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Job Chapter
Two
New King James Version (NKJV)
INTRODUCTION TO JOB 2
This
chapter gives an account of a second trial of Job's constancy and integrity,
the time and occasion of it, Job 2:1; the motion
made for it by Satan, which being granted, he smote him from head to foot with
sore boils, which he endured very patiently, Job 2:4; during
which sad affliction he is urged by his wife to give up his integrity, which he
bravely resisted, Job 2:9; and the
chapter is concluded with an account of a visit of three of Job's friends, and
of their conduct and behaviour towards him, Job 2:11.
Job 2:1 Again
there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan
came also among them to present himself before the Lord.
YLT
1And the day is, that sons
of God come in to station themselves by Jehovah, and there doth come also the
Adversary in their midst to station himself by Jehovah.
Again, there was a day, when the sons of God came to present
themselves before the Lord,.... When good men, professors of religion,
met together by agreement to worship the Lord; the Targum calls them companies
of angels, interpreting the words of them, and of their standing before the
Lord, as most interpreters do; how long this time of their meeting was from the
former cannot be said, probably but a few days, a week or fortnight at most;
the Targum says, it was on the day of the great judgment, and which, as in Job 1:6; was at the
beginning of the year; so that according to this, and other Jewish writers,
there was a whole year between this and the former meeting, and so between the
first and second trial of Job; but this is not likely, since Satan would never
give him so much breathing time; nor can it be thought that Job's friends
should stay so long before they paid him a visit, which was not till after this
day:
and Satan came also among them to present himself before the Lord; being either
obliged to it upon a summons to appear before God, and give an account of what
he had been doing on the earth, and especially to Job; or rather he came
willingly, seeking an opportunity to continue his charge against Job, and to
accuse him afresh, and get his commission enlarged to do him more mischief,
which he could not do without a fresh grant.
Job 2:2 2 And the Lord said to Satan,
“From where do you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said,
“From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.”
YLT
2And Jehovah saith unto the
Adversary, `Whence camest thou?' And the Adversary answereth Jehovah and saith,
`From going to and fro in the land, and from walking up and down in it.'
And the Lord said unto Satan, whence camest thou?.... The same
question is put to him, and the same answer is returned by him; See Gill on Job 1:7.
Job 2:3 3 Then the Lord said to Satan,
“Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the
earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil? And still
he holds fast to his integrity, although you incited Me against him, to destroy
him without cause.”
YLT
3And Jehovah saith unto the
Adversary, `Hast thou set thy heart unto My servant Job because there is none
like him in the land, a man perfect and upright, fearing God and turning aside
from evil? and still he is keeping hold on his integrity, and thou dost move Me
against him to swallow him up for nought!'
And the Lord said unto Satan, hast thou considered my servant Job,
that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man,
one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?.... The same with this
is also before put unto Satan, and the same character given of Job, which is
here continued and confirmed, with an addition to it; for Job was no loser, but
a gainer in his character by his afflictions and trials:
and still he holdeth fast his integrity. The first man
Adam was made upright, but by sinning he lost his integrity, and since the fall
there is none in man naturally; it is only to be found in regenerate and
renewed persons, who have right spirits renewed in them; by which principle of
grace wrought in them they become upright in heart, and walk uprightly. The
word used signifies "perfection"F15תמתו
του τελειοτητος,
Polychronius in Drusius; "perfectionem suam", Pagninus, Montanus,
Mercerus. , which Job had not in himself, but in Christ; though it may denote
the truth and sincerity of his grace, and the uprightness of his walk, and the
simplicity of his conversation, the bias of his mind, and the tenor of his
conduct and behaviour towards God and men; this principle he retained, this
frame and disposition of soul continued with him, and he acted up to it in all
things; he held fast his faith and confidence in the Lord his God, and he
professed his cordial love and sincere affection for God, and his filial fear
and reverence of him; and this he did still, notwithstanding all the assaults
and temptations of Satan, and all the sore afflictions and trials he met with;
an instance this of persevering grace, and of the truth of what Job after
expresses, Job 17:9; and this
he did, even says the Lord to Satan:
although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause; not that
Satan could work upon God as he does upon men, both good and bad, especially
the latter; nor could he so work upon him as to cause him to change his mind
and will, who is unchangeable in his nature and purposes; but the sense is, he
made a motion to him, he proposed it, requested and entreated, and did not
barely propose it, but urged it with importunity, was very solicitous to have
it done; and he prevailed and succeeded according to God's own determinate
counsel and will, though only in part; for he moved him to "destroy
him", himself, his body, if not his soul; for this roaring lion seeks to
devour men, even the sheep and lambs of Christ's flock: or "to swallow him
up"F16לבלעו "ad deglutiendum
eum", Montanus; "ad illum absorbendum", Schultens; "ut
absorberem eum", Michaelis. , as the word signifies; that he might be
delivered to him, who would make but one morsel of him, swallow him up alive,
as a lion any creature, or any other beast of prey. Mr. Broughton renders it,
"to undo him"; and we say of a man, when he has lost his substance,
that he is undone; and in this sense Job was destroyed or undone, for he had
lost his all: and this motion was made "without cause", there was no
just reason for it; what Satan suggested, and the calumny he cast upon Job, was
not supported by him, he could give no proof nor evidence of it; and it was in
the issue and event "in vain", as the wordF17חנם διακενης, Sept.
