Obrazy na stronie
PDF
ePub

place beholds him no more.—pp, which is doubtless the subject of b, is here construed as a feminine, as in Gen. xviii. 24; 2 Sam. xvii. 12. Ver. 10. His children must seek to please the poor.-, 3d plur. Piel from 7: propitiate, appease, synonymous with

= to

retains it in his palate.-The tenacity with which the evil-doer persists in the lustful enjoyment of his wickedness, is set forth by five parallel and essentially synonymous expressions accumulated together.

Ver. 14. (Nevertheless) his food is changed in his bowels-into what is explained in the , an expression which is to be understood second member. The poison of asps is in a sense altogether general, and not specifi- within him.—7 (777, chap. xvi. 13), cally of asking alms [Barnes: " they would be lit. "gall," is used here for "poison,"-because beggars of beggars"] nor of appeasing by the the ancients used interchangeably terms repreuse of money, although the second member ap-senting the bitter and the poisonous; comp. proximates the latter meaning quite closely. Na bitter, poisonous plant and the poison The ancient versions read, or 37 (from of serpents, in ver. 16; Deut. xxxii. 33. The p3), and thus obtained the meaning, which is word is naturally chosen here as antithetic to Pлn, verse 12. [On 'n see below, ver. far less suitable, "His sons (object) the lowly 16.] smite down." [Ewald, adopting this definition

-trans הָפְנָיו to בָּנָיו for the verb, and amending

lates: "his fists smote down the weak "].— And his hands (must) give back his wealth: to wit, by the hands of his children, who will have to appease the creditors of their father. ["The suffix in 7 might refer back. in the way of individualization, to the plural in D' (so Noyes); but against this is the fact that also in the following verse the wicked man is the subject of the discourse." Schlott.]. The meaning would be much less simple if (with Carey, Dillmann) [Bernard, Renan, Lee], "his hands' were understood literally, and after the preceding mention of his death we were carried back here to the period of his life.

Ver. 11. His bones were full of youthful vigor (so correctly the LXX., Targ., Pesh.while the Vulg., Rosenm., Vaih., etc., understand it of "secret sins," and comp. Ps. xc. 8), [Jerome, however, followed, by E. V., Lee, and Barnes, combining the two ideas of sin and youth, while Renan, Good, Wemyss, Carey, render "secret sins." Our other authorities, Ew., Dillmann, Schlott., Rodwell, Words., Con., Ber., Elz., with Ges. and Fürst agree with the LXX., etc.].-and it lies down with him in the dust; or "it is laid down," viz., his youthful vigor; for the use of referring back to rphy, comp. ch. xiv. 19; Ps. ciii. 56. For "dust," meaning the "grave," comp. ch. xix. 25; xvii. 16.

Second Strophe: Vers. 12-16. A description of the perishableness of the ungodly man's prosperity by a comparison with poison, sweet to the taste, but deadly in its results.

Ver. 15. He hath swallowed down riches. -,"possessions, riches, property," without the accompanying notion of forcible acquisition which rather first makes its appearance in 22. God will cast them forth again out of his belly-i.e., his riches, or that which he has swallowed. The greedy devourer of wealth will be made to vomit it forth, as by pains of colic. The LXX., from motives of decorum, substituted ayyeλoc here for deós; in Zophar's mouth, however, the latter word need not surprise us.

Ver. 16 returns back to the figure of ver. 146 in order to describe more minutely the effect of sucked in the poison of asps], the tongue the poison which he had been enjoying. [He of adders slays him-the tongue being regarded as the seat or container of the poison (Ps. cxl. 4 [3]), the original figure being at the place of the deadly draught; comp. Prov. xxiii. same time changed, and the fatal bite taking the 32. [1, LXX. donis; according to some, e.g., KITTO, Pictorial Bible, the boeten of the Arabs, about a foot long, spotted black and white, the bite instantly fatal; according to others, the elHoje of the Arabs, from three to five feet long, bling the cobra di capello in its power of swelldark green, with oblique bands of brown, reseming the neck and rising on its tail in striking its prey. The y cannot be determined. See the Dictionaries and Cyclopædias, “Asp," "Viper," "Serpent," etc.]

Third Strophe: Vers. 17-22. [The evil doer cannot enjoy his prosperity-for he must restore his ill-gotten gains.]

