of death stain it, the thickest darkness, the deepest death-gloom reclaiming and covering it as an unclean thing; let a cloud dwell upon it, encamping over it, obscuring and hiding it forever; let the blackness of the day terrify it, the thought being that, just as a day seems all the gloomier and more dismal after it has once been lit up by a flash of light, so the dismal bitterness of darkness should settle upon the day of his birth as a form of retribution for permitting his being born. V. 6. As for that night, let darkness seize upon it, everlasting darkness holding it in its possession; let it not be joined unto the days of the year, rather, "let it not be glad of its existence among the days of the year," as one of a joyful troop of nights which march by in glittering procession; let it not come into the number of the months, it should be omitted and forgotten, as utterly detestable. V. 7. Lo, let that night be solitary, or, more forceful, “See, that night!" Let it be barren, and therefore utterly desolate, without a cheering voice; let no joyful voice come therein, not a single jubilant shout, as over the happy birth of a welcome child. V. 8. Let them curse it that curse the day, the sorcerers of old, whose ban was thought to bewitch a day so as to make it a day of misfortune, who are ready to raise up their mourning, literally, "those who are skilful in rousing up leviathan," the great dragon of whom the ancients believed that he devoured the sun and the moon at the time of eclipses, whom the heathen sorcerers tried to drive away with their incantations. All the men who had influence over the powers of evil should join in cursing the night of Job's conception. V. 9. Let the stars of the twilight thereof be dark, refusing to be the heralds of the dawn and thereby continuing the darkness; let it look for light, but have none, condemned to the everlasting curse of darkness; neither let it see the dawning of the day, literally, "the eyelashes of the dawn," by which it might be refreshed and filled with pleasure; v. 10. because it shut not up the doors of my mother's womb, thus hindering his being conceived and born, nor hid sorrow from mine eyes, for if he had never been born, he would not now have been afflicted with this suffering. It was an impatient outburst which, although not directed at God outright, yet had the effect of a challenge of His providence and government of the world, and therefore was just as objectionable as similar outbursts on the part of believers to-day.

JOB LONGS FOR Death.-V. 11. Why died I not from the womb, immediately after birth? Why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly? V. 12. Why did the knees prevent me? "Prevent" is here used in the old sense of anticipate, be ready for, said of the father, who took the new-born child on his lap, joyfully acknowledging his

son.

Or why the breasts that I should suck? Said of the readiness, of the anxious longing, of the mother to nurse her child, to give him the food needed in order to sustain life. V. 13. For now should I have lain still and been quiet, not bothered with any of the misery which he was now suffering; I should have slept, in the untroubled sleep of the grave; then had I been at rest, v. 14. with kings and counselors of the earth, the highest officers of the state, the royal advisers and ministers, which built desolate places for themselves, who erected for themselves what proved to be, not palaces, but ruins; ("The paths of glory lead but to the grave";) v. 15. or with princes that had gold, who filled their houses with silver, those who heaped up countless treasures for themselves; v. 16. or as an hidden, untimely birth I had not been, he would not exist at all, as infants which never saw light. All of them, the builders of great palaces, the rich millionaires, together with the still-born babes, they all enter into the rest of the grave, whether this be decorated with a structure upon whose ruins men gaze with wondering surprise, or whether it be a hole in the ground whose very location is afterward forgotten. V. 17. There the wicked cease from troubling, no longer being engaged in raging; and there the weary, those who suffered misery and trouble in this life, be at rest, removed from everything that wearied out their strength. V. 18. There the prisoners rest together, as many as there may be; they hear not the voice of the oppressor, no taskmaster, or overseer, threatens them any longer. V. 19. The small and great are there, for death makes all men equal; and the servant is free from his master. The very thought of the rest and quiet of the grave, with its surcease from sorrow and misery, is fascinating to Job; he lingers over the thought before continuing his complaint in which he desires death for himself. V. 20. Wherefore is light, namely, the light of life, given to him that is in misery and life unto the bitter in soul, why should God continue them in this miserable life, v. 21. which long for death, but it cometh not, and dig for it, with frantic desire, more than for hid treasures, v. 22. which rejoice exceedingly, in an excess of jubilation, and are glad when they can find the grave? It is a cry of extreme anguish which longs for deliverance by death and is unable to explain why this coveted deliverance is denied. V. 23. Why is light given to a man whose way is hid, the light of life continued to a man as helpless and forsaken as Job, and whom God hath hedged in, so that he is unable to find deliverance? V. 24. For my sighing cometh before I eat, instead of eating and enjoying his food he is constrained to groan in his misery, and my roarings are poured out like the waters,

