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Job Chapter
Sixteen
New King James Version (NKJV)
INTRODUCTION TO JOB 16
This
chapter and the following contain Job's reply to the preceding discourse of
Eliphaz, in which he complains of the conversation of his friends, as
unprofitable, uncomfortable, vain, empty, and without any foundation, Job 16:1; and
intimates that were they in his case and circumstances, tie should behave in
another manner towards them, not mock at them, but comfort them, Job 16:4; though
such was his unhappy case, that, whether he spoke or was silent, it was much
the same; there was no alloy to his grief, Job 16:6; wherefore
he turns himself to God, and speaks to him, and of what he had done to him,
both to his family, and to himself; which things, as they proved the reality of
his afflictions, were used by his friends as witnesses against him, Job 16:7; and then
enters upon a detail of his troubles, both at the hands of God and man, in
order to move the divine compassion, and the pity of his friends, Job 16:9; which
occasioned him great sorrow and distress, Job 16:15; yet
asserts his own innocence, and appeals to God for the truth of it, Job 16:17; and
applies to him, and wishes his cause was pleaded with him, Job 16:20; and
concludes with the sense he had of the shortness of his life, Job 16:22; which
sentiment is enlarged upon in the following chapter.
Job 16:1 Then
Job answered and said:
YLT
1And Job answereth and
saith: --
Then Job answered and said. As soon as Eliphaz had
done speaking, Job stood up, and made the following reply.
Job 16:2 2 “I have heard many such
things; Miserable comforters are you all!
YLT
2I have heard many such
things, Miserable comforters [are] ye all.
I have heard many such things,.... As those Eliphaz has
been discoursing of, concerning the punishment of wicked men; many instances of
this kind had been reported to him from his preceptors, and from his parents,
and which they had had from theirs, as well as Eliphaz had from his; and he had
heard these things, or such like, told "many times" from one to another,
as Ben Gersom interprets it; or "frequently", as the Vulgate Latin
version, yea, he had heard them his friends say many things of this kind; so
that there was nothing new delivered, nothing but what was "crambe millies
cocta", the same thing over and over again; insomuch that it was not only
needless and useless, but nauseous and disagreeable, and was far from carrying
any conviction with it, or tracing weight and influence upon him; that he only
gave it the hearing, and that was all, and scarce with any patience, it being
altogether inapplicable to him: that wicked men were punished for their sins,
he did not deny; and that good men were also afflicted, was a very plain case;
and that neither good nor hatred, or an interest in the favour of God or not,
were not known by these things; nor could any such conclusion be fairly drawn,
that because Job was afflicted, that therefore he was a bad man:
miserable comforters are ye all; his friends
came to comfort him, and no doubt were sincere in their intentions; they took
methods, as they thought, proper to answer such an end; and were so sanguine as
to think their consolations were the consolations of God, according to his
will; and bore hard upon Job for seeming to slight them, Job 15:11; to which
Job here may have respect; but they were so far from administering divine
consolation, that they were none at all, and worse than none; instead of
yielding comfort, what they said added to his trouble and affliction; they
were, as it may be rendered, "comforters of trouble", or
"troublesome comforters"F11מנחמי
עמל "consolatores molestiae", Vatablus,
Drusius, Mercerus, Cocceius, Schmidt, Michaelis; "molesti", Beza,
Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Codurcus, Tigurine version;
"molestissimi", Schultens. , which is what rhetoricians call an
oxymoron; what they said, instead of relieving him, laid weights and heavy
pressures upon him he could not bear; by suggesting his afflictions were for
some enormous crime and secret sin that he lived in the commission of; and that
he was no other than an hypocrite: and unless he repented and reformed, he
could not expect it would be better with him; and this was the sentiment of
them one and all: so to persons under a sense of sin, and distressed about the
salvation of their souls, legal preachers are miserable comforters, who send
them to a convicting, condemning, and cursing law, for relief; to their duties
of obedience to it for peace, pardon, and acceptance with God; who decry the
grace of God in man's salvation, and cry up the works of men; who lay aside the
person, blood, and righteousness of Christ, the consolation of Israel, and
leave out the Spirit of God the Comforter in their discourses; and indeed all
that can be said, or directed to, besides the consolation that springs from God
by Christ, through the application of the Spirit, signifies nothing; for if any
comfort could be had from any other, he would not be, as he is called, the God
of all comfort; all the creatures and creature enjoyments, even the best are
broken cisterns, and like the deceitful brooks Job compares his friends to, Job 6:15, that
disappoint when any expectations of comfort are raised upon them.
