Commentary on Ezra Nehemiah Ester Job and Psalms

CHAP. V. Verse 1. Call now, if there be any that will answer thee]

THe beginning of this chapter is hard, saith Mercer, till you come to the seventh or eighth verses, and then all is plain and easy. That which Eliphaz driveth at here, is, to drive Job out of all good conceit of his own condition, and to persuade him, that never any good man suffered such hard and heavy things as he, or at least suffered them so untowardly and impatiently. Call, I pray thee, saith he, call over the roll, look into the records of former Saints, and see if thou canst find among them all such another knotty piece as thyself, that needed so much hewing, and made such a deal of complaining. Was there ever the like heard of? Call now, if there be any one answerable to thee. Broughton rendereth it, Call now, if there be any one that will defend thee; that is, be thy Patron or advocate in word, or in the example of their lives.

And to which of the S •• nts wilt thou turn? q. d. Thou art alone, neither mayest thou hope to meet with thy match in the matter or manner of thine afflictions, unless it be among hypocrites and graceless persons, as verse 2. The Septuagint read it, To which of the Angels wilt thou look? And the Popish Commentators think they have here an unanswerable ground for their Doctrine of invocation of Saints and Angels. But did not the buzzards take notice of an Irony here, and that Eliphaz assureth Job that it would be in vain for him to call to any Saint &c? Is it not plain, or probable at least, that he here meaneth the Saints living in this world? or if not, yet is Gregory the great of no authority with them, who acknowledgeth none other to be called upon, here meant, but God; and that the Saints are mentioned to Job in derision, as if it were a ridiculous thing to call to them departed out of this life; who cannot hear us?

Verse 2. For wrath killeth the foolish man ] Such as thou art, Job; hot and hasty, pettish and passionate, fretting thyself to do evil, and so provoking God to fall soul upon thee as a just object of his wrath, to thine utter ruin without repentance. Surely, with the froward, God will show himself froward, Psal. 18.26. Neither hath ever any one hardened himself against the Lord and prospered, Job 9.4. For why? he is wise in heart, and mighty in strength, as it is there, every way able to over-master an adversary, if he but turn his own passions loose upon him, such as are wrath and envy, they will soon dispatch him: How many are there, who like sullen birds in a cage, beat themselves to death? did not Bajazet do so? and was Diodorus any wiser? or Homer, who died for anger that they could not resolve certain questions put unto them? or Terence who drowned himself for grief, that he had lost certain Comedies that he had composed? We read of some, that out of discontent they turned Atheists, as Dia • oras, Lucian, Porphyry &c. and of others, that missing of Bishoprics, or other Church-preferments, they turned heretics in Jui solatium; were not these great sinners against their own souls, like the angry Be, who to be revenged, loseth her sting, and soon after her life? Died they not like fools indeed, that died of the sullens, and so were deeply guilty of self-murder? especially if their wrath were bent against God, if they howl against heaven: such are at once twice slain; slain with the wrath of God, and with their own.

And envy slayeth the silly one ] Him that is under the power of his passions, & minima afflictione ab officio abducitur, saith Mercer, and is turned off from duty by every light affliction: such an one doth envy at another man's prosperity. It is the same with wrath, nisi quod vehementius est, but that it is somewhat worse, saith the same Author, as being a most quick-sighted, and sharp-fanged malignity. Hence that of Solomon, Wrath is cruel, and anger outrageous; but who can stand before envy? Prov. 27.4. It is the rottenness of the bones, Prov. 14.30. And like the serpent Porphyrius, it drinks the most part of its own venom. See the Note on Prov. 14.30.

Verse 3. I have seen the foolish taking root ] q. d. I grant, that wicked men are not always presently punished, sed Nemesis in tergo; & subito tollitur, qui diu toleratur. God's wrath is such, as no wicked man can avert or avoid. This had Eliphaz well observed, I have seen: he had set a Memorandum on God's just judgments, and marked his spits with his own stars, as one speaketh. Eliphaz was a man of much experience, see chap. 4.8. In him, that was true which Elihu saith, should be, that days spake, and multitude of years taught wisdom, chap. 32.7. Only herein he is mistaken, that he mis-applieth all to Job, arguing from his outward condition, to his inward; as if therefore he were wicked, because seemingly wretched. Thus the gloss he set was viperous, eating out the bowels of the text: It was a truth of God that he uttered, and the same in sense with that of David, Psal. 37.35. And that of Solomon, Pro. 23.18. But why should he thus writhe it and wrest it to make the tune sound to his own key? St Peter speaketh of some that wrest the Scriptures, 2 Pet. 3.16. putting them upon the rack, and making them speak that which they never thought. And Tertullian saith of others, that they do murder the Scriptures for their own turns, and to serye their own purposes; But let us hear Eliphaz, I have seen, saith he, and what more sure then sight Numb. 16.14? The foolish, the willful fool, and perhaps he points at someone such rich fool as is mentioned, Luke 12.20. not unknown to Job, and as Eliphaz deemeth a fit parallel for him, taking root, dwelling alone in the earth, confirmed and settled in a fair estate, in a prosperous condition, as Nebuchadnezzar that goodly tree thought himself, Dan. 4.4, 22. (See Jer. 12.2.) and Dionysius tyrant of Sicily, who conceited that his Kingdom was bound fast unto him with chains of adamant; But he was soon after cast out, and thereby convinced of singular folly. A tempest, or at least an axe of divine vengeance, can easily fell these fast rooted, and best-fruited trees, and lay them low enough, as he did Nebuchadnezzar that maule of the Nations, and rod of God's wrath, Isa. 14.4, 5, 6, 7, 8. Dan. 4.22. &c. and Attilas the Conquering Hunne, who called himself the Wrath of God, and Scourge of the world; and arrogantly said, that the stars of heaven fell before him, and the earth trembled, but was soon after rooted up by impartial death in the midst of his nuptial solemnities.

And suddenly I cursed his habitation] His house, which he held his castle, together with his family, verse 4. and his family-provisions, verse 5. All these Eliphaz suddenly (even when he was in the ruffe of all his jollity, in the height of his flourish) cursed, Heb. pierced, or bored through, not so much by a malediction, as a prediction, Male ominatus sum iis, I fore-saw and foretold that that happiness would not hold long. I ominously divined it; I both thought it, and spake it. Pi •• non decent di • ae; cursing men are cursed men: but a godly person may presage a curse, and foretell it, according to that Prov. 3.33. The curse of the Lord is in the house of the wicked, yea, the flying ••• le of curses that is ten yards long, and five yards broad shall remain in the midst of it, and consume it. Zech. 5.4. Brimstone shall be scattered upon his habitation, and the fire of God shall kindle it; so that his roots shall be dried up beneath, and above shall his branch be cut off &c. Job 18.15, 16.

Verse 4. His children are far from safety ] This is one principal root of wicked men, viz. their children, which have their very name in Hebrew from building, because by them the house is built up, and way made to greatest honors by friendships and affinities of other great families. These are far from safety, that is, they are in a great deal of danger; or by their intemperance they run into many diseases and disasters, by their evil practices they come under the lash of the Law, and without repentance under the danger of damnation too; salvation is far from them, Psal. 119.155. Isa. 59.11.

They are crushed in the gate] That is, they are cast in judgment, all goes against them, and sentence pronounced upon them, as it befell Haman's children, and David's enemies, Psal. 109.7.

Neither is there any to deliver them] None to plead for them, or rescue them, Prov. 31.8, 9. none to extend mercy to them, nor any to favor those fatherless children, Psal. 109.12. and that because their fathers were pitilesse, verse 13, 14. Haman for instance.

Verse 15. Whose harvest the hungry eateth up ] This is another root of the wicked One, his estate, against which, God raiseth up a rout of needy wretches to pillage him. These are as a sweeping rain that leaveth no food, Prov. 28.3. These, as lean lice, bite hardest, and as sparrow-hawks, are extreme greedy: Malesuada fames putteth them upon it. These Harpies seize upon his very harvest ad majorem cruciatum & miseriam, pulling the meat out of his mouth, as it were, and not suffering him to roast that which he took in hunting, Prov. 12, 27. He shall meet with greatest disappointment, and come to that poverty which he so studiously shunned, singing that doleful ditty

And taketh it even out of the thorns ] Creeping through the midst of the thorns and bushes wherewith it is fenced and hedged in, to steal it away. Hunger we say, breaks through stone walls: the Rabbin's sense it thus, He that comes out of the thorns, that is, every base fellow carrieth away the store of this rich oppressor. The armed man carrieth it away, so the Vulgar after the Septuagint. Mr. Broughton reads it thus, The hungry shall eat up his harvest which he had gotten through the thorns, that is, not without a great deal of care, and much pains in stubbing up the thorns, that he might not sow amongst them.

And the robber swalloweth up their substance] Or the thirsty shall drink up their substance, as gold-thirsty Babel did Hezekiah's treasure for his coming so near the garb and guise of the wicked in his ostentation. The thirsty shall swill up their wealth, so Broughton rendereth it •• so that neither their esculenta nor poculenta shall escape the spoiler, but there shall be a clean riddance of all; the enemy shall play at sweep-stake, he shall soop up all, as the Hebrew hath it, and as Eliphaz would have Job consider, that the Chaldees and Sabees had done his substance.

Verse 6. Although affliction cometh not forth of the dust ] It cometh not by fate or blind fortune, it haps not as it may, that men suffer. Philistines indeed, will say haply, It is a chance, 1 Sam 6.9. a common occurrence, that had a time to come in, and must have a time to go in: but every Naomi will in such case conclude, The hand of the Lord is gone out against me, Ruth 1.13. and carry her sails accordingly, verse 20, 21. and every good soul will cry out, I will bear the indignation of the Lord (who is the efficient cause of all my miseries) because I have sinned against him, which is the meritorious cause. The word here rendered affliction, signifieth also iniquity; and well it may, since they are tied together with chains of adamant, as that Heathen said, Flugitism & 〈◊〉 sunt sicut 〈◊〉 & silum, saith another. Man weaves a spiders web of sin out of his own bow ••• , saith a Third; and then he is entangled in the same web: the troubles which ensnare and wrap about him, are twisted with his own fingers: Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth, where no gin is for him, Am. 3.6 • 〈…〉 , Of the black-birds dung is made the bird-lime whereby he 〈◊〉 : so out of the dung of men's sins are made the lime-twigs of their punishments.

Verse 7. Yet man is borne unto trouble ] Which is the natural fruit of his sin; and a piece of the curse; he hath in him a 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , a common seminary of all sin, and this he brings into the world with him; what wonder then though troubles come trouping in upon him on every side, as if he were born for no other end but to suffer, and that as naturally as fire ascendeth? Sure it is, that sin doth as naturally and ordinarily draw and suck judgments to it, as the loadstone doth iron, or Turpentine fire. Some read the words thus, Man is borne to sin, and so consequently to trouble: for sin usually endeth tragically, and troublesomely. Hence the same word both here, and that in the former verse, signify both sin and sorrow; and man by reason of his birth-blot, hath a birth-right to them both, he is even born to them. The devil, when he speaketh lies, speaketh of his own, Joh. 8.44. And we, when either we do evil, we work de nostro & sicundum hominem, of our own, and according to men, 1 Cor. 3.3. Or when we suffer evil, we suffer nothing but what is human and incident to men, 1 Cor. 10.13. Thy very heathen could say as much; witness that of Xenophon, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , It behooveth him that is no more then a man, to expect all sorts of troubles: and that of Demosthenes, it is fit for men to hope the best, but bravely to bear the worst, as that which is common to all mankind: and that of Isocrates, O 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 &c. He that remembereth that he is a man, will not be discontented at whatsoever trouble befalleth him: and that of Herodotus, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , Every man is miserable. For this it was likely, that God, to keep Ezekiel lowly in the abundance of revelations, calleth him so oft Son of man. And when the French King, being prisoner to Charles the fifth saw written upon the wall that Emperors motto, plus ultra, further yet, and underwrote, Hodie mihi, cras tibi, I am now thy prisoner thou mayst hereafter be mine; the Emperor came after him, and subscribed; I confess I am a man, and may soon suffer anything incident to mankind.

As the sparks fly upward] Heb. The sons of the quick or live coal lift up to fly: The vulgar hath it, as the birds fly upward; the Septuagint, As the young vultures fly upwards. Sparkes and birds fly upward naturally, and by a principle of their own they need not be taught it so here. Birds, though they have more of the earth then of the other three elements, Gen. 2.19. yet are light (which is a wonder) and delight in high-flying, and this is innate to them; so is it to man, as man, to be in trouble, Job 14.1. Some of the Hebrews by sparks, or sons of the quick coal, here understand the devils, and make this to be the sense; like as sin is connatural to men, so doth God stir up the devils, to whom it is as natural to flutter up and down here for the punishment of such as sin: Sed hoc friget, saith Mercer; but this is not likely to be the meaning.

Verse 8. Surely I would seek unto God] Not let fly at him, as thou hast done, cursing thy birth-day, and wishing thyself out of the world. Assure thyself, this that thou takest, is not the way to get off with comfort, but rather to return (by repentance) unto him, that smiteth thee, and to seek the Lord of Hosts, Isa. 9.12. since else; his anger will not turn away, but his hand will be stretched out still (as the Prophet there hath it) for is it fit that he should lay down the bucklers first? or that we should stand upon terms, and capitulate with him, and not stoop unto him by an humble yieldance? especially sithence

The way to disarm God's heavy indignation, is to submit to his justice, and to implore his mercy, Hos. 5.14. to fly from his Anger to his Grace, Blood-letting is a cure of bleeding, and a burn a cure against a burn; and running to God is the way to escape him; as to close and get in with him that would strike you, doth avoid the blow: and this is that that I would do, were I in thy case, saith Eliphaz here. He doth not vaunt (as Olympiodorus mistaketh his meaning) but advise Job, to humble himself, and confess his sins, and sue for pardon of sin, and release of punishment, to kiss the rod, and not to bite it; to drink of God's cup willingly and at first, when it is full (as Mr. Bradford Martyr hath it), lest if he linger, he drink at length of the dregs with the wicked.

And unto God ] the righteous Judge, as the word importeth, who 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , neither • areth nor feareth any man (as it was said of Trajan the Emperor, but more truly of God:) he proceedeth, according to truth, not according to opinion or appearance, and greatly scorneth to look at displeasure, revenge or recompense.

Would I commit my cause ] Put my case and condition by self-resignation, and humble supplication. This David did notably, 2 Sam. 15.25, 26. Psal. 142.2. and counsels all to do accordingly, Psal. 55.22. Cast thy burden (or thy request) upon the Lord by virtue of this writ or warrant.

