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B.-Job: Seeing that God withdraws Himself from him, and that moreover His allotment of men's destinies on earth is in many ways most unequal, the incomprehensibleness of His ways may hence be inferred, as well as the short sightedness and one-sidedness of the external theory of retribution held by the friends.

CHAP. XXIII-XXIV.

1. The wish for a judicial decision of God in his favor is repeated, but is repressed by the thought that God intentionally withdraws from him, in order that He may not be obliged to vindicate him in this life.

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Then Job answered, and said:

CHAP. XXIII.

Even to-day is my complaint bitter: my stroke is heavier than my groaning. 3 O that I knew where I might find Him! that I might come even to His seat!

4 I would order my cause before Him,

and fill my mouth with arguments.

5 I would know the words which He would answer me,

and understand what He would say unto me.

6 Will He plead against me with His great power? No; but He would put strength in me.

7 There the righteous might dispute with Him;

so should I be delivered forever from my judge.

8 Behold I go forward, but He is not there;

and backward, but I cannot perceive Him;

9 on the left hand where He doth work, but I cannot behold Him; He hideth Himself on the right hand that I cannot see Him.

10 But He knoweth the way that I take:

when He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

11 My foot hath held His steps,

His way have I kept, and not declined.

12 Neither have I gone back from the commandment of His lips;

I have esteemed the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.

13 But He is in one mind, and who can turn Him?

and what His soul desireth, even that He doeth.

14 For He performeth the thing that is appointed for me:

and many such things are with Him.

15 Therefore am I troubled at His

presence:

when I consider, I am afraid of Him.

16 For God maketh my heart soft,

and the Almighty troubleth me.

17 Because I was not cut off before the darkness,

neither hath He covered the darkness from my face.

2. The darkness and unsearchableness of God's ways to be recognized in many other instances of

an unequal distribution of earthly prosperity, as well as in Job's case.

CHAP. XXIV.

Why, seeing times are not hidden from the Almighty,

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do they that know Him not see His days?

2 Some remove the landmarks;

they violently take away flocks, and feed thereof. 3 They drive away the ass of the fatherless, they take the widow's ox for a pledge.

4 They turn the needy out of the way;

the poor of the earth hide themselves together.

5 Behold, as wild asses in the desert,

go they forth to their work, rising betimes for a prey:
the wilderness yieldeth food for them and for their children.

6 They reap every one his corn in the field:

and they gather the vintage of the wicked.

7 They cause the naked to lodge without clothing, that they have no covering in the cold.

8 They are wet with the showers of the mountains, and embrace the rock for want of a shelter.

9 They pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor.

10 They cause him to go naked without clothing, and they take away the sheaf from the hungry;

11 which make oil within their walls,

and tread their wine-presses, and suffer thirst.

12 Men groan from out of the city,

and the soul of the wounded crieth out:

yet God layeth not folly to them.

13 They are of those that rebel against the light; they know not the ways thereof,

nor abide in the paths thereof.

14 The murderer rising with the light killeth the poor and needy,

and in the night is as a thief.

15 The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me :

and disguiseth his face.

16 In the dark they dig through houses,

which they had marked for themselves in the daytime: they know not the light.

17 For the morning is to them even as the shadow of death: If one know them, they are in the terrors of the shadow of death

18 He is swift as the waters;

their portion is cursed in the earth:

he beholdeth not the way of the vineyards.

19 Drought and heat consume the snow waters:

so doth the grave those which have sinned.

20 The womb shall forget him; the worm shall feed sweetly on him;

he shall be no more remembered;

and wickedness shall be broken as a tree.

21 He evil entreateth the barren that beareth not:

and doeth not good to the widow.

22 He draweth also the mighty with his power:

he riseth up, and no man is sure of life.

23 Though it be given him to be in safety, whereon he resteth ; yet his eyes are upon their ways.

24 They are exalted for a little while, but are gone

and brought low; they are taken out of the way as all others,

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and cut off as the tops of the ears of corn. 25 And if it be not so now, who will make me a liar, and make my speech nothing worth?

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL.

