the Second Week after Easter
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English Standard Version
Job 4:12
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A word was brought to me in secret;my ears caught a whisper of it.
"Now a thing was secretly brought to me, My ear received a whisper of it.
Now a thing was secretly brought to me, and mine ear received a little thereof.
"A word was brought to me in secret, and my ears heard a whisper of it.
"Now a word was secretly brought to me, and my ear caught a whisper of it.
"Now a word was secretly brought to me, And my ear received a whisper of it.
"Now a word was brought to me secretly, And my ear received a whisper of it.
"Now a thing was secretly brought to me, My ear received a whisper of it.
But a thing was brought to me secretly, and mine eare hath receiued a litle thereof.
"Now a word was brought to me stealthily,And my ear received a whisper of it.
Now a word came to me secretly; my ears caught a whisper of it.
A secret was told to me in a faint whisper—
"For a word was stealthily brought to me, my ear caught only a whisper of it.
Now to me a word was secretly brought, and mine ear received a whisper thereof.
"I happened to hear a message. My ears caught a whisper of it.
Now a thing was secretly brought to me, and my ear received a little of it.
Once a message came quietly, so quietly I could hardly hear it.
"And a word came stealing to me, and my ear received the whisper from it.
Now a word was stolen to me, and my ear received a whisper of it.
There is spoken vnto me a thynge in councell, which hath geuen a terrible sounde in myne eare,
Now a thing was secretly brought to me, And mine ear received a whisper thereof.
A word was given to me secretly, and the low sound of it came to my ears.
But wheras a thing was hyd from me, yet myne care hath receaued a litle therof.
Now a word was secretly brought to me, and mine ear received a whisper thereof.
Nowe a thing was secretly brought to me, and mine eare receiued a litle thereof.
But if there had been any truth in thy words, none of these evils would have befallen thee. Shall not mine ear receive excellent revelations from him?
Now a thing was secretly brought to me, and mine ear received a whisper thereof.
Certis an hid word was seid to me, and myn eere took as theueli the veynes of priuy noise therof.
Now a thing was secretly brought to me, And my ear received a whisper thereof.
Now a thing was secretly brought to me, and my ear received a small sound of it.
"Now a word was secretly brought to me, And my ear received a whisper of it.
"This truth was given to me in secret, as though whispered in my ear.
"Now a word was brought to me in secret. My ear heard it spoken in a quiet voice.
"Now a word came stealing to me, my ear received the whisper of it.
But, unto me, something was brought by stealth, - and mine ear caught a whispering of the same:
Now there was a word spoken to me in private, and my ears by stealth, as it were, received the veins of its whisper.
"Now a word was brought to me stealthily, my ear received the whisper of it.
And unto me a thing is secretly brought, And receive doth mine ear a little of it.
"A word came to me in secret— a mere whisper of a word, but I heard it clearly. It came in a scary dream one night, after I had fallen into a deep, deep sleep. Dread stared me in the face, and Terror. I was scared to death—I shook from head to foot. A spirit glided right in front of me— the hair on my head stood on end. I couldn't tell what it was that appeared there— a blur... and then I heard a muffled voice:
"Now a word was brought to me stealthily, And my ear received a whisper of it.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
a thing: Psalms 62:11
secretly: Heb. by stealth
a little: 1 Corinthians 13:12
Reciprocal: Genesis 20:3 - a dream Genesis 28:12 - he dreamed Job 13:1 - ear Job 32:8 - the inspiration Job 42:5 - heard Habakkuk 3:2 - I have
Cross-References
In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground,
and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering,
Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me."
Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. When he built a city, he called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch.
To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad fathered Mehujael, and Mehujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech.
Lamech said to his wives: "Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; you wives of Lamech, listen to what I say: I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me.
If Cain's revenge is sevenfold, then Lamech's is seventy-sevenfold."
And your strength shall be spent in vain, for your land shall not yield its increase, and the trees of the land shall not yield their fruit.
And as for those of you who are left, I will send faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies. The sound of a driven leaf shall put them to flight, and they shall flee as one flees from the sword, and they shall fall when none pursues.
May his children wander about and beg, seeking food far from the ruins they inhabit!
