21 The east wind carrieth him away, and he departeth: and as a storm hurleth him out of his place. 22 For God shall cast upon him, and not spare: He would fain flee out of his hand. 23 Men shall clap their hands at him, and hiss him out of his place. c. Declaration that true Wisdom, which alone can secure real well-being, and a correct solution of the dark enigmas of man's destiny, is to be found nowhere on earth, but only with God, and by means of a pious submission to God. Chap. xxviii. 1 Surely there is a vein for the silver, and a place for gold where they fine it. 2 Iron is taken out of the earth. and brass is molten out of the stone. 3 He setteth an end to darkness, and searcheth out all perfection : the stones of darkness, and the shadow of death. 4 The flood breaketh out from the inhabitants; even the waters forgotten of the foot: they are dried up, they are gone away from men. 7 There is a path which no fowl knoweth, 9 He putteth forth his hand upon the rock; 10 He cutteth out rivers among the rocks; and his eye seeth every precious thing. he overturneth the mountains by the roots. 11 He bindeth the floods from overflowing; and the thing that is hid bringeth he forth to light. 12 But where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding? 13 Man knoweth not the price thereof: neither is it found in the land of the living. 14 The depth saith, It is not in me; and the sea saith, It is not with me. 15 It cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof. 16 It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire. 17 The gold and the crystal cannot equal it: and the exchange of it shall not be for jewels of fine gold. 18 No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls ; for the price of wisdom is above rubies. 19 The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, neither shall it be valued with pure gold. 20 Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding? 21 Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the fowls of the air. 22 Destruction and death say, we have heard the fame thereof with our ears. 23 God understandeth the way thereof, and He knoweth the place thereof. 24 For He looketh to the ends of the earth, and He weigheth the waters by measure. 26 When He made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder; 27 Then did He see it, and declare it ; He prepared it, yea, and searched it out. 28 And unto man He said: Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding. EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. 1. Inasmuch as the opposition of the friends fs silenced, before the last of the number attempts a third reply, the victor, after a short pause, takes up his discourse, "in order that, by collecting himself after the passion of the strife, he might express with greater calmness and clearness the convictions which have been formed within him as results of the colloquy thus far, and so to give to the colloquy the internal solution which was wanting" (Dillm.). It is not so much a triumphant self-contemplation, or a pathetic monologue, that he delivers, but a genuine didactic discourse, addressed to the vanquished friends, which, like the discourses of the previous discussion, is cast in the form, characteristic of the Chokmah, of a series of proverbs. It is hence expressly termed in the introductory verse (ch. xxvii. 1) a continuation of the "Mashal, i. e. of the proverbial discourse" (in regard to N, "to utter, lit. to raise a proverb;" comp. Num. xxiii. 7, where the same expression is applied to a prophetic vaticinium of Balaam's).[" is speech of a more elevated tone and more figurative character; here, as frequently, the unaffected outgrowth of an elevated solemn mood. The introduction of the ultimatum as TT reminds one of "the proverb (el-methel) seals it in the mouth of the Arab, since in common life it is customary to use a pithy saying as the final proof at the conclusion of a speech." Delitzsch.]-The following are the contents of this proverbial discourse, which is somewhat extended, and which, especially in its last principal division, is exceedingly lofty and poetic: (1) An emphatic asseveration of his own innocence, which he has made repeatedly during the previous colloquy, and which he now puts forth as attested by his continued experience of God's friendship, and his joy in God (ch. xxvii. 2-10); (2) A description -imitating and surpassing the similar descriptions of the friends in chs. xv.; xviii.; xx., etc. -of the fearful divine judgment, which must of necessity overtake the ungodly, and in view of which he indeed has every reason to adhere earnestly and zealously to God's ways (ch. xxvii. 11-23); (3) An exhibition of the nature of true wisdom, which alone can furnish correct solutions of the dark enigmas of this earthly life, and which is here set forth as a blessing absolutely supra-sensual, to be obtained only through God, and the closes. union with Him (ch. xxviii.). -These three sections are differently divided, the two former consisting of three short strophes (of three to five verses), the third of three long strophes (two of eleven, and one of six verses). 