in a steady, unremittent flow, without relief. V. 25. For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, if he but thought of a terrible thing, he was immediately struck by it, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me, if he dreaded a thing, he was immediately overtaken by it, he was obliged to endure all that he had ever considered frightful. V. 26. I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet, he was SO

troubled then that he had neither respite nor repose; yet trouble came, it was coming upon him in an endless stream. Thus even believers are sometimes overwhelmed by impatience, giving way to expressions which are full of accusations against God. A Christian should always be prepared to die, but he should not impatiently desire death at any time. He is ill prepared for death who is unwilling to live.

The First Rejoinder of Eliphaz. Job having thus given way to his impatience, his friends thought it their duty to correct him. But instead of showing him in what respect his position was wrong, they proceed according to the assumption that Job must be guilty of some special fault or sin, and chide him accordingly. V. 1. Then Eliphaz, the Temanite, answered and said, v. 2. If we essay to commune with thee, wilt thou be grieved? Eliphaz wanted to be sure from the outset that Job would not misunderstand his friends if they ventured some suggestions, that he would not be insulted or offended if they spoke a word in his behalf. But who can withhold himself from speaking? He felt that he must express his opinion at this time. V. 3. Behold, thou hast instructed many, namely, with words of loving reproof and admonition, and thou hast strengthened the weak hands, causing the slack hands to take up their tasks with new vigor. V. 4. Thy words have upholden him that was falling, and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees, by holding men upright who were about to sink down, figuratively speaking, by his moral support, by his encouragement. V. 5. But now it is come upon thee and thou faintest; now that misfortune, in turn, had struck Job, all his fine admonitions to others were forgotten, and he was faint and impatient. It toucheth thee and thou art troubled, confounded, seized with terror, filled with feebleness and despondency when suffering came to his own door. V. 6. Is not this thy fear, thy confidence, thy hope, and the uprightness of thy ways? or, "Is not thy piety, thy confidence, and thy hope the righteousness of thy ways?" Eliphaz implied that Job surely did not have an evil conscience, that he certainly could and should remember the uprightness of his life, which his friend was not prepared to question. V. 7. Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished being innocent? Or where were the righteous cut off? This overemphasis on the safety of the upright shows that Eliphaz intended to voice his doubts concerning the unvarying piety of Job, trying to convey the idea that there must have been, after all, something that

merited an extraordinary punishment at the hand of God. This thought is now elaborated in detail. V. 8. Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, sowing mischief in their fields, and sow wickedness, misery and ruin for others, reap the same. "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap," Gal. 6, 7.8. V. 9. By the blast of God they perish, as God breathes upon them in anger, and by the breath of His nostrils are they consumed, like plants which a burning wind scorches, so that they shrivel up and wither away. V. 10. The roaring of the lion, as he goes forth to seize and tear his prey, and the voice of the fierce lion, of the roarer who shows his angry temper, and the teeth of the young lions are broken. V. 11. The old lion, he who enjoys the fulness of adult strength, perisheth, wanders about helplessly, for lack of prey, and the stout lion's whelps are scattered abroad, rather, the whelps of the lioness. Lions of every age and of every condition of strength are mentioned in order to picture the destruction of the haughty sinner with all his household. Eliphaz now draws a conclusion which he expresses very carefully. V. 12. Now, a thing was secretly brought to me, it came to him in a stealthy, mysterious manner, and mine ear received a little thereof, a faint whisper or lisp, as from an oracle, which he hardly dared utter. V. 13. In thoughts from the visions of the night, in pictures such as the thoughts paint in dreams, when deep sleep falleth on men, when the spirit of man seems to penetrate into superhuman realms, v. 14. fear came upon me and trembling, meeting him in such a way as to cause a shudder to pass over him, which made all my bones to shake, in a deep and fearful agitation. V. 15. Then a spirit passed before my face, gliding or flitting before him like the apparition of an angel; the hair of my flesh stood up, as in sudden, extreme térror; v. 16. it stood still, but I could not discern the form thereof, it had the shadowy indistinctness which creates such an impression of awe; an image was before mine eyes, there was silence, and I heard a voice, rather, a lisping murmur and a voice, a lisping or murmur