Job 16:3 3 Shall words of wind have
an end? Or what provokes you that you answer?
YLT
3Is there an end to words of
wind? Or what doth embolden thee that thou answerest?
Shall vain words have an end?.... Or "words of
wind"F11לדברי רוח
"verbis venti", Beza, Bolducius, Mercerus, Schmidt, Michaelis. , vain
empty words, great swelling words of vanity, mere bubbles that look big, and
have nothing in them; here Job retorts what Eliphaz had insinuated concerning
him and his words, Job 15:2; and he
intimates such worthless discourses should have an end, and a speedy one, and
not be carried on to any length, they not bearing it; and wishes they were at
an end, that he might hear no more of them; and suggests that it was weak and
foolish in them to continue them; that if they could speak to no better
purpose, it would be best to be silent:
or what emboldeneth thee that thou answerest? when men are engaged
in a good cause, have truth on their side, and are furnished with arguments
sufficient to defend it, this animates and emboldens them to stand up in the
defence of it, and to answer their adversaries, and to reply when there is
occasion; but Job could not imagine what should encourage and spirit up Eliphaz
to answer again, when he had been sufficiently confuted; when his cause was
bad, and he had no strong reasons to produce in the vindication of it; or
"what has exasperated" or "provoked thee"F12מה ימריצך "quid exacerbat
te", Junius & Tremellius; so Codureus, Schultens. to make reply? here
Job seems to have thought that he had said nothing that was irritating, though
it is notorious he had, such were his grief and troubles; and so well assured
he was of his being in the right, that the harsh and severe words and
expressions he had used were not thought by him to have exceeded due bounds,
such as Job 12:2.
Job 16:4 4 I also could speak as you do,
If your soul were in my soul’s place. I could heap up words against you, And
shake my head at you;
YLT
4I also, like you, might
speak, If your soul were in my soul's stead. I might join against you with
words, And nod at you with my head.
I also could speak as ye do,.... As big words, with
as high a tone, with as stiff a neck, and as haughtily and loftily; or
"ought I to speak as you do"F13ככם
אדברה "sicut vos loqui deberem?" Schmidt. ?
that I ought not, nor would you think I ought, if you were in my case; or,
being so, "would I speak as you do"F14"Etiam ego ut
vos loquerer?" Cocceius; so Broughton. ? no, I would not, my conscience
would not suffer me:
if your soul were in my soul's stead; in the same
afflicted state and condition, in the same distressed case and circumstances;
not that he wished it, as some render the words, for a good man will not wish
hurt to another; only he supposes this, as it was a case supposable, and not
impossible to be a fact, some time or another, in this state of uncertainty and
change; however it is right to put ourselves in the case of others in our own
imagination, that so it may be considered in the proper point of view, that we
may better judge how we should choose to be treated ourselves in such
circumstances, and so teach us to do that to others as we would have done to
ourselves:
I could heap up words against you; talk as fast as you to
me, and run you down with a great torrent of words; Job had a great fluency, he
talked a great deal in his afflicted, state, too much as his friends thought,
who represent him as dealing in a multitude of words, and as a very talkative
man, Job 8:2; and what could
he have done, had he his health, and in prosperous circumstances as formerly?