Job here recurs first of all to the wish which he

זי

hand lies heavy on my groaning: i. e., I
am driven to the continuous outbreak of my
groaning, I must all the time force forth groans
(not: my hand thrusts down my groaning, forces
it back: Hirzel). Since this rendering yields a
meaning that is entirely suitable, and suffers
from no particular difficulty as to the language,
it is unnecessary either with the Targ. [E. V.],
to understand T of "the hand of God which
strikes me" (the suffix - sensu obj.) or (with
the LXX. and Pesh.) [Merx] to read T. (Ac-
cording to E. V., Ges., Ber., Noyes, Schlottm.,
"the hand upon
Ren., Rod., y is comparative:
me is heavier than my groaning," which gives
a suitable meaning, at least if we take in
the sense of bitterness. The objection to it is,
however, as stated by Delitzsch, that "

1. Instead of replying directly to the injurious accusations of Eliphaz in ch. xxii. 6 sq.; has already uttered several times (especially in chs. ix and xiii.), that God Himself might manifest Himself as Umpire and as Witness of his innocence, and so end authoritatively the controversy which in each successive stage was becoming more and more involved. This wish is, however, immediately repressed by the thought that God purposely keeps Himself removed from him, in order to make him drink the cup of his sufferings to the dregs (ch. xxiii.). And in connection with the mournful fact that his state is so cheerless and so full of suffering, and furnishes living proof that God withholds the exercise of His retributive justice, he arrays forthwith (in the second and longer division of his is an established phrase, and commonly discourse, ch. xxiv.), numerous facts of a similar character, which may be observed in the sphere of human life in general. In particular he sets forth many examples of the prosperity of the wicked, continuing to extreme old age, or even to the end of life. He dwells with evident satisfaction on his description of these examples, in order in this way to establish and illustrate most fully the incomprehensibleness of the divine ways-The whole discourse, apart from the two principal divisions, which coincide with the customary division by chapters, is divided into smaller strophes of four verses each (in one case of five) in accordance with the strophedivisions of Ewald, as well as of Stickel and Delitzsch, which in the present case are entirely in harmony.

2. First Division. Repetition of the wish, heretofore uttered, that God might appear to rescue and to vindicate him, together with a self-suggested objection, and an expression of doubt whether the wish would be realized: ch. xxiii.

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used of the burden of the hand upon any one, Ps. xxxii. 4 (comp. ch. xxxiii. 7; and the connection with, 1 Sam. v. 6, and D, 1 Sam. v. 11").-E.]. It remains to be said that the clause defining the time, Din D, "even today," belongs to both halves of the verse, and for the same reason it expresses the more general sense, "even now, even always," (comp. ch. iii. 24). The supposition that the colloquy had lasted several days, and that in particular the present third course of the same had begun one day later than the one preceding is scarcely admissible on the strength of their expression, which is certainly not to be pressed too far, (against Ewald, 2d Ed., and Dillmann).

-T

Ver. 3. Oh that I but knew how to find Him.-The Perf. T with the following Imperf. consec. (D) expresses the principal notion contained in Job's wish: utinam scirem (locum ejus), et invenirem eum = — utinam possim inFirst Strophe: Vers. 2-5. Even to-day my venire eum! Comp. the similar construction in complaint is still bitter.-Both the authority chap. xxxii. 22; also Gesen., 142, (139), 3, c. Oh that I, having of the Ancient Versions, such as the Targ., The rendering of Dillmann: Pesh., Vulg. [E. V.], and also the comparison known (where He is to be found), might find with former passages, such as ch. vii. 11; x. 1, Him," (in accordance with Ewald, 357 b) gives favor the view that signifies "bitterness," essentially the same sense. in the second and is thus synonymous with “, the possibility member means by itself, a frame, stand, setting of which is shown by the cognate radical rela-up;" here specifically, "seat, throne," i. e., the tion of the verbs and 7, which occa- judgment seat of God, as the sequel shows. sionally interchange forms; comp. Delitzsch on the passage. If we take the word however in its ordinary signification of "frowardness, perverseness, we get a suitable meaning: "my complaint is still ever froward" (ever bids defiance, maintains its opposition), i. e., against such exhortations to penitence as those of Eliphaz (or in opposition to God, as Hahn, Olshausen, etc., explain). On the other hand we can make no use of the reading of the LXX.: EK TS xeɩpós pov ("), nor yet of Ewald's conjecture derived from it, "by reason of His hand is my complaint" [so Copt. and Merx].-My