[ocr errors]

Vers. 12, 13 are the protasis dependent on DN Ver. 17. He may not delight in the sight ver. 14 seq., the apodosis.-Ver. 12. Though of ( as in chap. iii. 9) brooks streams, evil tastes sweet in his mouth (Pan lit., rivers of honey and cream.-[The negative "makes sweet," Ewald, 122, c [Green, 79, and the apocopated express the concur2]); he hides it under his tongue, i. e., herence of the speaker's moral judgment and feeldoes not swallow it down, in order to enjoy the They are sweet taste of it so much the longer [the evil- ing with the affirmation of the fact a mental Amen to the prediction.-E.] After doer likened to an epicure," Delitzsch.-Renan: Comme un bonbon qu' on laisse fondre dans la in the absol. state there follow in apposibouche]. Ver. 18. He is sparing of it (on to in- which form an assonance, and are co-ordinate. dulge, to spare, here with y, the preposition [Dillmann: "It is a more poetic artistic exprescommonly used with verbs of covering, protect- sion than the simple ing, guarding) and does not let it go, and Hupfeld conjectures that

נַהֲרֵי נַהֲלֵי ,tion two nouns in the construct state

[ocr errors]

may be a gloss.

See Gesen. 255, 3 a.] "Honey and milk" (or here, by way of gradation, "cream," comp. Isa. vii. 15, 22) are a familiar figurative expression denoting luxurious prosperity, as in Ex. iii. 8, 17, and often; found also in the ancient classical poets, in their descriptions of the golden age; e. g. Theocritus, Idyll. V. 124 seq.; Ovid, Metam. I 111 seq.: Flumina jam lactis, jam flumina nectaris ibant; comp. Virgil, Ecl. IV. 30; Horace, Epod. 16, 47.

Ver. 18. Giving back that which he has labored for, subst. synonymous with y [the particípial clause y coming first, and assigning the reason for what follows] he en joys it not-lit. he swallows it not, he will not be happy. According to the property of his exchange (as in chap. xv. 31) he rejoices not-i.e., in accordance with the fact that he employed sinful, unjust means of exchange, in order to gain temporal possessions and enjoyments, he has no pleasure in the latter, he mu-t lack the joy which he had promised himself in them. So correctly Ewald, Delitzsch, Dillmann, etc.; while Hirzel and others [E. V. Lee, Bernard, Renan, Rodwell], following the Targum, translate as though instead of

of '?, are (a) That of the E. V.: "Because he hath oppressed and hath forsaken the poor: because he hath violently taken away a house which he builded not; surely he shall not," etc.; which cannot be justified in rendering differently in Rodwell, who introduce the apodosis in 20h. ver. 19 and in ver. 20. (b) That of Noyes and (c) That of Good, Lee, Wemyss, Carey,-which assumes the apodosis to be introduced by y in ver. 21 b.—E.].

Ver. 20. For ( co-ordinate to that at the beginning of the preceding verse) he knew no rest in his belly: the seat of his gluttony or avarice. here a substantive (differently from chap. xvi. 12, where it is an adjective), synonymous with, Prov. xvii. 1. For the sentiment comp. Isa. lix. 8. [E. V.: "he shall not feel quietness," etc., overlooks the distinction of tenses in the verse: Perfect, Imperf. Whether we translate "for" or "because," there is a relation of antecedent and consequent between a and b. This has been the shall be his doom-to be stripped of every thing. evil-doer's character-insatiable voracity; this

זי

E.] (Therefore) he shall not escape with his dearest treasure.— without an object to escape, like 7, chap. xxiii. 7; or also hp, comp. Amos ii. 15. The

in

, the passage read (as his possessions, so his exchange,' i. e., his restitution). Gesenius, Schlottmann [Conant, Elzas] render: "as his property that is to be exchanged, i.e., to be restored" (similarly Hupfeld: sicut opes permutando comparatas), which, however, yields a strained sense [and is also "contrary to is the of accompaniment or of possesthe relative independence of the separate lines sion, as in chap. xix. 20. [Not, therefore, inof the verse, which our poet almost always pre- strumental (Schlottmann-the object conceived serves, and is also opposed by the interposing of as the instrument), nor partitive: "of all his delights he shall save nothing" (Conant). The of "DEL. Carey explains: "to the rendering of Carey, Elzas, etc.: "in his appetite full amount of its value," taking in the sense he let (or lets) nothing escape," is inadmissible of "power," or "fullness"-a doubtful signifi- on account of the passive form of D, which cation when used in connection with property. signifies not the act, but the object, of desire. -E.] To be noted is hy in our Book for thy or

.[עלץ

"

