He removeth away the speech of the trusty, taking away the eloquence of the people's orators and counselors, and taketh away the understanding of the aged, so that they no longer have the right judgment. V. 21. He poureth contempt upon princes, upon the nobility of the land, and weakeneth the strength of the mighty, literally, either, "He causes the dam of the canals to sink down," or, "He lets down that which holds together the containing of great capacity"; that is, He disables the mighty for the contest by causing their undergarments to hang down loosely, a fact which hinders them in fighting. V. 22. He discovereth deep things out of darkness and bringeth out to light the shadow of death; that is, all the dark plans and the wickedness of men which they believe hidden from the eyes of men He brings forth into the light. Cp. 1 Cor. 4, 5. V. 23. He increaseth the nations, making them great, giv

ing them prosperity, and destroyeth them; He enlargeth the nations, spreading them abroad, increasing their territory, and straiteneth them again, causes them to be carried away into captivity and to lose all they gained. V. 24. He taketh away the heart of the chief of the people of the earth, the understanding of those who are held together by the ties of a common origin, language, and country, and causeth them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way, in pathless wastes, following leads which are utterly foolish. V. 25. They grope in the dark without light, and He maketh them to stagger like a drunken man. Cp. Is. 19, 14. The entire passage reminds one of the great hymn of Mary with its praise of the strength and mercy of God, Luke 1, 46-55. Job certainly proved that he was in no wise inferior to Eliphaz in His knowledge of the wisdom and strength of Jehovah.

Job's Further Defense against Zophar. JOB DEFENDS GOD AGAINST THE SUSPICION OF ARBITRARINESS. - V. 1. Lo, mine eye hath seen all this, mine ear hath heard and understood it, gotten the knowledge for itself, namely, concerning all that had been set forth in the last chapter regarding the wisdom and omnipotence of God. V. 2. What ye know, the same do I know also; I am not inferior unto you; Job in no way stood behind or beneath his friends in the proper understanding of the Lord's attributes, chap. 12, 3. V. 3. Surely I would speak to the Almighty, that is, in spite of the fact that Job had this knowledge and in view of the fact that it seemed folly to speak to his friends in their present attitude of antagonism, while they paraded their knowledge of God in order to confound Job, and I desire to reason with God, pleading with Him in defense of himself, confidently hoping for a vindication. V. 4. But ye are forgers of lies, literally, "daubers, smearers, of lies," such as invented falsehoods to gain their ends. Ye are all physicians of no value, miserable quacks, who were entirely unfit and incapable of applying the proper remedy to the wounds of Job. V. 5. Oh, that ye would altogether hold your peace! He would much prefer their saying nothing at all than to have them make matters worse by their bungling talk. And it should be your wisdom; they would then not only have had a higher reputation for wisdom, but would also have come nearer to the solution of Job's difficulty. V. 6. Hear now my reasoning, his apology or defense of himself, and hearken to the pleadings of my lips, as he, in vindicating himself, brought charges against them. V. 7. Will ye speak wickedly for God and

talk deceitfully for Him? Were they really of the opinion that they must act in favor of God by telling lies and by using deceit? V. 8. Will ye accept His person? That is, would they show preference for His countenance, partiality for His person? Will ye contend for God, acting the part of God's advocates or lawyers? Their actions seemed to indicate that such was their intention. V. 9. Is it good that He should search you out? Did they honestly believe that it would be well with them, that they would be safe, if He would really go to the bottom of things and search out their motives? Or as one man mocketh another, do ye so mock Him? Were they under the delusion that they could deceive God, hide from Him the real disposition and sentiment of their hearts? V. 10. He will surely reprove you, most emphatically denouncing them, if ye do secretly accept persons, showing partiality, the motive driving them being not honest conviction, but selfish interest. V. 11. Shall not His excellency, the display of God's exalted majesty, make you afraid and His dread fall upon you? The dread of God as the great Judge should have deterred them from their course of action in employing dishonest means against Him. V. 12. Your remembrances are like unto ashes, literally, "your axioms, proverbs, or maxims are proverbs of ashes," for such they would become when God would set out to judge and punish them, your bodies to bodies of clay, their bulwarks, their breastworks, of reasoning upon which they relied would prove frail mud, altogether unreliable, incapable of resistance. Note that there is an occasional hint of the final outcome of the matter and the rebuke of Job's friends.

