Job 21:31

I am afraid - I am about to speak of the mysterious workings of Providence; and I tremble at the thought of entering into a detail on such a subject; my very flesh trembles. Verse 7 Wherefore do the wicked live - You have frequently asserted that the wicked are invariably punished in this life; and that the righteous are ever distinguished by the strongest marks of God's providential kindness; how then does it come that many wicked men live long and prosperously, and at last die in peace, without any evidence whatever of God's displeasure? This is a fact that is occurring daily; none can deny it; how then will you reconcile it with your maxims? Verse 8 Their seed is established - They see their own children grow up, and become settled in the land; and behold their children's children also; so that their generations are not cut off. Even the posterity of the wicked continue. Verse 9 Neither is the rod of God upon them - They are not afflicted as other men. Verse 10 Their bull gendereth - עבר ibbar, passes over, i.e., on the cow, referring to the actions of the bull when coupling with the female. Their flocks multiply greatly, they bring forth in time, and none of them is barren. Verse 11 They send forth their little ones - It is not very clear whether this refers to the young of the flocks or to their children. The first clause may mean the former, the next clause the latter; while the young of their cattle are in flocks, their numerous children are healthy and vigorous, and dance for joy. Verse 12 They take the timbrel and harp - ישאו yisu, they rise up or lift themselves up, probably alluding to the rural exercise of dancing. תף toph, which we translate timbrel, means a sort of drum, such as the tom-tom of the Asiatics. כנור kinnor may mean something of the harp kind. עוגב ugab, organ, means nothing like the instrument now called the organ, though thus translated both by the Septuagint and Vulgate; it probably means the syrinx, composed of several unequal pipes, close at the bottom, which when blown into at the top, gives a very shrill and lively sound. To these instruments the youth are represented as dancing joyfully. Mr. Good translates: "They trip merrily to the sound of the pipe." And illustrates his translation with the following verse: - "Now pursuing, now retreating,Now in circling troops they meet; To brisk notes in cadence beating,Glance their many twinkling feet." The original is intended to convey the true notion of the gambols of the rustic nymphs and swains on festival occasions, and let it be observed that this is spoken of the children of those who say unto God, "Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways. What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit should we have if we pray unto him?" Job 21:14 , Job 21:15 . Is it any wonder that the children of such parents should be living to the flesh, and serving the lusts of the flesh? for neither they nor their parents know God, nor pray unto him. Verse 13 They spend their days in wealth - There is a various reading here of some importance. In the text we have יבלו yeballu, they grow old, or wear out as with old age, terent vetustate; and in the margin, יכלו yechallu, they consume; and the Masora states that this is one of the eleven words which are written with ב beth and must be read with כ caph. Several editions have the former word in the text, and the latter in the margin; the former being what is called the kethib, the latter keri. יבלו yeballu, they grow old, or wear out, is the reading of the Antwerp, Paris, and London Polyglots; יכלו yechallu, they accomplish or spend, is the reading of the Complutensian Polyglot, thirteen of Kennicott's and De Rossi's MSS., the Septuagint, Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabic. The Vulgate has ducunt, "they lead or spend," from which our translation is borrowed. I incline to the former, as Job's argument derives considerable strength from this circumstance; they not only spend their days in faring sumptuously every day; but they even wear out so as to grow old in it; they are not cut off by any sudden judgment of God. This is fact; therefore your doctrine, that the wicked are cut off suddenly and have but a short time, is far from the truth. In a moment go down to the grave - They wear out their years in pleasure; grow old in their gay and giddy life; and die, as in a moment, without previous sickness; or, as Mr. Good has it, They quietly descend into the grave. Verse 14 They say unto God - This is the language of their conduct, though not directly of their lips. Depart from us - Let us alone; we do not trouble thee. Thy ways are painful; we do not like cross-bearing. Thy ways are spiritual; we wish to live after the flesh. We have learned to do our