6 Is not thy reverence thy confidence? Thy hope -- the perfection of thy ways?
For Jehovah is at thy side, And He hath kept thy foot from capture.
A man there hath been in the land of Uz -- Job his name -- and that man hath been perfect and upright -- both fearing God, and turning aside from evil.
And Jehovah saith unto the Adversary, `Hast thou set thy heart against My servant Job because there is none like him in the land, a man perfect and upright, fearing God, and turning aside from evil?' And the Adversary answereth Jehovah and saith, `For nought is Job fearing God? Hast not Thou made a hedge for him, and for his house, and for all that he hath -- round about?
Lo, He doth slay me -- I wait not! Only, my ways unto His face I argue.
And where `is' now my hope? Yea, my hope, who doth behold it?
On His step hath my foot laid hold, His way I have kept, and turn not aside, The command of His lips, and I depart not. Above my allotted portion I have laid up The sayings of His mouth.
For I deliver the afflicted who is crying, And the fatherless who hath no helper. The blessing of the perishing cometh on me, And the heart of the widow I cause to sing. Righteousness I have put on, and it clotheth me, As a robe and a diadem my justice. Eyes I have been to the blind, And feet to the lame `am' I. A father I `am' to the needy, And the cause I have not known I search out. And I break the jaw-teeth of the perverse, And from his teeth I cast away prey.
A covenant I made for mine eyes, And what -- do I attend to a virgin? And what `is' the portion of God from above? And the inheritance of the Mighty from the heights? Is not calamity to the perverse? And strangeness to workers of iniquity? Doth not He see my ways, And all my steps number? If I have walked with vanity, And my foot doth hasten to deceit, He doth weigh me in righteous balances, And God doth know my integrity. If my step doth turn aside from the way, And after mine eyes hath my heart gone, And to my hands cleaved hath blemish, Let me sow -- and another eat, And my products let be rooted out. If my heart hath been enticed by woman, And by the opening of my neighbour I laid wait, Grind to another let my wife, And over her let others bend. For it `is' a wicked thing, and a judicial iniquity; For a fire it `is', to destruction it consumeth, And among all mine increase doth take root, If I despise the cause of my man-servant, And of my handmaid, In their contending with me, Then what do I do when God ariseth? And when He doth inspect, What do I answer Him? Did not He that made me in the womb make him? Yea, prepare us in the womb doth One. If I withhold from pleasure the poor, And the eyes of the widow do consume, And I do eat my morsel by myself, And the orphan hath not eat of it, (But from my youth He grew up with me as `with' a father, And from the belly of my mother I am led.) If I see `any' perishing without clothing, And there is no covering to the needy, If his loins have not blessed me, And from the fleece of my sheep He doth not warm himself, If I have waved at the fatherless my hand, When I see in `him' the gate of my court, My shoulder from its blade let fall, And mine arm from the bone be broken. For a dread unto me `is' calamity `from' God, And because of His excellency I am not able. If I have made gold my confidence, And to the pure gold have said, `My trust,' If I rejoice because great `is' my wealth, And because abundance hath my hand found, If I see the light when it shineth, And the precious moon walking, And my heart is enticed in secret, And my hand doth kiss my mouth, It also `is' a judicial iniquity, For I had lied to God above. If I rejoice at the ruin of my hater, And stirred up myself when evil found him, Yea, I have not suffered my mouth to sin, To ask with an oath his life. If not -- say ye, O men of my tent, `O that we had of his flesh, we are not satisfied.' In the street doth not lodge a stranger, My doors to the traveller I open. If I have covered as Adam my transgressions, To hide in my bosom mine iniquity, Because I fear a great multitude, And the contempt of families doth affright me, Then I am silent, I go not out of the opening. Who giveth to me a hearing? lo, my mark. The Mighty One doth answer me, And a bill hath mine adversary written. If not -- on my shoulder I take it up, I bind it a crown on myself. The number of my steps I tell Him, As a leader I approach Him. If against me my land doth cry out, And together its furrows weep, If its strength I consumed without money, And the life of its possessors, I have caused to breathe out, Instead of wheat let a thorn go forth, And instead of barley a useless weed! The words of Job are finished.
Wherefore having girded up the loins of your mind, being sober, hope perfectly upon the grace that is being brought to you in the revelation of Jesus Christ,
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Job 4
Commentary on Job 4 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 4
Job 4:1-21. First Speech of Eliphaz.
1. Eliphaz—the mildest of Job's three accusers. The greatness of Job's calamities, his complaints against God, and the opinion that calamities are proofs of guilt, led the three to doubt Job's integrity.
2. If we assay to commune—Rather, two questions, "May we attempt a word with thee? Wilt thou be grieved at it?" Even pious friends often count that only a touch which we feel as a wound.
3. weak hands—Isa 35:3; 2Sa 4:1.
5. thou art troubled—rather, "unhinged," hast lost thy self-command (1Th 3:3).
