lowed by many moderns, including Dillmann dresses him in the plural because he, the unit, has puffed himself up as such a collective whole." Delitzsch]. Still further Job had also begun his last discourse (see ch. xvi. 3) with a complaint about the useless interminable discourse of the friends, a complaint which Bildad here retali-ing would be a stronger departure from that ates, although to be sure in an altered form. of the first member than is allowed by the struc["Job's speeches are long, and certainly are a ture of the verses elsewhere in this discourse, trial of patience to the three, and the heaviest which exhibit throughout a thoroughly rigid trial to Bildad, whose turn now comes on, be- parallelism. Moreover it would obscure too cause he is at pains throughout to be brief. much the antithetic reference to ch. xvii. 8, 9. Hence the reproach of endless babbling with which he begins here, as at ch. viii. 2.” Del.]. Ver. 4. O thou, who tearest thyself in thy rage.—This exclamation, which is prefixed to the address proper to Job, and put in the is not "to put an end to words, third person ([so apud Arabes ubique fere, to make an end of speaking" (so the ancient Schult.], comp. ch. xvii. 10 a), is in direct conversions, Rabbis, Rosenm., Gesen. [E. V. Um-tradiction to the saying of Job in ch. xvi. 9, breit. Lee, Carey, Renan]), etc.; for a plural which represents him as torn by God. whereas DP (with a resolved Daghesh for DSP, [see he proves that the cause of the tearing is his Green, 8 54 3]), for P. cannot be shown else- own furious passion. For thee [LXX. probawhere. Moreover in that case we should rably reading, which Merx adopts into ther look for the singular construction PPD the text, render av où arodávne] should the earth be depopulated [lit. forsaken] (comp. (see ch. xxviii. 3). [Merx introduces the singy in Is. vii. 16; vi. 12) [on the form into the text. as an עַד־אָנָה Rodwell renders exclamation, and the following Imperf. (like that of b) as an Imperative," How long? Make an So substantially Bernard, except that he supplies the clause following in ch. end of words." viii. 2. This construction however still leaves the plural unaccounted for. According to the usual construction the clause should have after, to render which with E. V., etc. TT "How long will it be ere," etc., is forced and gratuitous.-E.]. We are to take p (with Castell., Schult., J. D. Michaelis, Ewald, Hirzel, Del. [Dillm., Schlottm., Con., Words.], etc.), as plur. constr. of P, laqueus (a hunter's noose, a snare), so that the phrase under consideration signifies, "making a hunt for, hunting after words" (laqueus verbis tendere, verba venando capere). By this however is intended not contradiction and opposition perpetually renewed, but only uninterrupted, yet useless speaking. [Fürst, while agreeing with the above derivation of p, explains it here as fig. for perversion, contortion: "how long will ye make a perversion of words?" But this explanation of the figure is less natural and appropriate. Bildad's charge against Job and his party is that they were hunting after words, straining after something to say, when there was really nothing to be said.-E.]-Understand, and afterwards we will speak "will you understand," voluntative for the Imperative ; comp. on ch. xvii. 10 a. Ver. 3. Why are we accounted as the brute?-a harsh allusion to ch. xvii. 4, 10; comp. also Ps. lxxiii. 22.-Are regarded as טמה from נִטְמִינוּ-? stupid in your eyes DUN, DAU, "to stop up," hence lit. "are (are treated as) stopped up in your eyes," i. e. are in your opinion stupid, blockheads (comp. the similar phrase in Is. lix. 1). The LXX. exchange the word, which does not appear else where, for ??, σɛownhкaμev; the Targ. gives RV, "are sunk." The Vulg. finally (fol with Pattach in the ultimate, see Green, 91, For thee (emphatic) is everything to be plunged 3. The terrible doom of hardened sinners, described as a salutary warning and instruction for Job: vers. 5-21. Second Strophe: vers. 5-7. [The destruction of the wicked declared.] Ver. 5. Notwithstanding, the light of the wicked shall go out.-Dà adding to that which has already been said something new and unexpected, like ouoc, equivalent to "notwithstanding" comp. Ps. cxxix. 2; Ezek. xvi. 28. The light going out" is a figure of prosperity destroyed (comp. ch. xxx. 26); so also in the second member: and the flames of his fire shine not. As to ', "flanre," comp. Dan. iii. 22; vii. 9. Also as to the transition from the plural in a ("wicked ones") to the sing. in b (his fire), see on ch. xvii. 5; Ewald, 319, a. Ver. 6. The light darkens (lit. "has darkened," , Perf. of certainty, as in ch v. 20) in his tent (comp. ch. xxi. 17; xxix. 3; Ps. xviii. 