he could have brought many charges and accusations against them, as they had
against him; or "would I heap up words against you?" or "ought
I?" &c.F15אחבירה עליכם במלים "nectere deberem
nexus contra vos verbis?" Schmidt. ; no, it would not be my duty, nor
would I do it; humanity and good sense would never have allowed me to do it;
but, on the contrary, I "would have joined myself with you",
in a social, free, and familiar manner, in wordsF16"Adjungerem
me super vos in sermonibus", Montanus, Bolducius; so Vatablus, Cocceius. ,
in a friendly meeting with you, so the words may be read and paraphrased; I
would have come and paid you a visit, and sat down by you, and entered into a
kind and compassionate conversation with you about your case and condition, and
done all I could to comfort you; I would have framed and composed (as the word
used signifies) a set discourse on purpose; I would have sought out all the
acceptable words, and put them together in the best manner I could for youF17"Vobis
enim aptum sermonem accommodarem", Tigarine version; so Codurcus. ; had I
the tongue of the learned, I would have made use of it, to have spoken a word
in season to you:
and shake mine head at you; by way of scorn and
derision, that is, he could have done it as well as they; shaking the head is
used as a sign of contempt, Psalm 22:8; or
"would I", or "ought I to shake my head at you"F18אניעה־ראשי "et caput meum quassarem super vobis",
Cocceius; "movere deberem super vos caput meum?" Schmidt. if in my
case? no, I would not; as I ought not, I would have scorned to have done it; or
the sense may be, "I would have shook my head at you", in a way of
pity, bemoaning lamenting, and, condoling your caseF19So Tigurine
version and Bar Tzemach, κινησας ρα
καρη, Hom. II. 17. v. 200. ; see Job 42:11.
Job 16:5 5 But
I would strengthen you with my mouth, And the comfort of my lips would relieve your
grief.
YLT
5I might harden you with my
mouth, And the moving of my lips might be sparing.
But I would strengthen you
with my mouth,.... Comfort them with the words of his mouth; so God strengthens
his people with strength in their souls, when he answers them with good and
comfortable words; an angel strengthened Christ as man when in an agony,
comforting him, suggesting comfortable things to him; so one saint may
strengthen and comfort another when in distress, whether of soul or body; see Psalm 138:3; and
thus Job had strengthened and comforted others, with his words in former times,
as Eliphaz himself owns, Job 4:3 and so he
would again, were there a change in his circumstances, and objects presented:
and the moving of my lips should assuage your grief: words uttered
by him, which are done by the moving of the lips, should be such as would have
a tendency to allay grief, to stop, restrain, forbid, and lessen sorrow; at
least that it might not break out in an extravagant way, and exceed bounds, and
that his friends might not be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow.
Job 16:6 6 “Though I speak, my grief
is not relieved; And if I remain silent, how am I eased?
YLT
6If I speak, my pain is not
restrained, And I cease -- what goeth from me?
Though I speak, my grief is not assuaged,.... Though he
spoke to God in prayer, and entreated for some abatement of his sorrows, he got
no relief; and though he spoke to himself in soliloquies, his sorrow was not
repressed nor lessened; he could not administer comfort to himself in the
present case, though he might to others in like circumstances, if his own were
changed;
and though I forbear speaking, hold my peace,
and say nothing,
what am I eased? or "what goes from me"F20מה מני יחלך
"quid a me abit", Junius & Tremellius, Schultens. ? not anything
of my trouble or grief; sometimes a man speaking of his troubles to his friends
gives vent to his grief, and he is somewhat eased; and on the other hand being
silent about it, he forgets it, and it goes off; but in neither of those ways
could Job be released: or it may be his sense is, that when he spake of his
affliction, and attempted to vindicate his character, he was represented as an
impatient and passionate man, if not as blasphemous, so that his grief was
rather increased than assuaged; and if he was silent, that was interpreted a
consciousness of his guilt; so that, let him take what course he would, it was
much the same, he could get no ease nor comfort.
Job 16:7 7 But now He has worn me
out; You have made desolate all my company.
