The Pulpit Commentary — Job — Section 523

in tbie t1ile1Jt teBCbing of hie. Mall witnte By theae interpnsitiona God mity evr,n l!Bve l!Omething more etttrtling, more seneationttl. a m&n from utter ruin, when, but for them, In our Lord's time, the ,Tews deme.nded "e. he would he.ve rushed upon it. He me.y @ign "-" e. sign from b011ven;" but no sign caul!8 a person to give up designs or enter- of the kind wes given them. Job now did prises whioh would have brought him into not undel"l!tand tbe.t God, whom he ea.lied d&nger, ond perhaps led to his being slain upon to a.newer him (ob. x. 2; xiii. 22; with the sword. ::udii. 5, etc.), we.s alrendy speaking to him Ver. 19.-He ii chastened e.lso with pain in ve.rious we.ys-by his judgments, by 11.pon his bed. God e.lso spee.ks to men, thoughts snggested inwardly to his heart, secretly and silently, in another way, viz. bv the dreams end visions whereof he com- through cbe.stieements. He afflicts the piained ( eh. vii. 14). strong me.n with a grievous sickness, co.uses Ver. 15.-ln a dream, in a vision of the him to t&ke to his bed, re.eke bim with pa.in night. So God spoke to Abimelech (Gen. there, e.nd wrings the multitude of his bones xx. 8---7), to Jacob (Gen. xxxi. 11 ), to Laban with strong pain. But here a.gain bis pur- (Gen. xxxi. 24), to Joseph (Gen. xxxviii. 5, pose is kind and loving. 9). to tlie Phlll'aoh whom JosEph served Ver. 20.-So that his life abhorreth bree.d1 (Gen. xli. 1-7), to Solomon (1 Kings iii. and his soul dainty meat. Eating and 5), to De.niel (Dan. ii. 19), to Nebuchad- drinking a.re detestable to the me.n who is nezzar (Dan. ii. 28; iv. 5-18), and to many stretched on e. bed of sickness (comp. Ps. others. SomPtimes men recognized such cvii. 18, "Their soul abhorreth e.11 manner visions aB Di·dne communicntions; but of meat; e.nd they draw near unto the go.tee 110metimes, probably quite e.s often, they re- of death "). The chains that bind to earth garded them ns mere dreams, fancies, phe.n- fe.11 off, and the soul is left open to loftier tasies, unworthy of any attention. Elihu infi uences. seems to hold that Divine Tisions co.me only Ver. 21.-Bis 11.eeh is consumed e.we.y, when deep Bleep falleth upon men; and that it oannot be seen; litere.lly, from the similarly Eliphe.z, in eh. iv. 13. This Bight; but the Authorized Ve1·sion gives method of revelation seems to belong espe- probably the correct meaning. And his cie.lly to the more primitive times, and the bones thet were not seen stiok out. These earlier stages of God's dealings with men. lll'e general features of e. we.sting illness In the New Testament dreams scarcely form (comp. Ps. xxii. 17, "I may toll all my any part of the economy of gmce. In. &lum- boaes "). Such illness gives the sufferer bering& upon the bed. A pleonaetic addition, time to review thoroughly bis life and con• which must not be regarded as diminishing duct, and see to it "if there be e.ny we.y of from the force of the precedent cle.use. wickedness in him," or e.ny partioule.r form Ver. 16.-Then he open.eth the ears of of sin to which be is tempted. men, and -1eth their inltruotion. At such Ver. 22.-Yea, his soul dre.weth near unto times, Elihn holds, God gives men spiritna.l the grave, and his life to the destroyers. wisdom, inetrncts them, me.kes tbem under- " The destroyers " a.re probe.bly the angels stand his dealings with them and bis pur- to whom the task is e.ssigned of ultimn.tely poses with respect to them. If Job is per- infilcting dee.tb, if minor chastisements plexed concerning the Almighty's ways with prove insufficient (comp. 2 Sam. xxiv. 16, himself, e.nd desires expl.ane.tions, let him 17 ; Ps. J..u.viii 49, etc.). have his ear open to the Divine tee.ching on Ver. 23.-lf there be a messenger with such ocowrions, and seriously lay it to bee.rt. him; re.ther, an angel (see the Revised Ver- Be will thus, it may be, find his perplexity aion). It is generally supposed that "the diminished. e.ngel of the covenant" is meant, e.nd thot Ver. 17.-That he (i.e. God) may with- the whole passage is Messianic; but much clmw ma.n from his purpose; literally, from obscurity he.nga over it. The Jews cer- hu tcork, e.ssnmed to be a wrongful work. tainly understand it Messianically, since Elilm regards the Divine tet.cbing through they read it on the great De.y of Atone- visions~ inrended to elevate and purify men. ment, and use in their liturgies the prayer, Sometimes God so ~orks upon them as to "Raise up for ns the righteous Interpreter; make them abandon an evil course on which se.y, I hn.ve found e. re.nsom." Elihu's they had entered. Sometimes his object is knowledge of an Interpreter, or Mediator, to san, them from indulgence in an evil one among a thouand, who should deliver temper into which, without bis help, they the afflicted man from going down to the might have fallen. In this latter case he pit, and find a rensom for him (ver. 24), is mlly oocuionally hide pride from man. certainly very surprising; and we can Elihu, perhaps, thinks that Job is unduly scarcely imagine that he understood the proud of his integrity. full force of his words; but it cannot be Ver. 18.-Jle keepeth baok his soul from the right to dennde them of their natural signi- Jit, and his life from periahing by the nvord. fication. Elihu certainly did not mean to  os. xxxnr. 1-33,) THE BOO:K OF JOB. 537