The Pulpit Commentary — Job — Section 394

(Jndg. v. 6). The second bemistich favours other words, their clothing. Thay will no~ the latter interpretntion, The poor of the lend to them on any otner terms, and so earth (or. fJie meek of tlie earth) hide them- force them to po.rt with their garments, and ■elvea together. In the East there have go about naked. Even Hebrew creditors always boon superior Rnd ~ubjoot rscee, as seem to have done this (Exod. xxii. 26; well e.s proud n"bles and down-trodden men Dent. xxiv. 12, 13); 1tnd the Mosaic Law of the same race. It is not olee.r of whioh did not forbid the practioe, hut only required of tbel!e two Job speRks. The former were the creditor to let the debtor have hie gar- often bunted out of &11 the desirable l&nds, ment l\t night, that he might sleep in it and forced to fly to rooks Rnd caves and (Exod. xxii. 27 ; Dent. xxiv. 18). holes in the ground, whC"nce they W<"re Ver. 10.-They oau■e him to go naked kn0wn e.s "Troglodytes." The latter, less without clothing; rather, they go naked frequently. banded together, nnd withdrew witlwut wthing. The effects of the oppres- to remote &n<I sequestered spots, where they sion on its victims aro now traced. First might hope to Jive unmolested by their op- of e.ll, the poor man, whose only wro.p or prel!l!ors (Heh. xi. 38). cloak he.a been taken in pledge, is com- Ver. 5.-Behold, as wild &eeee in the pelled to go naked, or nlmoet naked, both desert, go they forth to their work. Plun- day and night, exposed alike to extremes of dering bands of wicked marauders scour the beat and cold. Secondly, he is compelled desert, like troops of wild &sees, going forth to reap and bind and carry home the e&rly tn their work, &nd late t.'1.king rest- sheRves of his oppressor, while he himself rising beti.me& for a prey, e.nd generally is half famished with hunger. The second :finding it, since the wilderness yieldeth clause of the verse is wrongly translated in food for them nnd for their ohildren. Thev the Authorized Version, where we read, nre sure to find some pi under or other ere &11d they take away the sheaf from the the da,· is over. hungry ; the real meaning being," and they Ver: 6.-They reap every one hiB oorn in '11'.ho are an hungered, carry the sheaves" the field. When they have scoured the (compare the Revised Version). desert, the marauders approach the culti- Ver. 11.-Which make oil within their vated ground bordering on it, and thence walls, and tread their wine-presses, and carry off, each of them, n quantity of •• fod- 11111f'er thirst. In the third place, the same der," or "provender" (Revised Version), for unfortunates are employed in the home- the sustente.tion of their horses. And they steads of their oppressors to express oil from gather the vintage of the winked ; rather, the olives and wine from the rich clusters u in the margin, and the 'U!icked, gather tM of grapes, while they themselves are tor- 'f7i.ntage. (So Rosenmii.ller e.nd Professor mented with unceasing thirst. Lee.) Sometimes they burst into the vine- Ver. 12.-llen groan from out of the yards, and rob them, canying off the ripe city. It is not only in the wild tre.ots bor- grapes. dering on the desert (vers. 5-8), or on the Ver. 7.-They o&'IUl8 the naked to lodge le.rge farms of rich landholders (vers. 9- without clothing ; rather, they li,, all ni.ght 11), that oppression takes place. Men's Mkd., witJwut clothing. The maraudel'B groans are heard also" from the city," and are etill the subject of the narra.tive. When in the midst of the city, where murder, rob- engaged in their raids, they endure to pass bery, burglary, adultery, and other crimes the night without clothing, &e the Bedonine of the deepest dye abound. Then the soul are 11111.i.d io do to this day, BO that they he:t'e of the wounded orieth out. In appeals to DO covering in the oold. They are BO beni God for help, or in inarticulate cries, the upon plunder that they do not mind these wounded spirit of the oppressed and injured inconveniences. vents itself. Yet God layeth not folly to Ver. 8.-They are wet with the lho,nn them. Yet God seems to take no notice. of the mountains, e.nd embraoe the rock for He gives no sign of disapproval, but allows want of a lhelter. Further unpleasant the oppressors to go on in their foolish conseqnenceH of marauding, but endured oouraes unchecked. without complaint by the wild robber- Ver. 13.-They are of those who rebel tribcs. against the light. These city oppressors Ver. 9.-They pluok the fatherle11 from go beyond the others in entirely rejecting the breut. Other oppressors, not of the the light or reason, oouscience, and law. marauding class, but dwellers in toWill! (ver. They throw off every restraint. The "light 12 J. lil'e so cruel that &hey tear the unweaned which lighteth every man that cometh into child of the debtor from the mother's breast, the world" is notliing to them. They know e.s satisfaction for a debt, and carry him off not the waya thereof. They will not know, iulo slavery (comp. 2 Kings iv. 1; Neh. v. will not have anything to do with, the law 5). And take a pledge of the poor; literally, of moral restraint-much lees will they talct in pl.edge that taldch i., on~ _poor-in abide in the pathe thereof; , ... acknowledge IJH, XXIV, 1-26.] THE BOOK 01<' JOB. 409