own will; we do not wish to study thine. Verse 15 What is the Almighty - What allegiance do we owe to him? We feel no obligation to obey him; and what profit can we derive from prayer? We are as happy as flesh and blood can make us: our kingdom is of this world; we wish for no other portion than that which we have. Those who have never prayed as they ought know nothing of the benefits of prayer. Verse 16 Their good is not in their hand - With all their boasting and self-dependence, God only lends them his bounty; and though it appears to be their own, yet it is at his disposal. Some of the wicked he permits to live and die in affluence, provided it be acquired in the ordinary way of his providence, by trade, commerce, etc. Others he permits to possess it for a while only, and then strips them of their illegally procured property. The counsel of the wicked is far from me - Some understand the words thus: "Far be it from me to advocate the cause of the wicked." I have nothing in common with them, and am not their apologist. I state a fact: they are often found in continual prosperity. I state another fact: they are often found in wretchedness and misery. Verse 17 How oft is the candle of the wicked put out? - The candle or lamp is often used, both as the emblem of prosperity and of posterity. Oftentimes the rejoicing of the wicked is short; and, not unfrequently, his seed is cut off from the earth. The root is dried up, and the branch is withered. God distributeth sorrows in his anger - He must be incensed against those who refuse to know, serve, and pray unto him. In his anger, therefore, he portions out to each his due share of misery, vexation, and wo. Verse 18 They are as stubble before the wind - "His fan is in his hand; he will thoroughly cleanse his floor, and the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire. Therefore the wicked shall not stand in the judgment, but shall be like the chaff which the wind driveth away." Were not this a common thought, I should have supposed that the author of this book borrowed it from Psa 1:4 . The original signifies that they shall be carried away by a furious storm; and borne off as booty is by the swift-riding robbers of the desert, who make a sudden irruption, and then set off at full speed with their prey. Verse 19 God layeth up his iniquity for his children - This is according to the declaration of God, Exo 20:5 : "Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me." This always supposes that the children, who are thus visited, have copied their parents' example; or that ill-gotten property is found in their hands, which has descended to them from their wicked fathers; and of this God, in his judgments, strips them. It is, however, very natural to suppose that children brought up without the fear of God will walk in the sight of their own eyes, and according to the imaginations of their own hearts. He rewardeth him, and he shall know it - He shall so visit his transgressions upon him, that he shall at last discern that it is God who hath done it. And thus they will find that there would have been profit in serving him, and safety in praying unto him. But this they have neglected, and now it is too late. Verse 20 His eyes shall see his destruction - He shall perceive its approach, and have the double punishment of fearing and feeling; feeling a Thousand deaths in fearing One. He shall drink of the wrath - The cup of God's wrath, the cup of trembling, etc., is frequently expressed or referred to in the sacred writings, Deu 32:33 ; Isa 51:17-22 ; Jer 25:15 ; Rev 14:8 . It appears to be a metaphor taken from those cups of poison which certain criminals were obliged to drink. A cup of the juice of hemlock was the wrath or punishment assigned by the Athenian magistrates to the philosopher Socrates. Verse 21 For what pleasure hath he in his house after him - What may happen to his posterity he neither knows nor cares for, as he is now numbered with the dead, and numbered with them before he had lived out half his years. Some have translated the verse thus: "Behold how speedily God destroys the house of the wicked after him! How he shortens the number of his months!" Verse 22 Shall any teach God knowledge? - Who among the sons of men can pretend to teach God how to govern the world, who himself teaches those that are high - the heavenly inhabitants, that excel us infinitely both in knowledge and wisdom? Neither angels nor men can comprehend the reasons of the Divine providence. It is a depth known only to God. Verse 23 One dieth in his full strength - In this and the three following verses Job shows that the inequality of fortune, goods, health, strength, etc., decides nothing either for or against persons in reference to the approbation or disapprobation