"frustra", V. L. Junius & Tremellius, may be rendered; for he did
not appear, notwithstanding all that was done to him, to be the man Satan said
he was, nor to do the things, or say the words, Satan said he would.
Job 2:4 4 So Satan answered the Lord and said,
“Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life.
YLT
4And the Adversary answereth
Jehovah and saith, `A skin for a skin, and all that a man hath he doth give for
his life.
And Satan answered the Lord, and said,.... Satan
would not as yet own that Job was the man the Lord had described; but still
would suggest, that he was a selfish and mercenary man, and that what had been
done to him was not a sufficient trial of his integrity; the thing had not been
pushed far and close enough to discover him; he had lost indeed his substance,
and most of his servants, and all his children, but still he had not only his
own life, but his health and ease; and so long as he enjoyed these he would
serve God, though only for the sake of them: and therefore, says he, as it is
usually and proverbially said:
skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life; the Targum
is,"member for member;'which the Jewish commentators, many of them,
explain thus, that if a man's head or his eyes are in danger, he will lift up
his hand or his arm, and expose that in order to save the other; but the word
is generally used of the skin, and so it may in this sense; and mean the skin
of his hand, as a shield for the skin of his head or eye, as Gussetius observesF18Ebr.
Comment. p. 582. : some understand it of the skins of others for his own skin,
which he will part with, that he may keep that; nay, he will give all that he
is possessed of for the preservation of his life, so dear is that unto him;
meaning either the skins of beasts, in whom the principal substance of men
consisted in those times and countries, and whose skins slain for food, and in
sacrifice, might be of worth and value, and used in traffic; or, as others
think, money cut out of leather made of skins is meant, which a man would part
with, even all such money he had in the world, and even his
"suppellex", or all the goods of his house, for to save his life: or
the sense is, that Job would not only give the skins of his beasts, even of all
that he had, for his own skin, but the skins of his servants, nay, of his own
children, provided he could but keep his own skin; and hereby Satan suggests,
that Job did not regard the loss his cattle, nor of his servants, nor even of
his children, so long as he had his own life and health; and thus represents
him as a lover of himself, and as cruel and hardhearted, and without natural
affections to his children; the contrary to which is very manifest from Job 1:5; or rather
this designs his own skin, and may be rendered, "skin upon skin", or
"skin even unto skin", or "skin within skin"F19עור בעד עור
"cutim super cute", Schultens. ; for man has two skins, an inward and
an outward one, called the "cutis" and "cuticula",
"derma" and "epidermis"; the latter is of a whitish colour,
and is properly the covering of the skin, is very thin, and void of sensationF20Vid
Bartholin. Anatomia Reform. l. 1. c. 1. & 9. , which may be raised up by a
blister, and taken off without pain; but the other is reddish, and very
sensible of pain, and cannot be taken off without putting a man to the most
exquisite misery; and yet a man will part with both skins, and if he had ever
so many, or he willing to be put to the greatest torment, rather than part with
his life: and to this one point all the above senses, and others given by
interpreters, tend, namely, to observe how precious the life of man is to him;
and if this was all that Satan meant, it is very trite; but he seems to
insinuate something more, and that is, that any man, and so Job though reckoned
a good man, would not only part with all the skins he had, and the substance he
was possessed of, to save his life, but he would part with his God, and his
religion, and the profession of it, for the sake of it, which is false; for
there is something more valuable than life to good men; they reckon the loving
kindness of God better than life, and would sooner lose their lives than risk
the danger of losing their interest in it; and are willing to part with their
lives for the sake of God and true religion, for the sake of Christ and his
Gospel, and for his cause and interest, as many have done.