Verse 9. Which doth great things and unsearchable ] The better to persuade Job to take his counsel, he entereth into a large description of God's attributes, his Power, Wisdom, Justice, Mercy &c. all which are clearly seen in his works of wonder as in a mirror, or as on a theater. These he is ever in doing, as the word here signifieth; and showeth himself great in great things, and not little in the least, dum memora culicis & pulicis disponit; yea, he useth to be greater in smaller things, then in bigger. The soul is more operative in Ants, then in Elephants; in Dwarfes, then in Giants. So he delights to help his people with a little help, Dan. 11.34 (that through weaker means they may see his greater strength) to magnify his power in pardoning their many and mighty sins, Numb. 14.17, 18. Micah 7.18. to illustrate his power in their perseverance and wonderful preservation amidst a world of evils and enemies, John 10.29. 1 Pet. 1.5. to fulfill his promises, seem they never so improbable or impossible, Jer. 32.14, 15. to answer prayers that look as if lost, and to do for his people exceeding abundantly above all that they can ask or think, according to the power that worketh in them, Eph. 3.20. All this Eliphaz would have Job to consider, that he might not cast away his confidence, but seek to God, and turn his talk to him, as Beza turneth the fore-going words.

And unsearchable ] Heb. And no search, for they are fathomlesse, and past finding out, Rom. 11.33. This, Eliphaz might say, to stop Jobs curiosity, and to humble him for his sin, in enquiring too much into the reason of God's so severe dealing with him, chap. 3. In prying too far, or too boldly into the secret workings of God. It should suffice us to know that the will of God's is the rule of right, that his judgments are sometimes secret, always just; that it is extreme folly to reprehend what we cannot comprehend (we may as soon comprehend the sea is a cockleshell, as the unsearchable things of God in our narrow and shallow understandings) that at the last day all things shall be cleared up, and every mouth stopped, when exquisite reasons of all God's proceedings (which now seem not so well carried) shall be produced, and wisdom shall be justified of her children.

Marvelous things ] Such as the wisest may well wonder at. God is the only Thaumaturgus, the great wonder-worker; and these marvels are more ordinary then the most are, either at all either aware of, or affected with. To let pass those wonders of the Creation (for which, see Psal. 136.4, 5, 6, 7.) Canst thou tell how the bones grow in her that is with child, saith Solomon's Eccl. 11.5. Mirificatus sum mirabilibus operis tuis, so Montanus rendereth that of David, Psal. 139.14. I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works &c. Galen, that great Naturallist, was much amazed at the motion of the lungs in man's body, and would needs offer sacrifices therefore to that God whom he knew not. Who can give a natural reason of the strength of the nether-chap, of the heat in the stomach, of the colors in the rain-bow, of the ebbing and flowing of the Sea, or but of this ordinary occurrence, that chaff is so cold, that it keeps snow hidden within it from melting, and withal, so warm, that it hasteneth the ripening of Apples? Well might Eliphaz say, that God doth marvelous things, without number.

Verse 10. Who giveth vain upon the earth ] This is reckoned, and rightly, among the marvelous works of God. See chap. 28.26. Jer. 10.13. Amos 5.8. Acts 14.17. Rain is the flux of a moist cloud, which being dissolved by little and little by the heat of the Sun, lets down 〈◊〉 by drops out of the middle region of the air: this is God's gift. For he 1. 〈◊〉 it▪ Job. 28.26. 2. Prepareth it, Psal. 147.8. 3. With-holdeth it at his pleasure, •• opping those bottles that should yield it, Amos 4.7. 4. Sendeth 〈…〉 the behoof and benefit of man and 〈◊〉 , as also for the demonstration of his Power, Wisdom, Justice, and Goodness, whereof he hath not left himself 〈◊〉 by without witness, Acts 14.17. whiles he weigheth these waters above the firmament by measure, so that not one drop falleth in vain, or in a wrong place. In those hot countries, where Rivers were scant, rain was highly valued: they called it the husband of the earth, because the earth can no more hear fruit without it then a woman children without the company of a man. The Egyptians were wont in mockery to tell the Grecians, that if their God (whom they called cloud-gathering Jupiter ) should forget to give rain, they might chance to starve for it: see the reason, Deut. 11.8. — 11, 12. Egypt was watered with the soot as a garden, by sluices from Nile: not so Canaan.

He sendeth waters upon the fields ] irrigat aquis universa saith the vulgar, He moisteneth all places with waters; by the showers which falling upon the ground, run hither and thither, he divideth the fields as it were, into streets and high ways; so Beza paraphraseth. Another thus, 'It is he himself who watereth it, as well by those waters which fall from heaven, as by those which he hath hidden in its entrails, and whose secret draines produce in a thousand places sources and rivers. Some render it, upon the out-places, and understand it of wildernesses, to set forth God's bounty. Others render it, upon the face of the streets, and will have it meant of Navigable rivers, which by the passage upon them, do after a sort, make streets and high-way ways through several Countries, to the which also they convey many commodities.

Verse 11. To set up on high those that be low ] By those rich rains whereby he fatteneth the earth, and makes it fruitful, giving them a whole country of corn, as he did that vir divitiarum qui animam etiam habuit tririceam. Luke 12.16. But God hath more ways then this, to prefer men to riches, honor, and authority, as he did Joseph, David, Daniel, Mordecai &c. He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dung-hill, that he may set him with Princes, &c. Psal. 113.6, 7. Let Job hear this, and know it for his good, as ver. 27.

That those which mourn] As those do commonly who are in a low condition, and 'tis much if they murmur not. The word signifieth, such as are pullato. 〈◊〉 in mourners weeds, or that having lain among the pots, are smutched and sullied like so many black scullions, Psal. 68.13.10, Lo, these shall the Lo • d not only make to he as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold, but shall also make them to mount up with wings as Eagles, Isa. 40, 31. He shall exalt them to safety, saith Eliphaz here: yea, he shall safely exalt them to safety. Wicked men are oft exalted, Psal. 12. ult. but then it is not to safety, — toümutur in aelium ut lapsu graviore ruant, they are listed up, but for a mischief, that they may he brought down again with the greater poise, as Haman and Pharaohs chief Baken, whose head was listed up, but to the gallows: the chief Butlers head was lifted up too, but aster another manner. There is great difference betwixt the advancement of the righteous and the wicked. Those God carrieth as the Eagle doth her young on her wings, to exalt them to safety, to set them upon a rock that is higher then they, these he lifteth up as the Eagle doth her prey in her talons, to dash them against some rock, and to destroy them.

Verse 12. He disappointeth the devices of the crafty ] He vacateth and endreth ineffectual the curious contrivances of the worlds wizards, full of 〈◊〉 subtlety, and so setteth his people in safety, by out-plotting their enemies; served he not Pharaoh so (who dealt craftily with our fathers, saith 〈◊〉 , Acts 7 • .19.) and Saul that subtle tyrant? and Herod that crofty-fox, Luke. 13.32? and all the primitive and modern persecutors to whom the old Dragon had lent his seven head to plot, and his ten horns to push again •• the people of God, but all 〈…〉 purpose? God disappointed the devises of those 〈◊〉 so the Vulgar 〈…〉 which the Chaldee appropriateth to Pharaoh and his Counsel •• s, who said, Comes and let us deal wisely; when-as (in laying hand tasks upon the Israelite to keep them from increasing) they never dealt, 〈…〉 your laboring men have the most and the 〈…〉 .

So that their hands 〈…〉 an actual being or such 〈…〉 Broughton rendereth it: Otherr thus, 〈…〉 that is, 〈◊〉 what they had 〈…〉 the 〈…〉 cruel-crafties of the primitive times, sounded the triumph beforehand, and engraved the victory upon the pillars of marble: but the Church may still sing as of old, They are brought down and fallen, but we are risen and stand upright. Charles the fifth and the French King had covenanted the utter extirpation of the Lutheran faction throughout their dominions; but God found them other employment, and gave his Church an happy Haleyon. And who knows not how God hath hitherto helped us of this Nation against the power and policy of earth, and of hell?

Verse 13. He taketh the wise in their own crastinesse] Those wise to do evil, worldly wise, mere machiavellians; for though the Florentine Secretary was not born of some thousands of years after Eliphaz speak this, yet the devil was well nigh as great a master then as how, and had his crafty cubs, students, and great proficience in that wisdom which St. James affirmeth to be from beneath, and not from above (like the wings of the Ostrich, it may help a man to out-run others upon earth, but helps not at all towards heaven) and further describeth it to be earthly, sensual, devilish. Earthly, as managing the lusts of the eyes unto the ends of gain; Sensual, as managing the lusts of the flesh unto ends of pleasure: and Divellish, as managing the pride of life unto ends of power: these subtle Sirs, these profound politicians, that dig deep to hide their counsels, not from men only, but (which is impossible) from the Lord, Isa. 29.15. that think they can work out anything, and that none can prevent them (as the Apostles word from this text importeth) God takes and makes fools of them; he frustrateth the tokens of these liars, and maketh the diviners mad: he turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish, Isa. 44.25. Surely the Princes of Zoan are fools, the counsel of the wise counsellors of Pharaoh is become brutish — they have also seduced Egypt, even they that are the stay of the tribes thereof: the Lord hath mingled a spirit of perversities in the midst thereof; and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof, as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit, Ifai. 19.11, 13, 14. Did ever any man deal so unwisely as Ahithophel that Oracle, 2 Sam. 17.23. Curious to provide for his family after his death, and yet careless to preserve himself from eternal death? Was not this a madness even to a miracle? He should first (saith a Reverend man) have set himself in order, and then he might have hanged his house with coverings of tapestry, Pro. 7.26. and with broidered work of Egypt. Ezek. 27.7. And if he had bridled his anger when he saddled his Ass, he would not have broken the lanthorn of his body, and quenched the light of his life, he would not have put his house in order, and himself into such a desperate and irrecoverable confusion. But what saith Solomon? His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins, Prov. 5.22. The Lord is known by the judgment which he executeth, the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Higguion, Selah. Mark 〈…〉 ate, as one rendereth it, Psal. 9.16.

And the counsel of the froward is carried head-long] More haste it maketh then good speech, though it be the counsel that is the extract of reason, the result of serious and 〈…〉 (as Cicero defineth it) because it proceedeth from froward persons, obtorti, contortuplicati, such as have one crafty device twisted within another, like a nope, such as of whom we use to say in a proverb, there never wanteth a new 〈…〉 cap.

Verse 〈◊〉 They meet with darkness in the daytime] They are infatuated and besotted; a spirit of giddiness seizeth them: ita ut in re clarissimâ destituantur 〈◊〉 , saith Vatablus, so that they cannot discern things that are evident and clear 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 at 〈◊〉 day, they have light without, but want light within, they 〈…〉 this was threatened, Deut. 28.29. and 〈…〉 Savior often calleth them, and now 〈…〉 Cor. 3.14. Since they crucified the Lord of 〈…〉 in anything they undertook; neither will 〈…〉 dotage whereinto they have long since wrought 〈…〉 William Rufus to hear them, 〈…〉 but they lost the day, and 〈…〉 he holy, was 〈◊〉 with Antoninus 〈…〉 , but it would not be 〈…〉 in the 〈…〉 for they were presently imprisoned, and shortly after executed; Rabbi Solomon at Mantus, and Rabbi David in Spain • . How they are benighted in their expositions of Scripture, troubling those clear fountains with their ridiculous conceits and foolish fables, I need not relate. Neither are many of the Popish Interpreters (as they will be accounted) much wiser, being judicially blinded, given over to 〈…〉 Rom. 1.28. to the efficacy of error, 2 Thes. • 1 so that

They grape • ont day 〈◊〉 in the night ] They have neither light 〈◊〉 sight left them, and this by a just hand of God upon them, because they closed up their eyes le • f they should see, Act. 28.27 they would not receive the love of 〈…〉 2. Thes 2.10. Therefore now it is hid from their eyes, and the light that is 〈◊〉 is darkness. Women and children see further into the mysteries of religion, them 〈◊〉 these learned Doctors, these Idol-shepherds; God's sword being upon their armed and upon their right eye, Zach. 11.17. that is, both upon their power and policy, so that they are like Owls, that can see better in the dark then in the light and like Moles, that dig dexterously under ground, but are blind above ground neither do they ever open their eyes till the pangs of death are upon them.

Verse 15. But he saveth the poor from the sword ] From the 〈◊〉 of war, from the hurt of it, not always from the smart of it; for all such promises as this of temporal deliverance, are ever to be taken with exception of the cross; which yet shall be so sanctified, that the Saints shall say, It was good for us to have been afflicted. Provided, that they be poor in spirit (for God will save the humble person, Job 22.29.) and sue in form a pauperis, as spiritual beggars, such is get their living by begging; the word signifieth needy and desirous of reliefs, very indigent, and therefore humbly suppliant for supply of things necessary: This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him (meaning himself) and saved him out of all his troubles, Psal. 34.6. Forget not the congregation of thy poor forever, Psal. 74.19. He will not, he cannot, for they are written upon the palms of his hands, so that he cannot look beside them. Who hath not heard how graciously 〈◊〉 Geneva hath been preserved? Rochelle relieved, as it were, by a miracle? Leyden 〈◊〉 from the Duke of Alva 's sword; that very night that he thought to have stormed it, the winds turned, the tide swelled, and the waters came in, and forced him to raise the siege: how well might these poor saved ones sit and sing with David, Psalm 68.20. He that is our God is the God of salvation; and unto God the Lard belong the issues from death?

From their mouth] Which is a sword, so some sense is: God saveth his poor from the sword of their enemies mouth, or the sword that comes out of their mouth. A gladio or is coram, saith the Vulgar: David felt the false tongues of his enemies, as a murthering weapon in his bones, Psal. 42.10. The tongue is thin, broad, and long, like a sword, it is also red line a flaming sword: by 〈◊〉 and false testimonies many are those that fall down wounded, Prov. 12.6. and 18.8. and 26.22. Core and his compli • ts stick not to object to the meekest of men with one breath, pride, ambition, and usurpation of authority, but God vindicated his reputation. Mary was accused three several times: the Pharisees accused her of presumption, Luke 7.39. Martha of carelessness, Luke 10. • 0. Judas of wastefulnesse, John 12.5. but Christ ever answered for her, and took her part. And was it not so with Job chap. 42? Is there not a promise to all Saints Psalm 37.6 • .

From the band of the mighty] God saveth his, not only from the virulent tongues, but from the violent hands also of the mighty, that might overcome not right, that the poor fall not by his strong ones, or into his strong paws and parts, Psal. 10.10. where oppressors are fitly compared to lions lying in wait for their prey. Now to be thus saved from the slaying sword, the 〈◊〉 tongue; and the oppressing 〈◊〉 is complete salvation.

Verse 16. So the poor hath hops ] How should it be otherwise? will breed confidence Thou hast, that wilt it an ordinary Scripture 〈◊〉 , Psalm 8 • , 1, 2, 3, 4. and 2 Cor. 1.10. So, the poor helpnesse, hopeless person, who is pined away, spent and utterly exhausted and 〈…〉 and wealth, he hath hope 〈…〉 had given away all) and this holds head above water, 〈…〉 beguiled calamity; as good company doth the way. Neither is 〈…〉 state in all men's eyes, is at lowest. I was brought low (or drawn dry, the same word as here) and he helped me, Psal. 110.6 • So He will regard the prayer of the destitute, Psal. 102.17. The Hebrew word there signifies a pair shrub that is in the wilderness low and slender 〈◊〉 upon by 〈◊〉 , unregarded, worthless, such an one 〈◊〉 God and is lightened, 〈◊〉 4.5. conceiveth lively hope, hope unfailable through faith unfeigned, having earnest expectation (as the word signifieth) of strong 〈◊〉 so that he can truly say with Saint Paul, when I am weak, then 〈◊〉 strong, 2 Cor. 12.10. Such prisoners of hope can turn them to the strong holds, Zech. • 9.12.

