1883 Haydock Douay Rheims Bible
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| Job 1:1 | There *was a man in the land of Hus, whose name was Job, and that man was simple and upright, and fearing God, and avoiding evil. | Year of the World about 2520, Year before Christ 1484. Hus. The land of Hus was a part of Edom; as appears from Lamentations 4:21. --- Simple. That is, innocent, sincere, and without guile, (Challoner) in opposition to hypocrites and double dealers. (Calmet) --- Hebrew Tam, "perfect." |
| Job 1:2 | And there were born to him seven sons and three daughters. | |
| Job 1:3 | And his possession was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she-asses, and a family exceedingly great: and this man was great among all the people of the east. | Sheep. Hebrew including "goats," which are equally valuable in that country for milk. --- Camels. These animals were used for riding in those barren sands, where they can travel for four days without water; and that which is muddy is best for them. --- East, in the desert Arabia. Septuagint add at the end of the book, that Job was king; and he seems to have been independent, (Calmet) and to have had other kings who acknowledged his authority. (Pineda) (Chap. 29:7., etc.) --- Each city had its own king in the days of Abraham and of Josue. Job, or Jobab, resided at Denaba, Genesis 36:32. (Calmet) |
| Job 1:4 | And his sons went, and made a feast by houses, every one in his day. And sending, they called their three sisters, to eat and drink with them. | His day of the week in succession; (Pineda) or each on his birthday, (Genesis 40:20., and Matthew 14:6.; Grotius) or once a month, etc. The daughters of Job were probably unmarried. |
| Job 1:5 | And when the days of their feasting were gone about, Job sent to them, and sanctified them: and rising up early, offered holocausts for every one of them. For he said: Lest perhaps my sons have sinned, and have blessed God in their hearts. So did Job all days. | Blessed. For greater horror of the very thought of blasphemy, the Scripture both here and [in] ver. 11, and in the following chapter (ver. 5., and 9.) uses the word bless, to signify its contrary. (Challoner) (3 Kings 21:10.) --- Thus the Greeks styled the furies Eumenides, "the kind," out of a horror of their real name. Even those who are the best inclined, can hardly speak of God without some want of respect, (Calmet) in the midst of feasts, where the neglect of saying grace is also too common. (Haydock) --- Septuagint, "they have thought evil against God." Every kind of offence may be included, to which feasting leads. (Menochius) |
| Job 1:6 | Now on a certain day, when the sons of God came to stand before the Lord, satan also was present among them. | The sons of God. The angels, (Challoner) as the Septuagint express it. (Calmet) --- Satan also, etc. This passage represents to us in a figure, accommodated to the ways and understandings of men, 1. The restless endeavours of satan against the servants of God. 2. That he can do nothing without God's permission. 3. That God doth not permit him to tempt them above their strength: but assists them by his divine grace in such manner, that the vain efforts of the enemy only serve to illustrate their virtue and increase their merit. (Challoner) --- A similar prosopopeia occurs, 3 Kings 22:19., and Zacharias 1:10. (Calmet) --- Devils appear not in God's sight, but sometimes in presence of angels, who represent God. (St. Athanasius, q. 8. ad Antioc, (Worthington) or some ancient author.) --- The good angels can make known their orders to them, Zacharias 3:1., and Jude 9. Both good and bad spirits may be considered as the ministers of God. (Calmet) --- They appear in judgment; though the latter could not see the Lord. |
| Job 1:7 | And the Lord said to him: Whence comest thou? And he answered and said: I have gone round about the earth, and walked through it. | |
| Job 1:8 | And the Lord said to him: Hast thou considered my servant, Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a simple and upright man, and fearing God, and avoiding evil? | |
| Job 1:9 | And satan answering, said: Doth Job fear God in vain? | In vain, without recompense. (Haydock) |
| Job 1:10 | Hast not thou made a fence for him, and his house, and all his substance round about, blessed the works of his hands, and his possession hath increased on the earth? | |
| Job 1:11 | But stretch forth thy hand a little, and touch all that he hath, and see if he bless thee not to thy face. | Face, like a hypocrite, (Sanctius) or rather curse thee openly, ver. 5. (Haydock) |
| Job 1:12 | Then the Lord said to satan: Behold, all that he hath is in thy hand: only put not forth thy hand upon his person. And satan went forth from the presence of the Lord. | Hand. God permits evils. (Worthington) --- The devil can do nothing without leave. (Calmet) |
| Job 1:13 | Now upon a certain day, when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine, in the house of their eldest brother, | |
| Job 1:14 | There came a messenger to Job, and said: The oxen were ploughing, and the asses feeding beside them, | |
| Job 1:15 | And the Sabeans rushed in, and took all away, and slew the servants with the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell thee. | Sabeans, descended from Abraham, in the desert (Calmet) or happy Arabia. These nations lived on plunder. (Pliny, [Natural History?] 6:28.) (Menochius) |
| Job 1:16 | And while he was yet speaking, another came, and said: The fire of God fell from heaven, and striking the sheep and the servants, hath consumed them; and I alone have escaped to tell thee. | Heaven, or the air, where the devils exercise a power, Ephesians 2:2. |
| Job 1:17 | And while he also was yet speaking, there came another, and said: The Chaldeans made three troops, and have fallen upon the camels, and taken them; moreover, they have slain the servants with the sword: and I alone have escaped to tell thee. | Chaldeans. Some copies of the Septuagint read "horsemen." These nations inhabited the other side of the Euphrates, but made frequent incursions to plunder their neighbours. (Calmet) |
| Job 1:18 | He was yet speaking, and behold another came in, and said: Thy sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their eldest brother, | |
| Job 1:19 | A violent wind came on a sudden from the side of the desert, and shook the four corners of the house, and it fell upon thy children, and they are dead: and I alone have escaped to tell thee. | |
| Job 1:20 | Then Job rose up, and rent his garments, and having shaven his head, fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, | Head. Hebrew, torn his hair, and rolled in the dust. (Bochart) (Isaias 15:2., etc.) (Calmet) --- The fathers oppose this example to the apathy of the stoics. (St. Augustine, City of God 1:9.) (Romans 1:31.) |
| Job 1:21 | And said: *Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away: as it hath pleased the Lord, so is it done: blessed be the name of the Lord. Ecclesiastes 5:14.; 1 Timothy 6:7. | Thither. To that earth from which all are taken. (Haydock) --- Ista terra gentes omnes peperit et resumet demum. (Varro.) --- Ut mater operiens. (Pliny, [Natural History?] 2:63.) See 1 Timothy 6:7. --- As....done. Some copies of St. Jerome omit this, which is borrowed from the Septuagint. (Calmet) |
| Job 1:22 | In all these things Job sinned not by his lips, nor spoke he any foolish thing against God. | By his lips, is not in Hebrew but occurs [in] Job 2:10. --- God. Much less did he blaspheme, as satan had said, ver. 11. He did not consider all as the effect of chance, or like a mere philosopher. His thoughts were regulated by religion and the fear of God. (Calmet) --- The virtue of Job was so much the more wonderful, as he lived among the wicked. (St. Gregory) He bore patiently with the loss of all things: and English Catholics have often imitated him. (Worthington) --- He might well record his own good actions, the gifts of God, being moved by divine inspiration, like Moses, etc. (St. Gregory) |
| Job 2:0 | Satan, by God's permission, striketh Job with ulcers from head to foot: his patience is still invincible. | |
| Job 2:1 | And it came to pass, when on a certain day the sons of God came, and stood before the Lord, and satan came amongst them, and stood in his sight, | Day. Job had been under trial for some time, perhaps a year. (Calmet) |
| Job 2:2 | That the Lord said to satan: Whence comest thou? And he answered, and said: I have gone round about the earth, and walked through it. | Through it. Seeking whom he might devour, 1 Peter 5:8. (Haydock) |
| Job 2:3 | And the Lord said to satan: Hast thou considered my servant, Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a man simple and upright, and fearing God, and avoiding evil, and still keeping his innocence? But thou hast moved me against him, that I should afflict him without cause. | Simple. Plain-dealing, mild, and without guile. (St. Gregory) (Worthington) --- Without cause. This may form a new sentence. (Haydock) --- Thy proposal and attempts are vain. (Calmet) --- Job has not deserved this treatment. (St. Chrysostom, etc.) |
| Job 2:4 | And satan answered, and said: Skin for skin; and all that a man hath, he will give for his life: | Skin: a proverbial expression, denoting that a man will part with any thing sooner than his life, (Calmet) or health. (Haydock) --- Satan hints, that if those inestimable blessings should be endangered, (Calmet) Job would shew his real sentiments. (Haydock) --- Skin was formerly used instead of money, at Sparta. (Senec. Ben. 5:14., etc.) Yet perhaps not in the time of Job. |
| Job 2:5 | But put forth thy hand, and touch his bone and his flesh, and then thou shalt see that he will bless thee to thy face. | |
| Job 2:6 | And the Lord said to satan: Behold, he is in thy hand, but yet save his life. | Life. Afflict him with any species of illness; but do not kill him, (Calmet) nor inspire him directly with wicked thoughts. (Grotius) |
| Job 2:7 | So satan went forth from the presence of the Lord, and struck Job with a very grievous ulcer, from the sole of the foot even to the top of his head: | Ulcer; the leprosy: and even with that species which is called the venereal disease, which may be contracted without any crime. Job was afflicted with a complication of the most painful and disgraceful disorders. (Pineda) (Calmet) |
| Job 2:8 | And he took a potsherd and scraped the corrupt matter, sitting on a dunghill. | Potsherd. His nails were worn, and poverty had left him nothing else. --- Dunghill. Hebrew, "ashes." (Haydock) --- St. Chrysostom represents this place as visited by pilgrims, instructive and more brilliant than any throne. (Hom. 5. ad Pop. Ant.) -- Septuagint add, "upon the dung, without the city: and after a long time had elapsed, his wife also said to him, How long wilt thou wait, saying: Lo, I will still tarry a little while, expecting the hope of my salvation? For behold thy memory is perished from the land, thy sons and daughters, the pains and labours of my womb, whom I brought forth in labour and sorrow, to no purpose. But thou sittest in the open air, the night long, amid the corruption of worms, while I wander like a slave, seeking for one place and house after another, in expectation of the sun setting, that my labours may cease, and the sorrows which now surround and hold me fast. But speak thou some word to (or against) the Lord, and die." (Haydock) --- This addition has been omitted in the Complutensian edition, to make it like the Vulgate, (Calmet) though it is found in all the Greek copies (Nobilius) and fathers, and also in several Latin Bibles. It seems, however, to be only a gloss of some transcriber. The devil had not destroyed this wife, as she would prove one of his most powerful auxiliaries. (Calmet) |
| Job 2:9 | And his wife said to him: Dost thou still continue in thy simplicity? bless God and die. | Bless. She speaks with cruel irony. (Calmet) --- Curse God, that he may take away (St. Basil) thy miserable life; or, after taking this revenge on such unjust treatment, put an end to thy own existence. Beza and Amama excuse this woman, though condemned by Job. They pretend that she only meant to insinuate, like the rest of his friends, that he must be guilty of some grievous crime, which she urges him to confess, giving glory to God, before it be too late. (Haydock) |
| Job 2:10 | And he said to her: Thou hast spoken like one of the foolish women: If we have received good things at the hand of God, why should we not receive evil? In all these things Job did not sin with his lips. | Foolish. The same word often means impious, (chap. 1:22.) and ignorant, (Haydock) or "delirous." (Aquila) (Psalm 13:1.) --- Lips. The Jews assert, without reason, that he was guilty in his heart. (Calmet) |
| Job 2:11 | Now when Job's three friends heard all the evil that had befallen him, they came every one from his own place, Eliphaz, the Themanite, and Baldad, the Suhite, and Sophar, the Naamathite. For they had made an appointment to come together and visit him, and comfort him. | |
| Job 2:12 | And when they had lifted up their eyes afar off, they knew him not, and crying out, they wept, and rending their garments, they sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven. | Heaven. This denoted mourning or indignation, Josue 7:6., and Acts 22:23. |
| Job 2:13 | And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no man spoke to him a word: for they saw that his grief was very great. | Seven days, etc. They sat with him for a good part of the day, and of the night, during seven days: and spoke nothing all that time that could give him any uneasiness. (Challoner) (Menochius) (Olympiad.) --- They mourned for him as if he had been dead. Their mutual grief was too great for utterance. But the text seems to intimate that they remained with Job, all this time. (Scultet.) (Calmet) --- Their design in coming was really to afford him consolation; but being under a mistake, respecting the conduct of Providence towards mankind, (Calmet) they erred involuntarily, (Tirinus) and by attempting to prove their assertions, as if none but criminals could be so grievously afflicted, they eventually insulted the holy man, Tobias 2:15. --- They argued on the principle, "that under a just God no one is miserable, unless he have deserved it;" not reflecting that God sometimes puts his best servants to the trial, that their merit and glory may increase. Notwithstanding their piety and learning, they became therefore the devil's most powerful agents unawares: (Calmet) and though they were not properly heretics, as they acquiesced when better informed, they were a figure of them, by drawing from many undeniable truths false inferences, and by a parade of learning, and of new things. (St. Gregory, Mor. 3:24., and 5:18.) --- They also judged rashly of Job's secret behaviour. (Worthington) |
| Job 3:0 | Job expresseth his sense of the miseries of man's life, by cursing the day of his birth. | |
| Job 3:1 | After this, Job opened his mouth, and cursed his day, | Cursed his day. Job cursed the day of his birth, not by way of wishing evil to any thing of God's creation; but only to express in a stronger manner his sense of human miseries in general, and of his own calamities in particular. (Challoner) --- He has these only in view: though, in another light, it is better for a man to be born, and to undergo any misery, that he may obtain eternal rewards. (Haydock) --- Some allowances must be made for extreme pain, and for the style of the Eastern (Calmet) poetry. (Haydock) --- Jeremias 20:14., Habacuc 1:2., the psalmist, and even our Saviour in his agony, made use of such strong expressions, Matthew 26:39., and 27:46. Some heretics accuse Job of impatience and blasphemy. The devil, therefore, came off with victory; and the praises given to Job's patience are false. He might offend by some degree of exaggeration. (Calmet) --- But even that is by no means clear. Time past could not be recalled, nor receive any injury by the maledictions. (Haydock) |
| Job 3:2 | And he said: | |
| Job 3:3 | *Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said: A man-child is conceived. Jeremias 20:14. | |
| Job 3:4 | Let that day be turned into darkness, let not God regard it from above, and let not the light shine upon it. | |
| Job 3:5 | Let darkness, and the shadow of death, cover it, let a mist overspread it, and let it be wrapped up in bitterness. | |
| Job 3:6 | Let a darksome whirlwind seize upon that night, let it not be counted in the days of the year, nor numbered in the months. | |
| Job 3:7 | Let that night be solitary, and not worthy of praise. | Praise, by the appearance of the stars, Job 38:7. (Calmet) |
| Job 3:8 | Let them curse it who curse the day, who are ready to raise up a leviathan: | Day. The nations of Ethiopia, under the line, curse the sun as their greatest enemy. (Strabo xvii.) (Pliny, [Natural History?] 5:8.) --- They also brave the fury of the leviathan or crocodile, Job 40:27., and 41:1., and Psalm 73:14. The natives of Tentyra, upon the Nile, were supposed to be a terror to that monster, or they were very courageous in entangling and pursuing it. (Seneca, q. 4. 2.) (Pliny 8:25.) --- Leviathan. Protestants, "their mourning." De Dieu rejects this interpretation, substituting "and thou, leviathan, rouse up," etc. The fathers generally understand the devil to be thus designated. Septuagint, "he who is about to seize the great whale," (Haydock) or fish, which they also explain of the conflict of Satan with Jesus Christ. (Origen, etc.) |
| Job 3:9 | Let the stars be darkened with the mist thereof: let it expect light, and not see it, nor the rising of the dawning of the day: | |
| Job 3:10 | Because it shut not up the doors of the womb that bore me, nor took away evils from my eyes. | Nor took. Septuagint, "for it would then have freed my eyes from labour." |
| Job 3:11 | Why did I not die in the womb? why did I not perish when I came out of the belly? | In the. Hebrew, "from the womb," (Haydock) or as soon as I was born. (Calmet) --- He seems to have lost sight of original sin, (ver. 1.) or there might be some method of having it remitted to children unborn, which we do not know. (Haydock) |
| Job 3:12 | Why received upon the knees? why suckled at the breasts? | Knees, by my father or grandfather, Genesis 30:3. (Homer, Iliad ix.) (Calmet) |
| Job 3:13 | For now I should have been asleep and still, and should have rest in my sleep: | Sleep. So death is often styled. Olli dura quies oculos et ferreus urget Somnus: in aeternam clauduntur lumina noctem. (Virgil, Aeneid x.) |
| Job 3:14 | With kings and consuls of the earth, who build themselves solitudes: | Consuls. Hebrew, "counsellors," or any in great authority. Septuagint, "kings, the counsellors of the land, who rejoiced, boasting of their swords." The same word, choraboth, (Haydock) means both swords and solitudes. (Du Hamel) --- Those great ones had prepared their own tombs, which were usually in solitary places; (Calmet) or they had filled all with their extensive palaces; and removed the people to a distance. (Haydock) |
| Job 3:15 | Or with princes, that possess gold, and fill their houses with silver: | Houses, while alive; (Calmet) or their tombs were thus enriched with silver, (Menochius) as this practice was not uncommon, ver. 22. (Josephus, [Antiquities?] 13:15.) --- Marcian forbade it. St. Chrysostom complains it subsisted in his time. (Orat. Annae.) (Calmet) |
| Job 3:16 | Or as a hidden untimely birth, I should not be; or as they that, being conceived, have not seen the light. | Light; dying in the womb. He expresses a desire that he had been thus prevented from feeling his present miseries and danger of sin. (Haydock) |
| Job 3:17 | There the wicked cease from tumult, and there the wearied in strength are at rest. | Tumult. In the grave they can no longer disturb the world. (Menochius) --- In strength. Septuagint, "in body." Both heroes and labourers then find rest, (Calmet) if they have lived virtuously. (Haydock) |
| Job 3:18 | And they sometime bound together without disquiet, have not heard the voice of the oppressor. | Bound in chains, like incorrigible slaves, (Calmet) or debtors. (Cocceius.) --- These were formerly treated with great severity, Luke 12:59. (Calmet) |
| Job 3:19 | The small and great are there, and the servant is free from his master. | |
| Job 3:20 | Why is light given to him that is in misery, and life to them that are in bitterness of soul? | |
| Job 3:21 | That look for death, and it cometh not, as they that dig for a treasure: | Not. They feel the same eagerness for death as those who seek for a treasure; (Calmet) and when death is at hand, they rejoice no less than those who discover a grave, in which they hope to find some riches, ver. 15, 22. |
| Job 3:22 | And they rejoice exceedingly when they have found the grave? | Grave, full of stores, or the place where they may repose. (Haydock) |
| Job 3:23 | To a man whose way is hidden, and God hath surrounded him with darkness? | To. Why is life given to? etc. The uncertainty whether a man be worthy of love or hatred, (Ecclesiastes 9:1.) and whether he will persevere to the end, is what fills Job with distress; though we must trust that God will suffer none to be tempted above their strength, 1 Corinthians 10:13. --- He finds himself surrounded with precipices, and in the dark. (Calmet) --- So God often tries his faithful servants. (Du Hamel) |
| Job 3:24 | Before I eat I sigh: and as overflowing waters, so is my roaring: | Sigh, through difficulty of swallowing, (Pineda) or sense of misery. (Haydock) |
| Job 3:25 | For the fear which I feared, hath come upon me: and that which I was afraid of, hath befallen me. | Fear. In prosperity he feared the assaults of pride. Now he is in danger of yielding to impatience and despair. (Calmet) |
| Job 3:26 | Have I not dissembled? have I not kept silence? have I not been quiet? and indignation is come upon me. | Dissembled my sufferings, making no complaint, not only during the seven days that his friends had been with him, but long before. Hebrew and Septuagint, "I was not in safety, nor at rest; neither was I indolent: (Haydock; in the administration of affairs. Calmet) yet trouble came." (Haydock) --- I have enjoyed no peace, since the wrath of the Lord has found me. (Calmet) --- In such a situation, Job might well beg to be delivered, (Haydock) and to pray that those things which obstructed his repose in God might be removed; considering them not so much as the works of God, as the effects of sin. (Pineda) (Worthington) --- In this light he curses his birth-day, and will no longer look upon it as a joyful and happy day. (Du Hamel) |
| Job 4:0 | Eliphaz charges Job with impatience, and pretends that God never afflicts the innocent. | |
| Job 4:1 | Then Eliphaz, the Themanite, answered, and said: | Themanite. People of this city, about twelve miles from Petra, in Arabia, were renowned for wisdom, Jeremias 49:7., and Baruch 3:22. Pythagoras therefore visited this country. (St. Cyril, contra Jul. x.) --- Eliphaz attempts to prove that no innocent person is chastised. He does not speak of small faults, to which any person may be exposed, and which God may severely punish. But he will have Job to be a great offender, at least in secret, and represents himself in too advantageous a light; though he was really a good man, and meant well. (Calmet) --- But this did not exempt him from sin, (chap. 42.) no more than Eliu, Job 32. Bonum ex integra causa; malum ex quolibet defectu; as theologians agree. (Haydock) |
| Job 4:2 | If we begin to speak to thee, perhaps thou wilt take it ill; but who can withhold the words he hath conceived? | Conceived? and to which the speech of Job had given occasion. (Menochius) --- Septuagint, "Who shall bear the force of thy words? For if thou," etc. (Haydock) |
| Job 4:3 | Behold thou hast taught many, and thou hast strengthened the weary hands: | |
| Job 4:4 | Thy words have confirmed them that were staggering, and thou hast strengthened the trembling knees: | Knees. It is just that thou shouldst apply thy instructions to thyself. (Menochius) |
| Job 4:5 | But now the scourge is come upon thee, and thou faintest: It hath touched thee, and thou art troubled. | And thou. Septuagint, "and has touched thee. But thou makest haste" (Haydock) to flee. Hebrew, "art consternated." We may easily prescribe for others, but when we are sick we know not what to do. (Calmet) |
| Job 4:6 | Where is thy fear, thy fortitude, thy patience, and the perfection of thy ways? | Where? Septuagint, "Rather is not thy fear foolishness as well as thy hope, and the innocence of thy path?" (Haydock) --- Is not all hypocrisy? (Menochius) (Calmet) --- Many of the assertions of Job's friends are true, but their inferences are false. (Menochius) |
| Job 4:7 | Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished being innocent? or when were the just destroyed? | Destroyed? They never were eternally. But Abel and many other just persons, have been exposed to tribulation in this world, (Worthington) for their greater improvement. Yet Eliphaz falsely concludes from the sufferings of Job, that he must have been a criminal. (Calmet) --- If any one should now hold the same opinion, we should deem him very ignorant or foolish. But we have observed, (Preface) that this was not so obvious at that time. Cain, the giants, Her, Onan, Sodom, etc., had been made examples of divine vengeance. But a new order of things was now commencing. (Houbigant) |
| Job 4:8 | On the contrary, I have seen those who work iniquity, and sow sorrows, and reap them, | Reap them. He insinuates that Job now reaps what he had sown, Galatians 6:8. |
| Job 4:9 | Perishing by the blast of God, and consumed by the spirit of his wrath. | |
| Job 4:10 | The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the lioness, and the teeth of the whelps of lions, are broken: | |
| Job 4:11 | The tiger hath perished for want of prey, and the young lions are scattered abroad. | Tiger. Hebrew Layish, means also an "old lion." Septuagint murmekoleon, "ant-lion," which some have deemed fabulous, improperly. (Bochart, 6:5.) (Aelian, 17:42.) --- Eliphaz tacitly accuses Job of violence and pride. (Ven. Bede) (Calmet) |
| Job 4:12 | Now there was a word spoken to me in private, and my ears by stealth, as it were, received the veins of its whisper. | Private. Heretics pretend such obscure visions, rather to get credit than to edify others. (St. Gregory, 5:18.) (Worthington) --- Many suppose that Eliphaz was guilty of feigning: but the greatest part think that he had truly seen a vision, but did not draw the proper conclusions from it. (Calmet) --- Protestants, "Now a thing was secretly brought to me, and mine ear received a little thereof." (Haydock) |
| Job 4:13 | In the horror of a vision by night, when deep sleep is wont to hold men, | The horror. Hebrew, "thoughts," while I considered the cause of thy distress. (Calmet) |
| Job 4:14 | Fear seized upon me, and trembling, and all my bones were affrighted: | |
| Job 4:15 | And when a spirit passed before me, the hair of my flesh stood up. | Spirit: angel, or gentle breeze. (Calmet) |
| Job 4:16 | There stood one whose countenance I knew not, an image before my eyes, and I heard the voice, as it were, of a gentle wind. | And 1:Protestants, "there was silence, and I heard a voice." Marginal note, "a still voice." Septuagint, "But I heard a breeze and a voice." (Haydock) |
| Job 4:17 | *Shall man be justified in comparison of God, or shall a man be more pure than his Maker? Job 25:4. | Maker. It is thought that these were the words of the angel. If God punish without cause, may not the sufferer esteem himself the better of the two? You must therefore be guilty. (Calmet) --- Job would never dispute; but God was infinitely more pure than man, who may nevertheless be free from grievous sins. (Worthington) --- The highest angel has nothing but what he has received from God, in comparison with whom he is still as a mere nothing. But this does not prove that Job was a criminal, or that he pretended to arrogate to himself any excellence, independent of the giver of all good gifts. He did not assert that he was impeccable: yet, with God's grace, he might be innocent. (Calmet) |
| Job 4:18 | *Behold, they that serve him are not steadfast, and in his angels he found wickedness: Job 15:15. | Angels, who fell, as the fathers explain it. (Estius) (Tirinus) --- Hebrew, "behold, he put no trust in his servants, and his angels he charged with folly," Job 15:15., and 25:5., and 2 Peter 2:4. (Protestants) (Haydock) |
| Job 4:19 | How much more shall they that dwell in houses of clay, who have an earthly foundation, be consumed as with the moth? | Foundation. Children of Adam, whose bodies are taken from the dust. (Menochius) |
| Job 4:20 | From morning till evening they shall be cut down: and because no one understandeth, they shall perish for ever. | Understandeth. Hebrew, "regardeth." Septuagint, "can help himself." (Haydock) --- Man is justly punished because he does not reflect on what he ought. (Calmet) |
| Job 4:21 | And they that shall be left, shall be taken away from them: they shall die, and not in wisdom. | And they. Hebrew, "doth not their dignity pass away with them? They die without wisdom." (Haydock) --- This is but too frequently the case of the great ones of this world, who never discern true from false riches. (Calmet) |
| Job 5:0 | Eliphaz proceeds in his charge, and exhorts Job to acknowledge his sins. | |
| Job 5:1 | Call now, if there be any that will answer thee, and turn to some of the saints. | Saints. This is a proof of the invocation of the saints (Calmet) and angels. (Haydock) --- The Jews often begged God to have mercy on them for the sake of the patriarchs, 2 Paralipomenon 6:42. (Calmet) --- Eliphaz, therefore, exhorts Job, if he have any patron or angel, to bring him forward in his defence. (Menochius) --- Septuagint, "Invoke now if any one will hear thee, or if thou perceive any of the holy angels," (Haydock) as I have done. (Menochius) --- He extols himself, to correct the pretended presumption of his friend, (Calmet) and other defects, which none will dare to deny, as he supposes. See St. Gregory, 5:30. (Worthington) |
| Job 5:2 | Anger indeed killeth the foolish, and envy slayeth the little one. | Foolish and....little, here denote the wicked, as in the book of Proverbs. (Calmet) --- He accuses Job of anger (Menochius) and folly. (Calmet) |
| Job 5:3 | I have seen a fool with a strong root, and I cursed his beauty immediately. | And 1:Septuagint, "But presently their subsistence was eaten up." I envied not their riches: but judged they would soon end. (Haydock) |
| Job 5:4 | His children shall be far from safety, and shall be destroyed in the gate, and there shall be none to deliver them. | Gate, in judgment. (Menochius) |
| Job 5:5 | Whose harvest the hungry shall eat, and the armed man shall take him by violence, and the thirsty shall drink up his riches. | |
| Job 5:6 | Nothing upon earth is done without a cause, and sorrow doth not spring out of the ground. | Ground. If you had not sinned, you would not suffer. (Calmet) |
| Job 5:7 | Man is born to labour, and the bird to fly. | Bird. Hebrew, "sparks fly up." (Haydock) --- You can no more then expect to pass unpunished, since it is impossible for man to be innocent! (Calmet) and, at any rate, labour is inevitable. (Menochius) --- We must gain our bread by the sweat of our brow. [Genesis 3:19.] (Worthington) |
| Job 5:8 | Wherefore I will pray to the Lord, and address my speech to God: | I will, or if I were in your place, I would sue for pardon. (Calmet) --- Protestants, "I would seek unto God," (Haydock) under affliction. (Menochius) |
| Job 5:9 | Who doth great things, and unsearchable and wonderful things without number: | |
| Job 5:10 | Who giveth rain upon the face of the earth, and watereth all things with waters: | |
| Job 5:11 | Who setteth up the humble on high, and comforteth with health those that mourn. | |
| Job 5:12 | Who bringeth to nought the designs of the malignant, so that their hands cannot accomplish what they had begun: | |
| Job 5:13 | *Who catcheth the wise in their craftiness, and disappointeth the counsel of the wicked: 1 Corinthians 3:19. | |
| Job 5:14 | They shall meet with darkness in the day, and grope at noon-day as in the night. | |
| Job 5:15 | But he shall save the needy from the sword of their mouth, and the poor from the hand of the violent. | Mouth; detraction and calumny. (Calmet) |
| Job 5:16 | And to the needy there shall he hope, but iniquity shall draw in her mouth. | |
| Job 5:17 | Blessed is the man whom God correcteth: refuse not, therefore, the chastising of the Lord: | |
| Job 5:18 | For he woundeth, and cureth: he striketh, and his hands shall heal. | |
| Job 5:19 | In six troubles he shall deliver thee, and in the seventh, evil shall not touch thee. | In six, mentioned below; (Menochius) or in many, indefinitely. (Calmet) --- Both during the six days of (Menochius) life, and at death, God's grace delivers us. (St. Gregory) (Worthington) |
| Job 5:20 | In famine he shall deliver thee from death; and in battle, from the hand of the sword. | |
| Job 5:21 | Thou shalt be hidden from the scourge of the tongue: and thou shalt not fear calamity when it cometh. | Scourge. Ecclesiasticus (xxvi. 9., and 28:21.) has the same expression. See James 3:6. (Calmet) --- Calamity, from robbers, as the Hebrew shod, (Haydock) intimates. The word is rendered destruction, vastitate, ver. 22. (Menochius) |
| Job 5:22 | In destruction and famine thou shalt laugh: and thou shalt not be afraid of the beasts of the earth. | |
| Job 5:23 | But thou shalt have a covenant with the stones of the lands, and the beasts of the earth shall be at peace with thee. | Stones, so as not to stumble; or, the rocks will be a retreat for thee. |
| Job 5:24 | And thou shalt know that thy tabernacle is in peace, and visiting thy beauty, thou shalt not sin. | Beauty does not mean his wife, as some grossly imagine, (Calmet) but a house well ordered. (Menochius) --- Hebrew, "thy habitation." Yet Sanchez adopts the former sentiment. In effect, the habitation includes all the regulation of a wife and family. (Haydock) |
| Job 5:25 | Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be multiplied, and thy offspring like the grass of the earth. | |
| Job 5:26 | Thou shalt enter into the grave in abundance, as a heap of wheat is brought in in its season. | Abundance. "With loud lamentations." (De Dieu) --- "In full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in its season." (Protestants) --- After a life spent in happiness, thy memory will not be obliterated. Many shall bewail thy loss. (Haydock) |
| Job 5:27 | Behold, this is even so, as we have searched out: which thou having heard, consider it thoroughly in thy mind. | Which thou. Septuagint, "And what we have heard: but do thou reflect with thyself what thou hast done." (Haydock) --- What had been revealed to Eliphaz was very true. Yet his conclusions were unwarrantable. (Calmet) --- How confidently does he speak of his own knowledge, and how great must have been his disappointment, when God condemned him of folly, and sent him to be the prayers of that very man whom he now considered as a wretched sinner! (Haydock) |
| Job 6:0 | Job maintains his innocence, and complains of his friends. | |
| Job 6:1 | But Job answered, and said: | |
| Job 6:2 | O that my sins, whereby I have deserved wrath, and the calamity that I suffer, were weighed in a balance. | My sins, etc. In the Hebrew my wrath. He does not mean to compare his sufferings with his real sins; but with the imaginary crimes which his friends falsely imputed to him: and especially with his wrath or grief, expressed in the third chapter, which they so much accused. Though, as he tells them here, it bore no proportion with the greatness of his calamity. (Challoner) --- Job does not deny but he may have transgressed. (Calmet) See Job 7:20. --- But his is not conscious of any mortal offence; such as his friends insisted he must have committed, as he was so cruelly tormented. (Haydock) --- Some deny canonical authority to the words of Job, because God reprehended him. But St. Gregory (Mor. vii.) says, Ab aeterno judice casurus laudari non potuit. (Du Hamel) --- "The man who was on the point of falling, could not be praised by the eternal Judge;" (Haydock) and it seems to be a mistake that Job erred, (Houbigant) though asserted by many. See Calmet; Worthington, etc. --- Wrath. Hebrew, "O that my grief (Haydock; or complaints. Calmet) were thoroughly weighed, and my calamity laid in the balances together." (Protestants) (Haydock) --- A just man confesses his own sins, but not those which are wrongfully laid to his charge. (Worthington) |
| Job 6:3 | As the sand of the sea, this would appear heavier: therefore, my words are full of sorrow: | Heavier. The figure hyperbole is frequently used in Scripture, to give us some idea of what surpasses our understanding. Job intimates that the punishment was incomparably greater than his sins. As he and other saints, particularly our Saviour [Jesus Christ] and the blessed Virgin [Mary], have thus patiently suffered more than they had deserved, these merits form part of that treasure of the Church, out of which the pope and bishops are empowered to dispense indulgences, to release people from the pains due to sin, either in this world or in purgatory. (Worthington) --- Septuagint, "Yea, these (sorrows) are heavier than the sand of the sea-shore. But, it seems my words are wicked." (Haydock) |
| Job 6:4 | For the arrows of the Lord are in me, the rage whereof drinketh up my spirit, and the terrors of the Lord war against me. | Rage. Hebrew, "poison," (Haydock) or "venom;" (Chaldean; Menochius) as it was customary to use poisoned arrows. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "When I begin to speak, they pierce me. For what! Does the wild ass continually bray, except when he is in quest of food?" (Haydock) --- It is easy for those to be silent who suffer nothing. The wild asses were so common in those parts, (Calmet) that Herod sometimes slew 40 in a hunt. (Josephus, Jewish Wars 1:16.) --- Many fabulous accounts have been given of them. Some are still found in Ethiopia resembling a mule, except in the ears, and beautifully striped with grey, black, and reddish colours. (Bernier) |
| Job 6:5 | Will the wild ass bray when he hath grass? or will the ox low when he standeth before a full manger? | |
| Job 6:6 | Or can an unsavoury thing be eaten, that is not seasoned with salt? or can a man taste that which, when tasted, bringeth death? | Salt. I wonder not that you should consider my lamentations as insipid; I now find some consolation in them, ver. 7. (Calmet) --- Or can. Hebrew, "or is there any taste in the white of an egg?" (Protestants) or in blue milk? (Mercer) or "in the spittle, which a man swallows in a dream?" See Isaias 28:8. If pain did not extort these complaints, should I find any pleasure in them? (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "is there any taste in vain words?" Can I hear your arguments without indignation? (Haydock) (Menochius) --- Some manuscripts add, "For to a hungry soul even bitter things appear to be sweet," from Proverbs 27:7. (Calmet) |
| Job 6:7 | The things which before my soul would not touch, now, through anguish, are my meats. | |
| Job 6:8 | Who will grant that my request may come: and that God may give me what I look for? | |
| Job 6:9 | And that he that hath begun may destroy me, that he may let loose his hand, and cut me off? | Off, and release me from this state of misery and danger. (Haydock) --- He is ready to die cheerfully, if it be God's will. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "May the Lord, who has begun, wound me, but not take me away finally. Yea, let my city, over which I have exulted, be my grave. I will not spare, for I have not belied a word of my holy God." (Haydock) |
| Job 6:10 | And that this may be my comfort, that afflicting me with sorrow, he spare not, nor I contradict the words of the Holy one. | |
| Job 6:11 | For what is my strength, that I can hold out? or what is my end, that I should keep patience? | End. Septuagint, "time." I am too weak and short-lived to bear all this. (Haydock) --- I can perceive no end. (Menochius) --- Keep. Protestants, "prolong my life." (Haydock) --- "What is the extent of my soul, to reach so far?" (Calmet) --- Longanimity is the characteristic of a great soul. (Haydock) |
| Job 6:12 | My strength is not the strength of stones, nor is my flesh of brass. | Brass. This is proverbial. Homer (Iliad A) says, "Attack the Greeks; their skin is neither of stone, (Calmet) iron, or brass." Those who are aware of their own frailty, ought not to expose themselves to dangerous company, particularly to those of the other sex. |
| Job 6:13 | Behold there is no help for me in myself, and my familiar friends also are departed from me. | Myself. "Have I not placed my trust in him?" God alone. (Haydock) --- All my other friends have abandoned me, ver. 15. (Calmet) --- Can they wonder if I express my grief? (Haydock) --- Familiar. Hebrew, "is wisdom removed far from me?" (Haydock) --- Has my strength abandoned me, so that I cannot be recognized? (Calmet) |
| Job 6:14 | He that taketh away mercy from his friend, forsaketh the fear of the Lord. | |
| Job 6:15 | My brethren have passed by me, as the torrent that passeth swiftly in the valleys. | |
| Job 6:16 | They that fear the hoary frost, the snow shall fall upon them. | Them. They shall run from a less to a greater evil. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "Those who respected me, have now fallen upon me, like snow or ice; (17) as when it is consumed with heat, it is no longer known where it was: (18) thus I have been abandoned by all, lost and expelled from my house." Consider, (19) Hebrew continues, in the comparison of the torrents, (15) "which are hidden by the ice and snow," and are left dry and of no service in summer, when most wanted. (Haydock) --- So these friends stood by me only in the days of my prosperity. (Calmet) --- Luther and the Dutch version follow the Vulgate, Amama says, improperly. He proposes that of Pagnin, "which (torrents) are darkened by the ice. Snow is concealed in (Montanus, upon) them." (Haydock) |
| Job 6:17 | At the time when they shall be scattered they shall perish: and after it groweth hot, they shall be melted out of their place. | |
| Job 6:18 | The paths of their steps are entangled: they shall walk in vain, and shall perish. | Entangled. Like meandering streams, my friends act crookedly. (Menochius) |
| Job 6:19 | Consider the paths of Thema, the ways of Saba, and wait a little while. | While. Till the torrents subside, when the caravans from these towns of Arabia may pass on. Job may also address his friends, (Calmet) and bid them consider how few had taken any notice of him. (Menochius) --- Protestants, "the troops of Tema looked, the companies of Sheba waited for them." |
| Job 6:20 | They are confounded, because I have hoped: they are come also even unto me, and are covered with shame. | 1:Hebrew, "they had hoped" to pass along. (Haydock) |
| Job 6:21 | Now you are come: and now, seeing my affliction, you are afraid. | Come. Hebrew, "are good for nothing." (Calmet) --- Protestant marginal note, "like to them." |
| Job 6:22 | Did I say: Bring to me, and give me of your substance? | |
| Job 6:23 | Or deliver me from the hand of the enemy, and rescue me out of the hand of the mighty? | |
| Job 6:24 | Teach me, and I will hold my peace: and if I have been ignorant in any thing, instruct me. | |
| Job 6:25 | Why have you detracted the words of truth, whereas there is none of you that can reprove me? | Why. Hebrew, "How strong are the words of truth!" (Calmet) --- Whereas. Protestants, "But what doth your arguing reprove?" What part of my discourse do you find erroneous? Septuagint, "But it seems the words of the man of truth are deceitful. Yet I do not beg from you (a word or) strength." (Haydock) |
| Job 6:26 | You dress up speeches only to rebuke, and you utter words to the wind. | Wind. Job humbles the vanity of Eliphaz. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "nor shall your rebuke silence my words: for I will not admit the sound of your discourse. Nay, you rush," etc. |
| Job 6:27 | You rush in upon the fatherless, and you endeavour to overthrow your friend. | |
| Job 6:28 | However, finish what you have begun: give ear, and see whether I lie. | |
| Job 6:29 | Answer, I beseech you, without contention: and speaking that which is just, judge ye. | |
| Job 6:30 | And you shall not find iniquity in my tongue, neither shall folly sound in my mouth. | Mouth. He engages their attention. (Calmet) --- Hebrew, "Cannot my taste discern perverse things," (Protestants; Haydock) or "the evil" which I endure? My complaints are not surely unfounded. (Calmet) |
| Job 7:0 | Job declares the miseries of man's life: and addresses himself to God. | |
| Job 7:1 | The life of man upon earth is a warfare, and his days are like the days of a hireling. | Warfare. Hebrew, "is it not determined" (Haydock) for some short space, as the Levites had to serve from 30 to 50 years of age; (Numbers 4:3., and 8:25.) and the days of a hireling are also defined and short, Isaias 16:14. (Amama) --- No soldier or hireling was ever treated so severely as Job. Yet they justly look for the term of their labours. Septuagint have peiraterion. Old Vulgate tentatio. "Is not the life of man a temptation?" (Calmet) --- Palaestra, school, or time given to learn the exercise of a soldier and wrestler; or of one who has to prepare himself for a spiritual warfare, and for heaven. (Haydock) --- Are we not surrounded with dangers? and may we not desire to be set at liberty? The Vulgate is very accurate, (Calmet) and includes all these senses. (Haydock) --- A soldier must be obedient even unto death, and never resist his superior. (Worthington) --- Hireling, who has no rest till the day is spent. (Calmet) |
| Job 7:2 | As a servant longeth for the shade, as the hireling looketh for the end of his work; | |
| Job 7:3 | So I also have had empty months, and have numbered to myself wearisome nights. | And have. Hebrew, "they have appointed for me." (Calmet) --- God treats me with more severity, as even the night is not a time of rest for me, and my months of service are without any present recompense. (Haydock) |
| Job 7:4 | If I lie down to sleep, I shall say: When shall I rise? and again, I shall look for the evening, and shall be filled with sorrows even till darkness. | And again. Hebrew, "and the night be completed, I toss to and fro," (Haydock) or "I am disturbed with dreams, (Calmet) till day break." Vulgate insinuates that night and day are equally restless to a man in extreme pain. (Haydock) --- As I find no comfort, why may I not desire to die? (Menochius) --- I desire to be dissolved, as being much better, said St. Paul. [Philippians 1:23.] |
| Job 7:5 | My flesh is clothed with rottenness and the filth of dust; my skin is withered and drawn together. | |