YLT
7Only, now, it hath wearied
me; Thou hast desolated all my company,
But now he hath made me weary,.... Or "it hath
made me weary"F21"Dolor meus", V. L. so Aben Ezra
& Cocceius. , that is, "my grief", as it may be supplied from Job 16:6; or rather
God, as appears from the next clause, and from the following verse, where he is
manifestly addressed; who by afflicting him had made him weary of the world,
and all things in it, even of his very life, Job 10:1; his
afflictions were so heavy upon him, and pressed him so hard, that his life was
a burden to him; they were heavier than the sand of the sea, and his strength
was not equal to them; he could scarcely drag along, was ready to sink and lie
down under the weight of them:
thou hast made desolate all my company, or
"congregation"F23עדתי "meam
congregationem", Pagninus; "conventum meum", Montanus,
Bolducius. ; the congregation of saints that met at his house for religious
worship, as some think, which now through his affliction was broke up, whom
Eliphaz had called a congregation of hypocrites, Job 15:34; which
passage Job may have respect unto; or rather his family, his children, which
were taken away from him: the Jews sayF24Vid. Drusium in loc. , ten
persons in any place make a congregation; this was just the number of Job's
children, seven sons and three daughters; or it may be he may have respect to
his friends, that came to visit him, who were moved and stupefied as it were at
the sight of him and his afflictions, as the wordF25"Stupefe
isti", Tigurine version; so Jarchi. is by some translated, and who were
alienated from him; were not friendly to him, nor administered to him any
comfort; so that they were as if he had none, or worse.
Job 16:8 8 You have shriveled me up, And
it is a witness against me; My leanness rises up against me And
bears witness to my face.
YLT
8And Thou dost loathe me,
For a witness it hath been, And rise up against me doth my failure, In my face
it testifieth.
And thou hast filled me with wrinkles,.... Not
through old age, but through affliction, which had sunk his flesh, and made
furrows in him, so that he looked older than he was, and was made old thereby
before his time; see Lamentations 3:4;
for this is to be understood of his body, for as for his soul, that through the
grace of God, and righteousness of Christ, was without spot or wrinkle, or any
such thing:
which is a witness against
me; as it was improved by his friends, who represented his
afflictions as proofs and testimonies of his being a bad man; though these
wrinkles were witnesses for him, as it may be as well supplied, that he really
was an afflicted man:
and my leanness rising up in me; his bones standing up,
and standing out, and having scarce anything on them but skin, the flesh being
gone:
beareth witness to my face; openly, manifestly, to
full conviction; not that he was a sinful man, but an afflicted man; Eliphaz
had no reason to talk to Job of a wicked man's being covered with fatness, and
of collops of fat on his flanks, Job 15:27;
Job 16:9 9 He tears me in His
wrath, and hates me; He gnashes at me with His teeth; My adversary sharpens His
gaze on me.
YLT
9His anger hath torn, and he
hateth me, He hath gnashed at me with his teeth, My adversary sharpeneth his
eyes for me.
