4 He is wise H2450 in heart, H3824 and mighty H533 in strength: H3581 who hath hardened H7185 himself against him, and hath prospered? H7999
And at the end H7118 of the days H3118 I H576 Nebuchadnezzar H5020 lifted up H5191 mine eyes H5870 unto heaven, H8065 and mine understanding H4486 returned H8421 unto me, H5922 and I blessed H1289 the most High, H5943 and I praised H7624 and honoured H1922 him that liveth H2417 for ever, H5957 whose dominion H7985 is an everlasting H5957 dominion, H7985 and his kingdom H4437 is from H5974 generation H1859 to generation: H1859 And all H3606 the inhabitants H1753 of the earth H772 are reputed H2804 as nothing: H3809 and he doeth H5648 according to his will H6634 in the army H2429 of heaven, H8065 and among the inhabitants H1753 of the earth: H772 and none H3809 can H383 stay H4223 his hand, H3028 or say H560 unto him, What H4101 doest H5648 thou? At the same time H2166 my reason H4486 returned H8421 unto me; H5922 and for the glory H3367 of my kingdom, H4437 mine honour H1923 and brightness H2122 returned H8421 unto me; H5922 and my counsellors H1907 and my lords H7261 sought H1156 unto me; H5922 and I was established H8627 in my kingdom, H4437 and excellent H3493 majesty H7238 was added H3255 unto me. Now H3705 I H576 Nebuchadnezzar H5020 praise H7624 and extol H7313 and honour H1922 the King H4430 of heaven, H8065 all H3606 whose works H4567 are truth, H7187 and his ways H735 judgment: H1780 and those that walk H1981 in pride H1467 he is able H3202 to abase. H8214
Now G1161 unto him that is able G1410 to keep G5442 you G5209 G846 from falling, G679 and G2532 to present G2476 you faultless G299 before the presence G2714 of his G846 glory G1391 with G1722 exceeding joy, G20 To the only G3441 wise G4680 God G2316 our G2257 Saviour, G4990 be glory G1391 and G2532 majesty, G3172 dominion G2904 and G2532 power, G1849 both G2532 now G3568 and G2532 ever. G1519 G3956 G165 Amen. G281
But when his heart H3825 was lifted up, H7313 and his mind H7308 hardened H8631 in pride, H2103 he was deposed H5182 from H4481 his kingly H4437 throne, H3764 and they took H5709 his glory H3367 from him: H4481 And he was driven H2957 from H4481 the sons H1123 of men; H606 and his heart H3825 was made H7739 like H5974 the beasts, H2423 and his dwelling H4070 was with the wild asses: H6167 they fed H2939 him with grass H6211 like oxen, H8450 and his body H1655 was wet H6647 with the dew H2920 of heaven; H8065 till H5705 he knew H3046 that the most high H5943 God H426 ruled H7990 in the kingdom H4437 of men, H606 and that he appointeth H6966 over H5922 it whomsoever H4479 he will. H6634 And thou H607 his son, H1247 O Belshazzar, H1113 hast not H3809 humbled H8214 thine heart, H3825 though H6903 thou knewest H3046 all H3606 this; H1836 But hast lifted up H7313 thyself against H5922 the Lord H4756 of heaven; H8065 and they have brought H858 the vessels H3984 of his house H1005 before H6925 thee, and thou, H607 and thy lords, H7261 thy wives, H7695 and thy concubines, H3904 have drunk H8355 wine H2562 in them; and thou hast praised H7624 the gods H426 of silver, H3702 and gold, H1722 of brass, H5174 iron, H6523 wood, H636 and stone, H69 which see H2370 not, H3809 nor H3809 hear, H8086 nor H3809 know: H3046 and the God H426 in whose hand H3028 thy breath H5396 is, and whose are all H3606 thy ways, H735 hast thou not H3809 glorified: H1922 Then H116 was the part H6447 of the hand H3028 sent H7972 from H4481 him; H6925 and this H1836 writing H3792 was written. H7560 And this H1836 is the writing H3792 that was written, H7560 MENE, H4484 MENE, H4484 TEKEL, H8625 UPHARSIN. H6537 This H1836 is the interpretation H6591 of the thing: H4406 MENE; H4484 God H426 hath numbered H4483 thy kingdom, H4437 and finished H8000 it. TEKEL; H8625 Thou art weighed H8625 in the balances, H3977 and art found H7912 wanting. H2627 PERES; H6537 Thy kingdom H4437 is divided, H6537 and given H3052 to the Medes H4076 and Persians. H6540 Then H116 commanded H560 Belshazzar, H1113 and they clothed H3848 Daniel H1841 with scarlet, H711 and put a chain H2002 of gold H1722 about H5922 his neck, H6676 and made a proclamation H3745 concerning H5922 him, that he should be H1934 the third H8531 ruler H7990 in the kingdom. H4437 In that night H3916 was Belshazzar H1113 the king H4430 of the Chaldeans H3779 slain. H6992
For I will at this time H6471 send H7971 all my plagues H4046 upon thine heart, H3820 and upon thy servants, H5650 and upon thy people; H5971 that thou mayest know H3045 that there is none like me in all the earth. H776 For now I will stretch out H7971 my hand, H3027 that I may smite H5221 thee and thy people H5971 with pestilence; H1698 and thou shalt be cut off H3582 from the earth. H776 And in very H199 deed H5668 for this cause have I raised thee up, H5975 for to shew H7200 in thee my power; H3581 and that my name H8034 may be declared H5608 throughout all the earth. H776 As yet exaltest H5549 thou thyself against my people, H5971 that thou wilt not let them go? H7971