| Job 7:6 | My days have passed more swiftly than the web is cut by the weaver, and are consumed without any hope. | Web. Hebrew, "the weaver's shuttle," Job 16:23., and Isaias 38:12. (Haydock) --- The pagans have used the same comparison. But they make the three daughters of Necessity guide the thread of life. (Plato, Rep. xii.; Natal. 3:6.) --- Septuagint, "my life is swifter than speech." Tetrapla, "than a runner." (Calmet) --- Hope. Heu fugit, etc. Ah! time is flying , never to return! (Haydock) |
| Job 7:7 | Remember that my life is but wind, and my eye shall not return to see good things. | Wind. What is life compared with eternity, or even with past ages? (Calmet) --- "What is any one? Yea, what is no one? Men are the dream of a shadow," says Pindar; (Pyth. viii. Skias onar onthropoi) "like the baseless fabric of a vision." (Shakespeare) |
| Job 7:8 | Nor shall the sight of man behold me: thy eyes are upon me, and I shall be no more. | Eyes, in anger, (Calmet) or thy mercy will come too late when I shall be no more. |
| Job 7:9 | As a cloud is consumed, and passeth away: so he that shall go down to hell shall not come up. | Hell, or the grave. (Menochius) --- He was convinced of the resurrection. But he meant that, according to the natural course, we can have no means of returning to this world after we are dead. |
| Job 7:10 | Nor shall he return any more into his house, neither shall his place know him any more. | More. This may be explained both of the soul and of the body, Psalm 102:16. The former resides in the body for a short time, and then seems to take no farther notice of it (Calmet) till the resurrection. |
| Job 7:11 | Wherefore, I will not spare my mouth, I will speak in the affliction of my spirit: I will talk with the bitterness of my soul. | Mouth. I will vent my bitter complaints before I die. (Haydock) |
| Job 7:12 | Am I a sea, or a whale, that thou hast inclosed me in a prison? | Sea. Ungovernable and malicious. Some of the ancients looked upon the sea as a huge animal, whose breathing caused the tides. (Strabo i.; Solin xxxii.) --- They represented its fury as proverbial. "Fire, the sea, and woman are three evils;" and they call the most savage people sons of Neptune. (Agel. 15:21.) --- Am I so violent as to require such barriers? Am I capacious, or strong enough to bear such treatment? (Calmet) |
| Job 7:13 | If I say: My bed shall comfort me, and I shall be relieved, speaking with myself on my couch: | |
| Job 7:14 | Thou wilt frighten me with dreams, and terrify me with visions. | |
| Job 7:15 | So that my soul rather chooseth hanging, and my bones death. | Hanging. Protestants, "strangling and death, rather than my life," or Marginal note, "bones." (Haydock) --- Any species of Death would be preferable to this misery. (Calmet) --- Who would not entertain the same sentiments, if the fear of worse in the other world did not withhold him? But Job had reason to hope that his sorrows would end with his life. (Haydock) --- It is thought that he was dreadfully tempted to despair. (Calmet) --- Yet he resisted manfully, and overcame all attempts of the wicked one. |
| Job 7:16 | I have done with hope, I shall now live no longer: spare me, for my days are nothing. | Hope of surviving this misery. (Haydock) |
| Job 7:17 | What is a man that thou shouldst magnify him? or why dost thou set thy heart upon him? | Magnify him, or put him to such severe trials. He is not worthy of thy attention. (Calmet) --- Hebrews 2:6. (Haydock) |
| Job 7:18 | Thou visitest him early in the morning, and thou provest him suddenly. | Suddenly. During his whole life, he is exposed to dangers; (Calmet) of if, at first, he taste some comfort, that is presently over. The greatest saints have experienced this treatment. (Haydock) |
| Job 7:19 | How long wilt thou not spare me, nor suffer me to swallow down my spittle? | |
| Job 7:20 | I have sinned: what shall I do to thee, O keeper of men? why hast thou set me opposite to thee, and am I become burdensome to myself? | Sinned. I acknowledge my frailty. (Menochius) --- How may I obtain redress? (Calmet) --- Job's friends maintained that he was guilty. But he does not acquiesce in their conclusion, that these sufferings were precisely in punishment of some crime, though he acknowledges that he is not without his faults. (Haydock) --- Shall. Hebrew also, "what have I done to thee?" I have only hurt myself. But this reasoning is nugatory. Though God loses nothing by our sins, they are no less offensive to him, as the rebel does his utmost to disturb the order which he has established. The sinner indeed resembles those brutal people, who hurl darts against the sun, which fall upon their own heads, Job 3:8. (Calmet) --- Opposite, as a butt to shoot at. (Haydock) --- Myself. Hebrew was formerly "to thee," till the Jews changed it, as less respectful. (Cajetan) --- Septuagint still read, "and why am I a burden to thee?" (Haydock) as I am under the necessity of complaining, in my own defence. (Calmet) --- I throw my grief upon the Lord, that He may support me, Psalm 54:23., and 1 Peter 5:7. (Pineda) |
| Job 7:21 | Why dost thou not remove my sin, and why dost thou not take away my iniquity? Behold now I shall sleep in the dust: and if thou seek me in the morning, I shall not be. | Be. He lovingly expostulates with God, and begs that he would hasten his deliverance, lest it should be too late. (Calmet) |
| Job 8:0 | Baldad, under pretence of defending the justice of God, accuses Job, and exhorts him to return to God. | |
| Job 8:1 | Then Baldad, the Suhite, answered, and said: | Suhite, from Sue, the son of Abraham, who dwelt in the desert Arabia; (Genesis 25:2.) though several suppose, without reason, (Calmet) that Baldad resided at Sueta, in Coelosyria. (Menochius) --- He was the second in age and dignity. (Pineda) |
| Job 8:2 | How long wilt thou speak these things, and how long shall the words of thy mouth be like a strong wind? | How long. He seems tired with hearing, (Haydock) and accuses Job of want of moderation, representing him as a hypocrite, (Calmet) and an obstinate defender of his own opinion, against the better judgment of Eliphaz; (Menochius) though he was in reality only a constant asserter of truth. (Worthington) |
| Job 8:3 | Doth God pervert judgment, or doth the Almighty overthrow that which is just? | Just. He begins with the same principle as Eliphaz, which nobody denied. But he does not reflect, that God may cause even the just to be afflicted, for their trial and improvement. |
| Job 8:4 | Although thy children have sinned against him, and he hath left them in the hand of their iniquity: | Iniquity, and suffered them to perish. (Calmet) |
| Job 8:5 | Yet if thou wilt arise early to God, and wilt beseech the Almighty: | |
| Job 8:6 | If thou wilt walk clean and upright, he will presently awake unto thee, and will make the dwelling of thy justice peaceable: | Peaceable. Justice and peace shall kiss. (Haydock) --- Prosperity will attend the righteous. (Calmet) |
| Job 8:7 | In so much, that if thy former things were small, thy latter things would be multiplied exceedingly. | |
| Job 8:8 | For inquire of the former generation, and search diligently into the memory of the fathers: | |
| Job 8:9 | (For we are but of yesterday, and are ignorant* that our days upon earth are but a shadow:) Job 14:2.; Psalm 144:4. | That. Hebrew, "because our days." (Haydock) --- Baldad strives, in vain, to prove what nobody contested. But he does not come to the point, and shew that Job was guilty. Past histories might have informed him that the just are often persecuted, like Abel, Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph. (Calmet) --- It is true, these were afterwards conforted in honour, except the first, who was slain, and better off in the other world. But Job might hope for the same treatment; and no man can be pronounced happy or miserable till his death. After a storm a calm frequently ensues; as Baldad might have seen verified in the person of his friend, if he had waited patiently, and not judged so peremptorily from equivocal arguments. (Haydock) --- We must allow, however, that what he said had been generally true. (Houbigant) |
| Job 8:10 | And they shall teach thee: they shall speak to thee, and utter words out of their hearts. | |
| Job 8:11 | Can the rush be green without moisture? or a sedge-bush grow without water? | Sedge-bush, or flag. Hebrew achu; so called, because from one root many brothers (as it were) spring. Septuagint style it Boutomon, as it was usually "cut for oxen," Genesis 41:2. (Parkhurst) (Haydock) --- As plants die without suction, so do those who depart from God. (Menochius) |
| Job 8:12 | When it is yet in flower, and is not plucked up with the hand, it withereth before all herbs. | Herbs, for want of moisture. (Calmet) --- Sic transit gloria mundi. (Haydock) --- The prophets often compare the prosperity of the wicked to grass, (Psalm 36:2., and James 1:10.) and Baldad ranks Job with them. |
| Job 8:13 | Even so are the ways of all that forget God, and the hope of the hypocrite shall perish: | |
| Job 8:14 | His folly shall not please him, and his trust shall be like the spider's web. | Him, the hypocrite, or God. (Calmet) --- Both shall one day condemn the ill use of riches. (Haydock) |
| Job 8:15 | He shall lean upon his house, and it shall not stand: he shall prop it up, and it shall not rise: | He. The spider, or rather the hypocrite, who will not be able to screen himself, by his possessions, from the wrath of God. (Calmet) |
| Job 8:16 | He seemeth to have moisture before the sun cometh; and at his rising, his blossom shall shoot forth. | Seemeth. Hebrew, "he is green before the sun" beat upon him. --- Rising, ortu, for horto, (Haydock) as the Hebrew, etc., have "garden," (Menochius) with some Latin editions. He had compared the wicked to a rush without moisture. But the just is like a plant in a fine garden, which is not hurt by the sun beams. It will grow even among stones, (Calmet) and may be transplanted without danger, ver. 19. (Haydock) --- The whole may be, however, a continuation of the former simile. The rush will presently be scorched, as if it were thrown among stones, and its place will know it no longer, ver. 18. (Menochius) |
| Job 8:17 | His roots shall be thick upon a heap of stones, and among the stones he shall abide. | |
| Job 8:18 | If one swallow him up out of his place, he shall deny him, and shall say: I know thee not. | |
| Job 8:19 | For this is the joy of his way, that others may spring again out of the earth. | Joy. Septuagint, "the catastrophe of the wicked, for another shall spring," etc. Haydock) |
| Job 8:20 | God will not cast away the simple, nor reach out his hand to the evil doer: | |
| Job 8:21 | Until thy mouth be filled with laughter, and thy lips with rejoicing. | Until. If thou be simple, (Haydock) or irreproachable, (Calmet) God will make thee exult. (Haydock) --- Until, etc. (Menochius) --- He will restore thee to thy former state of affluence. (Calmet) |
| Job 8:22 | They that hate thee, shall be clothed with confusion: and the dwelling of the wicked shall not stand. | |
| Job 9:0 | Job acknowledges God's justice: although he often afflicts the innocent. | |
| Job 9:1 | And Job answered, and said: | |
| Job 9:2 | Indeed I know it is so, and that man cannot be justified, compared with God. | God. Job answers both his friends, and with admirable humility acknowledges that in God's sight he is full of defects; but not of such a nature as to fall (Calmet) under the cognizance of man. I am not conscious to myself of anything; but....God is the judge, 1 Corinthians 4:4. (Haydock) |
| Job 9:3 | If he will contend with him, he cannot answer him one for a thousand. | Thousand. Psalm 142:2. "Woe even to the praise-worthy life of man, if God judge without mercy." (St. Augustine) (Haydock) |
| Job 9:4 | He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: who hath resisted him, and hath had peace? | Resisted. Hebrew and Septuagint, "hardened himself against him." |
| Job 9:5 | Who hath removed mountains, and they whom he overthrew in his wrath, knew it not. | Removed, by earthquakes. (Pliny, [Natural History?] 2:83.) (Calmet) --- In Calabria, 5th February, etc., 1783, during the most destructive and dreadful earthquake, a level valley was removed entire about a mile, and a hill, with the trees still growing, was projected down a declivity half a mile, and another above four miles. (Sir W. Hamilton) --- Septuagint, "who makes the mountains grown old, and they know not who overturns them in his wrath." (Haydock) --- Kings and empires fall to ruin at his command. (Calmet) |
| Job 9:6 | Who shaketh the earth out of her place, and the pillars thereof tremble. | Pillars. These are represented as fixed in the waters, Proverbs 8:29., and Psalm 27:16., etc. |
| Job 9:7 | Who commandeth the sun, and it riseth not: and shutteth up the stars, as it were, under a seal: | Seal. So that they appear not. He alludes (Calmet) to masters confining their servants with seals, before locks were invented. (Macrob. 7:3.) --- From these noble effects of God's power, Job takes occasion to humble himself. (Calmet) |
| Job 9:8 | Who alone spreadeth out the heavens, and walketh upon the waves of the sea. | Heavens, like a tent, Psalm 103:2. These nations lived under tents; (Calmet) and beholding the magnificent one which God had spread over the heads of all, Job, in rapture, (Haydock) wonders that he should have created such a pavilion for his servants. |
| Job 9:9 | Who maketh Arcturus, and Orion, and Hyades, and the inner parts of the south. | Arcturus, etc. These are names of stars or constellations. In Hebrew, Hash, Cesil, and Cima. (Challoner) --- And chadre theman, (Haydock) the "bottom or seals of the south," which were to him invisible, being the Antarctic constellations. The ancients were acquainted only with these four, (Homer; Virgil, Aeneid iii., etc.) which denoted the four quarters and seasons. (Calmet) --- Ash, Arcturus, "the bear's tail," near the north pole, (Haydock) rules in autumn, when the year begins (Calmet) in Arabia. Cesil, (Haydock) or Orion, on the west, styled by astronomers "the heart of the scorpion," rises about the autumnal equinox, and presides over winter; (Calmet) and Cima, (Haydock) the Hyades, or the seven "rainy" stars, do over spring, the "pleasing" season, as Cima denotes, (chap. 38:31.) when navigation commences. "The seals of the south," designate summer. (Calmet) --- We must not, however, imagine that Job countenances poetical fables; (St. Jerome in Amos 5:8.) or that he called the constellations by these names, Arcturus, etc. (Calmet) --- Hebrew, "who makes the fire, the spirit, and the light," Cima, Job 38:31. (Haydock) --- The creation of these seems grander than the making of any constellation, and all the stars had been asserted to be the work of God, ver. 7. What connection is there between the names assigned by the Rabbins and the Hebrew terms? R. Abraham observes that the last is "a northern star, causing heat, and producing fruit." (Parkhurst) --- The Arabs were convinced of the influence of the stars; (chap. 38:31.) and living under a sky generally without clouds, could easily observe them. (Roger. 2:2., and 15.) --- Sanchez asserts, that the peasants in Spain can point out the stars by name. (Calmet) --- Inner. Protestants, "the chambers." They agree with the Vulgate in the other names. Septuagint, "who makes the Pleiads, and Hesper, and Arcturus, and the store-rooms of the south?["] (Haydock) --- They are styled inner with respect to us, who cannot see them. |
| Job 9:10 | Who doth things great and incomprehensible, and wonderful, of which there is no number. | |
| Job 9:11 | If he come to me, I shall not see him: if he depart, I shall not understand. | Understand, as he is a spirit; (Menochius) and not that God is changeable, but his works and judgments are above our comprehension, and we are always liable to change. Hence the proud erroneously think themselves to be in favour; while the humble, on the contrary, keep at a distance, and still sue for pardon, when their sins have been forgiven, Luke 18:13., and Ecclesiasticus 2:1. (Calmet) |
| Job 9:12 | If he examine on a sudden, who shall answer him? or who can say: Why dost thou so? | |
| Job 9:13 | God, whose wrath no man can resist, and under whom they stoop that bear up the world. | God. Protestants, "If God will not withdraw his anger, the proud helpers do stoop under him." Septuagint, "For he is not turned aside by wrath;" (or Roman edition) "God, whose anger cannot be averted," (Haydock) unless we repent: (Calmet) "under him the whales below heaven bend." (Haydock) --- Perhaps they may have had some notions, like the Rabbins, respecting Leviathan; and St. Jerome may have alluded to the fable of the giants placed under mountains; (Virgil, Aeneid iii., and ix.; Calmet) or to Atalas propping the skies. (Haydock) --- World. Great heroes, (Calmet) Kings, (Pineda) angels, (Menochius) who move the spheres, (Worthington) or devils, Ephesians 6:12. (Cajetan) |
| Job 9:14 | What am I then, that I should answer him, and have words with him? | What? Hebrew, "Much less shall I answer him, choosing even my words with him." (Haydock) --- This is the conclusion from the display of God's power. (Calmet) --- No eloquence will persuade him. (Haydock) --- Though not conscious of any sin, Job will not justify himself (1 Corinthians iv.; Worthington) before God. (Haydock) |
| Job 9:15 | I, who although I should have any just thing, would not answer, but would make supplication to my judge. | |
| Job 9:16 | And if he should hear me when I call, I should not believe that he had heard my voice. | Voice. So much am I beneath his notice. How unjust were the aspersions of Job's friends, who accused him of presumption and blasphemy! (Calmet) --- No one ever spoke with greater humility (Haydock) and respect of God's absolute dominion. (Calmet) --- He will attribute nothing to his own prayers, as he is still in the dark. (Menochius) |
| Job 9:17 | For he shall crush me in a whirlwind, and multiply my wounds even without cause. | Without cause. That is, without my knowing the cause; or without any crime of mine. (Challoner) --- To argue from my afflictions, that I am a criminal, is unjust, Job 2:3. "Notions mistaken, reasonings ill apply'd, And sophisms that conclude on either side." (Pope, Pleasures, etc.) |
| Job 9:18 | He alloweth not my spirit to rest, and he filleth me with bitterness. | |
| Job 9:19 | If strength be demanded, he is most strong: if equity of judgment, no man dare bear witness for me. | Equity. Hebrew, "if judgment, who will appoint me a time," (Haydock) or "set me before him," and undertake my defence? Who will dare to sit as judge between us? |
| Job 9:20 | If I would justify myself, my own mouth shall condemn me: if I would shew myself innocent, he shall prove me wicked. | Condemn me, as this conduct would appear presumptuous. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "if I be just, my mouth will utter impiety," (Haydock) in declaring it. (Olymp.) |
| Job 9:21 | Although I should be simple, even this my soul shall be ignorant of, and I shall be weary of my life. | Life, under this uncertainty and affliction. (Menochius) |
| Job 9:22 | One thing there is that I have spoken, both the innocent and the wicked he consumeth. | Consumeth. Ecclesiastes 9:2. (Haydock) --- This principle is incontrovertible. (Worthington) --- I do not retract it. (Menochius) --- The misery inflicted on the just, is not contrary to the goodness of the Almighty. Job perfectly discovered this truth, which puzzled his enlightened friends, and most of those who lived before Christ; (Psalm 72:2., and Jeremias 12:1.; Calmet) and even Job himself was not fully convinced of the motives of the Providence, till God had explained them. (Houbigant) (Chap. 42.) |
| Job 9:23 | If he scourge, let him kill at once, and not laugh at the pains of the innocent. | Innocent. Having expressed his sentiments clearly, now he mentions what he could desire under the pressure of misery. (Menochius) --- Seeing the danger of falling, to which he was exposed, he begged to be delivered by death. We are taught by our Saviour to pray, Lead us not into temptation, Matthew 6:13. God does not laugh at our sufferings, but he acts like a surgeon, and cuts without minding our complaints. Ridere Dei est humanae nolle afflictioni misereri. (St. Gregory) (Calmet) --- Hebrew, "If the scourge slay suddenly, he will laugh at the trial of the innocent." (Protestants) (Haydock) |
| Job 9:24 | The earth is given into the hand of the wicked, he covereth the face of the judges thereof: and if it be not he, who is it then? | Wicked one, (Haydock) the devil, (Menochius) or any impious person who enjoys prosperity. He, (Calmet) or even God permissively, covered the face, (Haydock) by bribes; so that judges pass sentence unjustly. --- Then. If it be not the devil, (Menochius) or God. (Calmet) |
| Job 9:25 | My days have been swifter than a post: they have fled away and have not seen good. | Good, of late. Hebrew, "they see no good." |
| Job 9:26 | They have passed by as ships carrying fruits, as an eagle flying to the prey. | Carrying. Hebrew literally, "of desire," belonging to one person, or full of goods, which he desires to carry quickly to market. (Menochius) --- Chaldean agrees with us. But most interpreters vary. Pagnin retains the original, ebe; (Haydock) supposing the river Abeh, or Avah, is meant. It certainly implies expedition; "they have hastened like (Calmet) the eagle to its prey." Septuagint, "Is there any trace of ships, or of an eagle flying in quest of food?" (Haydock) |
| Job 9:27 | If I say: I will not speak so: I change my face, and am tormented with sorrow. | Sorrow. I cannot entirely repress it. (Calmet) --- The more I strive, (Haydock) the greater is my pain. (Menochius) |
| Job 9:28 | I feared all my works, knowing that thou didst not spare the offender. | Works. Hebrew, "sorrows." I dread their increase, and fear impatience. Even in the midst of prosperity, Job offered sacrifice, lest the sins of his children should be laid to his charge. |
| Job 9:29 | But if so also I am wicked, why have I laboured in vain? | Vain. Why have I endeavoured to repress my grief in silence? God does not forbid us to complain, but only to murmur. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "Since I am wicked, why did I not die?" (Haydock) --- Should a wretch be even suffered to live? (St. Chrysostom) |
| Job 9:30 | If I be washed, as it were, with snow-waters, and my hands shall shine ever so clean: | Snow. Nitre brings off the dirt better. Chaldean, "soap." Hebrew bor, is supposed by many to be the Borith of Jeremias 2:22. Snow-water was also used through delicacy in summer. (Petronius; Sat.) |
| Job 9:31 | Yet thou shalt plunge me in filth, and my garments shall abhor me, | Abhor me. This striking expression intimates something extremely filthy. God will make his servants discern many stains, even when they have aimed at the greatest purity. (Calmet) |
| Job 9:32 | For I shall not answer a man that is like myself: nor one that may be heard with me equally in judgment. | |
| Job 9:33 | There is none that may be able to reprove both, and to put his hand between both. | There. Septuagint, "O that an umpire, (or mediator) were between us, and one arguing and giving ear in the midst of both!" |
| Job 9:34 | Let him take his rod away from me, and let not his fear terrify me. | |
| Job 9:35 | I will speak, and will not fear him: for I cannot answer while I am in fear. | Fear him. Septuagint, "and I shall not fear, but speak. For I am not conscious to myself of injustice." (Haydock) --- The dread of incurring God's displeasure makes me prefer to be silent; and if I had no other reason, this fear would suffice, as I should not be master of myself under such anxiety and pain. (Calmet) --- If my sufferings were at an end, I should take courage, and speak in my own defence, (Menochius) in answer to my false friends. (Haydock) |
| Job 10:0 | Job laments his afflictions, and begs to be delivered. | |
| Job 10:1 | My soul is weary of my life, I will let go my speech against myself, I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. | Life. Job had intimated a fear to proceed any farther. (Calmet) --- But perceiving that he had not convinced his friends, he continues his discourse (Haydock) in still stronger terms, yet so as to acknowledge the justice of God. (Calmet) --- Speech against. Hebrew, "complaint upon, (Haydock) or respecting myself," I will deplore my misfortunes, (Calmet) or I will say no more about them. (Menochius) |
| Job 10:2 | I will say to God: Do not condemn me: tell me why thou judgest me so? | Judgest. Hebrew, "contendest with me," as with an enemy? Is it to punish some fault, or only to make thy grace shine forth? (Calmet) |
| Job 10:3 | Doth it seem good to thee that thou shouldst calumniate me, and oppress me, the work of thy own hands, and help the counsel of the wicked? | Calumniate permissively, by treating me in such a manner, that others lay false crimes to my charge. Hebrew, "oppress and despise the work." --- Wicked, who are ready enough (Haydock) to assert that virtue is useless, (Calmet) and that God mindeth not human affairs. My affliction will confirm them in their false notion, (Haydock) and my friends will triumph as if their arguments were well founded. The devil will also exult. (Calmet) --- He knew that God could not be guilty of calumny, and inquireth why he is afflicted. (Worthington) |
| Job 10:4 | Hast thou eyes of flesh: or, shalt thou see as man seeth? | Seeth, judging only of the exterior. (Tirinus) (Ver. 6.) |
| Job 10:5 | Are thy days as the days of man, and are thy years as the times of men: | Days, sometimes denote judgments, 1 Corinthians 4:3. Is God liable to change, like men, or does he stand in need of time to examine them, or fear lest they should escape? (Calmet) --- Is it necessary for him to prove his friends, to know their real dispositions? (Sanctius) |
| Job 10:6 | That thou shouldst inquire after my iniquity, and search after my sin? | |
| Job 10:7 | And shouldst know that I have done no wicked thing, whereas there is no man that can deliver out of thy hand? | Shouldst. Hebrew and Septuagint, "Thou knowest that....and there," etc. (Haydock) --- It would be vain for me to appeal to any other. (Calmet) |
| Job 10:8 | Thy hands have made me, and fashioned me wholly round about, and dost thou thus cast me down headlong on a sudden? | Sudden, like a potter's vessel? Job was reduced to misery all at once. (Calmet) --- He acknowledges that God may destroy him as his creature; but that character encourages him to hope for mercy, grace, and glory. (Worthington) |
| Job 10:9 | Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as the clay, and thou wilt bring me into dust again. | |
| Job 10:10 | Hast thou not milked me as milk, and curdled me like cheese? | Milked. Hebrew, "poured me out as milk, and curdled me like cheese?" (Haydock) --- See Wisdom 7:1. The ancients explained our origin by the comparison of milk curdled, or cheese; (Arist.[Aristotle?] 1:10.; Pliny, [Natural History?] 7:15.) which the moderns have explained on more plausible principles. (Calmet) --- Yet still we may acknowledge our ignorance with the mother of Machabees, 2 Machabees 7:22. |
| Job 10:11 | Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh: thou hast put me together with bones and sinews: | |
| Job 10:12 | Thou hast granted me life and mercy, and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit. | Thy fatherly visitation (Haydock) but still preserved my life. (Calmet) |
| Job 10:13 | Although thou conceal these things in thy heart, yet I know that thou rememberest all things. | Rememberest. Septuagint, "canst do all things." Hebrew, "this is with thee." (Haydock) --- I am convinced that thou still regardest me with affection, though it would appear as if thou hadst forgotten me. (Calmet) |
| Job 10:14 | If I have sinned, and thou hast spared me for an hour: why dost thou not suffer me to be clean from my iniquity? | Iniquity? Punishing me for the sins which seemed to be pardoned. (Calmet) --- Hebrew, "If I sin, then thou markest me, and wilt not suffer; (Haydock) or if thou hast not pardoned my iniquity: (15) And," etc. (Calmet) |
| Job 10:15 | And if I be wicked, woe unto me: and if just, I shall not lift up my head, being filled with affliction and misery. | Woe. Thou wilt not suffer me to pass unpunished. (Calmet) --- Head. I will adore in silence, Job 9:15, 31. (Ven. Bede) (Calmet) |
| Job 10:16 | And for pride thou wilt take me as a lioness, and returning, thou tormentest me wonderfully. | Pride. If I give way to pride, thou wilt pull me down, though I were as fierce and strong as a lioness. Hebrew, "for it (affliction) increaseth. Thou huntest me." (Protestants) --- Returning. Hebrew and Septuagint, "again." (Haydock) |
| Job 10:17 | Thou renewest thy witnesses against me, and multipliest thy wrath upon me, and pains war against me. | Witnesses, afflictions; (Menochius) "wounds." (Pagnin) (Tirinus) |
| Job 10:18 | Why didst thou bring me forth out of the womb? O that I had been consumed, that eye might not see me! | |
| Job 10:19 | I should have been as if I had not been, carried from the womb to the grave. | |
| Job 10:20 | Shall not the fewness of my days be ended shortly? Suffer me, therefore, that I may lament my sorrow a little: | Lament. Hebrew, "take comfort," (Haydock) or breath. (Calmet) --- Repentance is always necessary, but more particularly at the hour of death. (Worthington) |
| Job 10:21 | Before I go and return no more, to a land that is dark and covered with the mist of death: | Death, to the grave, or to hell, (Calmet) if my sins deserve it. (Haydock) |
| Job 10:22 | A land of misery and darkness, where the shadow of death, and no order, but everlasting horror dwelleth. | Horror. At death all distinction of ranks is at an end. (Tirinus) --- Hebrew, "where the light is as darkness." (Protestants) Septuagint, "To the land of eternal darkness, where there is no sound, nor life of mortals to see." (Haydock) |
| Job 11:0 | Sophar reproveth Job for justifying himself, and inviteth him to repentance. | |
| Job 11:1 | Then Sophar, the Naamathite, answered, and said: | Naamathite. Septuagint, "the Minean," in Arabia Felix, or rather of the Meonim, not far from the Themanites, Judges 10:11. Sophar was probably a descendant of Sepho, styled by Septuagint Sophar, (Genesis 36:11., and 1 Paralipomenon 1:36.) brother of Theman, and grandson of Eliphaz, the son of Esau. (Calmet) --- He speaks with greater insolence than the two others, (Pineda) and inveighs against Job, insisting that he can be punished thus only for his crimes. (Calmet) |
| Job 11:2 | Shall not he that speaketh much, hear also? or shall a man full of talk be justified? | Much. The speeches of Job seemed tedious to him, because he was not of his opinion. (Menochius) --- He might have applied to himself and his friends the fault of talking too much, as they all spoke many things to no purpose, whereas Job went straight to the point. (Worthington) |
| Job 11:3 | Shall men hold their peace to thee only? and when thou hast mocked others, shall no man confute thee? | Men. Hebrew, "shall thy lies make men keep silence?" Septuagint, "Blessed be the short-lived son of a woman. Speak not much, for there is no one to give sentence against thee." (Haydock) --- Mocked, by not acquiescing to their solid arguments, (Menochius) and speaking with much animation. (Pineda) |
| Job 11:4 | For thou hast said: My word is pure, and I am clean in thy sight. | Sight. Job had just said the reverse, Job 9:2. (St. Chrysostom) |
| Job 11:5 | And I wish that God would speak with thee, and would open his lips to thee, | |
| Job 11:6 | That he might shew thee the secrets of wisdom, and that his law is manifold, and thou mightest understand that he exacteth much less of thee, than thy iniquity deserveth. | Law. Hebrew Thushiya, (Haydock) "the essence" of any thing. Hence it is explained, "law, strength, comfort," etc. We might translate, "and that the reality of thy crimes deserved double punishment," etc. The obligations of the natural, and also of the written law of Moses, with which Job was (Calmet) perhaps (Haydock) acquainted, (chap. 22:22.) are very numerous and difficult. The ways of Providence are not easily understood, though some are obvious enough. He rewards and punishes. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "for it is double of what has come against thee, and then thou wouldst know that thy sins are justly requited." Protestants, "that they are double to that which is: Know, therefore, that God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth," 1 Esdras 9:13. (Haydock) |
| Job 11:7 | Peradventure thou wilt comprehend the steps of God, and wilt find out the Almighty perfectly? | Perfectly? If not, it is rash to find fault. (Menochius) |
| Job 11:8 | He is higher than heaven, and what wilt thou do? he is deeper than hell, and how wilt thou know? | |
| Job 11:9 | The measure of him is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea. | |
| Job 11:10 | If he shall overturn all things, or shall press them together, who shall contradict him? | |
| Job 11:11 | For he knoweth the vanity of men, and when he seeth iniquity, doth he not consider it? | It? to inflict punishment. Septuagint, "he will not overlook." (Haydock) |
| Job 11:12 | A vain man is lifted up into pride, and thinketh himself born free like a wild ass's colt. | Is. Hebrew, "is he heart? or wise, (Calmet) he who is born like a," etc. Shall he assert his independence, or pretend to be wise? (Haydock) --- The Hebrews place wisdom in the heart, as we do courage, Job 12:3., and Proverbs 2:2., etc. (Calmet) |
| Job 11:13 | But thou hast hardened thy heart, and hast spread thy hands to him. | But. Hebrew, "If thou direct thy heart, etc. Thou mayst lift up thy face," (ver. 15.; Haydock) without fear, 2 Kings 2:22. (Calmet) |
| Job 11:14 | If thou wilt put away from thee the iniquity that is in thy hand, and lot not injustice remain in thy tabernacle: | Iniquity. Of this Job was not conscious, and therefore could not confess it. (Worthington) |
| Job 11:15 | Then mayst thou lift up thy face without spot, and thou shalt be steadfast, and shalt not fear. | Without. Septuagint, "as clean water, thou shalt put away corruption, and shalt not fear." |
| Job 11:16 | Thou shalt also forget misery, and remember it only as waters that are passed away. | |
| Job 11:17 | And brightness like that of the noon-day, shall arise to thee at evening: and when thou shalt think thyself consumed, thou shalt rise as the day-star. | Brightness. Septuagint, "But thy prayer, like the day-star and life, shall arise to thee from the south, or as at noon-day." Hebrew, "Thy age (Haydock) shall appear clearer than the noon-day, and darkness like the morning." Prosperity shall succeed, (Calmet) when thou shalt think all lost. (Menochius) |
| Job 11:18 | And thou shalt have confidence, hope being set before thee, and being buried thou shalt sleep secure. | Secure, dying full of hope. (Chaldean) Hebrew, "thou shalt dig," (for water, which was there a great treasure, Genesis 21:25., and 26:15.) or to fasten down thy tent, (Calmet) "and rest secure." (Haydock) |
| Job 11:19 | *Thou shalt rest, and there shall be none to make thee afraid: and many shall entreat thy face. Leviticus 26:6. | Face. Luther translates "shall flatter thee." The Dutch version, which is taken from Luther's, has mistaken a letter, and rendered "shall flee before thee," which shews the danger of translating without recurring to the originals. (Amama) |
| Job 11:20 | *But the eyes of the wicked shall decay, and the way to escape shall fail them, and their hope the abomination of the soul. Leviticus 26:16. | Soul, because hope deferred causeth pain to the soul, Proverbs 13:12. (Menochius) --- Hebrew, "their hope shall be the sorrow, or the breathing out of the soul." (Calmet) --- Protestants, "the giving up of the ghost." Marginal note, "a puff of breath," Job 18:14. (Haydock) |
| Job 12:0 | Job's reply to Sophar. He extols God's power and wisdom. | |
| Job 12:1 | Then Job answered, and said: | |
| Job 12:2 | Are you then men alone, and shall wisdom die with you? | You. Hebrew, "Truly you are the people, and wisdom will die with you!" This irony is very sharp. (Calmet) --- "Are you alone men? or shall?" etc. (Septuagint; Syriac) |
| Job 12:3 | *I also have a heart as well as you; neither am I inferior to you: for who is ignorant of these things, which you know? Job 20:2. | |
| Job 12:4 | *He that is mocked by his friends as I, shall call upon God and he will hear him: for the simplicity of the just man is laughed to scorn. Proverbs 14:2. | Mocked. He retaliates on Sophar, (chap. 11:3.; Haydock) who had very seriously exhorted Job to call on God, as if he had been ignorant of this duty. (Calmet) --- God will one day force the wicked to retract their false notion, in despising his servants, Wisdom 5:3. (Worthington) |
| Job 12:5 | The lamp despised in the thoughts of the rich, is ready for the time appointed. | The lamp. Such is the just man, who under affliction is (Haydock) exposed to the ridicule of men who live at their ease. --- For. Hebrew, "to fall." (Calmet) Septuagint, "It was appointed for me to fall under others at the time fixed." |
| Job 12:6 | *The tabernacles of robbers abound, and they provoke God boldly; whereas it is he that hath given all into their hands. Psalm 43:11.; Psalm 48:7. | Abound. Hebrew, "are at peace." (Calmet) --- The prosperity of the wicked is therefore no proof that they are pleasing to him. (Haydock) --- All nature testifies that God exercises a sovereign dominion over his works. He may therefore cause the just to suffer, though they be guiltless. This is one of Job's grand maxims. (Calmet) |
| Job 12:7 | But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee: and the birds of the air, and they shall tell thee. | |
| Job 12:8 | Speak to the earth, and it shall answer thee: and the fishes of the sea shall tell. | |
| Job 12:9 | Who is ignorant that the hand of the Lord hath made all these things? | |
| Job 12:10 | In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the spirit of all flesh of man. | |
| Job 12:11 | *Doth not the ear discern words, and the palate of him that eateth, the taste? Job 34:3. | Taste. For this no master is requisite; so I stood in no need of your information, (Calmet) of such trite remarks. (Haydock) |
| Job 12:12 | In the ancient is wisdom, and in length of days prudence. | Ancient. He rather chides the youth of Sophar for offering to give him lessons. Old age is indeed commonly wiser and more experienced. Yet, what is man's knowledge compared to that of God! ver. 13. |
| Job 12:13 | With him is wisdom and strength, he hath counsel and understanding. | |
| Job 12:14 | *If he pull down, there is no man that can build up: if he shut up a man, there is none that can open. Isaias 22:22.; Apocalypse 3:7. | |
| Job 12:15 | If he withhold the waters, all things shall be dried up: and if he send them out, they shall overturn the earth. | |
| Job 12:16 | With him is strength and wisdom: he knoweth both the deceiver and him that is deceived. | |
| Job 12:17 | He bringeth counsellors to a foolish end, and judges to insensibility. | To a. Hebrew, "to be despoiled" of their wisdom and riches. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "into captivity." (Haydock) --- Crafty plotters at last fall into such misconduct, as to be derided by men of the meanest capacity. (Worthington) |
| Job 12:18 | He looseth the belt of kings, and girdeth their loins with a cord. | Looseth. Septuagint, "setteth kings upon the throne," etc. --- Belt. This was usually very magnificent, and a military ornament. See that of Pallas described. (Virgil, Aeneid x.) Job intimates that God deprives kings of their authority, at pleasure. Hebrew may also signify that he looseth the bond or prisoner of kings, and reduces themselves to slavery. (Calmet) --- Things never remain long in the same state. (Haydock) --- Even kings are sometimes obliged to beg. (Menochius) |
| Job 12:19 | He leadeth away priests without glory, and overthroweth nobles. | Without. Hebrew, "despoiled." Septuagint, "captives." Cohanim, may comprise both sacred ministers and civil princes, 1 Kings 8:18. All are equally subject to God. (Calmet) |
| Job 12:20 | He changeth the speech of the true speakers, and taketh away the doctrine of the aged. | Speakers. Permitting them to speak deceitfully, (Calmet) or causing their oracles to be contemned. (Haydock) --- Hebrew, "he withdraws speech from men of confidence." (Calmet) --- Neemanim, (Haydock) ambassadors or prime ministers, Numbers 12:7. He disconcerteth the best concerted plans. |
| Job 12:21 | He poureth contempt upon princes, and relieveth them that were oppressed. | Relieveth. Hebrew, "ungirdeth (disarms) the strong." (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "but the lowly (humble) he has healed." |
| Job 12:22 | He discovereth deep things out of darkness, and bringeth up to light the shadow of death. | Of death. Tsalmaveth (Haydock) may perhaps simply denote darkness. (Calmet) --- God bringeth to light the most hidden things. (Haydock) |
| Job 12:23 | He multiplieth nations, and destroyeth them, and restoreth them again after they were overthrown. | Multiplieth. Hebrew, Septuagint, and Syriac, "deceiveth," (Calmet) suffering them to confide too much in their strength, so that they fall an easy prey. (Haydock) --- How many nations, once so powerful, are now fallen; while others of no account have risen to eminence! |
| Job 12:24 | He changeth the heart of the princes of the people of the earth, and deceiveth them, so that they walk in vain where there is no way. | Changeth. Hebrew, "taketh away the heart," or prudence "of princes." Hence they follow the most absurd counsels, Isaias 29:19. (Calmet) --- No way. This was the case of Pharao, when he pursued the Israelites into the sea; (Tirinus) and the like may rationally be feared by those princes, who attempt to make innovations in the true religion, or in the sound laws of a kingdom. (Menochius) |
| Job 12:25 | They shall grope as in the dark, and not in the light, and he shall make them stagger like them that are drunk. | |
| Job 13:0 | Job persists in maintaining his innocence: and reproves his friends. | |
| Job 13:1 | Behold my eye hath seen all these things, and my ear hath heard them, and I have understood them all. | All, without your information. (Calmet) |
| Job 13:2 | According to your knowledge, I also know: neither am I inferior to you. | |
| Job 13:3 | But yet I will speak to the Almighty, and I desire to reason with God: | Reason. Hebrew, "to dispute with, or before God," concerning the matter which we have in hand. He appeals to God, as to the judge of all. |
| Job 13:4 | Having first shewn that you are forgers of lies, and maintainers of perverse opinions. | Having. Hebrew, "But ye are sewers of lies." (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "unskilful surgeons, (who, instead of sewing up a wound, increase it) and all of you doctors of evil;" vain empirics. --- Maintainers. Protestants, "ye are all physicians of no value." (Haydock) |
| Job 13:5 | And I wish you would hold your peace, that you might be thought to be wise men. | Men. Proverbs 17:28. If you had been silent, you might still have had the reputation of wisdom. (Calmet) |
| Job 13:6 | Hear ye therefore my reproof, and attend to the judgment of my lips. | Judgment. Hebrew, "pleading" before our common judge. (Haydock) |
| Job 13:7 | Hath God any need of your lie, that you should speak deceitfully for him? | |
| Job 13:8 | Do you accept his person, and do you endeavour to judge for God? | Accept. Hebrew, "will you not be seized with fear?" Olympiodorus translates, "will you stand in his presence, and dispute with him?" (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "Are you sent to be judges?" etc., or, do you suppose that you please him by asserting that he punishes me for my sins? (Haydock) --- Is it thus you hope to gain his favour? (Calmet) --- He knows the state of my soul best; then I myself: but you are quite in the dark. (Worthington) |
| Job 13:9 | Or shall it please him, from whom nothing can be concealed? or shall he be deceived as a man, with your deceitful dealings? | Or. Hebrew, "Is it good that he should examine you, would you escape?" (Calmet) |
| Job 13:10 | He shall reprove you, because in secret you accept his person. | His. Hebrew, "persons." Because you see me afflicted, you infer that I am guilty; and think this mode of judging most honourable to God, whom you wish thus to please. (Haydock) --- But he stands not in need of lies; (Calmet) and something farther is still to be proved. (Haydock) --- You judge rashly, as if you designed to please a prince, (Menochius) without examining the cause of the accused. (Haydock) |
| Job 13:11 | As soon as he shall move himself, he shall trouble you: and his dread shall fall upon you. | |
| Job 13:12 | Your remembrance shall be compared to ashes, and your necks shall be brought to clay. | Necks. Septuagint, "body." Hebrew also, (Haydock) "heights," (Calmet) or "fortifications." (Grotius) |
| Job 13:13 | Hold your peace a little while, that I may speak whatsoever my mind shall suggest to me. | Whatsoever. Hebrew, "come what will." Septuagint, "that my anger may cease." (Haydock) |
| Job 13:14 | Why do I tear my flesh with my teeth, and carry my soul in my hands? | Why you seem to ask do I thus eagerly desire to die, (Haydock) as if I were tearing my own flesh, and exposing my soul to danger, (Worthington) like a madman? (Tirinus) --- Is it not better for me to address myself to God, that he would hasten my departure, than thus to tear my flesh with my teeth? (Calmet) --- Some have supposed that Job really did so in extreme anguish, (Ven. Bede) the leprosy occasioning such an insupportable irritation. (Haydock) --- But the expression insinuates an interior anguish or despair; (Isaias 49:26.) in which sense Pythagoras enjoins, "not to eat the heart." --- Hands, in imminent danger of death, Psalm 118:109. --- St. Gregory explains it in a moral sense: "It is to manifest the intention of the heart by the actions." (Haydock) |
| Job 13:15 | Although he should kill me, I will trust in him: but yet I will reprove my ways in his sight. | In him. Hebrew lu is read, though lo, "not," is written in the Hebrew text. (Haydock) --- Protestants, etc., follow the sense of the Vulgate, and Junius comes to the same, as he reads lo with an interrogation: "Should I not hope in him?" Luther and the Belgic version go astray: "Behold he shall kill me, and I cannot expect," or hope; I am resolved to die: which words indicate "extreme impatience." (Amama) --- Septuagint, "If the powerful (or Lord) lay [not] hands on me, since it is commenced? No: but I shall speak and arraign [you] before him," etc. The words not and you are thus placed in Grabe's edition. (Haydock) --- Ways. I do not pretend that I am quite blameless. (Calmet) --- Protestants, "I will maintain (Marginal note: prove, or argue) mine own ways before him." (Haydock) --- I will hope, like Abraham, even against hope, to shew that I am not actuated by despair: yet I will continue to declare my innocence, ver. 16. (Tirinus) |