29 [28]; Prov. xiii. 9), and his lamp above him (i. e., the lamp hanging down above him from the covering of his tent, comp. Eccles. xii. 6) goes out. This figure of the extinction of the light of prosperity which is repeated again and again, is alike familiar to the Hebrew and to the Arabian; the latter also says: "Fate has put out my light." perity of the evil-doer from the beginning tends towards ruin." Del.] Ver. 11 unites the figures by way of explanation in a more general expression.-On every side terrors affright_him.—in signifies two things at once-terrible thoughts and terrible circumstances, here naturally such as are sent by God upon the wicked to disturb him.And scare him at his footsteps; i. e. pur T:-: Ver. 7. His mighty steps [lit. the steps of his strength] are straitened: another figure which is "just as Arabic as it is Biblical" (Del.). Comp. in regard to it Prov. iv. 12; Ps. xviii 37 [36]. Also as regards the form suing him: meaning "step for step, (not from, as Gesen. [Fürst], and Hirzel say, but Imperf. form 73, see Ewald, 138, b. [The meaning is clearly: his movements are hampered, his powers are contracted by the pent-up limits which shut him in] —And his own counsel casts him down: comp. ch. v. 12 seq., and as regards in the bad sense of the counsel of the wicked, see ch. x. 3; xxi. 16. Third Strophe: vers. 8-11. [Everything conspires to destroy the sinner.] A Ver. 8. For his feet drive him into a net: lit. "he is driven, sent forth" (, precisely as in Judg. v. 15) [by or with his own feet. vivid paradoxical expression, conveying also a profound truth. The sinner is driven, and yet rushes on to his ruin. He is divided against himself. He pursues his course at once with and against his will.-E.]-And he walks over pitfalls.-. net-like, cross-barred work, or lattice-work, applied here specially to a snare (as in Arabic schabacah, snare), hence a cross-barred covering laid over a deep pit. ["He thinks he is walking upon solid ground, but he is grievously mistaken; it is but a delicate net-work, spread over an unfathomable abyss, into which, therefore, he every moment risks to be precipitated." Bernard.] Vers. 9, 10 continue still further the same figures derived from hunting, snare, cord and noose. In vers. 8-10 there are six different implements mentioned as being in readiness to capture the evil-doer; a vivid variety of expression which reminds us of the five names given to the lion by Eliphaz, ch. iv. 10 seq.; comp. also on ch. xix. 13 seq. Ver. 9. A trap holds his heel fast, and a snare takes fast hold upon him.-To the simple, to hold, corresponds in 6 the significantly stronger pin, which, however, is used with [instead of 2], thus giving expression to the idea of a mighty, overpowering seizure. [The jussive form pin is used simply by poetic license.] On Diy, snare [which is not plur., but sing., after the form p, from D], comp. on ch. v. 5. [The rendering of E. V.: "robbers" is to be rejected here, as well as in ch. v. 5.] Ver. 10. Hidden in the ground is his cord, and his gin upon the pathway.[The suffixes here undoubtedly refer to the sinner, and not, according to Conant's rendering"its cord-its noose"-to the snare of ver. 9. "The continuation in ver. 10 of the figure of the fowler affirms that that issue of his life, ver. 9, has been preparing long beforehand; the pros close behind;" comp. Gen. xxx. 30; 1Sam. xxv. 42; Is. xli. 2; Hab. iii. 5.-[E. V. "shall drive him to his feet" is ambiguous.] en, lit. diffundere, dissipare, hence requiring a collective for its object (as e. g. "host" in Hab. iii. 14), or a word representing a mass (as e. g. "cloud, smoke," comp. Job xxxvii. 11; xl. 11, etc.); here, however, exceptionally connected with a single individual as its object, and hence synonymous with 77, to chase, scare (comp. ch. xxx. 15). ["It would probably not be used here, but for the idea that the spectres of terror pursue him at every step, and are now here, now there, and his person is multiplied." Del.] Fourth Strophe: vers. 11-14. Description of the final overthrow of the wicked in its three stages: outward adversity, mutilation of the body by disease, and death-hence manifestly pointing at Job. T Ver. 12. His calamity shows itself hungry. The voluntat. used for the finite: comp. ver. 9, also below ch. xxiv. 14.defective for 1, is more correctly derived from in the sense of calamity, misfortune, than from 1, "strength." The latter rendering, which is adopted by the Vulgate, Rosenm., Ewald, Stickel, Schlottm., Dillm. [E. V., Umbreit, Good, Lee, Wem., Noyes, Con., Car., Rod., Elz.], yields a sense which is in itself entirely appropriate: "then does his strength become hungry." ["But this rendering is unsatisfactory, for it is in itself no misfortune to be hungry, and does not in itself signify 'exhausted with hunger.' It is also an odd metaphor that strength becomes hungry." Delitzsch.] But the rendering favored by the Peshito, Hirzel, Hahn, Del. [Renan, Words ], etc.