And inequity stopped her mouth ] Iniquity, that is, the workers of iniquity, those worst sor • of sinners (the word importeth men of manifold perverseness) amazed at god 〈◊〉 good suecesses, contrary to there expectation; shall stand speechless, 〈◊〉 did, Matth. 22.12. convicted of their wickedness, and confounded at God's wonderful works. See the like Isa. 52.15. Psalm 107, 42. Mic. 7.16. Jor 8.4. Thus Jannes and Jambres were silenced and convinced, but not converted. No more are many now a-days, who yet have as little to say as they. The full accomplishment of this promise is not to be looked for till the last day.

Verse 17. Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth] This Behold holds forth a paradox, a strange sight, viz. An afflicted man, a blessed man: this the world wondereth at, and can as little conceive of, or consent to, as the Philistines could of Samson's riddle of meat out of the cater &c. How can these things be, say they? It will never be, saith Sense: it can never be, saith Reason; it both can be; and will be, saith Faith; the property whereof, is to gather one contrary out of another; life out of death, happiness out of misery, assurance of deliverance out of deepest distresses, and to believe God upon his bare word, and that against sense in things invisible, and against reason in things incredible. What if the afflicted man be Enoch (that's the word here) a sorry, sickly, miserable man, so the world esteemeth him yet Blessed is the man. (there he is called Geber the gallant man) whom thou 〈…〉 , O Lord, and teachest him out of thy Law. Psal. 94.12. Oh the happiness, the 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , the present and future happiness of the man whom God correcteth, and withal instructeth, chastening him with pain upon his bed, and withal opening his cares to counsel, and sealing his instructions, Job 33.16, 19 disputing him out of his evil practices, with a rod in his hand.

Therefore despise not than the chastening of the Almighty.] Fret not, faint not, be not so impatient as to think that either thy crosses come not from God, or not in mercy, or that he is not All-sufficient to bear thee up under them, or to help thee out of them. Set not light by his love-tokens (this is one of those two extremes Solomon warns us of Prov. 3.11. neither despise afflictions, nor despond under them) See my Treatise called God's love-tokens, and the afflicted man's lessons, page 37, 38, 39. &c. Loath we are to take up the cross, and when called to carry it, we shrink in the shoulder: no chastening seemeth joyous but grievous; as averse the best may be to it, as a sick man is to those physical slibber-sawees; he had as lieve die almost as take them down; How then, alas, will wicked men do to drink off that cup of God's wrath that hath eternity to the bottom? Let the saints be content, and say, Ferre minora voto, ne gravior a feram, It is the Lord's mercy that we are not consumed, L • in. 3.22. that we are set safe from the wrath to come, whatever here betideth us: It is the chastening of the Almighty, who could as easily crush us as correct us. See Isai 13.6. Jeal 1.15.

Verse 18. For he maketh fore, and bindeth up] As a Surgeon maketh an incision, to let out the impost humed matter, and then heals up the wound again: God hath a salve for every sore, a medicine for every malady; he is both a Father and a physician, he 〈◊〉 us not unless a • ed be, 1 Pes. 1.6. We are judged of the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world. Would we that God should let us alone to perish in our 〈…〉 Ephraim, Hos. 4.14.) and not meddle with us? 〈…〉 they are set? 〈◊〉 up our sores before they 〈…〉 mercy more cruel then any cruelty, as a Father calls it. And yea most 〈…〉 of by Luther, who being in his 〈…〉 to take in good part his present pain, as a token of God's love answered, Ah quam velim alios amare, non me! If this be his love, I could wish he would love others, and not me.

He woundeth] This is more then to make sore or sick, like as Heb. 12.6. Scourging is worse then Chastening. God sometimes makes bloody wales upon the backs of his best children, he wounds them with the wound of an enemy, Psal. 68.21. & 110.5. and leaves them all gore blood, as the word here used importeth.

And his hands make whole] He hath, as a Surgeon should have, a Ladies hand, soft and tender, a fathers heart relenting over his pained Ephraim's. Hos. 11.8. He afflicteth not willingly, or from the heart; it goeth as much against the heart with him, as against the hair with us; and evermore

Verse 19. He shall de liver thee] Heb. Snatch thee away, or pull thee out, as a brand out of the fire, or as a prey out of the teeth of a wild beast. Thus God snatched Lot out of Sodom, David out of many waters, Paul out of the mouth of the Lion, Jonah out of the belly of hell &c. As birds flying, so will I defend Jerusalem, Isa. 31.5 A metaphor from the Eagle and other birds, which when they fly highest, set a watchful eye upon the nest to rescue their young ones in case of danger.

In six troubles] Or straits, such as enemies or other evils put men to; Israel at the red sea, for instance, where they were sorely distressed, encircled with troubles, neither was there any way of escape, unless they could have gone up to heaven, which because they could not, heaven came down to them and delivered them.

Yea in seven] A certain number for an uncertain; boundless deliverances will God grant to his people, even as oft as they shall need deliverance, enemies oft plow upon their backs, and God as often cuts their traces, Psal. 129.3, 4. As Cat • was two and thirty times accused, and two and thirty times cleared and absolved; so shall it be with the Saints; and this not only at the end of the world, as Gregory and others interpret this text (as if by six and seven, allusion were made to God's creating the world in six days, and resting on the seventh; and so must his servants labor here under afflictions, and rest in heaven) but in this life present, where many are the troubles of the righteous, ( millions some render it) but the Lord delivereth them out of all, Psal. 34.19. Yea, in them all, as this text hath it, by his supporting grace, and those divine comforts, which as blown bladders, bear them aloft all waters.

There shall no evil touch thee ] so tactu qualitativo, with a deadly touch. God chargeth afflictions as David did his Captains concerning Absalom, Handle the young man gently for my sake. Touch not mine anointed &c. Either touch them not at all, or not to hurt them. Troubles may touch the Saints, but evils must not, 1 Cor. 10.14.

Verse 20. In famine be shall redeem thee from death] They that be slain with the sword, are better then they that be slain with hunger, Lamen. 4.9. Famine therefore is here set as the first and greatest of the six ensuing evils, the sorest of God's judgments, Ezek. 6.11. Jer. 24.10. The certain harbinger of death, as here From this so great a death God delivered Abraham, Gen 12. Isaac, Gen. 26. Jacob and his family, Gen. 47. The poor widow, 1 Kings 17. The Israelites in the wilderness by quail; the Rochellers by a miraculous shoale of shel-fish, cast up into their town in a strait siege &c. There is a promise that the Lions shall lack and suffer hunger, but so shall not any such as seek the Lord, Psalm 34.10. There shall be special provision made for such, and God shall redeem them from this evil by a wonderful separation, as he did in another case, Exod. • .22. either he will send them in meat, or take away their stomachs, as she once said. Fides famem non formidat, Faith feareth no famine: having trusted God for a crown, she will not distrust him for a crust.

And in war from the power of the sword] Here is the Saints safety, or their writ of protection. True it is, that the sword devoured one, as well as another, 2 Sam. 11.25. and pale death cutteth its way oftentimes through a wood of men, out of the mouth of a murdering piece, without distinction. But though the Saints, with Josiah, be 〈◊〉 in battle, yet they die in peace, 2 Kings 23.29. with chap. 22.20. for their eyes see not the evil that God bringeth upon others that out live them, as it followeth there. Besides, they are gathered to their fathers, who enjoyed peace. Redeemed they are from the power or hands of the sword, which may kill them, but cannot hurt them; take away their head, but not their crown.

Verse 21. Thon shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue] That is, from reproaches and slanders, which is a tongue smitting, Jer. 18.18. as smart as any hand-smiting, and draws blood, Ezek 22.9. The devil is both a liar, and a murderer, John 8.44. Humphrey Duke of Gloucester, was by the people of England thought to be doubly murdered (saith the Chronicler) viz. by detraction and deadly practice. Plato commendeth that law of the Lydians, that punished detractors like as they did murderers; because their words are swords, and their breath as fire divoureth, Isai. 33.10. Now from such pests the Lord promiseth to hide his people, that either the Traducer shall not find them, or not fasten upon them: their names shall be so oiled, that slanderous aspersions shall not stick to them. Some render the text thus, He shall he hid, cum vagabitur lingua, when the tongue wandereth or walketh about. Their tongue walketh through the earth, Psal. 73.9. it runs all the world over, and like a mad dog, snaps at everyone. Hence the Hebrew word Ragal to defame or slander, Psal. 15.3. properly noteth a fooling it up and down, a going to and fro to carry tales and rumors, 2 Sam. 19.27. Now from such a mischief, from the lash of such lewd tongues, God will hide his people under the hollow of his hand, because he knows that many a good heart is more afflicted with words then with blows, Psal. 42.3. Saint Paul reckoned, that it were better for him to die, then that nay man should make his glorying void that is, take away his good name, and so disable him from doing good by his Ministry, 1 Cor. 9.15.

Neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh.] Much less at the rumour of it, Matth. 24.6. Luke 24.9. Thou shalt walk about the world as a conqueror, being above fear, then when others are below hope. Noah -like thou shalt be, — modiis stanqillus in undis, and not as Magor-missabib, a terror to thyself and all about thee, Jer. 20.3.

Verse 22. As destruction and famine thou shalt laugh] viz. by the force of thy faith, which (like perfect love) casteth out sinsull fear; as grounding upon God's infallible promises, and knowing that all the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies, Psalm 25.10. All the passages of his providence 〈◊〉 are to such not only mercy, but truth; they come to them in a way of a promise, as bound to them by covenant: and hence their holy courage lifteth them up so far above dangers and seares, that they even laugh at them, as Leviathan laugheth at the shaking of the spear, Job 41.29. They famish famine, and destroy destruction itself; like as Christ Jesus the Captain of their salvation, swallowed up death in victory: and as many of the Martyrs baffled it, deriding their tormentors.

Neither shalt thou be afraid of the bests of the earth.] i.e. wild beasts, that devour men and cattle, as Lions, Bears, Bores, Wolves, &c. whereunto we may add those Cannibals, man-eating persecutors, who eat up God's people as they eat bread, Psalm 14.4. Such Lycanthrope, or beasts in the shape of men, Paul fought with at Ephesus, and God had delivered him out of the mouth of that Lion Nero, 2 Tim. 4.17. Who yet afterwards martyred him. But the viper at Malta did him no hurt: no more did the Lions Daniel neither would they meddle with some of the primitive Martyrs, cast before them to be devoured.

Verse 23. For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field] Thou shalt not das •• thy • oa • against them (the Latins east a stone lapidem à laedendo pede. from hurting the soot that hi • teth against them) Psal. 91.12. They were wont of old to go barefoot (as Vatablus here noteth.) And our Chronicler telleth us of King Henry the second, that for a per • dnee, going to Canterbury to the shrine of Thomas Becket, his bare feet with the hard stones were forced to yield bloody tokens of his devotion on the way, or thus, The stones of the field shall not hinder thy harvest, as Marth. 13.6. Or being picked up for a mound or wall, they shall not fall upon thee, and brain thee, as the 〈◊〉 of the wall of Aphek did the blasphemous Syrians: as the town-house did the insisting, Philistines Judge. 10.30. as the house did Jobs children &c. or the Homes out of the wall shall not cry out against thee, as Hab, 2.11. but all creatures shall be thy confederates: not only not hurting, but helping thee, all that may be. For as they are all armed against the wicked as rebels and traitors to the divine Majesty: so God hath promised to make a covenant for his Saints with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven &c. Hos. 2.18. See the Note there.

And the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee] The tame beasts shall not only not mischieve thee (as some they have done: Euripides the Poet was torn in pieces with dogs; horses have been the death of many &c.) but shall be serviceable and profitable unto thee; some alive, not dead, as the dog, horse: some dead, not alive, as the hog: some both, as the ox, sheep, &c. Ambrose hath a very strange story of a man slain at Antioch by night, by a soldier, in hope of spoil: this man's dog would not away from his masters dead corps, but lay howling by it till day-light, many came in the morning to see that sad sight, and the murderer among the rest came, that he might be the less suspected. The dog no sooner saw this soldier, but he ran fiercely at him, and would never give over barking and baiting at him till he saw him apprehended and carried to prison, where he confessed the fact, and was for the some deservedly executed.

Verse 24. And thou shalt know] Thine own eyes shall see it, and thine experience seal to it: thou shalt be well assured of it: this is a sweet mercy: it is the sweet-meats of the feast of a good conscience, saith Latimer, to know, that all shall go well with us here, and that our names are written in the book of life; to be able to conclude from temporal blessings to eternal, as David doth, Psal. 23.5, 6. to have not only sustentation, but suavities spiritual, as one speaketh.

That thy Tabernacle shall be in peace] i.e. thy house, household, and household-stuff shall be in safety; and all shall be as well with thee as heart can wish. Or, thy Tabernacle shall be peace. Thou shalt be free from domestical dissensions. It is a sign of a Christian-family, if the son of peace be there, and peace rest in it, Luke 10.6. This turneth water to wine, and the contrary: where envying and strife is, there is confusion (or unquietness ) and every evil work, Jam. 3.16. such a tabernacle is more like to a kennel of hounds, then a family of Christians.

And thou shalt visit thy habitation] As a busy bishop within thine own diocese, thou shalt carefully inquire into the state of thy family, and take an account of all that are under thy roof; that God be sincerely served there, and all things well husbanded, Prov. 27.26, 27.

And shalt not sin] viz. by too much indulgence to children and servants, Eli's sin, who brought up his children to bring down his house: Or, thou shalt not be found guilty, sc. of thy families faults imputed unto thee: or, thou shalt not miss, so. of thy desire and expectation; but all shall go as well within doors, as heart can wish.

Verse 25. Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be great] Thou shalt live to see thy children (whereof thou art now bereft) not only restored, but increased. Children are the seed, parents are but the husk, as it were: to have these multiplied, is no small mercy, Psalm 128.3. especially when the wife is as the vine, and the children like olive-plants, two of the best fruits; the on for sweetness, the other for fatness, Judge. 9.13. when they prove to be as arrows of a strong man, such as whose natural knottinesse is reformed and smoothed by grace, such as for the workmanship of grace and holiness in their hearts and lives, are become like the graving of a Kings palace, Psalm 144.12. What can better preserve Jacob (Job) from confusion, or his face from waxing pale, than if he might see his children, the work of God's hands, framed and fitted by the word in regeneration, and the duties of new obedience? this would make religious parents of sanctify God's name, even to sanctify the Holy One, and with singular encouragement from the God of Israel. Isa. 29.22, 23.

And thine offspring as the grass of the earth] Thy Nephews shall be not only numerous, but innumerable, they shall also flourish, as grass in its prime.