| Job 13:16 | And he shall be my saviour: for no hypocrite shall come before his presence. | Hypocrite. If I were such, I should not dare to appeal so boldly to his tribunal. (Calmet) |
| Job 13:17 | Hear ye my speech, and receive with your ears hidden truths. | Truths. Literally, "riddles" to you. Hebrew achavathi, (Haydock) means "instructions," etc. (Calmet) |
| Job 13:18 | If I shall be judged, I know that I shall be found just. | Just. He was in extreme anguish, yet still trusted in God. (Worthington) |
| Job 13:19 | Who is he that will plead against me? let him come: why am I consumed, holding my peace? | Peace. It will be some consolation to explain my reasons. If I am fairly overcome, I shall die with more content. (Calmet) |
| Job 13:20 | Two things only do not to me, and then from thy face I shall not be hid: | Only. He makes the same petition to God as [in] Job 9:34., and 33:7. (Haydock) |
| Job 13:21 | Withdraw thy hand far from me, and let not thy dread terrify me. | |
| Job 13:22 | Call me, and I will answer thee: or else I will speak, and do thou answer me. | |
| Job 13:23 | How many are my iniquities and sins? make me know my crimes and offences. | Offences, which might be hidden to Job himself. (Worthington) --- He speaks to God with the freedom which he had requested, desiring to know if he were really guilty, (Calmet) that he might give glory to him, (Haydock) by an humble confession. |
| Job 13:24 | Why hidest thou thy face, and thinkest me thy enemy? | |
| Job 13:25 | Against a leaf, that is carried away with the wind, thou shewest thy power, and thou pursuest a dry straw. | |
| Job 13:26 | For thou writest bitter things against me, and wilt consume me for the sins of my youth. | Bitter. The judge wrote down the sentence; which he read, or gave to his officer. (Calmet) --- Youth, for which I thought I had satisfied. (Haydock) |
| Job 13:27 | Thou hast put my feet in the stocks, and hast observed all my paths, and hast considered the steps of my feet: | Stocks, in which the person's legs were sometimes stretched to the sixth hole; (Calmet) at other times, the neck was confined. (Menochius) --- Some translate the Hebrew, "in the mud," which agrees with the other part of the verse. --- Steps. Hebrew and Septuagint, "roots," or ankles, which retained the prints made by the stocks. |
| Job 13:28 | Who am to be consumed as rottenness, and as a garment that is moth-eaten. | Rottenness. Septuagint, "an old vessel," or skin, to contain wine, etc. (Calmet) --- My condition might excite pity. (Menochius) |
| Job 14:0 | Job declares the shortness of man's days: and professes his belief of a resurrection. | |
| Job 14:1 | Man born of a woman, living for a short time, is filled with many miseries. | Man. He exposes to God the common miseries of mankind. (Calmet) --- They cannot avoid many miseries in their short life, yet may be brought to heaven. (Worthington) |
| Job 14:2 | *Who cometh forth like a flower, and is destroyed, and fleeth as a shadow, and never continueth in the same state. Job 8:9.; Psalm 144:4. | Shadow. Pulvis et umbra sumus. (Horace 4:Ode 7.) "Come then, ye men, whom nature condemns to spend your days in darkness, ye who resemble the leaves, are of little strength, formed of mud, shadow-like,...of a day's duration, miserable mortals, men like dreams, attend to the immortals." (Aristophanes, Avib.) --- Most of these expressions occur in Job, Psalm 101:12., Wisdom 2:5., and Ecclesiastes 2:23., etc. |
| Job 14:3 | And dost thou think it meet to open thy eyes upon such an one, and to bring him into judgment with thee? | With thee. He seems beneath God's attention: (Arist.[Aristotle?] Met. 8:9.; Cicero, Nat. ii.) but as the knowledge and other attributes of the Deity are infinite, he must necessarily attend to the whole creation. The moral actions of men being also infinite in their object, tending to God, or contradicting his ordinances, they are not beneath the consideration of an infinite Being. (Calmet) |
| Job 14:4 | *Who can make him clean that is conceived of unclean seed? is it not thou who only art? Psalm 50:4. | Seed, is not expressed in Hebrew, "unclean." It may refer to Adam. There is no contagion in the seed to infect the soul, as Tertullian supposed; it in only unclean in the cause, as every person who is born according to the common course of nature, becomes a child of Adam, and partakes in his original sin. (The Scholastics) (Tirinus) --- Only art. Essence itself. (Denis the Carthusian) --- "The justification of the sinner is a greater miracle than the creation of the world." (St. Augustine, ibid.) --- The birth of Jesus Christ was free from stain; (Luke 1:35.) as was also the conception of his virgin Mother [Mary], by the power of God; (Menochius) and his grace, as it is piously believed. (Haydock) --- He alone can purify man. (Calmet) --- Hebrew, "who can produce what is clean out of the unclean? Not one." Or Chaldean, "Is there not one?" Septuagint, "For who shall be pure from corruption? Not so much as one: (5) though his life be only of one day upon earth." The more ancient Fathers have generally quoted the text in this manner, to prove original sin; (Haydock; St. Cyrian; Tertullian, St. Deo. Mag.[St. Leo the Great?] in Nat. i., etc.; Tirinus) and Bellarmine almost does the same, (Grat. 4:4.) observing that the Septuagint have taken in three words from the following verse: "though his days are few." Yet there are some words which are not in Hebrew, though the doctrine here maintained is indubitable. (Amama) --- Job was fully convinced of it, and adduced it as plea for mercy. It also tends to keep us in the most profound humility and watchfulness, to resist the motions of concupiscence. (Calmet) --- Man, -----"Now too late, Saw the rash error, which he could not mend; An error fatal not to him alone, But to his future sons, his fortune's heirs." (Blair's Grave. Milton, 10:151.) (Haydock) |
| Job 14:5 | The days of man are short, and the number of his months is with thee: thou hast appointed his bounds which cannot be passed. | |
| Job 14:6 | Depart a little from him, that he may rest, until his wished-for day come, as that of the hireling. | Hireling, who rejoices at being permitted to rest a little. So, before death, suffer me to have some relaxation, Job 7:1. |
| Job 14:7 | A tree hath hope: if it be cut, it groweth green again, and the boughs thereof sprout. | |
| Job 14:8 | If its root be old in the earth, and its stock be dead in the dust: | Dust. After being even exposed to the air, for a long time, some branches will take root, like the rose of Jericho, the willow, etc. |
| Job 14:9 | At the scent of water, it shall spring, and bring forth leaves, as when it was first planted. | Scent, or light touch, Daniel 3:94. (Menochius) |
| Job 14:10 | But man when he shall be dead, and stripped and consumed, I pray you where is he? | Is he? Will he naturally come to life again? |
| Job 14:11 | As if the waters should depart out of the sea, and an emptied river should be dried up: | Sea. There would be no supply of rain for the fountains. (Ecclesiastes 1:7.) All would continue dry: so when the blood is once gone, life is at an end. See 2 Kings 14:14. (Calmet) --- The water cannot go back. (Menochius) |
| Job 14:12 | So man, when he is fallen asleep, shall not rise again; till the heavens be broken, he shall not awake, nor rise up out of his sleep. | Till. At that time, the general resurrection will take place. (Vatable) (Scultet.) --- But people will never revive, according to the course of nature. In St. Matthew 5:18., and Psalm 71:7., till is used in this sense. (Calmet) |
| Job 14:13 | Who will grant me this, that thou mayst protect me in hell, and hide me till thy wrath pass, and appoint me a time when thou wilt remember me? | That thou mayst protect me in hell. That is, in the state of the dead; and in the place where souls are kept waiting for their Redeemer; (Challoner) and in the grave, where the body awaits the resurrection. (Haydock) --- These words are repeated in the office for the dead, in the name of the souls in purgatory. (Denis the Carthusian, a. 34.) --- They are adduced in proof of limbo. But sheol denotes also "the grave." (Amama) --- What then? The soul is not confined there. It must consequently be explained of the lower receptacle for souls, as well as of the grave. (Haydock) |
| Job 14:14 | Shall man that is dead, thinkest thou, live again? all the days, in which I am now in warfare, I expect until my change come. | Dead. Shall one in a condition nearly as bad, like myself, be restored to health? Yes, I entertain this hope. (Calmet) --- Thinkest thou, is not in Hebrew or Septuagint. The latter speaks (Haydock) clearly of the resurrection. (Calmet) --- "For if a man die, shall he revive, having completed the days of his life? I wait (for thee) till I be again." (Grabe) (Haydock) --- Warfare. Job 7:1. |
| Job 14:15 | Thou shalt call me, and I will answer thee: to the work of thy hands thou shalt reach out thy right hand. | |
| Job 14:16 | *Thou indeed hast numbered my steps, but spare my sins. Job 31:4.; Job 34:21.; Proverbs 5:21. | But. Hebrew, "Mark out, (Calmet) or dost thou not observe my sin?" This fills me with terror, (Haydock) unless thou shew mercy. |
| Job 14:17 | Thou hast sealed up my offences as it were in a bag, but hast cured my iniquity. | Cured. Hebrew, "sewed up." This method and sealing was in use to keep things of value, before locks were invented. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "thou hast noted if I had transgressed unwillingly, akon." Yet God will not make us accountable for what we cannot help. |
| Job 14:18 | A mountain falling cometh to nought, and a rock is removed out of its place. | |
| Job 14:19 | Waters wear away the stones, and with inundation the ground by little and little is washed away: so in like manner thou shalt destroy man. | Man. Hebrew and Septuagint, "the hope of man." (Haydock) --- He must not expect to be more privileged than all other things, which time consumes. (Calmet) --- Job again deplores human misery. (Menochius) |
| Job 14:20 | Thou hast strengthened him for a little while, that he may pass away for ever: thou shalt change his face, and shalt send him away. | Strengthened. Septuagint, "driven away." (Pagnin, etc.) --- "Thou wilt treat him harshly." (Calmet) |
| Job 14:21 | Whether his children come to honour or dishonour, he shall not understand. | Or dishonour. He cannot naturally be informed. (Menochius) --- God may, however, reveal to souls departed, what may increase their accidental happiness or misery. (Haydock) --- Hence the Church prays to the saints. Job is speaking chiefly of the body in the grave, and of what appear exteriorly. During life man cannot foresee the state of his children; nor in the other world, would their condition render him happy or otherwise. (Calmet) (Mercer) --- Septuagint, "If his sons be many,...or....few, he knows not." (Haydock) --- He is not affected in the same manner as he would be, if living. (Worthington) |
| Job 14:22 | But yet his flesh, while he shall live, shall have pain, and his soul shall mourn over him. | Over. Hebrew, "within him." (Haydock) --- During life man is full of cares, and presently he is consigned to the dreary tomb, ver. 19. (Calmet) |
| Job 15:0 | Eliphaz returns to the charge against Job, and describes the wretched state of the wicked. | |
| Job 15:1 | And Eliphaz, the Themanite, answered, and said: | |
| Job 15:2 | Will a wise man answer as if he were speaking in the wind, and fill his stomach with burning heat? | Heat. Hebrew, "east wind," (Haydock) or give vent to passion. (Haydock) --- Eliphaz now rebukes Job without any reserve. (Calmet) --- He was perhaps displeased at the comparison used by the latter, Job 13:4. Baldad had also hinted that Job's discourse was nothing but wind, Job 8:2. (Haydock) --- Being unable to answer his arguments, he reviles him as an enemy of God. (Worthington) |
| Job 15:3 | Thou reprovest him by words, who is not equal to thee, and thou speakest that which is not good for thee. | Equal. God, who is far above thee. Hebrew, "Will he (the wise) argue with less words, or with speeches which are nothing to the purpose?" (Calmet) |
| Job 15:4 | As much as is in thee, thou hast made void fear, and hast taken away prayers from before God. | God. Another, after thy example, will assert his own innocence under affliction, and will not fear, nor have recourse to God by humble prayer. Behold the dangerous consequences of thy principle. (Calmet) |
| Job 15:5 | For thy iniquity hath taught thy mouth, and thou imitatest the tongue of blasphemers. | Blasphemers. Hebrew, "of the crafty," which is sometimes taken in a good sense. Septuagint, "thou hast not distinguished the speeches of the princes." Thou hast not shewn respect to our admonitions, (Calmet) or understood our meaning. (Haydock) --- Thou rather choosest to imitate those false sages, who strive to deceive the world. Abuse could hardly be carried to greater lengths than it is by this man; who before spoke with some moderation, Job 4:(Calmet) |
| Job 15:6 | Thy own mouth shall condemn thee, and not I: and thy own lips shall answer thee. | |
| Job 15:7 | Art thou the first man that was born, or wast thou made before the hills? | First. Is thy experience so great, (Menochius) or art thou the most excellent of men? To hear thee we are but novices, Job 13:5. (Calmet) |
| Job 15:8 | Hast thou heard God's counsel, and shall his wisdom be inferior to thee? | His. Hebrew, "dost thou restrain wisdom to thyself? Septuagint, "or has wisdom come to thee?" (Haydock) |
| Job 15:9 | What knowest thou that we are ignorant of? what dost thou understand that we know not? | |
| Job 15:10 | *There are with us also aged and ancient men, much elder than thy fathers. Ecclesiasticus 18:8. | Fathers. Hebrew and Septuagint, "father." (Haydock) --- Eliphaz always speaks first, and hints that he was as old, perhaps older, than Job; who had rather found fault with the youth of Sophar, Job 12:12. He also boasts that they, or their country, furnished master of greater wisdom and experience than even Job's father. (Calmet) |
| Job 15:11 | Is it a great matter that God should comfort thee? but thy wicked words hinder this. | Thee. This would not be difficult, (Tirinus) if thy presumption did not prove an obstacle. Thou makest small account of those comforts or of our advice, trusting in thy own justice. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "Thou hast been chastised little, considering thy sins. Thou hast spoken with excessive insolence." |
| Job 15:12 | Why doth thy heart elevate thee? and why dost thou stare with thy eyes, as if they wert thinking great things? | Why. Septuagint, "What has thy heart dared, or what have thine eyes brought thee?" Hebrew, "what do thy eyes wink at?" (Haydock) through pride and disdain, Psalm 34:19., and Proverbs 6:13. (Calmet) --- We need not wonder that Eliphaz should misunderstand the looks of Job, (Haydock) since he gives such a false notion of his speeches. (Calmet) |
| Job 15:13 | Why doth thy spirit swell against God, to utter such words out of thy mouth? | |
| Job 15:14 | What is man that he should be without spot, and he that is born of a woman that he should appear just? | Just. Few are free from all spot; but venial sins do not hinder a man from being styled truly virtuous. (Worthington) |
| Job 15:15 | *Behold among his saints none is unchangeable, and the heavens are not pure in his sight. Job 4:18. | Unchangeable, of his own nature, and during this life. (Calmet) Hebrew and Septuagint, "is not trusted by him," till they have been tried, (Haydock; Job 4:17.; None is good but God alone, Mark 10:18.) in comparison. (Tirinus) |
| Job 15:16 | How much more is man abominable, and unprofitable, who drinketh iniquity like water? | Water, with the utmost avidity and unconcern, Proverbs 10:23., and 26:6. |
| Job 15:17 | I will shew thee, hear me: and I will tell thee what I have seen. | Seen. He had before given himself out for a prophet. Perhaps he may only mean to deliver what he had been taught, or had learned by experience, ver. 18. His observations are in themselves just; but the application to Job is no less insulting. (Calmet) |
| Job 15:18 | Wise men confess and hide not their fathers. | Wise. Protestants, "which wise men have told from their fathers, and have not hid it," Job 8:8. The authority of tradition was then very great; and why should it now be despised? (Haydock) |
| Job 15:19 | To whom alone the earth was given, and no stranger hath passed among them. | Them. Their antiquity, courage, and purity of morals must consequently be greater, as they have preserved themselves from the inroads of strangers. (Calmet) |
| Job 15:20 | The wicked man is proud all his days, and the number of the years of his tyranny is uncertain. | Proud; uncertain. Hebrew, "in pain." (Haydock) --- Septuagint, "numbered," or few, Genesis 34:30. These are the maxims which Eliphaz had received in a vision, or from the ancients, ver. 17. The description of a tyrant's life was admirably verified in Dionysius, of Syracuse, (Calmet) and in our Cromwell, (Haydock)--- "-----pale and trembling in the dead of night." (Pope) ---who rarely lodged two night in one chamber. (Clarendon.) --- Such live in dread, (Haydock) and seldom die a natural death. Ad generum Cereris sine caede et vulnere pauci Descendunt reges et sicca morte Tyranni. (Juvenal 10:113.) Nocte dieque suum gestare in pectore testem. (Juvenal xiii.) They bear always about the witness, "conscience." (Haydock) --- They distrust every one, and are hated by all. Districtus ensis cui super impia Cervice pendet, etc. (Horace 3:Ode 1.) --- These miseries are incident to the wicked, but are improperly addressed to Job. (Worthington) |
| Job 15:21 | The sound of dread is always in his ears: and when there is peace, he always suspecteth treason. | |
| Job 15:22 | He believeth not that he may return from darkness to light, looking round about for the sword on every side. | |
| Job 15:23 | When he moveth himself to seek bread, he knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand. | |
| Job 15:24 | Tribulation shall terrify him, and distress shall surround him, as a king that is prepared for the battle. | |
| Job 15:25 | For he hath stretched out his hand against God, and hath strengthened himself against the Almighty. | |
| Job 15:26 | He hath run against him with his neck raised up, and is armed with a fat neck. | And is. Hebrew, "even upon the thick bosses of his buckler." (Haydock) --- God thus seizes his antagonist, who, like Pharao, swells with pride. (Calmet) (Deuteronomy 32:15.) |
| Job 15:27 | Fatness hath covered his face, and the fat hangeth down on his sides. | |
| Job 15:28 | He hath dwelt in desolate cities, and in desert houses that are reduced into heaps. | Heaps, by his ambition and fury, (Calmet) and exactions, (Cajetan; Menochius) till the king chooses to rebuild the cities. (Vatable) |
| Job 15:29 | He shall not be enriched, neither shall his substance continue, neither shall he push his root in the earth. | |
| Job 15:30 | He shall not depart out of darkness: the flame shall dry up his branches, and he shall be taken away by the breath of his own month. | |
| Job 15:31 | He shall not believe, being vainly deceived by error, that he may be redeemed with any price. | That he. Hebrew and Septuagint, "for vanity shall be his reward." (Haydock) --- If he would repent, he might still be safe. (Menochius) |
| Job 15:32 | Before his days be full, he shall perish: and his hands shall wither away. | Hands; strength and prosperity. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "his branch shall not grow thick." (Haydock) |
| Job 15:33 | He shall be blasted as a vine when its grapes are in the first flower, and as an olive tree that casteth its flower. | First. Hebrew, "unripe." (Haydock) --- He shall derive no aid or comfort from his young family. |
| Job 15:34 | For the congregation of the hypocrite is barren, and fire shall devour their tabernacles, who love to take bribes. | Congregation, or family. --- Bribes. Literally, "presents," which (Haydock) frequently were not given freely, but extorted as a real tribute. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "for the death of the wicked is a martyrdom," or proof of his impiety. "But fire shall consume the houses of the present (or bribe) receivers." |
| Job 15:35 | *He hath conceived sorrow, and hath brought forth iniquity, and his womb prepareth deceits. Psalm 7:15.; Isaias 59:4. | Sorrow. Hebrew, "mischief." (Haydock) See Psalm 7:15., and Isaias 49:4. --- The tree is known by its fruit. Eliphaz sufficiently insinuates, that he is speaking of Job. (Calmet) --- His, or "its," the congregation's womb, ver. 34. Protestants, "their belly." (Haydock) |
| Job 16:0 | Job expostulates with his friends: and appeals to the judgment of God. | |
| Job 16:1 | Then Job answered, and said: | |
| Job 16:2 | I have often heard such things as these: you are all troublesome comforters. | Comforters. "Job's friends or comforters," are become proverbial, to denote people who do the contrary to what they seem to promise. (Haydock) --- Never did men sustain worse the character of comforters. They all magnify their knowledge and piety, and make the most absurd application of their principles to Job's condition. (Calmet) --- He was not ignorant that tyrants and wicked men were often, nay generally till the age in which he lived, visited with visible judgments. (Haydock) |
| Job 16:3 | Shall windy words have no end? or is it any trouble to thee to speak? | Windy, inconclusive arguments. They all entertain a mean opinion of their adversaries, as they did not agree in the application of the propositions. Hence though they might be true, they were nothing to their present purpose, Job 15:3. (Haydock) --- Trouble. You can speak without any pain: but the case is far different with me. (Menochius) --- Hebrew, "what emboldeneth thee to answer?" (Haydock) --- Who asks thee for advice? (Calmet) --- True friends will give it without upbraiding, or laying false crimes to the charge of any one. (Worthington) |
| Job 16:4 | I also could speak, like you: and would God your soul were for my soul. | My soul. If you had experienced my state of misery, (Haydock) I surely would not have behaved thus to you. (Calmet) Facile, cum valemus, recta consilia aegrotis damus: Tu si hîc sis, aliter sentias. (Terent. Andria.) |
| Job 16:5 | I would comfort you also with words, and would wag my head over you. | Wag, or shake my head out of pity, Job 42:11., and Nahum 3:7. The same sign often indicates astonishment or contempt, Psalm 21:8., and Matthew 27:39. (Calmet) |
| Job 16:6 | I would strengthen you with my mouth, and would move my lips, as sparing you. | |
| Job 16:7 | But what shall I do? If I speak, my pain will not rest: and if I hold my peace, it will not depart from me. | But. Hebrew, "If I speak," etc. |
| Job 16:8 | But now my sorrow hath oppressed me, and all my limbs are brought to nothing. | Limbs. Hebrew, "company," (Haydock) or family. The assemblage of my limbs is also disordered by the leprosy. |
| Job 16:9 | My wrinkles bear witness against me, and a false speaker riseth up against my face, contradicting me. | Against me, in your opinion, as if I were guilty of lies. Hebrew, "my leanness bears witness, my falsehood has risen up against me and answered me to my face;" which may be understood in the same sense as the argument of Eliphaz. He is designated by the false speaker; (Calmet) unless we explain it of the wrinkles, which falsely indicated that Job was advanced in years, or of the malady; whence it was gathered that he must be a criminal. (Menochius) --- Protestants, "my leanness riseth up." (Haydock) |
| Job 16:10 | He hath gathered together his fury against me; and threatening me, he hath gnashed with his teeth upon me: my enemy hath beheld me with terrible eyes. | |
| Job 16:11 | They have opened their mouths upon me, and reproaching me they have struck me on the cheek; they are filled with my pains. | Cheek. His friends seemed so enraged, as to be disposed to do so. (Calmet) --- These expressions were strikingly verified in Christ. (Menochius) --- The outrages may also be attributed to the devil; (Calmet) or, by personification, to the malady of Job. (Menochius) |
| Job 16:12 | God hath shut me up with the unjust man, and hath delivered me into the hands of the wicked. | |
| Job 16:13 | I that was formerly so wealthy, am all on a sudden broken to pieces: he hath taken me by my neck, he hath broken me, and hath set me up to be his mark. | |
| Job 16:14 | He hath compassed me round about with his lances, he hath wounded my loins, he hath not spared, and hath poured out my bowels on the earth. | Lances. Hebrew, "archers." Septuagint, "they have encompassed me, throwing lances into my veins, or loins, not sparing," etc. (Haydock) --- Bowels. Hebrew and Septuagint, "gall," being afflicted with a dysentery. St. Thomas Aquinas explains it of his children, who were slain. (Haydock) |
| Job 16:15 | He hath torn me with wound upon wound, he hath rushed in upon me like a giant. | |
| Job 16:16 | I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin, and have covered my flesh with ashes. | Flesh. Hebrew, "horn." Septuagint, "strength." (Haydock) --- I have lost all my beauty and splendor, and have put on the garments of penance. (Calmet) |
| Job 16:17 | My face is swoln with weeping, and my eye-lids are dim. | Dim. Hebrew and Septuagint, "covered with the shadow of death," (Haydock) greatly impaired. Some have almost lost their sight by weeping; and death seemed ready to close Job's eyes. (Calmet) |
| Job 16:18 | These things have I suffered without the iniquity of my hand, when I offered pure prayers to God. | Hand, which has not been defiled with any injustice. (Menochius) --- When. Hebrew, "and my prayer was pure." I never neglected this sacred duty, (chap. 1:5.) as my friends accuse me, Job 15:4. (Haydock) --- They continued in their false accusation: so he repeats the same true answer. (Worthington) |
| Job 16:19 | O earth, cover not thou my blood, neither let my cry find a hiding-place in thee. | In thee. Let the cry of my blood, which issues from my wounds, and the injury which my reputation has suffered, come before the throne of God. Calumny is a species of murder. See Genesis 4:10. (Calmet) --- If I be really guilty, I am willing to remain unburied. Let the dogs lick up my blood. (Cajetan) --- Cry. Let the hills re-echo my sufferings. (Pineda) Et quodcumque meae possunt narrare querelae, Cogar ad argutas dicere solus aves. (Propertius) |
| Job 16:20 | For behold my witness is in heaven, and he that knoweth my conscience is on high. | |
| Job 16:21 | My friends are full of words: my eye poureth out tears to God. | Full. Hebrew, "scorners." Therefore I appeal to inanimate things; and, above all, to God, who cannot give a wrong judgment. |
| Job 16:22 | And O that a man might so be judged with God, as the son of man is judged with his companion! | Judged. Hebrew, "might plead." (Haydock) --- Earthly judges may be compelled to pronounce sentence publicly. Job is afraid lest the justice of his cause should remain undecided, till death overtook him, ver. 23. (Pineda) |
| Job 16:23 | For behold short years pass away, and I am walking in a path by which I shall not return. | Years. Hebrew and Septuagint, "of number." Pauperis est numerare pecus. (Haydock) --- Like a man under affliction, Job repeats what he had said, Job 14:5., (Menochius) and Job 10:20. (Haydock) |
| Job 17:0 | Job's hope in God: he expects rest in death. | |
| Job 17:1 | My spirit shall be wasted, my days shall be shortened, and only the grave remaineth for me. | Spirit. Hebrew, "breath is corrupt," (Haydock) or spent. I cannot breathe without the greatest difficulty. (Calmet) --- Only. Septuagint, "But I want the grave, and do not obtain it." (Haydock) |
| Job 17:2 | I have not sinned, and my eye abideth in bitterness. | Not sinned. That is, I am not guilty of such sins as they charge me with. (Challoner) --- Hebrew, "the wicked were not with me" in friendship at any time. Protestants, "Are there not mockers with me?" (Haydock) --- Job was doubly afflicted, with corporal pain and calumny: yet hopeth in God. (Worthington) |
| Job 17:3 | Deliver me, O Lord, and set me beside thee, and let any man's hand fight against me. | Fight. I am secure under thy protection. Hebrew, "who will strike hands with me?" or stand bondsman for my debt? (Proverbs 6:1.) Who will take my place? You accuse me of weakness and of impiety: but how would you act, if you were treated in the same manner? (Calmet) |
| Job 17:4 | Thou hast set their heart far from understanding, therefore they shall not be exalted. | Understanding. They will not answer for me. They are not of such a generous disposition; nor can they distinguish between the punishment of guilt and the trial of virtue. (Calmet) |
| Job 17:5 | He promiseth a prey to his companions, and the eyes of his children shall fail. | He. My friend. (Calmet) --- Hebrew, "speaketh flattery," (Haydock) or promiseth to caress me, while he neglects his own children. But the sense of the Vulgate and Chaldean seem preferable. My friends speak as if they could do any thing, and as if no trial would stagger their resolution. But they durst not be in my situation for a short time. (Calmet) --- Like hunters, who have promised their children some prey, my friends will not, however, gain the victory over me. (Menochius) |
| Job 17:6 | He hath made me, as it were, a bye-word of the people, and I am an example before them. | Example. Protestants, "a tabret." (Haydock) --- The people sing over my misfortune, Lamentations 3:14. I am represented as a victim of God's just indignation. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "a laughter," or laughing-stock. (Haydock) |
| Job 17:7 | My eye is dim through indignation, and my limbs are brought, as it were, to nothing. | Indignation of God, or of myself. (Menochius) --- Nothing. Hebrew, "as a shadow." (Calmet) |
| Job 17:8 | The just shall be astonished at this, and the innocent shall be raised up against the hypocrite. | Hypocrite. If you condemn me, I shall comfort myself with the approbation of the righteous, and still maintain my station. (Haydock) --- Men of sense and virtue will tremble at the judgments of God, and will never join the crowd of scoffers. (Calmet) |
| Job 17:9 | And the just man shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger. | |
| Job 17:10 | Wherefore, be ye all converted, and come, and I shall not find among you any wise man. | Man. He offers to dispute with them again, and convince them of folly; (Menochius) or rather he here concludes his address to them, and invites them to change their preposterous judgments. |
| Job 17:11 | My days have passed away, my thoughts are dissipated, tormenting my heart. | Thoughts, or fine projects of living happy a long time. (Calmet) |
| Job 17:12 | They have turned night into day, and after darkness I hope for light again. | Day. Sleep flees from me. (Menochius) --- All is in confusion. --- After. Hebrew and Septuagint, "light is near in the face of darkness." (Haydock) --- I still hope for relief. |
| Job 17:13 | If I wait, hell is my house, and I have made my bed in darkness. | Hell. Seol. The region of the dead. (Challoner) --- Protestants, "grave." (Haydock) --- But this text proves that there was a place of rest called hell. (Worthington) --- He speaks here chiefly of the body. (Calmet) --- Mors ultima linea rerum est. (Horace) --- "Death is the end of all." (Haydock) --- If I refrain from complaining, still I cannot expect to be restored to health. |
| Job 17:14 | I have said to rottenness: Thou art my father; to worms, my mother and my sister. | Sister. I am nearly related to such things, and ready to drop into the grave, as my flesh is already devoured by worms. (Menochius) |
| Job 17:15 | Where is now then my expectation, and who considereth my patience? | Who. Hebrew, "who shall see my hope?" I wish all might witness it. (Haydock) --- But I expect no redress on this side of the grave. (Calmet) |
| Job 17:16 | All that I have shall go down into the deepest pit: thinkest thou that there, at least, I shall have rest? | Deepest pit. Literally hell. (Challoner) --- Hebrew, "We shall go down to the bars of the pit, when we shall rest together in the dust." My hopes may be frustrated by death; (Haydock) or you, my friends, must also go to the house of eternity. (Calmet) |
| Job 18:0 | Baldad again reproves Job: and describes the miseries of the wicked. | |
| Job 18:1 | Then Baldad, the Suhite, answered, and said: | |
| Job 18:2 | How long will ye throw out words? understand first, and so let us speak. | Understand ye. Teach this man to comprehend what we say. He deigns not to address Job in person: but repeats most of his former remarks respecting the wicked, as if they were unquestionably applicable to Job, Job 8. (Calmet) --- Hebrew, "mark ye." Septuagint, "do thou attend." (Haydock) --- Baldad speaks to many who might be of Job's opinion, as he was a figure of the Church, defending the common cause; while his friends, like heretics, speak both true and false things. (St. Gregory 14:1.) (Worthington) |
| Job 18:3 | Why are we reputed as beasts, and counted vile before you? | Reputed. Septuagint, "silent as four-footed animals before thee? (Haydock) without discipline or understanding," Job 17:4. (Menochius) |
| Job 18:4 | Thou that destroyest thy soul in thy fury, shall the earth be forsaken for thee, and shall rocks be removed out of their place? | Thou. Hebrew, "He teareth his soul in his fury!" (Haydock) --- This is spoken with an air of contempt, as if Job were mad, Job 13:14. (Calmet) --- Place. We should expect to see such effects, as soon as we would allow that God punishes thee, without thy being guilty. Hitherto he has treated the wicked only with such rigour. Still thou wouldst assert that thou art a singular example of an innocent man under oppression! (Calmet) |
| Job 18:5 | Shall not the light of the wicked be extinguished, and the flame of his fire not shine? | |
| Job 18:6 | The light shall be dark in his tabernacle, and the lamp that is over him shall be put out. | Light; prosperity, (Menochius) offspring, etc. (Calmet) |
| Job 18:7 | The steps of his strength shall be straitened, and his own counsel shall cast him down headlong. | Step. He shall be greatly embarrassed, (Menochius) like a man in a narrow pass, (Calmet) beset with thorns. (Haydock) (Proverbs 4:12.) --- Septuagint, "the weakest have made a prey of his possessions.["] (Haydock) |
| Job 18:8 | For he hath thrust his feet into a net, and walketh in its meshes. | Meshes, (maculis) or holes of the net. (Menochius) --- The more he strives to get out, the more he gets entangled. (Calmet) |
| Job 18:9 | The sole of his foot shall be held in a snare, and thirst shall burn against him. | Thirst: the greedy hunter. (Calmet) --- Hebrew, "the robber." (Haydock) |
| Job 18:10 | A gin is hidden for him in the earth, and his trap upon the path. | |
| Job 18:11 | Fears shall terrify him on every side, and shall entangle his feet. | Fears. Hunters used to place loose feathers round the wood, except where the gin was laid, in order to frighten the prey into it. Puniceaeque agitant formidine pennae. (Georg. iii.) (Jeremias 48:44.) "Like timid stags, while you avoid the moving feathers, you are entrapped in the strongest nets." (St. Jerome, contra Lucif.) --- Every thing tends to fill the poor beast with alarm. So the devil, conscience, and enemies on all sides, beset the wicked. (Calmet) |
| Job 18:12 | Let his strength be wasted with famine, and let hunger invade his ribs. | |
| Job 18:13 | Let it devour the beauty of his skin, let the first-born, death, consume his arms. | First-born denotes the best, or the worst. (Haydock) --- Death. Hebrew, "of death," the devil, or a premature death, and most cruel enemy. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "But death devours his most beautiful things." (Haydock) |
| Job 18:14 | Let his confidence be rooted out of his tabernacle, and let destruction tread upon him like a king. | Confidence. Septuagint, "health." --- Let. Protestants, "and it shall bring him to the king of terrors;" (Haydock) or, "thou (O God) shalt," etc. Septuagint, "let him be in the greatest (Calmet) want, on account of a royal accusation," (Haydock) of high treason. (Calmet) |
| Job 18:15 | Let the companions of him that is not, dwell in his tabernacle, let brimstone be sprinkled in his tent. | Tent, when he is gone to purify it. Et veniat quae lustret anus lectumque locumque, Praeferat et tremula sulphur et ova manu. (Ovid, Art.) --- Yet Moses does not mention sulphur as a thing proper for purifications. Some think that Baldad hints that his house will be destroyed with lightning, or rendered uninhabitable by a loathsome smell. |
| Job 18:16 | Let his roots be dried up beneath, and his harvest destroyed above. | Harvest. Hebrew also, "branch;" (Calmet) his family, (Menochius) and all on which he trusted. (Calmet) --- All must be destroyed, root and branch. |
| Job 18:17 | *Let the memory of him perish from the earth and let not his name be renowned in the streets. Proverbs 2:22. | |
| Job 18:18 | He shall drive him out of light into darkness, and shall remove him out of the world. | |
| Job 18:19 | His seed shall not subsist, nor his offspring among his people, nor any remnants in his country. | |
| Job 18:20 | They that come after him shall be astonished at his day, and horror shall fall upon them that went before. | Them. Literally, "the first," who were witnesses of his misery. (Haydock) |
| Job 18:21 | These then are the tabernacles of the wicked, and this the place of him that knoweth not God. | |
| Job 19:0 | Job complains of the cruelty of his friends: he describes his own sufferings: and his belief of a future resurrection. | |
| Job 19:1 | Then Job answered, and said: | |
| Job 19:2 | How long do you afflict my soul, and break me in pieces with words? | |
| Job 19:3 | Behold, these ten times you confound me, and are not ashamed to oppress me. | Ten times; very often. --- Oppress me. Hebrew word occurs no where else, and is variously translated. It may signify, "to dig a pit for me," chap 6:27., and Psalm 6:6. Job repeats nearly what he had said before, only with greater vehemence. He admits that Providence treats him in an unusual manner. Yet he still retains an assured hope, and arraigns his adversaries before the divine tribunal. (Calmet) --- Yet he rather hesitates; (ver. 4, 6.) and this species of ignorance is the folly of which he, at last, accuses himself, Job 42:3. It was no real fault, Job 42:8. (Haydock) |
| Job 19:4 | For if I have been ignorant, my ignorance shall be with me. | With me. I alone am answerable for it. But I am no wiser for your remarks. If I have sinned, have I not been sufficiently punished? (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "Yea, truly, I was under a mistake; and the mistake still remains with me, to have spoken a word which was not becoming. But my speeches are erroneous and importunate." He talks thus ironically. (Haydock) |
| Job 19:5 | But you set yourselves up against me, and reprove me with my reproaches. | Reproaches, which I endure, as if they were a sure proof of your assertion. (Haydock) -- I must therefore refute you. (Calmet) |
| Job 19:6 | At least now understand, that God hath not afflicted me with an equal judgment, and compassed me with his scourges. | With an equal judgment. St. Gregory explains these words thus: Job being a just man, and truly considering his own life, thought that his affliction was greater than his sins deserved; and in that respect, that the punishment was not equal, yet it was just, as coming from God, who gives a crown of justice to those who suffer for righteousness' sake, and proves the just with tribulations, as gold is tried by fire. (Challoner) --- He knew that God would surely give a just reward, 2 Timothy 4:(St. Gregory 14:16.) (Worthington) --- The friends of Job had too contracted a notion of Providence, supposing that the virtuous could not be afflicted. Job allowed that the ordinary rules were not here observed. Hebrew, "the Lord hath perverted or overthrown me." (Calmet) --- This gave him no small uneasiness. If the thing had been as plain as it appears now to us, he might have refuted all with a bare denial. (Houbigant) |
| Job 19:7 | Behold I shall cry, suffering violence, and no one will hear: I shall cry aloud, and there is none to judge. | Hear. Jeremias makes the same complaint, Lamentations 3:8. (Calmet) |
| Job 19:8 | He hath hedged in my path round about, and I cannot pass, and in my way he hath set darkness. | |
| Job 19:9 | He hath stript me of my glory, and hath taken the crown from my head. | |
| Job 19:10 | He hath destroyed me on every side, and I am lost; and he hath taken away my hope, as from a tree that is plucked up. | |
| Job 19:11 | His wrath is kindled against me, and he hath counted me as his enemy. | |
| Job 19:12 | His troops have come together, and have made themselves a way by me, and have besieged my tabernacle round about. | Troops: (latrones) "free-booters," (Haydock) or "soldiers." (Sanctius) --- Those nations made a practice of plundering one another's territories, without any declaration of war. Mercury and Autolychus are praised for thefts of this description. (Odys. xix.) See Judges 11:3. Septuagint, "his temptations (Calmet; or militia; peirateria) came rushing together upon me; lying down (Haydock) in ambush, (Calmet) they surrounded my paths." (Haydock) |
| Job 19:13 | He hath put my brethren far from me, and my acquaintance, like strangers, have departed from me. | |
| Job 19:14 | My kinsmen have forsaken me, and they that knew me have forgotten me. | |
| Job 19:15 | They that dwelt in my house, and my maid-servants, have counted me a stranger, and I have been like an alien in their eyes. | |
| Job 19:16 | I called my servant, and he gave me no answer, I entreated him with my own mouth. | |
| Job 19:17 | My wife hath abhorred my breath, and I entreated the children of my womb. | Entreated. Protestants add, "for the children's sake of mine own body." Septuagint, "I invited with flattering speeches the sons of my concubines. (18) But they cast me from them for ever. When I arise, they speak against me." (Haydock) --- Interpreters generally suppose that Job speaks of the children by his inferior wives: though he might have some at home by the first wife, who were not old enough to be invited to the feast, with those who were destroyed. (Calmet) |
| Job 19:18 | Even fools despise me; and when I was gone from them, they spoke against me. | Fools; wicked men, (Menochius) or the meanest of the people, (Calmet) whom (Haydock) these unnatural children (Calmet) resembled. Hebrew, "young children." (Protestants) (Haydock) |
| Job 19:19 | They that were some time my counsellors, have abhorred me: and he whom I loved most, is turned against me. | Some. Hebrew, "men of my secret." Septuagint, "who knew me;" my most intimate friends. --- And he. Hebrew and Septuagint, "They whom I love are." (Haydock) --- These ungratefully joined with the rest, in turning their backs on their benefactor. (Worthington) |
| Job 19:20 | The flesh being consumed, my bone hath cleaved to my skin, and nothing but lips are left about my teeth. | Teeth. I am like a skeleton, so strangely emaciated, and my flesh corrupted: even my bones are not entire. (Haydock) --- Hebrew, "I have escaped with the skin of my teeth." Only my gums are left. My bones cut the skin. Symmachus, "I tore my skin with my teeth." |
| Job 19:21 | Have pity on me, have pity on me, at least you, my friends, because the hand of the Lord hath touched me. | |
| Job 19:22 | Why do you persecute me as God, and glut yourselves with my flesh? | Flesh? acting with the like inhumanity towards me. Am I not then sufficiently tormented in your opinion, that you insult over my distress? (Calmet) |
| Job 19:23 | Who will grant me that my words may be written? who will grant me that they may be marked down in a book: | |
| Job 19:24 | With an iron pen, and in a plate of lead, or else be graven with an instrument in flint-stone. | In a. Hebrew, "lead, in the rock for ever." (Protestants) Septuagint have, "for ever," after book, (ver. 23) and subjoins, "with a writing instrument of iron and (or) lead, or be engraven on the rocks for a memorial." Grabe insinuates that before there was only, "and on lead, or be engraven on the rocks." (Haydock) --- Instrument, (celte) means "a chisel," (Haydock) like coelum from coelo: " I engrave." (Pineda) --- St. Jerome, (ad Pam.) and the late editor of his works, retain this word, as the older editions of St. Gregory did; (Calmet) though certe, "surely," has been inserted instead, from several manuscripts by the Benedictines. (Haydock) --- Ancient manuscripts and Latin Bibles have more generally the latter word. But the received editions are supported by many manuscripts (Calmet) and the Septuagint eggluthenai, expresses as much. Celtis est, gluthaion. (Amama). (Casaub. in Athen. 7:20. p. 556.) --- An inscription, in Dalmatia, has the same sense: Neque hic atramentum vel papyrus aut membrana ulla adhuc; sed malleolo et celte literatus silex. "Here as yet was neither ink, nor paper, nor any parchments; but a flint stone was lettered with a mallet and a chisel.." The former modes of writing were not, in effect, invented in the days of Job. (Calmet) --- But it was long very usual to make use of lead. (Pineda) --- What he desired to have written in such durable characters, (Haydock) was the following sentence, in proof of his unshaken confidence in God, and as a refutation of his friends, who accused him of despair and blasphemy, (Calmet) as also the whole history of his conflict. His desire has been granted. (Tirinus) |
| Job 19:25 | For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and in the last day I shall rise out of the earth. | Redeemer may be understood of the Deity, without confining it to the second Person; (Isaias 41:14., and 49:7.; Piscator) though it may have a more peculiar reference to Christ: (Junius; Haydock) in whom he believed, as the Redeemer of all mankind. (Calmet) --- Earth. Yea, ere long I shall be restored to health, (St. Chrysostom; Grotius) as an earnest and figure of the resurrection. Nothing is more common, in Scripture, than for the same prophecy to have a double accomplishment; one soon after it is made public, and another more sublime and remote. Job seemed to have no expectation of surviving his present misery, (ver. 7., and Job 7:7., and 24:15.) unless God now revealed it to him, as a figure of his future resurrection, founded on the hope of our Saviour's, which he expresses in much clearer terms. Hebrew, "I know that my Redeemer is living, and that he will raise himself one day upon the earth," (Calmet) like a conqueror, (Haydock) or wrestler, having overthrown his antagonist: (Amama) or, "he will stand the last upon the earth, or dust," (Piscator) ascending his throne, to judge all. (Deodat.) --- Yet Luther translates, "and one day he will raise me up from the earth;" which is not conformable to the Hebrew. Others explain, "he....will place (26) this, my skin, after they (worms) shall have ruined it." (Pagnin; Montanus) --- But Amama suspects that the latter is not in earnest. Pineda defends the Vulgate and observes that yakum (Haydock) may signify, "will raise" himself, or "me;" the latter being at least a consequence of the former, if St. Jerome did not read it me in his copy. So St. Paul argues; If Christ be risen, we also shall rise again. Septuagint, "For I know that he is eternal, who will set me free," (Haydock) by death, (Calmet; or redemption; ekluein) "upon the earth." |
