7 Which commandeth the sun, and it riseth not; and sealeth up the stars.

8 Which alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea. 9 Which maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south. 10 Which doeth great things past finding out; yea, and wonders without number.

11 Lo, he goeth by me, and I see him not: he passeth on also, but I perceive him not.

12 Behold, he taketh away," who can hinder him? who will say unto him, What doest thou? 13 If God will not withdraw his anger, the ? proud helpers do stoop under him.

f Gen. 1. 6. Ps. 101. 2, 3-g Heb. heights.-h Gen. 1-16. Ch. 38. 31, &c. Amos 58- Heb. Ash, Cesil, and Cimah-k Chap. 5. 9. Psa. 71. 15.-1 Chap. 23. 8, 9. & 35. 14.

Verse 7. Which commandeth the sun] Either obscures it with clouds, with thick darkness, or with an eclipse. Sealeth up the stars] Like the contents of a letter, wrapped up and sealed, so that it cannot be read. Sometimes the heavens become as black as ebony; and no star, figure, or character, in this great book of God can be read. Verse 8. And treadeth upon the waves] This is a very majestic image. God not only walks upon the waters; but when the sea runs mountains high, he steps from billow to billow in his almighty and essential majesty. There is a similar sentiment in David, Psa. xxix. 10. "The Lord sitteth upon the flood; yea, the Lord sitteth king for ever." But both are far outdone by the Psalmist, Psa. xviii. 9-15. and especially in these words, ver. 10. He did fly on the wings of the wind. Job is great; but in every respect David is greater.

Verse 9. Which maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south] For this translation the

14 How much less shall I answer him, and choose out my words to reason with him?

15 Whom, though I were righteous, yet would I not answer, but I would make supplication to my judge.

16 If I had called, and he had answered me yet would I not believe that he had hearkened unto my voice.

17 For he breaketh me with a tempest, and multiplieth my wounds without cause. 18 He will not suffer me to take my breath, but filleth me with bitterness.

19 If I speak of strength, lo, he is strong: and if of judgment, who shall set me a time to plead?

m Isai 45. 9. Jer. 18. 6. Rom. 9. 20-n Heb, who can turn him away? Ch. 11. 10-0 Ch. 26. 12. Isai. 30. 7.-p Heb. helpers of pride, or, strength.-r Ch. 10. 15.

s Ch. 2. 3. & 31. 6.

I need scarcely add that these words, by critics and commentators, have been variously translated. Dr. Hales translates kimah and kesil by Taurus and Scorpio; and, if this translation were indubitably correct, we might follow him to his conclusion, viz. that Job lived 2337 years before Christ! See at the end of this chapter.

Verse 10. Great things past finding out] Great things without end; wonders without number. Targum.

Verse 11. Lo, he goeth by me, and I see him not] He is incomprehensible in all his ways, and in all his works; and he must be so if he be GOD, and work as GoD: for his own nature and his operations are past finding out.

Verse 12. He taketh away] He never gives; but he is ever lending: and while the gift is useful, or is improved, he permits it to remain; but when it becomes useless, or is misused, he recalls it.

Who can hinder him?] Literally, Who can cause him to restore it?

kesil, ve-chimah, ve-hadrey teman, which are thus rendered by the SEPTUAGINT: O Rotwv Ideiada, kai 'Eonepov, Kai Apkтоupov, kaι Tapera vorov Who makes the Pleiades, and Hesperus, and Arcturus, and Orion, and the chambers of the south."

The VULGATE, Qui facit Arcturum, et Oriona, et Hyadas, et interiora Austri. "Who maketh Arcturus and Orion, and the Hyades, and the innermost chambers of the south."

The TARGUM follows the Hebrew; only paraphrases the latter clause thus: And the chambers or houses of the planetary domination in the southern hemisphere.

The SYRIAC and ARABIC, Who maketh the Pleiades, and Arcturus, and the giant (Orion or Hercules,) and the boundaries of the south.

COVERDALE has, We maketh the waynes of heaven, the Orions, the bil starres, and the secret places of the south. And on the vii starres he has this marginal note: some call these seven starres, the clock henne with hir chick= ens. See below.

Edmund Becke, in his edition, 1549, follows Coverdale; but puts VAYNES of heaven for waynes, which Cardmarden, in his Bible, Rouen, 1515, mistaking, changes into WAVES of heaven.

