In these later thoughts Job seems to reflect upon the order of God's providence: he must be checked, and yet gently; and Eliphaz takes this task upon himself. He dreads

The Dramatic

Dialogue

to give pain to his friend, yet how can he refrain
from speaking, and laying down to Job the foun- First Cycle
dations of hope and fear with which Job himself
has so often comforted the afflicted?

Now a thing was secretly brought to me,
And mine ear received a whisper thereof:
In thoughts from the visions of the night,
When deep sleep falleth on men,
Fear came upon me, and trembling,
Which made all my bones to shake.
Then a spirit passed before my face;

The hair of my flesh stood up.

iv-xiv

It stood still, but I could not discern the appearance thereof;
A form was before mine eyes:

There was silence, and I heard a voice, saying,

"Shall mortal man be more just than God?

Shall a man be more pure than his Maker?"

With the awful solemnity of this vision Eliphaz enforces the view which the three Friends maintain throughout the discussion, and which is put forward as a Second Solution of the Problem: The very righteousness of God (they think) is involved in the doctrine that all Suffering is a judgment upon Sin. Affliction, says Eliphaz, does not spring up of itself like the grass, but it is they who have sown trouble that reap the same. But he puts the doctrine gently, as constituting so much hope for Job: when the sinner has once sought unto God he will find what great and unsearchable wonders God doeth. Then happy will have been the chastening of the Almighty, for if he maketh sore he bindeth up.

He shall deliver thee in six troubles;

Yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee.

In famine he shall redeem thee from death;
And in war from the power of the sword.
Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue;

Neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh.
At destruction and dearth thou shalt laugh:

Neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth.

For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field;
And the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.
And thou shalt know that thy tent is in peace;
And thou shalt visit thy fold and shalt miss nothing.
Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be great,

And thine offspring as the grass of the earth.

Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age,

Like as a shock of corn cometh in in its season.

Lo this, we have searched it, so it is;

Hear it, and know thou it for thy good.

Job is bitterly disappointed at thus meeting reproof where he had looked for consolation.

My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook,

As the channel of brooks that pass away;

Which are black by reason of the ice,

And wherein the snow hideth itself:

What time they wax warm, they vanish:

When it is hot, they are consumed out of their place.

The paths of their way are turned aside,

They go up into the waste and perish.

The caravans of Tema looked,

The companies of Sheba waited for them.

They were ashamed because they had hoped;

They came thither and were confounded.

The comfort Job longs for is the crushing pain that would cut him off altogether. And has he not a right to look for it? Is not man's life a warfare for a limited time?

As a servant that earnestly desireth the shadow,
And as an hireling that looketh for his wages,

so Job passes his wearisome nights and months of vanity.

If I have sinned, what can I do unto thee,

O thou watcher of men?

Why hast thou set me as a mark for thee,
So that I am a burden to myself?

And why dost thou not pardon my transgression,

And take away mine iniquity?

For now shall I lie down in the dust;

And thou shalt seek me diligently,

But I shall not be!

Job never claims to be sinless, but he knows that no sin of his can be proportionate to the total ruin that has fallen upon him. But this does not satisfy the second speaker.

Doth God pervert judgement?

Or doth the Almighty pervert justice?

Will not Job disentangle himself from the transgression which has already found victims in his children? For so surely as the flag cannot grow without water: though it be green and spreading above, with roots wrapped round and round its solid bed, yet it perishes as if it had never been seen: so surely God will not uphold the evil-doer. But neither will God cast away a perfect

man.

He will yet fill thy mouth with laughter,

And thy lips with shouting.

They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame,
And the tent of the wicked shall be no more.

Job knows of a truth that it is so. Yet how can a man be just with God:

Which removeth the mountains, and they know it not,

When he overturneth them in his anger.

Which shaketh the earth out of her place,

And the pillars thereof tremble.

Which commandeth the sun, and it riseth not;

And sealeth up the stars.

What answer but supplication is possible before that overpowering Strength? a Strength that can destroy both the perfect and the wicked alike for if it be not God who does this, who is it? Certain it is that the earth is given into the hand of the wicked. However innocent the accused may be, before that Strength his own mouth would condemn him.

If I wash myself with snow water,

And make my hands never so clean:

Yet wilt thou plunge me in the ditch,

And mine own clothes shall abhor me.

For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him,

That we should come together in judgement;

There is no daysman betwixt us,

That might lay his hand upon us both.

And Job appeals to God himself against this oppression of his own handiwork.

Thine hands have framed me

And fashioned me together round about;

Yet thou dost destroy me.

Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast fashioned me as clay;

And wilt thou bring me into dust again?

Hast thou not poured me out as milk,

And curdled me like cheese?

Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh,

And knit me together with bones and sinews.

It is but a small boon that the creature asks of his Creator: that he may be let alone for a brief space·

Before I go whence I shall not return:

Even to the land of darkness

And of the shadow of death:

A land of thick darkness,

As darkness itself;

A land of the shadow of death,
Without any order,

And where the light is as darkness.

Zophar is deeply shocked at a spectacle he has never beheld in all his long life, a good man questioning a visible judgment of God.

Canst thou by searching find out God?

Canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?

It is high as heaven; what canst thou do?

Deeper than Sheol; what canst thou know?
The measure thereof is longer than the earth,
And broader than the sea.

There is no course for Job but to set his heart aright, and put iniquity far away; then shall he again lift up a spotless countenance before God.

For thou shalt forget thy misery;

Thou shalt remember it as waters that are passed away:

And thy life shall be clearer than the noonday;

Though there be darkness, it shall be as the morning.

Before the persistent dogmatism of the three Friends Job loses more and more the patience which had stood the shocks of the Adversary.

No doubt but ye are the people,

And wisdom shall die with you.

But I have understanding as well as you;

I am not inferior to you:

Yea, who knoweth not such things as these?

The just man is made a laughing-stock, and the tents of robbers prosper and yet the very beasts of the field can tell the inquirer that the hand of the Lord is responsible for every breath of every living thing. What, do the Friends stand forth as representatives of Wisdom? Nay,

With HIM is wisdom and might;

He hath counsel and understanding.

Priests and counsellors spoiled, kings bound and unbound, the mighty overthrown, speech reft from the trusty, and understanding from the elders, contempt poured upon princes, and the belt of the strong loosed these declare the Wisdom to which alone Job will appeal. Will the Friends lie on God's behalf? Will they be partial advocates in his cause?

Though he slay me, yet will I wait for him:

Nevertheless I will maintain my ways before him.

Job appeals to God against God's own dealings, and never doubts the issue of his appeal. And yet he is so feeble to plead his cause: a driven leaf, a fettered prisoner, a moth-eaten rag! And the time left for his vindication is so short!