| Job 19:26 | And I shall be clothed again with my skin, and in my flesh I will see my God. | And 1:Septuagint, "But he will raise up my body or skin, which has sustained these things. This now has been accomplished for me by the Lord; (27) which I know within myself, which my eyes have seen, and not another. For all things are accomplished in my bosom." I am as fully convinced of this glorious event, (Haydock) as if it were past. (Calmet) --- Hebrew, "and though, after my skin, worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God." (Protestants, or in the margin, "After I shall awake, though this body be destroyed, yet out of," etc. Various other interpretations are given. (Haydock) --- But we had as well adhere to the Septuagint, Vulgate, etc. (Du Hamel) --- God. Sixtus V and some other editions, add "Saviour." (Calmet) --- Job would see the Messias by the eyes of his posterity. (St. Augustine or Faustus, ser. 234. t. V. App.) (Sanctius) --- He hoped also to see God face to face in glory (Calmet) though not by means of his corporeal eyes, (Haydock) and to be restored to favour, so that God would no longer turn his back on him, Job 42:5. St. Gregory, when legate at Constantinople, convinced the patriarch Eutychius, by this text, that after the resurrection, our bodies would still be palpable, and not aerial only. (Calmet) --- It contains an express profession of Job's faith, on this head. We shall rise the same in substance. (Worthington) |
| Job 19:27 | Whom I myself shall see, and my eyes shall behold, and not another: this, my hope, is laid up in my bosom. | Myself. Hebrew, "for myself," and for my comfort; not like the reprobate, who shall see their judge to their eternal confusion. Job insists so much on this point, that he shews he is not speaking merely of the divine favour being restored to him, in the re-establishment of his health and affairs, but that he raises his mind to something more solid and desirable, of which the former was only a faint representation. (Calmet) --- "No one since Christ has spoken so plainly of the resurrection, as this man did before the coming of the Messias." (St. Jerome, ad Pam.) --- This. Hebrew, "though my reins be consumed within me;" (Protestants; Haydock) or, "my reins (desires and tender affections) are completed in my bosom." (Calmet) |
| Job 19:28 | Why then do you say now: Let us persecute him, and let us find occasion of word against him? | Let us. Septuagint, "Why do we contend against him? and the root of the word (reason) we shall find in him." He provokes us to speak thus. (Haydock) --- Hebrew reads, "in me." But the Chaldean, etc., "have him," as the sequel requires; unless Job speak this in his own person. I am ready to answer you; or, have you really discovered in me any grounds for your virulent attack? (Calmet) |
| Job 19:29 | Flee then from the face of the sword, for the sword is the revenger of iniquities: and know ye that there is a judgment. | Know. Septuagint, "And then they shall know that their power is nowhere;" or, "where is their substance?" (Grabe) (Haydock) --- Job menaces his friends with God's judgments, as they had done him. (Calmet) |
| Job 20:0 | Sophar declares the shortness of the prosperity of the wicked: and their sudden downfall. | |
| Job 20:1 | Then Sophar, the Naamathite, answered, and said: | |
| Job 20:2 | Therefore various thoughts succeed one another in me, and my mind is hurried away to different things. | Therefore. From this concession which thou hast just made. (Menochius) --- Various. Hebrew, "Hence do my thoughts cause me to answer, and for this I hasten." Septuagint, "I did not thus suspect that thou wouldst contradict these things," etc. (Haydock) --- Sophar only speaks this second time; and he produces little new, but begins with an air of more moderation, as if the arguments of Job had made some impression upon him. (Calmet) --- He attempts to prove that the wicked have no comfort long; which is true in one sense, as all time is short, though they may prosper all their lives, as Job corrects his observation, Job 21:13. (Worthington) |
| Job 20:3 | The doctrine with which thou reprovest me, I will hear, and the spirit of my understanding shall answer for me. | |
| Job 20:4 | This I know from the beginning, since man was placed upon the earth, | I know. Hebrew and Septuagint, "dost thou not know?" |
| Job 20:5 | That the praise of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment. | |
| Job 20:6 | If his pride mount up even to heaven, and his head touch the clouds: | Pride. Septuagint, "presents." (Haydock) --- Riches may be meant by pride. (Calmet) |
| Job 20:7 | In the end he shall be destroyed, like a dunghill; and they that had seen him, shall say: Where is he? | Hill. Hebrew, "his own dung." (Haydock) (Proverbs 10:7.) |
| Job 20:8 | As a dream that fleeth away, he shall not be found; he shall pass as a vision of the night: | Fleeth. The poets assign wings to sleep and to dreams. (Homer, etc.) Isaias (xxix. 7.) describes a man who dreams that he is eating, and finds himself hungry when he awakes. Such is the live of the avaricious, (Calmet) and of all wicked people. (Haydock) |
| Job 20:9 | The eye that had seen him, shall see him no more, neither shall his place any more behold him. | Behold him, as if it were susceptible of resentment, and entered into the views of God, chap 7:10., and Psalm 26:35. (Calmet) |
| Job 20:10 | His children shall be oppressed with want, and his hands shall render to him his sorrow. | Be. Hebrew, "seek to please the poor, and his hands shall restore their goods," which the wicked had gotten by oppression. (Haydock) |
| Job 20:11 | His bones shall be filled with the vices of his youth, and they shall sleep with him in the dust. | Vices of, is not in Hebrew, but must be understood. (Haydock) --- Youth. Some translate, "hidden." Sophar perhaps accuses Job of some secret abominations, for which he was afflicted with the venereal disease. At least, nothing is more common than to see people brought to old age and infirmities unnumbered, (Calmet) before their time, in consequence of riotous living in their youth. (Haydock) --- Youth may also denote the sin in which we are born, which is the source of all our maladies, and is always dragging us towards the grave. (Calmet) |
| Job 20:12 | For when evil shall be sweet in his mouth, he will hide it under his tongue. | Evil of any king, and particularly (Haydock) injustice, which at first seems sweet, but will prove in the end a mortal poison. (Calmet) --- The unjust will be forced to restore his ill-gotten goods, or suffer eternally for the neglect, ver. 14, 18. (Haydock) --- Habitual sins are also overcome with most difficulty, ver. 11. (Menochius) |
| Job 20:13 | He will spare it, and not leave it, and will hide it in his throat. | |
| Job 20:14 | His bread in his belly shall be turned into the gall of asps within him. | |
| Job 20:15 | The riches which he hath swallowed, he shall vomit up, and God shall draw them out of his belly. | |
| Job 20:16 | He shall suck the head of asps, and the viper's tongue shall kill him. | Head. Hebrew, "venom." Septuagint, "the wrath of dragons." (Calmet) --- Vipers. The same Hebrew term is elsewhere rendered basilisk, or asp. The precise import of such things is not easily ascertained. (Pineda) --- Tongue. The ancients thought that serpents communicated the venom by the tongue, or sting. Moderns think they do it rather by the teeth. (Calmet) |
| Job 20:17 | (Let him not see the streams of the river, the brooks of honey and of butter.) | Butter. The impious may have a short-lived pleasure, but it will not give perfect satisfaction. The poets use similar expressions. (Calmet) Mella fluant illi, ferat et rubus asper amomum. (Virgil) Flumina jam lactis, jam flumina nectaris ibant. (Met. i.) |
| Job 20:18 | He shall be punished for all that he did, and yet shall not be consumed: according to the multitude of his devices so also shall he suffer. | Suffer eternal torments. (Calmet) --- Hebrew, "according to his substance, shall the restitution be, and he shall not rejoice." (Protestants) |
| Job 20:19 | Because he broke in, and stript the poor: he hath violently taken away a house which he did not build. | |
| Job 20:20 | *And yet his belly was not filled: and when he hath the things he coveted, he shall not be able to possess them. Ecclesiastes 5:9. | Them. Death will overtake him, like the rich man, Luke 12:20. (Calmet) |
| Job 20:21 | There was nothing left of his meat, and therefore nothing shall continue of his goods. | Continue. Hebrew, "no one shall look for his goods." The sinner eat up all in his life-time, or saw his possessions slip from him. (Haydock) --- At least, he shall not take them with him to the grave. (Calmet) |
| Job 20:22 | When he shall be filled, he shall be straitened; he shall burn, and every sorrow shall fall upon him. | |
| Job 20:23 | May his belly be filled, that God may send forth the wrath of his indignation upon him, and rain down his war upon him. | May. Hebrew, "And when he shall be about to fill his belly," like king Baltassar, death shall hurry him away. (Calmet) --- Rain. Septuagint, "hurl sorrows upon him," (Haydock) by an untimely death, followed with eternal hunger and thirst. Thus was treat the rich glutton, Luke 16:22. (Calmet) |
| Job 20:24 | He shall flee from weapons of iron, and shall fall upon a bow of brass. | Brass; of which metal the strongest bows were made. Protestants have, "steel:" (Haydock) but brass was used by the ancients for the same purpose. (Calmet) --- This proverb shews that those who endeavour to escape from men, fall into the hands of God. (Delrio. Adag. 9, t. ii.) Incidit in Scyllam cupiens vitare Charybdim. (Virgil) (Menochius) |
| Job 20:25 | The sword is drawn out, and cometh forth from its scabbard, and glittereth in his bitterness: the terrible ones shall go and come upon him. | The sword is, occurs not in the Vulgate, (Haydock) though it be in the Complutensian and Sixtine editions. (Calmet) --- Hebrew, "It is drawn, and cometh out of the body; the glittering sword cometh out of his gall; terrors are upon him." Protestants, "May likewise the dart come out through his body," etc. (Haydock) --- Ones. Hebrew, Enim; giants, who formerly inhabited the land of Moab, near the eastern Idumea. Their name might be placed for any cruel enemies. (Calmet) |
| Job 20:26 | All darkness is hid in his secret places: a fire that is not kindled shall devour him: he shall be afflicted when left in his tabernacle. | Darkness, or misery. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "Terrors upon him, (26) and all darkness may await him." (Haydock) --- He shall find no means of escaping. (Calmet) --- Kindled. Hebrew, "blown." St. Gregory observes that hell-fire is corporeal, but very different from our material fire. Chaldean, etc., explain this passage in the same sense. It may also intimate interior anguish, (Calmet) lightning, (Vatable) pestilence, (Grotius) and every species of calamity. (Calmet) --- Tabernacle, in hell. (Menochius) --- We may also translate, "he who is left," (Haydock) the offspring shall be also miserable. (Menochius) |
| Job 20:27 | The heavens shall reveal his iniquity, and the earth shall rise up against him. | Heavens, as his sins have cried for vengeance, Genesis 18:20. (Calmet) --- All creatures shall fight against the wicked. (Menochius) |
| Job 20:28 | The offspring of his house shall be exposed, he shall be pulled down in the day of God's wrath. | Exposed. Hebrew, "the bud, (Calmet) or increase of his house, shall depart," (Haydock) and be led away into captivity, (Calmet) and ruined. Septuagint, "Let final destruction draw away his house, and the day of wrath overtake him." |
| Job 20:29 | This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the inheritance of his doings from the Lord. | Doings. Literally, "words." Hebrew, "of his decree." (Haydock) --- This is what he may expect for him impiety both in words and actions. (Calmet) |
| Job 21:0 | Job shews that the wicked often prosper in this world, even to the end of their life: but that their judgment is in another world. | |
| Job 21:1 | Then Job answered, and said: | |
| Job 21:2 | Hear, I beseech you, my words, and do penance. | Do. "Alter your opinion." (Menochius) --- Symmachus, "hear." Septuagint, "may this be for your consolation," (Hebrew) which I shall receive from you, or which you may make use of, if you should be afflicted (Calmet) as I am. (Haydock) --- Job undertakes to show that the wicked are sometimes suffered to enjoy a long prosperity. |
| Job 21:3 | Suffer me, and I will speak; and after, if you please, laugh at my words. | |
| Job 21:4 | Is my debate against man, that I should not have just reason to be troubled? | Troubled. Hebrew, "Why is not my spirit shortened" by death, if your assertion be true? (Haydock) or why may I not be "troubled," since I have to deal, not with an enlightened judge, but with men who are under the greatest prejudices? (Calmet) --- I seem to you to dispute against God. Have I not then reason to tremble? ver. 6. (Haydock) --- Though he disputed with men, it was concerning Providence and eternal things. (Worthington) |
| Job 21:5 | Hearken to me and be astonished, and lay your finger on your mouth. | Hearken to. Literally, "look steadfastly on me." (Haydock) --- Compare my present with my former condition, and do not pretend to fathom God's judgments; which fill me also with astonishment, when I consider why the virtuous are distressed, and the wicked prosper, ver. 7. --- Mouth be silent. Harpocrates, the god of silence, was represented in this posture; and Virgil says, Intentique ora tenebant. (Aeneid ii.) --- Septuagint, "upon the cheek," like men in deep consideration. (Calmet) |
| Job 21:6 | As for me, when I remember, I am afraid, and trembling taketh hold on my flesh. | |
| Job 21:7 | *Why then do the wicked live, are they advanced, and strengthened with riches? Jeremias 12:1.; Habacuc 1:13. | Riches. This is what fills me with great anxiety. Yet it quite destroys the force of your argument, (Calmet) since you pretend that the prosperity of the wicked is never of long duration. We see them, however, live to an advanced old age, (Haydock) continually offending God, and annoying their neighbours. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "yea, they grow old in riches." |
| Job 21:8 | Their seed continueth before them, a multitude of kinsmen, and of children's children in their sight. | Sight. The Jews esteemed this as the greatest blessing and mark of God's favour. Yet it was also equivocal, as it was often possessed by the wicked. (Calmet) |
| Job 21:9 | Their houses are secure and peaceable, and the rod of God is not upon them. | Rod. Divine judgments. (Menochius) (Psalm 72:5.) |
| Job 21:10 | Their cattle have conceived, and failed not: their cow hath calved, and is not deprived of her fruit. | Cattle. Literally, "ox," bos. Protestants, "their bull gendereth, and faileth not." (Haydock) --- But Bochart explains it of the cows' bringing forth every year. (Calmet) --- Ox is used in the same sense, both by sacred and profane authors. (Haydock) --- A great part of the riches of these nations consisted in cattle, Psalm 144:14., and Zacharias 8:5. |
| Job 21:11 | Their little ones go out like a flock, and their children dance and play. | Their. Septuagint, "They continue like eternal sheep, as if they and their flocks would never die. (Calmet) --- And play, is to shew the nature of the dance. It is not in Hebrew. (Haydock) --- The children are healthy and sportive. (Menochius) --- Septuagint, "they play before them." (Haydock) |
| Job 21:12 | They take the timbrel and the harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ. | |
| Job 21:13 | They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment they go down to hell. | Moment. Septuagint, "in the rest of the lower region, adou, they shall be laid," (Haydock) in the grave. (Menochius) --- A sudden death, without agony or sickness, (Haydock) was the choice of Julius Caesar, the night before he was slain. Repentinum inopinatumque praetulerat. (Suetonius) --- But the enlightened servant of God would rather desire time to do penance, and to prepare for death. For who shall presume that he has that charity which banisheth fear? (Calmet) --- Hell. The same term is used for the place where the damned are tormented, as for that where the souls of the just waited (chap. 7.; Job 17.) for their Redeemer's coming. But here Job is speaking of the apparent happiness of the wicked; (Haycock) and only alludes to the grave, (Calmet; Menochius) or comfortable death and burial of the reprobate: though, at the same time, he may declare that their souls are buried in hell. (Haydock) |
| Job 21:14 | Who have said to God: Depart from us, we desire not the knowledge of thy ways. | Ways. The too common effect of riches, Proverbs 30:8., and Ecclesiasticus 5:2. |
| Job 21:15 | *Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what doth it profit us if we pray to him? Malachias 3:14. | |
| Job 21:16 | Yet because their good things are not in their hand, may the counsel of the wicked be far from me. | Because, is not in Hebrew. "Lo, their good is not." They are not possessed of true riches, or of good sense. Alexandrian Septuagint, "For good things were in their hands: but the works of the impious are not pure." No: the more they possess, the greater is their perversity. Grabe substitutes oukathora, for kathara; God "does not behold" the works, etc., which is more conformable to the other editions; and thus the blasphemies of the impious are continued. (Haydock) --- When we are not sensible of our wants and dependance, we think less on God. (Calmet) --- Hand, or power, they are only the gifts of God; far be then such sentiments from me. (Calmet) |
| Job 21:17 | How often shall the lamp of the wicked be put out, and a deluge come upon them, and he shall distribute the sorrows of his wrath? | How often. When do we witness the downfall of the wicked? (Mercer.) --- Or, in a contrary sense, how often are they miserable as well as the just? Such things are, therefore, a very equivocal argument, to prove either side of the question. Those who are afflicted, and cling closer to God, must be accounted virtuous and happy; while that prosperity is fatal which is an occasion of our neglecting his service. (Calmet) --- Job answers his own questions, ver. 7. If the wicked be happy for a time, their future state is deplorable, and often they forfeit even their temporal advantages. (Menochius) |
| Job 21:18 | They shall be as chaff before the face of the wind, and as ashes which the whirlwind scattereth. | |
| Job 21:19 | God shall lay up the sorrow of the father for his children: and when he shall repay, then shall he know. | The sorrow. Protestants, "his iniquity." Marginal note, "that is the punishment." (Haydock) --- The children shall share in his punishment, (Calmet) when they have been partakers, or imitators of his injustice. (Haydock) --- Know his offence, and whether there be a God (Calmet) and Providence. (Menochius) |
| Job 21:20 | His eyes shall see his own destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty. | |
| Job 21:21 | For what is it to him what befalleth his house after him: and if the number of his months be diminished by one half? | And if. Hebrew, "when" he is cut off in the midst of his days: he does not regard the happiness or misery of those whom he leaves behind. (Haydock) --- The children are rather taken away for his punishment, while he is living, as their misery would not touch him in the grave. (Menochius) |
| Job 21:22 | Shall any one teach God knowledge, who judgeth those that are high? | |
| Job 21:23 | One man dieth strong and hale, rich and happy. | Hale, or healthy. Hebrew, "in perfect strength." (Haydock) --- Septuagint, "simplicity, or folly." St. Augustine reads with the old Vulgate, "in the strength of his simplicity, (Calmet) or innocence. (Haydock) --- These outward appearances prove nothing for interior piety or wickedness. (Calmet) |
| Job 21:24 | His bowels are full of fat, and his bones are moistened with marrow. | Bowels. Protestants, "breasts" (Marginal note, "milk-pails") are full of milk. But the Septuagint, Bochart, etc., agree with the Vulgate. Job describes a corpulent man (Calmet) living in luxury, like the glutton. (Haydock) |
| Job 21:25 | But another dieth in bitterness of soul, without any riches: | Any. Hebrew, "ever having eaten with pleasure." (Haydock) |
| Job 21:26 | And yet they shall sleep together in the dust, and worms shall cover them. | |
| Job 21:27 | Surely I know your thoughts, and your unjust judgments against me. | Me. I perceive you are not convinced; and what you say respecting the wicked, is pointed at me. (Menochius) |
| Job 21:28 | For you say: Where is the house of the prince? and where are the dwelling-places of the wicked? | Prince. Job, (Menochius) or rather the tyrant, whose lot we know is miserable, as he falls a victim of God's justice, Job 20:7. |
| Job 21:29 | Ask any one of them that go by the way, and you shall perceive that he knoweth these same things. | Way. Travellers, who have seen foreign countries, (Vatable) or any one that may be passing, (Sanchez) will answer this objection (Haydock) in my favour. (Menochius) --- They will all agree in testifying that the wicked prosper, even for a long time. (Calmet) |
| Job 21:30 | Because the wicked man is reserved to the day of destruction, and he shall be brought to the day of wrath. | To the. He will be requited indeed, at last; or rather, when others are in the utmost danger, he will be protected as it were by God. Septuagint, (Calmet) or Theodotion, "the wicked is kept on high," chouthizetai. All from ver. 28 to 33 inclusively, is marked as an addition to the Septuagint by Grabe, who has supplied many similar omissions, of which Origen and St. Jerome complained. (Haydock) |
| Job 21:31 | Who shall reprove his way to his face? and who shall repay him what he hath done? | Done. Man is afraid, and God defers to take cognizance. (Calmet) |
| Job 21:32 | He shall be brought to the graves, and shall watch in the heap of the dead. | Dead. Hebrew, "the sheaves," being quite ripe for harvest, and even in the tomb, the tyrant retains some sore of pre-eminence, as he is buried with honour, an set like a more elevated sheaf, to inspect the rest. (Calmet) --- Godiss, is rendered by Protestants, "tomb," (margin) "heap." But (chap. 5:26.) where only the word occurs again, we find "a shock of corn," and this comparison seems very suitable here. The damned shall watch, alas, when it will be to no purpose, among the heap of fellow-sufferers, who would not think while they had time to repent. After millions of night spent thus without sleep or ease, we may imagine we hear their mournful lamentations from the depth of the abyss. Always misery! and never any hope of ease! (Haydock) --- "Eternity," says Bridayne, (ser. in Maury's Eloq.) "is a pendulum, the vibration of which sounds continually, Always! Never! In the mean while, a reprobate cries out: What o'clock is it? And the same voice answers, Eternity!" Thus at last the wicked shal awake from the sleep in which they have spent their days; (Haydock) and their watching, restless, and immortal souls (St. Thomas Aquinas) will bitterly lament their past folly. What profit will they derive from the honours paid to their corpse by surviving friends, (Haydock) even though they be embalmed, and seem to live in marble statues? (Pineda) |
| Job 21:33 | He hath been acceptable to the gravel of Cocytus, and he shall draw every man after him, and there are innumerable before him. | Acceptable to the gravel of Cocytus. The Hebrew word, which St. Jerome has here rendered by the name Cocytus, (which the poets represent as a river in hell) signifies a valley or a torrent: and in this place, is taken for the low region of death, and hell: which willingly, as it were, receives the wicked at their death: who are ushered in by innumerable others that have gone before them; and are followed by multitudes above number. (Challoner) --- Isaias (xiv. 9.) and Ezechiel (xxxii. 21.) describe the splendid reception in hell of the kings of Babylon and of Egypt, nearly in the same manner as Job does that of any sinner who has lived in prosperity, Job 38:17. He gives life to the whole creation, in the true spirit of poetry. (Calmet) --- The rich man is represented as tenderly embraced by his mother earth; (chap. 1:21.; Haydock) the very stones and turf press lightly upon him; as the ancients prayed, Sit tibi terra levis. Hebrew, "the stones or clods of the torrent (Calmet) shall be sweet to him, and he," etc. (Haydock) --- St. Jerome has chosen to mention a particular river, instead of the general term nel, "a torrent or vale," to intimate that Job is speaking of the state after death. --- Cocytus is a branch of the Styx, a river of Arcadia, of a noxious quality, which the poets have place in hell. (Pineda) --- Septuagint, "The pebbles of the torrent became sweet to him, and in his train every man shall come, and unnumbered men before him." Alexandrian manuscript has "men of number;" the two first letters of anarithmetoi being omitted. (Haydock) --- The Church reads in her office for St. Stephen, Lapides torrentis illi dulces fuerunt: ipsum sequuntur omnes animae justae. Many explain this passage of Job as a menace. The wicked have carried their insolence so far as to (Calmet) give orders to (Haydock) be buried with the utmost pomp: but in the other world, they shall be thrown ignominiously among the other dead. (St. Gregory, etc.) (Calmet) --- They were little moved with the thought of death, as it was common to all. But what will they think of eternal misery? (Haydock) |
| Job 21:34 | How then do ye comfort me in vain, whereas your answer is shewn to be repugnant to truth? | Vain. These arguments shew that your assertions are destitute of proof, and afford me no comfort. (Calmet) |
| Job 22:0 | Eliphaz falsely imputes many crimes to Job: but promises him prosperity if he will repent. | |
| Job 22:1 | Then Eliphaz, the Themanite, answered, and said: | |
| Job 22:2 | Can man be compared with God, even though he were of perfect knowledge? | Knowledge. How then canst thou dispute with God? |
| Job 22:3 | What doth it profit God if thou be just? or what dost thou give him if thy way be unspotted? | Profit. God rules all with justice or with mercy: since, therefore, he punishes, it must be for some guilt, and not for his own advantage. But he might still chastise for the good of man, or to manifest his own power, John 9:3. God also punishes the sinner for the wrong which he does to himself. (St. Augustine, Conf. 3:8.) Any one may discover the sophism of Eliphaz. If God were indifferent with regard to our virtue, who would be able to advance one step towards him? (Calmet) --- Man is unprofitable indeed to God, but he may reap great advantage from piety himself; and this is what God desires, as well as his own glory, Matthew 5:17. (Worthington) |
| Job 22:4 | Shall he reprove thee for fear, and come with thee into judgment: | Fear. Thus malefactors are condemned, that they may no longer disturb society. But may not God afflict the just, though he have nothing to fear? (Calmet) |
| Job 22:5 | And not for thy manifold wickedness, and thy infinite iniquities? | Iniquities. He adduces no fresh arguments, but boldly taxes Job with many crimes, which a person in his station might have committed. He rashly concludes that he must have fallen into some of them at least. (Calmet) |
| Job 22:6 | For thou hast taken away the pledge of thy brethren without cause, and stript the naked of their clothing. | Pledge. Hebrew, "person." Debtors might be sold, Matthew 18:30. |
| Job 22:7 | Thou hast not given water to the weary, thou hast withdrawn bread from the hungry. | Water. Job's disposition was the reverse, Job 29:15. Such inhumanity would hardly be conceived possible among us. But the Idumeans were guilty of it; (Numbers 20:18., and Isaias 21:14.) and if it had not been probable, Eliphaz would not have dared to speak thus. (Calmet) |
| Job 22:8 | In the strength of thy arm thou didst possess the land, and, being the most mighty, thou heldest it. | It. Hebrew and Septuagint intimate that Job accepted persons, and gave sentence in favour of his rich friends. (Haydock) |
| Job 22:9 | Thou hast sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless thou hast broken in pieces. | Arms; possessions, condemning orphans unjustly. |
| Job 22:10 | Therefore art thou surrounded with snares, and sudden fear troubleth thee. | |
| Job 22:11 | And didst thou think that thou shouldst not see darkness, and that thou shouldst not be covered with the violence of overflowing waters? | Waters, and misery, (Calmet) which such conduct deserved. (Haydock) |
| Job 22:12 | Dost not thou think that God is higher than heaven, and is elevated above the height of the stars? | Stars: and of course, that his Providence regardeth not human affairs. (Calmet) --- When an infidel observed, "I think the gods are too great to want my adoration," Socrates well replied, "The greater they appear to thee, the more oughtest thou to treat them with respect and honour." (Xenophon, Memor.) |
| Job 22:13 | And thou sayst: What doth God know? and he judgeth as it were through a mist. | |
| Job 22:14 | The clouds are his covert, and he doth not consider our things, and he walketh about the poles of heaven. | Doth. Hebrew, "seeth not." Septuagint, "is not seen." --- Poles, on which the whole machine seems to turn. (Calmet) --- "Hipparchus intimated that there would be a time when the hinges, or poles of heaven, would be moved out of their places." (Colum. 1:1.) Hebrew and Septuagint, (according to Origen's edition, ver. 13 to 16) "he walketh about in the circuit of heaven." (Haydock) Immortali aevo summa cum pace fruatur Semota a nostris rebus, sejunctaque longe. (Lucretius) This was the error of the Egyptians, (Aristotle, Mun. 84.) which Eliphaz unjustly lays to the charge of Job, as heretics often impute condemned tenets to Catholics. (Worthington) |
| Job 22:15 | Dost thou desire to keep the path of ages, which wicked men have trodden? | Wicked. Alexandrian Septuagint, "just." But Grabe substitutes unjust; (Haydock) as otherwise, Eliphaz would argue against his own principles: unless just be put ironically for hypocrites. (Calmet) --- Wilt thou imitate the ancient giants, before the deluge? (Calmet) |
| Job 22:16 | Who were taken away before their time, and a flood hath overthrown their foundation: | Flood. Hebrew, "river," (Septuagint; Calmet) or "flood." (Protestants) This does not certainly allude to the deluge, though Job could not be unacquainted with an event (Haydock) which appears in the writings of the most ancient pagan authors. (Grotius, Relig.) |
| Job 22:17 | Who said to God: Depart from us: and looked upon the Almighty as if he could do nothing. | |
| Job 22:18 | Whereas he had filled their houses with good things: whose way of thinking be far from me. | From me. He thus insinuates that Job entertained such sentiments, though he seemed to condemn them, Job 21:16. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "is far from him," God. |
| Job 22:19 | *The just shall see, and shall rejoice, and the innocent shall laugh them to scorn. Psalm 106:42. | Shall. Septuagint, "saw." The Jews explain this of Noe, who saw the ruin of the giants with pity, mixed with joy, as he approved of the divine judgments. (Vatable, etc.) --- The just can thus rejoice, only on this account; as they would not be just if they were devoid of charity. (St. Gregory) (Psalm 57:11., and 106:42.) (Calmet) |
| Job 22:20 | Is not their exaltation cut down, and hath not fire devoured the remnants of them? | Their. Hebrew, "our." (Calmet) --- "Whereas our substance is not cut down." (Protestants) (Haydock) --- But the Septuagint and Chaldean agree with the Vulgate, which gives a better sense. --- Fire, which consumed Sodom, etc. (Calmet) |
| Job 22:21 | Submit thyself then to him, and be at peace: and thereby thou shalt have the best fruits. | |
| Job 22:22 | Receive the law of his mouth, and lay up his words in thy heart. | Law of Moses, (Rabbins) or rather (Haydock) the natural law, which teaches that God is just, and deserves to be adored. He addresses Job, as if he had acknowledged no law or restraint. |
| Job 22:23 | If thou wilt return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, and shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacle. | |
| Job 22:24 | He shall give for earth flint, and for flint torrents of gold. | Gold, to build and adorn thy habitation, ver. 23. Hebrew, "He will give thee gold instead of dust; (or more abundant) yea, gold of the torrents of Ophir." The Phasis is said to roll gold dust, which is of the purest kind, Genesis 2:11. (Calmet) --- "Thou shalt lay up gold as dust, and the gold of Ophir, as the stones of the brooks." (Protestants) (Haydock) --- This is an exaggeration, (3 Kings 10:27.; Calmet) and a sort of proverb, intimating that strength and plenty should succeed to infirmity. The foundations should be the hard rock, instead of earth, etc. |
| Job 22:25 | And the Almighty shall be against thy enemies, and silver shall be heaped together for thee. | Silver. Septuagint, "But he shall purify thee, as silver, which has passed the fire." (Haydock) |
| Job 22:26 | Then shalt thou abound in delights in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face to God. | Face, with confidence of being in favour and accepted. (Calmet) |
| Job 22:27 | Thou shalt pray to him, and he will hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows. | Vows, after obtaining thy requests. (Menochius) --- Et positis aris jam vota in littore solves. (Virgil, Aeneid iii.) |
| Job 22:28 | Thou shalt decree a thing, and it I shall come to thee, and light shall shine in thy ways. | Decree. Thy projects shall succeed. Septuagint, "But he shall appoint for thee the rule of justice." (Haydock) |
| Job 22:29 | *For he that hath been humbled, shall be in glory: and he that shall bow down his eyes, he shall be saved. Proverbs 29:23. | Glory, as the gospel declares, Matthew 23:12. The Hebrew is more perplexed. "When men are cast down, then thou shalt say, there is lifting up;" (Protestants; Haydock) or "when thy eyes shall be cast down, they shall say to thee, Arise." (Calmet) |
| Job 22:30 | The innocent shall be saved, and he shall be saved by the cleanness of his hands. | Innocent. Hebrew, "He shall deliver even the man who is not innocent, and that for the sake of the purity of thy hands." (Chaldean; Junius, etc.) --- God will even spare the guilty, to manifest the regard which he has for the intercession of the saints. These interpreters have taken ai in the same sense as ain, which is the case, 1 Kings 4:21. (Calmet) --- Others explain, "He shall deliver the island of the innocent, and it is delivered by the pureness of thine hands." (Protestants) This also would shew the merit and protection of the saints, as a whole island may owe its safety to one of God's servants. In effect, the world stands by the prayers of the saints. (Haydock) --- All that has been said from ver. 21 tends to shew that God favours his friends; and, consequently, that he would never have punished Job, if he had not been guilty. (Calmet) |
| Job 23:0 | Job wishes to be tried at God's tribunal. | |
| Job 23:1 | Then Job answered, and said: | |
| Job 23:2 | Now also my words are in bitterness, and the hand of my scourge is more grievous than my mourning. | Bitterness. Instead of comfort, he only meets with insult from his friends. He therefore appeals to God, (Worthington) but with fear. (Calmet) --- Scourge, is not in Hebrew. (Menochius) --- But it explains the meaning of "my hand," (Haydock) or the heavy chastisement (St. Gregory) which I endure. (Menochius) |
| Job 23:3 | Who will grant me that I might know and find him, and come even to his throne? | |
| Job 23:4 | I would set judgment before him, and would fill my mouth with complaints. | |
| Job 23:5 | That I might know the words that he would answer me, and understand what he would say to me. | |
| Job 23:6 | I would not that he should contend with me with much strength, nor overwhelm me with the weight of his greatness. | Nor. Protestants, "No, but he would put strength in me." He would enable me to stand my trial. (Haydock) --- He would lay no falsehood to my charge. |
| Job 23:7 | Let him propose equity against me, and let my judgment come to victory. | Victory. Before such a judge I should hope to be acquitted. Job must have been well convinced of his innocence. For woe to man, if God treat him according to the rigour of his justice! (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "For truth and reproof are with him. But, oh! that he would bring my judgment to an end." (Haydock) |
| Job 23:8 | But if I go to the east, he appeareth not: if to the west, I shall not understand him. | East, or Hebrew, "before....if behind I cannot perceive him." (Calmet) --- Where, then, shall I find this just judge? ver. 3. (Haydock) |
| Job 23:9 | If to the left hand, what shall I do? I shall not take hold on him: if I turn myself to the right hand, I shall not see him. | Right, southward. --- See. The southern part of the heavens, or the antarctic stars would not be discerned in Idumea, Job 9:9. (Calmet) --- Job speaks in a human manner, as he was not ignorant of God's immensity. (Menochius) |
| Job 23:10 | But he knoweth my way, and has tried me as gold that passeth through the fire. | Fire. They had not a stone, like the Greeks, to try gold. (Calmet) |
| Job 23:11 | My foot hath followed his steps; I have kept his way, and have not declined from it. | |
| Job 23:12 | I have not departed from the commandments of his lips, and the words of his mouth I have hid in my bosom. | Lips, given to Noe, (Genesis 9:5.) or to Moses. This work was written by a Jew, who dresses up the sentiments of Job in his own style. The holy man was also acquainted with the Mosaic dispensation, though he was not bound to observe the ceremonial part of it. (Calmet) --- His words may, however, be verified, though he speak only of the natural law, or of that which was preserved by tradition of the patriarchs, as both proceeded from God. (Haydock) --- Hid. Protestants, "esteemed....more than my necessary food." (Haydock) --- Septuagint agree with the Vulgate. The ancients placed in their bosom what they greatly esteemed. The Turks still use it as a pocket. (Thevenot xxii.) (Calmet) |
| Job 23:13 | For he is alone, and no man can turn away his thought: and whatsoever his soul hath desired, that hath he done. | Alone. Self-existent. Hebrew, "in one thing," or resolution. He is immutable: all I could say would avail nothing. (Calmet) |
| Job 23:14 | And when he shall have fulfilled his will in me, many other like things are also at hand with him. | With him, to punish me afresh. Hebrew, "when he shall have appointed me my portion, he shall still have many such." He may treat me as a slave, allowing me only a certain portion of meat, Proverbs 30:8., and 31:15. (Calmet) |
| Job 23:15 | And therefore I am troubled at his presence, and when I consider him I am made pensive with fear. | |
| Job 23:16 | God hath softened my heart, and the Almighty hath troubled me. | |
| Job 23:17 | For I have not perished because of the darkness that hangs over me, neither hath the mist covered my face. | Face. My afflictions have not yet taken away my life, as might have been expected. (Haydock) --- I am less affected with my miseries, than with the dread of God's presence, ver. 15, 16. (Calmet) |
| Job 24:0 | God's providence often suffers the wicked to go on a long time in their sins: but punishes them in another life. | |
| Job 24:1 | Times are not hid from the Almighty: but they that know him, know not his days. | Days, when he will punish. (Menochius) --- They are convinced it will be sometime: while the wicked flatter themselves with impunity. (Worthington) --- Job has already shewn that his complaints had not been excessive, and that they were extorted chiefly by the dread which he had of God. He now comes to prove that he had not denied Providence. For though he asserted that the wicked were sometimes at ease, he maintained that there was another world, where all would be set to rights. Without this the book would be inexplicable. (Calmet) --- Know him. Septuagint, "the impious." (Haydock) |
| Job 24:2 | Some have removed land-marks, have taken away flocks by force, and fed them. | Marks. This was a heinous offence, (Deuteronomy 19:14.) which Numa punished with death. (Halyc. i.) (Calmet) --- And fed. Septuagint, "and those who fed them." |
| Job 24:3 | They have driven away the ass of the fatherless, and have taken away the widow's ox for a pledge. | |
| Job 24:4 | They have overturned the way of the poor, and have oppressed together the meek of the earth. | Poor, by oppression, not allowing them to get their bread, or to walk on the same road. (Calmet) --- And have. Hebrew and Septuagint, "the meek....have hidden themselves together." |
| Job 24:5 | Others, like wild asses in the desert, go forth to their work: by watching for a prey, they get bread for their children. | Others. Hebrew, "Behold as," (Haydock) which may be explained of these oppressors, or rather of the poor, who are forced to flee before them to seek for food. (Calmet) --- The Vulgate and Septuagint seem more favourable to the former supposition. (Haydock) |
| Job 24:6 | They reap the field that is not their own, and gather the vintage of his vineyard whom by violence they have oppressed. | Not, is omitted by the Protestants. (Haydock) --- Hebrew, "they reap in the field food for the cattle." (Calmet) --- His. Hebrew, "the wicked man's vineyard." (Haydock) --- They do not examine whether the person whom they plunder be just or not. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "they have reaped before the season the field which was not theirs. But the poor (helpless men) have laboured in the vineyards of the wicked without wages or meat." (Haydock) |
| Job 24:7 | They send men away naked, taking away their clothes who have no covering in the cold: | Cold. Hebrew is still ambiguous, as it may be understood either of the oppressor or of the poor. The cruelty here reprobated is contrary to the law, Exodus 22:26. (Calmet) |
| Job 24:8 | Who are wet with the showers of the mountains, and, having no covering, embrace the stones. | Stones, for their bed, though they be so wet. (Haydock) |
| Job 24:9 | They have violently robbed the fatherless, and stript the poor common people. | Robbed. Hebrew and Septuagint, "snatched from the breast." --- Stript. Septuagint, "knocked down." Hebrew, "taken a pledge of, or seized the poor." (Calmet) |
| Job 24:10 | From the naked, and them that go without clothing, and from the hungry, they have taken away the ears of corn. | Corn, which they had gleaned for their daily sustenance. Hebrew also, "the poor, perishing through hunger, carry the sheaf" of the rich. |
| Job 24:11 | They have taken their rest at noon among the stores of them who, after having trodden the wine-presses, suffer thirst. | Of them. Hebrew, "of corn, and thirst while pressing out their olives." (Calmet) --- Protestants, "they take away the sheaf from the hungry, (11) which make oil within their walls, and tread their wine-presses, and suffer thirst," (Haydock) not being allowed to taste any thing, though the law of Moses would not suffer even the ox to be muzzled, Deuteronomy 25:4. The rich look on without pity, taking their rest at noon, amid the heaps which really belong to the poor, whom they force to labour for them. |
| Job 24:12 | Out of the cities they have made men to groan, and the soul of the wounded hath cried out, and God doth not suffer it to pass unrevenged. | Suffer. Hebrew, "and God suffers no disorder," according to you. (Calmet) --- Symmachus, "God inspireth not folly: but they have," etc., ver. 13. Septuagint, "But why does he not regard," (Haydock) or punish these things? (Calmet) |
| Job 24:13 | They have been rebellious to the light, they have not known his ways, neither have they returned by his paths. | Light of reason and humanity. (Calmet) --- Pineda understands that they have sought darkness, (ver. 14.) to do evil. But this expression would be too harsh. (Calmet) --- Heretics, acting against their own conscience, are stricken with blindness, so that they see not the truth. (St. Gregory 16:26.) (Worthington) |
| Job 24:14 | The murderer riseth at the very break of day, he killeth the needy, and the poor man: but in the night he will be as a thief. | Thief. Oppressing the poor, (Ven. Bede) and taking away their bread, Ecclesiasticus 34:25. |
| Job 24:15 | The eye of the adulterer observeth darkness, saying: No eye shall see me: and he will cover his face. | Face. Septuagint insinuate "with a mask." Protestants, "disguiseth his face." |
| Job 24:16 | He diggeth through houses in the dark, as in the day they had appointed for themselves, and they have not known the light. | Themselves. The band of robbers had marked out their prey. (Haydock) --- Hebrew, "In the day time they lie concealed, and know not the light." (Calmet) --- Septuagint, or rather Theodotion, from whom ver. 15 to 17., is taken, "They have sealed themselves up during the day." If we should read eautois, Hebrew lamo, we might translate as well "they marked them out for themselves." (Haydock) --- The adulterer had made is his arrangement with the faithless woman, when he should break into the house. (Menochius) |
| Job 24:17 | If the morning suddenly appear, it is to them the shadow of death: and they walk in darkness as if it were in light. | Death. They are as much afraid of the light as others are of profound darkness. (Calmet) --- They dread being detected. (Haydock) |
| Job 24:18 | He is light upon the face of the water: cursed be his portion on the earth; let him not walk by the way of the vineyards. | He is light, etc. That is, the adulterer, that he may not be perceived and discovered, steps as nimbly and as light as if he were walking upon the waters. Or the sense is: he is as light, that is, as swift and nimble as the running waters. --- By the way of the vineyards. That is, by the way where he may meet with fruit and blessings. (Challoner) --- The wicked are always inconstant. (Calmet) (Isaias 57:29.) --- He deserves no temporal nor eternal happiness. If he were deprived of the former, he might perhaps endeavour to escape the torments of hell. (Haydock) |