-"his calamity shows itself hungry (towards him); it seems greedy, eager to devour him" agrees better both with the second member of the parallelism, and with the actual course of Job's adversity, suddenly bursting upon him, to which Bildad mawhich began with a series of external calamities nifestly refers. The explanation of the Targ. [and Bernard]-"the son of his manhood's strength (comp. 1 in Gen. xlix. 3) becomes hungry" destroys the connection [and "sounds comical rather than tragic," Del.]; and Reiske's translation" he is hungry in the midst of his strength"-assumes the correctness of the conjectural reading, which is entirely without support.-And destruction (T, lit. "a heavy burden, a load of suffering," hence stronger than comp. ch. xxi. 17; Obad. 18) is ready for his fall -y might of itself signify "at his side" (lit. "rib"), being T: to cast down the wicked. 66 thus equivalent to 13, ch. xv. 23 (Gesen., Ew., | mented for a while with temporary na, and Schlottm., Dillm.), [E. V., Good, Lee, Bernard, made tender and reduced to ripeness for death Wem, Words., Noy., Ren., Con., Car., Rod, by the first-born of death, he falls into the posElz.]; but a more forcible meaning is obtained, session of the king of himself; slowly if in accordance with Psalm xxxv. 15; xxxviii. and solemnly, but surely and inevitably (as 18, we take yy to mean “ 'limping, fall," and Ty implies, with which is combined the idea so find destruction represented as in readiness of the march of a criminal to the place of execution), he is led to this king by an unseen arm.' himself, who is here, as in Ps. xlix. 15 [14]; Is. Delitzsch]. The king of terrors" is death xxviii. 15 personified as a ruler of the underworld. He is not however to be identified with the king of the under-world in the heathen my, thologies (e. g., with the Yama of the Hindus, or the Pluto of the Romans, with whom Schärer and Ewald here institute a comparison), nor with Satan. For although the latter is in Heb. ii. 14 designated as ó Tò kpáros Exwv tov davátov, in our book according to ch. i. 6 seq., he appears in quite another character than that of a prince of death. Neither can the Angel of the abyss, Abaddon (Rev. ix. 11) be brought into the comparison here, since the king of terrors is unmistakably the personification of death itself. if, with the Pesh., Vulg., Böttcher, Stickel, W We produce an unsuitable enfeebling of the sense [Parkhurst, Noyes, Good, Wemyss, Carey] disregarding the accentuation we separate in from 17, and render it as subj. of Ivyyn: ד.י Ver. 13. There devours the parts of his skin (D`7) elsewhere "cross bars," or "branches of a tree," comp. ch. xvii. 16; used here of the members of the body: y here for the body; comp. on ch. ii. 4), there devours his parts the first-born of death [or with a smoother English construction, by inverting the order of clauses, as Rodwell: "The first-born of death shall devour-devour the limbs of his body"]. According to this rendering, which is already justified by the ancient versions, and which has of late been quite generally adopted, a is the subject of the whole verse, and is placed for emphasis at the end. By this "first born of death," we are to understand not the "angel of death" as the Targum explains it, nor again "death" itself, as Hahn thinks, but a peculiarly dangerous and terrible disease, ["in which the whole destroying power of death is contained, as in the first-born the whole strength of his parent." Del. J. Comp. the Arabic designation of fatal fevers as benât el-menijeh, "daughters of fate or death." The whole verse thus points with indubitable clearness to Job's disease, the elephantiasis which devours the limbs and mutilates the body,—an allusion which is altogether lost, if, with Umbreit and Ewald, we make the wicked himself the subject of the verse, understanding him to be designated in b by way of ap position as "the first-born of death, i. e., as surely doomed to death, and to be compared in the rest of the verse to one in hunger devouring his own limbs. as in Is. ix. 19 [20]. "and destruction makes him march onward to itself, as to a king" [or: "Terror pursues him like a king," Noyes]-a rendering which is made untenable by the disconnected and obscure position which, in the absence of a clause more precisely qualifying it, it assigns to (instead ). of which we might rather look for influence of the calamity as extending beyond Fifth Strophe: Vers. 15-17. Description of the the death of the wicked man, destroying his race, his posterity, and his memory. Ver. 15. There dwells in his