Verse 26. Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age] In a good old age, or (as the Hebrew hath it, Gen. 25.8.) with a good hoary head, in an 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , when thou hast even a satiety of life, and art as willing to die as ever thou wast to dine, or to rise from table after a full meal. The Hebrews made a feast when they were past 60 years of age: and some of them observe, that the numeral letters of Chela • h (th • word here used) make up threescore, but that's not a full old-age; rather it is, the 〈1 page duplicate〉 〈1 page duplicate〉 beginning of it. Thou shalt aye in lusty old age, so Broughton rendereth it, old, and yet healthy and comfortable, as was Moses, Deut, 34.7. And Mr. Dod that Moses of our times? Of Mr. Samuel Crook likewise it is recorded, that when he saw no more ability for labors, he desired to die in a satiety and fullness of life: not as a meat loathed (as many times natural men do) but as a dish though well liked, that he had fed, his full of; sew men having ever run so long a race without cessation or aespitat ••• , so constantly, so unweariably, so unblameably. Lo such an hoary head, was a crown of glory, as being found in the way of righteousness, Prov. 16.31. But so are not all that yet are long-lived. A sinner may do evil an hundred times, and yet have his days prolonged, Bccles 8.12. Manasseh had the longest reign of any King of Judah, 〈◊〉 Jo • . 22 held the mortality of the soul, and was otherwise erroneous and vicious, yet he lived longest of any Pope, and died richest, Anno Dom. 13.35. howbeit he died tempore non suo too soon for himself, Eccles. 7.17. He went not to his grave in a good old age, ripe and ready.

As a shock of corn cometh in, in his season] As corn when ripe is reaped, shockt up, and carried into the barn for the masters use. Dei frumentum ego sum; I am God's bread-corn, said that ancient Martyr.

Verse 27. Lo this we have searched it, so it is] We are sure that all this is true, and may be trusted to, for we have tried it: we have it not by tradition, neither take we it up upon trust from others: but we believe and know, as Peter spake Job. 6 69 we believe, and therefore speak it, as Paul (after David ) 2 Cor. 4.13. Psal. 116.10. Thou majest write upon this whole chapter, as those Ancients did upon their Oracles 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 God, God, or as John the Divine did upon his Revelation, These sayings are faithful and true, Rev. 22.6. Vera tanquam • x tripode, as true as Gospel, as we say. Those that take upon them to teach others, should go upon sure ground, and be masters of what they teach; how else will they teach with authority? those also that come to hear, must strive to find out that which St. Luke calleth the certainty of things, Luke 1.4. and not be led by conjectural suppositions, or the Tenants of their teachers, but be fully persuaded: verse 1.

Hear it] With utmost attention of body, intention of mind, retention of memory, and practice, also all is lost.

And know thou it for thy good] Make thy best use of this our diligence and experience so freely and friendly communicated unto thee. Let not all this that hath been spoken be spilled upon thee, but prove every whit as profitable to thee, as I conceive it seasonable for thee. Some knowing men are not a button the better for all they know. The devils are full of objective knowledge, but they get no good by it: no more do graceless men, that draw not their knowledge into practice, but detain the truth in unrighteousness, it swimmeth in their heads, but sinketh not into their hearts; it maketh them giddy, as wine fuming all up into the head, but never coming at the heart to cheare it. Such a man may cast out devils, and yet be cast to the devil; he may go to hell with all his unprofitable knowledge; like as a Bull with a coronet and garland goes to the slaughter. Unless a man hear and know for himself, he shall find no more comfort of it, then a man doth of the Sun when it shineth not in his own Horizon; or then a traveler doth of the fatness of a far Country, which he only passeth through, and taketh a light view of. If therefore thou be wise, be wise for thyself, Prov. 9.12. Let thy knowledge be not only apprehensive, but affective, • illightning, but transforming (2 Cor. 3 ult. ) discursive, but experimental, and practical. For hereby we know that we know him, if we keep his commanaments, 1 John 2.3.

CHAP. VI Verse 1. But Job answered and said]

ELiphaz thought he had silenced him, and set him down with so much reason, that he should have had nothing to reply, yet Job desirous to disasperse himself, and to clear-up his reputation, answered and said. For indeed Negligere quid de se quisque sentiat, non solum arragantis est, sed & dissoluti, saith one; that is, altogether to neglect what others think or speak of a man's self, and not to make apology, is the part not only of a proud, but of a dissolute person • silence sometimes argueth guiltiness, or at least it strengtheneth suspicion.

Verse 2. O • that my grief were thoroughly weighed ] Heb. were weighed by weighing. The word rendered grief signifieth also Ang •• , and is th • same with that wherewith Eliphaz began his speech, chap. 5.2. where he saith, Wrath killeth the foolish man, pointing at Job, as an angry man exalting folly. Here therefore Job beginneth his refutation: wishing, that that, anger or grief of his, so hardly censured, were duly weighed in an even balance for then it would appear that there was some reason for his passion, that he had enough upon him to cry for, and that he had not complained without a cause. We read of a certain Philosopher, who hearing of his sons death, brake out into a loud lamentation: for which being reproved, Permit ••• e, inquit, ut homo sim, suffer me, I pray you, (said he) to show myself to be a man; that is, sensible of my sufferings.

And my calamity laid in the balances together ] That is, that my calamity were accurately set against my grief, my laments and my torments equally poised; it would then appear that I have not yet grieved or complained up to the height or weight of those calamities which are upon me. Even today is my complaint bitter, (saith he elsewhere in answer to Eliphaz too, interpreting his complaints to be rebellion against God) My stroke is heavier the • my gro • ning, chap. 23.2.

Verse 3. For now it would b • heavier then the sand of the sea ] How light soever thou, O Eliphaz, esteemest it, as being in a prosperous condition. It is easy to swim in a warm bath: and every bird can sing in a sunshine-day. But grief lieth like a load of lead upon the soul, heavy and cold; afflicting it, as an unsupportable burden doth the body. It so oppressed the poor Israelites in Egypt, that they had no mind to hearken to Moses, E • e • d, 6.9. Solomon cries out, A wounded spirit who can bear? Prov. 18. • 4. My soul is very heavy, and exceeding sorrowful, even unto death, saith our blessed Savior, Matth 26.37, 38. then when the Father made all our sins to meet upon him, and be bare our griefs and carried our sorrow • , Isa. 13.4, 12. Sure it is, that had he not been God as well as man, he had been utterly crushed by that inconceivable weight of sin and wrath that he then groaned under. Oh what will all Christ less • persons do in hell, where God shall lay upon them and not spare! they would fain fly out of his hand, Job 27.22. bur that cannot be.

Therefore my words are swallowed up ] Vix loqui possum, vox faucibus haevet: I want words, which yet, if I had them at will, would be far too weak to utter the grief of my mind. Broughton rendereth it, Therefore my words fall short, they are semesa, saith Junius, half-eaten before spoken: I am (as it were) gagg'd with grief: or, my words are even smothered up with sighs and sobs. Thus Job rhetoricates, and yet thinks himself greatly word-bound.

Verse 4. For the arrows of the Almighty are within me ] What marvel then though his flesh had no rest, but he was troubled on every side, since without were fightings, within were fears, 2 Cor. 7.5. The arrows not of a mighty man, as Psal. 127.4. but of an Almighty God, Troubles without, and terrors within? David felt these arrows, and complaineth of them heavily, Psal. 38.1, 2. He shall sh • ot as them with an arrow, suddenly shall they be wounded, saith he of those his enemies who had bent their bow, and shot their arrows at him, even bitter words, Psal. 64.3, 7. God will make his arrows drunk with the blood of such persons, Deut. 32.42. But the arrows Job here complains of, were poisoned or envenomed arrows.

The poison whereof drinketh up my spirits ] Dryeth them up, and corrupts the blood in which the spirits are, sprinkling in my veins a mortal poison, working greatest dolour, and destemper. The Scr • hians and other nations used to dip their darts in the blood and gall of Asps and Vipers, the venomous heat of which, like a fire in their flesh, killed the wounded with torments, the likest hell of any other: and hereunto Job alludeth.

The terrors of God do set themselves in array against me ] i. e. the terrible strokes of God who seemeth to fight against me with his own hand, to rush upon me as the Angel once did upon Balaam with a drawn sword in his hand, threatening therewith to cut off my head, as David did Goliath's, yea to send me packing to hell in the very suburbs whereof, methinks, I feel to be already, and shall not I be suffered to complain? a galled shoulder will shrink under a load, though it be but light; and a little water is heavy in a leaden vessel. But the word here used for terrors, noteth the most terrible terrors, hellish terrors, and worse, for they are the terrors of God, surpassing great, 2 Cor. 5.11. which made Jeremy pray so hard, Be not thou a terror to me, O Lord, and then I care not greatly what befalleth me. Whiles I suffer thy terrors, I am distracted, saith Hemun, Psalm 88.15. Add hereunto, that these terrors of God had set themselves in array, they were in a military manner marshalled and imbattailed against him, as Jer. 50.9. God afflicted Job methodically and resolvedly; he led up his army (as a Reverend man phraseth it) exactly formed to a pitched battle against him, and this was truly terrible; for who, saith Moses, knoweth the power of his wrath? since the apprehension and approach of it was so terrible to an upright-hearted Job, to an heroical Luther, upon whom God's terrors were so heavy for a time, ut nec calor, nec sanguis, nec sensus, nec vox superesset: that neither heat, nor blood, nor sense, nor voice remained, but his body seemed dead, as Justus Jonas an eye-witness reporteth: agreeable whereunto is that memorable speech of Luther, Nihil est tentatio vel universi mundi, & totius inferri in unum conflata &c. The temptation and terror of all the world; nay, of all hell put together is nothing to that, wherein God setteth himself in battle-array against a poor soul: In which case, that is excellent counsel that one giveth in these words; When thy sins and God's wrath meeting in thy conscience make thee deadly sick, as Isai. 33. then pour forth thy soul in confession: and as it will ease thee (as vomiting useth to do) so also it will move God to pity, and to give thee cordials and comforts to restore thee.

Verse 5. Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass? ] q. d. Sure they do not. As if these creatures, wild or tame, want necessary food, you give them leave to fill the air with their out-cries; yea, you supply their wants; but for me ye will do neither, such is your tenderness and love toward me. Nay, ye condemn me for that which is naturally common to all creatures. Ye must needs think I am not without aylement that make such great lamentations, unless ye conceit that I am fallen below the stirrup of reason, nay, of sense. It is easy for you who want neither grass nor fodder, or mixed meat. (as the word signifieth) who lie at rack and manger, as it were, and have all that heart can wish, or need require; it is easy, I say, for you to rest contented, and to forbear complaints. But why am I so severely censured for impatient, who am stripped of all, and have nothing left me, praeter coelum & coenum, as he said, but only air to breath in, and a dung-hill to sit on; not to speak of my inward troubles &c.

Verse 6. Can that which is unsavory be eaten without salt? ] Or can that which is unsavory for want of salt be eaten? Hunger will down with unsavory or unpleasant food, though salt or sauce be wanting: but when meat is putrefied for want of salt, and full or maggots, it will hardly be eaten, unless it be in extreme famine: it is as if he should say, a man doth with no good will feed upon unsavory or loathsome meats; how then can I use such moderation as you desire I should, my evils being extreme, sweetened with no kind of comfort, nor seasoned with anything that is any way toothsome or wholesome? that I speak not of your tasteless and insulse speeches, which are no small vexation to me.

Verse 7. The things that my soul refused to touch &c. ] I suffer such torments even in my very soul, as the very thought of them would heretofore have affrighted me. Thus Mr. Dio • ate. Others take soul here for the appetite, and so make this the sense: Those things which I exceedingly loathed, and would once have thought scorn to have touched, are now my sorrowful meat: I am forced with an heavy heart to feed upon them for want of better: and they go down the worse, because you vex me with your hard words (who have little need of such choke-peares) and will not allow me the liberty of a needful lamentation, which yet I must needsly take (lest heart should break) and say as before chap. 3. though with some more respect to God, the object of my present prayer;

Verse 8. O that • might have my request! ] How heartily begs Job for death, as a medicine of all his maladies and miseries; as that which would bring him m • l • rum ademptio • em, ••• orum, adepti • nem, freedom from all evil, fruition of all good: By the force of his faith, he looks upon death as the best physician that would cure him of all infirmities inward and outward, and of all at once, and forever. Job might likely be of the same mind that Cha • cer was, who took for his English motto Farewell Physic; and for his Latin one, Mors arumnarum requies, death will be a sweet rest from all my labors: the same • o a believer death is, that mount Ararat was to Noah, where his ark rested after long tossing: or as Michel was to David, a means to shift him out of the way when Saul sent to slay him: or as the fall of the house was to Samson, an end of all his sorrows and sufferings: hence it is that he rejoiceth under hope, and with stretched out neck, looks and longs for deaths coming, as dearly as ever Sise • a's mother did out of a window for the coming of her son laden with spoils from the battle. As when death is come indeed, he welcometh it, as Jael did the fame Sisena (but much in one heartily) with Turn in my Lord, turn in to me, Judge. 4.18. and further bespeaketh it, as Jacob did his brother Esau, at their interview; Surely I have seen thy face, as the face of God who hath made thee to meet me with kisses instead of frowns, and hath sent thee to guard me safe home to my fathers house.

And that God would grant me the thing that I long for. ] Or, have long looked for. Heb. my hope or my expectation as that which will put a period to my miseries, and possess me of heavens happiness, as that which will be a postern to let out temporal life, but a street-door to let in eternal.

Verse 9. That • t would please God to destroy me. ] That is, to dispatch me out of this world, and fend me to a be • ter. A dissolution would be far more acceptable to Job, then that restitution which Eliph • z seemed to promise him, chap. 5.24. Its as if Job should say; Take you the world amongst you, since you like it so well, I have move then enough of it: I am neither fond of life, nor afraid of death, but the clean contrary: I had rather die then dine, and crave no greater favor then to have more weight laid upon me that I may die out of hand. Feri Domine, feri • nam à peceatis 〈…〉 Luther once said, strike Lord, strike deep, for thou hast pardoned my sins, and wilt save my soul.

That he would let loose his hand ] That now seemeth tied, or hound behind him, Manus ligata vide • u • quando parcit, saith Vatablus. God had chained up Satan, and strictly charged him not to take away Jobs life: but this is it that Job would fain have done. Mortality he would account no small mercy: he desired nothing more then to be dissolved, and to be with Christ, he might do it because he knew that his Redeemer lived &c. So might Simeon, because he had seen God's salvation: and so might Paul who had fought a good fight, and kept the faith. But how could Plato say in the eighth of his laws, The communion of the soul with the body is not better then the dissolution, as I would say, if I were to speak in earnest? His master Socrates, when to die, was nothing so confident: for he shut up his last speech with these words, as both Plato himself, and Cicero tell us, Temp •• est jam hinc abire • It is now high time for us to go hence; for me to die, and for you to live longer: and whether of these two is the better, the gods immortal know; hominem quidem arbir • or sciro neminem, it is above the knowledge, I believe, of any man living. Thus he: but Job was better persuaded; otherwise he would have been better advised then thus earnestly to have desired death.

And cut me off. ] Avide me absumat quasi ex morte mea ingens lucrum reportatur •• . Let him greedily cut the 〈◊〉 (so the word signifieth) even as if he were to have some great gain, or get some rich booty by my blood.