6. Is not this thy fear, thy confidence, &c.—Does thy fear, thy confidence, come to nothing? Does it come only to this, that thou faintest now? Rather, by transposition, "Is not thy fear (of God) thy hope? and the uprightness of thy ways thy confidence? If so, bethink thee, who ever perished being innocent?" [Umbreit]. But Lu 13:2, 3 shows that, though there is a retributive divine government even in this life, yet we cannot judge by the mere outward appearance. "One event is outwardly to the righteous and to the wicked" (Ec 9:2); but yet we must take it on trust, that God deals righteously even now (Ps 37:25; Isa 33:16). Judge not by a part, but by the whole of a godly man's life, and by his end, even here (Jas 5:11). The one and the same outward event is altogether a different thing in its inward bearings on the godly and on the ungodly even here. Even prosperity, much more calamity, is a punishment to the wicked (Pr 1:32). Trials are chastisements for their good (to the righteous) (Ps 119:67, 71, 75). See Preface on the Design of this book (see Introduction).
8. they that plough iniquity … reap the same—(Pr 22:8; Ho 8:7; 10:13; Ga 6:7, 8).
9. breath of his nostrils—God's anger; a figure from the fiery winds of the East (Job 1:16; Isa 5:25; Ps 18:8, 15).
10, 11. lion—that is, wicked men, upon whom Eliphaz wished to show that calamities come in spite of their various resources, just as destruction comes on the lion in spite of his strength (Ps 58:6; 2Ti 4:17). Five different Hebrew terms here occur for "lion." The raging of the lion (the tearer), and the roaring of the bellowing lion and the teeth of the young lions, not whelps, but grown up enough to hunt for prey. The strong lion, the whelps of the lioness (not the stout lion, as in English Version) [Barnes and Umbreit]. The various phases of wickedness are expressed by this variety of terms: obliquely, Job, his wife, and children, may be hinted at by the lion, lioness, and whelps. The one verb, "are broken," does not suit both subjects; therefore, supply "the roaring of the bellowing lion is silenced." The strong lion dies of want at last, and the whelps, torn from the mother, are scattered, and the race becomes extinct.
12. a thing—Hebrew, a "word." Eliphaz confirms his view by a divine declaration which was secretly and unexpectedly imparted to him.
a little—literally, "a whisper"; implying the still silence around, and that more was conveyed than articulate words could utter (Job 26:14; 2Co 12:4).
13. In thoughts from the visions of the night—[So Winer]. While revolving night visions previously made to him (Da 2:29). Rather, "In my manifold (Hebrew, divided) thoughts, before the visions of the night commenced"; therefore not a delusive dream (Ps 4:4) [Umbreit].
deep sleep—(Ge 2:21; 15:12).
16. It stood still—At first the apparition glides before Eliphaz, then stands still, but with that shadowy indistinctness of form which creates such an impression of awe; a gentle murmur: not (English Version): there was silence; for in 1Ki 19:12, the voice, as opposed to the previous storm, denotes a gentle, still murmur.
17. mortal man … a man—Two Hebrew words for "man" are used; the first implying his feebleness; the second his strength. Whether feeble or strong, man is not righteous before God.
more just than God … more pure than his maker—But this would be self-evident without an oracle.
18. folly—Imperfection is to be attributed to the angels, in comparison with Him. The holiness of some of them had given way (2Pe 2:4), and at best is but the holiness of a creature. Folly is the want of moral consideration [Umbreit].
19. houses of clay—(2Co 5:1). Houses made of sun-dried clay bricks are common in the East; they are easily washed away (Mt 7:27). Man's foundation is this dust (Ge 3:19).
before the moth—rather, "as before the moth," which devours a garment (Job 13:28; Ps 39:11; Isa 50:9). Man, who cannot, in a physical point of view, stand before the very moth, surely cannot, in a moral, stand before God.
20. from morning to evening—unceasingly; or, better, between the morning and evening of one short day (so Ex 18:14; Isa 38:12).
They are destroyed—better, "they would be destroyed," if God withdrew His loving protection. Therefore man must not think to be holy before God, but to draw holiness and all things else from God (Job 4:17).
21. their excellency—(Ps 39:11; 146:4; 1Co 13:8). But Umbreit, by an Oriental image from a bow, useless because unstrung: "Their nerve, or string would be torn away." Michaelis, better in accordance with Job 4:19, makes the allusion be to the cords of a tabernacle taken down (Isa 33:20).
they die, even without wisdom—rather, "They would perish, yet not according to wisdom," but according to arbitrary choice, if God were not infinitely wise and holy. The design of the spirit is to show that the continued existence of weak man proves the inconceivable wisdom and holiness of God, which alone save man from ruin [Umbreit]. Bengel shows from Scripture that God's holiness (Hebrew, kadosh) comprehends all His excellencies and attributes. De Wette loses the scope, in explaining it, of the shortness of man's life, contrasted with the angels "before they have attained to wisdom."