{"commentary":{"id":"adam-clarke","name":"Adam Clarke Bible Commentary","website":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Clarke","licenseUrl":"https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/","licenseNotes":null,"licenseNotice":null,"englishName":"Adam Clarke Bible Commentary","language":"eng","textDirection":"rtl","sha256":"92e28c9363c876d215e296f2fe04abb3ab7e34a2aacebdf06bd62ae79c6e3dba","availableFormats":["json"],"listOfBooksApiLink":"/api/c/adam-clarke/books.json","listOfProfilesApiLink":"/api/c/adam-clarke/profiles.json","numberOfBooks":57,"totalNumberOfChapters":854,"totalNumberOfVerses":13318,"totalNumberOfProfiles":0,"languageName":"English","languageEnglishName":"English"},"book":{"id":"JOB","commentaryId":"adam-clarke","name":"Job","commonName":"Job","introduction":"Preface to the Book of Job This is the most singular book in the whole of the Sacred Code: though written by the same inspiration, and in reference to the same end, the salvation of men, it is so different from every other book of the Bible, that it seems to possess nothing in common with them, for even the language, in its construction, is dissimilar from that in the Law, the Prophets, and the historical books. But on all hands it is accounted a work that contains \"the purest morality, the sublimest philosophy, the simplest ritual, and the most majestic creed.\" Except the two first chapters and the ten last verses, which are merely prose, all the rest of the book is poetic; and is every where reducible to the hemistich form, in which all the other poetic books of the Bible are written: it is therefore properly called a Poem; but whether it belongs to the dramatic or epic species has not been decided by learned men. To try it by those rules which have been derived from Aristotle, and are still applied to ascertain compositions in these departments of poetry, is, in my opinion, as absurd as it is ridiculous. Who ever made a poem on these rules? And is there a poem in the universe worth reading that is strictly conformable to these rules? Not one. The rules, it is true, were deduced from compositions of this description: - and although they may be very useful, in assisting poets to methodize their compositions, and to keep the different parts distinct; yet they have often acted as a species of critical trammels, and have cramped genius. Genuine poetry is like a mountain flood: it pours down, resistless, bursts all bounds, scoops out its own channel, carries woods and rocks before it, and spreads itself abroad, both deep and wide, over all the plain. Such, indeed, is the poetry which the reader will meet with in this singular and astonishing book. As to Aristotle himself, although he was a keen-eyed plodder of nature, and a prodigy for his time; yet if we may judge from his poetics, he had a soul as incapable of feeling the true genie createur, as Racine terms the spirit of poetry, as he was, by his physics, metaphysics, and analogies, of discovering the true system of the universe. As to the book of Job, it is most evidently a poem, and a poem of the highest order; dealing in subjects the most grand and sublime; using imagery the most chaste and appropriate; described by language the most happy and energetic; conveying instruction, both in Divine and human things, the most ennobling and useful; abounding in precepts the most pure and exalted, which are enforced by arguments the most strong and conclusive, and illustrated by examples the most natural and striking. All these points will appear in the strongest light to every attentive reader of the book; and to such its great end will be answered: they will learn from it, that God has way every where: that the wicked, though bearing rule for a time, can never be ultimately prosperous and happy; and that the righteous, though oppressed with sufferings and calamities, can never be forgotten by Him in whose hands are his saints, and with whom their lives are precious; that in this world neither are the wicked ultimately punished, nor the righteous ultimately rewarded; that God's judgments are a great deep, and his ways past finding out; but the issues of all are to the glory of his wisdom and grace, and to the eternal happiness of those who trust in him. This is the grand design of the book, and this design will be strikingly evident to the simplest and most unlettered reader, whose heart is right with God, and who is seeking instruction, in order that he may glorify his Maker, by receiving and by doing good. Notwithstanding all this, there is not a book in Scripture on the subject of which more difficulties have been started. None, says Calmet, has furnished more subjects of doubt and embarrassment; and none has afforded less information for the solution of those doubts. On this subject the great questions which have been agitated refer, principally, 1. To the person of Job. 2. To his existence. 3. To the time in which he lived. 4. To his country. 5. To his stock or kindred. 6. To his religion. 7. To the author of the book. 8. To its truth. 9. To its authenticity; and, 10. To the time and occasion on which it was written. With respect to the first and second, several writers of eminent note have denied the personality of Job; according to them, no such person ever existed; he is merely fabulous, and is like the Il penseroso, or sorrowful man of Milton; sorrow, distress, affliction, and persecution personified, as the name imports. According to them, he is a mere ideal being, created by the genius of the poet; clothed with such attributes, and placed in such circumstances, as gave the poet scope and materials for his work. Thirdly, as to the time in which those place him who receive this as a true history, there is great variety. According to some, he flourished in the patriarchal age; some make him contemporary with Moses; that he was in the captivity in Egypt, and that he lived at the time of the exodus. Some place him in the time of the Israelitish judges; others in the days of David; others, in those of Solomon; and others, in the time of the Babylonish captivity, having been teacher of a school at Tiberias in Palestine, and, with the rest of his countrymen, carried away into Babylon; and that he lived under Ahasuerus and Esther. Fourthly, as to his country: some make him an Arab; others, an Egyptian; others, a Syrian; some an Israelite; and some, an