He teareth me in his wrath, who hateth me,.... By whom
is meant not Satan, as Jarchi, though he is an enemy to, and an hater of
mankind, especially of good men; nor Eliphaz, as others, who had fallen upon
Job with a great deal of wrath and fury, tearing his character in pieces, which
Job attributed to his hatred of him; but it rather appears from the context
that God himself is intended, of whom Job had now a mistaken notion and
apprehension; taking him for his enemy, being treated by him, as he thought, as
if he had an aversion to him, and an hatred of him; whereas God hates none of
his creatures, being his offspring, and the objects of his tender care, and
providential regard: indeed sin is hateful to him, and makes men odious in his
sight, and he hates all the workers of iniquity, and those whom he passed by,
when he chose others; though they are said to be hated by him as Esau was, yet
not with a positive but a negative hatred; that is, are not loved by him; and
considered as profane and ungodly persons, and as such foreordained to
condemnation; for sin may be said to be hated, but good men never are; God's
chosen ones, his children and special people, are the objects of his
everlasting love; and though he may be angry with them, and show a little
seeming wrath towards them, yet never hates them; hatred and love are as
opposite as any two things can possibly be; and indeed, strictly and properly
speaking, there is no wrath nor fury in God towards his people; though they
deserve it, they are not appointed to it, but are delivered from it by Christ;
and neither that nor any of the effects of it shall ever light on them; but Job
concluded this from the providence he was under, in which God appeared terrible
to him, like a lion or any such fierce and furious creature, to which he is
sometimes compared, and compares himself, which seizes on its prey, and tears
and rends it to pieces; Isaiah 38:13; thus
God permitted Job's substance to be taken from him by the Chaldeans and
Sabeans; his children by death, which was like tearing off his limbs; and his
skin and his flesh to be rent and broken by boils and ulcers: Job was a type of
Christ in his sorrows and sufferings; and though he was not now in the best
frame of mind, the flesh prevailed, and corruptions worked, and he expressed
himself in an unguarded manner, yet perhaps we shall not find, in any part of
this book, things expressed, and the language in which they are expressed, more
similar and to be accommodated to the case, and sorrows, and sufferings of
Christ, than in this context; for though he was the son of God's love, his dear
and well beloved son, yet as he was the surety of his people, and bore and
suffered punishment in their stead, justice behaved towards him as though there
was a resentment unto him, and an aversion of him; yea, he says, "thou
hast cast off and abhorred, thou hast been wroth with thine Anointed" or
"Messiah", Psalm 89:38; and
indeed he did bear the wrath of God, the vengeance of justice or curse of the
righteous law; and was suffered to be torn in every sense, his temples with a
crown of thorns, his cheeks by those that plucked off the hair, his hands and
feet by the nails driven in them, and his side by the spear; and his life was
torn, snatched, and taken away from him in a violent manner:
he gnasheth upon me with his teeth; as men do when they are
full of wrath and fury: this is one way of showing it, as the enemies of David,
a type of Christ, and the slayers of Stephen, his protomartyr, did, Psalm 35:16; and as
beasts of prey, such as the lion, wolf, do:
mine enemy sharpeneth his eyes upon me; the Targum
adds, as a razor. Here again Job considers God as his enemy, though he was not,
misinterpreting his dealings with him; he represents him as looking out sharp
after him, inspecting narrowly into all his ways, and works, and actions,
strictly observing his failings and infirmities, calling him to an account, and
afflicting him for them, and dealing rigidly and severely with him for any
small offence: his eyes seemed to him to be like flames of fire, to sparkle
with wrath and revenge; his thee, as he imagined, was set against him, and his
eyes upon him to destroy him; and thus the eye of vindictive justice was upon
Christ his antitype, when he was made sin and a curse for his people, and the
sword of justice was awaked against him, and thrust in him.
Job 16:10 10 They gape at me with their
mouth, They strike me reproachfully on the cheek, They gather together against
me.
YLT
10They have gaped on me with
their mouth, In reproach they have smitten my cheeks, Together against me they
set themselves.