Gill's Notes on the Bible
Now a thing was secretly brought to me,.... From reason and experience, Eliphaz proceeds to a vision and revelation he had from God, showing the purity and holiness of God, and the frailty, weakness, folly, and sinfulness of men, by which it appears that men cannot be just in the sight of God, and therefore it must be wrong in Job to insist upon his innocence and integrity. Some indeed have thought that this was a mere fiction of Eliphaz, and not a real vision; yea, some have gone so far as to pronounce it a diabolical one, but without any just foundation; for there is nothing in the manner or matter of it but what is agreeable to a divine vision or to a revelation from God; besides, though Eliphaz was a mistaken man in the case of Job, yet was a good man, as may be concluded from the acceptance of a sacrifice for him by the Lord, which was offered for him by Job, according to the order of God, and therefore could never be guilty of such an imposture; nor does Job ever charge him with any falsehood in this matter, who doubtless would have been able to have traversed and exposed him; add to all this, that in his discourse annexed to and continued along with this account, stands a passage, which the apostle has quoted as of divine inspiration, 1 Corinthians 3:19; from Job 5:13. When Eliphaz had this vision, whether within the seven days of his visit to Job, or before, some time ago, which he might call to mind on this occasion, and judging it appropiate to the present case, thought fit to relate it, is not certain, nor very material to know: it is introduced after this manner, "a thing" or "word", a word of prophecy, a word from the Lord, a revelation of his mind and will, which was hidden and secret, and what before he was not so well acquainted with; this was "brought" unto him by the Spirit of God, or by a messenger from the Lord, sent on this occasion, and for this purpose; and the manner in which it was brought was "secretly" or "by stealth", as Mr. Broughton and others l render it; it was "stolen" unto him, or "secretly" brought, as the Targum, and we, and others m; it was in a private way or manner; or "suddenly", as some others n, at unawares, when it was not expected by him: it may have respect to the still and silent manner in which it was revealed to him, "there was silence, and he heard a voice"; a still one, a secret whisper; or to the almost invisible person that revealed it, whose image he saw, but could not discern his form and likeness; or it may be to the distinguishing favour he enjoyed, in having this revelation particularly made to him, and not to others; he heard this word, as it were, behind the curtain, or vail, as the Jews o say, explaining this passage:
mine ear received a little of it; this revelation was made, not by an impulse upon his spirits, but vocally, a voice was heard, as after declared, and Eliphaz was attentive to it; he listened to what was said, and heard, and took it in with much delight and pleasure, though but a small part of it, as his capacity was able to retain it; or it was but a small part of the will of God, an hint of his only, as some interpret it p. Schultens has shown, from the use of a word near this in the Arabic language, that it signifies "a string of pearls"; and so may design a set of evangelic truths, comparable to gold, silver, and precious stones, and which are indeed more desirable than them, and preferable to them; what they are will be observed hereafter.
l יגנב "furtive", V. L. Montanus, Cocceius, Drusius; "furtivum verbum venit", Schultens. m "Clanculum", Junius Tremellius, Piscator "clam", Beza. n "Subito", Schmidt, Michaelis. o T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 89. 2. p In David de Pomis, Lexic. fol. 217. 3.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
Now a thing - To confirm his views, Eliphaz appeals to a vision of a most remarkable character which he says he had had on some former occasion on the very point under consideration. The object of the vision was, to show that mortal man could not be more just than God, and that such was the purity of the Most High, that he put no confidence comparatively even in the angels. The design for which this is introduced here is, evidently, to reprove what he deemed the unfounded self-confidence of Job. He supposed that he had been placing an undue reliance on his own integrity; that he had not a just view of the infinite holiness of God, and had not been aware of the true state of his own heart. The highest earthly excellency, is the meaning of Eliphaz, fades away before God, and furnishes no ground for self-reliance. It is so imperfect, so feeble, so far from what it should be, that it is no wonder that a God so holy and exalted should disregard it: He designed also, by describing this vision, to reprove Job for seeming to be more wise than his Maker in arraigning him for his dealings, and uttering the language of complaint. The word “thing” here means a word (Hebrew), a communication, a revelation.
Was secretly brought to me - Margin, “by stealth.” The Hebrew word (גנב gânab) means “to steal,” to take away by stealth, or secretly. Here it means, that the oracle was brought to him as it were by stealth. It did not come openly and plainly, but in secrecy and silence - as a thief approaches a dwelling. An expression similar to this occurs in Lucian, in Amor. p. 884, as quoted by Schultens, κλεπτομένη λαλιὰ καί ψιθυρισμός kleptomenē lalia kai psithurismos.
And mine ear received a little thereof - Dr. Good translates this, “And mine ear received a whisper along with it.” Noyes, “And mine ear caught a whisper thereof.” The Vulgate, “And my ear received secretly the pulsations of its whisper” - venas susurri ejus. The word rendered “a little,” שׁמץ shemets, occurs only here and in Job 26:14, where it is also rendered little. It means, according to Gesenius, a transient sound rapidly uttered and swiftly passing away. Symm. ψιθυρισμός psithurismos - a whisper. According to Castell, it means a sound confused and feeble, such as one receives when a man is speaking in a hurried manner, and when he cannot catch all that is said. This is probably the sense here. Eliphaz means to say that he did not get all that might have been said in the vision. It occurred in such circumstances, and what was said was delivered in such a manner, that he did not hear it all distinctly.
But he beard an important sentiment, which he proceeds to apply to the case of Job. - It has been made a question whether Eliphaz really had such a vision, or whether he only supposed such a case, and whether the whole representation is not poetic. The fair construction is, that he had had such a vision. In such a supposition there is nothing inconsistent with the mode in which the will of God was made known in ancient times; and in the sentiments uttered there is nothing inconsistent with what might have been spoken by a celestial visitant on such an occasion. All that was spoken was in accordance with the truth everywhere revealed in the Scriptures, though Eliphaz perverted it to prove that Job was insincere and hypocritical. The general sentiment in the oracle was, that man was not pure and holy compared with his Maker; that no one was free from guilt in his sight; that there was no virtue in man in which God could put entire confidence; and that, therefore, all were subjected to trials and to death. But this general sentiment he proceeds to apply to Job, and regards it as teaching, that since he was overwhelmed with such special afflictions, there must have been some secret sin of which he was guilty, which was the cause of his calamities.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Job 4:12. Now a thing was secretly brought to me — To give himself the more authority, he professes to have received a vision from God, by which he was taught the secret of the Divine dispensations in providence; and a confirmation of the doctrine which he was now stating to Job; and which he applied in a different way to what was designed in the Divine communication.
Mine ear received a little thereof. — Mr. Good translates, "And mine ear received a whisper along with it." The apparition was the general subject; and the words related Job 4:17, &c., were the whispers which he heard when the apparition stood still.