Job 2:5 5 But stretch out Your hand
now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will surely curse You to Your
face!”
YLT
5Yet, put forth, I pray
Thee, Thy hand, and strike unto his bone and unto his flesh -- if not: unto Thy
face he doth bless Thee!'
But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh,.... That is,
his body, which consisted of flesh and bones; these are the constituent parts
of the body, and which distinguish it from spirit, Luke 24:39; this is
the motion made by Satan for a second trial of Job's integrity; he moves that
God would take off his hand of providence over him, which secured his health
unto him, and stretch his hand of power upon him, and fill his flesh with
diseases, and his bones with rottenness; or break them, and touch him to the
quick, to the marrow, which gives exquisite pain; or by his bone may be meant
him himselfF21So Gussetius and Genevenses, in ib. p. 630. :
and he will curse thee to thy face; he will fly in thy face,
arraign thy providence, and call in question thy wisdom, justice, truth, and
faithfulness: or he will "bless thee"F23יברכך "benedicet tibi", Piscator, Cocceius,
Schmidt. , and take his farewell of theeF24"Te valere
jubebit", Schultens. , and have nothing more to do with thee or religion;
if he does not do this, for something is to be understood, the words being an
imprecation, let me be in a worse condition than I am at present; let me not
have the liberty of ranging about in the earth, to do the mischief I delight
in; let me bound, and cast into the bottomless pit before my time, or be thrown
into the lake burning with fire and brimstone, where I know I must be forever.
Job 2:6 6 And the Lord said to Satan,
“Behold, he is in your hand, but spare his life.”
YLT
6And Jehovah saith unto the
Adversary, `Lo, he [is] in thy hand; only his life take care of.'
And the Lord said unto Satan, behold, he is in thine hand,.... Well may
a behold be prefixed to this, it being matter of wonder and astonishment that a
saint and servant of God should be permitted to be in the hand of Satan; which
yet must not be so understood; as if he was off of, and no more upon the heart
of God; or as if he was out of the hands of God, and out of the hands of Christ;
or as if he was become Satan's property, and a child of his; for neither of
these can be true of a good man: nothing can separate him from the love of God;
not Satan and all his principalities and powers; nor can men or devils pluck
them out of his hands, nor out of the hands of his son; nor can those who are
the children of God be any more the servants of sin, or the vassals of Satan;
or in other words, nor can any of them be a child of God one day, and a child
of the devil the next, which is the divinity of some men: nor is the sense of
this passage, that Satan had leave to do with Job as he pleased, for then he
would have utterly destroyed him; but the power granted him was a limited one,
as follows:
but save his life: or "soul"F25את נפשו "animum ejus",
Pagninus, Montanus, Cocccius, Schmidt, Schultens. ; which some understand of
his rational soul, that which remains after death, and which, MaimonidesF26Moreh
Nevochim, par. 3. c. 22. p. 398. observes, Satan has no power over; and
according to some the meaning is, do not disturb his mind to distraction, so as
to deprive him of his senses, and of the exercise of his rational powers, which
through the influence of Satan men have sometimes lost; see Mark 5:4; this is
barred against in the permission granted; for otherwise it would not have been
a proper trial of Job's integrity; for, should he have been deprived of his
reason, and uttered ever such bad things, it would have been no proof of his
insincerity; as may be observed in good men in a delirium, they will utter bad
words, and do or attempt to do bad things, which is not to be ascribed to their
want of grace, but to their want of reason: but rather "life" is meant;
not Job's spiritual life, for that was in no danger of being lost; all the
devils in hell cannot deprive a truly good man of his spiritual life; grace in
him is a well of living water, springing: up to eternal life; he can never die
the second death; his life is hid with Christ in God, and is bound up in the
bundle of life with the Lord his God, who so is out of the reach of Satan; but
corporeal life, which the devil by permission may take away, and is said to
have the power of death, which by leave he exercised over men, but here he is
restrained from it: Job's life must be spared, that it might fully appear he
got the victory over Satan, and stood in his integrity; and that he might still
glorify God in a course of afflictions he was yet to endure, in the exercise of
his faith, hope, love, patience, humility, submission, and resignation of his
will to God; and besides, his appointed time was not come, he had many more
days, months, and years, the number of which were with God, to live in the
world, as he accordingly did.