Verse 10. Thou should I 〈◊〉 have comfort, yea, I would harden myself in sorrow &c. ] I would take hard on, and bea • what befalleth me as well as I could, by head and shoulders, had I but hopes of an end by death; as having this for my comfort;

I have not concealed the words of the Holy One. ] I have boldly professed the true Religion, Ps. 40.10. & 116.10. & 119.43. not •• ared to preach the truth sincerely to others for God's glory, and their good; however you may judge of me. I never rejected the word of God, but have highly honored it; so that my desire of death is not desperate, as you may conceive, but an effect of good assurance that by death heaven advanceth forward that happy term, when all my miseries shall end at once: and hence it is, that I am so greedy after the grave.

Verse 11. What is my strength, that I should hope? ] q. d. Thou hast told me (O Eliphaz ) that if I frame to a patient and peaceable behavior under God's chastisement, I shall go to my grave in a good old age: &c. but, alas, it is now past time of day with me for that matter: my breath is corrupt, my days are extinct, the graves are ready for me, chap. 17.1.] Were I as young and lusty as ever I have been, some such things as ye have promised me might be hoped for; but alas, the map of age is figured on my forehead, the calenders of death appear in the furrows of my face: besides my many sores and sicknesses, which if they continue but a while, will certainly make an end of me.

And what is mine end ] i.e. The later part of my life: what is that else, but trouble and sorrow? see this elegantly set forth by Solomon, Eccles. 12.2, 3, 4, &c.

That I should prolong my life ] That I should desire my life to be prolonged or eeked out to that? Rather let it be my • are with Varro, ut sarcinas colligam antequàm proficiscar e vita, to be ready for death, which seemeth so ready for me.

Verse 12. Is my strength the strength of stones? Or, Is my flesh of brass? ] Is it made of marble, or of the hardest metal? as it is said of one in Homer, that he was 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , of brazen bowles, and of Julius Scaliger, that he had a golden soul in an iron body: he was a very Iron sides, but so was not Job: he had neither a body of brass, nor sinews of iron, to stand out against so many storms, and bear so many batteries; he felt what he endured, and could not long endure what he felt. As for the damned in hell, they are by the power of God upheld forever, that they may suffer his fierce wrath forever; which else they could never do. And as for those desperate Assasines, Baltasar Gerardus the Burgundian, who slew the Prince of Orange Anno Dom. 1584. and Ravilliac ( Ferale illud prodigium, as one calleth him, that hideous hell • hound) who slew Henry the fourth of France in the midst of his preparations, and endured thereupon most exquisite torments; this they did out of stupidity of sense, not solidity of faith; and from a reckless desperation, not a confident resolution.

Verse 13. Is not my help in me? ] Have I not something within wherewith to sustain me amidst all my sorrows, viz. the testimony of my conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, I have had my conversation in the world, 2 Cor. 1.12. • o, this is my rejoicing, this is my cordial &c. Innuit innocentiam suam, a • vita integritatem, saith Drusius: he meaneth the innocence and integrity of his heart, and this was the help Job knew he had in store, this was the wisdom or right reason he speaketh of in the following words, and is wisdom (or virtue ) driven quite from me? no, no; that holdeth out and abideth when all things else in the world pass away and vanish • , as the word Tushijah importeth. Job had a subsistence still: for his life consisted not in the abundance which he had possessed, but was now bereft of. The world calleth wealth substance, but God giveth that name to Wisdom only. The world he setteth forth by a word that betokeneth change, for its mutability, Prov. 3.8. and the things thereof he calleth Non-entia, Prov. 23.5. Wilt thou set thine eyes, saith he, upon that which is not? and which hath no price but what opinion setteth upon it? Grace being a particle of the divine nature, is unloosable, unperishable. — Virtus post funera venit.

Verse 14. To him that is afflicted ] Heb. melted, viz. in the furnace of affliction, which melteth men's hearts, and maketh them malleable, as fire doth the hardest metals, Psal. 22.15. Josh. 7.5.

Pity should le shown from his friend ] By a sweet tender melting frame of spirit, such as was that of the Church, Psal. 102.13. and that of Paul, 2 Cor. 11.29. Who is weak • and I am not weak, sc. by way of sympathy? who is offended, and I burn not? when others are hurt, I feel twinges; as the tongue complaineth for the hurt of the toe, and as the heart condoleth with the heel, and there is a fellow-feeling amongst all the members: so there is likewise i • the mystical body.

From his friend ] who is made for the day of adversity, Prov. 17.17. and should show • ove at all times, and especially in evil times: but poor Job bewaileth the want of such faithful friends. David also complaineth to God (his only fast friend) of those that would be the causes, but not the companions of his calamity, that would fawn upon him in his flourish, but forsake him in his misery, My lovers and friends stand aloof &c. they looked on him, and so passed by him as the Priest and the Levite did the wounded passenger, Luke 10.32. But God takes it ill that any should once look upon his afflicted, unless it be to pity and relieve them, Obad. 12.13. and hath threatened an evil, an only evil, without the least mixture of mercy, to such as show no mercy to those in misery, Jam. 2.13.

But he hath forsaken the fear of the Almighty ] Which wheresoever it is in the power of it, frameth a man to all the duties both of piety and charity. O • adiah feared God greatly, and it well appeared by his pity to the persecuted Prophets. Cornelius feared God, and (as a fruit of it) gave much alms. Acts 10.2. Not so Nabal, that sapless fellow, whose heart was hardened from God's holy fear: nor Judas the traitor, who had no bowels of compassion toward his innocent master; and therefore he burst in the midst w •• h an huge crack, and all his bowels gusht out, by a singular judgment, Acts 1.18. There are many other readings of this text, as that of the • igurine translation, It were fit for friends to show kindness to their friend that is in misery: but the fear of the Almighty hath forsaken me, as you please to say. See what Eliphaz had said to this purpose, chap. 4.6. with the Note. Others read it thus, to him that is afflicte • should reproach be given, that he hath forsaken the fear of the Almighty? q.d. Must a man therefore be reviled as irreligious, because he is calamitous? The vulgar translation runs thus, He that taketh away pity from his friend, hath forsaken the fear of the Almighty &c.

Verse 15. My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook ] Even you, whom I esteemed as my brethren (for to them he applieth this speech, verse 21.) prove hollow and helpless to me: like the river Araris, that moveth so slowly, that it can hardly be discerned, saith Caesar, whether it flow forward or backward: or rather, to a certain fish in that river Araris, called Scolopidus: which at the waxing of the Moon, is as white as the driven snow; and at the wayning thereof is as black as a burnt coal. Job here elegantly compareth them not to a river which is fed by a spring, and hath a perennity of flowing; but to a brook arising from rain or melted snow, the property whereof is, in a moisture (when there is least need of them) to swell; in a drought (when they should do good) to fail. It is reported of the river Novanus in Lombardy, that at every mid-summer-solstice it swelleth and runneth over the banks, but in mid-winter is quite dry. Such were Jobs deceitful brethren; good summer-birds &c. The same Author telleth us, that in that part of Spain called Carrinensis, there is a river that shows all the fish in it to be like gold: but take them into thine hand, and they soon appear in their natural kind and color. Job found that all is not gold that glistereth.

And as the stream of brooks they pass away ] i. e. as an impetuous land-flood, they fail me; and now, that I have most need of their refreshments, they yield me none; but the contrary rather: like as land-floods by their sudden and violent overflow do much hurt many times to corn and cattle. I can go to these streams of brooks, saith Job, and show my friends the face of their hearts in those waters.

Verse 16. Which are blackish by reason of the ice ] Or frost, a black-frost we call it, which deceiveth those that tread upon it. Or if hard enough to bear up passengers it promise to be a storehouse of preserving snow and water against the scortching time of Summer, yet there's no trusting to it: for these waters as they are in winter locked up with frosts, so they will be in Summer exhaled, and dried up by the Sun.

Verse 17. What time they wax warm, they vanish: when it is hot &c.] Lo such is the fruit of creature-confidence, of making flesh our arm, of trusting in men or means; whereas Deo co • fisi nunquan confusi, they that trust in the Lord shall never be disappointed. This thou canst never do, unless (unbottomed of thyself and the creature) thou so lean upon the Lord, as that if he fail thee thou sinkest, and not otherwise.

Verse 18. The paths of their way are turned aside. ] i. e. They being (as it were) cut into divers small rivers running here and there, by little and little, and being resolved into vapors, at length quite vanish away.

They go to nothing and perish ] Metaph • ra insignis & Hieroglyphicum, saith an Interpreter; this is an excellent metaphor, and a lively picture of the vanity of such as make a great show of piety and charity, which yet floweth not from the spring of true faith; and therefore cannot but, after a while, go to nothing and perish. A failing brook, saith another, is a clear emblem of a false heart, both to God and man. Lavat • r thus explaineth the comparison: 1. As brooks run with waters then when there is least need of them: so false friends are most officious when their courtesy might best be spared. 2. As the ice of such brooks is so condensed and hardened, that it beareth men, horses, and other things of great weight, so counterfeit friends promise and pretend to be ready to do their utmost to suffer anything for our good and comfort. 3. But as those brooks are dried up in summer, and frozen up in winter, so that we can set no sight on them: in like sort these are not to be found when we are in distress and affliction. 4. As brooks in winter are covered with snow and ice: so these would seem to be whiter then snow when their a • fections towards us are colder then ice. 5. Lastly, as the ice that was hard and firm, upon a thaw breaketh and melteth: so false friends leave us many times upon very small or no dislikes; as being constant only in their inconstancy.

Verse 19. The troops of Tema looked, the companies of Sheba waited for them ] The troops, that is, the travellers, the Caravan or company of merchants from those parts, passing through dangerous and dry deserts, expected relief from those brooks which they had marked out for themselves against summer: But with what success?

Verse 20. They were confounded, because they had hoped &c. ] Heb. They blushed, or they were abashed, because disappointed and defeated of their hope and expectation. See Jer. 14.3, 4. Joel 1.10, 11. God's people have a promise, that hoping in him they shall never be ashamed, Joel 2.26. Rom 9.23 Their hope is unfallible Rom. 5.5. because founded upon • aith unfeigned, 1 Tim. 1.5. Hence they are commanded to rejoice in hope, Rom. 12.12. and to conceive gaudium in re, gaudium in spe, gaudium de possessi • e, gaudium de promissione &c. joy for what they have in hand, and in present possession; joy also for what they have in hope, and in reversion. Wicked men's hopes may hop headless (as the proverb is, and as these troops of T • ma experimented) they come to the worlds felicities, as they do to a lottery with heads full of hopes, but return with hearts full of blanks; not so the Saints: God will be better to them then their hopes: and when at worst, they can confidently say, it is well for the present, and it will be better hereafter.

Verse 21. For now ye are nothing ] i. e. To me nothing worth: I have no more joy of you then if you were not at all: ye are not unlike him who said to his friend, I am all yours, except body and goods: ye are not so much as friends at a sneez • , who will come out with a God bless you: or as those great benefactors in St. James, chap. 2.15, 16. that were free of their mouth-mercy: ye are mere mutes and ciphers, nullities, as to me just nothing; that is, ye are no such thing as I expected. And here Job brings the fore-going similitude home to his friends by close application. And according to the Hebrew margin called Keri, it may be rendered, Fuistis • i similes • , sc. Torrenti; ye are like to it, that is, to the brook forementioned: ye fail me as much as it did the thirsty passengers.

For ye see my casting down, and are afraid ] There is an elegancy in the Original that cannot be englished: your eyes see what you had before heard of only be the hearing of the ear, that I am at a great under, dejected and impoverished: you are therefore afraid of me, lest I should ask you something for the supply of my wants; or else you keep at a distance, as more afraid of catching mine evil, then desirous of curing it; ye visit me, but are not moved with any compassion toward me. So the Septuagint.

Verse 22. Did I say, bring unto me? or give &c. ] Did I ever charge you for my reparation or redemption? This interrogation is more emphatical then a simple negation, q. d. I never did it, and therefore unless you had been at more charge with me, you should have bestowed better words upon me: those would have cost you nothing certainly.

Verse 23. Or deliver me from the enemies hand &c. Rescue me, ransom me from those that have robbed and wronged me: fetch back my loft goods by price of force. The word rendered mighty, signifieth also formidable, terrible, breac • -makers. The word is opened by St. Paul, Phil. 1.28. Where he useth a metaphor from horses, s • or • ing, and starting when ••• gh • ed.

Verse 24. Teach me, and I will hold my tongue ] If I be in an error, I am willing to be rectified. Hitherto you have mistook my case, and so your speech hath been to small purpose. But if you will come home to my case indeed, and weigh things in an even balance, I shall gladly submit to your more mature judgment and direction. Teach me, and you shall find that I am not indocible, that I am not as horse and 〈◊〉 that have no under standing Psalm 32.9. nor will learn any much less then the creature called Rhinoceros, untameable and intractable. It shall appear to you that I am not utterly uncounsel • able, as those of whom Bail complaineth, qui q • id verum sit neque sciunt, neque sustine dis • e • e, that neither know what truth and right is, nor will endure to be taught it. Job was not to be told that it was easier to deal with twenty men's reasons, then with one man's will! he promiseth therefore not to stand out against his friends, because he will stand out. It is not my will, saith he, that opposeth what you have spoken, but my understanding. I am a slave to right reason: and if convinced thereby, I shall soon lay down the bucklers. Teac • me, and I will hold my tongue, and not strive for the last word to lengthen out the contention: I am willing to reason, but not to wrangle. See Prov. 30.32.

Cause me to understand wherein I have erred ] An humble man will never be an heretic▪ err he may (that's common to mankind, iriste mortali at is privilegium ) but convince him by solid reasons, and good arguments, and he will not long stand out; 〈…〉 child shell lead him, Isa. 1 • 6 It is by pride that contention cometh, Prov. 13.10. for it maketh a man drunk with his own conceit, Hab. 2.5. and who so willful, so quarrelsome as he that is drunk? An heretic may be condemned of himself, Tim 3 • .10. but he will not be convinced by another (such is his pertinency, or rather, obstinacy) no, though he be stoned with hardest arguments, holden out of that crystal-brook of the holy Scriptures, he stands as a stake in the midst of a stream: and you may as soon remove a rock, as cause him to understand wherein he is out in his judgment or practice.