Idumean. Fifthly, as to his origin: some derive him from Nachor, and others from Esau, and make him the fifth in descent from Abraham. Sixthly, as to his religion: some suppose it to have been Sabaeism; others, that it was patriarchal; and others, that he was bred up in the Jewish faith. Seventhly, as to the author of the work, learned men are greatly divided: some suppose the author to have been Elihu; others, Job; others, Job and his friends; others, Moses; some, Solomon; others, Isaiah; and others, Ezra, or some unknown Jew, posterior to the captivity. Eighthly, as to the book: some maintain that it is a history of fact, given by one best qualified to record it; and others, that it is an instructive fiction-facts, persons, dialogues and all, being supposititious; given, however, by the inspiration of God, in a sort of parabolic form, like those employed in the Gospel; and similar to that of the rich man and Lazarus. Ninthly, as to its authenticity: while some, and those not well qualified to judge, have asserted it to be a mere human production, of no Divine authority; others have clearly shown that the book itself, whatever questions may arise concerning the person, author, time, place, etc., was ever received by the Jewish Church and people as authentic, genuine, and divinely inspired; and incorporated, with the highest propriety, among the most instructive, sublime, and excellent portions of Divine revelation. Tenthly, as to the occasion on which it was written, there are considerable differences of opinion: some will have it to be written for the consolation of the Hebrews in their peregrinations through the wilderness; and others, for the comfort and encouragement of the Israelites in the Babylonish captivity: these state that Job represents Nehemiah, and that his three professed friends, but real enemies, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite, represent Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian! and that the whole book should be understood and interpreted on this ground; and that, with a little allowance for poetic colouring, all its parts perfectly harmonize, thus understood; showing, in a word, that into whatsoever troubles or persecutions God may permit his people to be brought, yet he will sustain them in the fire, bring them safely through it, and discomfit all their enemies: and that whatsoever is true on this great scale, is true also on that which is more contracted; as he will equally support, defend, and finally render conqueror, every individual that trusts in him. I shall not trouble my readers with the arguments which have been used by learned men, pro and con, relative to the particulars already mentioned: were I to do this, I must transcribe a vast mass of matter, which, though it might display great learning in the authors, would most certainly afford little edification to the great bulk of my readers. My own opinion on those points they may naturally wish to know; and to that opinion they have a right: it is such as I dare avow, and such as I feel no disposition to conceal. I believe Job to have been a real person, and his history to be a statement of facts. As the preface to this book (I mean the first chapter) states him to have lived in the land of Uz, or Uts, I believe, with Mr. Good and several other learned men, this place to have been \"situated in Arabia Petraea, on the south-western coast of the lake Asphaltites, in a line between Egypt and Philistia, surrounded with Kedar, Teman, and Midian; all of which were districts of Arabia Petraea; situated in Idumea, the land of Edom or Esau; and comprising so large a part of it, that Idumea and Ausitis, or the land of Uz, and the land of Edom, were convertible terms, and equally employed to import the same region: thus, Lam 4:21 : 'Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, that dwellest in the land of Uz.\"' See Mr. Good's Introductory Dissertation; who proceeds to observe: \"Nothing is clearer than that all the persons introduced into this poem were Idumeans, dwelling in Idumea; or, in other words, Edomite Arabs. These characters are, Job himself, dwelling in the land of Uz; Eliphaz of Teman, a district of as much repute as Uz, and (upon the joint testimony of Jer 49:7, Jer 49:20; Eze 25:13; Amo 1:11, Amo 1:12, and Oba 1:8, Oba 1:9) a part, and a principal part, of Idumea; Bildad of Shuah, always mentioned in conjunction with Sheba and Dedan, all of them being uniformly placed in the vicinity of Idumea; Zophar of Naamah, a city whose name imports pleasantness, which is also stated, in Jos 15:21, Jos 15:41, to have been situated in Idumea, and to have lain in a southern direction towards its coast, or the shores of the Red Sea; and Elihu of Buz, which as the name of a place occurs but once in sacred writ, but is there (Jer 25:22, Jer 25:23) mentioned in conjunction with Teman and Dedan; and hence necessarily, like themselves, a border city upon Ausitis, Uz, or Idumea. It had a number of names: it was at first called Horitis, from the Horim or Horites, who appear to have first settled there. Among the descendants of these, the most distinguished was Seir; and from him the land was known by the name of the Land of Seir. This chief had a numerous family, and among the most signalized of his grandsons was Uz, or Uts; and from him, and not from Uz the son of Nahor, it seems to have been called Ausitis, or the Land of Uz. The family of Hor, Seir, or Uz, were at length dispossessed of the entire region by Esau, or Edom; who strengthened himself by his marriage with one of the daughters of Ishmael; and the conquered territory was denominated Idumea, or the land of Edom.