Job 2:7 7 So Satan went out from the
presence of the Lord,
and struck Job with painful boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his
head.
YLT
7And the Adversary goeth
forth from the presence of Jehovah, and smiteth Job with a sore ulcer from the
sole of his foot unto his crown.
So went Satan forth from the presence of the Lord,.... With
leave and license, with power and authority, as the Targum; having got his
commission enlarged, on a fresh grant, to do more mischief to Job, he departed
directly and immediately, being eager to put in execution what he had a
permission to do; See Gill on Job 1:12,
and smote Job with sore boils, from the sole of his foot unto his
crown: with hot and burning ulcers, such as were inflicted on the
Egyptians in the plague of the boils and blains, called the botch of Egypt, see
Exodus 9:10; it is
in the original text "with a bad boil", or "the worst"F1בשחין רע "nicere malo",
Pagninus, Montanus, Piscator, Schmidt; "maligno", Cocceius,
Michaelis, "pessimo", Junius & Tremellius, Schultens. ; it was as
it were but one boil; they stood so thick and close together, that they were as
one, reaching from head to foot, and spreading all over his body, so that there
was no part free; he was full of sores; as Lazarus, and to him may be applied
what is said in a figurative sense of the Jews, Isaiah 1:6; and
this boil or boils were of the worst sort, and most hot and angry, and gave the
most exquisite pain, and what Job was "smitten" with at once; they
did not rise up in pimples and pustules at the first, and gradually gathered
and came to an head, but he was at once covered with burning ulcers at their
height, and with running sores; this was done by Satan, through divine
permission; who, when he has leave, can inflict diseases on the bodies of men,
as he did in the days of Christ on earth, see Matthew 17:15; some
Jewish writers, as R. Simeon, say, that the devil heated the air, and thereby
caused inflammation in Job's blood, which broke out in boils; but then this
would have affected others besides him: many are the conjectures of learned menF2Vid.
Reiskii dissert. de Morbo Jobi, in Thesaur. Dissert. Philolog. par. 1. p. 556.
about this disease of Job's, some taking it to be the leprosyF3Origen
contr. Cels. l. 6. p. 305. So Michaelis in Lowth. Praelect. de Sacr. Poes. Heb.
p. 182, 201, 202. , others the scurvy, others an erysipelas, &c. Bolducius
reckons up no less than fourteen diseases that are attributed to him, collected
from his own words, Job 7:5; a late
learned writerF4Delaney's Life of King David, vol. 2. p. 147. thinks
it was the smallpox.
Job 2:8 8 And he took for himself a
potsherd with which to scrape himself while he sat in the midst of the ashes.
YLT
8And he taketh to him a
potsherd to scrape himself with it, and he is sitting in the midst of the
ashes.
And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal,.... His mouth
was shut, his lips were silent, not one murmuring and repining word came from
him, amidst all this anguish and misery he must be in; much less anything that
looked like cursing God and blaspheming him, as some are said to do, because of
their pains and their sores, Revelation 16:11;
but Job bore his with the utmost patience; he took a piece of a broken pot,
which perhaps lay in the ashes among which he sat, and scraped himself with it;
either as some think to allay the itching, or rather to remove the purulent
matter that ran from his boils; which he used instead of linen rags to wipe
them with, having no surgeon to come near him, to mollify his ulcers with
ointment, to supple them with oil, and lay healing plasters upon them; there
were none to do any of these things for him; his maids and his servants, and
even his wife, stood at some distance from him; the smell of him might be so
nauseous, that it was intolerable, he was obliged to do what was done himself,
which is here mentioned; though it seems something strange and unnatural,
considering his case; Schmidt thinks that this scraping was done by him as a
rite and ceremony used by mourners in those times and countries, and which Job
would not omit though his body was full of sores:
and he sat down among the ashes; which was often done in
cases of mourning and humiliation, see Jonah 3:6; and
which Job did to humble himself under the mighty hand of God upon him; whether
these ashes were outside or inside the house is not certain; some think they
were outside, and that he had no house to dwell in, nor bed to lie on, nor
couch to sit upon, and therefore was obliged to do as he did; but the contrary
is evident from Job 7:13; others
say, that his disease being the leprosy, he was obliged to sit alone and
outside; but it is not certain that that was his disease; and besides, the law
concerning lepers did not as yet exist; and had it, it would not have been
binding on Job, who was not of the Israelitish nation: the vulgar notion that
Job sat upon a dunghill outside the city has no other foundation than the
Septuagint version of this passage, which is a wrong one; for his sitting in
ashes, there might be a reason in nature, and it might be chosen on account of
his disease; for ashes are a drier, and an abstersive of ulcers, and GalenF6De
simpl. Med. ad Paternian. apud Schenchzer. Physic. Sacr. vol. 4. p. 661. says
they are used in fresh wounds to stop the flow of the blood.
