{"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":36,"content":[{"type":"verse","number":1,"content":["Elihu also proceeded - Mr. Heath gives a good summary of this chapter. Elihu goes on to lay before Job the impropriety of his behavior towards God, and desires him to consider how vain it will prove. That God Almighty will never yield the point; that he will administer impartial justice to all men, Job 36:2-6. That the general course of his providence is to favor the righteous: and that though he may sometimes correct them in love, yet if they submit patiently to his fatherly corrections, they shall enjoy all manner of prosperity; but if they be stubborn, and will not submit, they will only draw down greater proofs of his displeasure, Job 36:7-16. He tells him that, had he followed the former course, he had probably, before now, been restored to his former condition; whereas, by persisting in the latter course, he was in a fair way of becoming a signal example of Divine justice, Job 36:17, Job 36:18. He therefore warns him to use the present opportunity, lest God should cut him off while he was in a state of rebellion against him; for with God neither wealth, power, nor any other argument that he could use, would be of any avail, Job 36:18-26. That God was infinitely powerful; there was no resisting him: and infinitely wise, as sufficiently appeared by his works; there was, therefore, no escaping out of his hands. That his purity was so great that the sun, in his presence, was more dim than the smallest ray of light when compared to that grand luminary; that his holiness was manifest by his aversion to iniquity; and his goodness, in supplying the wants of his creatures."]},{"type":"verse","number":2,"content":["That I have yet to speak on God's behalf - I have other proofs to allege in behalf of God's justice and providence."]},{"type":"verse","number":3,"content":["I will fetch my knowledge from afar - למרחוק lemerachok, \"from the distant place,\" meaning probably both remote antiquity and heaven; see below. I will show thee that all antiquity and experience are on my side. I can bring proofs from the remotest ages and from the most distant countries to demonstrate that God is infinitely Wise, and can do nothing foolish or erroneous; that he is infinitely Powerful, and can bring all the purposes of his wisdom to effect; that he is infinitely Good, and can will nothing, and can do nothing that is not good in itself, and well calculated to do good to his creatures. And I shall show that his operations in the heavens and on the earth prove and demonstrate the whole.\nAnd will ascribe righteousness to my Maker - By proving the above points, the righteous conduct of God, and his gracious government of the world, will be fully established. That Elihu brings his knowledge from afar - from every part of the creation, as well as from the Divine nature - is evident from the end of the chapter.\n1. The omnipotence of God; - God is great.\n2. The eternity of God - We know him not, the number of his years cannot be found out, Job 36:26.\n3. From the economy of God in the atmosphere, in dews, rain, vapor, and the irrigation of the earth; - He maketh small the drops, etc., Job 36:27, Job 36:28.\n4. In the thunder and lightning, by which he performs such wonders in the atmosphere, and executes such judgments in the world; - Also who can understand the noise of his tabernacle? He spreadeth his light upon it. He judgeth the people, etc., Job 36:29-33."]},{"type":"verse","number":4,"content":["My words shall not be false - My words shall be truth without falsity.\nHe that is perfect in knowledge is with thee - \"The perfection of knowledge is with thee.\" Thou art a sensible, well-informed man, and will be able to judge of what I say."]},{"type":"verse","number":5,"content":["God is mighty and despiseth not any - He reproaches no man for his want of knowledge. If any man lack wisdom, he may come to God, who giveth liberally, and upbraideth not. I prefer this to the passive sense, will not be despised.\nHe is mighty - Literally, \"He is mighty in strength of heart;\" he can never be terrified nor alarmed."]},{"type":"verse","number":6,"content":["He preserveth not the life - He will not give life to the wicked; all such forfeit life by their transgressions.\nBut giveth right - Justice will he give to the afflicted or humble, עניים aniyim."]},{"type":"verse","number":7,"content":["He withdraweth not his eyes - Exactly similar to those words of David, Psa 34:15 : \"The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous.\"\nBut with kings are they on the throne - I think the words should be read thus: - \"But with kings upon the throne shall he place them; and they shall be exalted for ever.\" The word וישיבם vaiyeshibem, he will establish or place them, should be added to the first clause, as I have done; and then the sense becomes much clearer. Instead of לנצח fo da lanetsach, forever, perhaps to victory would be a better sense: \"But with kings upon the throne will he place them; and they shall be exalted or triumph to victory.\" This is precisely the same idea, and conveyed in nearly the same words, as that of our Lord: - \"To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne;\" Rev 3:21. \"Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father, to him be glory,\" etc.; Rev 1:5, Rev 1:6."]},{"type":"verse","number":8,"content":["And if they be bound in fetters - These are means which God uses, not of punishment, but of correction."]},{"type":"verse","number":9,"content":["He showeth them their work - He shows them the exceeding sinfulness of sin.\nThat they have exceeded - יתגברו yithgabbaru, \"that they have strengthened themselves,\" and did not trust in the living God; and therefore they would not help themselves when trouble came."]},{"type":"verse","number":10,"content":["He openeth also their ear - He gives them to understand the reason why they are thus corrected, and commands them to return from those iniquities which have induced him to visit them with afflictions and distresses."]},{"type":"verse","number":11,"content":["If they obey and serve him - There may appear in the course of Providence to be some exceptions to this general rule; but it is most true, that this is literally or spiritually fulfilled to all the genuine followers of God. Every man is happy, in whatsoever circumstances, whose heart is unreservedly dedicated to his Maker."]},{"type":"verse","number":12,"content":["But if they obey not - This also is a general rule, from which, in the course of Providence, there are only few, and those only apparent, deviations. Instead of they shall perish by the sword, the meaning of the Hebrew בשלח יעברו beshelach yaaboru, is, \"By a dart they shall pass by.\" They shall be in continual dangers, and often fall before they have lived out half their days. Mr. Good translates: They pass by as an arrow. The Vulgate: Transibunt per gladium. \"They shall pass away by the sword.\""]},{"type":"verse","number":13,"content":["But the hypocrites in heart - חנפי chanphey, the profligates, the impious, those who have neither the form nor the power of godliness. The hypocrite is he who has the form but not the power, though he wishes to be thought as inwardly righteous as he is outwardly correct; and he takes up the profession of religion only to serve secular ends. This is not the meaning of the word in the book of Job, where it frequently occurs.\nThey cry not - \"Though he binds them, yet they cry not.\" They are too obstinate to humble themselves even under the mighty hand of God."]},{"type":"verse","number":14,"content":["They die in youth - Exactly what the psalmist says, \"Bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days,\" Psa 55:23. Literally, the words of Elihu are, \"They shall die in the youth of their soul.\"\nTheir life is among the unclean - בקדשים bakedeshim, among the whores, harlots, prostitutes, and sodomites. In this sense the word is used, though it also signifies consecrated persons; but we know that in idolatry characters of this kind were consecrated to Baal and Ashtaroth, Venus, Priapus, etc. Mr. Good translates the rabble. The Septuagint: Their life shalt be wounded by the angels."]},{"type":"verse","number":15,"content":["And openeth their ears in oppression - He will let them know for what end they are afflicted, and why he permits them to be oppressed. The word יגל yigel might be translated he shall make them exult, or sing with joy, in oppression; like the three Hebrews in the burning fiery furnace."]},{"type":"verse","number":16,"content":["Even so would he have removed thee - If thou hadst turned to, obeyed, and served him, thy present state would have been widely different from what it is."]},{"type":"verse","number":17,"content":["But thou hast fulfilled the judgment of the wicked - As thou art acting like the wicked, so God deals with thee as he deals with them. Elihu is not a whit behind Job's other friends. None of them seems to have known any thing of the permission given by God to Satan to afflict and torment an innocent man."]},{"type":"verse","number":18,"content":["Because there is wrath - This is a time in which God is punishing the wicked; take heed lest thou be cut off in a moment. Redeem the time; the days are evil.