Ver. 21. Nothing escaped his greediness [or gluttony]: lit. "there is nought of a reVer. 19. For he crushed, abandoned the mainder [or of that which has escaped] to his poor-i. e., maltreated with persistent injustice food-comp. ch. xviii. 19. [ from x, not the unprotected and defenceless. He has taken (E. V. "meat"); hence, more literally still houses (lit. "a house." collective) for his plunder, and builded them not-i. e., has than above: "there is nothing that has escaped not re-builded them, has not reached the point his eating"]. Therefore his wealth shall of reconstructing and fitting them up according not endure.-'n', as in Ps. x. 5. means "to to his own taste, because he was not allowed to be solid, powerful, enduring.' ,wealth," retain permanent possession of them. Against or also "prosperity," as in ch. xxi. 16. [E. V.: the rendering of the Targ., Vulg., etc., also of "no man shall look for his goods," which can Hupfeld [and E. V.]: "he has plundered a house which he builded not," it may be urged that in only mean (with), no one shall wait for his that case it must have read property as his heir,-a meaning both less simThe ple and less suitable than the above.] causal relation in which the first member is Ver. 22. In the fullness of his superfluity placed to the second by Delitzsch: "because he it is strait with him-i. e., distress overtakes cast down, let the destitute lie helpless, he shall him, meaning external poverty (not internal annot, in case he has seized a house, build it up' guish, etc.), as b shows. The Inf. constr. [Conant: "the houses he has plundered he shall not build up" is indicated with too little clear- (written like Л, Judg. viii. 1), from ness by the at the beginning of the verse, and, after the analogy of, verbs; comp. yields a meaning entirely too artificial. [Other Gesen. 875 [274], Rems. 20 and 21 [Green, constructions, according to the causal rendering 166, 2]. with retracted tone for " ["on

account of the following monosyllable." DEL.]; | him what can satisfy him."-Schlottm.: "Such
comp. Gen. xxxii. 8; Ewald, 232 6.-Every a rain of fire, figuratively speaking, is to be the
hand of a wretched one (comp. chap. iii. 20) food of the ungodly, instead of the former dainty
comes upon him (comp. chap. xv. 21)-viz.: to morsel of wickedness (comp. vers. 12, 13)."-
inflict retribution on him for the violence suf- Wordsworth: "He surfeited himself with rapine,
fered at his hands, or in order to demand of him and God will make him surfeit with His revenge.'
plundered property. [The primary reference is -Carey: "Just as in Ps. xi. 6, the wicked are
doubtless to the victims of his own rapacity, al- said to drink snares, fire and brimstone, so here
though we may give it, with Delitzsch, a more the glutton shall have them for food."] It is
general application: "the rich uncompassionate possible also to refer the suffix to God. Much
man becomes a defenceless prey of the proleta- too artificial is the rendering of the Targ., Aben-
Ezra, Gerson, Delitzsch: "He causeth it to rain
ries."] So according to the reading py, comp.
upon him into his flesh,"-although to be sure
chap. iii. 20. If, following the LXX. and the
Vulg. (with Eichhorn, De Wette, etc.), we read might in accordance with Zeph. i. 17 mean
flesh." [In Zeph., however, the parallelism:
we obtain the meaning-in itself indeed "and their blood is poured forth as dust, and
admissible, but less in harmony with vers. 19- their flesh (?) as dung," makes the appli-
21: "the whole power of misery comes upon
him." [So Rodwell. Bernard, Noyes and Renan cation clear; whereas here the whole context
take as in chap. xxxiii. 2, for "wound" or points to the usual literal application.-E.]—
"blow; and translate: "every blow of misfor, poetic, full-toned form for " as in ch.
tune" (Ren.), or "every blow of the wretched," xxii. 2: xxvii. 28. [The morally indignant
i. e., every blow which cometh upon the wretched speech which threatens punishment, intention-
(Noyes), or every blow, every plague that can ally seeks after rare solemn words, and dark-
render a man miserable (Bernard).]
some tones." Delitzsch. The partial assonance

[ocr errors]

Fourth Strophe: vers. 23-28. The end of the wicked according to the divine judgment.

[blocks in formation]
[ocr errors]

T

-may also have had some infu עלימו בלתומו of

ence in determining this form, which in this
instance at least can scarcely be regarded as
plur., on account of the pointed individual
application to Job. The rendering of E. V.,
Good, Lee, Wem., Rod., Elz.: "and shall rain
it upon him while he is eating." is at variance
with the form, and misses the striking force of
the figure as given above.-E.]