He wandereth abroad H5074 for bread, H3899 saying, Where is it? he knoweth H3045 that the day H3117 of darkness H2822 is ready H3559 at his hand. H3027 Trouble H6862 and anguish H4691 shall make him afraid; H1204 they shall prevail H8630 against him, as a king H4428 ready H6264 to the battle. H3593 For he stretcheth out H5186 his hand H3027 against God, H410 and strengtheneth H1396 himself against the Almighty. H7706 He runneth H7323 upon him, even on his neck, H6677 upon the thick H5672 bosses H1354 of his bucklers: H4043 Because he covereth H3680 his face H6440 with his fatness, H2459 and maketh H6213 collops of fat H6371 on his flanks. H3689
And I, behold, I will harden H2388 the hearts H3820 of the Egyptians, H4714 and they shall follow H935 them: H310 and I will get me honour H3513 upon Pharaoh, H6547 and upon all his host, H2428 upon his chariots, H7393 and upon his horsemen. H6571 And the Egyptians H4714 shall know H3045 that I am the LORD, H3068 when I have gotten me honour H3513 upon Pharaoh, H6547 upon his chariots, H7393 and upon his horsemen. H6571
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Job 9
Commentary on Job 9 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 9
FIRST SERIES.
Job 9:1-35. Reply of Job to Bildad.
2. I know it is so of a truth—that God does not "pervert justice" (Job 8:3). But (even though I be sure of being in the right) how can a mere man assert his right—(be just) with God. The Gospel answers (Ro 3:26).
3. If he—God
will contend with him—literally, "deign to enter into judgment."
he cannot answer, &c.—He (man) would not dare, even if he had a thousand answers in readiness to one question of God's, to utter one of them, from awe of His Majesty.
4. wise in heart—in understanding!—and mighty in power! God confounds the ablest arguer by His wisdom, and the mightiest by His power.
hardened himself—or his neck (Pr 29:1); that is, defied God. To prosper, one must fall in with God's arrangements of providence and grace.
5. and they know not—Hebrew for "suddenly, unexpectedly, before they are aware of it" (Ps 35:8); "at unawares"; Hebrew, which "he knoweth not of" (Joe 2:14; Pr 5:6).
6. The earth is regarded, poetically, as resting on pillars, which tremble in an earthquake (Ps 75:3; Isa 24:20). The literal truth as to the earth is given (Job 26:7).
7. The sun, at His command, does not rise; namely, in an eclipse, or the darkness that accompanies earthquakes (Job 9:6).
sealeth up the stars—that is, totally covers as one would seal up a room, that its contents may not be seen.
8. spreadeth out—(Isa 40:22; Ps 104:2). But throughout it is not so much God's creating, as His governing, power over nature that is set forth. A storm seems a struggle between Nature and her Lord! Better, therefore, "Who boweth the heavens alone," without help of any other. God descends from the bowed-down heaven to the earth (Ps 18:9). The storm, wherein the clouds descend, suggests this image. In the descent of the vault of heaven, God has come down from His high throne and walks majestically over the mountain waves (Hebrew, "heights"), as a conqueror taming their violence. So "tread upon" (De 33:29; Am 4:13; Mt 14:26). The Egyptian hieroglyphic for impossibility is a man walking on waves.
9. maketh—rather, from the Arabic, "covereth up." This accords better with the context, which describes His boundless power as controller rather than as creator [Umbreit].
Arcturus—the great bear, which always revolves about the pole, and never sets. The Chaldeans and Arabs, early named the stars and grouped them in constellations; often travelling and tending flocks by night, they would naturally do so, especially as the rise and setting of some stars mark the distinction of seasons. Brinkley, presuming the stars here mentioned to be those of Taurus and Scorpio, and that these were the cardinal constellations of spring and autumn in Job's time, calculates, by the precession of equinoxes, the time of Job to be eight hundred eighteen years after the deluge, and one hundred eighty-four before Abraham.
Orion—Hebrew, "the fool"; in Job 38:31 he appears fettered with "bands." The old legend represented this star as a hero, who presumptuously rebelled against God, and was therefore a fool, and was chained in the sky as a punishment; for its rising is at the stormy period of the year. He is Nimrod (the exceedingly impious rebel) among the Assyrians; Orion among the Greeks. Sabaism (worship of the heavenly hosts) and hero-worship were blended in his person. He first subverted the patriarchal order of society by substituting a chieftainship based on conquest (Ge 10:9, 10).