Barker's Bible, 1615, reads, He maketh the starres Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the climates of the south. On which he has this note, "These are the names of certain starres, whereby he meaneth that all starres, both knowen and unknowen, are at his appointment."

Our early translators seem to agree much with the German and Dutch: Er machet den wagen am himmel, und Orion, und die Clucken, und die Sterne gegen mittag. He maketh the wagon of heaven, (Charles's wain) and Orion, and the clucking hen, (the Pleiades) and the stars of the mid-day region. See above, under Coverdale. The Dutch version is not much unlike the German, from which it was taken: Die den wagen maecht, den Orion, ende het sevengesternte, end de binnenkameren van't Zuyden.

The European versions, in general, copy one or other of the above; or make a compound translation from the whole but all are derived ultimately from the Septuagint and Vulgate.

As to the Hebrew words, they might as well have been applied to any of the other constellations of heaven: indeed, it does not appear that constellations are at all meant. Parkhurst and Bate, have given, perhaps, the best interpretation of the words, which is as follows:

What doest thou ?] He is supreme, and will give account of none of his matters. He is infinitely wise, and cannot mistake. He is infinitely kind, and can do nothing cruel. He is infinitely good, and can do nothing wrong. No one, therefore, should question either his motives, or his opera

tions.

Verse 13. If God will not withdraw his anger] It is of no use to contend with God: he cannot be successfully resisted; all his opposers must perish.

Verse 14. How much less shall I answer] I cannot contend with my Maker. He is the lawgiver and the judge:-how shall I stand in judgment before him?

Verse 15. Though I were righteous] Though clear of all the crimes, public and secret, of which you accuse me, yet I would not dare to stand before his immaculate holiness. Man's holiness may profit man; but, in the sight of the infinite purity of God, it is nothing. Thus sung an eminent poet :

"I loathe myself when God I see, And into nothing fall; Content that thou exalted be, And Christ be all in all."

I would make supplication to my judge.] Though not conscious of any sin, I should not think myself thereby justified; but would, from a conviction of the exceeding breadth of the commandment, and the limited nature of my own perfection, cry out, "Cleanse thou me from secret faults!"

Verse 16. If I had called and he had answered] I could scarcely suppose, such is his majesty, and such his holiness, that he could condescend to notice a being so mean, and in every respect so infinitely beneath his notice. These sentiments sufficiently confuted that slander of his friends, who said he was presumptuous; had not becoming notions of the majesty of God; and used blasphemous expressions against his sovereign authority.

Verse 17. He breaketh me with a tempest] The Targum, Syriac, and Arabic, have this sense: He powerfully smites even every hair of my head: and multiplies my wounds without cause. That is, there is no reason known to myself, or to any man, why I should be thus most oppressively afflicted. It is, therefore, cruel and inconsequent to assert, that I suffer for my crimes.

Verse 18. He will not suffer me to take my breath] I have no respite in my afflictions: I suffer continually in my body; and my mind is incessantly harassed. Verse 19. If I speak of strength, lo, he "Y strong] Human wisdom, power, and influence, avail nothing before him.`

t Eccles. 9. 2, 3. Ezek. 21. 3-1 2 Sam. 15. 30. & 19. 4. Jer. 14. 4.-v Ch. 7. 6, 7. Heb. ships of desire-x Or, ships of Ebeh-y Hab. 1. 8.-z Ch. 7. 13.-a Pa 149. 120.

Verse 20. If I justify myself] God must have some reason for his conduct toward me: I, therefore, do not pretend to justify myself; the attempt to do it would be an insult to his majesty and justice. Though I am conscious of none of the crimes of which you accuse me, and know not why he contends with me; yet he must have some reason, and that reason he does not choose to explain.

Verse 21. Though I were perfect] Had I the fullest conviction that in every thought, word, and deed, I were blameless before him, yet I would not plead this; nor would I think it any security for a life of ease and prosperity; or any proof that my days should be prolonged. Verse 22. This is one thing] My own observation shows, that in the course of providence the righteous and the wicked have an equal lot, for, when any sudden calamity comes, the innocent and the guilty fall alike. There may be a few exceptions; but they are very extraordinary, and very rare.

Verse 24. The earth is given into the hand of the wicked] Is it not most evident that the worst men possess most of this world's goods; and that the righteous are scarcely ever in power or affluence! This was the case in Job's time; it is the case still. Therefore, prosperity and adversity in this life, are no marks either of God's approbation or disapprobation.

