The Pulpit Commentary — Job — Section 638

elabonlte deBCriptlom of oh. nxvili. a&,...¼l; Gardner WilkinBOn iBformed me that he :um. 1--..'IO; and :s:l. 15-24. had known some tnme ones at Oa\ro. The Mesopotamian Arabs domesticate fe.lcoua Ver. 1.--0IUllt thou dl'&w oat levia~an to assist them in the chase of the buste.rd with an hook 1 The word le!,ia,thaft, or more and. the gazelle (Ll\yard, •.'Nineveh and properly lil1gl0llaon, which hu previously Babylon,' pp. 481-i83). And this usage, occurred in oh. iii. 8, an,! is found also in though not represented on the Assyrian Ps. l..xxiv. 14; oi~. 26; and Isa. xxvii.:I, seems monuments, is likely to have been anoient. to be derived from •1~," twisting," and in, "a Or wilt thou bind him for thy maiden, I i.e. Wilt thou so secure him thnt he me.y be de- monster," whence the J'31'l or C•31'\ of the livered ovn to thy handmaidens, to be made Pentnteuch and also of Job (eh. vii. 12), their pet and playfellow? Jeremiah (ix. 11), Md Ezekiel (xxix. 3). Ver. 6.-She.ll the oompani.ons 111a~e a It is thus a del!Ol'iptive epilhet rather than banquet of him I rather, Shall the companion, a name, and has not unnaturally been used malre a traffeo of him f By" the companions" to designate more than one l.."ind of nnimal. we may understand either the guilds or com- The best modern critics regard it ae ap.plied panies of fishermen, which might be regarded sometime!! to a python or large serpent, e.e enge.ged in me.king the capture, or the eornetimee to a eetac,enn. a whe.le or grRm- tre.velling bands of merchants, who might be pue. and sometime~. as here, to the crocodile. eupposed. willing to purchase him e.nd carry Thie last 11.pplioation is now almost uni- him e.way. As no one of these last could V0lll&lly accep~. The crocodile waa fished be imagined rich enongh to make the.pur• for by the Egyptian11 with a -hook, and in chase e.lone, a further· question is e.eked, the time of Herodotus was frequently caught Shall they part him among the merchants 1 and killed (Herod., ii. 70); but prob11.bly in i.e. allow a number to club together, each Job's day no one had been so venturoue as taking e. share. . , .: to attack him. Or his tongue with a oord Ver. 7.-Canst thou fill hie skin with whieh thou lettest down! rather, or press barbed irollB 1 The hippopotamus was doum hie toogue 'ID'ith a cord f ( see the captured in this way by the Egyptians at Revised Venion) ; i.e. " tie e. rope round his e.u ee.rly date, and hence the idea. of trying lower jaw, and so •press down his t.ongue." the same mode of captnre with the crocodile Many savage anima.ls are represented in the would naturally arise; but in the time of Assyrian sculptures as led &long by a rope Job it would seem that no one had been bold attached to their mouths. enough to attempt it. The skin of the Ver. 2.--C&D.61; thou put an heok into hie erooodile is penetrable in very few places, n - ! rather, a reed, or a rope of ruds. e.nd hie captnre by a single man with a The exact meaning is doubtful. Or bore harpoon, though now sometimes practised his jaw through with a thom 1 A hook or (Wilkinson, in the author's' Herodotus,; vol. ring is meant, rather than a "thorn "-such ii. p. 99), is still a work . of danger, ~nd a "hook" or " ring" as was commonly used difficulty. Or hie head with fleh-spee.?11 for keeping fish captive in the water, or for Fish:epee.rs would have small e_ffeot on the bringing prisoners of re.nk into the presence head bf e. crocodile, which is bony and of the monarchs who had ce.ptnred them covered by •a very tough •skin. • There· ie (see 2 Kings m. 28; 2 Chron. x:.xxiiL 11 ; a vulnerab1e place, however, at the point Amos iv. 2; 'Ancient Monarchies,' voL L where the head joins the spine, at which pp. 304, 367). the ancient Egyptians, when they ventured Ver. 8.-Will he ma.kl! ma.uy 11upplioa.tiou to attack the crocodile, were wont to -stiike l1l1.to thee l will he speak soft words 11.Ilto. (see the author's 'History of Ancient thee 1 Ironical. Will be behave as human Egypt,' vol L p. 545). captives do, when they wish to curry favour Ver. 8.-Lay tJLi.n,e hand upon him, re- with their l'e.ptorB? member the battle, •do no more. This iH Ver. 4.-Will he make a .ooveDILllt wita .again ironical, like vers. ~ - " Only ju2t thee 1 ~ captive mOD&?Che do. Wilt thou pnt forth thy hand against him-bethink take him as a servant for ever! ( comp. Exod. thee of wea----<lo it once and no. more." x:xL 6; Dent. xv. 17). (comp. Roeenmiiller, 'Scholia in J11bum,' Ver. 5.-'Wilt thou play with bim as with p. 976). The ·idea. is that once' will be a bird 1 Tile Egyptians were especially enongh. A man will not live to do it n fond of pet anime.ls, and Job's countrymen, second time. it me.y be e.asumed., were the same. Besides_ Yer. 9.-Behold, the hope of him is in <lugs, we find tht Egyptians keeping tame vain ; i.e. the hope of capturing or killing an'8lopes, Jeops.r~. 11.lld monkeys. A tame him. Sh&ll JlOt one b11 out .down even at l'J'ocodilc, wonld c~t.unly seem to be an the sight of him 1 The very eight of the extraordinary pet, but Herodotus ee.ys that se.vAl,gll and invulnerable a)!in;rn.l is e11Dugh the EgyptiaDa tame,! t.hem ~ii. ~), l.lld Sir to make e. man fe.11 to the ground. with fee.r.  "U, XLI, 1:-34.] THE BOOK OF JOB. 656