| Job 24:19 | Let him pass from the snow waters to excessive heat, and his sin even to hell. | Let. Hebrew, "Drought and heat consume the snow waters; so doth the grave those which have sinned." (Protestants) (Chaldean) (Haydock) --- The wicked die quickly, and without a lingering illness. (Piscator) --- What foundation, therefore, has the hell of cold as well as of fire? says Amama. St. Jerome (in Matthew x.) observes, "We read very plainly in the Book of Job that there is a double gehenna, both of too much heat and of too much cold;" the latter occasions the gnashing of teeth, Matthew viii. (Denis the Carthusian) --- "In this world people pass through a medium or temperate state. But in hell, they pass from the excess of tormenting cold to that of burning fire; they will know no medium, because in this life they proceeded from one vice to another, even to the heat of lust. (Albertus Magnus.) (Haydock) --- Therefore they are punished with torments of a contrary nature. (Worthington) --- They go from the coldness of infidelity to the heat of heresy; (St. Gregory) from one calamity to another. (Sa) --- Septuagint, " For they have torn away the arm of the orphans. Then his or their sin has been remembered, and, like a dew-drop, he has disappeared. (Haydock) |
| Job 24:20 | Let mercy forget him: may worms be his sweetness: let him be remembered no more, but be broken in pieces as an unfruitful tree. | Sweetness. These will inherit him; (Haydock) for here all his pleasures will terminate. (Calmet) |
| Job 24:21 | For he hath fed the barren that beareth not, and to the widow he hath done no good. | Fed the barren. That is, the harlot. Or else, he hath fed; that is, he hath fed upon the barren; that is, the poor and desolate. (Challoner) --- He has not had posterity, but pleasure, in view, when he married. (Rabbins) --- Septuagint agree with the Vulgate. (Haydock) --- But most explain the Hebrew, "He hath oppressed the barren;" which may denote those whose husband and children have been slain. (Calmet) --- No good, but even dealt with them dishonestly. (Cajetan) |
| Job 24:22 | He hath pulled down the strong by his might: and when he standeth up, he shall not trust to his life. | Down. Hebrew, "taketh along with him his guards for his defence. He riseth and is not sure of his life," fearing lest his enemies may still overpower him. This is a description of the tyrant's continual anxiety. (Calmet) --- Protestants, "And no man is sure of life," may intimate that the wicked put all men in danger. (Haydock) --- He who puts others in fear, must also be alarmed. (Menochius) |
| Job 24:23 | *God hath given him place for penance, and he abuseth it unto pride: but his eyes are upon his ways. Apocalypse 2:21. | God. Septuagint, "Being sick, let him not expect to be healed, but he shall fall under sickness." Hebrew, "Though it be given him to be in safety, whereon he resteth, yet his eyes are upon their ways," (Protestants) or "he has given (Haydock) himself, or appointed them (guards) for his defence, and rests on them; yet his eyes," etc. He suspects the fidelity of his servants. (Calmet) --- Pride. Man abuseth by his free-will the time which God had allowed him to repent for former sins, Romans 2:(Worthington) |
| Job 24:24 | They are lifted up for a little while and shall not stand, and shall be brought down as all things, and shall be taken away, and as the tops of the ears of corn they shall be broken. | |
| Job 24:25 | And if it be not so, who can convince me that I have lied, and set my words before God? | And set. Septuagint and Protestants, "and make my speech nothing worth." (Haydock) --- This conclusion come frequently, Job 9:15., and 17:15. Job defies his friends to shew the fallacy of his arguments, or that the wicked do not enjoy prosperity, though they may be inwardly miserable. (Calmet) |
| Job 25:0 | Baldad represents the justice of God, before whom no man can be justified. | |
| Job 25:1 | Then Baldad, the Suhite, answered, and said: | Answered. He directs his attack against Job's desiring to plead before God, and gives a wrong statement of his request, which he also attempts to refute, by urging the same inconclusive arguments as before. (Calmet) --- Blind and obstinate disputers still repeat the same objections; (Worthington) as Protestants do against the Catholic doctrines, which have been so often and so ably defended. (Haydock) |
| Job 25:2 | Power and terror are with him, who maketh peace in his high places. | Places. Directing all the heavenly bodies with perfect harmony. (Calmet) |
| Job 25:3 | Is there any numbering of his soldiers; and upon whom shall not his light arise? | Soldiers. The works of the whole creation, particularly the stars and angels. (Menochius) |
| Job 25:4 | Can man be justified, compared with God, or he that is born of a woman appear clean? | Clean. Job had used a similar expression, as well as Eliphaz, Job 4:17., and 14:4., and 15:15. The holy man did not assert that he was free from sin, but only that God did not punish him (Calmet) so dreadfully (Haydock) on that account, and that he has just reasons for afflicting his servants, if it were only to manifest his own power and glory. (Calmet) |
| Job 25:5 | Behold even the moon doth not shine, and the stars are not pure in his sight. | Sight, compared with him. The most beautiful things in nature are nothing; and of course, the most just are all imperfection, when left to themselves. (Calmet) |
| Job 25:6 | How much less man that is rottenness, and the son of man who is a worm? | |
| Job 26:0 | Job declares his sentiments of the wisdom and power of God. | |
| Job 26:1 | Then Job answered, and said: | |
| Job 26:2 | Whose helper art thou? is it of him that is weak? and dost thou hold up the arm of him that has no strength? | |
| Job 26:3 | To whom hast thou given counsel? perhaps to him that hath no wisdom, and thou hast shewn thy very great prudence. | |
| Job 26:4 | Whom hast thou desired to teach? was it not him that made life? | Life. Septuagint also seem to understand this of God. (Calmet) --- Job does not blame his friends for undertaking to approve the ways of Providence, but for condemning himself (St. Chrysostom) rashly, (Haydock) and, with an air of haughtiness, endeavouring to restrain him from pleading his cause before the divine tribunal. (Menochius) --- Hebrew, "Whose spirit came from thee?" (Protestants) (Haydock) Did I receive my life, or do I seek advice from thee? (Calmet) --- God stood in no need of Baldad's wisdom (Worthington) no more than Job. (Haydock) |
| Job 26:5 | Behold the giants groan under the waters, and they that dwell with them. | With them. The less and greater fishes, (Menochius) or rather the giants and others who were buried in the waters of the deluge, and are confined in the dungeons of hell. The poets speak in the same manner. "Hic genus antiquum terrae, Titania pubes, Fulmine dejecti fundo voluntur in imo. -----Aliis sub gurgite vasto, Infectum eluitur scelus aut exuritur igni." (Virgil, Aeneid vi.) --- Homer (Iliad viii.) and Hesiod (Theog.) place the giants at the extremity of the earth, in the utmost darkness. See also Proverbs 9:18., and Isaias 14:9. (Calmet) |
| Job 26:6 | Hell is naked before him, and there is no covering for destruction. | Hell. The grave. --- Destruction. Hebrew abaddon. (Haydock) --- St. John (Apocalypse 9:11.) styles the bottomless abyss; (Calmet) or its angel, (Haydock) Abaddon, or Apollyon. It may here be called destruction, (Calmet) as all its victims are lost for ever to every thing that is good. The obscurity of the grave, and even that of hell, can hide nothing from God. |
| Job 26:7 | He stretched out the north over the empty space, and hangeth the earth upon nothing. | North pole, which alone was visible in Idumea, and continued unmoved, while all the stars performed their revolutions. (Calmet) --- Nothing. Terra, pilae similis, nullo fulcimine nixa. (Ovid, Fast, vi.) (Calmet) --- All tends to the centre, (Menochius) by the laws of attraction. (Newton, etc.) (Haydock) |
| Job 26:8 | He bindeth up the waters in his clouds, so that they break not out and fall down together. | Clouds, as in a vessel or garment, Proverbs 30:4. |
| Job 26:9 | He withholdeth the face of his throne, and spreadeth his cloud over it. | Over it. The firmament, with all its beauty, is but like a cloud, to conceal from our feeble eyes the splendor of God's throne. |
| Job 26:10 | He hath set bounds about the waters, till light and darkness come to an end. | End. Till the end of the world, the ocean will respect these limits. (Haydock) --- The ancients looked upon it as a continual miracle that the world was not deluged, as the waters are higher than the earth, Jeremias 5:22., and Amos 5:8. (St. Basil and St. Ambrose, Hexem.) (Cicero, Nat. ii.) --- Philosophers have explained this phenomenon. But it is still certain that the power and wisdom of God preserve the equilibrium, without which all would return to the ancient chaos. (Calmet) |
| Job 26:11 | The pillars of heaven tremble, and dread at his beck. | Heaven. The mountains are so styled by Pindar; and the poets represent them supporting the heavens. Totum ferre potest humeris minitantibus orbem. (Petronius) --- Yet others understand that power which keeps all things together, (Calmet) or the angels, to whose rule the ancients attributed the celestial bodies. (St. Gregory; Ven. Bede, etc.) |
| Job 26:12 | By his power the seas are suddenly gathered together, and his wisdom has struck the proud one. | Together, at the beginning, Genesis 1:9. Hebrew, "By his strength he has divided the sea; and by his wisdom he has pierced the proud, or Egypt." Rahab, (Haydock) or Rachab, is often put for Egypt; (Psalm 88:11.) and all would naturally have concluded that the fall of Pharao was pointed at, if it had not been supposed that Job lived before that event. That is, however, dubious. Isaias (li. 9.) uses the same terms in describing the fall of this tyrant. (Calmet) --- Yet the Septuagint translate, "the whale," (Haydock) or some sea monster, which God holds in subjection, (Pineda) like the weakest creature. (Haydock) --- The foaming billows (Menochius) are likewise subject to his control. (Haydock) |
| Job 26:13 | His spirit hath adorned the heavens, and his artful hand hath brought forth the winding serpent. | Heavens, with stars, etc., Psalm 32:6., and Wisdom 1:7. God also sends winds to disperse the clouds, that the heavens may appear. (Calmet) --- Artful, (obstetricante) "being the midwife." The least things are ruled by Providence. (Worthington) --- Serpent; a constellation, lightning, the devil, or rather the leviathan, Isaias 27:1. (Drusius) (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "by his decree, he killed the apostate dragon." (Haydock) --- But there is no need of having recourse to allegory. (Calmet) |
| Job 26:14 | Lo, these things are said in part of his ways: and seeing we have heard scarce a little drop of his word; who shall be able to behold the thunder of his greatness? | Drop. This comparison is often applied to speech, Deuteronomy 32:2., and Isaias 55:10. If the little that we know of God's works give us such an exalted idea of his greatness, what should we think if we could fully comprehend his mysteries? (Calmet) |
| Job 27:0 | Job persists in asserting his own innocence, and that hypocrites will be punished in the end. | |
| Job 27:1 | Job also added, taking up his parable, and said: | Parable: speaking in a figurative poetic style, (Numbers 23:7.) Job grants that God generally punishes the wicked, but he maintains that he also chastises the just; and hence admonishes all to revere his judgments and wisdom, and to decline from evil; which truths must always subsist, whatever may be the conduct of Providence. (Calmet) --- Parables do not always imply similies, but sometimes pithy, and profound sentences, spoken by the wisest men. |
| Job 27:2 | As God liveth, who hath taken away my judgment, and the Almighty, who hath brought my soul to bitterness, | Judgment. Chaldean, "my rule of judging." Septuagint, "Live the Lord, who hath judged me thus." Symmachus, "hath despised my judgment." The expression seems very harsh, and may be one of those which God blames. (Job 40:3.) (Estius) (Calmet) --- Yet we shall examine that point later, (Job 42.) (Haydock) --- He may only mean that he is so well convinced of his innocence, that he calls God to witness it, (Calmet) and adores his ways, (Haydock) in not permitting him to appear before his tribunal, (Calmet) to justify himself; (Menochius) so the he is abandoned to the rash judgments of others, (Job 34:5.) Isaias and Sophonias speak in similar terms. (Isaias 40:27.; and Sophonias 3:15.) (Calmet) --- God deferred passing sentence, for Job's greater trial. (Worthington) |
| Job 27:3 | As long as breath remaineth in me, and the Spirit of God in my nostrils, | Nostrils: while I live. (Haydock) --- (Genesis 2:7.; Ezechiel 37:14.) (Calmet) |
| Job 27:4 | My lips shall not speak iniquity, neither shall my tongue contrive lying. | |
| Job 27:5 | God forbid that I should judge you to be just: till I die I will not depart from my innocence. | Till. Never will I abandon this path, (Haydock) nor will I yield to your reasons, (Calmet) or cease to defend myself. (Menochius) --- It would have been contrary to justice and charity, (Haydock) as well as to truth, to confess a false crime. (Worthington) |
| Job 27:6 | My justification, which I have begun to hold, I will not forsake: for my heart doth not reprehend me in all my life. | |
| Job 27:7 | Let my enemy be as the ungodly, and my adversary as the wicked one. | Enemy, or opponent. Hebrew, "my enemy shall be," etc. (Haydock) --- In effect, those who maintained the contrary to what Job taught, favoured the cause of impiety, as they represented God never punishing his servants, etc., (Calmet) which is contrary to experience; (Haydock) though it was not so evident at that time. (Houbigant) --- Job is so far from thinking riches a proof of sanctity, that he rather would wish his enemy to have them, (Menochius) as they are too frequently an incentive to sin. (Haydock) |
| Job 27:8 | For what is the hope of the hypocrite, if through covetousness he take by violence, and God deliver not his soul? | Soul, in death: What will it profit? etc., (Matthew 16:26.) All this proves demonstratively another world. (Calmet) |
| Job 27:9 | Will God hear his cry, when distress shall come upon him? | Him. Like Antiochus, the wicked pray only through fear of punishment, and their request is therefore rejected. (2 Machabees 9:13.) (Menochius) |
| Job 27:10 | Or can he delight himself in the Almighty, and call upon God at all times? | |
| Job 27:11 | I will teach you by the hand of God, what the Almighty hath, and I will not conceal it. | Hand, or grace of God. --- Hath, how he acts, and with what design. (Calmet) --- Quid disponat Deus. (St. Augustine) |
| Job 27:12 | Behold you all know it; and why do you speak vain things without cause? | |
| Job 27:13 | This is the portion of a wicked man with God, and the inheritance of the violent, which they shall receive of the Almighty. | Portion. This you have repeatedly asserted; and (Haydock) I acknowledge it is generally, but not always, the case. (Calmet) |
| Job 27:14 | If his sons be multiplied, they shall be for the sword, and his grandsons shall not be filled with bread. | Bread. Septuagint, "if they grow up to manhood, they shall beg," Psalm 36:25. (Haydock) |
| Job 27:15 | They that shall remain of him, shall be buried in death, and his widows shall not weep. | In death; without honour. (Sanctius) --- Weep for him. Septuagint, "his widows no one shall lament, or pity." (Haydock) (Psalm 77:63.) (Menochius) |
| Job 27:16 | If he shall heap together silver as earth, and prepare raiment as clay: | |
| Job 27:17 | He shall prepare indeed, but the just man shall be clothed with it: and the innocent shall divide the silver. | |
| Job 27:18 | He hath built his house as a moth, and as a keeper he hath made a booth. | Moth. Hebrew, "as the polar star." (Junius) --- But the Chaldean, etc., translate with the Vulgate, which agrees better with the latter part of the verse. The moth devours another's property, like the wicked man, who lodges commodiously, though not at his own expense. --- Keeper of a field, or of a vineyard. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "His house has slipt away like a moth, and what he has kept (or his riches) like a spider." (Haydock) --- The moth demolishes its own house, and is then disturbed, (Menochius) or thrown with the rotten wood into the fire. |
| Job 27:19 | *The rich man when he shall sleep shall take away nothing with him: he shall open his eyes and find nothing. Psalm 48:18. | Nothing. His riches are all left behind! The men of riches have slept their sleep, and have found nothing in their hands. They awake as from a dream, (chap. 20:8.; Haydock) and then they form a true estimate of things. (Menochius) --- God chiefly punishes the wicked in death, Psalm lxxv. (Worthington) |
| Job 27:20 | Poverty, like water, shall take hold on him; a tempest shall oppress him in the night. | Night. Darkness often denotes disgrace and misery. |
| Job 27:21 | A burning wind shall take him up, and carry him away, and as a whirlwind shall snatch him from his place. | |
| Job 27:22 | And he shall cast upon him, and shall not spare: out of his hand he would willingly flee. | And he (God) shall, or Septuagint the wind, (Calmet) "shall fall upon him." (Haydock) --- Flee. Yet he will not escape, (Menochius) though he flee with all expedition. (Haydock) |
| Job 27:23 | He shall clasp his hands upon him, and shall hiss at him, beholding his place. | Place. God having waited patiently a long time, at last displays the effects of his indignation, with a sort of contempt, Proverbs 1:26., and Ezechiel 5:13. (Calmet) (Psalm 2:4.) (Menochius) (Pineda) --- Every passenger who shall witness his fall, and his now abandoned place, shall also testify his approbation. (Haydock) |
| Job 28:0 | Man's industry searcheth out many things: true wisdom is taught by God alone. | |
| Job 28:1 | Silver hath beginnings of its veins, and gold hath a place, wherein it is melted. | Silver. Hebrew, "Surely there is a vein, or mine, for silver." (Haydock) --- The sagacity of man has discovered all these things. Wonderful also is the instinct of animals, ver. 7. Yet wisdom comes from God alone; and those act rashly, who pretend to dive into his counsels in punishing his creatures and ruling the world. (Calmet) |
| Job 28:2 | Iron is taken out of the earth, and stone melted with heat is turned into brass. | Stone. Protestants, "and brass is molten out of the stone." (Haydock) --- "When brass comes out of the mine it resembles stone, and being mixed with earth is refined in the fire." (Pliny, [Natural History?] 36:27.) (Menochius) --- All this process would require much ingenuity and time. Tubalcain was a great artist before the deluge; (Genesis 4:22.) but we cannot tell who were the inventors of these things, though (Calmet) the Greeks have specified the names of some who introduced these metals into their respective countries. (Pliny 7:56.) (Haydock) |
| Job 28:3 | He hath set a time for darkness, and the end of all things he considereth, the stone also that is in the dark, and the shadow of death. | He (God) hath, etc. (Haydock) --- Darkness, before which these inventions could not be made; (Menochius) or, man has been able to measure the hours of day and night by the shadow of the sun, and by other means. He always strives to perfect his works, and examines with care the mines which lay concealed in the most profound obscurity. (Calmet) --- Precious stones and metals lie the deepest. (Menochius) --- From the consideration of these beautiful works, men ought to raise their minds to the Creator, and wisely rest in him alone. (Worthington) |
| Job 28:4 | The flood divideth from the people that are on their journey, those whom the foot of the needy man hath forgotten, and who cannot be come at. | At. Nations are separated by waters from each other. (Calmet) --- Some, like the Chinese, keep all strangers at a distance. (Haydock) --- But the industry of man breaketh through all barriers. Hebrew, "a river separates a foreign nation forgotten by travellers; but these waters cannot stop man: they flow away." (Calmet) --- Protestants, "The flood breaketh out from the inhabitants, even the waters; forgotten of the foot, they are dried up; they are gone away from men." Septuagint, "Sand cuts off a torrent: but those who forget the way of justice, have become infirm, and have been instable among mortals." (Haydock) --- Travellers are sometimes parted by a swelling torrent; (Sa) and waters, bursting forth suddenly, change the roads of men. (Worthington) |
| Job 28:5 | The land, out of which bread grew in its place, hath been overturned with fire. | In its, etc. Hebrew and Septuagint, "and under it is turned up as it were fire," which lies in it. (Haydock) --- Fire, like Sodom; to which event Job alludes, Job 22:20. (Calmet) --- The furnaces to melt various metals have taken the place of corn, and occupy the land. (Menochius) --- Men have extracted bitumen, etc., even from the lake of Sodom. (Pliny, [Natural History?] 7:15.) --- Nothing escapes them. (Calmet) |
| Job 28:6 | The stones of it are the place of sapphires, and the clods of it are gold. | Sapphires. The best are found in Media, in the country of the Taphyri, (Ptol.) or Raspires. (Herodotus 3:94.) --- Gold. This precious metal, like all others, is found in the bowels of the earth, (Haydock) and in the bed of rivers, in Ophir, Peru, etc. (Calmet) |
| Job 28:7 | The bird hath not known the path, neither hath the eye of the vulture beheld it. | Path of these metals, (Menochius) or a path in general. (Haydock) --- They fly, as beasts roam about, without keeping the high road; yet never miss their way, or fail to return to their own place, though they may have crossed the sea or woods, and been absent many months. This instinct is one of the wonders of nature. (Calmet) |
| Job 28:8 | The children of the merchants have not trodden it, neither hath the lioness passed by it. | Merchants, who go the shortest road. (Haydock) --- Hebrew, "of lions," which find their deans without asking for the path. (Calmet) |
| Job 28:9 | He hath stretched forth his hand to the flint, he hath overturned mountains from the roots. | Roots, in quest of precious metals. (Menochius) --- "Imus in viscera terrae et in sede Marium opes quaerimus." (Pliny, [Natural History?] xxxiii. pref.) Effodiuntur opes, irritamenta malorum. (Ovid, Met. i.) |
| Job 28:10 | In the rocks he hath cut out rivers, and his eye hath seen every precious thing. | Rivers. Or, the waters lodged in the mines. (Menochius) --- He hath even cut canals through the hardest rocks, (Haydock) and sunk wells. (Calmet) |
| Job 28:11 | The depths also of rivers he hath searched, and hidden things he hath brought forth to light. | Searched, by diving; (Calmet) or, Hebrew, "he bindeth the rivers from flowing;" diverting their course by dams, etc. This is another proof of the power of man. (Calmet) ---Labor omnia vincit. (Horace) |
| Job 28:12 | But where is wisdom to be found, and where is the place of understanding? | Understanding, of supernatural things, which teaches us to love God, and to comprehend his counsels. This is very different from the human sagacity of which he has been speaking; and this is the gift of God alone. (Calmet) |
| Job 28:13 | Man knoweth not the price thereof, neither is it found in the land of them that live in delights. | Price. It has none, like other precious things, Baruch 3:15. --- In delights is not expressed in Hebrew or Septuagint. (Calmet) --- But to live in misery is hardly to be accounted living, (Haydock) and the addition restrains the proposition, as some men possess this treasure, though not those who take no pains (Calmet) to mortify corrupt nature. (Haydock) --- Chaldean, "it is not found in the land of the proud, whose life is spent in sin." (Calmet) --- True wisdom is found, not in natural, but in supernatural, things. (Worthington) |
| Job 28:14 | The depth saith: It is not in me: and the sea saith: It is not with me. | |
| Job 28:15 | *The finest gold shall not purchase it, neither shall silver be weighed in exchange for it Wisdom 7:9. | Finest, obrizum, which has the colour of fire. (Pliny, [Natural History?] 23:3.) The old Vulgate and Septuagint read "locked-up gold," aurum conclusum, (Calmet) and the Hebrew Segor, (Haydock) "that which is shut up," like things of value: gold is sometimes specified, 3 Kings 6:20. |
| Job 28:16 | It shall not be compared with the dyed colours of India, or with the most precious stone sardonyx, or the sapphire. | Dyed, etc. Hebrew cethem ophir, (Haydock) "the shut up" (gold, though the Vulgate, Septuagint, etc., very in the interpretation) "of Ophir." This country was famous for its gold. (Calmet) --- Its situation is not clearly ascertained. St. Jerome seems to have placed it in India, with Josephus, "in the golden country," now Malacca. --- Stone. Protestants, onyx. Hebrew shoham (Haydock) means, probably, the emerald, Genesis 2:12. (Calmet) --- But these names are very indeterminate. Theodotion, from whom great part of this chapter is inserted in the Septuagint has "the gold of Ophir, and the precious onyx and sapphire." (Haydock) |
| Job 28:17 | Gold or crystal cannot equal it, neither shall any vessels of gold be changed for it. | Gold. This is the third time it has been mentioned, according to its different degrees of excellence. Hence it is called by the most common name, (Calmet) zahab. (Haydock) --- Crystal was formerly more "transparent" than we have it at present. (Calmet) --- Zecucith (Haydock) denotes something of this kind. (Calmet) |
| Job 28:18 | High and eminent things shall not be mentioned in comparison of it: but wisdom is drawn out of secret places. | Things. Hebrew Ramoth and Gabish (Haydock) are terms much controverted. The first may denote the unicorns, (Deuteronomy 33:17.) and the latter the thunderbolt, or ceraunia, which were in high request. (Pliny, [Natural History?] 37:9. Ezechiel (xiii. 11., and 27:16.) mentions the former as carried by merchants to Tyre. These stones, which fell from the sky, were used by the Parthian magi, etc., for secret purposes. They have given rise to many fabulous accounts. Those which are to be seen, are by no means beautiful. (Calmet) --- Yet if the people esteemed them, Job might well include them among other things of most value. Protestants, "No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls, for the price of wisdom is above rubies." (Haydock) --- The latter part of the verse would be rather, "the fishing for wisdom would be more difficult than that for pearls;" (Calmet) or, "the extraction of wisdom is above the drawing forth of peninim." (Haydock) --- The pinna is a kind of fish which is fastened to the bottom of the sea, by roots, of which the byssus was made, 1 Paralipomenon 15:27. Pearls were commonly found in the Persian Gulf, near Idumea. The art of diving for them, and extracting them from the fish, was very difficult, but nothing in comparison with the labour requisite to discover wisdom. The ancients describe some pearls of a reddish gold colour. (Athen. 3:13.) ( Jeremias' Lamentations 4:7.) --- Adam, which is interpreted red, in Jeremias, means also any thing very shining; in which sense the word purpureus is used. (Horace vi. Ode 1.) (Bochart, Anim. p. 2, b. V. VI. (Calmet) and t. 3:681. 91.) The opinion of this author seems preferable to that of Hutchinson and Cooke, who would translate peninim (Haydock) by "loadstones or magnets," which the former says are like "reddish clay," though they are really of a dusky iron grey, sometimes tinged with brown or red. This complexion would not be very beautiful. Yet the Nazarites are compared to peninim, (Lamentations iv.) and to snow, (Parkhurst) as they were of a most fair red and white, like pearls. (Haydock) --- Though the ancients seem to have been acquainted with the loadstone or magnetic needle, particularly the Phenicians (Odys. 8:556.) and Chinese, for many ages, yet it was never so common as to form a popular comparison. Aquila renders the word in question, periblepta, "conspicuous things;" and pearls were certainly highly valued by the Jews, etc. Parkhurst, in pone. --- Theodotion, in the Septuagint, "draw forth wisdom before the inmost things." --- Both these versions agree with the Vulgate, as the most precious goods are kept out of sight. (Haydock) --- Yet the deepest mines of gold do not require so much diligence and sagacity for us to discover and possess them, as wisdom does; but, in return, it will abundantly recompense the man who finds such a treasure, Ecclesiasticus 6:19., and 24. (Pineda) |
| Job 28:19 | The topaz of Ethiopia shall not be equal to it, neither shall it be compared to the cleanest dying. | Ethiopia, on the east of the Red Sea. Pliny ([Natural History?] 6:29.) mentions the isle of Chuthis, which was also famous for the topaz. --- Dying. Hebrew cethem, (Haydock) which we have observed relates to gold, ver. 16. |
| Job 28:20 | Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding? | |
| Job 28:21 | It is hid from the eyes of all living, and the fowls of the air know it not. | |
| Job 28:22 | Destruction and death have said: With our ears we have heard the fame thereof. | Destruction. Hebrew abaddon, which is before (chap. 26:6.) used to signify the bottomless abyss. There, too late! the dead become acquainted with the value and nature of wisdom. (Haydock) --- But their knowledge is imperfect, and of no use to us. (Calmet) |
| Job 28:23 | God understandeth the way of it, and he knoweth the place thereof. | |
| Job 28:24 | For he beholdeth the ends of the world: and looketh on all things that are under heaven. | |
| Job 28:25 | Who made a weight for the winds, and weighed the waters by measure. | Measure. He regulates the winds, and knows the drops of water, (Haydock) which to man is impossible, Proverbs 16:2. |
| Job 28:26 | When he gave a law for the rain, and a way for the sounding storms. | Storms; or Hebrew, "for the lightning, which attends thunder." (Calmet) |
| Job 28:27 | Then he saw it, and declared, and prepared, and searched it. | It. All the works of God proclaim his wisdom. (Haydock) --- He never made an acquisition of it, but possessed it from all eternity, Proverbs 8:23. |
| Job 28:28 | And he said to man: Behold the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom: and to depart from evil, is understanding. | Understanding. This is the duty of man, and a thing of the utmost importance. This teaches us to adore God's judgments (Calmet) in silence. (Haydock) --- It is the most important instruction of the whole book. (Pineda) --- Man must consider God's works to fear Him; and by avoiding evil, and doing good, (Worthington) to shew true wisdom. (Haydock) |
| Job 29:0 | Job relates his former happiness, and the respect that all men shewed him. | |
| Job 29:1 | Job also added, taking up his parable, and said: | |
| Job 29:2 | Who will grant me, that I might be according to the months past, according to the days in which God kept me? | Me. Job perceiving that his friends made no reply, (Calmet) and yet did not appear satisfied, (Haydock) explains how he had behaved in prosperity, in answer to the insinuations of Eliphaz; (chap. 22:5.) and what miseries he now experienced; though he maintains these were not inflicted on account of his sins. He continues this discourse in the two next chapters. (Calmet) --- He wishes to be restored to his former state, for his own vindication, (Haydock) and that he might exercise the works of mercy. (Ven. Bede) |
| Job 29:3 | When his lamp shined over my head, and I walked by his light in darkness? | |
| Job 29:4 | As I was in the days of my youth, when God was secretly in my tabernacle? | Youth. Hebrew, also "autumn or winter," which are seasons of repose, when people enjoy the fruits of their labours. --- Tabernacle, and all consulted me as an oracle. (Calmet) -- Septuagint, "when God made the visit of my house," (Haydock) and filled it with blessings, like that of Obededom, 2 Kings 6:12. |
| Job 29:5 | When the Almighty was with me: and my servants round about me? | |
| Job 29:6 | When I washed my feet with butter, and the rock poured me out rivers of oil? | Butter. Many understand "cream." But butter was used to anoint the body, as well as oil. Non omittendum in eo (butyro) olei vim esse, et Barbaros omnes infantesque nostros ita ungi. (Pliny, [Natural History?] 9:41.) --- Oil. These hyperbolical expressions denote the utmost fertility, Genesis 49:11. (Calmet) --- Septuagint have "milk." On all sides, Job could behold his rich pastures and cattle, (Haydock) so that he might have washed his feet in butter and milk. The rocks also were covered with olive trees; (Menochius) or the stone used for a press made the oil gush forth. (Cajetan) (Sa) |
| Job 29:7 | When I went out to the gate of the city, and in the street they prepared me a chair? | To the gate. Septuagint, "early." --- Chair, or throne, where Job sat in judgment. (Haydock) --- It appears evident that he was the prince in his city. Idumea had at first several petty kings at the same time, Genesis 36:15. (Calmet) --- But Job had several princes (ver. 9.; Haydock) under him. (Pineda) |
| Job 29:8 | The young men saw me, and hid themselves: and the old men rose up and stood. | |
| Job 29:9 | The princes ceased to speak, and laid the finger on their mouth. | |
| Job 29:10 | The rulers held their peace, and their tongue cleaved to their throat. | |
| Job 29:11 | The ear that heard me, blessed me, and the eye that saw me, gave witness to me: | Gave. Septuagint, "winked," through approbation. (Calmet) |
| Job 29:12 | Because I had delivered the poor man that cried out; and the fatherless that had no helper. | |
| Job 29:13 | The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me, and I comforted the heart of the widow. | |
| Job 29:14 | I was clad with justice: and I clothed myself with my judgment as with a robe and a diadem. | |
| Job 29:15 | I was an eye to the blind, and a foot to the lame. | |
| Job 29:16 | I was the father of the poor: and the cause which I knew not, I searched out most diligently. | Diligently, not passing sentence at random. I also endeavoured to do justice to those who durst not make any complaint. The prince ought to have an eye to all things. (Calmet) |
| Job 29:17 | I broke the jaws of the wicked man, and out of his teeth I took away the prey. | Prey, which he had extorted from the poor. (Menochius) |
| Job 29:18 | And I said: I shall die in my nest, and as a palm-tree shall multiply my days. | Nest, in security, and among my children. (Calmet) --- Palm-tree. Septuagint, "But I said, my youth shall grow old like the shoot of the palm-tree: I shall live a long time." This is clearly the meaning of this version, (Haydock) as appears from the word stelechos, "a shoot (Calmet) or trunk." (Menochius) --- Yet as phoinix, signifies also "a Phoenician, and the phoenix," some have explained this passage of the latter, which seems agreeable to the mention of a nest. Many fabulous accounts have been given of this bird, of which only one is supposed to exist at a time, rising from its parent's ashes; which, if true, (Calmet) would have been very (Haydock) beautifully applicable to a future resurrection. (St. Clement, ep. 1 Cor.; St. Ambrose, de fide Res. 2:59, etc.) See Solin, xlii.; Tacitus, Ann. vi. This uncertain bird may have been confounded with the bird of Paradise. Palm-trees live a long time, and multiply shoots all round them surprisingly. (Pliny, [Natural History?] 13:4., and 16:44.) --- Yet the Scripture never elsewhere uses the term éul for this tree. The moderns generally translate, "I shall multiply my days like the sand," which is a very common expression. (Calmet, Diss.) --- The following verse seems, however, favourable to the sense of the Septuagint and Vulgate, though the heavy nature of sand, which "remains" in its place, might serve to express the confidence which Job had of continuing for a long time in the midst of prosperity. (Haydock) |
| Job 29:19 | My root is opened beside the waters, and dew shall continue in my harvest. | Harvest. Protestants, "branch." (Psalm 1:3., and Isaias 18:4.) (Haydock) |
| Job 29:20 | My glory shall always be renewed, and my bow in my hand shall be repaired. | Bow, strength. I thought my glory would never end. (Menochius) |
| Job 29:21 | They that heard me, waited for my sentence, and being attentive held their peace at my counsel. | |
| Job 29:22 | To my words they durst add nothing, and my speech dropped upon them. | |
| Job 29:23 | They waited for me as for rain, and they opened their mouth as for a latter shower. | Shower, in autumn, at which season only, and in spring, it rained in those countries. (Calmet) (Deuteronomy 11:14.) (Menochius) --- It would, of course, be very acceptable after the drought of summer, Proverbs 16:15. |
| Job 29:24 | If at any time I laughed on them, they believed not, and the light of my countenance fell not on the earth. | Earth, with neglect. (Calmet) --- My attendants could scarcely believe their own eyes, through joy, (Haydock) when I assumed a more familiar air with them. (Calmet) --- They still revered my authority. (Menochius) |
| Job 29:25 | If I had a mind to go to them, I sat first, and when I sat as a king, with his army standing about him, yet I was a comforter of them that mourned. | With. Hebrew, "in his army, like one comforting people in mourning." (Haydock) --- Job was not merely as, or like a king, but also one in effect; exercising the power, (ver. 7.) and wearing the royal robes, ver. 14. (St. Isidore; Ven. Bede, etc.) (Worthington) |
| Job 30:0 | Job shews the wonderful change of his temporal estate, from welfare to great calamity. | |
| Job 30:1 | But now the younger in time scorn me, whose fathers I would not have set with the dogs of my flock: | Flock, to watch over them. (Sanchez) (Calmet) --- I had so little confidence in them, (Haydock) or they were so very mean. (Calmet) --- They were not as well fed as my dogs. (Nicetas.) --- Job does not speak this out of contempt, as he was affable to all. But this proverbial expression denotes how vile these people were. (Menochius) --- Even the most contemptible, and such as were not fit to have the care of dogs, derided him. (Worthington) |
| Job 30:2 | The strength of whose hands was to me as nothing, and they were thought unworthy of life itself. | And they. Hebrew, "Their old age is perished." They were good for nothing all their lives. (Calmet) |
| Job 30:3 | Barren with want and hunger, who gnawed in the wilderness, disfigured with calamity and misery. | Who. Hebrew, "solitary in," etc. Yet these vagabond (Haydock) people now insult over me. (Calmet) |
| Job 30:4 | And they eat grass, and barks of trees, and the root of junipers was their food. | Grass. "There (in Crete, where no noxious animal, no serpent lives) the herb alimos, being chewed, expels hunger for the day;" admorsa diurnam famem prohibet. (Solin. 17.) --- The Hebrew malluach, is rendered halima, by the Septuagint (Haydock) and Bochart would translate, "who gather the halima from the bush." (Calmet) --- Protestants, "who cut up mallows by the bushes, and juniper roots for their meat." (Haydock) --- Yet all agree that the latter is not proper for food. (Calmet) --- Rethamim may (Haydock) designate any "shrubs or wild herbs," as the Septuagint and Symmachus have explained it. (Calmet) --- Perhaps the very poor people might use the juniper or broom roots for food, (Menochius) or to burn in order to prepare their victuals. (Haydock) --- The Arabs and Spaniards still use the word retama for "the birch-tree." (Parkhurst) |
| Job 30:5 | Who snatched up these things out of the valleys, and when they had found any of them, they ran to them with a cry. | Who. Septuagint, "through excessive hunger. Robbers rushed upon me." Protestants, "They were driven forth from among men; (they cried after them as after a thief.") (Haydock) |
| Job 30:6 | They dwelt in the desert places of torrents, and in caves of the earth, or upon the gravel. | Gravel of the torrents. (Menochius) --- Hebrew, "in the rocks," living like the Troglodites. (Haydock) |
| Job 30:7 | They pleased themselves among these kind of things, and counted it delightful to be under the briars. | Pleased. Hebrew, "brayed." (Calmet) --- Briars. Protestants, "nettles." They were driven from the society of men and forced to abscond. (Haydock) |
| Job 30:8 | The children of foolish and base men, and not appearing at all upon the earth. | And not. Hebrew, "viler than the earth." (Protestants) |
| Job 30:9 | Now I am turned into their song, and am become their bye-word. | Bye-word. "Proverb." (Haydock) --- They speak of me with contempt, Job 17:6. |
| Job 30:10 | They abhor me, and flee far from me, and are not afraid to spit in my face. | Face. This most people explain literally; while some, (Calmet) as Job was herein a figure of Christ, (Menochius; Matthew xxvi.; Worthington) think that the expression denotes the utmost contempt; (St. Gregory, etc.) or that the people spit upon the ground (Calmet) for fear of contracting any infection; (Haydock) and because lepers were held in the utmost abhorrence. (Calmet) |
| Job 30:11 | For he hath opened his quiver, and hath afflicted me, and hath put a bridle into my mouth. | For he. Protestants, "Because he hath loosed my cord, and afflicted me, they have also let loose the bridle before me," (Haydock) being no longer under any restraint. Sometimes it was customary to put bits into the mouth of a person who was led to execution, Isaias 37:29. (Calmet) --- The Hebrew plural, have put, insinuates the plurality of persons in God, (Worthington) though it may be as well referred to the enemies of Job. |
| Job 30:12 | At the right hand of my rising, my calamities forthwith arose: they have overthrown my feet, and have overwhelmed me with their paths as with waves. | Forthwith. Hebrew pirchach seems to be translated (Haydock) by three terms, rising, calamities, and forthwith, as it denotes "a bud" which suddenly appears. (Calmet) --- Septuagint Blaston, "On the right hand of the bud they rose up." (Haydock) --- Hebrew, "Youth stood up on the right," to accuse me; (Psalm 108:6.) or, "Scarcely had I begun to flourish, when they rose up," etc. The days of prosperity soon vanished, (Calmet) and young men were ready to insult the distressed, and, as it were, to trip them up. (Menochius) --- Septuagint, "they stretched out their feet and trampled upon me, that they might destroy me." (Haydock) --- They seem to have read (Calmet) regliem, "their feet," though the two last letters are now omitted in Hebrew. (Haydock) |
| Job 30:13 | They have destroyed my ways, they have lain in wait against me, and they have prevailed, and there was none to help. | Help them, or me. (Calmet) Septuagint, "they took off my garment." (Haydock) --- Job seemed to be besieged, and could not escape. (Calmet) |
| Job 30:14 | They have rushed in upon me, as when a wall is broken, and a gate opened, and have rolled themselves down to my miseries. | Down, (devoluti sunt.) They have proceeded to aggravate my misfortunes. (Haydock) --- "They came upon me as a wide breaking in of waters: in the desolation they rolled themselves upon me.["] (Protestants) |
| Job 30:15 | I am brought to nothing: as a wind thou hast taken away my desire: and my prosperity hath passed away like a cloud. | Nothing. Hebrew, "terror." (Haydock) --- Desire. Hebrew, "princess," reason. (Calmet) --- Protestants, "soul." Septuagint, "my hope has flown away like wind." (Haydock) |
| Job 30:16 | And now my soul fadeth within myself, and the days of affliction possess me. | Fadeth. Hebrew, "is poured out," (Haydock) ready to take its flight, Psalm 41:5. |
| Job 30:17 | In the night my bone is pierced with sorrows: and they that feed upon me, do not sleep. | They that. Heberw, "my sinews take no rest." Septuagint, "are dissolved." (Haydock) --- The worms prey upon me, and I am like one in a raging fever. (Calmet) |
| Job 30:18 | With the multitude of them, my garment is consumed, and they have girded me about as with the collar of my coat. | Coat. The worms are so numerous, (Menochius) or my enemies pour upon me. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "with great power He (God; Protestants, my disease) has seized me by the garment." Theodotion adds, "He has taken hold of me like the collar of my tunic:" (Haydock) which corresponds with our shirt, and had an opening at the top. (Calmet) |
| Job 30:19 | I am compared to dirt, and am likened to embers and ashes. | I am. Hebrew, "He hath cast me into the mire;" (Protestants) or, "He regards me as dirt; my portion is on the earth and dust." (Haydock) --- All look upon me with horror and contempt. (Calmet) |
| Job 30:20 | I cry to thee, and thou hearest me not: I stand up, and thou dost not regard me. | Not is supplied by Protestants in the second part of the verse from the first; (Haydock) as this construction is not unusual in the Hebrew. Septuagint, "they have stood up, and have considered me," (Calmet) to procure my entire ruin. (Haydock) |
| Job 30:21 | Thou art changed to be cruel toward me, and in the hardness of thy hand thou art against me. | |
| Job 30:22 | Thou hast lifted me up, and set me as it were upon the wind, and thou hast mightily dashed me. | Dashed me in pieces, as if I had been raised so high for that purpose. Hebrew, "thou hast dissolved my substance," wisdom, etc. The signification of tushiova (Haydock) is very indeterminate, Job 5:12. (Calmet) --- "Thou hast cast me far away from salvation." (Septuagint and Theodotion) (Haydock) |
| Job 30:23 | I know that thou wilt deliver me to death, where a house is appointed for every one that liveth. | Liveth. Death is a relief to a just man in tribulation. (Worthington) |
| Job 30:24 | But yet thou stretchest not forth thy hand to their consumption: and if they shall fall down thou wilt save. | Consumption. Thou dealest mercifully with other people: but all the effects of thy anger fall upon me, even here. Septuagint, "O that I might lay hands on myself, or desire another to do this for me!" Hebrew has nothing similar; but is very obscure: "He will not, however, stretch forth his hand to the grave; and when they are wounded, they are healed." (Calmet) --- Protestants, "grave, though they cry in his destruction." (Haydock) --- The grave is more desirable than such a life. There the dead are freed from the miseries of this world. (Calmet) |
| Job 30:25 | I wept heretofore for him that was afflicted, and my soul had compassion on the poor. | |
| Job 30:26 | I expected good things, and evils are come upon me: I waited for light, and darkness broke out. | |
| Job 30:27 | My inner parts have boiled without any rest, the days of affliction have prevented me. | |