Job 2:9 9 Then his wife said to him,
“Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!”
YLT
9And his wife saith to him,
`Still thou art keeping hold on thine integrity: bless God and die.'
Then said his wife to him,.... The JewsF7T.
Hieros. Sotah, fol. 20. 3. , who affect to know everything, say, that Job's
wife was Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, as the Targum, but this is not very
likely; however, we may observe that polygamy had not obtained in these early
times; Job had but one wife, and very probably she is the same that after all
this bore him ten children more; since we never read of her death, nor of his
having any other wife, and might be a good woman for anything that appears to
the contrary; and Job himself seems to intimate the same, though she was in the
dark about this providence, and under a sore temptation on that account; and
therefore says to her husband:
dost thou still retain thine integrity? not as
blaming him for insisting and leaning on his integrity, and justifying, and not
humbling himself before God, when he should rather confess his sins and prepare
for death; for this is contrary to the sense of the phrase used, Job 2:3; where Job
is applauded by the Lord himself for holding fast his integrity; nor will Job's
answer comport with this sense of her words; nor did she speak as wondering
that he should still retain it among so many sore temptations and afflictions;
though indeed persevering grace is a marvellous thing; but then he would never
have blamed her for such an expression: nor said she this as upbraiding and
reproaching him for his religion and continuance in it, and mocking at him, and
despising him on that account, as Michal did David; but as suggesting to him
there was nothing in religion, and advising him to throw up the profession of
it; for he might easily see, by his own case and circumstances, that God had no
more regard to good men than to bad men, and therefore it was in vain to serve
him; the temptation she laboured under was the same with that good man's,
Asaph, Psalm 73:11,
curse God, and die: which is usually interpreted, curse God and
then destroy thyself; or utter some such blasphemous words, as will either
provoke him to destroy thee, or will make thee liable to be taken notice of by
the civil magistrate and put to death for it; or do this in revenge for his hand
upon thee, and then die; or, though thou diest; but these are all too harsh and
wicked to be said by one that had been trained up in a religious manner, and
had been so many years the consort of so holy and good a man: the words may be
rendered, "bless God and die"F8ברך
אלהים "benedic Deo", Montanus, Piscator,
Schmidt, Michaelis. ; and may be understood either sarcastically, go on
blessing God till thou diest; if thou hast not had enough of it, take thy fill
of it, and see what will be the issue of it; nothing but death; wilt thou still
continue "blessing God and dying?" so someF9"Benedicendo
et moriendo", Junius & Tremellius, Cocceius, Broughton. render the
words, referring to what he had said in Job 1:21; or else
really and sincerely, as advising him to humble himself before God, confess his
sins, and "pray"F11"Supplica Deo", Tigurine
version; so some in Munster. unto him that he would take him out of this world,
and free him from all his pains and sorrow; or rather the sense is, "bless
God": take thy farewell of himF12"Valere jubeas numen et
morere", Schultens; "valedic Deo", so some in Mercer. ; bid
adieu to him and all religion, and so die; for there is no good to be hoped for
on the score of that, here or hereafter; or at least not in this life: and so
it amounts to much the same as before; and this sense is confirmed by Job's
answer, which follows.
Job 2:10 10 But he said to her, “You
speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God,
and shall we not accept adversity?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.
YLT
10And he saith unto her, `As
one of the foolish women speaketh, thou speakest; yea, the good we receive from
God, and the evil we do not receive.' In all this Job hath not sinned with his
lips.