2. First Section: The asseveration of his innocence: ch. xxvii. 2-10. First Strophe: vers. 2-4.-As God liveth (lit. "living is God!" a well-known Hebrew, and also Arabic formula of adjuration) [the only place where Job resorts to the oath], who hath taken away from me my right, and the Almighty who hath vexed my soul; lit. "who hath made bitter my soul" (LXX.: ó pas, comp. Col. iii. 19: TIKρaiveσvai). Ver. 3. For still all my breath is in me, and God's breath is in my nostrils, i. e. I am still possessed of enough freshness and vigor of spirit to know what I say, to be a responsible witness in behalf of my innocence. The older expositors, and among the moderns Schlottmann [Good, Noyes, Conant, Bernard, Carey. Rodwell, Elzas, Renan, Merx, and so E. V.] take the verse not as a parenthetic reason for the adjuration in ver. 2, but as the antecedent of ver. 4: "so long as my breath is yet in me," etc. But in that case the contents of the oath would have a double introduction, first by ?, then by DN. Moreover the words-hp, as the parallel passages, 2 Sam. i. 9; Hos. xiv. 3, show, have not in the least the appearance of an adverbial antecedent determination of time.— [The older rendering is certainly to be preferred. (1) It expresses a thought much more suitable "As God lives for incorporation into an oath. while I live-I will speak only the truth"-is "As God lives-and I take this oath natural. because I am fully competent to stand up to what I am swearing-my lips shall not," is decidedly unnatural. (2) The language at once suggests the simple idea of living-"breath (D) yet in me-the breath of Eloah in my nostril." This is scarcely the language one would use in describing a particular inward coudition. (3) is simply transitional, introducing after the oath a thought preparatory to the principal thought introduced by DN, a construction which Delitzsch admits to be possible, though what there is perplexing in it, it is difficult to see. (4) is used adverbially as in Ps. xxxix. 6; xlv. 14; Eccles. v. 15; here"wholly as long as" (see Gesenius and Fürst). It thus strengthens the expression in a way that etc. is altogether appropriate to the strong feeling | figurative expression: "cutting off the soul," which prompts the oath.-E.] T: has always for its basis the same conception of the body as a tent, and of the internal thread of life as the tent-cord, which we came across in ch. iv. 21. Possibly the expression: "drawing out" has the same explanation, although this seems to have rather for its basis the comparison of the body to a sheath for the soul (Dan. vii. 15), so that accordingly we have a transition from one figure to another. [E. V. (after the Vulgate, Syr., Targ.), Gesenius in Thes., Fürst, Con., Ber., Merx, Rod., Elz., translate plunder" or "gain" is certainly more in haror "though he despoil." The meaning "to mony with the usage of the verb in Kal, and avoids the mixture of metaphor according to the other construction.-E.] etc. Ver. 4 gives the contents of the oath, which the following verses unfold still more specifically and comprehensively. In regard to hy, lit. "perverseness," hence "falsehood, untruthfulness," and its synonym, comp ch. xiii. 7. Second Strophe: vers. 5-7.-Far be it from me (lit. "for a profanation be it to me," comp. Ew. 329, a) to grant that you are in the right: wherein is seen in the second member -until I die I will not let my innocence "though he hath gained" scil. riches, be taken away from me (lit. "I will not let it depart from me"), i. e. I will not cease from asserting it continually. Ver. 6. In regard to in a, meaning "to let something go, to let it fall," comp. ch. vii. 19. My heart reproacheth not one of my days.—, lit, “to pluck, to pick off," carpere, vellicare. ? here is unquestionably synonymous substantially with "conscience." Luther translated it both here and in Josh. xiv. 7; comp. also 1 Sam. xxiv. 6 [5]; 2 Sam. xxiv. 10, where it may also be translated "conscience" (see in general Vilmar, Theolog. Moral. I., p. 66). Most modern commentators rightly take in pp, as partitive-"one of my days;" the temporal rendering of the expression adopted by the ancients, as also by Ewald (=while I live, in omni vita mea, Vulg.) [E. V.], necessitates the harsh and scarcely admissible rendering of as intransitive, or as reflexive ("does not blame itself," Ewald) [E. V. supplies "me"]. It remains to be said, that this asseveration of innocence (like that in ch. xxiii. 