of God, as these various lots are no indications of their wickedness or innocence. One has a sudden, another a lingering death; but by none of these can their eternal states be determined. Verse 24 His breasts are full of milk - The word עטיניו atinaiv, which occurs nowhere else in the Hebrew Bible, is most likely an Arabic term, but probably so provincial as to be now lost. (Arabic) atana signifies to macerate hides so as to take off the hair: hence Mr. Good thinks it means here, that sleekness of skin which is the effect of fatness both in man and beast. But as the radical idea signifies to stink, as leather does which is thus macerated, I cannot see how this meaning can apply here. Under the root עטן atan, Mr. Parkhurst gives the following definitions:" עטן occurs, not as a verb, but as a noun masculine plural, in construction, עטיני atiney, the bowels, intestines; once Job 21:24 , עטיניו atinaiv, his bowels or intestines, are full of, or abound with, חלב chalab, fat. So the lxx.: Τα δε εγκατα αυτου πληρη στεατος. The Vulgate: Viscera, ejus plena sent adipe, 'his intestines are full of fat.' May not עטינים atinim be a noun masculine plural from עטה atah, to involve, formed as גליונים gailyonim, mirrors, from גלה galah, to reveal? And may nor the intestines, including those fatty parts, the mesentery and omentum, be so called on account of their wonderful involutions?" I think this conjecture to be as likely as any that has yet been formed. Verse 26 They shall lie down alike in the dust - Death levels all distinctions, and the grave makes all equal. There may be a difference in the grave itself; but the human corpse is the same in all. Splendid monuments enshrine corruption; but the sod must lie close and heavy upon the putrefying carcass, to prevent it from becoming the bane of the living. Verse 27 I know your thoughts - Ye still think that, because I am grievously afflicted, I must therefore be a felonious transgressor. Verse 28 For ye say, Where is the house of the prince? - In order to prove your point, ye ask, Where is the house of the tyrant and oppressor? Are they not overthrown and destroyed? And is not this a proof that God does not permit the wicked to enjoy prosperity? Verse 29 Have ye not asked them that go by the way? - This appears to be Job's answer. Consult travelers who have gone through different countries; and they will tell you that they have seen both examples - the wicked in great prosperity in some instances, while suddenly destroyed in others. See at the end of the chapter, Job 21:34 (note). Do ye not know their tokens - Mr. Good translates the whole verse thus: "Surely thou canst never have inquired of men of travel; or thou couldst not have been ignorant of their tokens. Hadst thou made proper inquiries, thou wouldst have heard of their awful end in a thousand instances. And also of their prosperity." See at the end of this chapter, Job 21:34 (note). Verse 30 That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? - Though every one can tell that he has seen the wicked in prosperity, and even spend a long life in it; yet this is no proof that God loves him, or that he shall enjoy a prosperous lot in the next world. There, he shall meet with the day of wrath. There, the wicked shall be punished, and the just rewarded. Verse 31 Who shall declare his way to his face? - But while the wicked is in power, who shall dare to tell him to his face what his true character is? or, who shall dare to repay him the evil he has done? As such a person cannot have his punishment in this life, he must have it in another; and for this the day of wrath - the day of judgment, is prepared. Verse 32 Yet shall he be brought to the grave - He shall die like other men; and the corruption of the grave shall prey upon him. Mr. Carlyle, in his specimens of Arabic poetry, Translations, p. 16, quotes this verse, which he translates and paraphrases, והוא לקברות יובל "He shall be brought to the grave," ועל גדוש ישקוד And shall watch upon the high-raised heap." It was the opinion of the pagan Arabs, that upon the death of any person, a bird, by them called Manah, issued from the brain, and haunted the sepulcher of the deceased, uttering a lamentable scream. This notion, he adds, is evidently alluded to in Job 21:32 . Thus Abusahel, on the death of his mistress: - "If her ghost's funereal screech Through the earth my grave should reach, On that voice I loved so well My transported ghost would dwell." Verse 33 The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him - Perhaps there is an allusion here to the Asiatic mode of interment for princes, saints, and nobles: a well-watered valley was chosen for the tomb, where a perpetual spring might be secured. This was intended to be the emblem of a resurrection, or of