He covereth the faces of the judges thereof] Or, the faces of its decisions he shall cover. God is often stated in Scripture as doing a thing which he only permits to be done. So he permits the eyes of judgment to be blinded: and hence false decisions. Mr. Goode translates the verse thus:

"The earth is given over to the hand of injustice,
She hoodwinketh the faces of its judges.
Where every one liveth, is it not so?"

And vindicates the translation in his learned notes: but I doubt the Hebrew will not bear this rendering; especially that in the third line.

Where, and who is he?] If this be not the case, who is he that acts in this way; and where is he to be found? If God do not permit these things, who is it that orders them? Coverdale translates, As for the worlde, he gebeth it over into the power of the wicked, soch as the rulers be whereof all landes are full. Is it not so? There is there eny, but he is soch one? This sense is clear enough, if the original will bear it. The last clause is thus rendered by the Syriac and Arabic, Who can bear his indignation?

Verse 25. Swifter than a post] † minni rats, "than a runner." The light-footed messenger or courier, who carries messages from place to place.

They flee away] The Chaldee says, My days are swifter than the shadow of a flying bird] So swiftly do they flee away that I cannot discern them; and, when past, they cannot be recalled. There is a sentiment like this in VIRGIL, Geor. lib. iii. ver. 281.

Sed fugit interea, fugit irreparabile tempus!

"But in the mean while time flies! irreparable time flies away!"

Verse 26. As the swift ships] nax nx onioth cbeh. Ships of desire; or ships of ebeh, says our margin; perhaps more correctly inflated ships, the sails bellying out with a fair brisk wind, tide favourable, and the vessels themselves lightly freighted.

The Vulgate has, Like ships freighted with apples. Ships laden with the best fruits, TARGUM. Ships well adapted for sailing, ARABIC. Shipes that be good under sale. COVERDALE. Probably this relates to the light fast-sailing ships on the Nile, which were made of reeds or papyrus.

Perhaps the idea to be seized is not so much the swiftness of the passage, as their leaving no trace or track behind them. But instead of nan ebeh, na oibeh, hostile

b Exod. 20. 7.—c Jer. 2. 22-d Or, make me to be abhorred.-e Eccles. 6. 10. let. 45.9. Jer. 49. 19. Rom. 9. 20,-f Ver. 19. 1 Sam. 2. 25.-g Heb. one that should argue.-h Or, umpire.

ships, or the ships of enemies, is the reading of fortyseven of Kennicott's and De Rossi's MSS. and of the Syriac version. If this be the true reading, what is its sense? My days are gone off like the light vessels of the pirates, (having stripped me of my property, and carried all irrecoverably away) under the strongest press of sail, that they may effect their escape, and secure their booty.

The next words As the eagle that hasteth to the prey, seem at least to countenance, if not confirm the above reading: the idea of robbery and spoil, prompt attack, and sudden retreat, is preserved in both images.

Verse 27. I will forget my complaint] I will forsake, or forego my complaining. I will leave off my heaviness. VULGATE, I will change my countenance; force myself to smile, and endeavour to assume the appearance of comfort.

Verse 23. I am afraid of all my sorrows] Coverdale translates after the Vulgate, Then am afrayed of all my workes. Even were I to cease from complaining, I fear lest not one of my works, however well intentioned, shall stand thy scrutiny, or meet with thy approbation.

Thou wilt not hold me innocent.] Coverdale, after the Vulgate, For I knowe thou favourest not an evil doer z but this is not the sense of the original:-Thou wilt not acquit me so as to take away my afflictions from me.

Verse 29. If I be wicked] If I am the sinner you suppose me to be, in vain should I labour to counterfeit joy, and cease to complain of my sufferings.

Verse 30. If I wash myself with snow water] Supposed to have a more detergent quality than common water; and it was certainly preferred to common water by the ancients. Of this we find an example in an elegant but licentious author: Tandem ergo discubuimus, pueris Alexandrinis AQUAM in manus NIVATAM infundentibus, aliisque insequentibus ad pedes PETR. Satir, cap. xxxi. Át length we sat down, and had snow water poured on our hands by lads of Alexandria," &c.

Mr. Goode supposes that there is an allusion here to the ancient rite of washing the hands in token of innocence. See Psa. xxvi. 6. I will WASH my hands in INNOCENCE. And lxiii. 13. Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocence. And by this ceremony Pilate declared himself innocent of the blood of Christ, Matt. xxvii. 24.