tent that which does not belong to him: or again: of that which is not his." For - may be rendered in both ways, either partitively strengthened negation (Hirzel), or, which is to be, preferred, as a "that Ver. 14. He is torn out of his tent, wherein he trusted: inap as in ch. viii. 14. in is taken as the subject of the sentence by E. V., Rosenm., Umbr., Ewald. Noyes, Bernard. Good, Lee, Wemyss, Carey, Barnes, Rod.. Merx, Delitzsch; the meaning being as explained by the latter: "Everything that makes the ungodly man happy as head of a household, and which is not his " (comp. the adverbial in gives him the brightest hopes of a future, is torn Ex. xiv. 11; also the similar, yet more frequent away from his household, so that he, who is dy-; and in general Ewald, 294, a). In any ing off, alone survives." The rendering of our T = Comm. is adopted by Dillmann, Schlottm., Co- case - in ch. xxxix. 16 may be compared nant, Renan, Hirzel, Hahn, Heiligst.--It is de- with it. The fem. 1 (for neuter) is exfended by Dillmann on the ground that accord-plained on the ground that the forsaken tent is ing to the order of the description the fate of his thought of as being inhabited not by human tent and household is not mentioned until verse beings, but by wild beasts (Is. xiii. 20 seq.; 15; and also that by its position 1 stands xxxiv. 11 seq.), or wild vegetation (Zeph. ii. 9). in apposition to 1, whereas according to the Brimstone is scattered on his habitaother construction the order should have been tion, viz., from heaven (Gen. xix. 24) in order inverted, as subject coming immediately to make it, the entire habitation of the wretched after the verb: grounds which seem satisfactory. -E.]—And he must march to the king of terrors: lit., "and it makes him march " ( fem. used as neuter), viz., his calamity, the dismal something, the secret power which effects his ruin. ["After the evil-doer is tor man (as in ch. v. 3) a solitude, the monument of an everlasting curse; comp. ch. xv. 34 ; Deut. xxix. 22; Ps. xi. 6; also the remark of Wetzstein in Delitzsch, founded on personal observation of present modes of thought and customs among the orientals: "The desolation of his house is the most terrible calamity for the Semite; i. e., when all belonging to his family die, or are reduced to poverty, their habitation is desolated, and their ruins are become the byword of future generations. For the Bedouin especially, although his hair tent leaves no mark, the thought of the desolation of his house, the extinction of his hospitable hearth, is terrible." מלל derivation from Ver. 16. His roots dry up from beneath, and his branch (as in ch. xiv. 9) withers above (not, "is lopped off," Del. [E. V., Conant, etc.] comp. above on ch. xiv. 2): [" the "to cut off." is here altogether untenable, for the cutting off of the branches of a tree dried up in the roots is meaningless." Dillm.]. The same vegetable figure, in illustration of the same thing; see above, ch. XV. 32 seq.; comp. Amos ii. 9; Is. v. 24, also the inscription on the sarcophagus of Eschmunazar: Let there not be to him a root below or a branch above!" Ver. 17. His memory perishes out of the land, and he has no (longer a) name on the (wide) plain —As in the first member denotes the "land with a settled population," so denotes the region outside of this inhabited land, the wide plain, steppe, wilderness. Comp. on ch. v. 10, also the parallel phrase in in Prov. viii. 26 (see on the passage). Sixth Strophe (together with a closing verse): Vers. 18-21. [After his destruction the wicked lives in the memory of posterity only as a warning example]. Ver. 18. He is driven out of the light into the darkness (i. e., out of the light of life and happiness into the darkness of calamity and death), and chased out of the habitable world, from the Hiph. of the verb 77; used of the inhabited globe, the oikovuvn. The third plural of both verbs expresses the subject indefinitely, as in ch. iv. 19; vii. 3; xix. 26. It would be legitimate to take as the object referred to by the suffixes, not the wicked man himself, but his D and 1 (Seb. Schmidt, Ewald). The following verse however makes this interpretation less probable. Ver. 19. No sprout, no shoot (remains) to him among his people.-The phrase "sprout and shoot" will most nearly and strikingly reproduce the short and forcible alliteration of '? , which is found also in Gen. xxi. 23; Is. xiv. 22.-And there is no escaped one (77, as in Deut. ii. 34, etc.), in his dwellings. 1, lodging, dwelling," elsewhere only in Ps. lv. 16. The whole verse expresses, I only still more directly and impressively, what was first of all said figuratively above in ver. 16. Ver. 20. They of the West are astonished on account of his day (i. e., the day of doom, of destruction; comp. D in Ps. xxxvii. 