\nThen a great ransom - When he determines to destroy, who can save?"]},{"type":"verse","number":20,"content":["Desire not the night - Thou hast wished for death; (here called night); desire it not; leave that with God. If he hear thee, and send death, thou mayest be cut off in a way at which thy soul would shudder."]},{"type":"verse","number":21,"content":["Regard not iniquity - It is sinful to entertain such wishes; it is an insult to the providence of God. He sends affliction; he knows this to be best for thee: but thou hast preferred death to affliction, thereby setting thy wisdom against the wisdom of God. Many in affliction, long for death; and yet they are not prepared to appear before God! What madness is this! If he takes them at their wish, they are ruined for ever. Affliction may be the means of their salvation; the wished-for death, of their eternal destruction."]},{"type":"verse","number":22,"content":["God exalteth by his power - He has brought thee low, but he can raise thee up. Thou art not yet out of the reach of his mercy. Thy affliction is a proof that he acts towards thee as a merciful Parent. He knows what is best to be done; he teaches thee how thou shouldst suffer and improve. Why sin against his kindness? Who can teach like him?"]},{"type":"verse","number":23,"content":["Who hath enjoined him his way - Has God taken instructions from any man how he shall govern the world?\nThou hast wrought iniquity? - Who can prove, in the whole compass of the creation, that there is one thing imperfect, superabundant, or out of its place? Who can show that there is, in the course of the Divine providence, one unrighteous, cruel, or unwise act? All the cunning and wickedness of man have never been able to find out the smallest flaw in the work of God."]},{"type":"verse","number":24,"content":["Remember that thou magnify his work - Take this into consideration; instead of fretting against the dispensations of Divine providence, and quarrelling with thy Maker, attentively survey his works; consider the operation of his hands; and see the proofs of his wisdom in the plan of all, of his power in the production and support of all, and of his goodness in the end for which all have been made, and to which every operation in nature most obviously tends; and then magnify his work. Speak of him as thou shalt find; let the visible works of thy Maker prove to thee his eternal power and Godhead, and let nature lead thee to the Creator."]},{"type":"verse","number":25,"content":["Every man may see it - He who says he can examine the earth with a philosophic eye, and the heavens with the eye of an astronomer, and yet says he cannot see in them a system of infinite skill and contrivance, must be ignorant of science, or lie against his conscience, and be utterly unworthy of confidence or respect."]},{"type":"verse","number":26,"content":["God is great - He is omnipotent.\nWe know him not - He is unsearchable.\nNeither can the number of his years be searched out - He is eternal.\nThese three propositions are an ample foundation for endless disquisition. As to paraphrase and comment, they need none in this place; they are too profound, comprehensive, and sublime."]},{"type":"verse","number":27,"content":["He maketh small the drops of water - This appears simply to refer to evaporation, and perhaps it would be better to translate יגרע yegara, \"he exhales;\" detaches the smallest particles of the aqueous mass from the surface in order to form clouds, as reservoirs for the purpose of furnishing rain for the watering of the earth. God is seen in little things, as well as great things; and the inconceivably little, as well as the stupendously great, are equally the work of Omnipotence.\nThey pour down rain - These exceedingly minute drops or vapor become collected in clouds; and then, when agitated by winds, etc. many particles being united, they become too heavy to be sustained by the air in which they before were suspended, and so fall down in rain, which is either a mist, a drizzle, a shower, a storm, or a waterspout, according to the influence of different winds, or the presence and quantum of the electric fluid. And all this is proportioned, לאדו le-edo, \"to its vapor,\" to the quantity of the fluid evaporated and condensed into clouds."]