Verse 31. And mine own clothes shall abhor me] Such is thine infinite purity, when put in opposition to the purity of man, that it will bear no comparison. Searched and tried by the eye of God, I should be found as a leper, so that my own clothes would dread to touch me, for fear of being infected by my own corruption. This is a strong and bold figure; and is derived from the corrupted state of his body, which his clothes dreaded to touch, because of the contagious nature of his disorder.

Verse 32. For he is not a man, as I am] I cannot contend with him as with one of my fellows in a court of justice.

Verse 33. Neither is there any day's-man] moyo wa beyneyno mociach, a reprover, arguer, or umpire between us. DAY'S-MAN, in our law, means an arbitrator or umpire between party and party; as it were bestowing a day, or certain time on a certain day, to decree, judge, or decide a matter. Minshieu. DAY is used in law, for the day of appearance in court, either originally or upon assignation, for hearing a matter for trial. Idem. But arbitrator is the proper meaning of the term here: one who is, by the consent of both parties, to judge between them, and settle their differences.

Instead of lo yesh, there is not, fifteen of Kennicott's and De Rossi's MSS. with the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic, read lu yesh, I wish there were; or, O that there were! Eids & μecirns nμwv, kał

34 Let him take his rod away from me, and let not his fear terrify me:

35 Then would I speak, and not fear him: but it is not so with me.

CHAPTER X.

Sob is weary of life, and expostulates with God, 1--6. He appeals to God for his innocence, and pleads on the weakness of his frame, and the manner of his forma tion, 7-13 Cornplains of his sufferings, and prays for respite, 14-0 Describes the state of the dead, 21, 22 Ante 1. O cir.744. soul is m weary of my life: Ante C. C. cir. 767,

soul.

4 Hast thou eyes of flesh? or P seest thou as man seeth?

5 Are thy days as the days of man? are thy

ελεγχων και διακονών ανάμεσον αμφοτέρων. Ο that we had a mediator, an advocate, and judge between us both! SEPT. Poor Job! he did not yet know the Mediator between God and man; the only means by which God and man can be brought together and reconciled. Had St. Paul this in his eye when he wrote 1 Tim. ii. 5, 6. For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all. Without this Mediator, and the ransom price which he has laid down, God and man can never be united: and that this union might be made possible, Jesus took the human into conjunction with his divine nature; and thus God was manifest in the flesh.

Verse 34. Let him take his rod away] In the Masoretic Bibles the word shibto, his rod, is written with a large teth, as above; and as the letter in numerals stands for 9, the masora says the word was thus written to show the nine calamities under which Job had suffered, and which he wished God to remove!

As shebet, not only signifies rod, but also sceptre, or the ensign of royalty, Job might here refer to God sitting in his majesty upon the judgment-seat; and this sight so appalled him, that, filled with terror, he was unable to speak. When a sinful soul sees God in his majesty, terror seizes upon it, and prayer is impossible. We have a beautiful illustration of this, Isa. vi. 1-7. "I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Then said I, Wo is me, for I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips; for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts."

Verse 35. But it is not so with me.] I am not in such eircumstances as to plead with my judge. I believe the Bense of these words is nearly as Coverdale has expressed it: for as longe as I am in soch fearfulnesse, I can make no answere. A natural picture of the state of a penitent soul, which needs no additional colouring.

On the names of the constellations mentioned ver. 9. and again, chap. xxxviii. ver. 31, &c. much has been written; and to little effect. I have already in the notes expressed my doubts whether any constellation be intended. Dr. Hales, however, finds in these names, as he thinks, astronomical data, by which he ascertains the time of Job. I shall give his words:

"The cardinal constellations of spring and autumn, in Job's time, were Chimah and Chesil, or Taurus and Scorpio; noticed xi. 9; and again, xxxviii. 31, 32. of which the principal stars are Aldebaran, the bull's eye, and Antares, the scorpion's heart. Knowing, therefore, the longitudes of these stars, at present, the interval of time from thence to the assumed date of Job's trial will give the difference of the longitudes; and ascertain their positions then, with respect to the vernal and autumnal points of intersection of the equinoctial and ecliptic; according to the usual rate of the precession of the equinores, one degree in 711 years. See that article, vol. i. page 185.