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T

Ver. 4. In regard to, causam instruere, comp. ch. xiii. 18; in regard to ningin (lit. "objections, reproofs ") in the specific sense of "legal arguments, grounds of justification," see Ps. xxxviii. 15 [14]; also above ch. xiii. 3.

Second Strophe: Vers. 6-9. The doubt as to the possibility of such a protective interposition of God, begins again to appear. This (ver. 6) takes first of all the form of a shrinking reflection on the crushing effect which God's majesty and infinite fulness of power might easily exert upon him; a thought which has already emerged twice before (ch. ix. 34; xiii. 21), and which in

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this place Job, supported by the consciousness
of his innocence, repudiates and tramples under
foot. Would He in omnipotence then
contend with me? Nay! He would only
regard me: i. e., only give heed to me (D'
scil. ; comp. ch. iv. 20; here in union with
to express the cleaving of the Divine regard to
him, comp. 9, ch. vi. 28): only grant me a
hearing, and as the result thereof acquit me.
"nothing but;" intensive; the very thing
that He would do, hence the thing that He would
assuredly do]. To render the Imperfect verbs
and Das expressive of a wish: "shall
He contend with me?" i. e., shall I wish, that
He would contend with me? (Hirzel. Ew., Dillm.,
etc.), is altogether too artificial, and not at all
required by the connection. [The E. V., Bar.,
Carey, supply "strength" (5) after D: God,
so far from using His power to crush Job, would
strengthen him to plead his cause. But the el-
lipsis of is already justified by ch. iv. 20,
and the antithesis thus obtained between a and
b is more direct and natural.-E.].

זי

Ver. 7. Then (D as in ch. xxxv. 12; Ps. xiv. 5; lxvi. 6, and often in a temporal sense; then, when such a judicial interposition of God should take place) would a righteous man plead (lit., "be pleading," П, partic.) with Him: i. e., it would be shown that it is a righteous man who pleads with him; and I should forever escape my Judge; i. e., by virtue of this my uprightness. he is, like 7 ch.

xx. 20, intensive of Kal.

the less probability that the passage contains any reference to the 1770, ("the chambers of the South," ch. ix. 9), or, generally speaking, to any celestial abode of God as set forth in heathen theologies or cosmogonies. Rather does much so as the poet of the 189th Psalm, in his the poet conceive of God as omnipresent, as similar description (vers. 8-10). [Gesenius and Carey translate b: He veileth the South, etc.,' but less appropriately, the construction of being evidently the same with, which is unquestionably adverbial.-E.]

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Third Strophe: vers. 10-13. The reason why Job's innocence, He nevertheless will not abanGod withdraws Himself: although He knows don His purpose, once formed, not to allow Himfrom him, lest He should be compelled to acself to be found by Him. [lle conceals Himself knowledge the right of the sufferer, and to withdraw His chastening hand from him." Delitz.] Ver. 10. For He knows well my accustomed way. 1, lit. the way with me," i. e., the way which adheres to me, which is steadfastly pursued by me (comp. Ps. cxxxix. conscious" ["which his conscience (ovvednous) 24; Ew., 287 c), or: "the way of which I am approves (σvμμаprvpɛi)"], as Delitzsch explains, referring to ch. ix. 35; xv. 9.-If He should prove me (, an elliptical conditional clause; comp. Ewald, ? 357, b), I should come forth as gold, i. e., out of His crucible; a very strong and bold declaration of his consciousness of innocence, for which Job must hereafter (ch. xlii. 6) implore pardon.