},{"type":"verse","number":28,"content":["Which the clouds do drop - In proportion to the evaporation will be the clouds or masses of volatilized and suspended vapor; and in proportion to this will be the quantum of rain which in different forms will fall upon the earth. There is a remarkable addition to this verse in the Septuagint. I shall insert the whole verse: Ῥυησονται παλαιωματα, εσκιασε δε νεφη επι αμυθητῳ βροτῳ· ὡραν εθετο κτηνεσιν, οιδασι δε κοιτης ταξιν· επι τουτοις πασιν ουκ εξισταται σου ἡ διανοια, ουδε διαλλασσεται σου ἡ καρδια απο σωματος; \"The rains descend, and the clouds cover with their shadows multitudes of men: he hath appointed to animals to know the order of their dwellings. At the contemplation of these things is not thy mind transported, and thy heart ready to part from thy body?\""]},{"type":"verse","number":29,"content":["Can any understand the spreadings of the clouds - Though the vapor appear to be fortuitously raised, and subject, when suspended in the atmosphere, to innumerable accidents, to different winds and currents which might drive it all to the sandy deserts, or direct its course so that it should fall again into the great deep from which it has been exhaled, without watering and refreshing the earth; yet so does the good and wise providence of God manage this matter, that every part of the arable terrene surface receives an ample supply; and in every place, where requisite, it may be truly said that \"The rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and water the earth, and cause it to bring forth and bud, that it may minister seed to the sower, and bread to the eater.\" In Egypt, where there is little or no rain, the earth is watered by the annual inundation of the Nile; there, because this system of evaporation is not necessary, it does not exist. Who can account for this economy? How are these clouds so judiciously and effectually spread through the atmosphere, so as to supply the wants of the earth, of men, and of cattle? I ask, with Elihu, \"Who can understand the spreadings of these clouds?\" And I should like to see that volunteer in the solution of paradoxes who would step forward and say, I am the man.\nThe noise of his tabernacle? - By the tabernacle we may understand the whole firmament or atmospheric expansion; the place where the Almighty seems more particularly to dwell; whence he sends forth the rain of his strength, and the thunder of his power. The noise must refer to the blowing of winds and tempests. or to the claps, peals, and rattling of thunder, by means of the electric fluid."]},{"type":"verse","number":30,"content":["He spreadeth his light upon it - Or, as Mr. Good translates, \"He throweth forth from it his flash.\" These two verses may both have an allusion to the sudden rarefaction of that part of the atmosphere whence the thunder proceeds, by the agency of the electric fluid; the rushing in of the air on each side to restore the equilibrium, which the passage of the fire had before destroyed. The noise produced by this sudden rushing in of the air, as well as that occasioned by the ignition of the hydrogen gas, which is one of the constituents of water, is the thunder of his tabernacle, viz., the atmosphere, where God appears, in such cases, to be manifesting his presence and his power. Elihu says that God spreadeth his light upon it. This is spoken in reference to the flashes and coruscations of lightning in the time of thunder storms, when, even in a dark night, a sudden flash illuminates for a moment the surface of the earth under that place.\nAnd covereth the bottom of the sea - He doth whatsoever it pleaseth him in the heavens above, in the earth beneath, in the sea, and in all deep places. Yea, the depths of the sea are as much under his control and influence as the atmosphere, and its whole collection of vapours, meteors, and galvanic and electric fluids."]},{"type":"verse","number":31,"content":["By them judgeth he the people - He makes storms, tempests, winds, hurricanes, tornadoes, thunder and lightning, drought and inundation, the instruments of his justice, to punish rebellious nations.\nHe giveth meat in abundance - Though by these he punishes offenders, yet through the same, as instruments, he provides for the wants of men and animals in general. Storms, tempests, and hurricanes, agitate the lower regions of the atmosphere, disperse noxious vapours, and thus render it fit for respiration; and without these it would soon become a stagnant, putrid, and deadly mass, in which neither animals could live, nor vegetables thrive. And by dews, rains, snows, frosts, winds, cold, and heat, he fructifies the earth, and causes it to bring forth abundantly, so that every thing living is filled with plenteousness. Some critics translate this latter clause thus: - He passeth sentence amain. I cannot see this meaning in the original words. Not one of the versions has so understood them; nor does this translation, supposing even that the Hebrew would bear it, give so fine and so elegant an idea as that of the common version. I always feel reluctant to give a sense in any case that is not supported in some of its parts by any of the ancient versions, and more especially when it is contrary to the whole of them; and still more particularly when opposed to the Arabic, which in the Book of Job, containing so many Arabisms, I consider to be of very great importance."]