וַיְהִי as frequently with the prophets), or) וְהָיָה

TT:

Vers. 24 seq. describe how the divine decree of wrath is historically realized by the introduction of several illustrations. the first being that of a warlike pursuit and wounding ["a highly picturesque description." Ewald].-If he flee from the iron armor (comp. ch. xxxix. 21), a bow of brass (Ps. xviii. 35) pierces him through (comp. Judg. v. 26). [If he escapes one danger, it is only to fall into another, and from the same source]. The wo members of the verse, which are put together asyndetically, are related to each other as antecedent and consequent, as in ch. xix. 4.

Ver. 25. He draws it out (viz. the arrow, in order to save his life, comp. Judg. iii. 22). [The Targ. reads: he (the enemy, or God) draws, and it (the sword) comes out of its sheath; against which Delitzsch objects that 12 cannot signify vagina. Carey also translates

(as frequently in prose). For this reason the
construction of the Jussive as dependent on
his to be preferred to any other (so Stickel,
Hahn [Ewald], Dillmann, etc.). [It is certainly
simpler, and in the spirit and style of Zophar in
this discourse to take as an independent
verb, forming the first of the series of jussives
in this verse, each of which expresses the strong
sympathy of his feelings with the result which
he predicts. See above on -, ver. 17;
and Dillmann's remark below.-E.]-The Jus-
sives and, however, are to be
explained on the ground that the passage is
intended to set forth the necessity for God's
punitive agency as established in the divine
order of the world and at the same time to
indicate his own agreement therewith." Dillm.], "it is drawn," i. e. the sword of the pur-
In regard to the descent of the divine wrath in
the form of a rain of fire, comp. above on ch.
xviii. 15.-As to the phrase: "to fill the belly
of any one," comp. above ver. 20; Luke xv. 16.
-And causes to rain upon him with his
food. serving to introduce the object;
comp. ch. xvi. 4, 10). The subject here again
is God. The food which He causes to rain upon
the wicked, to wit, his just punishment (comp. ch.
ix. 18; Jer. ix. 14 [15]) is called "his food"
(inn), viz. that of the wicked, that which he is
appointed to feed upon. [Ewald: "rain upon

suing enemy, who plunges it into him, and then
draws it out again; but this is much less natu-
ral, and mars the terrible vividness of the
description given of his unavailing struggle with
his doom.-E.]-Then it comes forth out
of the body; or also "out of the back," in
case, after the analogy of 77, ch. iii. 4,
should be identified with. But the difficulty
of accomplishing such a manipulation of the
weapon scarcely permits this assumption (adopted
among the moderns by Dillmann), ["The evil-
doer is imagined as hit in the back, the arrow

[ocr errors]

consequently as passing out at the front." Del.], | usage of W Ps. civ. 4; Jerem. xlviii. 45. Olswhich, moreover, has against it the following hausen's emendation toy (Jussive Niph.= member: and the gleaming steel (comes) out of his gall (comp. ch. xvi. 13; and above Bernard, Barnes, Carey, etc., render: "It shall "it shall be devoured") is unnecessary. [E. V., on ver. 14 of this ch.). In regard to p, lit. fare ill with him that is left," etc., or "That "lightning," here "gleaming steel, metal head" which is left, etc., shall perish, or be destroyed" (not a "stream of blood," as Hahn explains it), (Lee, Wemyss, Elzas, etc.), some deriving the comp. Deut. xxxii. 41; Nab. iii. 3; Hab. iii. 11. form from 1, "to fare ill," others from y -Upon him (come) the terrors of death.— in the same sense (Mercier, Carey), others from The plur. D (from ', ch. ix. 34; xiii. yy, either Kal (Fürst) or Niph. (Dathe, Lee). 21) could indeed be connected as subject with The context favors the root .-E]

construed ad sensum (Hahn, Delitzsch), [Conant]; but the accents connect 7 rather with the second member of the verse, so that some such verb as "come, break upon," must be supplied with □ Equally opposed to the accents, and altogether too difficult is the rendering of Rosenmüller and Hirzel [Schultens, Carey]: "he goes [departs, "he is going!" Carey] terrors upon him," i. e., while terrors are upon him.

"T:

Ver. 27. The heavens reveal his iniquity

also properly Jussive like the verbs in vers. 26, 28), and the earth riseth up against him (pip pausal form for pip). Thus the two chief divisions of the creation, which Job had previously (ch. xvi. 18 seq.) summoned as witnesses in behalf of his innocence, must rather testify the opposite, must thrust him out from themselves as one condemned by God, so that there remains for him as his abode only the gloomy Sheol, the third division of the creation besides heaven and earth; comp. ch. xi. 8, 9; Ps. cxxxv. 6; Sir. xxiv. 7-9.