ing voice, saying, v. 17. Shall mortal man be more just than God? Shall a man be more pure than his Maker? The thought contained here is this, that whoever censures the government of God, as Job had done in his complaint, thereby claims to be more just than God and thus becomes guilty. V. 18. Behold, He put no trust in His servants, the ministering angels; and His angels he charged with folly, to the very spirits of light He imputes error, they cannot compare with Him in holiness and purity; v. 19. how much less in them that dwell in houses of clay, frail men with material, earthly bodies, whose foundation is in the dust, out of which their bodies were originally framed, which are crushed before the moth, utterly consumed as though they were nothing but moths! V. 20.

They are destroyed, beaten into small pieces and thus returned to dust, from morning to evening, their life being but an extremely short span of time; they perish forever without any regarding it, soon dead and rapidly forgotten. V. 21. Doth not their excellency which is in them go away? They die, even without wisdom, literally, "Is it not: torn away is their cord?" the picture being taken from the quick striking of a tent. Without having found true wisdom in their lives, having lived in short-sightedness and folly all their days, men die, they are cut off and taken away, Ps. 90, 9. 10. Remembering this, the Christian will at all times be constrained to pray: "So teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom."

The Conclusion of the First Speech of Eliphaz.

ANSWERING A POSSIBLE OBJECTION ON JOB'S PART.-V. 1. Call now, if there be any that will answer thee, rather, "will any one reply?" Having complained against God as though he were just and God unjust, will Job find any one to intercede for him or to help him in his trouble? And to which of the saints wilt thou turn? Would he find so much as a single angel to take his part? He whom God will not help no creature can help, and an impatient murmuring against misfortune would only challenge the anger of God. V. 2. For wrath killeth the foolish man, grief slays the complaining fool, and envy slayeth the silly one, his own impatient repining brings destruction upon himself. V. 3. I have seen the foolish taking root, like a luscious plant in rich soil, as though his prosperity would endure forever; but suddenly I cursed his habitation, that is, a sudden destruction at the hand of God occurred, which showed that his apparently prosperous dwelling was, after all, under God's curse, Ps. 73, 18. 19. V. 4. His children are far from safety, they were without help, when the curse of God descended upon him, and they are crushed in the gate, neither is there any to deliver them, the reference being to the gate as the place of judgment in the Oriental cities. V. 5. Whose harvest the hungry eateth up, namely, that of the man whom the Lord cast down from the height of his prosperity, and taketh it even out of the thorns, the very last gleanings of the harvest of the wicked being swept away in the calamity which befalls him, and the robber swalloweth up their substance, literally, "the thirsty," or, "those who lay snares, swallow his wealth"; he is deprived of all he has, which was obtained either by deceit or by outright robbery, as a

punishment of the Lord. V. 6. Although affliction, every kind of misery and evil, cometh not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground, that is, the misfortunes of men are not like accidental weedy growths; v. 7. yet man is born unto trouble, man, being enticed by his own lust, inherited since the time of Adam, commits sin and as a consequence brings misery upon himself, as the sparks fly upward, carried up on high by the heat engendered in the flame. So much for man's natural condition. V. 8. I, that is, Eliphaz on his part, would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause, leaving everything in the hands of the most high God, and not in any way impatient of His government, v. 9. which doeth great things and unsearchable, whose ways are beyond finding out and therefore beyond question on the part of men; marvelous things without number, all of which are beyond the grasp of the human mind; v. 10. who giveth rain upon the earth and sendeth waters upon the fields, the open land outside the cities, as the water of springs and brooks irrigates the land, v. 11. to set up on high those that be low, namely, by pouring out His blessings upon them, that those which mourn may be exalted to safety, raised up to prosperity, enjoy the rich benefits showered upon them. V. 12. He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, bringing all their schemes to naught, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise, cannot realize what they wanted to accomplish, not bring about anything solid or lasting, no matter how great their success may seem for a while. V. 13. He taketh the wise in their own craftiness, so that they are shown to be fools before Him and their plans result in ruin to themselves, and the counsel of the froward, those who try to be cunning in setting aside His will, is carried

headlong, is overthrown. V. 14. They meet with darkness in the daytime and grope in the noonday as in the night, afflicted with blindness by God, being punished for their impertinent behavior in vaunting their own wisdom. V. 15. But He saveth the poor from the sword, from their mouth, that is, from the sword which proceeds out of their mouth in the form of wicked slander, and from the hand of the mighty, the strong who delight in violence and bloodshed. V. 16. So the poor hath hope, and iniquity stoppeth her mouth. Believers may at all times and in all circumstances place their full confidence in Jehovah, knowing that He will always work deliverance from every evil work, no matter how hopeless the outlook.