Pleiades—literally, "the heap of stars"; Arabic, "knot of stars." The various names of this constellation in the East express the close union of the stars in it (Am 5:8).
chambers of the south—the unseen regions of the southern hemisphere, with its own set of stars, as distinguished from those just mentioned of the northern. The true structure of the earth is here implied.
10. Repeated from Eliphaz (Job 5:9).
11. I see him not: he passeth on—The image is that of a howling wind (Isa 21:1). Like it when it bursts invisibly upon man, so God is felt in the awful effects of His wrath, but is not seen (Joh 3:8). Therefore, reasons Job, it is impossible to contend with Him.
12. If "He taketh away," as in my case all that was dear to me, still a mortal cannot call Him to account. He only takes His own. He is an absolute King (Ec 8:4; Da 4:35).
13. If God—rather, "God will not withdraw His anger," that is, so long as a mortal obstinately resists [Umbreit].
the proud helpers—The arrogant, who would help one contending with the Almighty, are of no avail against Him.
14. How much less shall I? &c.—who am weak, seeing that the mighty have to stoop before Him. Choose words (use a well-chosen speech, in order to reason) with Him.
15. (Job 10:15). Though I were conscious of no sin, yet I would not dare to say so, but leave it to His judgment and mercy to justify me (1Co 4:4).
16, 17. would I not believe that he had hearkened unto my voice—who breaketh me (as a tree stripped of its leaves) with a tempest.
19. Umbreit takes these as the words of God, translating, "What availeth the might of the strong?" "Here (saith he) behold! what availeth justice? Who will appoint me a time to plead?" (So Jer 49:19). The last words certainly apply better to God than to Job. The sense is substantially the same if we make "me" apply to Job. The "lo!" expresses God's swift readiness for battle when challenged.
20. it—(Job 15:6; Lu 19:22); or "He," God.
21. Literally, here (and in Job 9:20), "I perfect! I should not know my soul! I would despise," [that is], "disown my life"; that is, Though conscious of innocence, I should be compelled, in contending with the infinite God, to ignore my own soul and despise my past life as if it were guilty [Rosenmuller].
22. one thing—"It is all one; whether perfect or wicked—He destroyeth." This was the point Job maintained against his friends, that the righteous and wicked alike are afflicted, and that great sufferings here do not prove great guilt (Lu 13:1-5; Ec 9:2).
23. If—Rather, "While (His) scourge slays suddenly (the wicked, Job 9:22), He laughs at (disregards; not derides) the pining away of the innocent." The only difference, says Job, between the innocent and guilty is, the latter are slain by a sudden stroke, the former pine away gradually. The translation, "trial," does not express the antithesis to "slay suddenly," as "pining away" does [Umbreit].
24. Referring to righteous "judges," in antithesis to "the wicked" in the parallel first clause, whereas the wicked oppressor often has the earth given into his hand, the righteous judges are led to execution—culprits had their faces covered preparatory to execution (Es 7:8). Thus the contrast of the wicked and righteous here answers to that in Job 9:23.
if not, where and who?—If God be not the cause of these anomalies, where is the cause to be found, and who is he?
25. a post—a courier. In the wide Persian empire such couriers, on dromedaries or on foot, were employed to carry the royal commands to the distant provinces (Es 3:13, 15; 8:14). "My days" are not like the slow caravan, but the fleet post. The "days" are themselves poetically said to "see no good," instead of Job in them (1Pe 3:10).
26. swift ships—rather, canoes of reeds or papyrus skiffs, used on the Nile, swift from their lightness (Isa 18:2).
28. The apodosis to Job 9:27—"If I say, &c." "I still am afraid of all my sorrows (returning), for I know that thou wilt (dost) (by removing my sufferings) not hold or declare me innocent. How then can I leave off my heaviness?"
29. The "if" is better omitted; I (am treated by God as) wicked; why then labor I in vain (to disprove His charge)? Job submits, not so much because he is convinced that God is right, as because God is powerful and he weak [Barnes].
30. snow water—thought to be more cleansing than common water, owing to the whiteness of snow (Ps 51:7; Isa 1:18).
never so clean—Better, to answer to the parallelism of the first clause which expresses the cleansing material, "lye:" the Arabs used alkali mixed with oil, as soap (Ps 73:13; Jer 2:22).
32. (Ec 6:10; Isa 45:9).
33. daysman—"mediator," or "umpire"; the imposition of whose hand expresses power to adjudicate between the persons. There might be one on a level with Job, the one party; but Job knew of none on a level with the Almighty, the other party (1Sa 2:25). We Christians know of such a Mediator (not, however, in the sense of umpire) on a level with both—the God-man, Christ Jesus (1Ti 2:5).
34. rod—not here the symbol of punishment, but of power. Job cannot meet God on fair terms so long as God deals with him on the footing of His almighty power.
35. it is not so with me—As it now is, God not taking His rod away, I am not on such a footing of equality as to be able to vindicate myself.