a future life; and to conceal as much as possible the disgrace of the rotting carcass. Every man shall draw after him - There seem to be two allusions intended here: 1. To death, the common lot of all. Millions have gone before him to the tomb; and כל אדם col adam, all men, shall follow him: all past generations have died, all succeeding generations shall die also. 2. To pompous funeral processions; multitudes preceding, and multitudes following, the corpse. Verse 34 How then comfort ye me in vain - Mr. Good translates: "How vainly then would ye make me retract!" See the note on Job 21:2 . I cannot retract any thing I have said, as I have proved by fact and testimony that your positions are false and unfounded. Your pretensions to comfort me are as hollow as the arguments you bring in support of your exceptionable doctrines. This chapter may be called Job's triumph over the insinuated calumnies, and specious but false doctrines, of his opponents. The irritability of his temper no longer appears: from the time he got that glorious discovery of his Redeemer, and the Joyous hope of an eternal inheritance, Job 19:25 , etc., we find no more murmurings, nor unsanctified complainings. He is now full master of himself; and reasons conclusively, because he reasons coolly. Impassioned transports no longer carry him away: his mind is serene; his heart, fixed; his hope, steady; and his faith, strong. Zophar the Naamathite is now, in his presence, as an infant in the gripe of a mighty giant. Another of these pretended friends but real enemies comes forward to renew the attack with virulent invective, malevolent insinuation, and unsupported assertion. Him, Job meets, and vanquishes by pious resignation and fervent prayer. Though, at different times after this, Job had his buffetings from his grand adversary, and some seasons of comparative darkness, yet his faith is unshaken, and he stands as a beaten anvil to the stroke. He effectually exculpates himself, and vindicates the dispensations of his Maker. There appears to be something in the Job 21:29 which requires to be farther examined: Have ye not asked them that go by the way? And do ye not know their tokens? It is probable that this verse may allude to the custom of burying the dead by the way-side, and raising up specious and descriptive monuments over them. Job argues that the lot of outward prosperity fell alike to the just and to the unjust, and that the sepulchral monuments by the wayside were proofs of his assertion; for his friends, as well as himself and others, had noted them, and asked the history of such and such persons, from the nearest inhabitants of the place; and the answers, in a great variety of cases, had been: "That monument points out the place where a wicked man lies, who was all his lifetime in prosperity and affluence, yet oppressed the poor, and shut up the bowels of his compassion against the destitute; and this belongs to a man who lived only to serve his God, and to do good to man according to his power, yet had not a day of health, nor an hour of prosperity; God having given to the former his portion in this life, and reserved the recompense of the latter to a future state." The Septuagint render the verse thus: - Ερωτησατε παραπορευμενους ὁδον, και τα σημεια αυτων ουκ απαλλοτριωσατε, "Inquire of those who pass by the way, and their signs [monuments] ye will not alienate." That is, When ye hear the history of these persons, ye will not then assert that the man who lived in prosperity was a genuine worshipper of the true God, and therefore was blessed with temporal good, and that he who lived in adversity was an enemy to God and was consequently cursed with the want of secular blessings. Of the former ye will hear a different account from those who dare now speak the truth, because the prosperous oppressor is no more; And of the latter ye shall learn that, though afflicted, destitute, and distressed, he was one of those who acknowledged God in all his ways, and never performed an act of religious service to him in hope of secular gain; sought his approbation only, and met death cheerfully, in the hope of being eternally with the Lord. Neither good nor evil can be known by the occurrences of this life. Every thing argues the certainty of a future state, and the necessity of a day of judgment. They who are in the habit of marking casualties, especially if those whom they love not are the subjects of them, as tokens of Divine displeasure, only show an ignorance of God's dispensations, and a malevolence of mind that would fain arm itself with the celestial thunders, in order to transfix those whom they deem their enemies. Introduction Eliphaz reproves Job for his attempts to clear his character and establish his innocence, Job 22:1-4 . Charges