The following calculations I owe to the kindness and skill of the respectable Dr. Brinkley, Andrew's Professor of Astronomy in the University of Dublin:

"In A. D. 1808, Aldebaran was in two signs, 7 degrees east longitude. But since the date of Job's trial, B. C. 2339, i. e. 4138 years, the precession of the equinoxes amounted to 1 sign, 27 degrees, 53 minutes; which, being subtracted from the former quantity, left Aldebaran in only 9 degrees, 7 minutes longitude, or distance from the vernal intersection: which, falling within the constellation Taurus, consequently rendered it the cardinal constellation of spring; as Pisces is at present:

"In A. D. 1800, Antares was in 8 signs, 6 degrees, 58 minutes, east longitude; or 2 signs, 6 degrees, 58 minutes, east of the autumnal intersection: from which subtracting, as before, the amount of the precession, Antares was left only 9 degrees, 5 minutes east. Since then the autumnal equinox was found within Scorpio: this was then

m Or, cut off while I live.-n Ch. 7. 11.-0 Heb. the labour of thine hands? Psa. 138. 8. Isai. 61. 8.-p 1 Sam. 16 7.

the cardinal constellation of autumn, as Virgo is at present. "Such a combination and coincidence of various rays of evidence, derived from widely different sources, history, sacred and profane, chronology, and astronomy, and all converging to the same focus, tend strongly to establish the time of Job's trial, as rightly assigned in the year B. C. 2337; or 818 years after the deluge; 184 years before the birth of Abraham; 474 years before the settlement of Jacob's family in Egypt; and 699 years before their erode or departure from thence." New Analysis of Chronology, vol. ii. p. 57.

Now all this is specious; and, were the foundation sound, me might rely on the permanence of the building, though the rains should descend, the floods come, and the winds blow and beat on that house. But all these deductions and conclusions are founded on the assumption that Chemah and Chesil mean Taurus and Scorpio: but this is the very point that is to be proved; for proof of this is not offered, nor indeed can be offered; and such assumptions are palpably nugatory. That wy ash, has been generally understood to signify the Great Bear; Kesil, Orion; and Keimah, the Pleiades; may be seen every where: but that they do signify these constellations is perfectly uncertain. We have only conjectures concerning their meaning; and on such conjectures no system can be built. Genuine data, in Dr. Hales' hands, are sure to be conducted to legitimate conclusions: but neither he nor any one else can construct an astronomical fabric in the limbus of conjecture. When JOB lived is perfectly uncertain: but that this book was written S18 years after the deluge; 184 years before the birth of Abram, and 689 before the Exodus; and that all this is demonstrable from Chemah and Chesil signifying Taurus and Scorpio, whence the positions of the equinoxes at the time of Job's trial can be ascertained; can never be proved, and can never be credited.

In what many learned men have written on this subject I find as much solidity and satisfaction as from what is piously and gravely stated in the Glossa Ordinaria.

Per

Qui facit Arcturum. Diversæ sunt constellationes, varios status ecclesiæ signantes. Per Arcturum, qui semper super orizontem nostrum apparet, significatur status apostolorum qui in episcopis remanet. Oriona, qui est tempestatis signum, significatur, status martyrum. Per Hyadas, que significant pluvios, status doctorum doctrinæ plurium effundentium. Per interiora austri, quæ sunt nobis occulta, status Anachoretarum, hominum aspectus declinantium. "These different constellations signify various states of the church. By Arcturus, which always appears above our horizon, is signified the apostolic state, which still remains in episcopacy. By Orion, which is a tempestuous sign, is signified the state of the martyrs. By the hyades, (kids) which indicate rain, the state of the doctors, pouring out the rain of doctrine, is signified. And by the inner chambers of the south, which are hidden from us, the state of the Anchorets (hermits) is signified, who always shun the sight of

men."

Much more of the same allegorical matter may be found in the same place, the Glossu Ordinaria, of Strabus of Fulda, on the ixth chapter of Job. But how unreal and empty are all these things! What an uncertain sound do such trumpets give!

NOTES ON CHAPTER X. Verse 1. My soul is weary of my life] Here is a proof that we nephesh, does not signify the animal life, but the soul or immortal mind, as distinguished from chai, that animal life and is a strong proof that Job believed in the distinctions between these two principles; was no materialist; but, on the contrary, credited the proper immortality of the soul!

I will leave my complaint] I will charge myself with the cause of my own calamities; and shall not charge my

6 That thou inquirest after mine iniquity, and searchest after my sin?

7 Thou knowest that I am not wicked; and there is none that can deliver out of thine hand. 8 Thine hands have made me, and fashioned me together round about; yet thou dost destroy

me.

