Bible Commentaries

Job 11:15 — felicity. And shalt not fear — sc. The loss of those enjoyments. To be freed from the fear of evil is better than to be freed from evil; and a great part of the saints’ portion both on earth and in heaven lies in their deliverance from fear, Luke 1:74 Psalms 112:7 Zephaniah 3:13 Isaiah 17:2 . Repent, and thou shall fear no more a revolution of any thy troubles.

Job 12:17 — outface a good, lest if they improve their wits and parts to so evil an end, God make them as despicable as before they were honourable. They may see what the Lord did to Ahithophel, that oracle of his time; to Pharaoh’s counsellors, Isaiah 9:11-12 ; to Pharaoh himself, Exodus 1:10 with Proverbs 28:15 . And he maketh the judges fools — Broughton rendereth the verse thus, He brings counsellors to badness, and judges to stark madness. He infatuateth them, not by infusing folly into them,

Job 15:13 — thy mouth? That thou turnest thy spirit against God — A foul fault surely, but merely for want of a fair interpretation. It is as if Eliphaz should have said, Thy spirit was right when thou bravely barest up under the afflicting hand of God, Job 1:13-22 , but because patience hath not had her perfect work, as appeareth by thine angry expostulations, thy contesting with God, and chatting against him and his proceedings, therefore I conclude that thou art not perfect and entire, all is not right.

Job 15:19 — earth was given — Noah and his pious posterity (as was above noted), whom Methodius and other ancients call, Mundi chiliarchos, the lords of the whole world, given them by the possessor of heaven and earth, as Melchisedek first called God, Genesis 14:19 , and from him Abraham, another prince of God, Genesis 22:3 , as those heathens acknowledged him, and heir of the whole world, Romans 4:13 As for Melchisedek (commonly taken to be Shem), he was king in Salem, and no stranger, that is, no enemy,

Job 15:7 — primus, sed prius (Lavat., Bucholc.). Out of the mouth of Adam, as from a fountain, flowed whatsoever profitable learning, skill, or wisdom, is found in the world, saith the divine chronologer. Job had taxed Zophar for a young puny and a novice. Job 12:9-12 This Eliphaz kindleth at, and taketh upon him to answer in Zophar’s behalf. As indeed these three speakers, Eliphaz, Zophar, and Bildad, stood to one another, as much as any one of them did for himself, as if they had all entered bond, and

Job 17:3 — down now, put me in a surety with thee; who [is] he [that] will strike hands with me? Lay down now, put me in a surety with thee — This Job speaketh not to Eliphaz (as R. Moses, Beza, and some others would have it), but to God himself, as Job 16:7 , whom be desireth to lay down or appoint, as Exodus 1:11 , and put in Christ as a surety to plead for him; see Hebrews 7:22 ; and so Brentius expoundeth it: There is one only surety, saith he, one only intercessor, the Lord Jesus Christ, who if

Job 28:15 — thousand florins for three books; Reuchlin gave the Jew that taught him Hebrew a crown for every hour’s pains; Jerome got his skill in that language with the hazard of his life, and held it a good bargain. But here is no such trading. See Acts 8:18-20 . Fie (quoth that rich and wretched cardinal, when he saw he must die), will money do nothing? will not death be hired? may not heaven be purchased? No, no, God is no money merchant; his kingdom is not partum, wealthy, but paratum, the prepared,

Job 29:7 — When I went out to the gate through the city, [when] I prepared my seat in the street! When I went out to the gate — i.e. To the place of judicature, called by Solomon the holy place, Ecclesiastes 8:11 , because God sitteth in the midst of those gods, Psalms 82:1 . The Ethiopian judges were wont to keep the chief seat empty for him. It appeareth by this text that Job was a judge: or chief magistrate, not like those whom Isaiah calleth scabs or wounds,

Job 33:17 — That he may withdraw man [from his] purpose, and hide pride from man. That he may withdraw man from his purpose — Or, rather, practice. Heb. work, that is, evil work, called a man’s own work, Hebrews 4:10 ; for when we do evil we work de nostro, et secundum hominem, 1 Corinthians 3:3 , as when the devil speaketh a lie he speaketh of his own, John 8:44 . Now from such bad work God taketb men off, by dreams sometimes, as he did Abimelech, Genesis 20:3

Job 34:19 — of princes — How much more both dangerous and indecent must it needs be wrongfully to accuse God of injustice and partiality, which is far below him; since he neither doth nor needeth prefer great ones before meaner men in judgment! See on Job 13:7 ; Job 32:21 . Nor regardeth the rich more than the poor? — The word rendered rich, opulent, or potent, comes either from a root, éשׁò that signifieth to save, because it is in the power of such to save others from hurt and