him with innumerable transgressions; with oppressions towards his brethren, cruelty to the poor, hard-heartedness to the needy, and uncharitableness towards the widow and the orphan; and says it is on these accounts that snares and desolations are come upon him, Job 22:5-11 . Speaks of the majesty and justice of God: how he cut off the ante-diluvians, the inhabitants of Sodom and the cities of the plain, Job 22:12-20 . Exhorts him to repent and acknowledge his sins, and promises him great riches and prosperity, Job 22:21-30 . Verse 2 Can a man be profitable unto God - God does not afflict thee because thou hast deprived him of any excellency. A man may be profitable to a man, but no man can profit his Maker. He has no interest in thy conduct; he does not punish thee because thou hast offended and deprived him of some good. Thy iniquities are against justice, and justice requires thy punishment. Verse 3 Is it any pleasure to the Almighty - Infinite in his perfections, he can neither gain nor lose by the wickedness or righteousness of men. Verse 4 For fear of thee? - Is it because he is afraid that thou wilt do him some injury, that he has stripped thee of thy power and wealth? Verse 5 Is not thy wickedness great? - Thy sins are not only many, but they are great; and of thy continuance in them there is no end, אין קץ ein kets. Verse 6 Thou hast taken a pledge - Thou hast been vexatious in all thy doings, and hast exacted where nothing was due, so that through thee the poor have been unable to procure their necessary clothing. Verse 7 Thou hast not given water - It was esteemed a great virtue in the East to furnish thirsty travelers with water; especially in the deserts, where scarcely a stream was to be found, and where wells were very rare. Some of the Indian devotees are accustomed to stand with a girbah or skin full of water, on the public roads, to give drink to weary travelers who are parched with thirst. Verse 8

are the dwelling places of the wicked? 29 Have ye not asked them that go by the way? and do ye not know their tokens, 30 That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath. 31 Who shall declare his way to his face? and who shall repay him what he hath done? 32 Yet shall he be brought to the grave, and shall remain in the tomb. 33 The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him, and every man shall draw after him, as there are innumerable before him. 34 How then comfort ye me in vain, seeing in your answers there remaineth falsehood? In these verses, I. Job opposes the opinion of his friends, which he saw they still adhered to, that the wicked are sure to fall into such visible and remarkable ruin as Job had now fallen into, and none but the wicked, upon which principle they condemned Job as a wicked man. " I know your thoughts, " says Job ( v. 27 ); "I know you will not agree with me; for your judgments are tinctured and biassed by your piques and prejudices against me, and the devices which you wrongfully imagine against my comfort and honour: and how can such men be convinced?" Job's friends were ready to say, in answer to his discourse concerning the prosperity of the wicked, " Where is the house of the prince? v. 28 . Where is Job's house, or the house of his eldest son, in which his children were feasting? Enquire into the circumstances of Job's house and family, and then ask, Where are the dwelling-places of the wicked? and compare them together, and you will soon see that Job's house is in the same predicament with the houses of tyrants and oppressors, and may therefore conclude that doubtless he was such a one." II. He lays down his own judgment to the contrary, and, for proof of it, appeals to the sentiments and observations of all mankind. So confident is he that he is in the right that he is willing to refer the cause to the next man that comes by ( v. 29 ): " Have you not asked those that go by the way —any indifferent person, any that will answer you? I say not, as Eliphaz ( ch. v. 1 ), to which of the saints, but to which of the children of men will you turn? Turn to which you will, and you will find them all of my mind, that the punishment of sinners is designed more for the other world than for this, according to the prophecy of Enoch, the seventh from Adam, Jude 14 . Do you not know the tokens of this truth, which all that have made any observations upon the providences of God concerning mankind in this world can furnish you with?" Now, 1. What is it that Job here asserts? Two things:—(1.) That impenitent sinners will certainly be punished in the other world, and, usually, their punishment is put off until then. (2.) That therefore we are not to think it strange if they prosper greatly in this world and fall under no visible token of God's wrath. Therefore they are spared now, because they are to be punished then; therefore the workers of iniquity flourish, that they may be destroyed for ever, Ps. xcii. 7 . The sinner is here supposed, [1.] To live in a great deal of power, so as to be not only the terror of the mighty in the land of the living ( Ezek. xxxii. 