Verse 25. How forcible are right words! ] How sweet, saith the Chaldee interpreting it by Psal. 119.103. It may be he read Nimle su for Nimre su; but the word is well rendered forcible, potent, valid. It noteth also, saith one, acrimony, sharpness, or smartnesse, because right words have a pleasing acrimony upon the palate of the soul, and a power upon the judgment to sway and carry it. 〈…〉 dictis animos &c. Audit s • nem juvenes qu • m juvenem sen • s audierunt; these few words from Augustus falling right, quieted the mutineers in his army: and the like is reported of Alexander the great, of Menenius Aggripp • &c. But we have better instances, as that of Abig • treating with David; the woman of Abel with J • ab; Nicodemus by a few seasonable words, dissolving the Council gathered together against Christ, John 7.50 53. Pap • nutius stickling for the married Clergy at the Nicene Council, &c. One seasonable truth falling on a prepared heart, hath oft a strong and sweet operation. Luther having heard Sta • picius say that that is kind repentance with begins from the love of God, ever after that time the practice of repentance was sweeter to him; This speech also of his tool well with Luther. The doctrine of predestination beginneth at the wounds of Christ: but before any of this, he was much wrought upon by conference with an old Priest about justification by faith. So was that Italian Marquess Galeacius Caracci • lus by a similitude used by Pe • er Martyr reading upon the first to the Corinthians Nescio quid divinum in auscultatione est, saith one, there is a kind of divine force and efficacy in hearing, more then in reading the word we may say of it as David once did of Goliath's sword, There is none to th •• . And yet it cannot be denied, that the word read also hath a mighty force and powerful influence upon the conscience. Hence those many praises of it, Psal. 19.7, 8. The statutes of the Lord are right &. right for every man • 〈◊〉 and purpose • o penned, that every man may think they speak d • se in re suâ • of himself in his particular case, as 〈◊〉 hath it. So right the good word of God is and suitable; how then can it be but forcible (see Heb. 4.12. 2 Cor. • .4, 5.) And how forcible it is none can tell but those that have 〈◊〉 it; nor those neither: 〈◊〉 this •• pression by way of 〈◊〉 Oh 〈◊〉 • ffectual are right words.

But what doth your 〈…〉 ] Heb. What doth your 〈…〉 ? What force, what energi • is in your argument? how 〈◊〉 and 〈…〉 they? 〈…〉 appear they? and how little to the 〈◊〉 Ta •• fa •••• dil •• ntur argumenta vestra, quam v • lp • s co • est pyrum. I can 〈…〉 off my hand. Strong is the Truth (I grant) and 〈◊〉 e •• nceth the things that are true; but to conclude truths from 〈◊〉 (is that I am an hypocrite because afflicted) that ye can never do.

Verse 26. Do ye imagine to reprove words? ] 〈◊〉 and hasty words, which have more sound then sense? Think you that I do only make a noise, or rave like a mad than, and a • accordingly to be dealt with? ye have not hitherto had 〈◊〉 , windy words from me, bur words full of weight and matter, words of truth and 〈◊〉 wherefore then do ye speak thus? Do ye imagine to reprove words?

And the speeches of one that is desperate, which are as wind? Do ye think I speak like one that is distracted, who knows not what he speaks • of that I have at once lost my hope and my wits? It is an easy and a compendious way of refuting 〈◊〉 a man can say, to say, he is mad, his words must needs be but without weight, who is himself without reason. Mr. Broughton readeth, Do ye 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 of the 〈◊〉 wind? shall the poor man's wisdom be despised (as Solomon asketh) and his words not be heard? Ecc, 9.16 Some refer this also to J • b friends, 〈◊〉 it thus, Ye frame 〈◊〉 only to reprove (ye are good for little else but to find fault) and bring forth words against the wind: ye beat the empty air with your bubbles of words, and senseless saying • .

Verse 27. 〈◊〉 , you overwhelm the fatherl • sse ] Heb. ye throw yourselves upon the fatherless, that is, upon miserable • e, who am helpless, comfortless. See Gen. 43.18. that he may 〈◊〉 himself upon us, and fall upon us, say they there, as hunters and wild beasts fall upon their prey.

And you, dig a p •• for y • ur friend ] Who had better deserved of you, and expected better usage from you. Here he taxeth them for craft, as before for cruelty, and this to their friend, whom they sought to circumvent, and to drive into desperation. Some read the words thus, you make a feast upon your fr • end; you banquet upon your companion, and make great cheer, as being glad of my calamity which you make an argument of mine impiety. See chap. 41 6. 2 King • 6.23.

Verse 28. Now therefore be c • ntent, lo • k upon me ] Let it suffice you to have thus hardly handled me; cast now a more benign aspect upon me, and be not henceforth so hot, and so harsh. Now therefore be content regard me: so Mt. Broughton translateth it; or look upon me, sc. with a critical eye: what guiltiness can you find in my face? do I look like an hypocrite, and can you read my conscience in my countenance?

It 〈…〉 to you if 〈◊〉 ] You may soon see mine integrity if you plea ••• for my heart fitteth and showeth it felt in my fore-head, neither can I collude; I am one of those children, that will not lie; So be God my Savior, Isa 63 8.

Verse 29. Return, I pray you ] Change your mind of • e, and your language to me; B • na ver •• 〈◊〉 : what need all this heat of speech, and • eight of spirit he • etter advised, I beseech you, ch • p 17.10. and 19.28. some think that Jobs friends were rising to be gone: and he ha • tily calleth them back again.

〈…〉 ] Judge charitably, and make not the worst of matters I may be 〈◊〉 but am not wicked. Or thus, take heed that God faul • you no • 〈◊〉 •• urping his right: taking Upon you to judge of secret things, even egainst your neighbor with calumniations and cruelty.

Yea▪ return again I See you do it at your peril: either you must do it, or do worse.

My righteousness is in it ] I am surely in the right: and that will appear to you upon better consideration. I shall be 〈…〉 , and you utterly mistaken. Uprightness, 〈◊〉 boldness, and dare put itself upon God 〈◊〉 , as David did, P • alm 〈…〉 20.5.

Verese 30 〈…〉 ] yea, or 〈◊〉 you shall 〈◊〉 for a 〈◊〉 man, and well able to 〈◊〉 the whole body, Jam. 3.2. St. Paul Rom • 〈…〉 natural man, standeth more upon the organs of speech, his tongue, lips, mouth, throat, &c. then upon all the other members. 〈…〉 my taste discern perverse things ] 〈…〉 wrong, truth and falsehood? Job 12.11. and 34.3. Is my mouth so far out of taste &c? It is an heavy judgment to be given up to an injudicious mind. Rom 1.28. a reprobate 〈◊〉 .

CHAP. VII. Verse 1. Is there not an appointed time to m • n upon the earth?]

THere is certainly: Our bounds are prescribed us; and a pillar set by him who bears • p the heavens, which we are not to transpasse. Stat sua cuique dies, (said the He • then Poet; our last day stands, the rest run. It is said of the Turks, that they shun not the company of those that have the prague, but pointing upon their fore-heads • ay, it was written there at their birth when they should die. Now if there be an appointed time &c. what mean the Lutherans to teach that God hath not determined the period of men's days, but it is in man's power to lengthen or shorten them: In this one verse we have two metaphors, both which do evince the contrary. The 〈◊〉 is from soldiers, implied in the word 〈◊〉 translated an appointed time, or a warfare, because there was a set time for soldiers to fight, and a set time also for them to serve. The second is from an 〈◊〉 .

Are not his days also like the days of an 〈◊〉 ? ] De • cribit humanae vitae brevitatem, saith Vatablus. Here he describeth the shortness of man's life, and withal that his days are determined, for with an hireling we agree to work with us for a certain time, and usually for a day, or by the day; and hence we call them day-laborers. It importeth, then that the time of man's life is short and set: for hirelings are appointed to an hour. See Job 14.14. Eccles. 2.3. John 7.30. Isa. 38.5. Fifteene years just were added to Hezekiah's life: our hairs are 〈◊〉 , much more our days. This Job alledgeth to set forth his own extreme misery, as one condemned to 〈◊〉 torment without any respite or refreshing: and therefore in a worse case then any soldier or servant.

Verse 2. As a servant earnestly desireth the shadow &c. ] Heb. gapeth after, or gaspeth for the 〈◊〉 that is, for some place of cool repose after his hard labor in the hot sun-shine, as in harvest; or for the shadow, that is; for dark night, or for the evening.

And 〈…〉 for the reward of his work ] Heb. expecteth his work, that is, his •• ges. God's work is its own wages: and in doing thereof (not only for doing thereof) there is great reward, Psal. 19.11. Righteousness is its own recompense; 〈…〉 for his wages, he sets his heart upon it, Deut. 〈…〉 and God provideth there, that it be duly paid him: and those that detain 〈…〉 , see Jam. 5.4. 'tis a • rying 〈◊〉 . The whole verse may cohere 〈…〉 , and be thus • endred, Is not man as a servant that earnestly desireth the shadow and is he not as an 〈◊〉 that looketh for the reward of his Work? • ut it is better to 〈…〉 with that when followeth, according to our • ranslation.

Verse 3. So 〈…〉 months of vanity ] So, but a great deal worse 〈…〉 . The laboring servant hath his shade; the painful 〈…〉 ; But I am shade to 〈◊〉 , or have assigned to me for 〈…〉 , But whole months of vanity, that is, of molestation and misery, 〈◊〉 of the l • ast comfort o • hope or amendment. The soldier, servant 〈…〉 : but with me it is every day worse then other; and 〈…〉 here would be a little hell to me. From the months of vanity, here mentioned 〈…〉 some render 〈…〉 it may be gathered that Jobs calamities lasted a long time, twelve months, say the Hebrews, seven years, saith 〈…〉 in any sort, we think our 〈…〉 . For Months of vanity some read 〈…〉 ever in the Eclipse.

And wearisome nights are appointed to me. ] sc. by God: and that so exactly as if he had numbered them to a night. See Dan. 10.1. Pondere, mensurâ, •• mero Deus omnia fecit: It is he that cutteth us out our conditions, that prepareth for us troublesome days and tiresome nights, and purposely that he may take us off from the inordinate love of life: like as by strait binding (which mortifieth and deadeth the flesh) men are made more able to bear the cutting off of a member; so shall we take our cutting off from this world the more gently, by how much the more painful, pinching days and nights we have endured.

Verse 4. When I, lie down, I say, when shall I arise &c. ] Here is a graphicall description of a wearisome night. The night is most laborious and irksome to sick people • then they revolve their troubles, and being free from visits of friends, they visit their own afflictions, and study their own distempers freely, then they lie all night wishing for day, telling the clock hearkening for the cock (that natural cloc • ) tossing to and fro unto the dawning of the day, not able to gee the least wink of sleep, that nurse of nature, and sweet parenthesis of men's griefs and cares. Oh present the condition of a restless sick man to your thoughts, (saith an Interpreter here) praise God for quiet nights, and pity those to whom wearisome nights are appointed.

Verse 5. My flesh is clothed with worms. ] Here Job showeth how and whence his nights were so wearisome and restless: he was in his grave-clothes before he died (saith one) viz. a gown of worms set or embroidered with clods of dust. Covered he was with sores, and putrefied ulcers full of worms, which made him an abhorring to himself.

And clods of dust ] A fit dress for a dying man. The word signifieth, the filings of any metal, or the scrapings of an unclean thing. He meaneth then the scurfe, scraped off from him, or the dust contracted by his sitting upon the ground, chap. 2.8.

My skin is broken ] Or, cleft and chapt (as the earth is in drought) in most loathsome and formidable manner.

And become loathsome ] Or melted, as in that distemper which Physicians call corruptionem totius substantiae: or as in the leprosy or gangrene, when the flesh falleth off from the bones. Hinc igitur disce patientiam in morbis, saith Lavater. Hence then learn to be patient under the most noisome and troublesome diseases. What sit, not lie, nor live, nor die: was not this holy Jobs condition, and worse? Remember that there are not a few sick as heart can hold; sore all over, and want necessary food and physic which thou dost not: consider that God could, and justly might lay more and heavier plagues upon thee, &c. When Dr. Munster was sick, and some friends came to visit him, being very sorry for the pains he was put to lay the ulcers of his body; O my dear friends, said he, these biles and blaines gemmae sun • & pr • tiosa ornamenta Dei, are God's gems and Jewels wherewith he adorneth his friends, that he may draw them to himself, which ornaments let us esteem far more precious then all the gold and wealth of this whole world; soon after which speech, he piously and peaceably fell asleep in the Lord. graserus also when he saw his body begin to swell with a dropsy, and other distempers, Euge Deo sit laus & gloria, said he, Oh blessed be God, that my deliverance is at hand, & hor • la gratissima, and that sweet hour that shall put an end to all my miseries.

Verse 6. My days are 〈…〉 ] Which is of a very swift and sudden motion. Nights and days pass the 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 life forward and backward, to and again. The right casts it to the day, and the day to the night; between these two, time quickly wears off the thread of life. I 〈◊〉 cut off like a weaver, my life saith good Hezekiah, Isa. 38.12. And the 〈…〉 this in their fiction of the three sister-Destinies, whereof the Poet saith,

You that are weavers, saith Lavater, 〈…〉 of this text, and learn to live holily.

And they are spent without hope ] Heb. in not hope. I cannot 〈◊〉 that I shall ever recover, or be 〈◊〉 : whatever thou, O Elip ••• , hast, 〈◊〉 about 〈◊〉 put me in hope. All Jobs desire was death, which he looked upon as the 〈◊〉 remedy of all.

Verse 7. O remember that my life is wind ] Before swifter or lighter then a weavers shuttle (or then a word or speech, as the Septuagint there render it) now, my life is a wind, or as a wind (so the Chaldee paraphraseth) that speedily passeth away, and returneth not. So St. James, What is your life? saith he; It is even a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and th • n vanisheth away. Jam. 4.14. One hath well observed, that the Holy Ghost giveth us very may Items of this (and especially in this book) which shows, that we are very apt to forget it. A point this is easy to be known, but very hard to be believed: every man assents to it, but few live it, and improve it to reformation.

Mine eyes sh • ll no more s • e good ] sc. in this world, for in the world to come he was confident of the beatifical vision, chap. 19.27. Hezekiah hath a like expression when sentenced to die: I said in the cutting off of my days; I shall not see the Lord, even the Lord in the land of the living; (that is, in this life present, Psal. 27.13. and 52 5. and 142.5. Isa. 53.8. called also the light of the living, John 9.4. Psal. 56.13.) I shill behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world, Isa. 38.11. And this, both sick Job, and sick Hezekiah tell the Lord, and both of them begin alike with O remember, Isa. 38.3. God forgetteth not his people and their condition: howbeit he requireth and expecteth that they should be his Remembrancers for their own and others good, Isa. 62.6, 7. See the Margin.

Verse 8. Th • eye of him that hath seen me, shall see me no more ] In death we shall neither see, nor be seen, but be soon both out of sight and out of mind too. It is storied of Richard the third, that he caused the dead corps of his two smothered Nephews to be closed in lead, and so put in a coffin full of holes, and hooked at the ends with two hooks of iron, and so to be cast into a place called the Black-deeps, at the Thames mouth, whereby they should never rise up, nor be anymore seen. Such a place is the grave till the last day: for then the sea shall give up the dead which are in it, and death ad he grave shall render up the dead that are in them, Rev. 20.13. then shall Adam see all his nephews at once &c.

Thine eyes are upon me, and I am not ] Thou even lookest me to death; like as elsewhere God is said to frown men to destruction, Psalm 80.16. and Psalm 104.29. they are not able to endure his flaming eyes, sparkling out wrath against them. What mad men therefore are they that speak and act against Him who can so easily do them to death? If God but set his eyes upon them for evil (as he oft threateneth to do, Amos 9.4. Job 16.9.) they are undone.

Verse 9. As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away ] A cloud is nothing else but a vapor thickened in the middle Region of the air by the cold encompassing and driving it together, psalm 18.19. vessels they are as thin as the liquor that is in them; but some are waterless: the former are soon emptied and dissolved; the later as soon scattered by the wind, and vanish away. See the Note on verse 7.