Ver. 28. The increase of his house must

depart, flowing forth (lit. "things that flow,
or run away," diffluentia, in apposition to
in the day of His wrath, viz. the divine wrath.

as

Ges., Olsh. [Gr., § 140, 2], etc., explain ♫
Part. Niph. from 77 with an Aram. formation,
defining it to mean opes corras, things which
have been scraped or gathered together; but less
satisfactorily, for the clause ND, at the
end of this member of the verse, hardly permits
us to look for a second subject, synonymous with
4. Moreover we must have found that thought
expressed rather by "11=opes ab eo corrasae.
As it would seem that after ver. 27 a return to
the wicked man s possessions and treasures could
not properly be looked for, some commentators
have indulged in attempted emendations of the
passage, all of which touch upon in the first
member (Jussive Kal from 1, "to depart, to
wander forth, comp. Prov. xxvii. 25). Thus
Dathe, Stickel, etc., read the flood rolls

Ver. 26. Further description of the divine decree of punishment, with special reference to the wicked man's possessions.-All darkness is hoarded up for his treasures, i. e., every kind of calamity, by divine appointment, awaits the treasures which he has gathered and laid up (D' as in Ps. xvii. 14; comp. Deut. xxxiii. 19). To the agency of the earthly-minded evildoer storing up treasures for himself corresponds the agency of God in opposition storing up the destruction which is destined to overtake them. Comp. Deoavpileiv kavтw oрyv, Rom. ii. 5. [As Delitzsch suggests, there is somewhat of a play upon words in ]. A fire which is not blown consumes him, lit. "which was not blown" (n, a relative clause, Gesenius, 143, 1 [121, 3], hence a "fire of God" burning down from heaven (comp. ch. i. 16; xviii. 15; Is. xxxiii. 11 seq.). is most simply explained (with Ewald, Hupfeld, Dillmann) [Fürst, Conant], as an alternate form of the Jussive Kal, instead of the more common , comp. Ewald, 253, [Gesenius takes it as Piel for 4, with lengthened vowel in place of Daghesh-forte; Delitzsch as Poel with Hholem shortened to Ka-away his house, etc.:" Ewald, "the reve mets-Khatuph; Hirzel, Olsh., Green ( 93, a; ¿ 111, 2, e) as Pual for 7, with the rendering: "a fire not blown shall be made to consume them." In the gender of N is disregarded, the adoption of the masc. in both the Ver. 29. Closing verse, lying outside of the verbs and making the personification strophic arrangement, like ch. v. 27, etc.-This of the supernatural fire more vivid. See on is the portion of the wicked man from ch. i. 19.-E.]-It must devour that which survives (that which has escaped for- Elohim; the lot or portion" (p, comp. ch. mer judgments; as in ver. 21) in his xxvii. 13; xxxi. 2) assigned to him by Elohim, tent.—y is Jussive Kal [to be explained like a rare application of DIN, comp. the preceding Jussives, vers. 17, 23] from ny, Prov. vi. 12 instead of which is more "to graze, to feed upon," the subject here being usual," Del.].—And the heritage appointed to him by God.—ins, lit. "his heri

a.

used in the masc.; comp. for this rare masc.

nue of his house must roll itself away (like a torrent;" comp. Amos v. 27): Dillmann finally

Jussive Niphal of “the produce of his house must become apparent as that which flows away in the day of His wrath."

TT

TT

[ocr errors]

tage of the word," i. e., his heritage as appointed | out, it has already inflicted on him a deservedly to him by a word, by a command, a judicial sen- mortal wound! The fire of God which has altence ( in this sense only here; but used ready begun to consume his possessions, does similarly nevertheless in Ps. lxxvii. 9; Heb. iii. not rest until even the last remnant in his tent The heavens, when in his self9. It is possible moreover to take the suffix in is consumed.

,delusion he seeks the defender of his innocence ,[אֵמֶר or] אֹמֶר as genitive of the object to אִמְרוֹ

in which case the sense would be: "the heri- reveal his guilt, and the earth which he hopes

tage of the command concerning him." In this case however the construction would be a much harsher one. [" and taken in connection with the of the preceding verse form a striking oxymoron: that his heritage be taken away from him, that is the heritage adjudged to him by God." Schlottmann].

