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B.-Job's Reply: Attack upon his friends, whose wisdom and justice he earnestly questions:

CHAPTERS XII-XIV.

1. Ridicule of the assumed wisdom of the friends, who can give only a very unsatisfactory de scription of the exalted power and wisdom of the Divine activity:

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2 No doubt but ye are the people, and wisdom shall die with you.

3 But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you;

yea, who knoweth not such things as these?

4 I am as one mocked of his neighbor,

who calleth upon God, and He answereth him;

the just, upright man is laughed to scorn!

5 He that is ready to slip with his feet

is as a lamp despised in the thought of him that is at ease.

6 The tabernacle of robbers prosper,

and they that provoke God are secure;

into whose hand God bringeth abundantly.

7 But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee, and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee:

8 or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee,

and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee.

9 Who knoweth not in all these

that the hand of the Lord hath wrought this? 10 In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind.

11 Doth not the ear try words,

and the mouth taste his meat?

12 With the ancient is wisdom;

and in length of days understanding.

13 With Him is wisdom and strength,

He hath counsel and understanding.

14 Behold He breaketh down, and it cannot be built again;
He shutteth up a man, and there can be no opening.
15 Behold, He withholdeth the waters, and they dry up;
also He sendeth them out, and they overturn the earth,

16 With Him is strength and wisdom;

the deceived and the deceiver are His. 17 He leadeth counsellors away spoiled, and maketh the judges fools.

18 He looseth the bond of kings,

and girdeth their loins with a girdle.

19 He leadeth princes away spoiled, and overthroweth the mighty.

20 He removeth away the speech of the trusty,
and taketh away the understanding of the aged.
21 He poureth contempt upon princes,

and weakeneth the strength of the mighty.

22 He discovereth deep things out of darkness,

and bringeth out to light the shadow of death.

23 He increaseth the nations and destroyeth them;

He enlargeth the nations, and straighteneth them again.

24 He taketh away the heart of the chief of the people of the earth, and causeth them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way.

25 They grope in the dark without light,

and He maketh them to stagger like a drunken man.

2. The resolution to betake himself to God, who, in contrast with the harshness and injustice of the friends will assuredly do him justice:

CHAPTER XIII. 1–22.

1 Lo, mine eye hath seen all this,

mine ear hath heard and understood it.

2 What ye know, the same do I know also; I am not inferior unto you.

3 Surely I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to reason with God.

4 But ye are forgers of lies,

ye are all physicians of no value.

5 O that ye would altogether hold your peace, and it should be your wisdom.

6 Hear now my reasoning,

and hearken to the pleadings of my lips.

7 Will ye speak wickedly for God,

and talk deceitfully for Him?

8 Will ye accept His person?

will ye contend for God?

9 Is it good that He should search you out?

or as one man mocketh another, do ye so mock Him? 10 He will surely reprove you,

if ye do secretly accept persons.

11 Shall not His excellency make

you

afraid?

and His dread fall upon you? 12 Your remembrances are like unto ashes,

your bodies to bodies of clay.

13 Hold your peace, let me alone that I may speak, and let come on me what will.

14 Wherefore do I take my flesh in my teeth,

and put my life in mine hand?

15 Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him: but I will maintain mine own ways before Him.

16 He also shall be my salvation :

for a hypocrite shall not come before Him.

17 Hear diligently my speech,

and my declaration with your ears.

18 Behold now, I have ordered my cause; I know that I shall be justified.

19 Who is he that will plead with me?

for now, if I hold my tongue, I shall give up the ghost.

20 Only do not two things unto me;

then will I not hide myself from Thee. 21 Withdraw Thine hand far from me;

and let not Thy dread make me afraid. 22 Then call Thou, and I will answer:

or let me speak, and answer Thou me!

3. A vindication of himself, addressed to God, beginning with the haughty asseveration of his own innocence, but relapsing into a despondent cheerless description of the brevity, helplessness, and hopelessness of man's life:

CHAPTER XIII. 23-XIV. 22.

23 How many are mine iniquities and sins?

make me to know my transgression and my sin.

24 Wherefore hidest Thou Thy face,

and holdest me for Thine enemy ?

25 Wilt Thou break a leaf driven to and fro? and wilt Thou pursue the dry stubble?

26 For Thou writest bitter things against me,

and makest me to possess the iniquities of my youth.

27 Thou puttest my feet also in the stocks,

and lookest narrowly unto all my paths;

Thou settest a print upon the heels of my feet.

28 And he, as a rotten thing, consumeth, as a garment that is moth-eaten.

CHAPTER XIV.

1 Man that is born of a woman,

is of few days, and full of trouble.

2 He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down;
he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.
3 And dost Thou open Thine eyes upon such an one,
and bringest me into judgment with Thee?

4 Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean ?
not one!

5 Seeing his days are determined,

the number of his months are with Thee,

Thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass;

6 turn from him that he may rest,

till he shall accomplish, as an hireling, his day.