So he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more, ] sc. to live and converse here with men, as ver. 10. Or he shall come up no more, sc. without a miracle (as Lazarus and some others long since dead rose again) he cannot return to me, said David of his deceased child, 2 Sam. 12.23. God could send some from the dead to warn the living; but that is not now to be expected, as Abraham told the rich man, Luk. 16. Those spirits of dead men that so oft appeared in times of Popery (requiring their friends to sing Masses and Dirges for them; and that drew this verse from Theodorus Gaza, sunt aliquid manes, lethum non omnia finite ) were either delusions, or else devils in the shape of men. That Job doubted of the Resurrection, or denied it, (as Rabbi Solomon, and some other, both Hebrew and Greek writers conclude from this text) is a manifest injury done to this good man, and a force offered to the text, as appeareth by that which next followeth.

Verse 10. He shall return no more to his house ] Either to dispatch businesses, or to enjoy comforts: he hath utterly done with the affairs of this world. Melanchthon telleth of an aunt of his, who having buried her husband, and sitting sorrowfully by the fires side, saw (as she thought) her husband coming into the room, and talking to her familiarly about the payment of certain debts, and other businesses belonging to the house: and when he had thus talked with her a long time, he bid her give him her hand; she at first refused, but was at length persuaded to do it: he taking her by the hand so burnt it, that it was as black as a coal, and so he departed. Was not this the devil?

Neither shall his place know him anymore ] His place of habitation, or his place of honor and ruledome: these shall no more acknowledge him, and welcome him back, as they used to do after a journey. Death is the conclusion of all worldly comforts and relations. Hence wicked people are so loath to depart, because there is struck by death an everlasting parting-blow betwixt them and their present comforts, without hope of better. spes & fortuna valete, said one great man at his death. Cardinal Bourbon would not part with his part in Paris for his part in paradise. Fie, said another rick Cardinal, will not death be hired? will money do nothing? Never did Adam go more unwillingly out of paradise, the Jebusites out of the strong-hold of Zion, the unjust steward out of his office, or the devils out of the demoniac, then graceless people do out of their earthly tabernacles, because they know they shall return no more; and having hopes in this life only, they must needs look upon themselves as most miserable.

Verse 11. Therefore I will not refrain my mouth. ] Heb. I will not prohibit my month, sc. from speaking, I will bite in my grief no longer: but, since death, the certain end of all outward troubles, is not far from me; I will by my further complaints, press the Lord to hasten it, and not suppress my sorrows, but give them a vent.

I will speak in the anguish of my spirit ] Heb. In the straitness or distress of my spirit, which is almost suffocated with grief.

I will complain in the bitterness my soul. ] his greatest troubles were inward: and if by godly sorrow for his sins he had poured forth his soul in an humble confession (as some understand him here) he had taken a right course: but thus boisterously to break out into complaints, savoreth of human infirmity, and showeth quantae sint hominis vires sibi à Deo derelicti, what a poor creature man is when God leaveth him to himself, and subjecteth him to his judgments.

Verse 12. Am I a sea, or a whale ] Can I bear all troubles, as the sea receives all waters, and the whale bears all tempests? This (as is well observed) was too bold a speech to God from a creature: for when his hand is on our backs, our hands should be upon our mouths, as Psalm 39.9. I was dumb, or (as others read it.) I should have been dumb — because thou didst it. But it is a fair step to perfection and victory, when one can kiss God's rod and say, as Psalm 44.17. All this is come upon us, yet have we not forgotten thee, nor declined from thy way. Job was not without his impatiencies: but being he was right for the main, and at length bewailed them, God looked not upon him as he doth upon those refractaries, who to their impatience add impenitence; and to their passive disobedience, active.

That thou set test a watch over me? ] That thou surroundest me with sorrows, and wilt not suffer me to die? Here Job should have set a better watch over his lips then thus boisterously to have blustered against God (who is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , not to be called to an account for his proceedings) like the raging sea, or unruly whirl-pool. He should have considered, that the best men have somewhat of the sea in them, that must be bounded; and somewhat of the whale, that must be watched and kept under: and that God never lays more upon a man then there is need, though he may think otherwise.

Verse 13. When I say, my bed shall comfort me ] The bed was the most proper and probable means of refreshment: but it is not the bed that can give sleep, nor the couch, ease. Creatures are not able of themselves to give out the comforts committed to them: their common nature must be assisted with a special word of blessing, or else they do us no good: Man liveth not by bread only &c. God maketh the merciful man's bed, Psalm 41.3. So he giveth his beloved sleep, quiet sleep: ( Shena with an A • eph quiescent:) Psal. 127. He is the God of all mercies, and the Father of all consolation, 2 Cor. 1.3. It is he that shines through the creature, which else is but as the air, without light. Look now the air lights us not without the Sun; nor fuel heats us not without fire: so neither can any man or means comfort or content us without God.

My couch shall ease my complains ] Heb. Shall lift up, or take away, viz. the burden of my cares and grief: some part of my load at least: but it fell out otherwise: for

Verse 14. Then thou skarest me with dreams ] Extremam tentationem describit, saith Vatablus; and the devil doubtless, had a great hand in this business, (for it was within his commission, and he would not neglect any part of it;) but Job taketh notice of none but God the chief agent, and to him he applieth himself. His providence is exercised even about dreams, which in melancholy people, fall out (especially when they are sick) to be oftentimes very horrid and hideous; as that they fall down from some high place, commit some capital offense, are slain, torn in pieces by devils &c. Bishop Foliots terrible night-vision was before mentioned. Richard the third after the murder of his two innocent Nephews, and Charles the ninth of France after the Parisian massacre had such dreadful dreams; that they became a terror to themselves and to all about them. But to instance in better men; Calvin in the year of grace 1562 being sick of the gout, dreamed, that he heard a great noise of drums beaten up most vehemently, as they use to be in warlike marches. Pareus also Anno 1618 saw in a dream the City of Heidelburg set on fire in may places, and the Prince Electors palace all on a light flame: this he set down the next morning in his day-book, and added these words, O Deus clementissime averte sinistrum omen &c. Such fearful dreams cause a sick sleep, and a worse waking. This Job complaineth of here: and yet more fully in the next words.

Verse 15. So that my soul chooseth strangling ] i. e. Quamvis durissimam sed praesentissimam mortem, any violent or ignominious death, so it were a speedy death. Hippocrates telleth us, that may have been so affrighted with dreams and apparitions, that they have hanged themselves, leaped into deep pits, or otherwise made themselves away. Let those that either have not been so terrified, or so tempted, or so deserted of God, bless him for that mercy.

And death rather then life ] Heb. Rather then my bones; that is, any kind of death rather then such a body, which is no nothing else but a bag of bones: or then such rotten bones full of sores and ulcers: he maketh mention of his bones, because his pain had pierced as far as his very bones; the putrefaction had sunk down into his marrow.

Verse 16. I loath it, I would not live always ] I loath or abhor it, that is, my life, or I loath them, that is, my bones, verse 15. I would not live always, that is, long in this world, and in this condition. Plotinus the Philosopher held it a special mercy of God to men, that they were mortal; and did not always live to labor under the miseries of this wretched life. Ca • o professed, that if he might have his age renewed as the Eagles, so that he might be made young again, he would seriously refuse it. How much better might Job say thus, since the righteous hath hope in his death; and might well take up that of the Poet.

The days of the best are so full of evil both of sin and pain, that it is good they are not fuller of days; if they should have length of life added to heaps of sorrows, and perpetuity with all their misery; how miserable were they! Christ promiseth it as a point of favor to his, that the days of trouble should be shortened, Matth. 24.22. and that he may put an end to the world, he dispatcheth away the generations with all the convenient speed that may be.

Therefore let me alone ] Some read thus, I cannot live forever, or very long, therefore let me alone, ] that is, give over afflicting me, and let me go quietly to my grave, Psalm 39.13. Here one well observeth, that the world and time, while they continue, are always ceasing; and therefore have their denomination from this word which signifieth to cease.

For my days are vanity ] Hebel, a puff of wind, or a bubble on the water. Mans body is a bubble, his soul the wind that filleth it. The bubble riseth higher and higher, till at last it breaketh: so doth the body rise from infancy to youth, from youth to age &c. till at length it cracketh and dissolveth. The life of man is a vain life. This Job often beats upon, and why, see the Note on ver. 7.

Verse 17. What is man that thou shouldst magnify him? ] i. e. make so much ado about him, or look upon him as a fit match for the great God to grapple with, Psalm 14.3. or to take care of his affairs? Debile argumentum, saith Vatablus here, a poor argument: but Job maketh use of all kind of arguments to move God to make an end of him: Domine fac finem, fac finem, said dying Erasmus; but what he meant by those words, I know not, saith Melancthon, who reporteth it.

And that thou shouldst set thine heart upon him? ] So as to make any account of so mean and miserable a creature, Psalm 144.3. to magnify him whom thou mightest rather vilify, or indeed, nullify; or, that thou shouldst set they heart against him, sc. to destroy him, as chap. 34.14. That's but an ignoble contest; ubi & vincere inglorium est, & atterisordidum.

Verse 18. That thou shouldst visit him every morning ] Be at so much pains, as it were, with him, as to chasten him: and every morning to do it, that is, certainly and early; God took Job to task so soon as he was awake every morning; and this he thought much of, and had rather have been without: but that was his weakness, since the rod is as necessary as food.

And try him every moment ] Proving by affliction both what corruption, and what grace is in his heart; this David reckoneth upon the score of God's favors, and prayeth for, Psal. 139. ult. This God promiseth as a special blessing, J •• 9.7. and withal assureth, that he will try and • efine his people, but not as silver, Isa. 48.10. He will not deal with them as in rigor of justice he might do, because if he should do so, they having more dross in them then good ore, more corruption then grace, they would soon be consumed in this fiery trial: this God considered, and so should Job have done, and have given over his growling.

Verse 19. How long wilt thou not depart from me? ] Here he seems desirous to be rid of God's company; of his afflicting presence: so true is that of the Apostle, Heb. 12.11. No chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous, till patience come to have her perfect work; and men be brought to cry out, as one did under a great fit of the stone, The use Lord, the use; not so much ease of my pain, as a good use of my suffering; this Job came to at length, no doubt: mean while, we have in him, as Mercer observeth, mirum ubique specimen, a wonderful instance of that conflict between Flesh and Spirit that is in the Saints.

Nor let me alone, till I may swallow down my spittle ] That is, not afford me the least intermission, no not a spitting-while. He will not suffer me to take my breath, chap 9.18. Jerome thinks that Job was troubled with a squinsey or sore throat, which hindered the swallowing of his spittle; neither had he power to spit out the corrupt matter that ran down his throat. Oh what a sweet mercy is health! and how ill able are the best without special support from heaven to bear sickness! the Stoics, who said, that he who lived honestly might live cheerfully though under may bodily weaknesses, senserunt ipsi in morbis se magnificentius locutos esse quàm verius, saith one; that is, when it came to their own turn to be sick, they well perceived, that they had spoken rather bravely then truly.

Verse 20. I have sinned ] or, Have I sinned? Have I fallen into any foul offense, as these men charge me? Am I guilty of anything more then involuntary failings, unavoidable infirmities? although I know that these also are downright sins, fruits of the flesh properly so called, missings of the mark, as the word here signifieth, and for such I humbly confess them, I put myself into the hands of thy justice in hope of thy mercy: and what wilt thou more of thy poor creature?

What shall I do unto thee ] No sooner had Job confessed his sin, but he is desirous to know a remedy. Reprobates can cry Peccavi, I have sinned: but then they proceed not to say as here, What shall I do? they open their wound, but lay not on a plaster, and so the wounds made by sin are more putrefied, and grow more dangerous. Job would be directed what to do for remedy: he would have pardoning grace and prevailing grace upon any terms: and more then this, what can I do unto thee? as the Septuagint render this text.

O thou preserver of men? ] Of all men, but especially of t • em that b • lieve, 1 Tim. 4.10 The Grecians called their Jupiter 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , the Deliverer or Preserver of their persons: and again 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 from 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 a wall, as if he were the watch and defender of their houses. But these are praises proper to the true God the Keeper of his Israel, Psalm 121.4. The Preserver of the Faithful, Psalm 31.23. Whom he keepeth as the apple of his eye, Psalm 17.8. that tenderest piece of the tenderest part, most diligently and strongly guarded by nature with • unicles. It is the wisdom of a Christian in his addresses into God to make choice of fit and apposite titles and Attributes: for the strengthening of his faith, and increasing of his fervency.

Why hast thou set me as a mark against thee ] As a bul-wark, as an object, or as a rock of offense, against which thou mayest always dash: so Vatablus rendereth it: to the same sense Job asketh chap. 19.11. and 13.24. Wherefore holdest thou me for thine enemy? So Lam. 3.12. and Job 16.13. Job conceived, that God dealt with him no otherwise then the Turks did with the great Crucifix of Constantinople, upon the head whereof they put a Turks cap, and so settting it up in derision, shot at it with their arrows, calling it the God of the Christians: Or as the same Turks at the taking of Tripolis in Barbary, dealt with one John de Chabas a French man, who in the time of the siege had shot off the hand of the Clark General of the Army. They brought him into the town, saith the story, and when they had cut off his hands and nose, they put him quick into the ground to the wast, and there for their pleasure shot at him with their arrows, and afterwards cut his throat.

So that I am a burden to myself ] How can he be otherwise, who is a but-mark for Almighty God, who cleft his very reins a sunder, and poured our his gall upon the ground, Job 16.13. Job had once before complained, that the poison of God's arrows had drunk up his spirits chap. 6. Neither did anything lie so heavy upon him, or was so burdensome to him as this, that God seemed to frown upon him, and to fight against him with his own hand. The Septuagint and Talmudists read thus, So that I am a burden unto th • e, viz. with my complaints and expostulations: this, say they, was the ancient reading.

Verse 21. And why dost thou not pardon my transgression ] Heb. Lift up or take away: for sin was Job • greatest burden, which therefore he prayeth to God to pardon: and that not in heaven only, but in his own conscience: and then no darkness can be so desolate, no cross so cutting, no burden so importable, but he shall by God's grace, be able to deal with it. Hence this vehement expostulation of his for remission and removal of sin first, and then of its evil consequents; for pardon of sin is a voluminous mercy; and being justified by faith we can glory in tribulation Rom. 5.1, 3.

For now shall I sleep in the dust ] In the dust of death: and therefore must have help presently, or not at all: since a man once departed is no more to be found in this world, though never so diligently sought for. See verse 7, 8. One paraphraseth these words thus, For now I shall die, and then when thou lookest to receive thy morning sacrifice of praise as aforetime, I shall not be found to give it thee.

CHAP. VIII. Verse 1. Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said]

BIldad (who was of the posterity of Shuah Abraham's son by Keturah, Gen. 25.1, 2.) interrupteth Job, and endeavors to maintain what Eliphaz had spoken: Nevertheless it appeareth by this chapter, verse 5, 6, 20, 21. that his opinion was not so rigid, as that of Eliphaz: for he grants that a righteous man may be afflicted, but yet so, that if God restore him not speedily, he may be censured, cast and condemned as unrighteous. He passeth (as they do all) some hard censures upon Job; and is paid in his own coin by him: who saith, that he was according to his name, a wicked kinsman: for 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 is naught, and 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 an Uncle. With what judgment men judge, they shall be judged. Mat. 7 2.