| Job 30:28 | I went mourning without indignation; I rose up, and cried in the crowd. | Mourning. Hebrew, "blackened without the sun." (Haydock) --- Bile has disfigured my countenance, through excessive sorrow, ver. 30. The dark olive complexions of the Jews and Arabs would be more susceptible of these effects. (Calmet) --- Indignation. I have not given way to passion, though I allowed full scope to my groans. (Septuagint) (Haydock) |
| Job 30:29 | I was the brother of dragons, and companion of ostriches. | Brother of dragons, etc. Imitating these creatures in their lamentable noise. (Challoner) -- I was like those beasts which retire in order to lament. (Worthington) --- The dragons hiss dreadfully, when crushed by the elephant; (St. Jerome) and the young ostriches, being abandoned, make great lamentations. (Menochius) (Delrio, t. 2:adag. 18.) --- This comparison occurs, Micheas 1:8. Natural history does not, however, represent these animals as very plaintive. The former term may denote sea monsters, or crocodiles; thannim: (Septuagint, syrens) and "the daughters of the yahana," signify "swans," (Isaias 13:21.) though commonly rendered ostriches, as they are by the Septuagint, etc. (Calmet) --- Protestants have, "owls." But we may adhere to the Vulgate. (Haydock) |
| Job 30:30 | My skin is become black upon me, and my bones are dried up with heat. | |
| Job 30:31 | My harp is turned to mourning, and my organ into the voice of those that weep. | Weep. I have exchanged my songs of joy for mourning. (Menochius) |
| Job 31:0 | Job, to defend himself from the unjust judgments of his friends, gives a sincere account of his own virtues. | |
| Job 31:1 | I made a covenant with my eyes, that I would not so much as think upon a virgin. | I made. Job is compelled to proclaim his own praises, for his vindication, as St. Paul was, being at the same time convinced that he had only done his duty, Luke 17:10. This is the third part of his discourse. Having given a picture of his prosperous and of his miserable condition, he observes that the latter was not inflicted in consequence of any misconduct, since he had always been attentive to avoid (Calmet) the most remote danger of offending God, or his neighbour. (Haydock) --- That 1:Hebrew, "for why should I think upon a virgin?" (Haydock) --- Why should I expose myself, (Calmet) by indiscreet looks, (Haydock) since the passage from the eye to the heart is so easy, Ecclesiastes 2:10. (Menochius) --- In the warfare between the flesh and the spirit, Job deemed this precaution necessary, (Worthington) and was thus preserved from carnal thoughts. (St. Gregory 20:2.) |
| Job 31:2 | For what part should God from above have in me, and what inheritance the Almighty from on high? | High, if I should give way to such unchaste thoughts. (Menochius) |
| Job 31:3 | Is not destruction to the wicked, and aversion to them that work iniquity? | Aversion of God. Hebrew "strange punishment." (Protestants) Incontinence is a source of much mischief, and of the most dreadful punishments, as the deluge and fate of Sodom evince. (Haydock) |
| Job 31:4 | Doth not he consider my ways, and number all my steps? | |
| Job 31:5 | If I have walked in vanity, and my foot hath made haste to deceit: | Vanity, or hypocrisy, (Calmet) so as to overreach others. (Menochius) |
| Job 31:6 | Let him weigh me in a just balance, and let God know my simplicity. | Simplicity, and "uprightness." Tummathi. (Haydock) |
| Job 31:7 | If my step hath turned out of the way, and if my heart hath followed my eyes, and if a spot hath cleaved to my hands: | Eyes. Sixtus V read, "If my eye hath followed my heart." (Calmet) --- Job kept the utmost restraint both upon his eyes and heart, that no evil impressions from exterior objects might cause his ruin, Numbers 15:39. (Haydock) --- Hands, from presents, (Calmet) or injustice, particularly that of impurity. (Haydock) |
| Job 31:8 | Then let me sow, and let another eat: and let my offspring be rooted out. | |
| Job 31:9 | If my heart hath been deceived upon a woman, and if I have laid wait at my friend's door: | Door, to seduce his wife. (Calmet) (Menochius) |
| Job 31:10 | Let my wife be the harlot of another, and let other men lie with her. | Let. Hebrew, "Let my wife grind for another, and let others bend over her," urging her to work like the meanest slave. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "Let my wife please (Grabe substitutes l for r, and reads alesai, grind for) another, and my little children be brought low." (Haydock) --- Yet the sense of the Vulgate is most followed, Ecclesiasticus 47:21., and Lamentations 5:13. Ausonius (epig. 5) says, molitur per utramque cavernam. (Calmet) |
| Job 31:11 | For this is a heinous crime, and a most grievous iniquity. | This adultery, to which I might have given way, and that of others with my wife, (Haydock) which would have been a requital, of which I could not indeed have complained, (Menochius) but which is nevertheless a most heinous offence. (Haydock) --- Iniquity. Hebrew, "a crime of judgment," or capital, Genesis 38:24. (Calmet) --- The canons of the Church (Haydock) have ranked adultery with murder and idolatry, which shews the horror in which it is held. (Calmet) |
| Job 31:12 | It is a fire that devoureth even to destruction, and rooteth up all things that spring. | Spring; the children, Ecclesiasticus 23:35., and Wisdom 4:3. (Calmet) --- Protestants, "all mine increase." (Haydock) --- Adulteresses were formerly consigned to the flames. The injured husband would resent the offence, and even dislike her former children. Love is also like a fire, and those who entertain it, may soon consume all their substance (Menochius) in feasting and presents. Above all, the fire of God's indignation in hell will still pursue the libidinous. |
| Job 31:13 | If I have despised to abide judgment with my man-servant, or my maid-servant, when they had any controversy against me: | Me, in private; as slaves had no redress in the common courts of judicature. We cannot but admire Job's humility, and noble sentiments of God, (Calmet) whose majesty will eclipse all human grandeur, and place the master and the servant on the same level. (St. Gregory; St. Augustine, City of God 10:25.) (Ephesians 6:9., and Colossians 4:1.) |
| Job 31:14 | For what shall I do when God shall rise to judge? and when he shall examine, what shall I answer him? | |
| Job 31:15 | Did not he that made me in the womb make him also: and did not one and the same form me in the womb? | |
| Job 31:16 | If I have denied to the poor what they desired, and have made the eyes of the widow wait: | Wait, and not given sentence in due time, (Haydock) but frustrated her expectation. (Menochius) |
| Job 31:17 | If I have eaten my morsel alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof: | Alone. This was objected to St. Chrysostom. (Calmet) --- But his conduct proceeded not from pride or avarice. (Haydock) --- The ancient patriarchs delighted much in the exercise of hospitality; and Tobias 4:17. exhorts his son to invite the poor. Coena, or "supper," received its name from many eating "together," while people dined alone. (Plut.[Plutarch?] Sym. viii. prob. 6.) |
| Job 31:18 | (For from my infancy mercy grew up with me: and it came out with me from my mother's womb:) | Womb. I was of a compassionate disposition, with which I always corresponded. (St. Gregory) --- Hebrew, "from my youth, pity (ceab, which Protestants translate "as with a father." Haydock) grew up with me; and from my birth I have preserved it!" (Calmet) --- Protestants, "From my youth he was brought up with me, as with a father, and I have guided her (the widow, margin) from my mother's womb." Septuagint, "I fed him as a father, Theodotion adds, and was his leader from," etc. It was my earliest delight to assist the afflicted orphan and widow. (Haydock) |
| Job 31:19 | If I have despised him that was perishing for want of clothing, and the poor man that had no covering: | |
| Job 31:20 | If his sides have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep: | Blessed me for clothing. (Menochius) |
| Job 31:21 | If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, even when I saw myself superior in the gate: | Gate, in judgment, (Calmet) where I was the supreme judge, (Haydock) and none could resist me. |
| Job 31:22 | Let my shoulder fall from its joint, and let my arm, with its bones, be broken. | With. Hebrew, "from its bone," at the elbow. (Septuagint) (Calmet) |
| Job 31:23 | For I have always feared God as waves swelling over me, and his weight I was not able to bear. | Bear. I knew that he would resent the injury, though I might, for a time, oppress the weak. |
| Job 31:24 | If I have thought gold my strength, and have said to fine gold: My confidence. | Fine obrizo. Hebrew cethem, Job 28:15. (Haydock) |
| Job 31:25 | If I have rejoiced over my great riches, and because my hand had gotten much. | |
| Job 31:26 | If I beheld the sun when it shined, and the moon going in brightness: | |
| Job 31:27 | And my heart in secret hath rejoiced, and I have kissed my hand with my mouth: | Rejoiced. Hebrew and Chaldean, "been seduced" to idolatry. (Menochius) --- The worship of the sun and moon was most ancient, Ezechiel 8:16. --- Mouth, to testify respect and admiration. This custom prevailed in many nations. Lucian (dial. de sacrif.) observes that this only sacrifice of the poor was not disregarded. The Syrians still extend their hands towards the altar, and then apply them to their mouth and eyes, when the body and blood of Christ are offered in the Mass. (Life of M. de Chateuil.) (Calmet) --- Septuagint, (26) "Do I not see the shining sun eclipsed, (Haydock) and the moon disappear, for light does not belong to them," but to the Creator, from whom we have every thing; (Calmet) so that we should not swell with pride. Theodotion adds, (27) "and if my heart was secretly deceived." Septuagint continue, "if indeed, putting my hand to my mouth, I kissed, (28) this would also be imputed to me as a great transgression, because I should have acted falsely before the most high God." (Haydock) --- He will admit of no rival; hence the man who admits another god, denies Him. (Menochius) --- Job repels the charge which had been indirectly brought against him. (Worthington) |
| Job 31:28 | Which is a very great iniquity, and a denial against the most high God. | |
| Job 31:29 | If I have been glad at the downfall of him that hated me, and have rejoiced that evil had found him. | Rejoiced. Hebrew, "lifted up myself." Septuagint, "said in my heart, well, well;" euge. (Haydock) --- These sentiments of perfection shew that the same Spirit animated those who lived under the law of nature, as well as those who were favoured with the Mosaic or Christian dispensation. (Calmet) |
| Job 31:30 | For I have not given my mouth to sin by wishing a curse to his soul. | For. Septuagint, "Then let mine ear hear my curse, and may I fall a prey to the whispers of my people." |
| Job 31:31 | If the men of my tabernacle have not said: Who will give us of his flesh that we may be filled? | Filled. If my servants have not testified sufficient affection for me, (Haydock) because I kept them under restraint, and obliged them to wait on my guests, (Menochius; St. Gregory) I still would not omit that duty; (ver. 32.; Haydock) or if they gave way to the greatest excesses of rage, so as to threaten to devour me, I refrained from wishing any evil to my enemy, ver. 30. (Calmet) --- Others suppose that Job's domestics urged him on to revenge, and spoke as if they were ready to eat his enemies; (Cajetan; Tirinus) while some explain the expression in a contrary sense, to denote the extreme attachment of Job's servants to his person; in which manner the Church uses it, speaking of Christ's feeding us with his own body and blood. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "If frequently my maids said who?" etc. Hebrew, "said not, oh! that we had of his flesh! we cannot be satisfied." (Protestants) (Haydock) --- Have I given my servants any reason to utter these expressions? |
| Job 31:32 | The stranger did not stay without; my door was open to the traveller. | |
| Job 31:33 | If as a man I have hid my sin, and have concealed my iniquity in my bosom. | A man. Hebrew, "Adam," who, to excuse himself, threw the blame upon Eve, Genesis 3:12. (Calmet) --- His posterity have too frequently imitated his example. The name of Adam often designates any man. (Haydock) --- It was requisite that Job should assert his sincerity, that his friends might not suppose that he was actuated by self-love or obstinacy to defend his innocence. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "If falling into an involuntary fault I hid my sin, (for I feared not the crowd of people, that I should not plead before them) but if I let the needy pass my gate with his bosom empty." Theodotion xxxv. subjoins, "who would give me a hearer? but if I did not revere the hand of the Lord." Septuagint go on, "the bond which I had against any one, if I placed on my shoulder, as a crown, and read, and did not rather tear it, and give it up, taking nothing from my debtor. If," etc., ver. 38. According to this version, Job insists on his pity for the distressed, and shews that he had no reason to fear. But the Hebrew is more conformable to the Vulgate. |
| Job 31:34 | If I have been afraid at a very great multitude, and the contempt of kinsmen hath terrified me: and I have not rather held my peace, and not gone out of the door. | Have not. Hebrew, "that I kept silence, not going out of doors" to defend the innocent. (Haydock) --- Moses commands judges to do their duty without fear, Exodus 23:2. People in such situations ought to be uninfluenced by hatred, love, etc. Caesar says, justly, (in Sallust) "qui de rebus dubiis consultant, ab odio, amicitia, ira atque misericordia vacuos esse decet. Haud facile animus verum providet, ubi illa officiunt." (Haydock) |
| Job 31:35 | Who would grant me a hearer, that the Almighty may hear my desire: and that he himself that judges would write a book; | He himself. Hebrew, "my adversary would write a book." His very accusation would establish my cause, provided he adhered to the truth. (Calmet) --- I would carry it about as a trophy. (Haydock) --- A book. The judge wrote down the sentence. Job appeals to God, and fears not being condemned. |
| Job 31:36 | That I may carry it on my shoulder, and put it about me as a crown? | Crown. This shews that something pliable was then used to write on. The people of the East still lift up to their heads such letters as they respect. (Chardin Perse, p. 218.) See 4 Kings 11:12. (Calmet) |
| Job 31:37 | At every step of mine I would pronounce it, and offer it as to a prince. | To a. Hebrew, "as a prince would I approach to him," and not fear my adversary. (Haydock) |
| Job 31:38 | If my land cry against me, and with it the furrows thereof mourn: | Mourn, as if I possessed the land unjustly, or had committed some crime. |
| Job 31:39 | If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money, and have afflicted the soul of the tillers thereof: | Money. Or paying for them. (Menochius) --- And have. Protestants, "or have caused the owners thereof to lose their life." |
| Job 31:40 | Let thistles grow up to me, instead of wheat, and thorns instead of barley. | Thorns. Protestants, "cockle." Marginal note, "loathsome weeds." (Haydock) --- The precise import of the word is not known; but it means something "stinking." (Calmet) --- Septuagint, Batos, "a briar." (Haydock) --- Ended. Many Latin editions omit these words with St. Gregory, etc. The old Vulgate has et quieverunt verba Job, as a title. (Calmet) --- Septuagint place at the beginning of the next chapter, "And Job ceased to speak. His three friends also left off contending with Job; for Job was just before them." Grabe substitutes "himself," as they were not perhaps yet convinced. (Haydock) --- Job, however, addresses his discourse no more to them, but only to God, (Calmet) acknowledging some unadvised speeches; (Worthington) or want of information. (Haydock) |
| Job 32:0 | Eliu is angry both with Job and with his friends. He boasts of himself. | |
| Job 32:1 | So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he seemed just to himself. | Himself. They thought it useless to say any more. |
| Job 32:2 | And Eliu, the son of Barachel, the Buzite, of the kindred of Ram, was angry, and was moved to indignation: now he was angry against Job, because he said he was just before God. | Buzite, a descendant of Buz, the son of Nachor, Genesis 22:21. (Calmet) --- Of, etc. Septuagint, "of the country of Hus." --- Ram. Chaldean, "Abraham;" (Menochius) or rather (Haydock) this is put for Aram. Symmachus, "Syria," 2 Paralipomenon 22:5. Some suppose that Eliu sprung from Aram, the son of Esron, of the tribe of Juda. Others think that (Calmet) he was the same with Balaam. (St. Jerome; Ven. Bede) --- He is never ranked among the friends of Job, as he perhaps did not come from a distance. His speech, or good intention, is not condemned by God; and Job seems to have acquiesced in what he said. (Calmet) --- This silence of the latter might rather proceed from a just (Haydock) contempt, as Eliu said nothing to the purpose; many of his observations being palpably false, and others not at all controverted. Yet with his private spirit he comes forth, not much unlike Protestants and Puritans, who pretend that they will overturn the Catholic faith by arguments which have escaped the sagacity of all preceding ages! (Worthington) --- God also did not let Eliu pass entirely unnoticed; but, in one line, showed his displeasure: (chap. 38:2.; Houbigant) as Job perhaps did likewise, by repeating the same decision, Job 42:3. (Haydock) --- Eliu vainly explains why he had not spoken before. He arraigns Job for asserting his own innocence, though the holy man only maintained that he was not punished thus for his crimes, according to the laws of vindictive justice; (chap. 27:2.) much less did he pretend that he was juster than God, (chap. 35:2.) as his adversary asserts; taking thence occasion to praise the divine wisdom and power, as if Job had called them in question. (Calmet) --- God, whose eyes behold the smallest faults. (Menochius) --- Hebrew, "rather on, or (Haydock) above God." (Calmet) --- This young man, who was learned and proud, is the pattern of those hot disputants who set themselves above their elders. (St. Gregory 23:2.) (Worthington) |
| Job 32:3 | And he was angry with his friends, because they had not found a reasonable answer, but only had condemned Job. | Found. Hebrew, "produced an answer, but had still condemned Job;" (Haydock) or, "had made Job wicked," by giving him occasion to blaspheme, in order to defend his own righteousness. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "they took it for granted (or laid it down as a fact, ethento) that he was a wretch." This was not true: (Haydock) but they had also done their best to prove it. (Calmet) --- Job. Almost all the Rabbins assert that the original copies read Jehova, "the Lord;" (Haydock) and that the Masorets changed it, to avoid the apparent blasphemy; as if the three friends had rendered themselves guilty by not answering Job. But the Chaldean, etc., are silent on this head, and Abenezra allows that the change is very doubtful. (Calmet) |
| Job 32:4 | So Eliu waited while Job was speaking, because they were his elders that were speaking. | |
| Job 32:5 | But when he saw that the three were not able to answer, he was exceedingly angry. | |
| Job 32:6 | Then Eliu, the son of Barachel, the Buzite, answered, and said: I am younger in days, and you are more ancient; therefore, hanging down my head, I was afraid to shew you my opinion. | Hanging. Hebrew, "I felt a reverential awe, (Septuagint, I was silent) and durst not shew," etc. (Haydock) |
| Job 32:7 | For I hoped that greater age would speak, and that a multitude of years would teach wisdom. | |
| Job 32:8 | But, as I see, there is a spirit in men, and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth understanding. | Spirit, which is communicated to the young, as well as to the old. (Menochius) |
| Job 32:9 | They that are aged are not the wise men, neither do the ancients understand judgment. | Aged: poluchronioi. Septuagint Rabbim, "the Rabbins," (Haydock) the "great ones," placed in authority. These are not always the wisest, as understanding is the gift of God, and not attached to rank. (Calmet) |
| Job 32:10 | Therefore I will speak: Hearken to me, I also will shew you my wisdom. | |
| Job 32:11 | For I have waited for your words, I have given ear to your wisdom, as long as you were disputing in words. | Disputing. Hebrew, "searching out words," or arguments. (Haydock) |
| Job 32:12 | And as long as I thought you said something, I considered: but, as I see, there is none of you that can convince Job, and answer his words. | None. A notorious piece of arrogance, to esteem himself wiser than any of his own sect, or of his adversaries. (Worthington) |
| Job 32:13 | Lest you should say: We have found wisdom, God hath cast him down, not man. | Man. You seem to think this a convincing proof that Job is guilty: (Ven. Bede; Haydock) but it is no such thing. You would fain excuse yourselves from saying any more, for fear of causing him pain, which is already very great; and you vainly imagine that you may thus leave him to be judged by God. We must however convince Job. (Calmet) |
| Job 32:14 | He hath spoken nothing to me, and I will not answer him according to your words. | He; Job, or God. I do not pretend that I have had any revelation, like Eliphas and Sophar, Job 4:12., and 11:5. Job has addressed himself to you; (Calmet) but I shall not answer him as you have done. (Menochius) --- Those who neither believe Catholics, nor their own teachers, but rely on the private spirit, think that the answers which have been given to others, on the same points, do not regard them. (St. Gregory) (Worthington) |
| Job 32:15 | They were afraid, and answered no more, and they left off speaking. | They. Eliu speaks thus contemptuously of the three friends, as if they had been absent. In the former verse he spoke to them: now he turns to Job. Hebrew, "they were amazed." (Haydock) |
| Job 32:16 | Therefore, because I have waited, and they have not spoken: they stood, and answered no more: | |
| Job 32:17 | I also will answer my part, and will shew my knowledge. | |
| Job 32:18 | For I am full of matter to speak of, and the spirit of my bowels straiteneth me. | Me. And forces me to speak, Jeremias 5:24., and 20:9. Thus Juvenal describes a great talker. Tunc immensa cavi spirant mendacia folles.---Conspuiturque sinus. (Sat. vi.) (Calmet) |
| Job 32:19 | Behold, my belly is as new wine which wanteth vent, which bursteth the new vessels. | Vessels, made of skins. Hebrew oboth. (Haydock) |
| Job 32:20 | I will speak, and take breath a little: I will open my lips, and will answer. | |
| Job 32:21 | I will not accept the person of man, and I will not level God with man. | Man. Hebrew, "give flattering titles unto man." Protestants, "I do not respect a mortal." Septuagint, (Haydock) "nothing shall make me conceal the truth: I will give things their proper names." Job seemed to him to have arrogated to himself the perfection of God, in maintaining his own innocence. (Calmet) --- He promises to stand up in defence of the Almighty, (Menochius) as his advocate. (Calmet) |
| Job 32:22 | For I know not how long I shall continue, and whether after a while my maker may take me away. | Away. I shall therefore speak with the utmost caution, (Haydock) as one who must shortly appear before the divine tribunal. (Menochius) --- Hebrew, "For I know not how to call things by their sirnames, (Calmet) or titles of vanity; (Haydock) If I do, may my Creator soon (Calmet) take me away." Septuagint, "I know not how to admire the face. If it be not so, the worms shall consume me." (Haydock) |
| Job 33:0 | Eliu blames Job for asserting his own innocence. | |
| Job 33:1 | Hear, therefore, O Job, my speeches, and hearken to all my words. | |
| Job 33:2 | Behold now I have opened my mouth, let my tongue speak within my jaws. | |
| Job 33:3 | My words are from my upright heart, and my lips shall speak a pure sentence. | Sentence. Some editions have scientiam, "knowledge," with the Hebrew. (Calmet) |
| Job 33:4 | The Spirit of God made me, and the breath of the Almighty gave me life. | Spirit. We are therefore equal. (Menochius) --- Thou canst not fear being overpowered with the divine majesty, in this dispute, Job 13:21. (Calmet) --- Life. Septuagint, "instruction." (Haydock) |
| Job 33:5 | If thou canst, answer me, and stand up against my face. | |
| Job 33:6 | Behold God hath made me as well as thee, and of the same clay I also was formed. | Formed. Job had expressed a desire to plead before a man, Job 9:32., and 13:19., and 31:35. Eliu offers himself to maintain the cause of God. (Calmet) |
| Job 33:7 | But yet let not my wonder terrify thee, and let not my eloquence be burdensome to thee. | Wonder (miraculum.) Hebrew, "terror," (Haydock) in allusion to Job's words, Job 9:34. --- Eloquence. Hebrew, "hand." (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "the dread of me shall not cast thee down, nor my hand be heavy upon thee." Arrogant men esteem their own observations as something wonderful. (St. Gregory) (Worthington) |
| Job 33:8 | Now thou has said in my hearing, and I have heard the voice of thy words: | |
| Job 33:9 | I am clean, and without sin: I am unspotted, and there is no iniquity in me. | In me. Job had not said so in express terms, though he had said something to the same purpose. But he had sufficiently explained himself, and Eliu could not be ignorant that he only meant that his present sufferings were not proportioned to his guilt. (Calmet) |
| Job 33:10 | Because he hath found complaints against me, therefore he hath counted me for his enemy. | Complaints. Something similar had indeed come from Job's lips; (chap. 14:17., and 30:21.) not that he pretended that God sought to find him guilty without cause; but he meant that He treated him as an enemy, for some secret purpose. (Calmet) |
| Job 33:11 | He hath put my feet in the stocks, he hath observed all my paths. | Stocks. Job 8:14., and 14:16. Eliu interprets the words in the worst sense, though Job had only expostulated with God on the treatment which he received, testifying a great love and confidence in him. He acknowledges some want of knowledge, Job 42:3. (Calmet) |
| Job 33:12 | Now this is the thing in which thou art not justified: I will answer thee, that God is greater than man. | Man: so that he is not obliged to explain his reasons. (Menochius) |
| Job 33:13 | Dost thou strive against him, because he hath not answered thee to all words? | Because. Septuagint, "Thou hast said, Why has not He heard every word of my pleading or judgment." Aquila and Theodotion, "for all his words are unanswerable." Protestants, "He giveth not account of any of his matters." (Haydock) |
| Job 33:14 | God speaketh once, and repeateth not the self-same thing the second time. | Time. One decision ought to suffice; and God had declared Job innocent, Job 1:8., etc. (Worthington) --- His decrees are immutable; and yet thou wouldst have him to explain his conduct, as if he could be under a mistake, and correct it. He manifests his will, and it is our business to be attentive. We cannot expect that he should speak twice, though he does so frequently in his great mercy. Hebrew, "God speaketh once, and he regardeth not a second time." (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "But the second time, (15) a dream," etc. (Haydock) --- Eliu specifies three methods by which God declares his will; (ver. 26) 1. By vision; 2. by afflictions; 3. by the voice of angels, or of preachers, ver. 19, 23. |
| Job 33:15 | By a dream in a vision by night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, and they are sleeping in their beds: | Beds. It seems prophetic dreams were not then uncommon. |
| Job 33:16 | Then he openeth the ears of men, and teaching, instructeth them in what they are to learn. | Instructeth. Hebrew, "sealing," that they may not mistake such a favour for a common dream. (Calmet) |
| Job 33:17 | That he may withdraw a man from the things he is doing, and may deliver him from pride. | Him. Septuagint, "his body from the fall [of iniquity.]" (Grabe) (Haydock) |
| Job 33:18 | Rescuing his soul from corruption: and his life from passing to the sword. | |
| Job 33:19 | He rebuketh also by sorrow in the bed, and he maketh all his bones to wither. | Also. This is the second method of instruction. Eliu pretends that Job had thus been visited by God, and had not understood his meaning. |
| Job 33:20 | Bread becometh abominable to him in his life, and to his soul the meat which before he desired. | |
| Job 33:21 | His flesh shall be consumed away, and his bones, that were covered, shall be made bare. | Bare. The skin will scarcely cover them. He will appear ghastly, like a skeleton. (Calmet) --- Hebrew, "his bones....shall stick out." (Protestants) (Haydock) |
| Job 33:22 | His soul hath drawn near to corruption, and his life to the destroyers. | Destroyers; the worms in the grave, (Haydock) or to sickness, (Menochius) "which bring on death." Pagnin mortiferis. |
| Job 33:23 | If there shall be an angel speaking for him, one among thousands, to declare man's uprightness. | Angel, by secret inspirations, (St. Thomas Aquinas; Tirinus, etc.) or a man sent by God, to announce the truths of salvation. (Mariana) --- Man's, or "to man." (Calmet) --- Hebrew, "a messenger with him, an interpreter, one....to declare to man his uprightness." Protestants, (Haydock) "If there be any merit in him, the angel comforter, chosen from a thousand accusers, is ready to declare to the son of man his rectitude." Septuagint, "If there be a thousand destroying angels, not one of them shall hurt him; if the consider in his heart to be converted unto the Lord. Though he (the angel) lay before man his reproof, and shew his folly, He (God) will take hold of him, that he may not die. He will renew his flesh as the plaster of a wall, and fill his bones with marrow: (25) he will make his flesh soft, like that of an infant, and will place him in manhood among men." (Haydock) --- But this is different from the Hebrew. (Calmet) --- The intercession of angels is very powerful. They are represented as suggesting motives, which prevail on God to shew mercy, ver. 24. (Haydock) |
| Job 33:24 | He shall have mercy on him, and shall say: Deliver him, that he may not go down to corruption: I have found wherein I may be merciful to him. | |
| Job 33:25 | His flesh is consumed with punishments, let him return to the days of his youth. | Consumed. Hebrew, "fresher than a child's," (Haydock) as was the case of Naaman, 4 Kings 5:14. |
| Job 33:26 | He shall pray to God, and he will be gracious to him: and he shall see his face with joy, and he will render to man his justice. | And he. It is ambiguous whether this refer to God or to man. (Calmet) --- But both shall see each other with joy. The penitent will be restored to as much favour as if he had never sinned. (Haydock) |
| Job 33:27 | He shall look upon men, and shall say: I have sinned, and indeed I have offended, and I have not received what I have deserved. | |
| Job 33:28 | He hath delivered his soul from going into destruction, that it may live and see the light. | |
| Job 33:29 | Behold, all these things God worketh three times within every one. | Times, or often. God instructs man by visions, sickness, and the intercession and inspirations of angels, ver. 14. (Calmet) |
| Job 33:30 | That he may withdraw their souls from corruption, and enlighten them with the light of the living. | Living, both soul and body, delivering them from adversity. (Calmet) |
| Job 33:31 | Attend, Job, and hearken to me: and hold thy peace, whilst I speak. | |
| Job 33:32 | But if thou hast any thing to say, answer me, speak: for I would have thee to appear just. | Just, and to be so indeed. (Menochius) --- How much would his vanity be mortified, when Job answered him only with silence! (Haydock) though he urged him to reply so often. (Worthington) |
| Job 33:33 | And if thou have not, hear me: hold thy peace, and I will teach thee wisdom. | |
| Job 34:0 | Eliu charges Job with blasphemy: and sets forth the power and justice of God. | |
| Job 34:1 | And Eliu continued his discourse, and said: | |
| Job 34:2 | Hear ye, wise men, my words, and ye learned, hearken to me: | |
| Job 34:3 | *For the ear trieth words, and the mouth discerneth meats by the taste. Job 12:11. | Taste. The most accurate philosophers attribute this faculty to the tongue, (Calmet) rather than to the throat, guttur. Hebrew, "mouth or palate." (Haydock) --- But Eliu speaks agreeably to the notions of the vulgar. (Calmet) --- Intellectus saporum caeteris est in prima lingua, homini et in palato. (Pliny, [Natural History?] 11:37.) |
| Job 34:4 | Let us choose to us judgment, and let us see among ourselves what is the best. | |
| Job 34:5 | For Job hath said: I am just, and God hath overthrown my judgment. | Judgment. Job 27:2. Job had used this expression, but only to intimate that strict justice did not take place, as he thought his faults had not deserved so severe a chastisement. He did not pretend that God was unjust, or that he was quite blameless; and he had so explicitly declared his sentiments, that Eliu could not well be ignorant of them. (Calmet) |
| Job 34:6 | For in judging me there is a lie: my arrow is violent without any sin. | There. Septuagint, "he has been deceived;" epseusato. Hebrew, "I will convict my judge of lying;" or (Calmet) Protestants, "should I lie against my right?" (Haydock) --- Job, in the excess of grief, had expressed himself forcibly, Job 19:6., and 23:7. But great deductions must be made from such hyperboles; and he had frequently praised the mercy and justice of God, and his just punishment of the wicked. He had indeed excepted himself from the number; and Eliu ought to have proved that he was wrong in this respect. But he seems to have all along evaded or mistaken the point under dispute. (Calmet) --- Arrow, which pierces me. (Haydock) --- The deferring judgment was not a subversion of it, as Eliu would argue, Job 27:2. (Worthington) |
| Job 34:7 | What man is there like Job, who drinketh up scorning like water? | What. This may be a continuation of Job's speech, who seemed to assert that none had ever been insulted like himself, nor borne it with greater patience; (chap. 16:4.) or Eliu reproaches him with talking scornfully to his friends and to God. (Calmet) |
| Job 34:8 | Who goeth in company with them that work iniquity, and walketh with wicked men? | Goeth in. Septuagint insert a negation, which is not found in Hebrew, Chaldean, etc. They may be understood to speak ironically. (Calmet) --- "Who committeth no sin, nor iniquity, nor has had any society with lawless people, so as to walk with wicked men." (Haydock) |
| Job 34:9 | For he hath said: Man shall not please God, although he run with him. | With him, and strive to please him. Horrible blasphemy! of which Job was incapable: as if God were a cruel master, and threw us into despair. He had asserted that God punishes the wicked, and often treats his friends with the like severity, (chap. 9:22., and 30:26.) in this world: which is very true. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "Say not that man is not visited. He is indeed visited by the Lord." (Haydock) --- Eliu wrests Job's words, in order that he may have something to say against him. (St. Gregory 24:25.) (Worthington) |
| Job 34:10 | Therefore, ye men of understanding, hear me: far from God be wickedness, and iniquity from the Almighty. | |
| Job 34:11 | For he will render to a man his work, and according to the ways of every one he will reward them. | |
| Job 34:12 | For, in very deed, God will not condemn without cause, neither will the Almighty pervert judgment. | |
| Job 34:13 | What other hath he appointed over the earth? or whom hath he set over the world which he made? | Earth? If God cannot be unjust, hath he given the administration of the world to some other, who may have been deceived? This will not be asserted. Hebrew, "who hath visited the earth for him?" or, "who hath set him over the earth?" Is he a hired judge, who may be bribed? (Calmet) |
| Job 34:14 | If he turn his heart to him, he shall draw his spirit and breath unto himself. | To him, and examine his conduct with rigour: there is scarcely a moment of our lives in which he would not discover a just reason for withdrawing his hand, and suffering us to die, Psalm 103:29. (Calmet) |
| Job 34:15 | All flesh shall perish together, and man shall return into ashes. | |
| Job 34:16 | If then thou hast understanding, hear what is said, and hearken to the voice of my words. | |
| Job 34:17 | Can he be healed that loveth not judgment? and how dost thou so far condemn him that is just? | Judgment. How can we hope for redress from God, while he condemns his conduct? (Menochius) --- How can we bring Job to a sense of his duty, since he entertains such perverse notions? Hebrew, "Shall he hold dominion, who hates justice?" If God be unjust, does he deserve our adoration? (Calmet) or, "ought not the person to be put in prison, who resists judgment?" (Grotius) "If thou dost not think that He who hates crimes, and destroys the impious, is eternal and just?" (Septuagint) (Haydock) |
| Job 34:18 | Who saith to the king: Thou art an apostate: who calleth rulers ungodly: | Who. Theod.[Theodotion?] in Septuagint, "wicked is he who says to the king, thou actest contrary to the law; and to the rulers, thou most impious." (Haydock) --- Apostate. Hebrew, "Belial." |
| Job 34:19 | *Who accepteth not the persons of princes: nor hath regarded the tyrant, when he contended against the poor man: for all are the work of his hands. Deuteronomy 10:17.; 2 Paralipomenon 19:7.; Wisdom 6:8.; Ecclesiasticus 35:16.; Acts 10:34.; Romans 2:11.; Galatians 2:6.; Ephesians 6:9.; Colossians 3:25.; 1 Peter 1:17. | Tyrant. This title is not always odious. It formerly was given to all princes, and came to be used in a bad sense, on account of the misconduct of some kings of Sicily. Tyrannus a rege distat factis, non nomine. (Sen.[Seneca?] Clem. xii.) --- Hebrew, "the rich more than the poor." (Haydock) --- God fears not to rebuke even the greatest princes, and dost thou dare to arraign his justice? (Calmet) |
| Job 34:20 | They shall suddenly die, and the people shall be troubled at midnight, and they shall pass, and take away the violent without hand. | They, the wicked, whatever may be their station in life. (Haydock) --- God takes off the tyrant (Calmet) when he least expects it, as well as the poor. (Haydock) --- Troubled, or make an insurrection. (Calmet) --- This often proves the ruin of tyrants. (Haydock) --- Hand, by the destroying angel. (Calmet) |
| Job 34:21 | For his eyes are upon the ways of men, and he considereth all their steps. | |
| Job 34:22 | There is no darkness, and there is no shadow of death, where they may be hid who work iniquity. | Death, or the most obscure recess. (Haydock) |
| Job 34:23 | For it is no longer in the power of man to enter into judgment with God. | Man. Hebrew, "He will not lay upon man (Calmet) more than right (Protestants; Haydock) to," etc. After once passing sentence, all is over. (Calmet) --- When man has fallen into sin, he cannot with a good grace contend with God. (Calmet) |
| Job 34:24 | He shall break in pieces many and innumerable, and shall make others to stand in their stead. | Stead. Where are now the ancient Assyrians, Carthaginians, etc., who once made such a figure in the world? (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "glorious and sudden, and unnumbered." The next eight verses are taken from Theodotion. (Haydock) |
| Job 34:25 | For he knoweth their works: and therefore he shall bring night on them, and they shall be destroyed. | Night, calamities. At once they shall be oppressed. (Calmet) |
| Job 34:26 | He hath struck them as being wicked, in open sight. | Sight. Literally, "in the place of the beholders," (Haydock) in public. (Calmet) |
| Job 34:27 | Who, as it were on purpose, have revolted from him, and would not understand all his ways. | All. Protestants, "Any of." The wicked observe none of God's commandments as they ought. He that offends in one becomes guilty of all, James 2:10. |
| Job 34:28 | So that they caused the cry of the needy to come to him, and he heard the voice of the poor. | |
| Job 34:29 | For when he granteth peace, who is there that can condemn? When he hideth his countenance, who is there that can behold him, whether it regard nations, or all men? | Condemn, either God or the person whom he approves. Does not he exercise dominion over all? (Calmet) --- Men. Literally, "all men." Hebrew, "a man." God may destroy either a part or the whole of the creation. Sometimes whole nations or cities are cut off, and the deluge nearly swept away all mankind. (Haydock) |
| Job 34:30 | Who maketh a man that is a hypocrite to reign for the sins of the people? | People. A hypocrite denotes one infected with all sorts of crimes. (St. Irenaeus 5:24.) Such a king is sometimes given to punish a wicked people, Osee 13:11., and Isaias 3:4. This sense is beautiful, and followed by the Chaldean, Septuagint, etc. We may explain the Hebrew in like manner, by neglecting the Masoretic points. (Calmet) --- Protestants, "That the hypocrite reign not, lest the people be ensnared." (Haydock) --- Hebrew, "He overturns the throne of hypocrites, on account of the scandal of the people," or "he delivers the people from servitude." The sense of the Vulgate seems preferable. (Calmet) --- Eliu insinuates that Job had been a hypocrite and an oppressor; but God exculpates him. (Worthington) |
| Job 34:31 | Seeing then I have spoken of God, I will not hinder thee in thy turn. | Seeing. Hebrew, "Thou shouldst have said to the Lord, I have suffered enough: (Calmet) I will not offend." (Protestants) (Haydock) (Ver. 32.) --- Turn. He had undertaken to plead God's cause. (Calmet) |
| Job 34:32 | If I have erred, teach thou me: if I have spoken iniquity, I will add no more. | |
| Job 34:33 | Doth God require it of thee, because it hath displeased thee? for thou begannest to speak, and not I: but if thou know any thing better, speak. | It, my iniquity. (Menochius) --- Will God make thee accountable for it? (Haydock) --- Yea, if thou keep silence, (Calmet) thou wilt seem to connive at it. (Haydock) --- He wishes to engage Job to speak. Hebrew may be translated many ways. (Calmet) --- Protestants, "Should it be according to thy mind? He will recompense it whether thou refuse, or whether thou choose; and not 1:Therefore speak what thou knowest." (Haydock) |
| Job 34:34 | Let men of understanding speak to me, and let a wise man hearken to me. | |
| Job 34:35 | But Job hath spoken foolishly, and his words sound not discipline. | |
| Job 34:36 | My father, let Job be tried even to the end: cease not from the man of iniquity. | Father. From God all the rights of a father spring, Ephesians 3:15. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "No indeed: but learn Job, answer not like fools." Protestants, "my desire is, (marginal note, my father) that Job may be tried unto the end, because of his answers for the wicked." (Haydock) --- He has imitated their wicked discourses; let his chastisement deter others. (Calmet) --- The sequel seems to intimate, that Eliphaz is here styled Father. (Menochius) |
| Job 34:37 | Because he addeth blasphemy upon his sins, let him be tied fast in the mean time among us; and then let him provoke God to judgment with his speeches. | Fast, and pressed by arguments. (Menochius) (Calmet) --- Hebrew, "since he adds crime (Calmet; Protestants, rebellion) to his sin, and clappeth his hands among us, and multiplieth his words against the Lord." Eliu concluding that Job was obstinate, (Haydock) invites his friends to join in prayer, that he might be still more severely chastised, to make him enter into himself. Such a strange petition might possibly proceed from charity. But Eliu had given too many proofs of passion, to allow this interpretation. Had he evinced that Job as a criminal? and were not his sorrows already too great, so that he might rather have prayed that God would alleviate them, or grant him more patience? |
| Job 35:0 | Eliu declares that the good or evil done by man cannot reach God. | |
| Job 35:1 | Moreover Eliu spoke these words. | |
| Job 35:2 | Doth thy thought seem right to thee, that thou shouldst say: I am more just than God? | God. Eliu being greatly mortified at Job's silence, uses still more provoking expressions, and pretends to refute one of the holy man's assertions, which never escaped his lips, though he had complained that God treated him as an enemy, and with more severity than his sins deserved; (chap. 6:2.; Calmet) or, that his affliction was greater than his sin, Job 23:7., etc. Eliu therefore calumniates him. (Worthington) |
| Job 35:3 | For thou saidst: That which is right doth not please thee: or what will it profit thee if I sin? | Please thee, since thou punishest the guiltless. (Menochius) --- If I sin. Job had not said so, but it seemed to follow from his expressions, Job 21:7. See Job 22:3. Whether sin be committed and punished, or not, what does it profit God? (Calmet) --- His sovereign perfections require that he should not let sin pass unnoticed, and Job never entertained an idea to the contrary. |
| Job 35:4 | Therefore I will answer thy words, and thy friends with thee. | Thee. I will shew that you are all wrong. (Haydock) --- I will supply what the three have left imperfect. (Calmet) |
| Job 35:5 | Look up to heaven and see, and behold the sky, that it is higher than thou. | Thee. Thy sin cannot hurt, nor thy virtue add any thing to God. He is not therefore actuated by resentment, or jealousy, but by justice. (Calmet) --- He revenges the injury done by the sinner to himself, ver. 8. (St. Augustine, Conf. 3:8.) --- The inference is therefore wrong, (Calmet) that God will not regard the sins or punishment of men, because he thence derives no profit, ver. 3. (Haydock) --- The strong sentences of Eliu agree not (or are ill-applied) to the blessed Job. (St. Gregory 26:7.) (Worthington) |
| Job 35:6 | If thou sin, what shalt thou hurt him? and if thy iniquities be multiplied, what shalt thou do against him? | |
| Job 35:7 | And if thou do justly, what shalt thou give him, or what shall he receive of thy hand? | |
| Job 35:8 | Thy wickedness may hurt a man that is like thee: and thy justice may help the son of man. | |
| Job 35:9 | By reason of the multitude of oppressors they shall cry out: and shall wail for the violence of the arm of tyrants. | Out. The wicked shall cry out, through vexation, but still they will not address themselves to God, ver. 10. Why are they abandoned, but because He takes cognizance of all? |
