solid m1Lss, reeombling a. oonc1we mirror of 18-22; xxii. 3-7, eto.). But the wind met1Ll. The tmnsl1Ltion, "looking-glosR," is paueth, and oleanseth them; rathPr when wrong, both here 1Lnd in Exod. xxxviii. 8, the winrl pas Reth and cleareth the,,;.; i. e. eiuee glllSs WILS not usecl for mirrors until when, the wiud having swept nway the the period of the early Romon empire. 'fhe clnurle e.nd clee.red the sky, the sun shines cru-lier mirrors were of poJ.iehed metal (see forth in e.11 its splendour. Smith's·, Diet. of Antiquities,' vol. iii. pp. Ver. 22.-Fair wea.ther cometh out of the 1052, 1212), north; literally, out of the nm-th ~ometh gnl,J,. Ve1-. 19.-Teaoh ue what we shall say The bearing of this is very obecure, whether unto him. Elihu indulges in irony. If we suppose 1Lctnal gold to be meant, or the thou nrt so wise !LS thou pretendeet to be, golden splendours of tho sun, or auy otber then he pleased to "teach us." Woe.cknow- bright re.die.nee. No commentator has hit ledge our ignorance-we oannot order our on e. satisfactory explane.tion. With God is speech by reason of darkness, Enlighten terrible majesty. Ti.is is sufficiently plain, us, if thou 011.nst. e.nd it is the point whereto e.11 Elih u's later Ver. 20.-Shall it be told him that I e.rgument has been direcled (see eh. xxxvi. apeak1 r1Lther, that I would speal, (comp. 22-33; xxxvii. 1-18). God's majesty is oh. xxxi. 35). Job had expressed the wish so gree.t that men can only tremble before that God would " hear him, ILnd answer him. him." Elihu, intending to rebuke this pre- Ver. 23.-Touching the Almighty, we sumption, yet shrinking from doing 80 oannot find him out. This is the "conclu- directly, puts himself in Job's place, and sion of the whole matter." God is inscrut- asks, "Would it be fitting that I should e.ble, e.nd mlLn must hirle his face before him, demand to spee.k with God?" If not, it 1Lnd not presume to judge him. He is also cannot be fitting th1Lt Job should do 80. If excellent in power, and in judgment, and in a man speak, surely he shall be swallowed plenty of justioe. His moral perfection is up. 'fhis is prob1Lbly the true meaning, on e. par with his might a.nd majesty. He though e.nother he.a been suggested by some will not afflict; rather, he will not answer; comwent1Ltors, who prefer to render, "Or i.e. he will not e.ccount to men for his doings, sllould a man wish that he were destroyed?" or condescend to justify himself in theiz (So Ewe.Id, Dillmann, Canon Cook, e.nd our eyes. His acts cannot but be righteous. Revisers.) If we adopt this rendering, we Ver. 24.-Men do therefore fear him; or, must understand Elihu as e.ppending to his let men therefore fear him. Let them see in first rebuke e. second, levelled age.inst Job's his unsearchableness, his almighty power, desire to he.ve his life ended. his 1Lbsolute more.I perfection, and his supe- Ver. 21.-And now men see not the bright riority to e.11 human questioning, ample light whioh is in the clouds; re.ther, and grounds for the profoundest reverence o.nd oow men canoot behold the light which is fear. And let them remember that he re- bright in the skies. Now, i.e., here in this specteth not e.ny that a.re wise of heart. world, men cannot look straight at the sun, However " wise of heart " men me.y be, since he dazzles• them. How much less, God does not "respect" them, at any rate then, would they be able to face God on bis to the extent of submitting his conduct to throne in heaven I Yet this is wha.t Job their judgment, and 1Lnswering their ques- had proposed to do (eh. ix. 32-35; xiii. tionings (see ver. 20).
HOMILETICS. Vere. 1-24.-Elihu to Job: 5. The wonderful works of God. I. WONDERFUL m BEBPEOT OF TBEm VARIETY. Be~inniag with the thunderstorm (ver. 2), with its quickly spread!ng clouds (eh. xxxvi. 29), its sharp, gleaming bolts (ver. 3), its crashing Rnd reverberating peals (ver. 4), Elihu passes on to descant upon other natural pheno- mena-such as the falling of the snow and the rain upon the earth ( ver. 6) ; the sweep• ing of the whirlwind, or hot simoom, from the remote regions of the southern desert, alternately with the rushing of the cold blasts from "the scatterers," or nortli winds (ver. 9); the congelation of the water-drops by the breath of winter, and the straitening of the rivers by thick blocks of ice (ver. 10); the replenishing of the emptied rain- cloud with fresh loads of wa.ter, o.nd the distribution far and wide of the cloud of his light, i.e. of the cloud that is pregnant with lightning (ver. 11). And yet such pheno- mena are only an infinitesimally small portion of that endless variety which Nature in her movements and manifest1Ltioas affords. This variety, too, besides being an eminent enhancement of nature's beauty, contributes in a high degree to nature's usefulness, and is 11, testimony by no means unimportant in favour of nature having been the 600 'l'llE IlOOK OF JOB. [ell. XXXVII, 1-24