JOB'S COMFORT AND PRAYER. — V. 13. Hold your peace, let me alone, they should desist from their undeserved attacks, that I may speak, and let come on me what will, he was ready to take the consequences of his open speaking. V. 14. Wherefore do I take my flesh in my teeth, anxious to save his body and life at any price, and put my life in mine hand, seeking to save his soul or life by one final desperate exertion of all his strength? He had no intention of making such efforts because he did not feel himself guilty of the accusations brought against him. He still trusted in the Lord. V. 15. Though He slay me, namely, through the disease which was now racking him, yet will I trust in Him, he would not give way to dread for the future, hopeless as it seemed; but I will maintain mine own ways before Him, namely, in proving to God the blamelessness of his life. V. 16. He also shall be my salvation; for an hypocrite shall not come before Him; that was Job's trust, his pledge of salvation, of final victory in the trial which he was now undergoing, that an unholy person could not come before the Lord. It is the consciousness of his blamelessness which gives him the confidence to appear before God. V. 17. Hear diligently my speech, they should listen most attentively to his declaration, and my declaration with your ears, his utterance sounding in their ears and demanding the closest application. V. 18. Behold now, I have ordered my cause, he had prepared all the arguments for his side of the case. I know that I shall be justified, finally be given right in this long trial. V. 19. Who is he that will plead with me, contending with him, successfully attempting to prove him to be wrong? For now, if I hold my tongue, I shall give up the ghost, if any one should succeed in fastening guilt upon him, he would be silent and let death come as a merited punishment. V. 20. Only do not two things unto me, those mentioned in the next verse, calamities and terror; then will I not hide myself from Thee, rather standing forth boldly to maintain his cause. V. 21. Withdraw Thine hand far from me, keeping from Job the heavy chastisements under whose burden he was groaning; and let not Thy dread make me afraid, namely, the dread produced by the revelation of His majesty; for these two factors would take the heart from him. V. 22.

Then call Thou, and I will answer; with these two factors removed, he would gladly obey the summons to stand trial; or let me speak, and answer Thou me, for Job intended to maintain the justice of his cause. V. 23. How many are mine iniquities and sins? Make me to know my transgression and my sin! He was ready to have not only his general transgressions, but especially his graver offenses, any flagrant wickedness, any open apostasy, set forth. He does not mention ordinary, small, and slight offenses, the sins of weakness to which all believers are subject. He is speaking of specific trespasses of a grave nature, such as take away faith out of the heart and are often punished directly. V. 24. Wherefore hidest Thou Thy face, in apparent displeasure and anger, and holdest me for Thine enemy? Such God seemed to him to be, judging from His treatment of Job at that time. V. 25. Wilt Thou break a leaf driven to and fro, shaking him, who was already broken with misery, with further terrors? And wilt Thou pursue the dry stubble? On account of the fearful visitation which had struck him, Job was like dry chaff. V. 26. For Thou writest bitter things against me, in written decrees announcing the sentence of punishment, and makest me to possess the iniquities of my youth, his old age, as it were, inheriting the accumulated usury and consequence of youthful sins, a treatment which seemed unduly cruel to Job. V. 27. Thou puttest my feet also in the stocks, treating him like a prisoner who was tortured by having his feet fastened to a block, and lookest narrowly unto all my paths, watching him so closely as not to permit the slightest freedom of action. Thou settest a print upon the heels of my feet, literally, "around the soles of my feet Thou makest marks, or incisions," setting the boundary over which he dared not pass so close that he was really rooted to the ground, so that he was cruelly and narrowly imprisoned. V. 28. And he, namely, Job, the persecuted one, as a rotten thing, consumeth, wasting away, falling into nothingness from rottenness, as a garment that is moth-eaten. The defiant mood of Job once more changes to despair, since God did not answer him, the same feeling which takes hold of believers in our days when they think their prayers for relief are not heeded by the Lord.