8

9 Remember, I beseech thee, that "thou hast made me as the clay; and wilt thou bring me into dust again?

10 Hast thou not poured me out as milk, and curdled me like cheese?

11 Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, and hast fenced me with bones and sinews.

12 Thou hast granted me life and favour, and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit.

9 Heb. It is upon thy knowledge-r Psa. 139. 1, 2- Ps. 119. 73.- Heb. took paina about me. Gen. 2. 7. & 3. 19. Isni. 64. 8.-v Ps. 139. 14, 15, 16-w Heb. hedged.

Maker foolishly: but I must deplore my wretched and forlorn state.

Verse 2. Do not condemn me] Let me not be afflicted in thy wrath.

13 And these things hast thou hid in thine heart: I know that this is with thee.

14 If I sin, then thou markest me, and thou wilt not acquit me from mine iniquity.

15 If I be wicked, wo unto me: and if I be righteous, yet will I not lift up my head. I am full of confusion; therefore see thou mine affliction; 16 For it increaseth. b Thou huntest me as a fierce lion: and again thou showest thyself marvellous upon me.

17 Thou renewest thy witnesses against me, and increasest thine indignation upon me; changes and war are against me.

18 Wherefore then hast thou brought me forth out of the womb? Oh that I had given up the ghost, and no eye had seen me!

x Pa. 139. 1.-y Isai. 3. 11.-z Chap. 9. 12, 15, 20, 21.-a Psa. 25. 18-b Isai. 38. 13: Lam. 3. 10.-e That is, thy plagues, Ruth 1. 21.-d Ch. 3. 11.

jubet. I make no apology for leaving this untranslated. The different expressions in this and the following verse are very appropriate the pouring out like milk, coagulating, clothing with skin and flesh, fencing with bones and sinews, are well imagined, and delicately, and, at the same time, forcibly expressed.

Verse 3. Is it good unto thee] Surely it can be no gratification to thee to distress the children of men, as if thou didst despise the work of thy own hands.

And shine upon the counsel] For by my afflictions the harsh judgments of the wicked will appear to be confirmed: viz. that God regards not his most fervent worshippers; and it is no benefit to lead a religious life. Verse 4. Hast thou eyes of flesh ?] Dost thou judge as man judges? Illustrated by the next clause, Seest thou as man seeth?

Verse 12 Thou hast granted me life and favour] Thou hast brought me from my mother's womb; given me an actual existence among men; by thy favour or mercy thou hast provided me with the means of life; and thy visitation, thy continual providential care, has preserved me in life, has given me the air I breathe, and it as an agent and preserver of life. It is by God's continual visitation or influence, that any life of man is preserved. In him we live, move, and have our being.

Verse 7. Thou knowest that I am not wicked] While thou hast this knowledge of me, and my conduct, why appear to be sifting me as if in order to find out sin and, though none can be found, treating me as though I were a transgressor.

Verse 8. Thine hands have made me] Thou art well acquainted with human nature, for thou art its Author.

And fashioned me together round about] All my powers and faculties have been planned and executed by thyself. It is thou who hast refined the materials out which I have been formed, and modified them into that excellent symmetry and order in which they are now found: so that the union and harmony of the different parts (yachad) and their arrangement and completion (o sabib,) proclaim equally thy wisdom, skill, power, and goodness.

Yet thou dost destroy me.] yam va-tiballêni, "and thou wilt swallow me up." Men generally care for, and prize those works on which they have spent most time, skill, and pains: but although thou hast formed me with such incredible skill and labour, yet thou art about to destroy me! How dreadful an evil must sin be, when, on its account, God has pronounced the sentence of death on all mankind! And that body, so curiously and skilfully formed, must be decomposed, and reduced to dust!

Verse 9. Thou hast made me as the clay] Thou hast fashioned me according to thy own mind, out of a mass of clay-after so much skill and pains expended, men might naturally suppose they were to have a permanent being; but thou hast decreed to turn them into dust!

Verse 10. Hast thou not poured me out as milk] After all that some learned men have said on this subject, in order to confine the images here to simple nutrition; I am satisfied that generation is the true notion. Respicit ad foetus in matris utero primam formationem, quum in embryonem ex utriusque parentis semine, coalescit.-Ex semine liquido, lac quodammodo referente, me formâstiIn interpretando, inquit Hieronymus, omnino his accedo qui de genitali semine accipiunt, quod ipsa tanquam natura emulget, ac dein concrescere in utero ac coalescere

Verse 13. And these things hast thou hid in thine heart] Thou hast had many gracious purposes concerning me which thou hast not made known: but thy visitations and mercy are sufficient proofs of kindness toward me; though for purposes unknown to me, thou hast sorely afflicted me, and continuest to treat me as an enemy.