\" I think this is conclusive as to the country of Job and his friends. See Mr. Good as above. The man and his country being thus ascertained, the time in which he lived is the point next to be considered. I feel all the difficulties of the various chronologies of learned men: all that has been offered on the subject is only opinion or probable conjecture; and, while I differ from many respectable authors, I dare not say that I have more to strengthen my opinion than they have to support theirs. I do not believe that he lived under the patriarchal dispensation; nor in any time previous to the giving of the Law, or to the death of Moses. I have examined the opposite arguments, and they have brought no conviction to my mind. That he lived after the giving of the Law appears to me very probable, from what I consider frequent references to the Mosaic institutions occurring in the book, and which I shall notice in their respective places. I know it has been asserted there are no such references; and I am astonished at the assertion: the reader will judge whether a plain case is made out where the supposed references occur. An obstinate adherence to a preconceived system is like prejudice; it has neither eyes nor ears. With this question, that relative to the author of the book is nearly connected. Were we to suppose that Job himself, or Elihu, or Job and his friends, wrote the work, the question would at once be answered that regards the time; but all positive evidence on this point is wanting: and while other suppositions have certain arguments to support them, the above claimants who are supported only by critical conjecture, must stand where they are for want of evidence. The opinions that appear the most probable, and have plausible arguments to support them, are the following: 1. Moses was the author of this book, as many portions of it harmonize with his acknowledged writings. 2. Solomon is the most likely author, as many of the sentiments contained in it are precisely the same with those in the Proverbs; and they are delivered often in nearly the same words. 3. The book was written by some Jew, in or soon after the time of the Babylonish captivity. 1. That Moses was the author has been the opinion of most learned men; and none has set the arguments in support of this opinion in so strong a light as Mr. Mason Good, in his Introductory Dissertation to his translation and notes on this book. Mr. G. is a gentleman of great knowledge, great learning, and correct thinking; and whatever he says or writes is entitled to respect. If he have data, his deductions are most generally consecutive and solid. He contends, \"that the writer of this poem must in his style have been equally master of the simple and of the sublime; that he must have been minutely and elaborately acquainted with Astronomy, Natural History, and the general science of his age; that he must have been a Hebrew by birth and native language, and an Arabian by long residence and local study; and, finally, that he must have flourished and composed the work before the exodus.\" And he thinks that \"every one of these features is consummated in Moses, and in Moses alone; and that the whole of them give us his complete lineaments and portraiture. Instructed in all the learning of Egypt, it appears little doubtful that he composed it during some part of his forty years' residence with the hospitable Jethro, in that district of Idumea which was named Midian.\" In addition to these external proofs of identity, Mr. Good thinks, \"a little attention will disclose to us an internal proof, of peculiar force, in the close and striking similarity of diction and idiom which exists between the book of Job and those pieces of poetry which Moses is usually admitted to have composed. This point he proceeds to examine; and thinks that the following examples may make some progress toward settling the question, by exhibiting a very singular proof of general parallelism. \"The order of creation, as detailed in the first chapter of Genesis, is precisely similar to that described in Job 38:1-20, the general arrangement that occupied the first day; - the formation of the clouds, which employed the second; - the separation of the sea, which took up a part of the third; - and the establishment of the luminaries in the skies, which characterized the fourth. \"In this general description, as given in Genesis, the vapor in the clouds, and the fluid in the sea, are equally denominated waters: thus, Gen 1:5-7, 'And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament.' \"Let us compare this passage with Job 26:8-10 : - He driveth together the waters into His thick clouds; And the cloud is not rent under them - He setteth a bow on the face of the waters, Till the consummation of light and of darkness. \"These are, perhaps, the only instances in the Bible in which the cloudy vapors are denominated waters, before they become concentrated into rain; and they offer an identity of thought, which strongly suggests an identity of person. The following is another very striking peculiarity of the same kind, occurring in the same description, and is perhaps still more in point. The combined simplicity and sublimity of Gen 1:3, 'And God said, Be light! and light was,' has been felt and praised by critics of every age, Pagan and Mohammedan, as well as Jewish and Christian; and has by all of them been regarded as a characteristic feature in the Mosaic style. In the poem before us we have the following proof of identity of manner, Job 37:6 : - Behold! He saith to the snow, Be! On earth then falleth it. To the rain - and it falleth; - The rains of his might. \"This can hardly be regarded as an allusion, but as an instance of identity of manner. In the psalmist we have an allusion: and it occurs thus, Psa 33:9, הוא אמר ויהי hu amar vaiyehi, 'He spake, and it existed;' and I copy it that the reader may see the difference. The eulogy of Longinus upon the passage in Genesis is a eulogy also upon that in Job; and the Koran, in verbally copying the psalmist, has bestowed an equal panegyric upon all of them: - Dixit, 'Esto;' et fuit. - He said, Be Thou; and it Was. \"With reference to the description of the creation, in the book of Genesis, I shall only farther observe, that the same simplicity of style, adapted to so lofty a subject, characteristically distinguishes the writer of the book of Job, who commonly employs a diction peculiarly magnificent, as though trusting to the subject to support itself, without the feeble aid of rhetorical ornaments. Of this the description of the tribunal of the Almighty, given in the first and second chapters of the ensuing poem, is a striking example, as indeed I have already remarked; and that of the midnight apparition in the fourth chapter is no less so. \"The following instances are of a more general nature, and lead, upon a broader principle, to the same conclusion: - Job Exodus Job 13:24 Job 4:9 Job 15:24 Job 20:26 Wherefore accountest thou me thine enemy? Wouldst thou hunt down the parched stubble? By the blast of God they perish; And by the breath of His nostrils they are consumed. Distress