The Pulpit Commentary — Job — Section 595

llhakeu 011.t of 111 The idea -m• to be Ver.18.--llut thou c,eroei1'ed the breadth thRI the dawn, BUddenly npp~Rring, seizes of the earth 1 literally, tlae breadths; i.e. the ht•ltl or all the ende of the Ml'th "at one dimen8ions generally.. The eaiaot dimen- ru•h " (Canon Cook), and lights up the sions areprob11blynot even yet known. Job whole tel'?el!trie.l re~on. Tho wicked, lovers oan sC&NJely h11ve had any conoepLion of of darknes,,, are ta.ken by surprise, and re- them. To him the earth WIIS prob11bly a cei ve a shock from which they recover with vast plain, extended, he kuew not how far, difficulty (comp. eh. uiv. 16, 17). That in e.11 directions. Deolare if thou lmoweat thcv are "shaken from the earth" must be it all (comp. vers. 4, 5, and 21). reg~rded e.e Oriental hyperbole. Ver. 19.-Where is the way where light Yer. 14.-It ii turned e.e olay to the 1eal; dwelleth 9 or, Whioh i, t1ui toay to the dweU- rather, ii change. a,; the cl.ay of a $eal. The ing-plnce of light f Where, i.e., does light seals of the Bllbylouie.ns, ABSyrillns, llnd dwell ? Wha,t is its origin11l and true home? others were oommonly impressed upon olay, Light is e. thing quite di•tinot from the a.nd not upon wax (LRye.rd, • Nineveh a.nd sun and moon and pla,nets (Gen. i. 8, 16). Babylon,' pp. 153-156). As the seal Where and wha,t is it? Dost thou know changed the ole.y from a dull, shapeless lump the way to its dwelling-pla,ce? If not, why, to e. figured surface, so the coming of the once more, dost thou pretend to searoh out de.wn changes the earth from A.II. indistinct the deep things of God? And 11S for dark- maBS to one diversified with form and oolour. neu, where is theplaoe thereof1 Darkness, As 111. Renan explains, w L'aurore fa.it sur la. too, light's antithesis, must not th11t have tene l'effet d'un soee.u sur la terre sigillee, • home-a "place" of abode, 11s Job him- en donnant de la forme, et du relief, a la self had postulated, when he spoke of "a surface de l'anivers, qui pendant la nuit est la.nd of darknesa and the shlldow of death, oomme un chaos indistinot." And they a land of darkneHs as darkness itself . . . ata.nd u a garmant; rather, and things stand where the light is as darkness" ( oh. x. out as a g~rmen.t, or as on a garment-a 21, 22)? If so, can Job point out the richly embroidered dress is intended, on looa.lity? whicL the pattern stands out in relief. Ver. 2().-That thou shouldest take it to Ver. 15.-A.nd from the wick&d their light the bound thereof. Can Job " take". light is withholden. Then, when the dawn bursts and darkness, e.nd lead ti,em to their proper forth, "from the wicked, their light"- places, and make them observe their proper which if, darkness (eh. :=iv. 13-17)-"is "hounds," as God can (Gen. i. 4)? And withholden," and the consequence is that that thou ahouldest lmow the paths to the the high arm-the e.rm that is proud and house thereof (comp. ver. 19). lifted up-&hall be broken. Detection and Ver. 21.-Xnowest thou it, because thou pllllishment fall upon the wicked doers who wut then born l The irony that has under- e.re surprised by the daylight. lain the whole address comes here to the Yer. 16.-:e:ut thou entered into the surface, and shows itself p11lpably. Job, of springs of the - t The emphasis is on course. is as old as the Almighty, or, at any t;be word •· springs," which means sources, rate, coeva,l with creation; otherwise he origin, OJ" deepest depths (see the SeptU&- oould not presume to take the tone which gint, which Las -rnryli, and the Vulgate, he has taken, and e.rre.ign the moral govern- which has profunda). Canst thon go to the ment of the Creator. Or because the number bottDm of auythiDg, explore itd secrets, ex- of thy day& is great 1 Compare the se.rce.sm plain its cause and origin ? Or hut thou of Eliphaz (eh. xv. 7). w&l.lr.sd in the search (rather, the deep pT,a,cu) Ver. l!2.-Hast thou entered into the of the depth l Art thou uot o.s ignorant as treasures of the mow 1 The "treasures of other men of all these remote and secret the snow" 11re the storehouses, wherein the thir;gs? Phy£ical science is now attempting snow is, poetically, supposed to be le.id up. tht material exploration of the ocean-depths, Vast accumulations of suow e.ctue.lly exist but "deep-sea dredgings" bring us no in various portions of the earth's surface, nearer to the origin, cause, or mode of but the fresh snow that falls is not taken creation of the great watery Ill.8.88. from these treasuries, but newly gener11ted Ver. 17.-Have the gate& of death been by the orystalliza.tion of floo.ting vapours in open.eel nnto thee l By "the gates of death," the atmosphere. Or ha.at thou ■een the Shteol, the abode of the dead, seems to be trea1ures of the hail 1 This expression is to intended (comp. eh. x. 21, 22; xvii. 16). be exple.ined similarly, as poetical. H11il is He.a Job explored this region, e.nd penetrated 1.towhere kept in store. rt is generated by its eecrets? Or is it e.s unknown to him as the pe.sae.ge of rain-drops through e. layer of to tbe rest of ma.nkind? The second hemi• freezing air. stich-Or hut thou llben the doon of the Ver. 23.-Wbioh I have reaerved agalnat llha.dow of death l-is a mere eoho of the first, the time of trouble. Hail is reckoned p.dding 110 new ide&. throughout Scripture u one of the minillters OH, Jl.llVIll, 1-41.] THE BOOK OF ,JOB. 611