27 ), but the terror of the wise and good too, whom he keeps in such awe that none dares declare his way to his face, v. 31 . None will take the liberty to reprove him, to tell him of the wickedness of his way, and what will be in the end thereof; so that he sins securely, and is not made to know either shame or fear. The prosperity of fools destroys them, by setting them (in their own conceit) above reproofs, by which they might be brought to that repentance which alone will prevent their ruin. Those are marked for destruction that are let alone in sin, Hos. iv. 17 . And, if none dares declare his way to his face, much less dare any repay him what he has done and make him refund what he has obtained by injustice. He is one of those great flies which break through the cobwebs of the law, that hold only the little ones. This emboldens sinners in their sinful ways that they can brow-beat justice and make it afraid to meddle with them. But there is a day coming when those shall be told of their faults who now would not bear to hear of them, those shall have their sins set in order before them, and their way declared to their face, to their everlasting confusion, who would not have it done here, to their conviction, and those who would not repay the wrongs they had done shall have them repaid to them. [2.] To die, and be buried in a great deal of pomp and magnificence, v. 32, 33 . There is no remedy; he must die; that is the lot of all men; but every thing you can think of shall be done to take off the reproach of death. First, He shall have a splendid funeral—a poor thing for any man to be proud of the prospect of; yet with some it passes for a mighty thing. Well, he shall be brought to the grave in state, surrounded with all the honours of the heralds' office and all the respect his friends can then pay to his remains. The rich man died, and was buried, but no mention is made of the poor man's burial, Luke xvi. 22 . Secondly, He shall have a stately monument erected over him. He shall remain in the tomb with a Hic jacet—Here lies, over him, and a large encomium. Perhaps it is meant of the embalming of his body to preserve it, which was a piece of honour anciently done by the Egyptians to their great men. He shall watch in the tomb (so the word is), shall abide solitary and quiet there, as a watchman in his tower. Thirdly, The clods of the valley shall be sweet to him; there shall be as much done as can be with rich odours to take off the noisomeness of the grave, as by lamps to set aside the darkness of it, which perhaps was referred to in the foregoing phrase of watching in the tomb. But it is all a jest; what is the light, or what the perfume, to a man that is dead? Fourthly, It shall be alleged, for the lessening of the disgrace of death, that it is the common lot: He has only yielded to fate, and every man shall draw after him, as there are innumerable before him. Note, Death is the way of all the earth: when we are to cross that darksome valley we must consider, 1. That there are innumerable before us; it is a tracked road, which may help to take off the terror of it. To die is ire ad plures—to go to the great majority. 2. That every man shall draw after us. As there is a plain track before, so there is a long train behind; we are neither the first nor the last that pass through that dark entry. Every one must go in his own order, the order appointed of God. 2. From all this Job infers the impertinency of their discourses, v. 34 . (1.) Their foundation is rotten, and they went upon a wrong hypothesis: " In your answers there remains falsehood; what you have said stands not only unproved but disproved, and lies under such an imputation of falsehood as you cannot clear it from." (2.) Their building was therefore weak and tottering: " You comfort me in vain. All you have said gives me no relief; you tell me that I shall prosper again if I turn to God, but you go upon this presumption, that piety shall certainly be crowned with prosperity, which is false; and therefore how can your inference from it yield me any comfort?" Note, Where there is not truth there is little comfort to be expected. Eliphaz here leads on a third attack upon poor Job, in which Bildad followed him, but Zophar drew back, and quitted the field. It was one of the unhappinesses of Job, as it is of many an honest man, to be misunderstood by his friends. He h

Declare - His power and splendor are so great, that scarce any man dare reprove him.