10 seq.) is, in some measure, exaggerated, when compared with the mention which Job makes earlier of "the sins of his youth," ch. xiii. 26. So Vers. 9, 10. Will God hear his cry? ... Can he delight himself in the Almighty? The meaning of these questions is that to him there shall be neither the hearing of his prayers, nor a joyful, trustful and loving fellowship with God (as in ch. xxii. 26). Job accordingly claims for himself both these things (comp. ch. xiii. 16), and thereby leaves out of the account transient obscurations of his spirit, like that in consequence of which he mourns (ch. xix. 7) that his prayer is not heard. ble overthrow of the wicked: vers. 11-23. The 3. Second Section: Description of the inevitaby Job seems at first sight to exhibit with the striking correspondence which this description well-known descriptions of the friends, especially in the second series of the colloquy, and this notwithstanding the fact that Job himself only just before, in chs. xxi. and xxiv., has maintained the happiness of the wicked to the end of their life, have led some to assume a transposition, or confusion of the text (Kennicott, Stuhlmann, Bernstein, [Bernard, Wemyss, Elzas]; comp. Introd. 9, 1); others, to suppose that Job is here simply repeating the opinion of his opponents, without purposing to make it his own (Eichhorn, Das Buch Hiob übers., etc., 1824; Böckel, 2d Ed. 1830). But the contradiction to Job's former utterances is only apparent, for: (1) The opinion that the prosperity of the wicked cannot endure has been repeatedly put forth even by himself, at least in principle (comp. ch. xxi. 16; xxiii. 15; xxiv. 12; comp. also below ch. xxxi. 3 seq.). (2) The erroneous and objectionably one-sided utterances regarding God as a hard-hearted persecutor of innocence, and Third Strophe: vers. 8-10.-For what is the author of the prosperity of many evil-doers, hope of an ungodly man when He cutteth which he has heretofore frequently put forth, off, when Eloah draweth out his soul?— needed to be counteracted by the truths which This question is to be understood from the two supplement and rectify these one-sided errors. former discourses of Job, in which, when con- (3) It was of importance to Job, not so much to fronting death he placed his hope with animated instruct the friends in regard to the fact that emphasis on God, as his final deliverer and the impending destruction of the ungodly was avenger (chs. xvii. and xix.). In contrast with certain -for that they had long known this fact such a joyful hope reaching out beyond death. is expressly set forth in ver. 12-as rather to the evil-doer has nothing more to hope for, when place this phenomenon in the right light, in once God has cut off his thread of life, and opposition to the perverted application which drawn out his soul out of the mortal body they had made of it, and to exhibit its profound enclosing it ( Imperf. apoc. Kal. from connection with the order of the universe as established by the only wise God. This end he extrahere, cognate with and w). The accomplishes by subsequently introducing a Ver. 7. Mine enemy must appear as the wicked, and mine adversary as the un righteous: viz. as the penalty of their falsely suspecting and disputing my innocence. Only this optative rendering of the Jussive is suited to the context, not the concessive: "though mine enemy be an evil-doer, I am none" (Hirz.). As to Depp, comp. ch. xx. 27; Ps. lix. 2. ["The idea conveyed in is hostility of feeling; in Depp, hostility of action, and that initiative. It is, to some extent, expressive of unprovoked assault." Carey.] TT description of true wisdom and understanding, a treasure deeply hidden, and to be possessed only through the fear of God, and humble submission to Him.—This is the end which Job has in view in the present discourse. It is not necessary (with Brentius and others of the older expositors, also Schlottmann) to find in it a warning purpose, i. e., the purpose to set before the friends the end of those who judge unjustly, and who render unfriendly decisions, with a view of terrifying them-a purpose of which there is nowhere any indication, and for which there would seem to be no particular motive, seeing that the discussion has come to an end, and that any attempt to move the vanquished opponents by warnings would be cruelly and most injuriously at variance with the conciliatory mildness which this last discourse of Job's elsewhere breathes. [a. The attempts to relieve the difficulty connected with the passage before us by changing and transposing the text are arbitrary and unsatisfactory, producing abrupt connections, or rather breaks, and a confusion of thought and impression more serious than that which it is sought to remove. b. Especially does it betray a total want of appreciation of the author's skill in managing the plot and development of the drama to force in Zophar for a third speech. The logical and rhetorical exhaustion of the friends could not well be more effectively indicated than by the way in which the colloquy on their part tapers and dwindles-first in the short, and so far as ideas are concerned, poverty-stricken speech of Bildad, and finally in the complete dumbness of Zophar, perhaps of all three the most consummate master of words. the apparent contradiction in Job's speeches, the interchange of words would have