and anguish dismay him; They overwhelm him as a king ready for battle. Terrors shall be upon him - Every horror treasured up in reserve for him. A fire unblown shall consume him. Exo 15:7 Exo 15:8 Exo 15:10 Exo 15:16 Thou sentest forth thy wrath, Consuming them as stubble. And with the blast of thy nostrils The waters were gathered together. Thou didst blow with thy wind: The sea covered them. Terror and dread shall fall upon them: By the might of thine arm they shall be still as a stone. Job Deuteronomy Job 20:27 Job 18:15 Job 18:16 Job 18:17 18:24 7:25 Job 8:17 Job 8:18 Job 8:19 The heavens shall disclose his iniquity, And the earth shall rise up against him. Brimstone shall be rained down upon his dwelling. Below shall his root be burnt up, And above shall his branch be cut off. Counsellors he leadeth captive, And judges he maketh distracted. He bewildereth the judgment of the leaders of the people of the land, And causeth them to wander in a pathless dessert: They grope about in darkness, even without a glimpse; Yea, he maketh them to reel like the drunkard. His roots shall be entangled in a rock; With a bed of stones shall he grapple; Utterly shall it drink him up from his place; Yea, it shall renounce him, and say, \"I never knew thee.\" Behold the Eternal exulting in his course; Even over his dust shall rise up another. Deu 28:22 Deu 28:23 Deu 28:24 Deu 28:28 Deu 28:29 Deu 28:63 And Jehovah shall mite thee with a consumption; And with a fever, and with an inflammation, And with an extreme burning. And the heaven over thy head shall be brass; And the earth under thee, iron. And Jehovah shall make the rain of they land powder and dust; From heaven shall it come down upon thee, Until thou be destroyed. Jehovah shall smite thee with destruction, And blindness, and astonishment of heart. And thou shalt grope at noonday, As the blind gropeth in darkness: And thou shalt not prosper in thy ways: And thou shalt only be oppressed. And consumed continually. And it shall come to pass, As Jehovah exulted over you, To do you good, and to multiply you, To destroy you, and reduce you to naught. \"In this specimen of comparison it is peculiarly worthy of remark, that not only the same train of ideas is found to recur, but in many instances the same words, where others might have been employed, and perhaps have answered as well; the whole obviously resulting from the habit of thinking upon subjects in the same manner, and by means of the same terms which is common to every one, and which distinguishes original identity from intentional imitation. I will only advert to one instance: the use of the very powerful, but not very common verb שש sis, 'to exult,' exulto, glorior, γαυριαω, which occurs in the last verse of both the above passages, and is in each instance equally appropriate: ישיש יהוה yasis Yehovah - הוא משוש hu mesos. \"The same term is again employed, Job 39:21, to express the spirited prancing of the high mettled war-horse. \"The above passage from Job 8:1-9 has not been generally understood, and has been given erroneously in the translations.\" Mr. Good, in his notes, p. 101-103, enters at large into a defense of his version of this passage. Job Deuteronomy Job 8:8 Job 8:10 Job 20:17 Job 29:6 Job 15:27 Job 6:4 Job 16:13 For examine, I beseech thee, the past age; Yea, gird thyself to the study of its forefathers; Shall not they instruct thee, counsel thee, And swell forth the sayings of their wisdom? He shall not behold the branches of the river, Brooks of honey and butter - When my path flowed with butter, And the rock poured out for me rivers of oil. Though his face be enveloped with fatness, And heaped up with fatness on his loins. The arrows of the Almighty are within me; Their poison drinketh up my spirit: The terrors of God set themselves in array against me; His arrows fly around me; He pierceth my reins without mercy. Deu 32:7 Deu 32:13 Deu 32:14 Deu 32:15 Deu 32:23 Deu 32:42 Reflect on the days of old; Contemplate the times of ages beyond ages; Inquire of thy father, and he will show thee; Thine elders, and the will instruct thee. He gave him to suck honey out of the rock And oil out of the flinty rock, Butter of kine, and milk of sheep. But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: Thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick; Thou art enveloped with fatness. I will heap mischiefs upon them, I will spend my arrows upon them. I will make mine arrows drunk with blood. \"The fine pathetic elegy of the ninetieth psalm has been usually ascribed to Moses; and Dath imagines it was written by him a little before his death. \"Kennicott and Geddes have some doubt upon this point, chiefly because the ultimate period assigned in it to the life of man is fourscore years; while Moses was at his death a hundred and twenty years old, yet 'his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated;' Deu 34:7. \"The following comparison will, perhaps, have a tendency to confirm the general opinion, by rendering it probable that its author and the author of the Book of Job were the same person. Job Psalm Job 14:2 Job 14:3 Job 14:16 Job 14:18 Job 14:19 Job 7:21 Job 11:14 Job 11:16 Job 11:17 He springeth up as a flower, and is cut down; Yea, he fleeth as a shadow, and endureth not. And dost thou cast thine eyes upon such a one? And wouldst thou bring me into judgment with thyself? Yet now art thou numbering my steps; Thou overlookest nothing of my sins: - And for ever, as the crumbling mountain dissolveth, And the rock mouldereth away from his place, So consumest thou the hope of man, Thou harassest him continually till he perish. Why wilt thou not turn away from my transgression, And let my calamity pass by? If the iniquity of thy hand thou put away evil, And let not wickedness dwell in thy tabernacles, Lo! then shalt thou forget affliction; As waters passed by shalt thou remember it: And brighter shall the time be than noontide; Thou shalt shine forth, thou shalt grow vigorous, like the day-spring. Psa 90:5 Psa 90:6 Psa 90:7 Psa 90:8 Psa 90:9 Psa 90:10 Psa 90:12 Psa 90:14 Psa 90:15 Psa 90:16 Psa 90:17 They are like the passing grass of the morning; In the morning it springeth up and groweth: In the evening it is cut down and withereth. For we are consumed by thine anger, And by thy wrath are we troubled. Thou hast set our iniquities before thee: Our secret sins in the light of thy