ELIPHAZ ADMONISHES JOB TO BEAR HIS TRIAL PATIENTLY.-V. 17. Behold, happy is the man, the mortal, in all his feebleness, whom God correcteth, since such an action on the part of God shows His fatherly interest. Therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty, by a want of submission, by a rebellious attitude; v. 18. for He maketh sore and bindeth up, in order to heal the wound which He has inflicted, Hos. 6, 1; Deut. 32, 39; He woundeth, and His hands make whole. Cp. Prov. 3, 11-13; Ps. 94, 12. V. 19. He shall deliver thee in six troubles, in a great number of afflictions; yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee, Ps. 91, 10. The believer, trusting in the goodness and mercy of Jehovah, is safe at all times. V. 20. In famine He shall redeem thee from death, Ps. 33, 19, and in war from the power of the sword, so that it cannot strike and kill. V. 21. Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue, from all slander and reviling, which would not be able to detract from his good name, Ps. 31, 20; Jer. 18, 18; neither

shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh, no matter what catastrophe threatens, Ps. 32, 6. V. 22. At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh, knowing that they are powerless to harm him; neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth, who in ancient times were often a severe scourge. V. 23. For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field, who would not harm the fertility of the soil nor interfere with its tilling; and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee, harming neither him nor his flocks and herds. V. 24. And thou shalt know that thy tabernacle, the tent where he dwelled and all his possessions, shall be in peace, altogether safe and uninjured; and thou shalt visit thy habitation and shalt not sin, rather, in reviewing thy household, thou findest no gap, nothing would be missing of all his property. V. 25. Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be great, plentiful in numbers, and thine offspring as the grass of the earth, this being considered a very great blessing throughout the Bible, just as childlessness was regarded as a lack of blessing and even as a curse. V. 26. Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, in a ripe old age, in unbroken vigor, like as a shock of corn cometh in in his season, dead ripe, and carried up to the threshing-floor, yielding up its riches of grain. V. 27. Lo this, we have searched it, found out by careful investigating; hear it and know thou it for thy good, the warning being again addressed to Job, lest he once more murmur and complain. Note that Eliphaz speaks the truth, but not all the truth, for the application of his statements to the case of Job did not follow. It is a dangerous conclusion to infer that a fellowChristian is under God's wrath just because he is suffering misfortunes.

Job's Reply to Eliphaz.

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JOB DEFENDS HIS DESIRE for Death. — V. 1. But Job answered and said, v. 2. Oh, that my grief were throughly weighed, namely, the suffering which he was enduring, and my calamity, the bitter and unexplainable affliction, laid in the balances together! Both pans being thus adjusted, his misfortunes would be found to outweigh his sorrows, his complaint. V. 3. For now it would heavier than the sand of the sea, his woe was heavy beyond measure; therefore my words are swallowed up, rather, "they raved," they were spoken rashly. Although the greatness of his misery explained his complaining, yet he himself confessed that this fact did not really justify his untamed sorrow, his foolish raving. His better knowledge told him that he should not indulge his grief, but the

unequaled greatness of his misery drove his tongue to the complaint which he made. V. 4. For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, the sickness, pains, and plagues which God inflicted upon him, the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit, like a venom whose burning heat dried up his soul; the terrors of God do set themselves in array against me, like an attacking army storming a citadel, Is. 42, 13. Job now argues that the demand which wanted him to submit without a murmur is unnatural. V. 5. Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass, literally, "by the fresh grass"? Or loweth the ox over his fodder? That is, even an irrational beast will not groan or utter discontented cries if it is fully provided with food; much less would Job lament without sufficient cause. V. 6. Can that which is unsavory, tasteless, be eaten without