Ver. 11. My foot hath held firm to His step (¡n, as elsewhere 2, Ps. xvii. 5; Prov. and tenacity, because not shackled with shoes v. 5) ["The Oriental foot has a power of grasp from early childhood, of which we can form but little idea." Carey]: His way I have kept, and turned not aside. O, Jus-ive Hiph. IT toward from 7, in the intransitive sense of deflectere, as in Ps. cxxv. 5; Is. xxx. 11.

Vers. 8, 9. The joyful prospect is suddenly swept away by the thought that God is nowhere, in no quarter of the world to be found.-Yet (,"yet behold," in an adversative sense, as in ch. xxi. 16) if I go eastward, He is not there, etc. D. ("toward the front,

the east") and (toward the rear, = toward the west," comp. ch. xviii. 20), refer to the eastern and western quarters of the heavens, even as the following "left" and "right" refer to the northern and southern.-If He works northward, I behold (Him) not; if He turns southward I see it not.

Ver. 12. The commandment of His lips I have not departed from it.—¿1?”, intransitive, like in the verse preceding. In regard to the construction (antecedent placing of a nominative absolute) comp. ch. iv. 6. More than my (own) law I have observed the saying of His mouth; have accordingly set qualifying, as also qualifying desired or prescribed for myself. [Bernard exthem far above all that I have, of my own will,

"toward the left" is an adverbial local clause,

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The former verb expresses its customary mean- plains the preposition here to mean: "by ing: "to work, to be active, efficient,' which reason of my rule," i. e., by reason of my having suits here very well (comp. ch. xxviii. 26), so that made it a rule. This however obscures the every different rendering, as e. g., taking striking contrast between ' and '-"to take His way (Blumenfeld), or="to hide Himself" (Umbreit), or = "to incline Himself, to turn Himself" (Ewald), seems uncalled for. On the other hand the common signification of to veil Himself," is less suitable in b [so E. V., Lee, Con., Ber., Rod., Elz., etc.], than the signification "bending, turning aside" adopted by Saadia, Schultens, Ewald, Delitzsch, etc., after the Arabic. If this latter definition deserves here the preference, there is

E.]. With
we may compare the "law in
the members" warring against the Divine law,
Rom. vii. 23. [E. V. takes P
as in Gen.
xlvii. 22; Prov. xxx. 8, in the sense of one's
"allowance of food;" Ewald also translates by
"Gebühr" ("that which as a distinguished rich
man I have the right to require in my relations
to other men, and my claims upon them "). The
consideration of Job's greatness and power
should be borne in mind with the rendering

:not,והוא באחד

T:

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"law." The "law" which Job had ever held sub- | not able to strike me dumb (with horror); only ordinate to the Divine precepts was the will of a the thought of God can do this, who with His prince.-E.]. "to lay up, preserve," is here incomprehensible decree stands behind this my substantially equivalent with, comp. Ps. cxix. suffering! Observe the significant contrast be11; in view of which parallel passage it is not netween the up of this ver. and the 'pp of cessary with the LXX. instead of P to read ver. 15 a; as well as moreover the antithetic relation, which obtains between this passage and γῆς, ἐν τῷ κόλπῳ μου έκρυψα ῥήματα αὐτοῦ. Ver. 13. Nevertheless He remaineth seemed not to mark at all the terrible darkness the statement of Eliphaz in ch. xxii. 11 that Job (ever) the same, and who will turn Him: of his misery. Either of these retrospective reviz., from His purpose; comp. ch. ix. 12; xi. 10. ferences of the passage is lost sight of if, with He remaineth by one thing' most of the ancients (LXX., Vulg., Luth.) [E. (Hirzel, Del.) [Lee, Noyes, Carey], for this V. Ges., Scott, Noyes, Ber., Ren., Rod., Elz.] we would have been expressed by the neuter form render: "because I was not cut off (ny, de(comp. ch. ix. 22); but the is essentiæ leri, perire, as in ch. vi. 17) before the darkness (Gesen. 154 [? 151] 3, a), and the thought ex-came, and He has not covered the darkness from pressed is that of the unchangeableness, the con- my face" [i. e., has not covered me in the grave, s'ancy of God (not the oneness, or the absolute so that I might never have faced this suffering]. superiority of God, as the Vulg., Targ., Starke, who refers to Gal. iii. 20, Schultens, Ewald, Schlottmann, [Ges., Ber., Rod., Elz.] explain. but against the context. With compare the well-known expression: "He spake, and it was done, etc.," Ps. xxxiii. 9. [The unchangeable purpose of God of which Job here speaks is evidently the purpose to inflict suffering on him, a purpose to which He inflexibly adheres, notwithstanding He knows Job's integrity, and finds through His crucible that the sufferer is pure gold.-E.].