But he said unto her, thou speakest as one of the foolish women
speaketh,.... The wicked and profane women of that age; he does not say
she was one of them, but spake like them; which intimates that she was a good
woman, and had always been thought to be so; but now spake not like herself,
and one of her profession, but like carnal persons: Sanctius thinks Job refers
to the Idumean women, who, like other Heathens, when their god did not please
them, or they could not obtain of them what they desired, would reproach them,
and cast them away from there, throw them into the fire, or into the water, as
the Persians are said to do; and so Job's wife, because of the present afflictive
providence, was for casting off God and all religion; in this she spake and
acted like those wicked people later observed, Job 21:14; and like
those carnal professors among the Jews in later times, Malachi 3:14; this
was talking foolishly, and Job's wife spake after this foolish manner, which he
resented:
what? this he said as being angry with her, and having indignation at
what she said; and therefore, in this quick, short, and abrupt manner, reproves
her for her folly:
shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive
evil? as all good things temporal and spiritual, the blessings of
Providence; and all natural, though not moral evil things, even all afflictions
which seem, or are thought to be evil, come from the mouth of God, and are
according to his purpose, counsel, and will; so they are all dispensed by the
hand of God, and should be kindly, cheerfully, readily, and willingly received,
the one as well as the other; see Lamentations 3:38.
Job suggests that he and his wife had received many good things from the Lord,
many temporal good things, as appears from Job 1:2; they had
their beings in him, and from him; they had been preserved in them by him; they
had had an habitation to dwell in, and still had; God had given them food and
raiment, wherewith it became them to be content; they had had a comfortable
family of children until this time, and much health of body, Job till now, and
his wife still, for ought appears; of their former happy circumstances, see Job 29:1; and
besides these outward mercies, they had received God as their covenant God,
their portion, shield, and exceeding great reward; they had received Christ as
their living Redeemer; they had received the Spirit, and his grace, the root of
the matter was in them; they had received justifying, pardoning, and adopting:
grace, and a right unto and meetness for eternal life, which all good men
receive of God; and therefore such must expect to receive evil things, or to
partake of afflictions, since God has appointed these for them, and has told
them of them, that they shall befall them; and beside they are for their profit
and advantage; and the consideration of the good things that have been
received, and are now enjoyed, as well as what they have reason to believe they
shall enjoy in heaven to all eternity, should make them ready and willing to
bear evil things quietly and patiently; see Hebrews 11:26; so
Achilles in HomerF13Iliad 24. ver. 527-530. represents Jove as
having two vessels full of gifts, one of good things, the other of evil, and
sometimes he takes and gives the one, and sometimes the other:
in all this did not Job sin with his lips; not in what
he said to his wife, it was all right and good; nor under the whole of his
affliction hitherto, he had not uttered one impatient, murmuring, and repining
word at the hand of God; the tongue, though an unruly member, and under such
providences apt to speak unadvisedly, was bridled and restrained by Job from
uttering anything indecent and unbecoming: the Targum, and many of the Jewish
writers, observe that he sinned in his heart, but not with his lips; but this
is not to be concluded from what is here said; though it is possible there
might be some risings of corruptions in his heart, which, by the grace of God
that prevailed in him, were kept under and restrained from breaking out.
Job 2:11 11 Now when Job’s three
friends heard of all this adversity that had come upon him, each one came from
his own place—Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the
Naamathite. For they had made an appointment together to come and mourn with
him, and to comfort him.
YLT
11And three of the friends of
Job hear of all this evil that hath come upon him, and they come in each from
his place -- Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the
Naamathite -- and they are met together to come in to bemoan him, and to
comfort him;
Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that was come
upon him,.... Of the loss of his substance, servants, and children, and of
his own health; the news of which soon spread in the adjacent countries, Job
being a person of great note, and his calamity so very extraordinary and
uncommon: who these three friends were is after observed; they living at some
distance from him, held a correspondence with him, and he with them, being good
men; and now act the friendly part in paying him a visit under such
circumstances; Proverbs 17:17;
they came everyone from his own place; from the
country, city, town, or habitations where they lived; whether they walked or
rode is not said, their names are as follow: arpar
Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the
Naamathite; the first of these, Eliphaz, was either from Teman, a city in
Edom, on the borders of Arabia Deserta, as the Targum; or a descendant of
Teman, a grandson of Esau; not Eliphaz the son of Esau, Genesis 36:11 as
the Targum on that place says; for he was the father of Teman, from whom this
Eliphaz sprang: the second, Bildad, was a descendant from Shuah, a son of
Abraham, by Keturah, Genesis 25:2; whose
posterity with geographers are called Sauchites, Sauchaeans, Sacceans, and
settled in Arabia Deserta, from whence Bildad came: the third, Zophar the
Naamathite, who he was, and why so called, is not certain; there is nothing but
conjectures concerning him; it is most probable that he lived in Arabia
Deserta, or on the borders of it, near to Job's country and that of his other
two friendsF14Vid. Spanhem. Hist. Jobi, c. 11. sect. 3. &c. ;
there was a Naamath in the land of Uz, which was Job's country according to
FreteliusF15Apud Adrichom. Theatrum. T. S. p. 21. : the Septuagint
version calls Eliphaz the king of the Temanites, and Bildad the tyrannus, or
governor, of the Sauchaens, and Zophar king of the MinaeansF16So
Aristeas, Philo and Polyhistor apud Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. l. 9. c. 25. p.