been endless;" or as Delitzsch has stated it: "Had Job's stand-point been absolutely immovable, the controversy could not possibly have come to a welladjusted decision, which the poet must have planned, and which he also really brings about, by causing his hero still to retain an impertur bable consciousness of his innocence, but also allowing his irritation to subside, and his extreme harshness to become moderated." (4) In the particular passage before us, Job's utterance is to be explained largely in the light of the victory which he has just achieved. In the hour of triumph a great soul is moderate, calm, just. So here Job shows the greatness of his strength by conceding to the friends the truth in their position, and by stating that truth with a power equal to their own. It is a masterly touch of the poet's art that shows itself here in this picture of a great soul in the hour of victory. (5) There is, however, as suggested above by Zöckler, a still more conscious and controlling purpose in the following description. Job describes the certain destruction of the wicked, not mainly in the way of concession to the friends, but rather for his own vindication. The friends had portrayed such descriptions to show how much there are in the evil-doer's fate to remind of Job's calamities. Job takes up the theme to show how unlike his fate, with all its tragic lineaments, and the abandoned sinner's. He still holds fast to his righteousness. is heard by God, delights in God, is on terms of intimacy with God, is competent to instruct in behalf of God;-the wicked man has a very different portion with God! As ever therefore Job is not merely eloquent, but cogent; and when he accepts their conclusions, it is to overwhelm them yet more completely with their own argu c. The theory that Job is here going over the ground of the friends, and repeating their position, is disproved negatively by the absence of anything to indicate such a course, and posi-ments.-E.] tively by the straightforward earnestness and deep feeling which pervade the passage, as well as by what he says in the introductory verses 11, 12. d. Regarded as Job's own earnest affirmations the following considerations should be borne in mind. (1) As shown above by Zöckler, isolated statements have already proceeded in harmony with the representation given here. At the same time it cannot be denied that this is much the most extended and emphatic expression by Job of the view here set forth, and that it is in form much more nearly allied to the representations of the friends. But: (2) It is no part of the poet's plan to preserve Job's unalterable consistency. Job's experiences are most various, and his utterances change with them. They strike each various chord of sorrow, joy, doubt, confidence, despair, hope, fear, yearning, victory. Through all it is true there is an underlying unity and identity of character; but the variations exist, and are full of dramatic interest and importance, and yet more of sacred practical suggestiveness. (3) These inconsistencies still further prepare the way for a termination and solution of the controversy. As Umbreit has shown, "without First Strophes: vers. 11-13. Introduction to the following description. Ver. 11. I will teach you concerning God's hand: i. e. concerning His doings, His mode of working. In regard to with verbs of teaching or instructing, comp. Ps. xxv. 8, 12; xxxii. 8: Prov. iv. 11 (Ew. § 217, ƒ).—The from you: lit. "what is with the Almighty, mind of the Almighty will I not conceal and counsels;" comp. ch. x 13; xxiii 10, etc. that which forms the contents of His thoughts Ver. 12 emphatic] have seen it, have become See now, all ye yourselves familiar with it by observation (in, as in ch. xv. 17), so that ye do not need to learn the thing itself, but only to acquire a more correct, unprejudiced understanding of it. The second member points to the latter: "and why are ye then vain with vanity?" i. e. so altogether vain, so completely entangled in perverse delusion? (Ew. 281, a) Ver. 13 announces the theme treated of in the passage following, in words which purposely convey a reminder of the language used by one of the opponents, Zophar, at the close of his discourse (ch. xx. 29). Second Strophe: vers. 14-18. The judgment, upon the family, possessions, and homestead of the evil-doer. לְמוֹ-חֶרֶב .for the sword Ver. 14. If his children multiply (it is) sc. In respect ton, found only in Job, comp. ch. xxix. 21; xxxviii. 40; xl. 4 (Ew. § 221, b). T': 66 nan, Rodwell, Merx]. The renderings based on and yet nothing is taken away" (Schnurr., the reading are not so good; as, e. g., Umbreit, Stick. [Elzas, Wemyss: "but he shall take nothing away"];-"and he is not buried" (Ralbag, Rosenmüller, Schlottmann) [Noyes, E. V.: "he shall not be gathered," and so Con., Ver. 15. The remnant of those who are his Lee, Scott, etc. Carey explains the familiar shall be buried by the pestilence.-T phrase, to be gathered (to one's fathers, etc.)