Verse 14. If I sin] From thee nothing can be hidden; if I sin, thou takest account of the transgressions; and canst not hold me for innocent, when thou knowest I am guilty.

Verse 15. If I be wicked] I must meet with that punishment that is due to the workers of iniquity.

If I be righteous] I am only in the state which my duty to my Creator requires me to be in; and I cannot, therefore, suppose that on this account I can deserve any thing by way of favour from the justice of my Maker.

I am full of confusion] I am confounded at my state and circumstances. I know that thou art merciful and dost not afflict willingly the children of men: I know I have not wickedly departed from thee, and yet I am treated by thee as if I were an apostate from every good. I am, therefore, full of confusion: see thou to my affliction, and bring me out of it in such a way as shall at once prove my innocence, the righteousness of thy ways, and the mercy of thy nature.

Verse 16. For it increaseth.] Probably this refers to the affliction mentioned above, which increased in proportion to its duration. Every day made his escape from such a load of evils less and less probable.

Thou huntest me as a fierce lion] As the hunters attack the king of beasts in the forest, so my friends attack me. They assail me on every side.

Thou showest thyself marvellous] Thy designs, thy ways, thy works, are all incomprehensible to me: thou dost both confound and overpower me. Mr. Goode translates thus:

For uprousing as a ravenous lion dost thou spring upon me; And again, thou showest over me thy vast power. Verse 17. Thou renewest thy witnesses] In this speech of Job, he is ever referring to trials in courts of judicature; and almost all his terms are forensic. Thou bringest witnesses in continual succession, to confound and convict me.

Changes and war] I am as if attacked by successive troops; one company being wearied, another succeeds to the attack; so that I am harassed by continual warfare.

See Ch. 7. 6, 16. & 8. 9. Ps. 39. 5.- Ps. 39. 13.-g Ch. 7. 16, 19.—h P. 88. 12-i Ps. 23. 4-k Heb. a man of lips.-1 Or, devices.

Verse 18. Wherefore then] Why didst thou give me a being when thou didst forsee I should be exposed to such incredible hardships? See on chap. iii. ver. 10, &c.

Verse 19. I should have been as though] Had I given up the ghost as soon as born, as I could not then have been conscious of existence; it would have been, as it respects inyself, as though I had never been; being immediately transported from my mother's womb to my grave.

Verse 20. Are not my days few?] My life cannot be long, let me have a little respite before I die. Verse 21. I shall not return] I shall not return again from the dust, to have a dwelling among men.

To the land of darkness] See the notes on chap. iii. ver. 5. There are here a crowd of obscure and dislocated terms, admirably expressive of the obscurity and uncertainty of the subject. What do we know of the state of separate spirits? What do we know of the spiritual world? How do souls exist separate from their respective bodies? Of what are they capable, and what is their employment? Who can answer these questions? Perhaps nothing and be said much better of the state, than is here said, a land of obscurity like darkness.

The shadow of death] A place where death rules, over which he projects his shadow, intercepting every light of every kind of life:—without any order to velo sedarim, having no arrangements, no distinctions of inhabitants, the poor and the rich are there, the master and his slave, the king and the beggar, their bodies in equal corruption and disgrace, their souls distinguished only by their moral character. Stripped of their flesh, they stand in their naked simplicity before God, in that place.

Verse 22. Where the light is as darkness.] A palpable obscure! it is space and place, and has only such light or capability of distinction as renders "darkness visible." It is, as the Vulgate expresses it, Terra tenebrosa, et operta mortis caligine: Terra miseria et tenebrarum, ubi umbra mortis, et nullus ordo, sed sempiternus horror inhabitat. "A murky land, covered with the thick darkness of death: a land of wretchedness and obscurities, where is the shadow of death; and no order but sempiternal horror dwells every where." Or, as Coverdale expresses this Jast clause, Whereas is no order but terribil feare as in the darknesse. A duration not characterized or measured by any of the attributes of time; where there is no order of darkness and light, night and day, heat and cold, summer and winter. It is the state of the dead! The place of separate spirits! It is out of time, out of probation, beyond change or mutability. It is on the confines of eternity! But what is THIS? And Where? Eternity! how can I form any conception of thee? In thee there is no order, no bounds, no substance, no progression, no change, no past, no present, no future! It is an indescribable something, to which there is no analogy in the compass of creation. It is infinity, and incomprehensibility to all finite beings. It is what living I know not, and what I must die to know; and even then I shall apprehend no more of it than merely to know that it is E-T-E-R-N-I-T-Y. NOTES ON CHAPTER XI. Verse 1. Zophar the Naamathite] Of this man and his friends, see chap. ii. ver. 11. He is the most inveterate of Job's accusers, and generally speaks without feeling or pity. In sour godliness he excelled all the rest. This chapter and the xxth, comprehends all that he said. He was too crooked to speak much in measured verse.

