3 Is it good for Thee that Thou dost oppress? That Thou despisest the labour of Thy hands, And on the counsel of the wicked hast shone?
And now, O Jehovah, thou `art' our Father, We `are' the clay, and Thou our Framer, And the work of Thy hand -- all of us.
Jehovah doth perfect for me, O Jehovah, Thy kindness `is' to the age, The works of Thy hands let not fall!
Is the striver with the Mighty instructed? The reprover of God, let him answer it.
so that also those suffering according to the will of god, as to a stedfast Creator, let them commit their own souls in good doing.
Me He hath led, and causeth to go `in' darkness, and without light. Surely against me He turneth back, He turneth His hand all the day. He hath worn out my flesh and my skin. He hath broken my bones. He hath built up against me, And setteth round poverty and weariness. In dark places He hath caused me to dwell, As the dead of old. He hath hedged me about, and I go not out, He hath made heavy my fetter. Also when I call and cry out, He hath shut out my prayer. He hath hedged my ways with hewn work, My paths He hath made crooked. A bear lying in wait He `is' to me, A lion in secret hiding-places. My ways He is turning aside, and He pulleth me in pieces, He hath made me a desolation. He hath trodden His bow, And setteth me up as a mark for an arrow. He hath caused to enter into my reins The sons of His quiver. I have been a derision to all my people, Their song all the day. He hath filled me with bitter things, He hath filled me `with' wormwood. And He breaketh with gravel my teeth, He hath covered me with ashes. And Thou castest off from peace my soul, I have forgotten prosperity. And I say, Perished hath my strength and my hope from Jehovah.
Righteous `art' Thou, O Jehovah, When I plead towards thee, Only, judgments do I speak with Thee, Wherefore did the way of the wicked prosper? At rest have been all treacherous dealers. Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken root, They go on, yea, they have made fruit, Near `art' Thou in their mouth, And far off from their reins. And Thou, O Jehovah, Thou hast known me, Thou seest me, and hast tried my heart with Thee, Draw them away as sheep to slaughter, And separate them for a day of slaughter.
For Jehovah hearkeneth unto the needy, And His bound ones He hath not despised.
Lo, God doth not reject the perfect, Nor taketh hold on the hand of evil doers.
And the judgment of the wicked thou hast fulfilled, Judgment and justice are upheld -- because of fury, Lest He move thee with a stroke, And the abundance of an atonement turn thee not aside.
He withdraweth not from the righteous His eyes, And `from' kings on the throne, And causeth them to sit for ever, and they are high, And if prisoners in fetters They are captured with cords of affliction, Then He declareth to them their work, And their transgressions, Because they have become mighty,
Who hath said to a king -- `Worthless,' Unto princes -- `Wicked?' That hath not accepted the person of princes, Nor hath known the rich before the poor, For a work of His hands `are' all of them.
For Job hath said, `I have been righteous, And God hath turned aside my right, Against my right do I lie? Mortal `is' mine arrow -- without transgression.' Who `is' a man like Job? He drinketh scoffing like water,
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Job 10
Commentary on Job 10 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 10
Job 10:1-22. Job's Reply to Bildad Continued.
1. leave my complaint upon myself—rather, "I will give loose to my complaint" (Job 7:11).
2. show me, &c.—Do not, by virtue of Thy mere sovereignty, treat me as guilty without showing me the reasons.
3. Job is unwilling to think God can have pleasure in using His power to "oppress" the weak, and to treat man, the work of His own hands, as of no value (Job 10:8; Ps 138:8).
shine upon—favor with prosperity (Ps 50:2).
4-6. Dost Thou see as feebly as man? that is, with the same uncharitable eye, as, for instance, Job's friends? Is Thy time as short? Impossible! Yet one might think, from the rapid succession of Thy strokes, that Thou hadst no time to spare in overwhelming me.
7. "Although Thou (the Omniscient) knowest," &c. (connected with Job 10:6), "Thou searchest after my sin."
and … that none that can deliver out of thine hand—Therefore Thou hast no need to deal with me with the rapid violence which man would use (see Job 10:6).
8. Made—with pains; implying a work of difficulty and art; applying to God language applicable only to man.
together round about—implying that the human body is a complete unity, the parts of which on all sides will bear the closest scrutiny.
9. clay—Job 10:10 proves that the reference here is, not so much to the perishable nature of the materials, as to their wonderful fashioning by the divine potter.
10. In the organization of the body from its rude commencements, the original liquid gradually assumes a more solid consistency, like milk curdling into cheese (Ps 139:15, 16). Science reveals that the chyle circulated by the lacteal vessels is the supply to every organ.
11. fenced—or "inlaid" (Ps 139:15); "curiously wrought" [Umbreit]. In the fœtus the skin appears first, then the flesh, then the harder parts.
12. visitation—Thy watchful Providence.
spirit—breath.
13. is with thee—was Thy purpose. All God's dealings with Job in his creation, preservation, and present afflictions were part of His secret counsel (Ps 139:16; Ac 15:18; Ec 3:11).
14, 15. Job is perplexed because God "marks" every sin of his with such ceaseless rigor. Whether "wicked" (godless and a hypocrite) or "righteous" (comparatively sincere), God condemns and punishes alike.
15. lift up my head—in conscious innocence (Ps 3:3).
see thou—rather, "and seeing I see (I too well see) mine affliction," (which seems to prove me guilty) [Umbreit].
16. increaseth—rather, "(if) I lift up (my head) Thou wouldest hunt me," &c. [Umbreit].
and again—as if a lion should not kill his prey at once, but come back and torture it again.
17. witnesses—His accumulated trials were like a succession of witnesses brought up in proof of his guilt, to wear out the accused.
changes and war—rather, "(thou settest in array) against me host after host" (literally, "changes and a host," that is, a succession of hosts); namely, his afflictions, and then reproach upon reproach from his friends.
20. But, since I was destined from my birth to these ills, at least give me a little breathing time during the few days left me (Job 9:34; 13:21; Ps 39:13).
22. The ideas of order and light, disorder and darkness, harmonize (Ge 1:2). Three Hebrew words are used for darkness; in Job 10:21 (1) the common word "darkness"; here (2) "a land of gloom" (from a Hebrew root, "to cover up"); (3) as "thick darkness" or blackness (from a root, expressing sunset). "Where the light thereof is like blackness." Its only sunshine is thick darkness. A bold figure of poetry. Job in a better frame has brighter thoughts of the unseen world. But his views at best wanted the definite clearness of the Christian's. Compare with his words here Re 21:23; 22:5; 2Ti 1:10.