countenance. Behold, all our days are passed away in thy wrath, We spend our years as a tale that is told. Their strength is labor and sorrow; It is soon cut off, and we flee away. So teach us to number our days That we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. O satisfy us early with thy mercy, That we may rejoice and be glad all our days, Make us glad according to the days of our affliction, To the years we have seen Let thy wonders be shown unto thy servants And thy glory unto their children; And let the beauty of Jehovah, our God, be upon us, And establish thou the work of our hands. \"The strictly and decidedly acknowledged productions of Moses are but few; and in the above examples I have taken a specimen from by far the greater number. It is, indeed, not a little astonishing that, being so few, they should offer a resemblance in so many points. \"There may at times be some difficulty in determining between the similarity of style and diction resulting from established habit, and that produced by intentional imitation; yet, in the former case, it will commonly, if I mistake not, be found looser, but more general; in the latter, stricter, but more confined to particular words or idioms; the whole of the features not having been equally caught, while those which have been laid hold of are given more minutely than in the case of habit. The manner runs carelessly through every part, and is perpetually striking us unawares; the copy walks after it with measured but unequal pace, and is restless in courting our attention. The specimens of resemblance now produced are obviously of the former kind: both sides have an equal claim to originality, and seem very powerfully to establish a unity of authorship.\" Thus far Mr. Good; who has, on his own side of the question, most certainly exhausted the subject. The case he has made out is a strong one: we shall next examine whether a stronger cannot be made out in behalf of Solomon, as the second candidate for the authorship of this most excellent book. 2. That this book was the work of Solomon was the opinion of some early Christian writers, among whom was Gregory Nazianzen; and of several moderns, among whom were Spanheim and Hardouin. The latter has gone so far as to place the death of Job in the thirty-fifth year of the reign of David; and he supposes that Solomon wrote the work in question, about the second or third year of his reign. On this last opinion no stress whatever should be placed. As the argument for Moses has been supported by supposed parallelisms between his acknowledged works and the Book of Job, so has that which attributes the latter to Solomon. That Solomon, from his vast learning and wisdom, was capable of such a work, none can deny. His knowledge in astronomy, natural history, politics, theology, languages, and the general science of his age, must have given him at least equal qualifications to those possessed by Moses. And if he was the author of the Song of Solomon, which most men believe, he had certainly a poetic mind, equal, if not superior, to all the writers who had existed previously to his time. The Book of Proverbs and that of Ecclesiastes are almost universally attributed to him: now, in the Book of Job, there are a multitude of sentiments, sentences, terms, and modes of speech, which are almost peculiar to Solomon, as will appear from the whole books. In both we find the most exalted eulogium of wisdom. See Job 28:12; Pro 8:11, etc. Job says, \"The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil, that is understanding;\" Job 28:28. Solomon says, \"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction;\" Pro 1:7. Job speaks of the state of the dead nearly in the same terms as Solomon: compare Job 21:33; Job 12:22; Job 36:5, with Pro 9:18. Job says, Job 26:6, \"Hell is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering.\" Solomon says, Pro 15:11, \"Hell and destruction are before the Lord; how much more the hearts of the children of men?\" Job says, \"Man drinketh iniquity like water;\" Job 15:16. And Elihu charges him with \"drinking up scorning like water;\" Job 34:7. The same image occurs in Solomon, Pro 26:6 : \"He that sendeth a message by the hand of a fool drinketh damage.\" In Job 15:34 it is said, \"Fire shall consume the tabernacle of bribery.\" The same turn of thought occurs Pro 15:27 : \"He that is greedy of gain troubleth his own house; but he that hateth gifts shall live.\" Both speak of weighing the spirits or winds. See Job 28:25; Pro 16:2 But to me the parallelism in these cases is not evident, as both the reason of the saying, and some of the terms in the original, are different. Job tells his friends, \"If they would hold their peace, it would be their wisdom;\" Job 13:5. Solomon has the same sentiment in nearly the same words, Pro 17:28 : \"Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise; and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.\" Solomon represents the rephaim or giants as in hell, or the great deep; Pro 2:18; Pro 9:18; Pro 7:27. The like sentiment is in Job 26:5. See the Hebrew. In Job 27:16, Job 27:17, it is said that \"If the wicked heap up silver as the dust, and prepare raiment as the clay; the just shall put it on, and the innocent shall divide the silver.\" The like sentiment is found, Pro 28:8 : \"He that by usury and unjust gain increaseth his substance, he shall gather for him that will pity the poor.\" Solomon says, Pro 16:18 : \"Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall:\" and, \"Before destruction the heart of man is haughty; and before honor is humility;\" Pro 18:12 : and, \"A man's pride shall bring him low; but honor shall uphold the humble in spirit.\" The same sentiment is expressed in Job 22:29 : \"When men are cast down, then thou shalt say, There is a lifting up; and he shall save the humble person.\" Both speak nearly in the same way concerning the creation of the earth and the sea. \"Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? - Who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth as if it had issued from the womb?\" Job 38:4-8. This seems a reference to the flood. In Pro 8:22-29 Wisdom says: \"The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way - when as yet he had not made the earth - when he gave to the sea his decree that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth.\" These are precisely the same kind of conceptions, and nearly the same phraseology. In Job 20:7 it is said, \"The wicked shall perish for ever, like his own Dung.\" And in Pro 10:7 it is said, \"The name of the wicked shall Rot.\" It would not be difficult to enlarge this list of correspondences by a collation of passages in Job and in Proverbs; but most of them will occur to the attentive reader. There is, however, another class of evidence that appears still more forcible, viz.: There are several term used frequently in the Book of Job and in the books of Solomon which are almost peculiar to those books, and which argue an identity of authorship. The noun תשיה tushiyah, which may signify essence, substance, reality, completeness, occurs in Job and Proverbs. See Job 5:12; Job 6:13; Job 11:6; Job 12:16; Job 26:3, and Job 30:22; Pro 2:7; Pro 3:21; Pro 8:14, and Pro 18:1. And it occurs only twice, as far as I can recollect, in all the Bible besides; viz., Isa 28:29, and Mic 6:9. The word הוה havvah, used in the sense of misfortune, ruinous downfall, calamity, occurs Job 6:2, Job 6:30; Job 30:13, and in Pro 10:3; Pro 11:6; Pro 17:4; Pro 19:13. It occurs nowhere else, except once in Eze 7:26, once in Mic 7:3, and a few times in the Psalms, Psa 5:9; Psa 52:2, Psa 52:7; Psa 55:12; Psa 91:3; Psa 94:20; Psa 37:12; Psa 62:3. T","order":18,"numberOfChapters":42,"sha256":"e2f81ea907894d9c2e6464121b9981b21d16872bb6564de1b225c2bc55e2ee9a","firstChapterNumber":1,"firstChapterApiLink":"/api/c/adam-clarke/JOB/1.json","firstChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"adam-clarke","book":"JOB","chapter":1},"lastChapterNumber":42,"lastChapterApiLink":"/api/c/adam-clarke/JOB/42.json","lastChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"adam-clarke","book":"JOB","chapter":42},"totalNumberOfVerses":271},"chapter":{"number":32,"content":[{"type":"verse","number":1,"content":["These three men ceased to answer Job - They supposed that it was of no use to attempt to reason any longer with a man who justified himself before God. The truth is, they failed to convince Job of any point, because they argued from false principles; and, as we have seen, Job had the continual advantage of them. There were points on which he might have been successfully assailed; but they did not know them. Elihu, better acquainted both with human nature and the nature of the Divine law, and of God's moral government of the world, steps in, and makes the proper discriminations; acquits Job on the ground of their accusations, but condemns him for his too great self-confidence, and his trusting too much in his external righteousness; and, without duly considering his frailty and imperfections, his incautiously arraigning the providence of God of unkindness in its dealings with him. This was the point on which Job was particularly vulnerable, and which Elihu very properly clears up.\nBecause he was righteous tn his own eyes - The Septuagint, Syriac, Arabic, and Chaldee, all read, \"Because he was righteous in Their eyes;\" intimating, that they were now convinced that he was a holy man, and that they had charged him foolishly. The reading of these ancient versions is supported by a MS. of the thirteenth century, in Dr. Kennicott's collections; which, instead of בעיניו beeinaiv, in His eyes, has בעיניהם beeineyhem, in Their eyes. This is a reading of considerable importance, but it is not noticed by De Rossi. Symmachus translates nearly in the same way: Δια τον αυτον δικαιον φαινεσθαι επ' αυτων; Because he appeared more righteous than themselves."]},{"type":"verse","number":2,"content":["Then was kindled the wrath - This means no more than that Elihu was greatly excited, and felt a strong and zealous desire to vindicate the justice and providence of God, against the aspersions of Job and his friends.\nElihu the son of Barachel the Buzite - Buz was the second son of Nahor, the brother of Abram, Gen 22:21.\nOf the kindred of Ram - Kemuel was the third son of Nahor; and is called in Genesis (see above) the father of Aram, which is the same as Ram. A city of the name of Buz is found in Jer 25:23, which probably had its name from this family; and, as it is mentioned with Dedan and Tema, we know it must have been a city in Idumea, as the others were in that district. Instead of the kindred of Ram, the Chaldee has of the kindred of Abraham. But still the question has been asked, Who was Elihu? I answer, He was \"the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the kindred of Ram:\" this is all we know of him. But this Scriptural answer will not satisfy those who are determined to find out mysteries where there are none. Some make him a descendant of Judah; St. Jerome, Bede, Lyranus, and some of the rabbins, make him Balaam the son of Beor, the magician; Bishop Warburton makes him Ezra the scribe; and Dr. Hodges makes him the second person in the glorious Trinity, the Lord Jesus Christ, and supposes that the chief scope of this part of the book was to convict Job of self-righteousness, and to show the necessity of the doctrine of justification by faith! When these points are proved, they should be credited.\nBecause he justified himself rather than God - Literally, he justified his soul, נפשו naphhso, before God. He defended, not only the whole of his conduct, but also his motives, thoughts, etc."]},{"type":"verse","number":3,"content":["They had found no answer - They had condemned Job; and yet could not answer his arguments on the general subject, and in vindication of himself."]},{"type":"verse","number":6,"content":["I am young - How young he was, or how old they were, we cannot tell; but there was no doubt a great disparity in their ages; and among the Asiatics the youth never spoke in the presence of the elders, especially on any subject of controversy."]},{"type":"verse","number":7,"content":["Days should speak - That is, men are to be reputed wise and experienced in proportion to the time they have lived. The Easterns were remarkable for treasuring up wise sayings: indeed, the principal part of their boasted wisdom consisted in proverbs and maxims on different subjects."]},{"type":"verse","number":8,"content":["But there is a spirit in man - Mr. Good translates: - \n\"But surely there is an afflation in mankind,\nAnd the inspiration of the Almighty actuateth them.\"\nCoverdale, thus: - \nEvery man (no doute) hath a mynde; but it is the inspyracion of the Almightie that geveth understondinge.