13; cxxxvii. 7; Obad. 12, etc.), and they of the East are seized with terror (lit., they take fright," seize upon terror, in accordance with a mode of expression employed also in ch. xxi. 6; Isa. xiii. 8; Hos. x. 6. אֲחֵרוֹנִים The as well as the DP, might certainly, according to the general usage of the words elsewhere, denote "posterity," together with the "ancestors" (i. e., the fathers, now living, of the later generations), hence the successors of the wicked, together with his contemporaries. So, besides the ancient versions [and E. V.], many moderns, e. g. Hirzel, Schlottmann, Hahn [Lee, Bernard, Noyes, Conant, Wordsworth, Renan, Rodwell], etc. A more suitable meaning is obtained, however, if (with Schultens, Oetinger, Umbreit, Ewald, Delitzsch, Dillmann), [Wemyss, Barnes, Carey, Elzas, Merx], we take the words in a local sense: the "men of the west," the "men of the east," the neighbors on both sides, those who live towards the east, and those who live towards the west [Dillmann inelegantly: "those to the rear, and those to the front"]. Comp. the well-known designation of the Mediterranean the western sea), and of the) הים האחרון as [Del. Dead Sea as 1 (the eastern sea). objects to the former rendering: "The return from the posterity to those then living is strange, and the usage of the language is opposed to it; for ' is elsewhere always what belongs to the previous age in relation to the speaker; e. g. 1 Sam. xxiv. 14; comp. Eccles. iv. 16." Schlottmann, on the other hand, argues that the temporal sense is much better suited to the entire connection than the local.] lies outside of the strophe-structure of the disVer. 21. A concluding verse, which properly course, similar to ch. v. 27; viii. 19.—Only thus does it befall the dwellings of the unrighteous, and thus the place of him who (without, comp. ch. xxix. 16; Gesen, 116 [3 121], 3), knew not God: i. e. did not recognize and honor God, did not concern himself about Him (ch. xxiv. 1).. Hahn, Dillmann, etc., correctly render at the beginning of this verse not affirmatively."yes, surely," but restrictively-"only so, not otherwise does it happen to the dwellings of the dering that Bildad's whole description receives unrighteous," etc. For it is only by this renthe emphatic conclusion which was to be ex pected after its solemn and pathetic opening, ver. 5 seq. DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. 1. Bildad appears here again, as in his former discourse, ch. viii., as essentially an imitator of Eliphaz, without being able to present much that is new in comparison with his older associate and predecessor. So far as his picture of the restless condition and irretrievable destruction of the wicked (ver. 4 seq.) is in all essentials a copy of that of Eliphaz in ch. xv. 20 seq., while at the same time this, instead of being the subject of a particular section, runs through his entire argument as its all-controlling theme, he appears poorer in original ideas than his model. At the same time he rivals, and indeed surpasses, his associate now again, as before, in wealth of imagery and in the variety of his illustrations derived from the life of nature and humanity, for the vivid and skilful handling of which the speaker is pre-eminently distinguished among the three friends. He uses the peculiar phraseology of the Chokmah with consummate art; and this aptness and elegance of style compensates in a measure for its lack of originality. Especially does his terrible portraiture of the wicked man encountering his doom, like that of Eliphaz in ch. xv., or even in a higher degree than that in some particulars, acquire by virtue of these qualities a peculiar significance as regards its æsthetic beauty, its relation to scriptural theology, and its parenetic value. "The description is terribly brilliant, solemn and pathetic, as becomes the stern preacher of repentance with haughty mien and pharisaic self-confidence; it is none the less beautiful, and, considered in itself, also true-a masterpiece of the poet's skill in poetic idealizing, and in apportioning out the truth in dramatic form." (Delitzsch i. 332). Especially are the gradual steps in the destruction of the wicked (ver. 12 seq.), and the participation of all that he leaves behind him, of his posterity, his property, and his memory, in his own sudden downfall and total ruin (ver. 15 seq.), described with masterly power. All this is presented with such internal truth, and in such harmony with the experiences of all mankind, that the description, considered in itself, and detached from its connections, is well adapted to exert a salutary influence for all time in the way of warning and exhortation, and edification even for the Christian world. 