They have gaped upon me with their mouth,.... Here Job
speaks of the instruments which God suffered to use him ill; and he has respect
to his friends who came with open mouth against him, loading him with calumnies
and reproaches, laying charges to him he was not conscious of, and treating him
with scorn and contempt, which such a gesture is sometimes a token of, Lamentations 3:46;
and in which manner also Christ was used by men, on whom the reproach of them
that reproached God and his people fell, and who exhibited false charges
against him of various sorts; and he was the reproach of men and the contempt
of the people, who laughed him to scorn, opened their mouths in derision; they
shot out the lip and shook the head, and mocked and scoffed at him; yea,
"they gaped upon him with their mouth as a ravening and a roaring
lion", Psalm 22:6; to
which the allusion is here, when they cried out themselves and called upon
others to join them, saying, "Crucify him, crucify him", Luke 23:21,
they have smitten me on the cheek reproachfully; to be smitten
on the cheek is a reproach itself, and is a suffering not very patiently
endured. Hence Christ, to teach his followers patience, advised when they were
smitten on the one cheek to turn the other, that is, to take the blow
patiently; and it is not the smart of the stroke that is so much regarded as
the shame of it, the affront given, and the indignity offered; see 2 Corinthians 11:20;
so that the phrase may be taken for reproaching him; and indeed it may be
rendered, "they have smitten on the cheek with reproach"F1בחרפה "cum opprobrio", Beza, Vatablus, Drusius;
so Schmidt, Michaelis, Schultens; "with reproaches", Broughton. ;
they reproached him, which was the same as if they had smitten him on the
cheek; they smote him with their tongues, as Jeremiah's enemies smote him, Jeremiah 18:18;
they threw the dirt of scandal and calumny at him, and which is the common lot
of God's people; and though since they are reproached for Christ's sake, for
the Gospel's sake, and for righteousness sake, they should not be disturbed at
that; but rather reckon themselves happy, as they are said to be, and bind
these reproaches about their necks as chains of gold, and esteem them greater
riches than all the treasures of Egypt. This was literally true of Job's
antitype, the Messiah, for as it was foretold of him that he should give his
cheek to those that plucked off the hair, and they should smite the Judge of
Israel with a rod upon his cheek, Isaiah 50:6, so
this was done unto him by the servants of the high priest in his hall, and by
others, Matthew 26:67;
they have gathered themselves together against me; Job's friends
got together in order to visit him and comfort him, but it proved otherwise,
and he viewed it in no other light than as a combination against him: the words
may be rendered, "they filled themselves against me"F2יתמלאון "impleverunt sese", De Dieu. ; their
hearts with wrath and anger, as the Targum; their mouths with reproaches and
calumnies, and their eyes with pleasure and delight, and satisfaction at his
miseries and afflictions; and so the Vulgate Latin version,
"they
are satiated with my punishments;'
though
rather this may respect the high spirits they were in, the boldness and even
impudence, as Job interpreted it, they showed in their conduct towards him,
their hearts being swelled with pride and haughtiness and passionF3Vid.
De Dieu in loc. ; see Esther 7:5; or else
their numbers that came against him; so Mr. Broughton renders the words,
"they came by full troops upon me"; Job's three friends, being great
personages, very probably brought a large retinue and train of servants with
them; who, observing their master's conduct, behaved in an indecent manner
towards him themselves, to whom he may have respect, Job 30:1; this was
verified in Christ his antitype, whom Judas, with a multitude of men, with
swords and staves, even with a band of soldiers, came to apprehend in the garden;
and when Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and people of Israel,
were gathered against him to do what God had determined should be done, Matthew 26:46.
Job 16:11 11 God has delivered me to
the ungodly, And turned me over to the hands of the wicked.
YLT
11God shutteth me up unto the
perverse, And to the hands of the wicked turneth me over.
God hath delivered me up to the ungodly,.... The evil
or wicked one, for it is in the singular number; and designs either Satan, into
whose hands God had not only delivered his substance, but his person, excepting
his life; though it may be, and which is an objection to this sense, Job as yet
knew it not; or else Eliphaz, or, the singular number being put for the plural,
as the next clause explains it, all his friends, whom he in turn calls evil and
wicked men, because of their treatment of him; or else the Sabeans and
Chaldeans are intended, who were suffered to plunder him of his substance; the
words are very applicable to Christ, who was delivered to the Gentiles, and
into the hands of sinners and wicked men, and that by the determinate counsel
and foreknowledge of God, who with wicked hands took him, and crucified him, Matthew 20:19; or
God "shut him up", or "delivered him bound"F4יסגירני "vinctum me tradidit", Grotius,
Michaelis, Schultens. , as the word signifies; which was literally true of
Christ, who was bound by the Jews, and delivered first to the high priest, and
then to the Roman governor, in such circumstances, John 18:12;
and turned me over into the hands of the wicked; signifying
the same as before, unless it should be rendered, "and caused me to
decline", or "come down by the hands of the wicked"F5ירטני "divertere fecit a vita", Pagninus;
"declinare me facit", Beza, Drusius, Mercerus. that is, from his
former state of prosperity and happiness, into the low circumstances in which
he was, and which he was brought into by the means of wicked men, God suffering
it so to be.