." "his escaped ones" (comp. chap. xx. 21. 26), are not of being buried in the grave, but of being rethe descendants still remaining to him, after that moved to the place of spirits. The objections to the sword and famine have already thinned their referring the clause to the rich man's burial, as ranks. This remainder the Pestilence will carry stated by Delitzsch, are, that the preceding off, that third destroying angel, in addition to strophe has already referred to his not being the sword and famine, mentioned also in Jer. buried, and that the relation of the two parts of xiv. 12; xv. 2; xviii. 21: 2 Sam. xxiv. 18; Lev. the verse in this interpretation is unsatisfactory]. xxvi. 25 seq. Here, as also in Jer. xv. 2, this is The same may be said of the reading, simply designated "death" (1); and by the "and takes not with him" (Jerome, and some phrase, "in death (or by death) they are buried," MSS.). Openeth his eyes-and is gone! allusion is made to the quick succession of death (comp. chap. xxiv. 24).-This further description and burial, which is customary in such epidemics of the sudden end of the wicked relates to the (comp. Amos vi. 9seq.). This bold and truly morning, the time of awakening, as the preceding poetic thought is destroyed if, with Böttcher, we clause refers to the evening hour of going to take to mean in momento mortis, or if, with Olshausen [Merx], we arbitrarily insert a before 2p [Carey explains: "They shall be sepulchred by Death. This is literal, and a bold figure, by which is signified that they should bed. Ver. 20. The multitude of terrors (i. e., the sudden terrors of death; comp. chap. xviii. 14; xx. 25) like the waters (like the torrents of a sudden overflow-comp. chap. xx. 28; Jer. xlvii. 2; Ps. xviii. 5 [4]) overtakes him (1), 3d Ver. 21. Further descriptive expansion of the figure of a tempest: The east wind lifteth him up.-This wind being elsewhere frequently described as particularly violent and descriptive; comp. chap. i. 19; xv. 2; xxxviii. 24; Isa. xxvii. 8; Ezek. xxvii. 26. Concerning ", ut pereat, comp. chap. xiv. 20; xix. 10. have no other burial than such as Death should give them on the open field, where they had Perf. sing. fem. referring to the plur. nine;" fallen, either by sword or by famine." This, comp. chap. xiv. 19). On comp. chap. xxi. however, is somewhat too artificial and modern]. 18. And his widows weep not-to wit, in following the coffin, because by reason of the frightful raging of the disease, funeral solemnities are not observed. "His widows" may mean both the principal wives and concubines of the head of the family, and those of his deceased sons and grandsons; these latter even, in a certain sense, belonging to him, the patriarch. Comp. the literal repetition of this member in Ps. lxxviii. 64, where the twofold possibility mentioned here is not recognized, because the ' there refers to the "people," Dy. Ver. 22. The subj. of can be only God, the secret Author of the whole judgment of wrath here described. Of Him it is said: He hurleth upon him without sparing-to wit, arrows; Ver. 16. If he heapeth up for himself sil- comp. chap. xvi. 13; and in regard to the obver as the dust, etc.-The same figures used jectless "to shoot," see Num. xxxv. 20. to designate material regarded as worthless on Before His hand must he flee-lit. "must he account of its great quantity in Zech. ix. 3. fleeing flee."-The Inf. Absol. expresses the Ver. 17. Apodosis to the preceding verse, ex-strenuousness and yet the futility of his various pressing the same thought as, e. g., Ps. xxxvii. attempts to flee (Del.: "before His hand he fleeth 29, 34; Eccles. ii. 16. hither and thither"). Ver. 18. He hath built, like a moth, his Ver. 23. They clap their hands at him— house, and like a booth, which a watch- rejoicing at his calamity and mocking him; man puts up (in a vineyard, or an orchard, comp. chap. xxxiv. 37; Lam. ii. 15; Nah. iii. 19. Isa. i. 8). The point of comparison for both members is the laxity, frailty, destructibility of The plural suffixes in and in' are used such structures, which are intended to be broken poetically for the sing., as in chap. xx. 23; xxii. up soon. 2. "The accumulation of the terminations émo Third Strophe: Vers. 19-23. He lieth down and ômo gives a tone of thunder and a gloomy rich, and doeth it not again. So according impress to this conclusion of the description of judgment, as these terminations frequently octo the reading (=''), which already cur in the book of Psalms, where moral deprathe LXX. (kaì où πpoσvýσɛ1), Itala, and Pesh. vity is mourned and divine judgment threatened followed, which is favored by parallel passages, (e. g., in Psalms xvii.; xlix.; lviii.; lix.; lxxiii).” such as chap. xx. 9: xl. 5, and is accordingly DEL They hiss him out of his place-so preferred by the leading modern commentators, that he must leave his dwelling-place (comp. such as Ewald, Hirzel, Delitzsch, Dillmann [Re- chap. viii. 18) in the midst of scorn and hissing |