| Job 35:10 | And he hath not said: Where is God, who made me, who hath given songs in the night? | Songs. Arabic, "thoughts," by means of visions. Chaldean, "where is the Lord, in whose presence the angels sing canticles of praise in the night?" (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "who has ordered the night watches;" (Haydock) the stars, which display the power of God? His servants also are filled with interior joy, even in the midst of afflictions. (Calmet) |
| Job 35:11 | Who teacheth us more than the beasts of the earth, and instructeth us more than the fowls of the air. | Air: and yet the wicked make not use of their understanding, to have recourse to God under distress. (Calmet) |
| Job 35:12 | There shall they cry, and he will not hear, because of the pride of evil men. | |
| Job 35:13 | God therefore will not hear in vain, and the Almighty will look into the causes of every one. | Vain. Hebrew, "falsehood." He will not relieve the hypocrite, who does not cry to him with sincerity. This conduct shews that God acts with discretion, and hears people according to their deserts. (Calmet) |
| Job 35:14 | Yea, when thou shalt say: He considereth not: be judged before him, and expect him. | Before him. Try whether the assertion be true. (Haydock) --- Only change thy life, and hope in him, and thou wilt see the good effects. (Calmet) |
| Job 35:15 | For he doth not now bring on his fury, neither doth he revenge wickedness exceedingly. | For. Protestants, "But now because it is not so, he hath visited in his anger; yet he (marginal note, Job) knoweth it not, in great extremity." (Haydock) --- In this world, God punishes not with rigour. (Calmet) |
| Job 35:16 | Therefore, Job openeth his mouth in vain, and multiplieth words without knowledge. | Knowledge. I have shewn that God punishes or rewards according to our deserts, and is not indifferent about our sins. If Job have not experienced the divine bounty, it is because he has not deserved it. (Calmet) |
| Job 36:0 | Eliu proceeds in setting forth the justice and power of God. | |
| Job 36:1 | Eliu also proceeded, and said: | |
| Job 36:2 | Suffer me a little, and I will shew thee: for I have yet somewhat to speak in God's behalf. | |
| Job 36:3 | I will repeat my knowledge from the beginning, and I will prove my maker just. | Beginning. Hebrew, "afar" from that God, who is ancient, and not of human invention; (Jeremias 23:23.) or from the consideration of the heavens. Nothing could be more magnificent than the descriptions which conclude this fourth part of the discourse. (Calmet) |
| Job 36:4 | For, indeed, my words are without a lie, and perfect knowledge shall be proved to thee. | Lie. Every orator will promise to speak the truth, and will do so sometimes to gain credit. (Worthington) --- Shall be. Hebrew, "is with thee." Thou art not devoid of sense, and thou wilt (Calmet) surely approve my reasons, which are suggested by the God of all knowledge. (Haydock) |
| Job 36:5 | God doth not cast away the mighty, whereas he himself also is mighty. | God. Septuagint, "Know that the Lord will not cast away the innocent." Theodotion continues to ver. 12: "The mighty, in strength of heart, (Wisdom vi.) will not make the impious live, and will render judgment to the poor." (Haydock) --- They seem to have read Thom, which is now wanting in Hebrew. (Calmet) --- "Behold God is mighty, and despiseth not any: mighty in strength and wisdom." (Protestants) (Haydock) --- Eliu begins to prove that God administers justice to all equally. (Calmet) |
| Job 36:6 | But he saveth not the wicked, and he giveth judgment to the poor. | |
| Job 36:7 | He will not take away his eyes from the just, and he placeth kings on the throne for ever, and they are exalted. | Just. Hebrew, Syriac, etc., "the just man, he will place him with kings on the throne." (Calmet) --- Exalted, or "extolled" for ever, if they have done well. (Worthington) --- He always disposes of kingdoms. (Menochius) |
| Job 36:8 | And if they shall be in chains, and be bound with the cords of poverty: | |
| Job 36:9 | He shall shew them their works, and their wicked deeds, because they have been violent. | Violent, while in power and on the throne, or because even in a private station, their will has risen up in rebellion against God. (Haydock) --- Poverty and afflictions are scourges, which are often inflicted by mercy, to bring us to a sense of our duty. (Calmet) |
| Job 36:10 | He also shall open their ear, to correct them: and shall speak, that they may return from iniquity. | Ear, by secret inspirations, or by the admonitions of pastors. (Calmet) --- Afflictions will also speak louder to them than any orator. (Haydock) |
| Job 36:11 | If they shall hear and observe, they shall accomplish their days in good, and their years in glory. | |
| Job 36:12 | But if they hear not, they shall pass by the sword, and shall be consumed in folly. | Folly. Hebrew, "without knowledge." He speaks of princes, (Calmet) and of all the wicked, who have not known the day of their visitation. (Haydock) --- They shall suffer the punishment prepared for fools or wicked men. (Menochius) |
| Job 36:13 | Dissemblers and crafty men prove the wrath of God, neither shall they cry when they are bound. | Bound, in misery and evil habits. They will not have recourse to God by humble prayer, though they perceive his displeasure, and design in punishing them. |
| Job 36:14 | Their soul shall die in a storm, and their life among the effeminate. | Storm. Hebrew and Septuagint, "in youth," (Haydock) being suddenly cut off, without having deplored the sins of their youth. (Calmet) --- Effeminate. Hebrew, "the consecrated" to prostitution. Eliu compares those who will not attend unto God, to the most infamous characters. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "and let their life be taken away by the angels" (Haydock) of death, Job 33:23. (Calmet) --- He may allude to the impure Sodomites. (Menochius) |
| Job 36:15 | He shall deliver the poor out of his distress, and shall open his ear in affliction. | |
| Job 36:16 | Therefore he shall set thee at large out of the narrow mouth, and which hath no foundation under it: and the rest of thy table shall be full of fatness. | He shall. He would have prevented thee from falling into this irremediable distress, if thou hadst imitated the poor who trust in Him. (Calmet) --- Yea, he will still restore thee to favour, if thou wilt repent. (Haydock) --- He will fill thee with joy and plenty. (Menochius) --- Foundation. Hebrew, where there is not straitness. (Protestants) He would have rescued thee from distress, and set thee at large. (Haydock) --- The psalmist often speaks in the same language. (Calmet) |
| Job 36:17 | Thy cause hath been judged as that of the wicked, cause and judgment thou shalt recover. | Recover. Thou shalt be treated as thou hast treated others. Hebrew is not well understood. It may be, "Thou hast spoken like the impious; but judgment and justice rule. (18) Beware lest wrath overtake thee, so that thy prayers may not avert it. (19) Will He regard thy cries, thy riches, gold or strength?" (Calmet) |
| Job 36:18 | Therefore, let not anger overcome thee, to oppress any man: neither let multitude of gifts turn thee aside. | |
| Job 36:19 | Lay down thy greatness without tribulation, and all the mighty of strength. | Without, or before thou be forced by tribulation. (Menochius) --- Lay aside all sentiments of pride, (St. Gregory) or keep in awe the mighty, who administer justice in thy name. (Menochius) --- Protestants, "Will he esteem thy riches? No, not gold, nor all the forces of strength." Septuagint, "Let not a willing mind incline thee unjustly to the prayer of the needy in distress." (Haydock) |
| Job 36:20 | Prolong not the night, that people may come up for them. | Prolong not the night, etc. Prolong not causes that are brought before thee, but dispatch, by early rising, the business of them that come up to thee. (Challoner) --- Septuagint, "and all the men of power do not withdraw in the night," from just punishment. Theodotion adds, "that the people may come up against them," to demand vengeance. Do strict justice both to the rich and to the poor, without pity or fear. (Haydock) --- This text is very obscure; and the Hebrew may have different meanings, which do not, however, seem well connected with the rest. "Plant not after night, when people retire home;" (Calmet) or Protestants, "are cut off in their place." (Haydock) --- Delay not to banish temptations, or they will increase. (St. Gregory 26:38.) (Worthington) |
| Job 36:21 | Beware thou turn not aside to iniquity: for this thou hast begun to follow after misery. | Iniquity, or blaspheming, (chap. 34:37.; Menochius) and murmurs, to which alone thou hast given way since thy fall. (Calmet) |
| Job 36:22 | Behold, God is high in his strength, and none is like him among the lawgivers. | Lawgivers. Hebrew more, "a master." In Chaldean, "a sovereign." (Grotius) Septuagint, "what potentate is against him?" (Haydock) --- What art thou, to dare thus to resist him? (Calmet) --- St. Gregory (xxvii. 1.) explains this as a prediction of Christ, "our singular lawgiver." God is most able to punish transgressors, and willing to reward those who obey his laws. (Worthington) |
| Job 36:23 | Who can search out his ways? or who can say to him: Thou has wrought iniquity? | |
| Job 36:24 | Remember that thou knowest not his work, concerning which men have sung. | Not, is omitted in Hebrew and Septuagint. "Remember that thou magnify his work, which men behold;" Protestants, (Haydock) or "thou hast magnified," formerly. Do so again. --- Sung. The memory of great exploits was commonly preserved by canticles. (Calmet) |
| Job 36:25 | All men see him, every one beholdeth afar off. | All. The rest of this chapter, and the five first verses of the next, seem to be inserted in the Septuagint from Theodotion. "Every man sees in himself how many mortals are wounded," etc. --- Off, in the stars, etc., or in ancient times, what wonders God has performed. (Calmet) --- The works of God are like a ladder, by which we may ascend to the knowledge of him. (Menochius) (Wisdom xiii.) (Haydock) |
| Job 36:26 | Behold, God is great, exceeding our knowledge: the number of his years is inestimable. | |
| Job 36:27 | He lifteth up the drops of rain, and poureth out showers like floods: | Floods. God causes the water on the earth to evaporate, (Calmet) to form the clouds, (Haydock) which afterwards fall in torrents. (Menochius) --- Theodotion, "the drops of rain are numbered by him," etc., Job 26:8. |
| Job 36:28 | Which flow from the clouds that cover all above. | |
| Job 36:29 | If he will spread out clouds as his tent, | If. Hebrew, "Also can any understand the spreading out of the clouds, the elevation or noise of his pavilion?" (Haydock) --- What could be more magnificent than the throne of God! (Calmet) |
| Job 36:30 | And lighten with his light from above, he shall cover also the ends of the sea. | Ends. Literally, "the hinges," or poles, cardines. (Haydock) --- Hebrew, "roots;" Aristotle (Meteor. 2:1.) and Hesoid (Theog. 727,) use the same term, (Calmet) to denote the fountains which supply the sea. (Haydock) --- Who ever discovered these deep recesses? Eliu describes a thunder-storm, when the sea is covered with darkness. He intimates that the pavilion of God, though hidden from us by the clouds, is not destitute of light. (Calmet) --- God inhabits light inaccessible. (Haydock) |
| Job 36:31 | For by these he judgeth people, and giveth food to many mortals. | Mortals. Hebrew, "in abundance." (Haydock) --- By thunder he overwhelms many nations, while by moderate rains, he causes the earth ot fructify (Calmet) and nourish mankind. (Menochius) |
| Job 36:32 | In his hands he hideth the light, and commandeth it to come again. | Hands, or clouds, which are compared to a hand, 3 Kings 18:44. He opens his hand, and light appears. This expression denotes the utmost facility with which a very surprising thing is effected. --- To come. Hebrew, "by this obstacle." He alludes to the sun's eclipse, as if God's hand covered its disk. (Calmet) --- Protestants, "He....commandeth it not to shine, by the cloud that cometh betwixt." |
| Job 36:33 | He sheweth his friend concerning it, that it is his possession, and that he may come up to it. | To it. The tabernacle of God is designed for his friends. Hebrew is very obscure. "Thunder announces the rain, and the very animals know it;" (Virgil describes their signs, Geor. i.) or "His thunder announces from above the clouds his wrath to men." (Calmet) --- "The noise thereof sheweth concerning it, the cattle also concerning the vapour." |
| Job 37:0 | Eliu goes on in his discourse, shewing God's wisdom and power, by his wonderful works. | |
| Job 37:1 | At this my heart trembleth, and is moved out of its place. | This thunder, the effects of which are so terrible, that it is often styled the voice of God. (Calmet) (Psalm xxviii.) (Menochius) --- The consideration of rewards (chap. 36:33.) stimulates the good, while thunder strikes the heart with terror. (Worthington) |
| Job 37:2 | Hear ye attentively the terror of his voice, and the sound that cometh out of his mouth. | |
| Job 37:3 | He beholdeth under all the heavens, and his light is upon the ends of the earth. | Earth. Lightning appears from the east to the west, Matthew 24:27. |
| Job 37:4 | After it a noise shall roar, he shall thunder with the voice of his majesty, and shall not be found out, when his voice shall be heard. | After. Light travels faster than sound, (Haydock) though thunder and lightning are produced at the same instant. (Calmet) --- Found out. Philosophers can only propose their conjectures on the cause of thunder. This sense is confirmed by the Greek, Chaldean, etc. Hebrew may be, "he delays not;" (Calmet) --- Protestants, "he will not stay them;" (Haydock) rain commonly falling soon after thunder. As the latter is occasioned by the collision of clouds, when they come to a certain distance from the earth, the heat causes them to dissolve into showers, which augment at each crack. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "For he has done great things, which we have not understood." This is connected with Job 36:24. Then we read, (ver. 7.) "that man may know his own weakness." All the intermediate verses have been supplied by Origen from Theodotion, or others. (Haydock) |
| Job 37:5 | God shall thunder wonderfully with his voice, he that doth great and unsearchable things. | |
| Job 37:6 | He commandeth the snow to go down upon the earth, and the winter rain, and the shower of his strength. | |
| Job 37:7 | He sealeth up the hand of all men, that every one may know his works. | He sealed up, etc. When he sends those showers of his strength; that is, those storms of rain, he seals up; that is, he shuts up the hands of men from their usual work abroad, and confines them within doors, to consider his works; or to forecast their works; that is, what they themselves are to do. (Challoner) --- We are all the servants of God. He marks us in the hand, as such, Isaias 44:5., and Ezechiel 9:6., and Apocalypse 13:6. The Romans marked soldiers with a hot iron in the hands. (Veget. 1:8.) --- The abettors of chiromancy have hence vainly pretended that they can discover each person's future in the lineaments of his hands. (Calmet) |
| Job 37:8 | Then the beast shall go into his covert, and shall abide in his den. | Den. Foreseeing the tempest and retreating for shelter. |
| Job 37:9 | Out of the inner parts shall a tempest come, and cold out of the north. | Parts. The south, (chap. 9:9.) whence storms commonly came in that country, (Calmet) from the sea or desert of Idumea. (Haydock) (Psalm 77:26., and Zacharias 9:14., and Isaias 21:1.) --- North wind or pole. (Worthington) --- Yet the south seems to be designated; (ver. 17., and Job 38:32.) though cold comes from the north, in Idumea as well as here. (Calmet) --- Mezarim, is rendered by Protestants "north." Marginal note, "scattering winds." Septuagint akroterion, "summits" of mountains. |
| Job 37:10 | When God bloweth there cometh frost, and again the waters are poured out abundantly. | Abundantly. He causes it to freeze or rain at pleasure. (Haydock) (Psalm 147:17.) (Menochius) |
| Job 37:11 | Corn desireth clouds, and the clouds spread their light: | Corn requires rain. (Haydock) --- Light. As they are transparent, they do not hinder the sun from appearing. Hebrew, "the brightness of the sky disperses the clouds, and the clouds shed their light" in the rainbow, (ver. 15.; Grotius) or lightning. (Junius; Calmet; Menochius) --- Protestants, "Also by watering, he wearieth the thick cloud, he scattereth his bright cloud, (12) and it is turned round about by his counsels, that they may do whatsoever," etc. God prohibits or gives rain. (Haydock) --- Nothing is left to chance. (Calmet) --- He directeth the clouds as a master does his ship. (Worthington) |
| Job 37:12 | Which go round about, whithersoever the will of him that governeth them shall lead them, to whatsoever he shall command them upon the face of the whole earth: | |
| Job 37:13 | Whither in one tribe, or in his own land, or in what place soever of his mercy he shall command them to be found. | Tribe. Hebrew also, "for correction." (Haydock) (Amos 4:7.) --- Land of promise, Psalm 67:10. |
| Job 37:14 | Hearken to these things, Job: Stand, and consider the wondrous works of God. | |
| Job 37:15 | Dost thou know when God commanded the rains, to shew the light of his clouds? | Light: the rain-bow, according to the best interpreters; or the lightning. (Calmet) |
| Job 37:16 | Knowest thou the great paths of the clouds, and the perfect knowledges? | Paths. Hebrew, "the balancings of the clouds, the wondrous works of Him whose knowledge is perfect?" Job 36:4. Dost thou know what suspends the heavy clouds in the air? (Calmet) |
| Job 37:17 | Are not thy garments hot, when the south wind blows upon the earth? | Are. Hebrew, "How thy," etc. It is also beyond thy comprehension, why thou shouldst be too hot when the south winds blows (Haydock) moderately, though tempests generally proceed from the same quarter, ver. 9. If thou art in the dark respecting these things, which thou feelest, how canst thou pretend to fathom and condemn the counsels of God? (Calmet) --- Job was far from doing either. His friends rather undertook to explain God's reasons for punishing thus his servants, which Job acknowledged was to him a mystery, (Haydock) till God had enlightened him, Job 22:3. (Houbigant) |
| Job 37:18 | Thou perhaps hast made the heavens with him, which are most strong, as if they were of molten brass. | Brass. Hebrew, "Hast thou with him stretched out (or beaten, as brass, tarkiang; which word Moses uses for the firmament) the heavens, which are as solid (Chaldean, and like) a molten looking-glass?" which was formerly made of metal, Exodus 38:8. The Hebrews looked upon the sky as a sheet of brass; and the poets speak of the brazen heaven. (Pindar. Nem. vi.; Homer, Iliad A.) |
| Job 37:19 | Shew us what we may say to him: for we are wrapped up in darkness. | Darkness. Thou who art so learned, give us some information, what we may blame in the works of God. Cutting irony! (Calmet) |
| Job 37:20 | Who shall tell him the things I speak? even if a man shall speak, he shall be swallowed up. | He shall be swallowed up. All that man can say, when he speaks of God, is so little and inconsiderable in comparison with the subject, that man is lost, and as it were swallowed up in so immense an ocean. (Challoner) --- The man who should dare to mention what I could reprehend in God's works, would soon be overwhelmed with majesty. (Calmet) --- Alphonsus IX, king of Leon, (the year of our Lord 1252) surnamed "the wise and the astronomer," said "he could have given some good advice respecting the motions of the stars, if he had been consulted by God;" meaning to ridicule some vain systems of philosophers, then in vogue. (Dict. 1774.) (Haydock) |
| Job 37:21 | But now they see not the light: the air on a sudden shall be thickened into clouds, and the winds shall pass and drive them away. | Light; being hindered by the clouds, and dazzled when they are removed. Yet we presume to judge of the secrets of Providence! (Calmet) --- Away. As there is a constant vicissitude of these things, so there is of happiness and misery. (Menochius) --- Septuagint, "For the light is not seen by all. It is refulgent in beauties, as that which comes thence upon the clouds." If, therefore, this light does not pervade all places, why should we wonder that all do not understand the ways of God? (Haydock) |
| Job 37:22 | Cold cometh out of the north, and to God praise with fear. | Gold. Septuagint, "from the north, gold-coloured clouds. Above these, great is the praise and honour of the Almighty." (Haydock) --- When the wind blows, the clouds are dispersed, and the sky appears serene. Each country has its peculiar advantages. In the north, Ophir, etc., may boast of gold: but what ought to be most conspicuous in the praises given to God, is an humble fear. Pindar begins his Olympic Odes somewhat in the same style. (Calmet) --- "Water is excellent, and gold....But if, dear heart, thou wilt sing of games, regard no other star....as brighter than the sun....nor shall we celebrate any game more excellent than that of Olympia." (Haydock) --- God disposes of all things as he pleases. He makes the golden day succeed a tempest. But it is our duty to praise him with awe, whatever he may ordain. This is the epilogue. (Pineda) --- Man must praise God with fear, as he cannot do it sufficiently. (Worthington) |
| Job 37:23 | We cannot find him worthily: he is great in strength, and in judgment, and in justice, and he is ineffable. | Worthily. Hebrew, "the Almighty, we cannot find him out," (Haydock) or comprehend his nature or mysteries. (Calmet) |
| Job 37:24 | Therefore men shall fear him, and all that seem to themselves to be wise, shall not dare to behold him. | Fear him, and receive with respect whatever he shall appoint. (Haydock) --- And all. Hebrew, "he fears not any that are wise of heart." He knows that the most intelligent (Calmet) must confess their ignorance, when they attempt to examine his divine nature. Simonides being desired by Hiero to express his sentiments on this subject, always requested more time to consider of it. Quia, inquit, res videtur mihi tanto obscurior, quanto diutius eam considero. (Cicero, Nat. 1:60. Selectae e Prof. 1:3.) --- "With thee (says St. Augustine, Conf. 1:6.) stand the causes of all instable things," etc. (Haydock) --- Those who are really wise, will therefore adore God's judgments in silence, while the presumptuous will be forced to yield. This is the excellent conclusion of all that had been said. (Pineda) --- The sentence is beautiful, but ill-applied (Haydock) to Job. (Philip) See Proverbs 3:7. (Haydock) --- He convinced the other three with sound arguments, "and this last and most arrogant disputant with silence." (Worthington) |
| Job 38:0 | God interposes, and shews from the things he hath made, that man cannot comprehend his power and wisdom. | |
| Job 38:1 | Then the Lord answered Job out of a whirlwind, and said: | Then. Septuagint, "After Eliu had ceased to speak." (Haydock) --- Lord. That is, an angel speaking in the name of the Lord. (Challoner) --- The name Jehova (Haydock) here occurs, though it never does in the speeches; whence many have inferred that the Lord spoke in person; which argument, however, is not conclusive; and that this work was written after the apparition in the burning bush. (Calmet) --- The Hebrew edition would at least be given after that event. --- Whirlwind, designed to strike the senses, (Haydock) and to represent the distressed condition of Job. (Pineda) --- This awful appearance imposed silence upon all. (Haydock) --- Some think that a time was allowed for reflection and repentance, before God passed sentence; but the Septuagint, etc., seem to suppose that the cause was decided as soon as Eliu had ended his discourse. (Calmet) --- God discusses the controversy, and gives sentence in favour of Job. (Worthington) |
| Job 38:2 | Who is this that wrappeth up sentences in unskilful words? | Words. Many explain this as a condemnation (Calmet) of the last speaker, (Du Hamel) who would otherwise pass without any reproach, (Haydock) though he had spoken with less reserve than the rest. (Calmet) --- Pineda allows that this opinion is very plausible; but he thinks that Job himself is reprehended, not for any grievous offence, but for indiscreet expressions, Job 41. The context also seems to require this, as Job takes it to himself, Job 39:33. (Calmet) --- The change of persons might rather imply the contrary: Who is this? Eliu. 3. Gird up thy loins. Job. (Haydock) --- Can we admit that the devil got the victory; or, that God falsely declared that Job had spoken right? Job 42. (Houbigant) --- Did not the latter maintain the truth with greatest zeal, while his friends certainly mixed unskilful words or inferences with sentences of the greatest consequence? His face I will accept, that your folly be not imputed to you; for you have not spoken right things before me, as my servant Job hath, Job 42:8. Hebrew, "Who is this that darkeneth counsel, by words without knowledge?" (Protestants) "Who is the who concealeth counsel from me, keeping words in his heart, and thinketh to hide from me?" (Septuagint) Eliu pretended to explain the counsels of God, and perhaps did not utter all that he had in his mind; but God condemns the very harbouring of thoughts, which are contrary to truth and justice. (Haydock) --- Job's friends laboured under great prejudices, and condemned him without cause, (Calmet) thinking that they were doing a service to God, like those who put the apostles to death, and persecuted Catholics on account of their religion. But this plea will not excuse them. Here one line suffices to refute the long harangue (Haydock) of Eliu; (St. Gregory; Ven. Bede; Tirinus, etc.) though we have observed, (Haydock) some understand the words to be addressed to Job, as a rebuke for his too warm expressions. (St. Chrysostom; St. Augustine, etc.) (Calmet) --- The remainder of the discourse is designed for Job's instruction. (Haydock) --- Hoc (Eliu) despecto ad erudiendum Job verba vertuntur. (St. Gregory) |
| Job 38:3 | Gird up thy loins like a man: I will ask thee, and answer thou me. | Loins, like one about to engage in an arduous task, (Haydock) or journey, (Calmet) to explore the ways of divine Providence. (Haydock) --- Answer my reasons, if thou art able. (Calmet) --- Hebrew, "make me know." (Haydock) --- Only the Creator hath perfect knowledge of all his works, as may appear by induction or example: 1. of inanimate; 2. of living things, ver. 39. (Worthington) |
| Job 38:4 | Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? tell me, if thou hast understanding. | Foundations. The Hebrews placed the earth in the centre of the universe, resting upon nothing, (chap. 26:7., and 36:30.) or upon itself. See Hesiod, Theog. 325. (Calmet) --- These questions seem intended to shew, that if God has created all things for man, he will not surely neglect to watch over him. (Menochius) |
| Job 38:5 | Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? | Upon it. He speaks of the world as of a vast house, (Calmet) or palace, (Menochius) in which the Architect has shewn his art. (Haydock) |
| Job 38:6 | Upon what are its bases grounded? or who laid the corner-stone thereof, | |
| Job 38:7 | When the morning stars praised me together, and all the sons of God made a joyful melody? | Sons. Septuagint, "all my angels." Hence it appears that the angels were among the first of God's works, formed probably at the same time with the heavens, (Calmet) or light, Genesis 1:3. (Haydock) --- The praise of the stars is figurative, (Calmet) as they tend to raise our hearts to God by their beauty, (Haydock) whereas that of the angels is real. (Calmet) |
| Job 38:8 | Who shut up the sea with doors, when it broke forth as issuing out of the womb: | Shut. Hebrew also, (Haydock) "facilitated the birth of the sea," as a midwife. (Grotius) (Calmet) --- Forth. Septuagint, "raged." (Haydock) --- God represents the waters ready to overwhelm all when first produced out of nothing, if he had not shut them up in the abyss, like a child in a cradle, or a wild beast in its den, ver. 10. (Calmet) |
| Job 38:9 | When I made a cloud the garment thereof, and wrapped it in a mist, as in swaddling bands? | Mist. So Moses says darkness was on the face of the abyss. Obscurity covered it, as swaddling bands do a child's body. (Calmet) |
| Job 38:10 | I set my bounds around it, and made it bars and doors; | Set. Protestants, "brake up for it my decreed place." Marginal note, "established my decree upon it;" (Haydock) or, "I gave order to break it," against the shore, Jeremias 5:22., and Amos 5:8. |
| Job 38:11 | And I said: Hitherto thou shalt come, and shalt go no further, and here thou shalt break thy swelling waves. | |
| Job 38:12 | Didst thou since thy birth command the morning, and shew the dawning of the day its place? | Place. Thou art but as yesterday: where is thy power? (Calmet) |
| Job 38:13 | And didst thou hold the extremities of the earth, shaking them, and hast thou shaken the ungodly out of it? | And didst. Some explain Hebrew, "that it (Aurora) might spread at once to the extremities of the earth. Then the wicked flee before it;" as they hate the light, Job 34:26., and John 3:20. (Calmet) --- Septuagint and Protestants may be understood in this sense. (Haydock) --- Allusion may also be made to the shaking of a sieve, to separate the wheat from the chaff; (Amos 9:9., and Luke 22:31.; Calmet) or of a carpet, to clean it from the dust. (Du Hamel) --- Did God ask thee to help him to exterminate the wicked? The short digression in these three verses, shews the punishment exercised on offenders. It is not contrary to the true spirit of poetry. (Menochius) |
| Job 38:14 | The seal shall be restored as clay, and shall stand as a garment: | Seal. Men, formed to the image of God, shall die; and others shall be place in their stead, (Menochius) with as much ease as an impression is made upon clay. (Haydock) --- Garment. The body seems to be the clothing of the soul, and will be changed, Psalm 101:27. (Menochius) --- Chaldean, "their form will be changed to clay, and they shall resemble a tattered garment." Hebrew, "their seal shall change like clay," etc. All their glory shall perish. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "hast thou taken earth or clay, and formed a living creature, and endued it with speech on the earth?" Is man the workd of thy hands? (Haydock) |
| Job 38:15 | From the wicked their light shall be taken away, and the high arm shall be broken. | |
| Job 38:16 | Hast thou entered into the depths of the sea, and walked in the lowest parts of the deep? | |
| Job 38:17 | Have the gates of death been opened to thee, and hast thou seen the darksome doors? | Doors? Septuagint, "through fear; or have the porters of hell flown away at thy sight?" (Haydock) |
| Job 38:18 | Hast thou considered the breadth of the earth? tell me, if thou knowest all things? | |
| Job 38:19 | Where is the way where light dwelleth? and where is the place of darkness? | Darkness. The poetical style of this book represents these things as real beings, in the same manner (Calmet) as the house, (ver. 20) or palace of the sun, etc., are described by the ancients. (Haydock) |
| Job 38:20 | That thou mayst bring every thing to its own bounds, and understand the paths of the house thereof. | |
| Job 38:21 | Didst thou know then that thou shouldst be born? and didst thou know the number of thy days? | |
| Job 38:22 | Hast thou entered into the storehouses of the snow, or has thou beheld the treasures of the hail: | |
| Job 38:23 | Which I have prepared for the time of the enemy, against the day of battle and war? | War. Hail, etc., are like the arrows of God, Jeremias 10:13., and 50:25. (Calmet) |
| Job 38:24 | By what way is the light spread, and heat divided upon the earth? | Heat. Hebrew kadim, (Haydock) the "east." Septuagint, "south wind." Perhaps the east winds produced the same bad effects in Egypt, as the south wind did in Judea; (Calmet) or this noxious burning wind might proceed from the south-eastern point of both countries. (Haydock) |
| Job 38:25 | Who gave a course to violent showers, or a way for noisy thunder: | Noisy. Hebrew, "for lightning, which accompanies thunder?" By these questions, respecting things which to man are impossible, and many inexplicable, God humbles (Calmet) the pride of the human heart. (Haydock) |
| Job 38:26 | That it should rain on the earth without man in the wilderness, where no mortal dwelleth: | Dwelleth. This shews the magnificence of God, (Menochius) at least. (Haydock) |
| Job 38:27 | That it should fill the desert and desolate land, and should bring forth green grass? | |
| Job 38:28 | Who is the father of rain? or who begot the drops of dew? | |
| Job 38:29 | Out of whose womb came the ice? and the frost from heaven, who hath gendered it? | |
| Job 38:30 | The waters are hardened like a stone, and the surface of the deep is congealed. | |
| Job 38:31 | Shalt thou be able to join together the shining stars, the Pleiades, or canst thou stop the turning about of Arcturus? | Pleiades. The seven stars. --- Arcturus. A bright star in the north. (Challoner) --- The same terms occur, and are explained, Job 9:9. (Haydock) |
| Job 38:32 | Canst thou bring forth the day-star in its time, and make the evening-star to rise upon the children of the earth? | Day-star. Hebrew mazzaroth, (Haydock) corresponds with the "inner parts of the south;" (chap. 9:9) though some translate, "the signs of the zodiac, or the influences," etc. The antarctic constellations could not be seen in Idumea, while those at the north pole (Calmet) must appear to those who live on that side of the line, (Haydock) as the perpetual sentinels of the sky. --- Evening-star. Hebrew, "Wilt thou make hayish and her daughters go to rest?" These indicate the arctic stars. Here two quite opposite stars are meant; (Calmet) though (Haydock) with us the evening and morning star be the same, being so styled according as it appears after or before the sun. (Menochius) --- Protestants, "Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth (Septuagint also retain the original term, Mazouroth) in his season, or canst thou guide Arcturus, with his sons?" The former term signifies things "scattered," the planets, (Haydock) or "the grains of gross air dispersed" to all the extremities, which returning to the centre, occasion cold, Job 37:9. (Parkhurst) |
| Job 38:33 | Dost thou know the order of heaven, and canst thou set down the reason thereof on the earth? | Reason. Hebrew, "dominion," (Haydock) or influence upon the earth. Mathematicians thought they had discovered these laws, and the number of the stars; but daily experience evinces their error. (Menochius) |
| Job 38:34 | Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that an abundance of waters may cover thee? | Voice, to mimic the thunder of God, (Calmet) or to order it to rain. (Haydock) |
| Job 38:35 | Canst thou send lightnings, and will they go, and will they return and say to thee: Here we are? | |
| Job 38:36 | Who hath put wisdom in the heart of man? or who gave the cock understanding? | Understanding. That is, to distinguish the hours of the night. (Challoner) --- Septuagint, "Who gave to women the knowledge of the loom, and the art of embroidering?" (Haydock) --- It was the part of women to weave, as appears from the conduct of queen Penelope. But the best interpreters translate, "Who has placed wisdom in the reins, or who hath given understanding to the heart," or soul? (Calmet) --- God gives wisdom to man, and an instinct to cocks, (Haydock) or the skill, of which the former is deprived, (Worthington) to know the approach of day. (Du Hamel) |
| Job 38:37 | Who can declare the order of the heavens? or who can make the harmony of heaven to sleep? | Sleep. The ancients have celebrated this harmony. (Cic.[Cicero?] Somn. Scip.) --- Septuagint, "Who numbereth the clouds in wisdom, or hath bent the sky down to the earth?" Protestants, "or who can stay the bottles of heaven?" (Haydock) --- Canst thou cause it to rain, or to be fair? (Calmet) or make the celestial bodies (Haydock) rest from motion? (Worthington) |
| Job 38:38 | When was the dust poured on the earth, and the clods fastened together? | Together. When was the water separated from the earth? (Haydock) --- Where wast thou when I gave consistency to the rocks? (Calmet) |
| Job 38:39 | Wilt thou take the prey for the lioness, and satisfy the appetite of her whelps, | And satisfy. Septuagint, "or fill the souls of the dragons?" (Haydock) --- Here Hebrew editions commence the following chapter, (Calmet) and are followed by Protestants (Haydock) and others, as the proof of God's superior knowledge begins to be established by the consideration of various animals. (Worthington) |
| Job 38:40 | When they couch in the dens, and lie in wait in holes? | |
| Job 38:41 | *Who provideth food for the raven, when her young ones cry to God, wandering about, because they have no meat? Psalm 146:9. | Wandering. Sixtus V reads vagientes, (Calmet) "crying like children." (Haydock) --- The ravens presently drive their young away to seek for fresh habitations. (Pliny, [Natural History?] 10:12.) (Psalm 146:9.) (Calmet) --- If God provide for such creatures, He will shew still greater attention to man. (Worthington) |
| Job 39:0 | The wonders of the power and providence of God in many of his creatures. | |
| Job 39:1 | Knowest thou the time when the wild goats bring forth among the rocks, or hast thou observed the hinds when they fawn? | Goats (Ibex. Hebrew Yahale.; Haydock) frequent rocks, and places which are almost inaccessible to man. (Calmet) |
| Job 39:2 | Hast thou numbered the months of their conceiving, or knowest thou the time when they bring forth? | |
| Job 39:3 | They bow themselves to bring forth young, and they cast them, and send forth roarings. | Roarings. They pretend that these animals bring forth with great difficulty, Psalm 28:9. (Vatable, etc.) --- Aristotle (V. 2., and 6:29.) asserts, that they receive the male bending down, as Hebrew may be here explained. "They bend, they divide their young," as they have often two; "and they leave their strings" at the navel, etc. (Calmet) |
| Job 39:4 | Their young are weaned, and go to feed: they go forth, and return not to them. | Feed. Being weaned very soon. (Pliny, [Natural History?] 8:32.) |
| Job 39:5 | Who hath sent out the wild ass free, and who hath loosed his bonds? | Wild ass, described, Job 6:5. The industry of man cannot make this beautiful and strong animal serviceable to him. The like would be the case (Calmet) with many others, if Providence had not ordered it otherwise. (Haydock) |
| Job 39:6 | To whom I have given a house in the wilderness, and his dwellings in the barren land. | Barren. Literally, "salt." (Haydock) --- This is of a nitrous quality, which renders those countries barren. The salt in snow and dung gives warmth and fruitfulness. |
| Job 39:7 | He scorneth the multitude of the city, he heareth not the cry of the driver. | |
| Job 39:8 | He looketh round about the mountains of his pasture, and seeketh for every green thing. | |
| Job 39:9 | Shall the rhinoceros be willing to serve thee, or will he stay at thy crib? | Rhinoceros. See Deuteronomy 33:17., and Numbers 23:22. Sanchez says they are untameable. (Menochius) --- But this is not true, when they have been taken young. (Malvenda) (Calmet) |
| Job 39:10 | Canst thou bind the rhinoceros with thy thong to plough; or will he break the clods of the valleys after thee? | Valleys, or furrows. Can he be made to harrow? |
| Job 39:11 | Wilt thou have confidence in his great strength, and leave thy labours to him? | |
| Job 39:12 | Wilt thou trust him that he will render thee the seed, and gather it into thy barn-floor? | |
| Job 39:13 | The wing of the ostrich is like the wings of the heron, and of the hawk. | Hawk. We may also read, "Is the wing of the ostrich like?" Septuagint or Theodotion, "The bird Neelasa is rejoicing, if she take the Asida, etc., the Neessa." (Haydock) --- Hebrew is variously translated, "The ostrich lifts itself up with its wings, which have feathers, as well as those of the stork." (Bochart) --- It flutters, running like a partridge, swifter than any horse. (Adamson) --- "Canst thou give to the stork and the ostrich their feathers," which form all their beauty? (Calmet) --- Protestants, "Gavest thou the goodly wings upon the peacock, or wings and feathers unto the ostrich?" (Haydock) --- The import of these names is uncertain. (Menochius) --- Renanim, (from Ron, "to cry, or move quickly,") may signify peacocks, ostriches, etc. Chasida, "a stork, (Haydock; Jer.[Jeremias?]) falcon, (Worthington) or heron; notsa "a hawk, or a feather." (Haydock) --- The first term occurs no where else, and may denote any singing birds or grasshoppers, as the last may be applied to the ostrich, which has "wings," though it fly not. (Grotius) (Calmet) --- Acknowledge the wisdom of Providence, which has thus enabled such a huge animal to travel so fast. (Menochius) --- See Parkhurst, alcs. (Haydock) |
| Job 39:14 | When she leaveth her eggs on the earth, thou perhaps wilt warm them in the dust. | Dust. This might help to hatch them. (Calmet) --- Hebrew, "earth, and warmeth them in the dust." (Protestants) |
| Job 39:15 | She forgetteth that the foot may tread upon them, or that the beasts of the field may break them. | |
| Job 39:16 | She is hardened against her young ones, as though they were not hers, she hath laboured in vain, no fear constraining her. | Ones, or eggs which she leaves. (Calmet) --- Aelian (xiv. 6.) asserts that this bird will expose her own life to defend her young. Yet the neglect of her eggs, will suffice to make her deemed cruel, Lamentations 4:3. (Haydock) --- Her. Other birds leave their nests through fear; (Calmet) but this, after sitting a while, will depart carelessly, (Haydock) and if she meet with other eggs on her road, will take to them, thus rendering her own useless. (Bochart) |
| Job 39:17 | For God hath deprived her of wisdom, neither hath he given her understanding. | Understanding. This bird has a head disproportionately small; insomuch, that Heliogabalus served up the brains of 600 at one supper. It greedily eats iron, etc., which may help its digestion, as sand does that of other birds. (Calmet) --- When it is hunted, it hides its head only, as if this would be a sufficient defence, (Pliny, [Natural History?] 10:1.) and is taken alive by a man, clothed in the skin of an ostrich, who moves the head with his hand. (Strabo xvi.) --- All which proves its stupidity. (Calmet) |
| Job 39:18 | When time shall be, she setteth up her wings on high: she scorneth the horse and his rider. | High. With her head erect, the ostrich is taller than a man on horseback. (Pliny 10:1.) --- Its wings are used like sails, and enable it to run as fast as many birds can fly, (Calmet0 while it hurls stones at the pursuer with its feet, so as frequently to kill them. (Diodorus ii.) --- Rider, as they can travel with equal speed. (Menochius) (Ver. 13.) --- Adamson (Senegal) placed two negroes on one, and testified that it still went faster than any English horse. (Haydock) |
| Job 39:19 | Wilt thou give strength to the horse, or clothe his neck with neighing? | Neighing. Hebrew, "thunder," to denote the fierceness of the horse; or "with a mane," (Bochart) "armour," (Syriac) or "terror." (Septuagint) (Calmet) --- Wilt thou enable the horse to neigh, (Menochius) when he appears so terrible? (Haydock) |
| Job 39:20 | Wilt thou lift him up like the locusts? the glory of his nostrils is terror. | Up. Hebrew, "frighten," (Haydock) or "make him leap." (Bochart) (Calmet) --- Nostrils. Septuagint, "of his chest, or shoulders, is boldness." (Haydock) --- This inspires the rider with courage, and the enemy with fear. But the Vulgate is more followed. (Calmet) -----Fraenoque teneri Impatiens crebros expirat naribus ignes. (Silius vi.) |
| Job 39:21 | He breaketh up the earth with his hoof, he pranceth boldly, he goeth forward to meet armed men. | Hoof. Ploughing, or rather prancing, through impatience. (Calmet) --- Boldly. Hebrew, "he exults in his strength," being sensible of glory and commendation. (Calmet) --- Non dubie intellectum adhortationis et gloriae fatentur. (Pliny 7:43.) |
| Job 39:22 | He despiseth fear, he turneth not his back to the sword. | |
| Job 39:23 | Above him shall the quiver rattle, the spear and shield shall glitter. | Shield, or lance, Josue 8:18. (Calmet) --- The din of armour does not disturb the horse, which has been inured to such things. (Haydock) --- It is of singular courage. (Worthington) |
| Job 39:24 | Chafing and raging, he swalloweth the ground, neither doth he make account when the noise of the trumpet soundeth. | Ground. This expression is still used by the Arabs, to denote velocity. (Grotius) --- Septuagint, "in wrath he will make the earth disappear." (Haydock) --- Mox sanguis venis melior calet, ire viarum Longa volunt latumque fuga consumere campum. (Nemesianus) --- Account. Hebrew, "believe that," or "stops not when." He is so eager to rush forward to battle. Si qua sonum procul arma dedere, Stare loco nescit, micat auribus et tremit artus. (Georg. iii.) |
| Job 39:25 | When he heareth the trumpet, he saith: Ha, ha: he smelleth the battle afar off, the encouraging of the captains, and the shouting of the army. | Ha. Literally, "Vah," a sound of joy, (Menochius) or of contempt. Septuagint, The trumpet having given the sign, he will say, Well: Euge. Nothing could be more poetically descriptive of the war-horse. (Haydock) |
| Job 39:26 | Doth the hawk wax feathered by thy wisdom, spreading her wings to the south? | Feathered. Hebrew, "fly." (Haydock) --- South, at the approach of "winter retiring" to warmer regions. (Pliny 10:8.) --- Septuagint, "spreading her wings, looking unmoved, towards the south." The hawk alone can stare at the sun, and fly to a great height. (Aelian 10:14.) --- Hence the Egyptians consecrated this bird to the sun. (Calmet) --- The eagle is of the same species, and has the same properties. (Haydock) Aristotle mentions 10, and Pliny 16 species of hawks. (Worthington) |
| Job 39:27 | Will the eagle mount up at thy command, and make her nest in high places? | |
| Job 39:28 | She abideth among the rocks, and dwelleth among cragged flints, and stony hills, where there is no access. | Access. See Abdias iv.; Aristotle, anim. 9:32. |
| Job 39:29 | From thence she looketh for the prey, and her eyes behold afar off. | Off. The eagle was remarkably (Calmet) quick-sighted, (Worthington) as well as the serpent. (Horace 1:Sat. iii.; Homer, Iliad xvii.) --- They say it can discern a fly or a fish from the highest situation; (Bochart) and if its young seem dazzled with the sun-beams, it hurls them down as spurious. (Pliny 10:3.) |