431. :
for they had made an appointment together; upon hearing
of Job's trouble, they got together, and fixed upon a time and place to meet
together and proceed on in their journey to Job's house:
to come to mourn with him, and to comfort him; the first
word signifies to "move to him"F17לנוד
לו "verbum" נוד
"migrare, et sese movere significat", Mercerus, so Ben Melech. not as
Sephorno explains it, to go with him from place to place, that he might not lay
hands on himself; but rather, as the Latin interpreter of the Targum, to move
their heads at him; as persons, to show their concern for, and sympathy with,
the afflicted, shake their heads at them: the meaning is, that they came to
condole his misfortunes, and to speak a word of comfort to him under them; and
no doubt but they came with a real and sincere intent to do this, though they
proved miserable comforters of him; Job 16:2.
Job 2:12 12 And when they raised their
eyes from afar, and did not recognize him, they lifted their voices and wept;
and each one tore his robe and sprinkled dust on his head toward heaven.
YLT
12and they lift up their eyes
from afar and have not discerned him, and they lift up their voice and weep,
and rend each his robe, and sprinkle dust on their heads -- heavenward.
And when they lifted up their eyes afar off,.... Either
when at some distance from Job's house, and he being without in the open air,
as some think; or as they entered his house, he being at the further part of
the room, or in another further on, which they could see into:
and knew him not; at first sight; until they came nearer to
him, his garments being rent, and his head shaved, and his body covered all
over with boils; so that he was so deformed and disfigured that they could not
know him at first, and could scarcely believe him to be the same person:
they lifted up their voice and wept: they wept and cried
aloud, being greatly affected with the sight of him, and their hearts
sympathizing with him under his afflictions, being his cordial friends, and of
that disposition, to weep with those that weep:
and they rent everyone his mantle, or "cloak"; in
token of mourning, as Job had done before; see Gill on Job 1:20,
and sprinkled dust upon their heads towards heaven; that is, they
took up handfuls of dust from off the ground, and threw it up in the air over
their heads, which fell upon them and covered them; which was another rite or
ceremony used by mourners, as Jarchi observes, and showed the vehemence of
their affections and passions, and the confusion they were in at seeing their
friend in such a miserable condition; see Joshua 7:6.
Job 2:13 13 So they sat down with him
on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for
they saw that his grief was very great.
YLT
13And they sit with him on
the earth seven days and seven nights, and there is none speaking unto him a
word when they have seen that the pain hath been very great.
So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven
nights,.... Which was the usual time of mourning, Genesis 50:10; not
that they were in this posture all this time, without sleeping, eating, or
drinking, and other necessaries of life; but they came and sat with him every
day and night for seven days and nights running, and sat the far greater part
of them with him, conforming themselves to him and sympathizing with him:
and none spake a word unto him; concerning his
affliction and the cause of it, and what they thought about it; partly through
the loss they were at concerning it, hesitating in their minds, and having some
suspicion of evil in Job; and partly through the grief of their own hearts, and
the vehemence of their passions, but chiefly because of the case and
circumstances Job was in, as follows:
for they saw that his grief was very great; and they knew
not well what comfort to administer, and were fearful lest they should add
grief to grief; or they saw that his "grief increased exceedingly"F18כי גדל הכאב
מאד "quod creverat dolor valde", Pagninus,
Montanus; so Mercerus Schultens, Michaelis, and the Targum. ; his boils, during
these seven days, grew sorer and sorer, and his pain became more intolerable,
that there was no speaking to him until he was a little at ease, and more
composed and capable of attending to what might be said; they waited a proper
opportunity, and which they quickly had, by what Job said in the following
chapter: this account is given of his three friends in this place, because the
greater part of the book that follows is taken up in giving an account of a
dispute which passed between him and them, occasioned by what he delivered in
the next chapter.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》