Job Deplores Mankind's Common Misery. A COMPLAINT OVER LIFE'S TROUBLES. — V. 1. Man that is born of a woman, feeble, frail mortal that he is, is of few days and full of trouble, Ps. 90, 10. V. 2. He cometh forth like a flower and is cut down, coming up

quickly, maturing rapidly, and withering as soon; he fleeth also as a shadow and continueth not, as the shadow of a cloud hastens over the landscape in a moment of time. The entire first verse is really the subject of the second, the clauses showing man's frailty, his

mortality, and his natural affliction modifying the subject "man." V. 3. And dost Thou open Thine eyes upon such an one, watching him only for the sake of punishing him, feeble and frail as he is, and bringest me into judgment with Thee? Job, who considered himself a particularly wretched example of the human race, was placed before the tribunal of God's justice, where he knew that it was impossible for him to maintain his cause. V. 4. Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one. It is a deep cry of misery over the universal sinfulness of the human race, which caused the unpitying severity of God to strike them all, and Job in particular. The human race having once been contaminated by sin, not one pure person will ever come forth in the natural line of development; the wrath and punishment of God rests on all mortals. V. 5. Seeing his days are determined, cut off, sharply bounded, the number of his months are with Thee, also established beforehand by God; Thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass, the term of his earthly life is set, and he cannot change it; this being so, then v. 6 turn from him that he may rest, have surcease from sorrow and misery, till he shall accomplish, as an hireling, his day, that he at least, while this life lasts, may enjoy it, as a day-laborer finds pleasure in his day, namely, in the rest which the shadow of evening brings after the day's task is finished. V. 7. For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, the stump sending up a new shoot, and that the tender branch thereof, the suckling which is thus growing up, will not cease. The date-palm of the Orient is especially noted for its great vitality in this respect. V. 8. Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, apparently yielding to decay, and the stock thereof die in the ground, the trunk decaying down to the roots, v. 9. yet through the scent of water it will bud, it will sprout with new life as soon as the rainy season brings the vigor of water, and bring forth boughs like a plant, just like a sapling but recently planted. V. 10. But man dieth and wasteth away, lying there prostrate; yea, man giveth up the ghost, expiring miserably, without the hope of rejuvenation, and where is he? What becomes of him, of his proud body? Cp. Eccl. 3, 21. V. 11. As the waters fail from the sea, literally, "the waters roll off," disappear, out of the sea, and the flood, a stream, decayeth and drieth up, the evaporating of even large bodies of water during the dry season being no uncommon phenomenon in the torrid regions of the Orient, v. 12. so man lieth down and riseth not, there will be no return for him to this earthly life, till the heavens be no more; they shall not awake nor be raised out of their sleep, they sleep the long sleep of death, which will be termi

nated only by the great catastrophe at the end of the world. For the ordinary person there is only the dark night of the grave ahead, a poor improvement upon the miserable present. Only the believer has something more and better to hope for.

A PRAYER TO be Delivered FROM HIS AFFLICTION.- - V. 13. Oh, that Thou wouldest hide me in the grave, secure in the realm of the dead, that Thou wouldest keep me secret, safely hidden, until Thy wrath be past, change once more into kindness, that Thou wouldest appoint me a set time and remember me! Job pleaded to be remembered in mercy, to be reestablished in God's grace. But for him, the reality differs much from this wish. V. 14. If a man die, shall he live again? It is the voice of suspicion, of skepticism, which desires to banish all hope for the future, the doubt which endeavors to enter the heart of believers from time to time. All the days of my appointed time will I wait till my change come. The figure is taken from the life of the soldier, who will not abandon his post until he is relieved, discharged, or exchanged. The idea of an eventual deliverance from the realm of death is brought out pretty strongly at this point. V. 15. Thou shalt call, that is, God would call to him, in granting him the discharge which he hoped for, and I will answer Thee; Thou wilt have a desire to the work of Thine hands, God would feel an affectionate yearning for Job, the poor, miserable creature, who was now groaning under such great afflictions. V. 16. For now Thou numberest my steps, at this time God was still watching his every move as that of a transgressor; dost Thou not watch over my sin? So deep was Job's despair that he believed God was still holding back, that He was still keeping anger, that His full manifestation of it had not yet taken place. V. 17. My transgression is sealed up in a bag, his guilt, or wickedness, was kept in remembrance, and Thou sewest up mine iniquity, literally, "Thou hast stitched on to my transgressions," that is, made Job's iniquity greater than it was in truth, and then punished him accordingly. V. 18. And surely the mountain falling cometh to naught, it crumbles to pieces under the destroying influence of the elements, and the rock is removed out of his place, growing old and decaying in the same manner. V. 19. The waters wear the stones, hollowing them out by continual dripping; Thou washest away the things which grow out of the dust of the earth, the floods of water carry away the fruitful soil very quickly; and Thou destroyest the hope of man, for mortal man also perishes without the slightest hope of being brought back to this life again. The strongest and most substantial things in nature are unable to