},{"type":"verse","number":32,"content":["With clouds he covereth the light - This is all extraordinary saying, על כפים כמה אור al cappayim kissah or, which Mr. Good translates, \"He brandisheth the blaze athwart the concave.\" The Vulgate, with which all the other versions less or more agree, has, In manibus abscondit lucem, \"In his hands he hideth the light;\" or, more literally, \"By the hollow of his hands (כפים cappayim) he concealeth the light, (אור or,\") the fountain of light, i.e., the Sun.\nAnd commandeth it not to shine by the cloud that cometh betwixt - I am afraid this is no translation of the original. Old Coverdale is better: - And at his commandement it commeth agayne; which is a near copy of the Vulgate. Here again Mr. Good departs from all the versions, both ancient and modern, by translating thus: - \"And launcheth his penetrating bolt.\" Dr. Stock, in my opinion, comes nearer the original and the versions in his translation: - \n\"And giveth charge as to what it shall meet.\"\nThe mending of the text by conjecture, to which we should only recur in desperate necessity, has furnished Mr. Good and Reiske with the above translation. For my own part, I must acknowledge an extreme difficulty both here and in the concluding verse, on which I am unwilling to lay a correcting hand. I think something of the doctrine of eclipses is here referred to; the defect of the solar light, by the interposition of the moon. So in the time of an eclipse God is represented as covering the body of the sun with the hollow of his hand, and thus obscuring the solar light, and then removing his hand so as to permit it to re-illuminate the earth.\nMr. Good gets his translation by dividing the words in a different manner from the present text. I shall give both: - \nHebrew:\nויצו עליה במפגיע\nVayetsav aleyha bemaphgia\nMr. Good:\nויצוע ליהב מפגיע\nVeyezvo liahbe mapegio.\nOf which he learnedly contends, \"And launcheth his penetrating bolt,\" is the literal sense. The change here made, to produce the above meaning, is not a violent one; and I must leave the reader to judge of its importance."]},{"type":"verse","number":33,"content":["The noise thereof showeth concerning it, the cattle also concerning the vapor - I think this translation very unhappy. I shall give each hemistich in the original: - \nיגיד עליו רעו\nYaggid alaiv reo\nמקנה אף על עולה\nMikneh aph al oleh.\nI think this may be translated without any violence to any word in the text: - \nIts loud noise (or his thunder) shall proclaim concerning him;\nA magazine of wrath against iniquity.\nThis is literal, and gives, in my opinion, a proper meaning of the passage, and one in strict connection with the context. And it is worthy of remark that every wicked man trembles at the noise of thunder and the flash of lightning, and considers this a treasury of Divine wrath, emphatically called among us the artillery of the skies; and whenever the noise is heard, it is considered the voice of God. Thus the thunder declares concerning him. The next chapter, which is a continuation of the subject here, confirms and illustrates this meaning. For יגיד yaggid, Houbigant reads יניד yanid; and for מקנה mikneh, מקנאת mikkinath; and translates thus: \"He agitates with himself his thunder, from the indignation of his wrath against iniquity.\""]}],"introduction":"Elihu vindicates God's justice, and his providential and gracious dealings with men, Job 36:1-9. Promises of God to the obedient, and threatenings to the disobedient; also promises to the poor and afflicted, Job 36:10-16. Sundry proofs of God's merely, with suitable exhortations and cautions, vv. 17-33."},"thisChapterLink":"/api/c/adam-clarke/JOB/36.json","thisChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"adam-clarke","book":"JOB","chapter":36},"nextChapterApiLink":"/api/c/adam-clarke/JOB/37.json","nextChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"adam-clarke","book":"JOB","chapter":37},"previousChapterApiLink":"/api/c/adam-clarke/JOB/35.json","previousChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"adam-clarke","book":"JOB","chapter":35},"numberOfVerses":32}