo1· thereby gotten gains concealed in them). , good Bhall come unto thee. It is a question Ver. 24.---Then llhalt thou lay up gold aa what sort of" good" is meant. If we BJ'e ui clu.st ; rather, then shalt thou lay thy trea8Uf'll explain the "good" of thi!! pas911ge by vers. in the dust; i.e. hold it in slight esteem, 24, 25 exclusively, Eliphaz ,,vill become a because of its abundance. And the. gold ot mere utilitarian, and he will be rightly cha- Ophir (literally, and Ophir) shall be to the~ racterized as w selfish and sordid" (Cook)- aa the stones of the brooks (comp. 2 Chron. &n auticipution of the Mammon of Milton. i:x. 27, "And. the king (i;e. Solomon] Bnt there soom to be no sufficient grounds ma,de silver in Jerusalem as 11tonee "). for singliug out vers. 24, 25 from the rest "Ophir •• stands, no doubt, for untold wealth, of the p8B88ge, and regarding thern as form- being the great gold • producing .country ing ite key-note. The "good" which Eli- (see 1 Kings iL 28; X, 11; :uti. 48: 1 phaz promises t.o Job includes, besides •· the Chron. ni:x. 41; Ps. xiv..9: It!&, xiii-, 12). gold of Ophir" and "plenty of silvf!r," such (On its location, see the article on." OJ?hir," thi,,gs us '' deligl,t iu the .A.lmigl,ty," and in Smith'a1 • Diet. of the Di.hie,'. vol. ii. pp. confi<leut trust in him (ver. 26), God's hear- 637-642, an'd compare the comment·on .oh. ing of Lis prayers (ver. 27), the shining of :xxviii. 16.) • .. light upun L.iJ; path (ver. 28), bis owu pay- Ver. 25.--,Yea, the 41lo.ighty shall be th:, ment of his vows (ver. 27), his gimg assist- defence; rather, thy tre<U!ure. The word ie ance to the poor and needy (ver. 29), and the same &11 that used in the flnt clause of even hie deliverllllce of the guilty by the ver. 24. It properly signitie11 "ore." The pnrelleilli of his b11,nds (ver, 30); so that other gene111l me11,ui11g of tbe passage seems to on. xxn. 1-30.) 1'HE BOOK OF JOB. 373