Job 16:12 12 I was at ease, but He has
shattered me; He also has taken me by my neck, and shaken me to pieces; He
has set me up for His target,
YLT
12At ease I have been, and he
breaketh me, And he hath laid hold on my neck, And he breaketh me in pieces,
And he raiseth me to him for a mark.
I was at ease, but he hath broken me asunder,.... He was in
easy and affluent circumstances, abounding with the good things of this life,
lay in his nest, as his expression is, Job 29:18; quietly
and peaceably, where he expected he should have died; and he was easy in his
mind, had peace of conscience, being a good man that feared God, and trusted in
his living Redeemer, enjoying the presence of God, the light of his
countenance, and the discoveries of his love, see Job 39:2; but now
he was broken to pieces, he was stripped of his worldly substance; his family
was broken up, and not a child left him; his body broken, and full of ruptures
through boils and ulcers; and his spirits were broken with his afflictions, and
a sense of divine displeasure; the arrows of God's wrath, in his apprehension,
stuck in him, and the poison thereof drank up his spirits. Mr. Broughton
renders it, "I was wealthy, and he hath undone me"; though
once so opulent, he was now broken, and become a bankrupt. It may be applied to
Christ, his antitype, who, though rich, became poor to make his people rich, 2 Corinthians 8:9;
and whose body was broken for them; and he was wounded and bruised for their
transgressions, and whose heart was broken with reproach:
he hath also taken me by the neck, and shaken me to pieces; as a
combatant in wrestling, who is stronger than his antagonist, uses him; or as a
giant, who takes a dwarf by his neck or collar, and shakes him, as if he would
shake him to pieces, limb from limb; or "hath dashed" or "broken
me to pieces"F6יפצפצני
"confregit me", V. L. Pagninus; "minutatim confregit me",
Tigurine version; so Schultens, Jarchi, & Ben Gersom. ; or to shivers; as
glass or earthen vessels dashed against a wall, or struck with a hammer, fly
into a thousand pieces, can never be put together again; so Job reckoned of his
state and condition as irrecoverable, that his health, his substance, his
family, could never be restored as they had been:
and set me up for his mark; to shoot at, of which he
complains Job 7:20; a like
expression is used by the church in Lamentations 3:12;
and a phrase similar to this is used of Christ, Luke 2:34; and in
consequence of this are what follow.
Job 16:13 13 His archers surround me. He
pierces my heart[a] and does
not pity;
He pours out my gall on the ground.
YLT
13Go round against me do his
archers. He splitteth my reins, and spareth not, He poureth out to the earth my
gall.
His archers compass me round about,.... Satan and his
principalities and powers casting their fiery darts at him; or rather, his
friends shooting their arrows, even bitter words, reproaches, and calumnies; or
the various diseases of his body, his boils and ulcers, which were so many
arrows shot into him, in every part of him all around, and gave him exquisite
pain and anguish; besides the arrows of the Almighty, or that painful sensation
he had of the wrath of God. This also is true of Christ, the antitype of Job
and of Joseph; of the latter of which it is said, "the archers sorely
grieved him, and shot at him, but his bow abode in strength", Genesis 49:23; so
Satan and his ministers threw their fiery darts at Christ when on the cross,
and the scribes and priests, his emissaries, surrounded him there, and shot out
their reproachful and blasphemous words at him, and the justice of God smote
him, and the law of God cast its curses on him. Gussetius renders the words,
"his great ones"F7"Ejus magnates", Comment. Ebr.