| Job 39:30 | Her young ones shall suck up blood: and wheresoever the carcass shall be, she is immediately there. | Blood, gushing from the animals, which the eagle brings. (Menochius) --- St. Chrysostom explains this of the vulture, (Matthew 24:28.; Calmet) which is of the same species. (Menochius) --- Some eagles will not touch carcasses, but others are greedy of them. (Pliny 10:3.) (Proverbs 30:17.) --- There. Our Saviour quotes this passage, Luke 17:37. (Calmet) |
| Job 39:31 | And the Lord went on, and said to Job: | Went on. Septuagint, "answered." This was the conclusion drawn from the display of God's wonderful works. If we cannot sufficiently admire them, why should we be so much surprised, as Job acknowledged he was, at the ways of Providence? It would, therefore, be better to keep silence, ver. 35. (Haydock) |
| Job 39:32 | Shall he that contendeth with God be so easily silenced? surely he that reproveth God ought to answer him. | Be so. Receive instruction, or (Calmet) instruct him? Wilt thou learn to admire my works? (Haydock) or dost thou attempt to give me any information? (Calmet) --- Him. Hebrew, "it." Septuagint, "shall he decline judgment with him who is competent?" ikanou. Theodotion adds, "the man who accuses God, shall answer it," or stand his trial. (Haydock) |
| Job 39:33 | Then Job answered the Lord, and said: | |
| Job 39:34 | What can I answer, who have spoken inconsiderately? I will lay my hand upon my mouth. | Spoken inconsiderately. If we discuss all Job's words, (saith St. Gregory) we shall find nothing impious spoken; as may be gathered from the words of the Lord himself; (chap. 42:7-8.) but what was reprehensible in him was the manner of expressing himself at times, speaking too much of his own affliction, and too little of God's goodness towards him, which here he acknowledges as inconsiderate, (Challoner) or rather as the effect of inculpable ignorance; (Haydock) as the present order of things being then novel, confounded the sagacity both of Job and of his friends. The wicked had formerly been the victims of justice, but henceforth, says Job, (Hebrew) "if it shall not be so, who can convince me of lying?" (Chap. 24:25.) Yet he did not perfectly discern the intention of God, in abandoning his servants to the power of satan, till the Lord himself had explained it in the parables of behemoth and leviathan. Then Job testified his conviction and entire submission, Job 42:5. Houbigant observes that the Vulgate is perhaps less accurate here, and [in] Job 42:3., as God exculpates Job, ver. 8. Yet the latter might entertain fear at least, of having exceeded in words, after such pungent questions. We may translate, (Haydock) Hebrew, "Behold I am vile, (Calmet) what shall I answer thee?" (Protestant) or Septuagint, "Why am I still judged, being admonished and rebuke by the Lord, hearing such things?" (Grabe, after Origen, marks with an obel what follows, as not found in Hebrew) "I, who am nothing, what answer shall I then give to these things?" (Haydock) --- If we discuss all Job's speeches, we find nothing spoken wickedly, but only a species of pride, in talking too much of his sufferings, and too little of God's goodness and justice, which he ought to have confessed. (St. Gregory 32:3.) (Worthington) |
| Job 39:35 | One thing I have spoken, which I wish I had not said: and another, to which I will add no more. | One. Septuagint, "Once I have spoken, but I will not add again." (Haydock) --- I have spoken too much, but I will be more cautious. Hebrew, "I have spoken one thing, and I will not answer; (Calmet) yea, two things, but I will go no farther." Many of my observations may be too strong, as I am not perfectly aware what may be the designs of Providence in my regard. (Haydock) |
| Job 40:0 | Of the power of God in the behemoth and the leviathan. | |
| Job 40:1 | And the Lord answering Job out of the whirlwind, said: | |
| Job 40:2 | Gird up thy loins like a man; I will ask thee, and do thou tell me. | |
| Job 40:3 | Wilt thou make void my judgment: and condemn me, that thou mayst be justified? | Judgment. Job had frequently acknowledged that God could not be in the wrong. But he had expressed himself in too forcible language, of which God makes him, as it were, ashamed. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "rejectest thou not my decision? yea, dost thou think that I have judged thee in a different manner, in order that thou mayst appear just?" (Haydock) |
| Job 40:4 | And hast thou an arm like God, and canst thou thunder with a voice like him? | |
| Job 40:5 | Clothe thyself with beauty, and set thyself up on high, and be glorious, and put on goodly garments. | |
| Job 40:6 | Scatter the proud in thy indignation, and behold every arrogant man, and humble him. | Scatter. Septuagint is shorter: (Calmet) "Send angels or messengers in wrath, and humble every insulting person. 7. Extinguish the proud, destroy the wicked at once. 8. Hide them in the earth together, and fill their faces with shame." (Haydock) |
| Job 40:7 | Look on all that are proud, and confound them, and crush the wicked in their place. | |
| Job 40:8 | Hide them in the dust together, and plunge their faces into the pit. | Pit, or grave. Cause the earth to swallow them up, and I will confess thy power. (Calmet) |
| Job 40:9 | Then I will confess that thy right hand is able to save thee. | |
| Job 40:10 | Behold behemoth whom I made with thee, he eateth grass like an ox. | Behemoth; the elephant, (Challoner) "as some think." (Protestants' marginal note) (Haydock) --- This is the most common opinion, though Sanchez explains it of the bull; and Bochart, after Beza and Diodati, declares in favour of the hippopotamus, (Calmet) or "river horse." Parkhurst even thinks Bochart has proved this "to a demonstration." The sea or river horse, (Haydock) is an amphibious animal, (Calmet) found in the Nile and Indus, and said to have the feet of an ox and the teeth of a boar, but not quite so sharp, while the neighing, back, mane, and tail, resemble those of a horse. Its hide, when dry, is said to resist even a musket-ball. (Button; Dict.) --- We find a good description of this animal in Watson, p. 91. But the plural Bemoth, female (Haydock) "beasts," seems more applicable to the elephant, on account of its great size, as it is designated by theria, or Bellua, by the Greek and Roman authors. (Suidas.) (1 Machabees 6:35.) (Pliny, [Natural History?] 8:3.) --- It may have received the name of elephant from (Calmet) alp, "to lead or teach," (Haydock) on account of its great sagacity and strength. All that Job says of behemoth, may be well explained of it. The Fathers have supposed, that the devil is meant: but we stick to the literal sense. (Calmet) --- He may, however, (Haydock) have been hinted at by this name, (Worthington) as well as by that of leviathan. (Houbigant) --- With thee, on the same day, or as well as thee. (Amama) --- Grass. The elephant does so, and is by no means savage. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "Yet, behold, near thee wild beasts, equal to oxen, eat grass." (Haydock) --- The spontaneous productions of the earth, and branches of trees, afford the principal sustenance to satisfy the prodigious stomach of the elephant; which is frequently twelve feet high, and of a dark colour. A sword can scarcely pierce it in the back or sides. It has small eyes, eight teeth, and two tusks; which last are sometimes above a hundred weight each, and being cast every tenth year, (Button) afford ivory. The proboscis serves it instead of hands to collect the smallest grain, or to defend itself. (Haydock) --- The female goes with young a whole year, and the duration of its life is generally supposed to be above a hundred. Elephants inhabit warm climates, and were formerly much used in war, to carry wooden towers, from which twenty, or even thirty, men might throw darts, 1 Machabees 6:37. (Button.) --- If this greatest and most temperate of all beasts be overcome by the unicorn, or led by the nose, how much more will God enable man to overcome the devil? (Worthington) |
| Job 40:11 | His strength is in his loins, and his force in the navel of his belly. | Loins. The towers were fastened here by an iron chain. --- Belly. Yet it is nowhere so easily wounded, 1 Machabees 6:45. (Pliny, 8:20.) --- Hence some would translate Hebrew, "and its pain in the belly," (Calmet) as it is only subject to an inflammation and flux; profluvium alvi. (Pliny) (Aelian 17:44.) --- But the original rather denotes the parts of generation, which lie concealed, (Aristotle, anim. 2:1., and 5:2.) and are styled the strength, Genesis 49:3., and Deuteronomy 21:17. |
| Job 40:12 | He setteth up his tail like a cedar, the sinews of his testicles are wrapped together. | Tail, which is very small, and without hair. (Calmet) --- Vavassor rather thinks "the trunk" is meant. (Du Hamel) |
| Job 40:13 | His bones are like pipes of brass, his gristle like plates of iron. | Gristle. Hebrew again, "bones." (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "back-bone, like cast iron." |
| Job 40:14 | He is the beginning of the ways of God, he who made him, will apply his sword. | Beginning, or prince. (Haydock) --- The elephant may be considered as the king of beasts for strength, agility, gratitude, longevity, etc. None approaches so near to man. (Pliny 8:1.; Calmet; Lipsius, 1 ep. 50.; Amama) --- Sword; which is the rhinoceros, killing the elephant under the belly with its horn; (Pliny 8:20.; Grotius) or God seems to have entrusted his sword to the elephant, for the destruction of his enemies. Nothing can withstand its fury, as it overturns houses and trees with its trunk. (Junius) (Calmet) |
| Job 40:15 | To him the mountains bring forth grass: there all the beasts of the field shall play. | Play. No animal is of a milder nature. It never attacks, unless in its own defence. When a crowd of other beasts obstruct its passage, it removes them quietly with its proboscis. (Pliny 6:9., etc.) |
| Job 40:16 | He sleepeth under the shadow, in the covert of the reed, and in moist places. | Places, insomuch that Aelian (IV. 24.) styles it a "beast of the marshes." It is fabulous that it is forced to sleep against a tree, as if it could not rise without much difficulty. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, (14) "This is the beginning or chief (arche) of the creation of the Lord, being made for his angels to play with, or beat. Departing to the craggy rock, it has made sport for the quadrupeds in the field. It sleepeth under all sorts of trees; near the reed and papyrus, and the boutomon, or ox-herb." (Haydock) |
| Job 40:17 | The shades cover his shadow, the willows of the brook shall compass him about. | |
| Job 40:18 | Behold, he will drink up a river, and not wonder, and he trusteth that the Jordan may run into his mouth. | Wonder. Hebrew, "make haste," taking time to render it muddy. (Aelian 14:44.) --- It can drink a great deal at once, and then abstain for a week. (Calmet) --- Run. Hebrew, "he may draw." Septuagint, "may knock at his mouth," (Haydock) in vain, (Calmet) as long as it can breathe by holding by holding its trunk out of the water. (Aristotle 9:46.) --- Theo.[Theodotion?] in the Septuagint, "If there should be an inundation, it shall not perceive. It confideth that, or when, the Jordan shall knock at its mouth. He shall take it by its eye; laying snares, he shall bore [its] nose." (Haydock) |
| Job 40:19 | In his eyes, as with a hook, he shall take him, and bore through his nostrils with stakes. | Stakes. Serpents attack the eyes of the elephant, and sometimes drag it by the trunk into the deep, where it is drowned. (Pliny 8:12.; Solin xxxviii.) --- Others read with an interrogation: "Shall one take?" etc. Will any one dare to attack it openly? The elephant is taken by stratagem, either in pits covered with a little earth, or by a tame elephant in an inclosure, and (Calmet) lying on her hack to receive the male. (Aristotle, anim. 5:2.) --- When he has entered, the gate is shut, and the animal is tamed by hunger; being thus taken by his eyes, Judith 10:17. Chaldean, "They pierce his nostrils with bands." Thus other animals are led about, (ver. 21) and the elephant might be so treated in those days; though of this we have no account. (Calmet) --- Protestants, "his nose pierceth through snares;" or marginal note, "will any bore his nose with a gin?" Here they conclude this chapter, which commences Job 39:31., in Hebrew. But the Septuagint agree with us. (Haydock) |
| Job 40:20 | Canst thou draw out the leviathan with a hook, or canst thou tie his tongue with a cord? | Leviathan: the whale, or some sea monster. (Challoner) --- Protestants' marginal note, "or a whirlpool." (Haydock) --- But some animal is designated; and Bochart understands the crocodile, which agrees very well with the context. The Thalmudists also say that the calbish is a small fish, which gets into the throat of the leviathan. They mean probably the ichneumon, which kills the crocodile by that means. Leviathan, "the winding serpent," (Calmet) often denotes the dragon or crocodile, (Psalm 103:26., and Isaias 27:1.) which frequents the Nile. (Haydock) --- It can live as well by land as under water, (Watson, p. 293) and hence may be translated, (Haydock) "the coupled dragon." (Parkhurst) --- Moses mentions the choled, (Leviticus 11:29.) which the Septuagint and most others translate, "the land crocodile:" but what could induce the Protestants "to render it tortoise, we are at a loss to determine." Crocodiles lay about sixty eggs, like those of geese, in the sand, the warmth of which soon hatches them. Their bodies are covered with scales, which are scarcely penetrable, except under the belly; and they are between twenty and thirty feet in length, running very fast, straight forward, though their feet be short, and they cannot turn easily. They have several rows of sharp teeth, which enter one within another, and their throat is very wide. (Button.) --- The same word may however denote whales, (Parkhurst) which are the greatest fishes with which man is acquainted. (Haydock) --- They may also be styled coupled dragons, because many smaller fishes accompany them, and they are well protected by scales, etc. (Menochius) --- This huge fish, perhaps the whale, representing the devil, is subject to God. (Worthington) --- Cord. The crocodile may be taken, but with the utmost hazard; though the Tentyrites attacked it without fear, Job 3:8. Herodotus (II. 70.) says it may be caught with a hook, baited with hog's flesh, while the fisher has a pig grunting, at which the crocodile comes open-mouthed. Having swallowed the hook, it is drawn to land, and its small eyes being filled with dirt it is easily slain. But the method was not yet invented, or was deemed too rash in Job's days. |
| Job 40:21 | Canst thou put a ring in his nose, or bore through his jaw with a buckle? | Buckle. Literally, "bracelet," (armilla.; Haydock) or ring. Horses were thus ornamented, (Virgil 7:7.) and other beasts led about. But this fierce animal could not be tamed. Hebrew, "Wilt thou put a rush through its gills, or nose, or pierce its jaw with a thorn?" like those little fishes which are thus brought fresh to market. (Calmet) |
| Job 40:22 | Will he make many supplications to thee, or speak soft words to thee? | Will it lay aside its ferocity, (Haydock) and flatter thee? (Menochius) |
| Job 40:23 | Will he make a covenant with thee, and wilt thou take him to be a servant for ever? | |
| Job 40:24 | Shalt thou play with him as with a bird, or tie him up for thy handmaids? | Handmaids? or little girls. (Calmet) Septuagint, "Wilt thou tie it like a sparrow for thy boy?" (Haydock) |
| Job 40:25 | Shall friends cut him in pieces, shall merchants divide him? | Friends. Hebrew also, (Haydock) "enchanters." (Calmet) --- Frigidus in pratis cantando rumpitur anguis. (Virgil, Ec. viii.) --- Septuagint, "the nations." --- Merchants. Septuagint, "the generation of the Phoenicians (Hebrew) of Chanaan, (Haydock) famous for merchandise, (Calmet) insomuch that the name is used for any merchant. (Haydock) --- Will they salt the crocodile for sale? (Calmet) --- Its flesh was much liked. (Herodotus, etc.) |
| Job 40:26 | Wilt thou fill nets with his skin, and the cabins of fishes with his head? | Cabins, (gurgustium) the reservoir or basket. (Calmet) --- Protestants, "Canst thou fill his skin with barbed prongs, (for which they have now irons) or his head with fish spears?" --- But this is hardly the meaning of the original, Job 41:6. Hebrew, "wilt thou fill tents with its skin, or the fish net, with its head?" to catch other fish, or to cover thy tent? etc. The skin is very hard, except under the belly. (Calmet) --- One defended itself against 36 men, who fired at it six times in vain. (Herera.) --- Septuagint, "a whole fleet collected would not carry off the skin of its tail." (Haydock) --- They seem to speak of the whale. (Calmet) --- Theodotion adds, "and its head in fisher boats." (Haydock) |
| Job 40:27 | Lay thy hand upon him: remember the battle, and speak no more. | Speak. Hebrew, "do." (Haydock) --- Thy rash attempt will prove thy ruin. If thou escape, thou wilt not dare to engage again. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "Wilt thou lay thy hand upon it, remembering the battle with its body? and let it not be done any more. (28.) Hast thou not seen it, nor been astonished at what has been said?" (Haydock) |
| Job 40:28 | Behold his hope shall fail him, and in the sight of all he shall be cast down. | Down, whoever engages in the conflict, (Menochius) except the bold citizens of Tentyra. All the rest are terrified at the very sight. Hence the Egyptians have ever given divine honours to the crocodile. (Calmet) |
| Job 41:0 | A further description of the leviathan. | |
| Job 41:1 | I will not stir him up, like one that is cruel: for who can resist my countenance? | 1:Hebrew, "None is so fierce that dare stir it up." (Haydock) --- Cruel, or rash, like those to Tentyra, Job 3:8. (Calmet) --- This monster is terrible to those that flee, while it retires from the pursuer. --- But only these people dare to attack it. (Pliny, [Natural History?] 8:25.) --- "I will not ask the crocodile to revenge me of my enemies," as some might do in a rage, through impotence. (Haydock) (Sanchez) (Menochius) --- Countenance, even though they might overcome the crocodile. God is here speaking. Septuagint, "Dost thou not fear, since it is ready for thee, (Grabe substitutes, "me,") for who will resist me?" or, "who shall stand against me, and live? All," etc., ver. 2. (Haydock) --- God ruleth not with cruelty, like a tyrant, but with justice, ease, and power. (Worthington) |
| Job 41:2 | Who hath given me before, that I should repay him? All things that are under heaven are mine. | |
| Job 41:3 | I will not spare him, nor his mighty words, and framed to make supplication. | Supplication. This is explained by the Fathers as spoken of the devil. (Amama) --- But the Hebrew may signify, that God will reward each one according to his deserts, and that Job had consequently no reason to complain; or it means, that the strength and beauty of the crocodile should be made known. (Calmet) --- Protestants, "I will not conceal his parts, nor his power, nor his comely proportion." Theo.[Theodotion?] in Septuagint, "I will not keep silence on his account, and the word of power shall take pity on his equal." (Haydock) |
| Job 41:4 | Who can discover the face of his garment? or who can go into the midst of his mouth? | Garment, or the skin. (Menochius) --- Who shall look steadfastly, or dare to take off its skin? --- Mouth. Protestants, "Who can come to him with his double bridle?" (Haydock) though it be of the greatest strength; or, who will enter its jaws, or put bits in them? It is reported that the Tentyrites jump on the crocodile's back, and having thrown a piece of wood into its open mouth, like bits, which they hold with both hands, they conduct it to the river side, and kill it. (Pliny 8:25.) --- Septuagint, "Who would enter the wrinkles of his breast, (Calmet) or the folds of its coat of arms?" which may allude to the almost impenetrable scales of the leviathan. (Haydock) --- Symmachus, "Who will enter the folds of its scales?" The crocodile can open its mouth so wide as to swallow a heifer, or to let a man stand upright. (Calmet) --- Each jaw is furnished with thirty-six teeth. (Vansleb.) |
| Job 41:5 | Who can open the doors of his face? his teeth are terrible round about. | |
| Job 41:6 | His body is like molten shields, shut close up with scales pressing upon one another. | Body. Septuagint, "entrails are like brazen shields." Protestants, "His scales are his pride shut up together, as with a close seal." (Haydock) |
| Job 41:7 | One is joined to another, and not so much as any air can come between them: | |
| Job 41:8 | They stick one to another and they hold one another fast, and shall not be separated. | |
| Job 41:9 | His sneezing is like the shining of fire, and his eyes like the eyelids of the morning. | Sneezing. When the whale breathes, it causes the water to foam. (Pineda) (Menochius) --- The eyes of the crocodile are also (Haydock) very bright, when out of the water. (Pliny 8:25.) They appear first, and therefore were used as an hieroglyphic of Aurora, (Horus 1:65.) or of the morning star. (Haydock) --- Syriac, "His look is brilliant." Arabic, "The apples of his eyes are fiery, and his eyes are like the brightness of the morning." Septuagint, "like Aurora." (Calmet) --- Olaus (xxi. 5.) says, "that the eyes of the whale shine at night,...and at a distance, are taken by fishermen for great fires." |
| Job 41:10 | Out of his mouth go forth lamps, like torches of lighted fire. | Fire, when they spout water, (Menochius) or pursue their prey open mouthed. This description is extremely poetical, like that of anger, 2 Kings 22:9. (Calmet) |
| Job 41:11 | Out of his nostrils goeth smoke, like that of a pot heated and boiling. | Smoke; breath, or streams of water sent upwards. |
| Job 41:12 | His breath kindleth coals, and a flame cometh forth out of his mouth. | Breath, like bellows, ver. 10. (Menochius) |
| Job 41:13 | In his neck strength shall dwell, and want goeth before his face. | Neck. Some deny that the crocodile has any, being formed like a lizard. But it is a dispute about words. The animal turns with difficulty, so that Thomas Gage assures us he escaped one by going in different directions. --- Want. It ravages a whole country. Hebrew, "fear." (Calmet) --- Protestants, "sorrow is turned into joy before him;" which seems strange. Septuagint, "destruction runs before him." (Haydock) --- The poets place fear, carnage, etc., in the train of Mars. (Calmet) |
| Job 41:14 | The members of his flesh cleave one to another: he shall send lightnings against him, and they shall not be carried to another place. | Place; though people may shoot at him, they will make no impression, Job 40:20, 26. (Haydock) --- If God send his thunderbolts at him, the monster must however perish. (Calmet) --- Symmachus, "His flesh being cast for him, as in the foundry, (molten) is immoveable." (Haydock) --- Yet God destroyeth him whom man cannot overcome. (Worthington) |
| Job 41:15 | His heart shall be as hard as a stone, and as firm as a smith's anvil. | Stone. Pineda understands this of the whale's heart. Others suppose that it alludes to its cruel and fearless temper. (Menochius) --- The Arabs call a valiant man, "heart of stone." (Calmet) --- Smiths. Protestants, "as a piece of the nether millstone," (Haydock) which must be larger and more compact than that which is above. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "He hath stood immoveable as an anvil." (Haydock) |
| Job 41:16 | When he shall raise him up, the angels shall fear, and being affrighted, shall purify themselves. | Angels. Elim. That is, the mighty, the most valiant, shall fear this monstrous fish, and in their fear shall seek to be purified, (Challoner) by contribution. (Sanchez) --- R. Levi has given a ridiculous exposition, which is adopted by Sa (Amama) and others, (Haydock; see Ezechiel 2:7.; Aristotle 4:prob. 32.) as the natural consequences of fear. (Calmet) (Menochius) --- The Fathers refer this to the fall of Lucifer, when the other angels might tremble for their own safety. (Haydock) --- Angels with reverent fear honour God's power, and his most perfect servants are filled with apprehensions at his judgments; as the most valiant are terrified at the sight of this huge fish. (Worthington) --- Septuagint, "If he turn, there is fear among the wild quadrupeds, jumping on the land." Hebrew, 'When he raiseth up himself, the mighty are afraid: by reason of breakings, they purify themselves." (Protestants) or "spoil themselves," (Calmet) expecting nothing but certain death. (Amama) |
| Job 41:17 | When a sword shall lay at him, it shall not be able to hold, nor a spear, nor a breast-plate. | Plate. Protestants, "habergeon." The precise nature of these arms is not known. (Calmet) --- Neither offensive or defensive weapons can avail. (Menochius) --- All agree that the crocodile can be pierced only under the belly. (Calmet) |
| Job 41:18 | For he shall esteem iron as straw, and brass as rotten wood. | |
| Job 41:19 | The archer shall not put him to flight, the stones of the sling to him are like stubble. | Are. Literally, "are turned into stubble," as in Hebrew. (Haydock) --- They have no more effect. (Menochius) |
| Job 41:20 | As stubble will he esteem the hammer, and he will laugh him to scorn who shaketh the spear. | Hammer. Septuagint sphura, means also, "the bottom of a rock." This would not overwhelm the whale; as some are represented like floating islands. Protestants, "darts." (Haydock) --- Chaldean, "axe." Others have, "the ballista;" an instrument to throw stones. (Calmet) |
| Job 41:21 | The beams of the sun shall be under him, and he shall strew gold under him like mire. | Under him. He shall not value the beams of the sun: and gold to him be like mire. (Challoner) (Menochius) --- Hebrew, "sharp stones (or potsherds) are under him; he spreadeth (or lieth upon) sharp-pointed things, as upon the mire." (Haydock) --- He is not afraid of being hurt. |
| Job 41:22 | He shall make the deep sea to boil like a pot, and shall make it as when ointments boil. | When. Hebrew, "a pot of ointment." This boils out very much. (Calmet) --- The flesh of the crocodile has also the smell of musk; (Bochart) and Peter Martyr asserts, that Columbus found some in America, which plunged into the water, and left behind them the odour of musk or castor. When they are wounded, they give the same perfume to the sea, or rather to the waters, where they abide. The Hebrews style all deep rives and lakes, seas. (Calmet) --- Crocodiles were kept in the lake Moeris, being adored and honoured as gods. (Herodotus 2:69.) --- Septuagint, "He deems the sea as a vase of ointment; (23) and the Tartarus of the abyss, like a prisoner." Theodotion adds, "He hath considered the abyss as a walk." |
| Job 41:23 | A path shall shine after him, he shall esteem the deep as growing old. | The deep as growing old. Growing hoary, as it were, with the froth which he leaves behind him. (Challoner) --- The Vulgate has well expressed the force of the original, and shews the rapidity with which the crocodile moves. (Calmet) --- Protestants, "one would think the deep to be hoary." The devil transforms himself into an angel (Haydock) of light. (Du Hamel) |
| Job 41:24 | There is no power upon earth that can be compared with him who was made to fear no one. | Power. Hebrew and Septuagint, "none like him on earth," for bulk. --- One. Septuagint, "made to be played with, or beaten, by my angels." (Haydock) |
| Job 41:25 | He beholdeth every high thing, he is king over all the children of pride. | He is king, etc. He is superior in strength to all that are great and strong amongst living creatures: mystically it is understood of the devil, who is king over all the proud. (Challoner) (St. Gregory 34:4., and 17.) (Worthington) --- Hence Job perceived that God has also now permitted this cruel foe to exercise a dominion over him, and to pull him from his high station, though innocent. (Haydock) --- This would henceforward be more frequently the order of Providence, and therefore he expresses his entire resignation, Job 42. (Houbigant) --- Pride: the strongest and fiercest animals. (Haydock) --- The crocodile has been seen encountering even the elephant, and gaining the victory. He is king of all fishes. Septuagint, "of all in the waters." Chaldean, "of all the sons of the mountains:" or Theodotion, "of arrogance." This may particularly denote the Egyptians, as the crocodile was one of their gods; and people are often styled after them, Numbers 21:29., and Jeremias 48:46. (Calmet) --- Pharao even means "a crocodile," in Arabic. (Bochart, Anim. p. 2:b. 5:16.) --- He is styled simply, the proud, Psalm 88:11. (Calmet) --- The pride of the Egyptians was notorious, Ezechiel 32:12. (Calmet) |
| Job 42:0 | Job submits himself. God pronounces in his favour. Job offers sacrifice for his friends. He is blessed with riches and children, and dies happily. | |
| Job 42:1 | Then Job answered the Lord, and said: | |
| Job 42:2 | I know that thou canst do all things, and no thought is hid from thee. | I know. So the Keri orders us to translate, with all the ancient versions, as the Hebrew text has, "thou knowest;" which Prof. Chappelow and Schultens deem more "sublime," though one would think it was hardly "sense." (Kennicott) --- Hid. Hebrew, "of thine can be hindered." All thy orders must be obeyed. It is in vain to keep silence: (chap. 39:34.) I will confess openly thy justice and power. (Haydock) -- He acknowledges his error, in not having before spoken enough of a just Providence. (Worthington) |
| Job 42:3 | Who is this that hideth counsel without knowledge? Therefore I have spoken unwisely, and things that above measure exceeded my knowledge. | Who. Hebrew, "Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge?" (Protestants) This seems to allude to the words of God, Job 38:2. Each of my friends has only rendered the ways of Providence more obscure, and I myself have not perfectly understood them. (Haydock) --- Unwisely. See Job 39:35. (Worthington) (Du Hamel) --- Hebrew, "without knowledge, things wonderful to me, which I knew not." (Haydock) --- Now I comprehend that thou didst not afflict me, but hast given me into the hands of the enemy, as thou wilt hereafter do others of the greatest virtue, that their patience may shine the brighter, and be rewarded. I need inquire no farther, now I see thy design plainly, ver. 5. He does not accuse himself of any sin or false assertion, but acknowledges his infirmity in not having understood this before, ver. 6. (Houbigant) --- Septuagint, "I have been told what I knew not, things great and wonderful, of which I was not apprized." (Haydock) --- Who can deny God's providence? (Du Hamel) |
| Job 42:4 | Hear, and I will speak: I will ask thee, and do thou tell me. | |
| Job 42:5 | With the hearing of the ear, I have heard thee, but now my eye seeth thee. | Seeth thee. Some have thought that God now manifested himself from the cloud. (Eusebius, Dem. 1:4.; Titalman, etc.) But all now agree that he only enlightened his understanding, and made known his designs more clearly. (Calmet) --- Job now perceived that he had spoken too boldly, in saying, Hear, and I will speak, etc., ver. 4. The rest of this book is in prose. (Tirinus) |
| Job 42:6 | Therefore, I reprehend myself, and do penance in dust and ashes. | Reprehend. Hebrew and Septuagint, "vilify." (Haydock) --- I recall the obscure expression which has occasioned my friends to mistake. (Du Hamel) --- Penance. Hebrew, "groan." Septuagint, "pine away, I look upon myself as dust and ashes." Such are the sentiments which every one will entertain the nearer he approaches to the divine Majesty. (Haydock) --- I no longer assert my innocence, but wait patiently in my present forlorn condition, till thou shalt be pleased to dispose of me. How much would the reputation and authority of Job sink, if some of his assertions had been destitute of truth, particularly as the sacred author does not mention which they were! But God exculpates his servant, ver. 8. (Houbigant) --- Chaldean, "I have despised my riches, and I am comforted with respect to my children, who are now reduced to dust and ashes." I find a consolation in submitting patiently to my sufferings, which I may have deserved on account of my unguarded speeches. (Calmet) --- Job waits not for God's answer, ver. 4. He at once feels an interior light, and is resigned. (Haydock) --- He had defended the truth against men: now, with more resignation, he is content to suffer, and does penance for himself and others. (Worthington) |
| Job 42:7 | And after the Lord had spoken these words to Job, he said to Eliphaz, the Themanite: My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends, because you have not spoken the thing that is right before me, as my servant, Job, hath. | Two friends. It is astonishing that Eliu is not also reprehended, as he was no better than the rest. Some answer, that God had passed sentence upon him first. Others maintain, that he spoke with greater dignity of God's judgments, and that his ignorance was blameless; while others remark, that he was connected with some of the three friends, or only came accidentally to enter into the debate. God gives sentence in favour of Job, though with some reproof for his manner of speaking. --- As. They had maintained false doctrines, and shewed a want of due respect and compassion for their friend; (Tirinus) whereas Job's assertions were true. (Calmet) --- How then can he be accused of denying the divine justice, or of speaking disrespectfully of Providence? God seemed to interrogate him on this account, though he approved of his sentiments, because some might draw such inferences from his words as all his friends did. But Job entertained no such ideas. He was not guilty of such folly, ver. 8. Septuagint, "Thou hast sinned, and thy two friends, for you have spoken in my presence nothing true like my servant Job." |
| Job 42:8 | Take unto you, therefore, seven oxen, and seven rams, and go to my servant, Job, and offer for yourselves a holocaust: and my servant, Job, shall pray for you: his face I will accept, that folly be not imputed to you: for you have not spoken right things before me, as my servant Job hath. | Offer. Septuagint, "Thou shalt make an oblation, karpoma, for you." (Haydock) --- Yet holocausts seem to have been the only species of sacrifice before Moses. The number seven, has always been in a manner sacred; (Calmet) being doubled, it shews the greatness of the offence. (St. Gregory) (Worthington) --- Job was to present these victims to God, (Calmet) as the priest and mediator, (Du Hamel) of whom God approved. He officiated for his family, (Calmet) and was the most honourable person there. (Haydock) --- It seems Job was not present when God gave this injunction; perhaps some time after their debates. (Calmet) --- Pray. Behold the efficacy of the prayers of the saints, even while upon earth. How much greater will it be, when their charity is greater and unfailing! (Haydock) --- The many sacrifices would not have sufficed, if Job had not joined his prayer, as St. Chrysostom (or 5 con. Judoeos) observes. His mediation did not derogate from God's mercy, under the law of nature; not does that of other men injure Christ's, under the law of grace, 2 Corinthians 1:11. We have here also a proof that both sacrifice and the devotion of the offerer, have their distinct effects; opus operatum, and opus operantis, as the schoolmen speak. Thus Job was honourably acquitted, while his friends were justly rebuked. Eliu needed no express condemnation; as what God says to one, must be applied to another in the same circumstances, Job 33:14. Protestants are therefore inexcusable, who preach a doctrine not only condemned in their fellows, Luther, etc., but long before in ancient heretics: as the justification by faith alone was in the apostles' time, the rejection of ceremonies in baptism, of confirmation and penance, in the Novatians, etc. See St. Cyprian 4:ep. 2. (Worthington) --- Face. Septuagint, "For I would not accept his face, and if it were not on his account, I had surely destroyed you. For you have not said to me any thing good (Roman Septuagint, true,) against (or concerning, kata,) my servant Job." They acted both against charity and truth. (Haydock) --- Before. Protestants, "of me the thing which is right." The words underlined were not so in the earlier edition by Barker, printer to James I, (1613) where some of the margin translations are also omitted, ver. 14, etc. The matter is of no farther consequence, than to shew that alterations have taken place since the days of James I, whose Bible is supposed to be the standard of the English Church. The marginal version is also frequently neglected altogether, (the year of our Lord 1706) though the authors seem to have looked upon it as equally probable with that in the text. (Pref.) (Haydock) |
| Job 42:9 | So Eliphaz, the Themanite, and Baldad, the Suhite, and Sophar, the Naamathite, went, and did as the Lord had spoken to them, and the Lord accepted the face of Job. | |
| Job 42:10 | The Lord also was turned at the penance of Job, when he prayed for his friends. And the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. | Penance. Hebrew, "return." He resolved to restore him to his former prosperous condition, while he prayed for those who had so cruelly exercised his patience. (Calmet) --- Protestants and Vatable, "the Lord turned the captivity of Job:" so any great distress may be styled, though Job was in a manner abandoned to the power and bondage of satan. Septuagint, "But the Lord gave an increase to Job, and while he was praying for his friends, He forgave them their sin. And," etc. (Haydock) --- Twice, excepting children, who were living (Worthington) with God. (Rabbins) (St. Gregory, etc.) --- Some also include the years of Job's life, but that is not clear, (see Spanheim, C. 7.; Calmet) though not improbable; as he might very well live twice as long as he had done, if we suppose that he was about (Haydock) 50 when he was so much distressed (Petau); and thus arrived at the age of 140, ver. 16. (Haydock) |
| Job 42:11 | And all his brethren came to him, and all his sisters, and all that knew him before, and they eat bread with him in his house: and bemoaned him, and comforted him upon all the evil that God had brought upon him. And every man gave him one ewe, and one ear-ring of gold. | Brethren. Who had before shamefully abandoned him, Job 6:13. (Calmet) --- Bemoaned. Literally, "shaked their heads at him," (Haydock) out of pity, (Menochius) or astonishment, (Tirinus; Calmet) at his fallen state, and at the present change for the better. They helped to restore him to affluence, in conformity with the will of God, who caused their presents of multiply. The kindred and friends of Job were undoubtedly numerous. (Haydock) --- Ewe. Kesita, "lamb," as most of the ancients agree, (Spanheim) or a piece of money, (Bochart) marked with the figure of a lamb. (Grotius) See Genesis 33:19. (Calmet) --- Ear-ring. Hebrew Nezem, an ornament (Haydock) "for the nose," still very common in the East. Symmachus adds, "it was unadorned," (Calmet) or plain. Septuagint, "a piece of gold worth four drachms, and not coined," asemon. (Haydock) --- Oleaster supposes that the nose was perforated, like the ear. But the ornament would thus be very inconvenient, and we may rather conclude that it hung down from the forehead upon the nose. (St. Jerome, in Ezechiel xvi.) (Pineda) |
| Job 42:12 | And the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning. And he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she-asses. | Asses. Septuagint, "droves of," etc., which would greatly increase the number. |
| Job 42:13 | And he had seven sons, and three daughters. | |
| Job 42:14 | And he called the names of one, Dies, and the name of the second, Cassia, and the name of the third, Cornustibii. | Dies, etc. "Day....cassia....and horn of antimony." (Hebrew) --- Yemima....Ketsiha....Keren hapuc. This last may signify (Haydock) "horn of change," (Pagnin) in allusion to Job's different states. (Menochius) (Du Hamel) --- Sometimes we find the Latin names retained, and at other times translated. It would perhaps be as well to give their force uniformly in English, or rather to insert the original terms, if they could be now properly expressed. But that is impossible. Protestants, Jemima, "handsome as the day." Kezia, "superficies, angle, or cassia." Keren-happuch, "the horn or child of beauty." The marginal explanations are given at least in the edition Edinb. 1787. (Haydock) --- Cassia, an aromatic herb, which is perhaps not now to be found in Europe, Matthiol. in Dios. 1:12. --- The Arabs like to give such names to their children. (Spanheim, Hist. Job.) --- Cornustibii, (Hebrew Puc) means a sort of paint, used to blacken the eyelids, (4 Kings 9:30.) or a precious stone, Isaias 54:11. Chaldean, "brilliant as an emerald." She was so styled, on account of her great beauty, (Calmet) in which she was not inferior to her two sisters. Septuagint, "Horn of Amalthea," (Haydock) or of plenty, (Calmet) which is not an approbation of the fable, but to show the abundance which Job now enjoyed. (Nicetas.) --- Cassia might remind him of the bad smells to which he had been exposed. (Menochius) (Tirinus) |
| Job 42:15 | And there were not found in all the earth women so beautiful as the daughters of Job: and their father gave them inheritance among their brethren. | Daughters. Alexandrian Septuagint adds, "and sons." --- Brethren. This was contrary to the custom of the Jews, (Numbers 27:8.) but conformable to the Roman laws, and to the Koran. (Sur. 4.) (Calmet) |
| Job 42:16 | And Job lived after these things, a hundred and forty years, and he saw his children, and his children's children, unto the fourth generation, and he died an old man, and full of days. | Years, in all, as Judith is said to have dwelt in the house of her husband 105 years; though it is agreed that she only lived that space of time. (Haydock) --- Authors are much divided about the length of Job's life. Some suppose that he was afflicted with the leprosy at the age of 70, for several months, (Tirinus) or for a whole year, (Calmet) or for seven, (Salien) and that he lived twice as long after his re-establishment, in all 210. (Calmet) (Tirinus) Septuagint, "Job lived after his chastisement 170," (Grabe substitutes 140 years. Then he marks with an obel as redundant) "but all the years which he lived were 248;" and adds from Theodition, "And Job saw his sons and their children, even the fourth generation." (Haydock) --- The old Vulgate had also 248 years; while some Greek copies read 740. But Grotius thinks the life of Job was not extended beyond 200. Petau and Spanheim say 189, (Calmet) and Pindea 210, or rather 280, years. Yet the life of man, in the days of Moses, his contemporary, was not often longer than 120; so that if we allow Job 140, he would be an old man, and might see the fourth generation, ver. 10. (Haydock) --- The Greeks celebrate his festival on the 6th, the Latins on the 10th of May. (Pineda) --- Days. Here a long addition is found in the Greek, Arabic, and old Vulgate; and Theodotion has also inserted it in his version, as it seems to contain a true and ancient tradition, (see Eusebius, praep. 9:25.) though the Fathers have properly distinguished it from the inspired text. It stands thus in the Alexandrian Septuagint with an obel prefixed: "But it is written, that he shall be raised again, with those whom the Lord will restore to life." He, this man, as it is translated from the Syriac book, lived in the land of Ausites, (Hus.) on the borders of Idumea, and of Arabia, and was before called Jobab. But marrying an Arabian woman, he begot a son by name Ennon. But his father was Zareth, a descendant of the sons of Esau, and his mother was Bossora; (Arabic, a native of Bosra) so that he was the 5th (Arabic, the 6th) from Abraham. Now these were the kings who reigned in Edom; over which country he also ruled. First, Balac, son of Semphor; (others have Beor) and the name of his city was Dennaba. After Balak, Jobab, who is called Job. After him, Assom, a leader from the country of Theman. After this man, Adad, son of Barad, who slew Madian in the plain of Moab; and the name of his city was Gethaim. But the friends who came to him were, Eliphaz, [son of Sophan] of the sons of Esau, king of the Themanites; Baldad, [son of Amnon, of Chobar] of the Auchite tyrant; (Grabe substitutes the tyrant of the Saucheans, as they call our Suhites) Sophar, king of the Mineans." What is marked with crotchets, (Haydock) has been probably taken from Theodotion. See the Greek Catena. What follows occurs in the Alexandrian manuscript. (Calmet) --- "[Theman, son of Eliphaz, he, as the Syriac book is rendered, lived in the land of Ausites, on the borders of the Euphrates. His former name was Jobab, but Zareth was his father, from the sun rising."] or eastern country. (Haydock) --- Job might very well be the 5th or 6th from Abraham, if he were a contemporary with Moses, as Levi and Amram would live at the same time with Rahuel and Zare; (See 1 Paralipomenon 1:35, 44.) so that this tradition agrees with history. But what is said of the Syriac version is not so certain. (Calmet) --- Some think the Syriac or Arabic was the original text, as the Greek seems to indicate, outos ermeneuetai ek tes Suriakes Biblou, en men ge katoikon, etc. The passage at the end, where this is repeated, may be an interpolation, as the latter part seems rather to belong to Job. For how could Theman have both Eliphaz and Zareth for his father? Grabe therefore, marks it as such. It would be too long for us to transcribe (Haydock) the praises which the Fathers have given to Job, and the resemblance which they have discovered between him and Jesus Christ. See Hebrews 4:15 and 13:12.; Tertullian, patient.; St. Chrysostom, hom. xxxiv. in Matt. St. Ambrose, in Psalm 37:21., observes, that his behaviour on the dunghill was the greatest condemnation of satan, who fell by pride, though so highly favoured. (Calmet) --- Besides the literal sense of this book, which displays the trials and victories of Job, we may consider him as a lively figure of Christ; who was perfectly innocent, and yet a man of sorrows: we may raise our minds to the contemplation of the greater glory which will attend the bodies of the just, after the resurrection; and, above all, we may discover lessons of morality, enforcing the observance of every virtue, and particularly of patience and resignation. (St. Gregory, etc.) (Worthington) --- The books of Machabees, which are the only remaining pieces of sacred history, might have been here inserted, as they are in Calmet's edition, that so all the historical part might come together. But it is more common to place those books after the prophets. They only relate a few of the transactions which took place during the 400 or 500 years preceding the Christian era. The rest must be borrowed from Josephus, or from profane authors. It would, however, be proper to read those books, and to have an idea of that period, before we attempt to explain the prophecies. (Haydock) |