The Pulpit Commentary — Job — Section 402

pel'tlecution, permitt.ed by God-the removal of l11n<lmarka (Deut. xix. 14; xxvii. 17; Prov. xxii. 28; xxiii. 10); the plunder of herds ( oh. xx. 19); the taking of the property of the helpless in plC'dge (Exod. xxii. 26; Deut. xxiv. 6); the thrusting of the po.or from the way into pathless spots, so that the miserable of the land &1'8 oompelled to hide themselves from the intolerable oppreBSion. II. 'l'HE MIBERY oF THE PERSECUTED, (Vere. 6--8.) Ver. 6 ia an apt description of the beggarly vagabond way of life of these Troglodytes, the types of the present Hottentot!! or Bushmen in South Africa: "As wild a.~ses in the desert they go forth in their dai!y work, looking out for booty; the steppe gives them food for their children. On the field they reap the fodder of the cattle, and glean the vineyard of the wicked," thievi6hly not labouring in hie service. Naked, cold, shelterless, exposed to the rain amidst the mountains, they cower for shelter among the rocks (vers. 7, 8). III. FURTHER DESCRIPTIONS OF TYRANNY. (Vers. 9-12.) The orphan is tom from the mother's breast by cruel creditors, who intend lo repay themselves by bringing up the child &S a slave, The property of the poor is seized in pledge ( comp. Amos ii, 8; Micah ii. 9). Then follows another picture of the victims of oppression, not now e.s wanderers of the steppe, but as the wretched denizens of inhabited cities (vers.10-12), In nakedness and hunger, they carry sheaves for the supply of the rich man's table, while they themselves &re starving. And thus the cry of those whose wages have been kept back by fraud goes up to Heaven (Deut. xxv. 4; 1 Tim. v. 18; Jas. v. 4). We have a picture of ancient labour in the olive- and vine-growing East. _While they press the olive or tread the wine-press they suffer cruelly from thirst. The groans of aying men fill the air," and yet. God never speaks a word I" "He heeds not the folly" with which these impious tyrants disregard and trample upon the moral order.-J. Ven;. 18-25.-Pictures of secret and unpu.nished evil-doers. L THE KUBDEREB AND' TBE ADULTERER. (Vera. 18-17.) A class of the wicked different from the foregoing is now placed before us; rebels, revolters a,,,crainst the light, who refuse to know any- thing of the ways of light, and to abide in its paths. 'l'hese are the "children of darkness," so emphatically contrasted in the New Testament with the" children of light " (Rom. riii.. 12 ; Eph. v. 8, etc.; 1 Thess. v. 6). Before the m~ing breaks, the murderer rises, to strike down the poor and needy, and at night be carries on the trade of the thief. The adulterer waits for the dusk, and veils his face (Prov. vii. 9). In the darkness houses a.re broken into by men who have shut themselves up duriug the day-men who have no affinity with the light, as the description repeats (ver.16). To these malefactors the dense darkness is their morning ; for then, when others sleep from daily toil, their vile work and trade begin, " because they know the terrors of the gloomy darkness" (ver. 17), being a.s familiar with them as others are with the bright daytime. 'l'he joyous consciousness, the cheerful spirits of the children of the light, are contrasted with the fear, the anxiety, the incessant terrors of the children of darkness. Conscience, that makes cowards of all, will not suffer the most hardened to escape. "Certain dregs of conscience" will remain even in the most imbruted; the murderer will start at the shadow of a falling leaf. When the light that is within a man bas become darkness, the very blessed day itself is turned to night. In their revolt from God, the eternal Light, they ca.rry about night in thei,r bosom, and all their terrors are present to them in the brightness of the day (Matt. vi. 23; John xi. 10). II. JuDGl!IENT ON THESE EVIL-DOERS; 1TB CERTAINTY. (Vere. 18-21.) They pass away swiftly as upon some gliding flood (eh. ix. 26; Hos. L 7,). His portion in the land being cursed-either by men or by God, or by both-the wicked man no more bends his st.eps to his vineyard and his other beloved possessions. Then-a powerful comparison--as dryness and beat carry away the short snows of winter, so the sinner evaporates as it were into hell (Ps. xlix. 14; xxi. 9). Forgotten by a mother's womb I Deaerted even of the most tenacious affections the human heart can know, worms make a dainty repRSt upon bis flesh. He is like a blasted tree upon the heath, or a felled trunk in the forest (eh. xix. 10; Eccles. xi. 3; Dan. iv. 10). For he was rotten at the core; the heart of kindly affections was eaten away; he had plundered the childless &11d dealt cruelly with the widow. III. Ju.oeKENT, !rBOOGH QEBTAIN, IS DELAYED, (Vers. 22-24.) "God maintains tht tyra.,nt for CL loni t~gie by his power," d,oes µot exeQute judgrqent CLt Qllce (Isa, J:iii. OR, xxtv. 1-25.] THE BOOK OF JOB, 417