Job 37:20 — ruined for it. Did not Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesy long since, saying, "Behold, the Lord cometh to execute judgment upon all, and to convince them of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him," Judges 1:14-15 . If a man speak, surely he shall be swallowed up — If he speak in thy behalf, or after thine example, presuming to control God’s works, and to quarrel his proceedings, as thou hast done, he is sure to be undone. Some read the words

Job 39:4 — Their young ones are in good liking, they grow up with corn; they go forth, and return not unto them. Their young ones are in good liking — Or, they recover; revalescent begin to grow well , as Isaiah 58:14 , notwithstanding the hardness of their birth, by reason of their dam’s exceeding dry temperature, Psalms 42:1 . As the hind brayeth after the water brooks, as being naturally hot and dry, when in pain especially; and this the young are sensible

Job 40:12 — Look on every one [that is] proud, [and] bring him low; and tread down the wicked in their place. Look on every one that is proud, and bring him low — This God doeth, Isaiah 2:11-12 ; Isaiah 2:17 ; Isaiah 5:15 . The builders of Babel, Pharaoh, Sennacherib, Nebuchadnezzar, Herod, Dioclesian, Attilas, and others, for instances. Amurath III, king of Turks, in the pride of his heart, styled himself, God of the earth, governor of

Job 40:13 — into the grave; yea, turning into hell whole nations that forget God, a whole rabble of rebels that fight against heaven; he can soon lay them low enough, even in that slimy valley, where are many already like them, and more shall come after them, Job 21:31-32 . Now when God biddeth Job do all this, who was himself lying in the dust, full of sores and sorrows, how could he but be greatly ashamed and affected with grief for his former follies? And bind their faces in secret — As Haman’s face

Psalms 10:17 — thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear: Lord, thou hast heard the desire of the humble — The whole life of a good Christian is a holy desire, saith Austin. And the desires of the righteous shall be satisfied, Proverbs 10:24 , because they are framed by the Holy Spirit, according to the will of God, Romans 8:27 , and they bare the mind of Christ, 1 Corinthians 2:16 , who knoweth the mind of the Spirit, Romans 8:27 , though their desires be not uttered, Romans 8:26 . Thou

Psalms 2:10 — themselves prudently, and to play the wise men. For as wicked men are fools in print; so, on the contrary, in our old English books a righteous man is printed a right wise man, and righteousness right wiseness. For it is the only true both wisdom, Psalms 111:10 Proverbs 1:7 , and honour: for the righteous are princes in all lands, Psalms 45:16 ; yea, they are kings. Compare Matthew 13:17 Luke 10:25 . Many righteous, saith the one, many kings, saith the other evangelist. Be instructed, ye judges —

Psalms 23:2 — here seemeth to resemble powerful and flourishing doctrine to green pastures, and the secret and sweet comforts of the sacraments to the still waters), where I shall not need to bite on the bare ground, but may go in and out, and find pasture, John 10:9 , such as will breed life, and life in more abundance, John 10:10 Isaiah 49:10 ; fat pastures he provideth, Ezekiel 34:14 ; and fair cotes, or coverts from the sun’s heat, as the word here used may also be rendered. Confer Song of Solomon 1:6-7

Psalms 27:14 — Lord — Expecta, expecta. See how earnest good David is with himself and others; for he knew men’s dulness, and the difficulty of the duty. Religious men find it more easy to bear evil than to wait till the promised good he enjoyed; Hebrews 10:36 , the spoiling of their goods required patience; but this more than ordinary. Let our distance from God, our dependence upon him, and our undone condition without him, be but considered; and we shall be the more willing to wait, yea, to want and

Psalms 37:8 — forsake wrath — Repetitio est, ut magis iuculcet, saith Vatablus; This precept is doubled and redoubled, that we may the better retain and practise it. Angry a man may be, and must be at evildoers, inasmuch as they break God’s law, Psalms 119:134 , pollute his name, Ezekiel 36:20 ; Ezekiel 36:23 Romans 2:23-24 ; procure the judgments of God upon others also, Joshua 22:18 ; pull down swift destruction upon themselves, 2 Peter 2:1 Romans 2:5 . Thus Moses was angry, Exodus 32:19 ; and our

Psalms 49:10 — velut infernus fabula vana foret. And the brutish person perish — His life and his hopes ending together. But it would be considered, that wise men die as well as fools, good men die as well as bad, yea, good men oft before the bad, Isaiah 57:1 . Jeroboam’s best son died before the rest, because there was some good found in him ( ωκυμοροι οι θεοριλεις ). And leave their