Vers. 2. How long wilt thou speak these things? ] Quonsque effaberis ista? q. d. Hast thou nothing better then this to utter? Be silent for shame, or forbear at least to vent thy spleen against God, of whose proceedings with she thou hast heavily complained: thy words have been stout against the Lord, and thou hast taken too much liberty of language in this tempest of talk.

And how long shall the words of thy mouth be like a strong wind? ] Big and boisterous, rude and • robustuous, as if thou wouldst Dominum impetere, evertere, & dejicere blow down God and his proceedings at a breath. The Tigurine translation is, Quanaiu verba oris • ui so • abu • t pertinacia • ? How long shall the words of thy mouth sound out thine obstinacy? If evil thoughts be majoris reatus, of greater guilt, as the Schools speak; yet evil words and works are majoris infamia, of greater scandal, and do more corrupt others. This Bildad was sensible of, and conceiving that Job complained of God as dealing hardly with him, and unjustly afflicting him: he addeth,

Verse 3. Doth God pervert judgment? ] By not punishing the wicked: or doth the Almighty pervert justice? by not rewarding the righteous (so the Hebrews expound it) Why no: neither did Job ever say such a thing; only he had pathetically set forth the greatness of his pain, and the unkindness of his friends, and wished to die rather then to endure it. Now this was construed for blasphemy, or little less: and Bildad is very hot in his invective against Job, as good reason he had, if he had not been so mistaken. Here he wresteth in a most true proposition (commondam sane sed non acc • mmodam) but yet such a one as very little concerned this present disputation: and he doth it with as small wisdom and discretion, saith Beza, as with great pride and confidence. For doth it either argue Job and hypocrite, and wicked man, or charge God with injustice if it be said, that Job for his sins was not so afflicted by God (whereas he in the mean time denieth not himself to be a sinner, and to have deserved God's heavy hand upon him) but rather proved and tried by him according to his good pleasure? yet Bildad goeth on as if he had done very well: and in the next verse in plain words boldly avoucheth that Jobs children were by God's judgment destroyed with the fall of the house, whatever betid their souls.

Vers. 4. If thy children have sinned against him ] As what man is he that liveth and sinneth not? But Bildad meant that Jobs children had heinously sinned, had been grievous sinners against their own souls (as afterwards were Core and his complices) had not sinned common sins, and therefore died not common deaths: indeed they died early and suddenly, and eating and drinking (wherein there might be some excess ) and before sacrifice offered for them, as formerly: all this was sad, and moved Job more then anything else. But did it therefore follow that God hast cast them away? &c.

And he have cast them away for their transgression ] Or, And he have expelled or abandoned them into the hand (so the Hebrew hath it elegantly) of their transgressions or rebellions, as so may executioners. Some render it thus, He hath driven them out of the world for their transgression. The Chaldee Paraphrast goeth further, interpreting hand here for place. If God have sent them, saith he, into the place of their wickedness, that is, into hell prepared for the wicked. Now surely, saith Lavater, Inhumanissimus fuit Bildad, qui ista calamitosissimo objicere non dubitabat: Bildad was a most unmerciful man, who doubted not to lay these things in the dish of him that was before so heavily afflicted, and to heap more load upon him who was ready to sink under his burden: but he did it, say some, of a good intent, to bring Job to a sense of his sin, and to put him in hope of appeasing God's wrath, who had yet spared his life that he might make his peace, and not suddenly slay him as he had done them: and therefore he assureth him in the following verses, as Eliphaz had done before, that all things shall go well with him if he repent. Albeit thy children have sinned, &c. yet

Verse 5. If thou wouldst seek unto God betimes ] If warned by the evil end that befell thine unhappy children, thou wouldst early and earnestly seek unto God for mercy, for which purpose it may seem that thy life hath been graciously spared, when thy children have been destroyed, that thou mightest be made wise at their expense. Such counsel as this is, Eliphaz had given Job before, chap. 5.8.

And make thy supplication to the Almighty ] Pray for mercy out of free grace alone, so the Hebrew word signifieth: plead for pity, speak supplications as the poor man doth, Prov 18.23. Be poor in spirit, a stark beggar and bankrupt, less then the least of all God's mercies, Gen. 32.10. and in this mind address thyself to the All-sufficient, the Cornucopia, the God rich in mercy to all that call upon him, for pardon of thy great sin in standing out in contention with his Majesty, and resisting his fatherly visitation.

Verse 6. If thou wert pure and upright ] If thou didst lift up pure hands to God in prayer, &c.

The fountain of goodness will not be laden at with foul hearts and hands, Jer 4.14. Jam. 4.8. Isai. 1.15, 16. Joh. 9.31. 1 Tim. 2.8. 〈◊〉 , an heathen Philosopher, being at sea in a great storm, and perceiving many wicked wretches with him in the ship calling upon the gods, Silete, inquit, ne Dii vos hic navigare sent • ant, Hold your tongues, said he, pray not, lest the gods take notice that you are here, and we all perish for your sakes. There are that take these words for Reformation, as the former verse for Humiliation, those two parts of true repentance: if thou wert pure and upright, as a right penitentiary would be; if thou wouldst break off thy sins by repentance, and especially thine hypocrisy which hath brought this punishment upon thee from the Lord. If thou wouldst not only repent for thy sins, but also from thy sins, and frame to lead a new life, which is, Optima & aptissima poenitentia, saith Luther, the best and soundest repentance.

Surely now he would awake for thee ] Thou shouldst undoubtedly find speedy and unmiscarrying returns of thy prayers, and all good acceptance of thy services: he will hear thee for deliverance, so the Septuagint render it: he will up and do it, he will arise and have mercy upon Zion (Psalm 102.13.) for now that she prayeth and purgeth herself from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, the time to favor her, yea, the set time is come. I am come for thy words, saith the Angel to Daniel, chap. 10.12.

And make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous ] i. e. He will bless thy well ordered family, and whatsoever thou dost therein shall prosper, Psalm 1.3. Thy children and servants shall live together in peace, and all good agreement: thy stock also, and thy store shall be increased. He shall restore it to, or repair it for thee. as the Septuagint here render it: peace, plenty and prosperity shall be heaped upon thee; this is the import of the word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 . Some of the Hebrews by habitation of righteousness, here understand the soul, in which dwelleth righteousness. Others of them take it for the body, the habitation of the soul, wherein righteousness is seated. But these senses are far fetched.

Verse 7. Though thy beginning was small, yet thy later end should greatly increase ] Thy late losses God will recompense with interest: and the felicity which the prepareth for thee shall be far greater then that, the loss whereof thou dost now regret; for he will enrich thee to admiration, thy later end shall be ineffable (so the Septuagint have it) such as none shall be able to utter or describe. See chap. 40.10, 12. The day of small things is not to be despised, Zech. 4.10. Every former mercy is a pledge of a future; and to him that hath shall be given. God delighteth to help his people with a little help at first, to crumble his mercies to us, as one phraseth it: to give us his blessings by retail, to maintain trading and communion between him and us. So the cloud emptieth not is self at a sudden burst, but dissolveth upon the earth drop after drop.

Verse 8. For inquire, I pray thee ] Bildad speaks fair, as Eliphaz had done, whom he all along imitateth.

Of the former age ] The generations afore-going▪ the Kadmonim, as the Jews called their Ancestors, and used this saying concerning them, Cor priscorum fuit sicus porta &c. the heart of our progenitors was as the gate of the porch of the Temple, ample and beautiful: but the heart of their posterity, is as the eye of a needle, narrow and of no receipt in comparison. Of witnesses Aristotle witnesseth, that the more ancient they are, the more creditable, because less corrupt. Nihil mihi antiquius, say the Latins; Nothing is more ancient to me, that is, more highly reputed. And New things are nothing, say the Greeks. Siculus maketh mention of an Egyptian Priest, who said to Solon one of the Greek Sages, you Grecians are very boys (ye are but of yesterday, as it is in the next verse) neither is there an old man (that is, a man versed in ancient histories, or acquainted with antiquities) to be found amongst you all. Much of the ancient Divinity was traditional, till Moses set pen to paper: the mind of God was either immediately revealed, or handed down and transmitted from father to son, from generation to generation. Hence Bildad here bids Job inquire of the former ages: and thereto refers him for further information: so doth Moses the Israelites, Deut. 4.20. and 32.7. Antiquity, so it be right, is of no small authority: that's a received rule, Quod antiquissimum verissimum, that is truest which is ancientest: as we prefer the newest Philosophy, so the ancientest Divinity. The Papists boast much of Antiquity (as the Gibeonites did of old shoes and mouldy bread): but when they come to prove it; they go no higher then to about a thousand years ago. They scornfully look upon us as Novellers, and ask where our religion was before Luther? We answer them, that our religion was always in the bible▪ where their religion never was. This is the old commandment, saith St. John, which was from the beginning, 1 John 2.7

An • prepare thyself to the search of their fathers ] Or fit thyself, fix thy mind upon it, as Psam 100.1. We must not think to find truth, but upon a serious search, Prov. 2.3. Anaxagoras complained omnia esse ci • cumfusa tenebris, that all things were full of darkness. Empedocles, that the inlets of the senses were very narrow. Democritus, that Truth lay hid as it were in a deep pit that could hardly be fathomed. St. Paul cries out, O the depth! How unsearchable are God's judgments, and his ways past finding out! Prepare therefore to this search after God; and pray as that, poor man did that cried after Christ; and when he was asked what wouldst thou have? Lord, said he, that mine eyes might be opened.

Verse 9. For we are but of yesterday ] Heb. We are yesterday, that is, yesterdays offspring, upstarts, mushrooms, novices, of very small standing in the would. And yet they were old men, chap. 15.10. Eliphaz is esteemed to be an hundred and fifty; Bildad and hundred and forty; Zophar an hundred and twenty years old; and yet, in comparison of he fathers before the flood, they were but of yesterday, they had lived but a very little while, and were but of late time.

And know nothing ] Neque experti sumus, saith Tremellius: the greatest part of our knowledge is but the least part of our ignorance: how can we know much, when our abode here is so short, our experience so little? Ars long, vita brevis, said Hippocrates, life is short, and art is long. Themistocles though he lived an hundred and seven years; yet at his death complained, saying, Now I am to die when I begin to be wise. Solon said, that though old, yet he thought not himself too old to learn: and Julian the Lawyer was wont to say, that when he had one foot in the grave, yet he would have the other in the School.

Because our days upon earth are a shadow ] Fluxa, instabilis, & ipsa ultro abiens, saith Junius, unsubstantial, unsettled, uncertain, there is no hold nor tack in it, Psalm 102.11. 1 Chron. 29.15. What is man but a dream of a shadow, saith Pindarus, a shadow of smoke, saith Sophocles; a shadow of a shadow, saith Aeschylus. He is therefore not a man, but a shadow of man (as Lamechs second wives name was Zillah a shadow of a wife; and as Menander calleth a false friend 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , the shadow of a friend ) he hath not so much as shadow of reason or true understanding, who by spending the span, by wasting the shadow of this short life, after the ways of his own heart, bereaveth himself of a room in that city of pearls, and loseth the comforts of that life which lasteth forever.

Verse 10. Shall they not teach thee, and tell thee ] They, that is, the forefathers, verse 8. these, though dead and gone, yet by their records and monuments, by their Apopthegmes and Oracles (for the words of dying men are living oracles) do still teach us and tell us their minds, as if they were yet living, Heb. 11.4. Luke 16.29. Books are mute, matters, silent voices. The way to be wise, said an Heathen, is to converse with the dead. Histories are faithful Counselors, and by the reading of them, many young men have attained to more understanding then their elders; as Augustus, Theodosius, Maca • ius, who was surnamed 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , the oldyouth, for his wisdom and gravity above his years gotten by reading and prayer, as saith Nicephorus.

And utter words out of their hearts ] Discourses digged out of their own hearts, things new and old, thrown out of that good treasure: they were egregie cordati homines, hearty-good men, and their speeches were heart-sprung, dipt in their hearts, and there recalled ad limam, priusquam ad ling • am, weighed before uttered. They spake not as thou dost Job, rashly and at random; but judiciously, solidly, oraculously: consult them therefore, and as they speak from their own heart, so let them speak to thine. With the ancient is wisdom, and in length of days understanding, chap. 12.12.

Verse 11. Can the rush grow up without mire? ] Jam subjungit quod illi exploratum habuerant & perspectum, sed eleganti similitudine, saith Mercer: That is, here Bildad setteth forth what the fathers had observed, taught, and told them: and this he doth by three elegant similitudes, which was a way of teaching usual among the ancients, ut quod per simplex praeceptum teneri non possit, per similitudines teneretur, that that which could not be remembered by simple precepts, might be retained by similitudes drawn from natural things, which are as shadows to us of spiritual. And first from the rush, which hath its name from drinking; because it lives in liquor, it loves and delights in a moorish soil. Can the rush (or bul-rush, Exod. 2.3. Isai. 18.2.) grow up? Heb. peirk and pride itself, bear the head aloft, shoot up amain, without mire or moisture, such as are the fennes, chap. 40.21.? The meaning hereof is, saith Ferus, Look how the rush and flag grow not but in miry places; remove them to dry and firm ground, and they soon wither: So the wicked hypocrite in prosperity maketh a great show of piety; but in adversity he loseth that very show, and by his impatiency maketh the hollowness of his heart appear to all men: and herein Bildad aimed at the making of Jobs case odious, whom he now held for an hypocrite.

Can the flag ] Or grass of the meadow? Gen. 41.2. it hath its name from brotherhood, because many piles of grass or sedg, grow from one and the same root, but not without water. See 1 Kings 18.5.

Verse 12. Whilst it is yet in his greenness &c. ] And so withereth not through age, as being but in its shooting up.

And not cut down ] Or, cropped off, either by the hands of men, or teeth of beasts.

It withereth ] for want of water, without store whereof it cannot live. The Hypocrite is a sensuallist, Judge. 18.19. Job 21.11. Hos. 4.11. he liveth in such miry places, as cannot be healed by the waters of the Sanctuary, Ezek. 47.11. He saith, as the Vine and the Olive in Jotham’s parable, I cannot leave my wine, my fat and sweet sins; take away my liquor, you take away my life: He serveth not the Lord Jesus Christ (whatever he pretendeth) but his own belly, Rom. 16. He followeth Christ for the loaves only.

Before any other herb ] That is, of less show, but better rooting: these retain their verdure, and look on, as it were, to see the rush wither; so David did by Doeg, Psalm 52.5, 6, 8.

Ver. 13. So are the paths of all that forget God ] To remember God is as necessary as to draw breath, saith Chrysostom. This the wicked man doth not, Psalm 9.17. He will neither have God in his head, Psalm 10.4. nor heart, Psalm 14.1. nor words, Psalm 12.2. nor ways, Tit. 1.16. What wonder then though his