\nI will now offer my own opinion, but first give the original text: רוח היא באנוש ונשמת שדי תבינם ruach hi beenosh venishmath shaddai tebinem. \"The spirit itself is in miserable man, and the breath of the Almighty causeth them to understand,\" How true is it that in God we live, move, and have our being! The spirit itself is in man as the spring or fountain of his animal existence, and by the afflatus of this spirit he becomes capable of understanding and reason, and consequently of discerning Divine truth. The animal and intellectual lives are here stated to be from God; and this appears to be an allusion to man's creation, Gen 2:7 : \"And God breathed into man's nostrils the breath of lives,\" נשמת חיים nishmath chaiyim, i.e., animal and intellectual, and thus he became a living soul, נפש חיה nephesh chaiyah, a rational animal. When man fell from God, the Spirit of God was grieved, and departed from him; but was restored, as the enlightener and corrector, in virtue of the purposed incarnation and atonement of our Lord Jesus; hence, he is \"the true Light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world,\" Joh 1:9. That afflatus is therefore still continued to אנוש enosh, man, in his wretched, fallen state; and it is by that Spirit, the רוח אלהים Ruach Elohim, \"the Spirit of the merciful or covenant God,\" that we have any conscience, knowledge of good and evil, judgment in Divine things, and, in a word, capability of being saved. And when, through the light of that Spirit, convincing of sin, righteousness, and judgment, the sinner turns to God through Christ, and finds redemption in his blood, the remission of sins; then it is the office of that same Spirit to give him understanding of the great work that has been done in and for him; \"for the Spirit itself (αυτο το Πνευμα, Rom 8:16, the same words in Greek as the Hebrew רוח היא ruach hi of Elihu) beareth witness with his spirit that he is a child of God.\" It is the same Spirit which sanctifies, the same Spirit that seals, and the same Spirit that lives and works in the believer, guiding him by his counsel till it leads him into glory. In this one saying, independently of the above paraphrase, Elihu spoke more sense and sound doctrine than all Job's friends did in the whole of the controversy."]},{"type":"verse","number":9,"content":["Great men are not always wise - This is a true saying, which the experience of every age and every country increasingly verifies. And it is most certain that, in the case before us, the aged did not understand judgment; they had a great many wise and good sayings, which they had collected, but showed neither wisdom nor discretion in applying them."]},{"type":"verse","number":11,"content":["I waited for your words; I gave ear to your reasons - Instead of תבונותיכם tebunotheychem, your reasons, תכונותיכם techunotheychem, your arguments, is the reading of nine of Kennicott's and De Rossi's MSS. The sense, however, is nearly the same.\nWhilst ye searched out what to say - עד תחקרון מלין ad tachkerun millin; \"Whilst ye were searching up and down for words.\" A fine irony, which they must have felt."]},{"type":"verse","number":12,"content":["Yea, I attended unto you - Instead of ועדיכם veadeychem, and unto you, one MS. reads the above letters with points that cause it to signify and your testimonies; which is the reading of the Syriac, Arabic, and Septuagint.\nBehold, there was none of you that convinced Job - Confuted Job. They spoke multitudes of words, but were unable to overthrow his arguments."]},{"type":"verse","number":13,"content":["We have found out wisdom - We by dint of our own wisdom and understanding, have found out the true system of God's providence; and have been able to account for all the sufferings and tribulations of Job. Had they been able to confute Job, they would have triumphed over him in their own self-sufficiency.\nGod thrusteth him down, not man - This is no accidental thing that has happened to him: he is suffering under the just judgments of God, and therefore he must be the wicked man which we supposed him to be."]},{"type":"verse","number":14,"content":["He hath not directed - I am no party in this controversy; I have no party feeling in it: he has not spoken a word against me, therefore I have no cause of irritation. I shall speak for truth; not for conquest or revenge. Neither will I answer him with your speeches; your passions have been inflamed by contradiction, and you have spoken foolishly with your lips."]},{"type":"verse","number":15,"content":["They were amazed - Mr. Good translates: \"They (the speeches) are dissipated; they no longer produce effect; the words have flirted away from them.\" Your words, being without proper reference and point, are scattered into thin air: there is nothing but sound in them; they are quite destitute of sense. But I prefer the words as spoken of Job's friends. They took their several parts in the controversy as long as they could hope to maintain their ground: for a considerable time they had been able to bring nothing new; at last, weary of their own repetitions, they gave up the contest."]},{"type":"verse","number":16,"content":["When I had waited - I waited to hear if they had any thing to reply to Job; and when I found them in effect speechless, then I ventured to come forward."]},{"type":"verse","number":17,"content":["I will answer also my part - אענה חלקי aaneh chelki, \"I will recite my portion.\" We have already seen that the book of Job is a sort of drama, in which several persons have their different parts to recite. Probably the book was used in this way, in ancient times, for the sake of public instruction. Eliphaz, Zophar, and Bildad, had recited their parts, and Job had responded to each: nothing was brought to issue. Elihu, a bystander, perceiving this, comes forward and takes a part, when all the rest had expended their materials: yet Elihu, though he spoke well, was incapable of closing the controversy; and God himself appears, and decides the case."]},{"type":"verse","number":18,"content":["I am full of matter - מלים millim, \"I am full of Words,\" or sayings; i.e., wise sentences, and ancient opinions.\nThe spirit within me constraineth me - How similar to the words of St. Paul! The love of Christ constraineth us. Elihu considered himself under the influence of that Spirit of God which gives understanding, and felt anxiously concerned for the welfare both of Job and his friends."]