7 For there is hope of a tree,

if it be cut down, that it will sprout again,

and that the tender branch thereof will not cease. 8 Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground;

9 yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant.

10 But man dieth, and wasteth away!

yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?

11 As the waters fail from the sea,

and the flood decayeth and drieth up:

12 so man lieth down and riseth not:

till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake,

nor be raised out of their sleep.

13 O that Thou wouldest hide me in the grave,

that thou wouldest keep me secret until Thy wrath be past, that Thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me!

14 If a man die, shall he live again?

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Thou washest away the things which grow out of the dust of the earth; and Thou destroyest the hope of man.

20 Thou prevailest forever against him, and he passeth;

Thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away.

21 His sons come to honor, and he knoweth it not;

and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them. 22 But his flesh upon him shall have pain,

and his soul within him shall mourn.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL.

ers, as being quite ordinary and commonplace : ch. xii. 2-12.

lot (ver. 4), of the way of the world (ver. 5), and of the security of the wicked (ver. 6)].

Ver. 2. Of a truth ye are the people.D DAN, with the logical accent on the first word, signifies not: "ye are people, the right sort of people," but: "ye are the people, the totality of all people, the race of men;" D, there

DN, Comp.

Ver. 3. I also have a heart as well as you, i. e., I lack understanding no more than you.-2 therefore as above in ch. viii. 10; ix. 4; comp. ch. xi. 12 ["he also has a heart like them, he is therefore not empty, 13," Del.], and as below in ver. 24.-I do not stand behind you: lit., "I do not sink down beneath you," or: "I do not fall away before you;" the

First Strophe: Vers. 2-6. [Sarcasm on the Zophar in ch. xi. had specially arrayed against friends (ver. 2) changing into angry invective Job the wisdom and omniscience of God, in order│(ver. 3), then into bitter complaint of his own to convict him partly of ignorance in Divine things, partly of his sinfulness and need of repentance. Job now meets this attack by strongly doubting the wisdom of his friends, or by representing it as being at least exceedingly ordinary and commonplace, being capable neither of worthily comprehending or describing the Divine wisdom and greatness, nor of demonstrating actual sin and guilt on his part. This demonstra-fore as in Is. xl. 7; xlii. 5. The Cod. Alex. of tion of their incompetency, delivered in an iro- the LXX. expresses correctly the sense; nical tone, accompanied by a description of the veic or av po povo. As to wisdom and strength of God far transcending the simple Dp, ch. ix. 2. that of Zophar in energy and inspired elevation of thought, forms the first part of his discourse (ch. xii.) This is followed by an emphatic asseveration of his innocence, clothed in the declaration of his purpose to appeal to God, the righteous Judge, and from Him, by means of a formal trial, to which he purposes summoning Him, to obtain testimony in favor of his innocence, which shall effectually dispose of the suspicions of the friends (ch. xiii. 1-22). As though in Dp relates to the stand-point of the such a trial had already been instituted, he then turns to God with a solemn assertion of his in- friends, from which Job might seem to be a nocence, but failing to meet with a favorable de- one falling below them, meaner than themselves. claration from God in answer to his appeal, he [Ewald takes in the comparative sense, immediately sinks back into his former discou- which however would give an unsuitable renderragement and despair, to which he gives charac-ing, "to fall more than another"].-And to teristic expression in a long description of the whom are such things not known? Lit., shortness of life, the impotence and helplessness and with whom is not the like of these things?" of man as opposed to the Divine omnipotence viz., the like of your knowledge of Divine things. (ch. xiii. 23—xiv. 22). [Davidson characterizes, lit. "with," is used here in the sense of an this discourse as "this last and greatest effort inward indwelling, as also in ch. xiv. 5 b, and of Job"]. Each of these three parts is subdias elsewhere Dy is used: ch. ix. 35; x. 13, etc. vided into sections which are distinctly separated, Parts I. and II. into two sections each of about equal length; Part III. into five strophes

of 5 to 6 verses each.

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Ver. 4. A mockery (pny, lit., "a laughing," laughter, Inf. subst., like ẹ, ch. xvii. 6) to my own friend must I be.-[Lit.,

2. First Division.-First Section: Sarcasm on the wisdom of Zophar, and the two other speak-mockery to his neighbor, etc.]. Instead of

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to mean:

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one might expect to find '?; an exchange of | E.]. The rendering of Hitzig (Geschichte des persons, however, takes place, that the expres- Volkes Israel I., 112) is peculiar; T he takes sion may be made as general as possible: "one "a soothing bandage, a cure" (from who is a mockery to his own friend must I be.' Comp. similar examples of the exchange of per- the root 1, "to wind, or bind around," here sons in Ps. xci. 1 seq.; Is. ii. 8. ["Must I be- the sing. corresponding to the plur. found in best as exclamation, expressing Judg. iv. 4, which is not a proper name [LapiJob's sense of indignity: (1) At such treat- doth], but taken in connection with the preceding ment from friends; (2) such treatment to such signifies: "a mistress of healing bandas he," (Dav.) see remainder of verse].-I who called to Eloah and found a hearing: lit., "one calling [still in 3d person] to Eloah, and He heard him," in apposition to the subject-I -in: which is the case also with P D', one who is just, godly (pure, blameless), comp. Prov. xi. 5 a, these words being placed with emphasis at the end of the whole exclamation. [Zöckler's rendering of this clause being: "a mockery (am I);-the just, the godly man!" Noyes and Wemyss render the second member: "I who call upon God that He would answer (or "to listen to me"). Noyes objects to the other rendering the use of the present participle. This form, however, is used to denote a continuous fact in Job's life, and a permanent quality grounded thereon, the Vav. consec. then indicating the Divine result consequent on Job's conduct and character.-E.].

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ages"), so that the sense would then be: "Heal-
ing is a scorn [is scorned] in the opinion of the
prosperous" (?).-Ready (is it, the contempt)
for those whose foot wavers.-, Part.
Niph. from 1, hence roos, ready, as in Ex.
xxxiv. 2. Comp. below xv. 23, where may also be
as a figurative
found "the wavering of the foot
expression of falling into misfortune; Ps. xxxviii.
17 ̊(16) Ewald (Bibl. Jahrb. IX. p. 38) would in-
stead of 3 read 1, "a stroke," and Schul-

tens and Dillmann would assign this same mean-
ing of pluga, percussio to this same form
"a stroke, is due to those
(from ):
whose foot wavers. As if a new parallelism of
thought must of necessity be found between a
and b!

T:.

Ver. 6. Secure are the tents of the spoilers, lit. to the spoilers; i. e., to powerful tyrants, savage conquerors, and the like. On "tents comp. ch. v. 24; xi. 14.-' is the aramaizing third plur. form of a verb which has for its perf. 1 (see ch. iii. 26), but which derives its imperf. forms from 7. Moreover, is not merely a pausal form, but stands here removed from the place of the tone: comp. the similar pathetic verbal forms in Ps. xxxvi. 9; -And lvii. 2; lxxiii. 2; also Ewald, 194, a.security in, plur. et abstr. from П (secure, free from care), have they who defy God ["D' denotes the sin of these undeservedly prosperous ones against men, (lit. those who provoke God, who insolently assail Him) their wickedness against God." Schlott.] they who carry Eloah in their hand: lit., "he who carries," (?!? · · ·

מרגזי אל

from ;(לַאֲשֶׁר

Ver. 5. For misfortune scorn-according to the opinion of the prosperous: i. e., the who lives free prosperous (lit. "the secure," from care, comp. Isa. xxxiii. 20) thinks, that contempt is due to the unfortunate. ["It is the ordinary way of the great multitude to overwhelm the unfortunate with contempt, and to give to the tottering still another push." Dillm.] A thus = contemptus, as in ver. 21, and ch. destruction, ruin, misfortune, as in ch. xxx. 24; xxxi. 29: Prov. xxiv. 22; and ♫♫y ( plur. fem. st. constr, from ny), or, after a form which is better authorized, in, signifies an opinion, fancy, thought (from ny, to fashion, used of the mind's fashioning its thoughts). This is the interpretation adopted by most of the moderns, since the time of Aben Ezra. The rendering of the Targ., Vulg., [E. V.], Levi b. Gerson, and other Rabbis, preferred also by Luther, De Wette, Rosenm. [Noyes, among those who rage against God and defy Carey, Rod.], etc., which takes T in the sense Him, one is selected as an example, such an of a torch, yields no tolerable sense, at least no one, viz., as "bears God in his hand," i. e., resuch sense as suits the second member ("a torch cognizes no other God than the one he carries of contempt" [Luther: "a despised taper "] in in his hand or fist, to whom therefore his fightthe opinion of the prosperous is he who is readying weapon is to be his God; comp. Hab. i. 11, to totter," or "to whom it is appointed that his feet slip," etc.) [Against this rendering, found in E. V., may be urged (1) The expression “a despised torch" is meaningless. As Con. suggests "a consumed or expiring torch would be pertinent, but a torch despised is like anything else that is despised." (2) is superfluous and insipid. Why "ready to waver?" (3) This rendering presupposes a noun, with the meaning vacillatio, wavering, lit. ready for waverings, for which however there is no authority, and which would require here rather the vowel pointing: -(4) It destroys the rhythm of the verse. See Con., Dillm., Dav. and Delitzsch.

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16; also the "dextra mihi Deus" of Virg. Aen. 16, 773. [Delitzsch renders a little more precisely perhaps: "he who causes Eloah to enter into his hand; from which translation it is clear that not the deification of the hand, but of that which is taken into the hand is meant. That which is taken into the hand is not, how

ever, an idol (Abenezra), but the sword; therefore he who thinks after the manner of Lamech, as he takes the iron weapon of attack and defense into his hand, that he needs no other God." The deification of the weapon which a man wields with the power of his own right hand, and the deification of the power which

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