salt? Or is there any taste in the white of an egg? In either case the lack of flavor, the insipid taste, tends to make the food nauseating; even so Job cannot relish his present sufferings, which to him are like a loathsome food. V. 7. The things that my soul refused to touch are as my sorrowful meat, or, What my soul abhorred to touch, that is to me as my loathsome food; he had to smell and touch the putrid matter of leprosy day after day. V. 8. Oh, that I might have my request, literally, "that it might come," be fulfilled; and that God would grant me the thing that I long for! He was crying and longing for release from his misery. V. 9. Even that it would please God to destroy me, snuffing out his life by an early death; that He would let loose His hand and cut me off! The picture is that of the cutting of a cord or string, which was synonymous with death. It was an intense, an impatient desire for death. V. 10. Then should I yet have comfort, he would find consolation in this fact; yea, I would harden myself in sorrow. Let Him not spare, rather, "I would leap up in unsparing pain," due to its excessive force which promised him no respite; for I have not concealed the words of the Holy One. The fact that he had not denied the Lord was Job's confidence in the midst of all distress and misery, even if the pain it caused him should be practically unbearable. V. 11. What is my strength that I should hope, continue to wait, persevere as heretofore? And what is mine end that I should prolong my life, literally, "lengthen my soul," be patient? His strength was completely gone, and therefore he looked forward to death with eager impatience. V. 12. Is my strength the strength of stones? Or is my flesh of brass? He certainly did not have the power of endurance which inorganic matter possesses. V. 13. Is not my help in me, rather, "Is not the nothingness of my help with me," that is, Am I not utterly helpless? And is wisdom driven quite from me? His well-being, his prospect of strength in the future, of an eventual recovery, had been driven away from him and thus utterly lost. An early death was the only hope he cherished, and that he desired with an intense longing. A Christian will always be ready for death, but it would be wrong for him to demand death at the hands of God. We must at all times submit our will to that of our heavenly Father.

JOB CRITICIZES ELIPHAZ FOR HIS CONDUCT. V. 14. To him that is afflicted pity should be showed from his friend, or, to him who is melting on account of the fierceness of his misery, and therefore in despair, gentleness should be shown by his friends; but he forsaketh the fear of the Almighty, rather, even if he should, or, lest he should, forsake the fear of the Almighty. Friends worthy of the name should stand by one who is in misery

and distress, lest he give way entirely to despair and forsake the Lord. V. 15. My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook, false and treacherous as a torrent, as an arroyo in the wilderness, which presents a dry bed at just the time when water is most needed, and as the stream of brooks they pass away, torrents which overflow one day and disappear on the next, absolutely unreliable; v. 16. which are blackish, turbid, dark, foul, by reason of the ice, as the melting ice is carried down by the spring floods, and wherein the snow is hid, seeming to offer a solid surface to stand on, but in reality altogether treacherous; v. 17. what time they wax warm, they vanish, after the short spring flow, which seemed to carry so much promise, their bed is soon parched; when it is hot, they are consumed out of their place, altogether extinguished. To this characterization of unreliable friends Job adds a description of the disappointment which filled his heart on account of the attitude of his visitors. V. 18. The paths of their way are turned aside, their course winds hither and thither, just like that of the arroyos in the wilderness; they go to nothing, and perish, vanishing out in the desert wastes, sinking from sight, failing men when they are most in need of water. V. 19. The troops of Tema looked, the caravans of a nomadic tribe in Northern Arabia, the companies of Sheba waited for them, hoping to obtain water for their parched lips. In Job's picture his friends are the unreliable arroyos, while he is the thirsty traveler searching for a drink of cooling water. V. 20. They were confounded because they had hoped, put to shame on account of their confident hope, just as Job was in this instance; they came thither, and were ashamed, red with shame on account of the deceit which they finally perceived, betrayed by a lying brook. V. 21. For now ye are no thing, they had shown that they did not exist as real friends; ye see my casting down, and are afraid, full of terror and dismay, fearing to identify themselves with one whom they believed struck down by the wrath of God. V. 22. Did I say, Bring unto me? or, Give a reward for me of your substance? He had not asked any sacrifice from them, had not even desired a gift from them; he had expected only the sympathy of true friends. V. 23. Or, Deliver me from the enemy's hand? or, Redeem me from the hand of the mighty, of the oppressor? He had never yet asked for such a proof of their friendship; therefore he was all the more sorely disappointed at their failing to show even the least friendly interest in him and compassion for him. V. 24. Teach me, and I will hold my tongue; he was willing to be set right and to cease his complaint; and cause me to understand wherein I have erred, this being preferable to any silent or open