2. It is true nevertheless that the malignant application to the person of Job of the sharp points and venomous stings of this portraiture, wonderful as it is in itself, destroys the pure enjoyment of the study of it, and warns the thoughtful reader at every step to exercise caution in the acceptance of these maxims of wisdom, which, while sounding beautifully, are applied solely and altogether in the service of an illiberal legal pharisaic and narrow view of life. [Bildad knows nothing of the worth and power which a man attains by a righteous heart. By faith he is removed from the domain of God's justice, which recompenses according to the law of works, and before the power of faith even rocks remove from their place" (see ver. 4). Delitzsch] The unmistakable directness of the allusions to Job's former calamities (in vers 12-14 which point to the frightful disease which afflicted him; in ver. 15, where the shower of brimstone is a reminder of ch. i. 16 seq., and in ver. 16, where the "withering of the branch points to the death of the children) takes away from the description, although true in itself, that which alone could constitute it a universal truth, and lowers it to the doubtful rank of a representation having a partisan purpose. It compels us to regard its author, moreover, as a preacher of morality entangled in a carnal, external, legal dogmatism, destitute of all earnest, deep and pure experience of the nature of human sin, as well as of the divine righteousness, and for that very reason misunderstanding the real significance of Job's sufferings, and doing gross injustice to his person. We are thus constrained to put Bildad, as a practical representative and teacher of the Divine wisdom of the Old Testa ment, far below his opponent. The practical commentator, especially when engaged in the continuous exposition of the whole poem, cannot help keeping in view these considerations, which impair the religious and ethical value of this discourse. In its characteristic traits and motives, it yields comparatively little that is directly profitable and edifying. HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. Ver. 3 seq. OECOLAMPADIUS: Truly the ungodly are vile in the eyes of the godly, and are recognized as being more stupid than brutes; but this is in accordance with a healthy judg ment, and free from contempt. For the world was even crucified to Paul, yet what did he not do that he might benefit those who were in the world? The godly therefore seem vile to the ungodly in quite a different sense from that in which the ungodly seem vile to the godly; for to the one class belongs charity, which the other class in every way neglect; the former act without pride, the latter with the utmost pride.BRENTIUS (on ver. 4): It is no common trial of faith, that we must think of ourselves as not being of such consequence with God that He for our sakes should change common events, and His own pre-established order. We seem to think that God rather will change His usual - WOHLFARTH: God's plan is indeed unchangeable and without exceptions, alike in the realm of nature, and in that of spirit. But we must beware of erring by arguing from that which is external to that which is internal. In that which pertains to the spiritual, the higher, that which is to decide is, not external indications, but reason, Scripture, and conscience. course on our account. Ver. 5 seq. BRENTIUS: These curses on the wicked are that his light may be put out, and that the spark of his fire may not shine. For the Lord and His Word are true light and splendor, as David says (Ps. xxxvi. 10 [9]; cxix. 105). The wicked have neither, for they say in their heart: There is no God.-V. GERLACH: The light is here in general the symbol of a clear knowledge of man's destiny, of serene consciousness in the whole life (Matt. vi. 22 seq.); the light of the tent carries the symbol further, and points to this clearness, even in a man's daily household affairs, as something which ceases to be for the ungodly. Ver. 17 seq. LANGE: The memory which a man leaves behind him is of little consequence; it is enough if we are known to God in respect of that which is good. Many righteous souls are hidden from the world, because they have wrought their works in the most quiet way in God (John iii. 21); while, on the contrary, many an ungodly man makes noise and disturbance enough, so that he is talked about after his death. But to the believing child of God it is still granted as his special beatitude that he shall see God, who will make his life an example, bringing it forth into the light, and causing it even after his death to shed a sweet savor to the praise of God (Prov. x. 7). Ver. 21. BRENTIUS: Truly it is not without |