Fourth Strophe: vers. 14-17. Truly (2 as in ch. xxii. 26), He will accomplish my destiny. P, with suffix of the object, means here that which has been decreed, ordained concerning me. And much of a like kind is with Him—i. e., "has been determined by

Him, lies in His purpose," (comp. ch. ix. 35: x. 13, xv. 9). The "much of that kind" spoken of refers not specifically to Job's sufferings (Umbreit. Delitzsch, etc.), as rather to all that is analogous thereto, to all decrees of a like character regarding men in general.

Ver. 15. Therefore do I tremble (lit. "I am terrified, troubled") before His face; if I consider it, I am afraid before Him.

The signification: "to become dumb, to be brought to silence," is the only one that is suitable here; we should then have to think (with Delitzsch, etc.) of an inward destruction by ter

ror and confusion.

3. Second Division: ch. xxiv. An extended description of the many incomprehensible things in what God does as ruler of the universe, beginning with the many instances in which He permits the innocent and defenceless to be oppressed and persecuted by their powerful ene

mies vers. 1-12.

Fifth Strophe: vers. 1-4. Why are times not reserved by the Almighty ?-i. e. times of reckoning with good and evil; judicial terms, at which He displays His retributive justice. In regard to the use of 13,"reserving" [storing ch. xv. 20; xxi. 19. up] in the sense of "appointing, fixing," comp. The question is of course so intended as to require no answer, or a negative one. So also in the second member: and do His friends (lit. "His knowers" [acquaintances], they who are His, who know Him, and He them, comp. ch. xviii. 21; Ps. xxxvi. 11 [10]) not see His days? The "days" of God here are His judgment days, the days in which He reveals Himself in judicial rigor against his enemies, and in beneficent mercy toward His holy ones (comp. Ezek. xxx. 3; also the expression, the "days of the Son of Man" in Luke xvii. 22). This verse also seems to contain a retrospective reference to the last discourse of Eliphaz, especially to ch. xxii. 19; by Ver. 16. And God hath made my heart the ancients, moreover, who were troubled more faint [lit. "soft"] ( Hiph. from 2, Deut. particularly about the D', "terms, judicial xx. 3, etc.), and the Almighty has con- periods," it was variously misunderstood, and founded me. The emphasis rests in the sub- erroneously translated. [The construction adopted by E. V., Con., etc.: "Why, seeing jects and, which are purposely placed times are not hidden from the Almighty, do they first in both members. It is God Himself, who that know Him not see His days? is a less naby His incomprehensibly harsh and stern treat-tural and simple rendering of the original than ment has plunged him in anguish and terror; his suffering considered in itself by no means exerts such a crushing influence upon him (see the vers. following).

is an elliptical hypothetical antecedent, as is the case in ver. 10 b. We are to supply as the object to be considered the unfathomable decree of God, by virtue of which he must suffer.

Ver. 17. For I am not dumb before the darkness, nor yet before myself whom thick darkness has covered-i. e., the darkness of my calamity (comp. ch. xxii. 11), and my own face and form darkened and disfigured by my sufferings (comp. ch. xix. 13 seq.) are

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that given above. Conant objects that "this question is not pertinent here. The point of inquiry is not, why are such times of retribution not appointed by God; but why, if they are appointed by Him, as alleged, do not good men witness them?" Job however does deny, by implication, that there is any retribution, or time reserved for it, with the Almighty. The phenomena of human life, he argues, indicate that God cares not how men sin, or suffer. The

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