withstand the destructive power of the elements in the hand of God; how much less will mortal man escape this destruction? V. 20. Thou prevailest forever against him, overpowering him with His might, and he passeth; Thou changest his countenance, disfiguring him, distorting his features in the agony of death, and sendest him away, forth out of this earthly life. V. 21. His sons come to honor, or, "should his children be in honor?" and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, abased and disgraced; but he perceiveth it not of them. Man in the realm

of death is utterly ignorant of that which takes place on this earth, being affected neither by the good nor by the ill fortune of his surviving relatives. V. 22. But his flesh upon him shall have pain, feeling pain in the thought of his own misery, and his soul within him shall mourn. Pain is here, by personification, from our feelings while alive, attributed to the flesh and the soul, as if man could feel it in his body when dead. Note that the restoration of the body together with the soul is assumed in this passage, in a final awakening of the dead.

The Second Speech of Eliphaz. ELIPHAZ ATTEMPTS TO REBUKE JOB. — V. 1. Then answered Eliphaz, the Temanite, feeling constrained to reply to Job the second time, v. 2. Should a wise man utter vain knowledge and fill his belly, literally, "his inward parts," his breast, with the east wind? The east wind was noted for its stormy bluster. His point was that Job's own speeches were empty roarings and disproved his claim of being a wise man. V. 3. Should he reason with unprofitable talk, contending with arguments that have no point, or with speeches wherewith he can do no good? It is not only that empty words convince no one, but also that such efforts at selfjustification are useless, being opposed by the facts. V. 4. Yea, thou castest off fear, bringing to naught, making void, breaking down true piety, and restrainest prayer before God, injuring and removing the proper devotional attitude, both of which are necessary for the observation of proper worship of the Lord. V. 5. For thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity, his statements showed that he was wholly influenced, utterly ruled, by his wickedness, and thou choosest the tongue of the crafty, of clever sophists, who are adept in the art of covering their guilt with a show of innocence. V. 6. Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and not I, like a judge pronouncing a sentence upon one who has been found to be guilty; yea, thine own lips testify against thee. Cp. Matt. 12, 37. The position of Eliphaz was this, that Job's empty protestations of innocence were in themselves proofs of sinful actions committed by him, on account of which God had laid such sufferings upon him. V. 7. Art thou the first man that was born? Did Job believe that he had the deepest insight into the process of creation and all the works of God? Or wast thou made before the hills, brought forth before God created the world, and therefore included in the councils of God from eternity? V. 8. Hast thou heard the secret of God, attending the divine councils and getting his

information at first hand? And dost thou restrain wisdom to thyself, reserving it, keeping it secret, as a confidant of God who refrains from divulging His counsels? V. 9. What knowest thou that we know not? What understandest thou which is not in us? Cp. chaps. 12, 3; 13, 2, Eliphaz replying to Job's pertinent questions in this manner. V. 10. With us are both the gray-headed and very aged men, or, "Also among us are the gray-haired, the aged," much elder than thy father, these old men of the various tribes which they represented ranking with Job in wisdom, for which reason he should not presume to arrogate all wisdom to himself. V. 11. Are the consolations of God small with thee? literally, "Too little for thee are the consolations of God?" Eliphaz, who was not suffering with overmuch modesty, meant to say that Job surely should have been satisfied with such words of comfort as he and his friends

had brought. Is there any secret thing with thee? literally, "a word so gentle with thee?" for Job should realize that his friends were dealing with him in great tenderness. V. 12. Why doth thine heart carry thee away? Why should Job's inner excitement, his wounded pride, cause him to meet their efforts with such bitter passion? And what do thy eyes wink at, with an excited, angry snapping and rolling, v. 13. that thou turnest thy spirit against God, snorting against Him in anger, and lettest such words go out of thy mouth, letting his anger break forth in vehement speeches? Altogether, Eliphaz insisted that Job's statements disproved his wisdom, injured the proper reverent attitude toward God, and were utterly wrong. The point of his rebuke is that Job should look for the reason for his sufferings solely in himself.