Verse 2. Should not the multitude of words be answered? Some translate, "to multiply words profiteth nothing."

2 Should not the multitude of words be answered? and should a man full of talk be justified? 3 Should thy lies make men hold their peace? and when thou mockest, shall no man make thee ashamed?

4 For thou hast said, My doctrine is pure, and I am clean in thine eyes.

5 But Oh that God would speak, and open his lips against thee;

6 And that he would show thee the secrets of wisdom, that they are double to that which is ! Know therefore that " God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth.

7 Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? 8 It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know? 9 The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea.

in Chap. 6. 10. & 10. 7.- Ezra 9. 13-0 Eccles. 3. 11. Rom. 11. 33-p Heb. the heights of heaven.

איש

And should a man full of talk be justified?] DD ish shepatayim, "a man of lips," a proper appellation for a great talker: he is "a man of lips," i. e. his lips are the only active parts of his system.

Verse 3. Should thy lies make men hold their peace ?] This is a very severe reproof, and not justified by the occasion.

And when thou mockest] As thou despisest others, shall no man put thee to scorn? Zophar could never think that the solemn and awful manner in which Job spoke could be called babbling, as some would translate the term ay laag. He might consider Job's speech as sarcastic and severe; but he could not consider it as non

sense.

Verse 4. My doctrine is pure] plikachi "my assumptions." What I assume or take as right, and just, and true, are so: the precepts which I have formed, and the practice which I have founded on them, are all correct and perfect. Job had not exactly said, My doctrine and way of life is pure, and I am clean in thine eyes; but he

vindicated himself against their charges of secret sins and hypocrisy, and appealed to God for his general uprightness and sincerity; but Zophar here begs the question, in order that he may have something to say, and room to give vent to his invective.

Verse 5. But O that God would speak] How little feeling, humanity, and charity, is there in this prayer.

Verse 6. The secrets of wisdom] All the depths of his own counsels; the heights, lengths, and breadths of holiness; that they are double to that which is, men tushiah, which we translate that which is, is a word frequent in Job and in the Book of Proverbs; and is one of the evidences brought in favour of Solomon, as the author of this book. It signifies substance or essence; and is translated by a great variety of terms; enterprise, completeness, substance, the whole constitution, wisdom, law, sound wisdom, solid complete happiness, solidity of reason, and truth, the complete total sum, &c. &c. See Taylor's Heb. and Eng. Concord. under . In this place the versions are various. Coverdale, following the Vulgate, translates: That he might shewe the (out of his secrite wissdome) how manyfolde his lawe is. The Septuagint, ori dindoVS ESAL TWY KATA oe, that it is double to what it is with thee. Mr. Goode translates, "For they are intricacies to INIQUITY." This is a meaning never before given to men tushiah, and a meaning which even his own learned note will not make generally prevalent. Perhaps Zophar is here, in mind, comparing the wisdom which has been revealed with the wisdom not revealed. The perfection and excellence of the divine nature, and the purity of his law, are, in substance and essence, double or manifold to the revelation already made.

Less than thine iniquity deserveth.] Mr. Goode translates, and the knowledge which God hath withdrawn from thee because of thy sins; and represents Zophar as praying that God would reveal to him the secrets of wisdom, and the knowledge which he had withdrawn from him because of his transgressions. That Zophar intends to insinuate that God afflicted Job because of his iniquities is evident: and that he thought that God had inflicted less chastisement upon him than his sins deserved is not less so; and that, therefore, Job's complaining of harsh treatment was not at all well founded.

Verse 7. Canst thou by searching find out God] What is God? A being self-existent; eternal; infinite; immense; without bounds; incomprehensible either by mind, or time, or space. Who then can find this being out? Who can fathom his depths, ascend to his heights, extend