Job would he.ve me.ttel'8 brought to an ieane. Ver. 88.-It my land or, apinat me j ,.e. In def11t1lt of a 'Divine trie.l and sentence, if my land dieolaim my ownership, aa having "Which he cannot expect, it would suffice been acquired by wrong or robbery, It the for him th1tt bis 11rmi~er shonld formally furrow■ likewile thereof oompla.l.D.; or, weeP, draw out his list of cbe.rgoe, nnd present a& having been torn from their rightful him with a copy, and eo give him an oppor- proprietors, 1tnd eeizcd by o. etrauger. The tunity of mnking amwer to it. If this were apodosis is in ver. 40. done, then (be eays)- Ver. 39.-If I have eaten the frnita thereof Ver. 36.-Snrely I would take it upon my without money; i.e. without acquiring a title •boulder-the pince of honour (eee Isa. ix. to them by purchase. Or have oan■ ed the 6; xxii. 22)-and bind it &Ba crown to me; owners thereof to lose their life. Either by i.e. adorn my head with it, ns with ad iadem. actual violence or by depriving them of the Ver. 3i.-I would deolare 'llllto him the means of support (see the comment on oh. number of my steps ; i.e. I would conceal xxix. 13). Job had been accused of robbery nothing. I would willingly dirulge every and oppression both by Zophar (eh. xx. a.et of m, life. I would mnke full and com- 12-19) and Eliphoz (eh. xxii. 5-9). Ho plete 1ttiswer to the indictment in every had not, however, been accused of o.otual p&rticnlnr. Aa a prince would I gb ne&r murder. 11Jlto him. There should be no timi<lity or Ver. 40.-Let thistles grow instead of cringing on my pnrt. I would face my wheat, and oookles inlltead of barley. Then accuser boldly, and bear myself as a prince let me be e.pproprintely punished by finding in hie presence. the land, whereof I have wrongfully become possessed, produce nothing but thistles (or Vere. 38-40.-It ie generally supposed thorus) and noxious weeds, snob oe oockles that these verses, with the exception of the (Authorized Version) or hemlock (Professor last clause of ver. 40, are misplaced. As a Lee). The words of J'ob are ended. This termination, they form an anti-climax, and may be regarded either as Job's own con- clusion of hie long speech, or os o. remark greatly weaken the peroration. Tbeir proper of the author's. On the whole, the former plRCC would seem to be between vera. 32 view is to be preferred. and 33.
HOMILETICS. Vera. 1-40.-.Tob's second pa,rable : 4. .A solemn protestation of innocence. I. WITH BESPECT TO T.EIE LAW OF CHASTITY. (Vers. 1-4.) 1. The wiclr.edness he eschewed, Not alone the crime of seduction, or the actual defilement of virginal innocence, but even the illdulgence of so much as a lascivious desire in connection with an unme.rried female, was an ungodliness which Job regarded with abhorrence and indignation. Job's morality on this point, as also upon some others, is a remarkable anticipi,.tk::i of the Bennon on the mount, which forbids the unchaste look, the unclean imagination, the impure desire, ae well as the lewd and incontinent act (Matt. v. 28). Job's interpreta- tion of the Law of God is like St. Pe.ul's (Rom. vii. 14)-the precepts of the Decalogue covered the entire realm of the inner no less than of the outer life. 2. Tl1e rule he observed. That he might the better guard against the uprise within his heart of any prurient desire or lustful imagination, Job "made a covenant with his eyes," as their lord and master prescribed for them a law that they should not" fixedly gaz~ upon a maiden." Considering how much of evil enters by the eye (e.g. the cases of Eve, Gen. iii. 6; of the wife of Lot, Gen. xix. 26; of Achan, Josh. vii. 21), the wisdom of Job's resolution cannot be questioned. In particular the eye has often proved itself" the inlet of lust" (Robinson), or, according to a Talmudic proverb, "the procuress of sin;" as, for instance, it did with Judah (Gen. xxxviii 6), Samson (Judg. xvi. 1), David (2 Sam. xi. 1-6), Amnon (2 Sam. xiii. 1-20). Few things are more dangerous to an unprincipled, or indeed II principled, mind, than the too ardent contemplation of female beauty, which, besides being a deceitful vanity in itself (Prov. uxi. 30), is prone to inflame the heart with unlawful passions. Hence the propriety of the royal pre:i.cher's counsel (Prov, vi. 25), the Hebrew pialmist's prayer (Ps. cxi.x. 37), and the Divine Saviour's warning (M.att. :r.viii. 9). 3. The 11wti1Jes he possessed. In thus hoLitually exercising self- restraint, Job wa.e actuated bJ two considerations, (1) Fear of the Divine power, "It ww; no fear of man, no dread of temporal consequences, no respect for public order and well-being, 110 pure and statdy self-respect even, which made and kept him pure'' OIi, XXXI, 1-40,] THE BOOK OF JOB. 605