ELIPHAZ ACCUSES JOB OF IMPIETY.-V. 14. What is man that he should be clean, and he which is born of a woman that he should be righteous? Eliphaz here takes up a point which he had broached in his first discourse, chap. 4, 17-20, and which Job himself had conceded, chap. 14, 1-4. If Job admitted

man's mortality and frailty in general, he should also concede his own particular wickedness. V. 15. Behold, He putteth no trust in His saints, not even in His holy angels, because they are finite and beneath Him in dignity; yea, the heavens, the very home of bliss, are not clean in His sight, they do not measure up to the essential purity of God's nature. V. 16. How much more abominable and filthy is man, or, "much less, then, is the utterly corrupt man," which drinketh iniquity like water? The characteristic of natural man is that he is so desirous for wickedness in one form or other that he pants for it like a thirsty person. After this sharp arraignment of Job, Eliphaz attempts a more objective form of rebuke. V. 17. I will show thee, hear me, giving Job the information which he needed; and that which I have seen, what he has gained by experience, I will declare, v. 18. which wise men have told from their fathers and have not hid it, setting it forth without concealment, without deception, without hypocrisy or hidden meanness; v. 19. unto whom alone the earth was given, their tribe alone inhabited the land where they first settled, and no stranger passed among them, the purity of their race had been maintained from the earliest times, a fact which was considered the sign of the highest nobility. Eliphaz now sets forth this doctrine of the moral order of the world, in order to convince Job of the justice of his sufferings. V. 20. The wicked man travaileth with pain all his days, writhing, twisting, and trembling in torments of one form or other, and the number of years is hidden to the oppressor, rather, a definite number of years is set aside for the tyrant, the one who commits violence in any manner. V. 21. A dreadful sound is in his ears, noises that fill him with terror; in prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him, falling upon him in the midst of peace, when he is expecting no such evil. V. 22. He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness, he despairs of ever being relieved of his misfortune, and he is waited for of the sword, marked out, destined for its attack and for destruction by it. V. 23. He wandereth abroad for bread, saying, Where is it? In the midst of plenty the miser is tortured by anxiety concerning his food. He knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand, namely, to seize him and to thrust him into punishment of the most severe kind. V. 24. Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid, fill him with terror, anguish, and alarm; they shall prevail against him, overpower, overthrow him, as a king ready to the battle, the rush of the sudden attack sweeping over him and leaving him prostrate and beaten. V. 25. For he, the wicked one, stretcheth out his hand against God, in a

bold show of rebellion, and strengtheneth himself against the Almighty, boasting himself in proud insolence. V. 26. He runneth upon him, even on his neck, that is, with his neck rigid, with all the muscles of his body taut for the attack, upon the thick bosses of his bucklers, as the leader of a whole army of rebels he rushes forward with his weapons of offense and of defense, v. 27. because he covereth his face with his fatness, a mark of his unbounded greed, and maketh collops of fat on his flanks, having gathered lumps of fat upon his loins as a result of his immoderate indulgence. V. 28. And he dwelleth in desolate cities, and in houses which no man inhabiteth, which are ready to become heaps, about to fall into ruins. The description is that of a tyrant who sets aside all regard for the opinion of men, living even among the ruins of an accursed city. The result of such unparalleled insolence is now shown. V. 29. He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue, his wealth would have no stability, neither shall he prolong the perfection thereof upon the earth, literally, "not bow down to the earth the gains of such"; that is, even if the wicked succeed in having the finest stand of grain, the ears do not fill out; they may have a show of opulence, but it is not substantial. V. 30. He shall not depart, not escape, out of darkness; the flame shall dry up his branches, a parching heat withering his shoots, destroying his hopes for new gains, and by the breath of his mouth shall he go away, the Lord Himself sending the last great catastrophe upon him. V. 31. Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity, rather, let him not trust in vanity, he deceives himself; for vanity shall be his recompense, every one who trusts in the vain possessions of this world will find himself rewarded with their hollow emptiness. V. 32. It shall be accomplished before his time, before his appointed time has run its course, the fulfilment of the evil will strike him, and his branch shall not be green, the picture of a decaying palm-tree being applied to the wicked person. V. 33. He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine, losing his gains before he has had any enjoyment of them, and shall cast off his flower as the olive. As the olive-tree, every other year, casts its blossoms without bearing fruit, so the godless will not realize their hopes, which are directed entirely upon vanity. V. 34. For the congregation of hypocrites, the company of the wicked and profligate, shall be desolate, barren, having no lasting good fortune, and fire shall consume the tabernacles of bribery, the fire of God's judgment devours the dwellings of those who build up their substance on bribery and wickedness. V. 35. They conceive mischief, pregnant with misery, and bring