},{"type":"verse","number":19,"content":["My belly is as wine which hath no vent - New wine in a state of effervescence.\nLike new bottles - Bottles, or rather bags, made of goat-skins. The head and shanks being cut off, the animal is cased out of the skin. The skin is then properly dressed; the anus and four shank holes properly tied up; and an aperture left at the neck or in some other place for the liquor to be poured in, and drawn out. One of these now lies before me, well tanned, and beautifully ornamented, and capable of holding many gallons. They are used, not only to carry wine and water, but for butter, and also for various dry goods. I have mentioned this in another place. When the wine is in a state of fermentation, and the skin has no vent, these bottles or bags are ready to burst; and if they be old, the new wine destroys them, breaks the old stitching, or rends the old skin. Our Lord makes use of the same figure, Mat 9:17 (note); where see the note."]},{"type":"verse","number":20,"content":["I will open my lips and answer - In the preceding verse Elihu compares himself to a skin-bottle, in which the wine was in a state of fermentation, and the bottle ready to burst for want of vent. He carries on the metaphor in this verse: the bottle must be opened to save it from bursting; I will Open my mouth."]},{"type":"verse","number":21,"content":["Let me not - accept any man's person - I will speak the truth without fear or favor.\nNeither let me give flattering titles - I will not give epithets to any man that are not descriptive of his true state. I will not beguile him by telling him he is what he is not. אכנה acanneh, from כנה canah, is generally supposed to signify to surname, to put a name to or upon a name, as the French word surnom implies. It means to give proud titles to persons who are worthless. It is well known that the Arabs make court to their superiors by carefully avoiding to address them by their proper names, instead of which they salute them with some title or epithet expressive of respect - Scott See below. Titles expressive of office, ecclesiastical, civil, or military, are always proper, and never forbidden, because they serve for distinction; but the Asiatic titles are in general bombastically and sinfully complimentary. The reader will find several specimens at the end of this chapter."]},{"type":"verse","number":22,"content":["My Maker would soon take me away - Were I to copy this conduct while under the influence which I now feel, God might justly consume me as in a moment. He is my Maker; he made me to know truth, to tell truth, and to live according to truth; for he is the God of truth: I shall, therefore through his help, speak the Truth, the Whole Truth, and Nothing but the Truth.\nWe find from the above that vain titles of ceremony, expressive of the most eminent qualities, were given to worthless men, from time immemorial; and no wonder, for hypocrisy entered into man at the same time that sin entered into the world.\nOf the flattering titles used in the East, I shall give a few specimens from the (Arabic) Kooayid us Sultanet Shah Jehan, or, \"The Rules observed during the Reign of the Mogul Emperor Shah Jehan.\"\nSpeaking of the emperor, he is entitled,\n\"The Sun which illuminates the firmament in the universe of royalty and dominion; the Moon, which irradiates the sky of monarchy and felicity; the King who in pomp resembles Gem-sheed. His hand is boundless as the ocean in bestowing bounties, being the key of the gates of kindness and liberality!\" Again: - \n\"The Sun of the heaven of prosperity and empire, the Shadow of God, the Asylum of the Universe, the splendor of whose instructive front causes light and gladness to the world and to mankind.\"\n\"The just and vigilant Monarch; the Asylum of Truth, the Refuge of the World; the Diffuser of Light, the Solver of all human difficulties.\"\n\"The Lord of the Age, who is endowed with such perfect excellence, both in internal and external qualifications, that on all occasions he holds fast the thread of good counsel, prudence, and purity of morals.\"\n\"The faculty of apprehension is possessed by him in such a degree, that before the matter ha s scarcely obtained utterance he comprehends the purport, and gives answers with the tongue of inspiration.\"\nAddresses to Persons of Distinction\n\"Let them convey to the presence of glorious empire, the Sultan, in pomp like Solomon, the center of the universe, powerful as heaven!\"\n\"Let them who kiss the carpet of the palace, in pomp like heaven, convey this letter to his majesty, whose sight is as creative as alchymy, king of kings, the asylum of the world!\"\n\"To the exalted presence, which gratifies the desires of all people, the most beneficent of the age, the vizier, protector of the universe, may the Almighty perpetuate his fortune!\"\n\"May this letter be dignified in the presence of Naweeb Saheb, diffuser of benefits, of exalted pomp, the respectable, the discriminator of ranks! May his power increase!\"\n\"Let them convey this to the perusal of his excellency, conversant in realities and mysteries, the support of excellencies, the cream of his contemporaries, and the cherisher of the poor!\"\nThese are a specimen of the flattering titles given in the East to persons in eminent stations. Their kings they clothe in all the attributes of the Deity, when both in their public and private character they are corrupt and unholy, rascals in grain, and the ruthless oppressors of suffering humanity."]}],"introduction":"Elihu comes forward, and empresses his disapprobation both of Job and his three friends - with the one for justifying himself; and with the others for taking up the subject in a wrong point of view, and not answering satisfactorily - and makes a becoming apology for himself, vv. 1-22."},"thisChapterLink":"/api/c/adam-clarke/JOB/32.json","thisChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"adam-clarke","book":"JOB","chapter":32},"nextChapterApiLink":"/api/c/adam-clarke/JOB/33.json","nextChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"adam-clarke","book":"JOB","chapter":33},"previousChapterApiLink":"/api/c/adam-clarke/JOB/31.json","previousChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"adam-clarke","book":"JOB","chapter":31},"numberOfVerses":19}