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL.

to have as a witness in his favor, rises up as his
accuser. Thus mercilessly does Zophar seek to
stifle the new trust which Job conceives towards
God, and to extinguish the faith which bursts
upward from beneath the ashes of the conflict.
His method is soul-destroying; he seeks to slay
the life which germinates from the feeling of
death, instead of strengthening it." (Delitzsch).
Comp what Brentius says in his straightforward
striking way: "Zophar to the end of the chap-
ter puts forth the most correct opinions; but he
is at fault in that he falsely distorts them against
Job, just as though Job were afflicted for impiety,
and asserted his innocence out of hypocrisy, and
not out of the faith of the Gospel."

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL.

the pure enjoyment of the discourse, and compel
us to regard the picture, skilful as it is in itself,
with critical caution.

Particular Passages.

Ver. 8. BRENTIUS: The state of the ungodly is compared to the most unsubstantial things, to wit, to a dream, and to visions of the night, which, while they are seen, seem to be something, but when the dreamer awakens, there is nothing remaining, as is set forth in Is. xxix.

This second discourse of Zophar's, which is at the same time the last of the utterances directed by him against Job-for in the third act of the colloquy he does not speak-as respects the passionate obstinacy with which it urges the one ever repeated dogma and fundamental axiom of the friends is related to the second discourse of As regards the homiletic treatment of this disEliphaz in chapter xv., as superlative to po- course, the same may be said in general as of sitive, and to the second discourse of Bildad, the discourses, related as to their contents, in as superlative to comparative. In it the nar- chapters 15 and 18. The description given of row-minded, legal, as well as unfriendly and the perishableness of the prosperity of the ununjust opposition of the friends to the misunder-godly, and of their just punishment at the last stood sufferer appears at its height, as was the through the judgment of God, has its objective case with the former discourse of Zophar in its truth and value for the practical life; but the relation to its two predecessors.-Neither does vehement tone of the representation, and the it present any new thoughts in opposition to Job, many unmistakable allusions to Job as the obany more than the immediately preceding dis-ject of the speaker's unfriendly suspicion, destroy courses of Eliphaz and Bildad. The terrible picture of the judgment of wrath upon the sinner, with the delineation of which, true to the pattern presented by those two discourses, it is principally, and indeed almost exclusively occupied, exhibits scarcely anything that is materially new or original. Only as regards its formal execution does this picture of horror surpass its two predecessors. It excels in its adroit presentation, and in its skilful, and to some extent original treatment of the familiar figures Ver. 10. IDEM: From this verse we learn and phraseology of the Chokmah. This descrip tive power, which in the effects produced by it whence the poverty, and whence the wealth of proves itself to be not inconsiderable, seems in- children proceeds, viz., from the piety of parents deed to be wholly subservient to the speaker's (Ps. xxxvii. 25).-WEIMAR BIBLE: The reason spirit and purpose, which are characterized by why many children suffer great misfortune, and hateful suspicion and vehement accusation. This especially poverty, lies often in their own sin, materially weakens the impression which it is but it also proceeds oftentimes from the wickcalculated to produce. "It is not possible to edness of their parents (Ex. xx. 5). He thereillustrate the principle that the covetous, unmer-fore who would see his children prosperous, let ciful rich man is torn away from his prosperity him beware of sin. by the punishment God decrees for him, more fearfully and more graphically than Zophar does it; and this terrible description is not overdrawn, but true and appropriate-but in opposition to Job it is the extreme of uncharitableness which outdoes itself: applied to him the fearful truth becomes a fearful lie. For in Zophar's mind Job is the godless man, whose rejoicing does not last long, who indeed raises himself towards heaven, but as his own dung, (comp. on ver. 7) must he perish, and to whom the sin of his unjust gain is become as the poison of the viper in his belly. The arrow of God's wrath sticks fast in him; and though he draw it

Ver. 12 seq STARKE: Sinful pleasure is commonly transformed into pain. When sin is first tasted it is sweet like sugar, but afterwards it bites like an adder (Prov. xx. 17; xxiii. 32; Sir. xxi. 2 seq.).

Ver. 20 seq. BRENTIUS: As water can never satisfy the dropsical, but the more it is drank, the more it is thirsted for; so riches never satisfy the mind's lust, for the human mind can be satisfied with no good, save God (Eccl. i. 8). Hence it comes to pass by God's righteous decree, that as the avaricious man is discontented with what he has, as well as what he has not, so the ungodly man never has enough, however

« PoprzedniaDalej »