p. 773. רביו "ejus magni", Montanus. ; and
such Job's friends were, men of great substance, and lived in great credit and
honour; some have supposed them to be kings, and such were those that opposed
Christ, and distressed him, the rulers of the people, civil and ecclesiastic:
he cleaveth my reins asunder; by causing his arrows to
enter into them, Lamentations 3:13;
the consequence of which must be death; a man cannot live, at least long, after
this is his case; though some think this is to be understood of the disorder of
the stone in his reins or kidneys, which was very distressing to him:
and doth not spare; shows no mercy or pity, though in such sad
circumstances and dreadful agonies; thus God spared not his own son, Romans 8:32;
he poureth out my gall upon the ground; which is done
by piercing the gall bladder with the sword, or any such instrument, see Job 20:25; which
must issue in death; and the design of both these clauses is to show, that Job
looked upon his case irretrievable, and he here makes use of hyperbolical
expressions to set it forth by.
Job 16:14 14 He breaks me with wound
upon wound; He runs at me like a warrior.[b]
YLT
14He breaketh me -- breach
upon breach, He runneth upon me as a mighty one.
He breaketh me with breach upon breach,.... Upon his
substance, his family, and the health of his body, which came thick and fast,
one after another; referring to the report of those things brought by one
messenger upon the back of another, see Ezekiel 7:26;
he runneth upon me like a giant; with great fury and
fierceness, with great strength and courage, with great speed and swiftness,
causing great terror and distress; he not being able to resist him, any more
than a dwarf a giant, and no more, nor so much, a match for him; see Isaiah 42:13.
Job 16:15 15 “I have sewn sackcloth
over my skin, And laid my head[c] in the
dust.
YLT
15Sackcloth I have sewed on
my skin, And have rolled in the dust my horn.
I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin,.... Which he very
probably put on when he rent his mantle, or sat in ashes, Job 1:20; which
actions were usually performed together in times of distress and sorrow, see Genesis 37:34; and
this was no doubt a voluntary action of his, like that of the king of Nineveh
and his subjects Jonah 3:5; though
some have thought that Job was so reduced that he had no clothes to wear, and
was obliged to put on such coarse raiment, which is not probable; and it seems
that he put this next to his skin, which must be very uneasy to one that had
been used to such soft apparel, as it seems did also the kings of Israel in time
of mourning, 1 Kings 21:27; it
is not only observed by several Jewish writers, that the word here used in the
Arabic language signifies "skin", as we render it, as Aben Ezra, Ben
Melech, and others; but the skin of the wound, the thin skin which is drawn
over a wound when it is healing, as Ben Gersom and Bar Tzemach; which, being
tender, must be very unfit to bear such rough raiment upon it; nay, Schultens observes,
that the Arabic word more properly signifies "torn skin"F8עלי גלדי "super laceram
cutem", Schultens; "cutis eaque laesa et ulceribus percussa",
Stockius, p. 188. גלד "cutim percusiit",
Hottinger. Smegma Orient. p. 135. Stockius, ib. , as Job's skin must be full of
ruptures through the boils and ulcers upon him; he himself says, that his
"skin was broken, and become loathsome", Job 7:5; now to
have sackcloth put on such a skin must be intolerable; the phrase of sewing it
to it is very unusual; though it may signify no more than an application of it,
a putting it on him, and clothing himself with it; yet it seems to denote its
sticking close to him, as if it was sewed to his skin, through the purulent
matter of his boils clotting and cleaving to it; for he says in Job 7:5 that his
"flesh was clothed with worms and clods of dust"; and those
running into one another were like one scab, and, as it were, a garment to him;
his "disease bound him about as the collar of his coat", and
his "skin was as black" as sackcloth itself, Job 30:18; the
design of the expression is both to show the wretched and miserable condition
he was in, and his great humiliation on account of his present circumstances;
and that he was not that proud and haughty man, or behaved under his affliction
in the insolent manner Eliphaz had suggested, Job 15:12; but was
one that humbled himself under the mighty hand of God, which is further
confirmed by the next clause:
and defiled my horn, in the dust: as he did when he sat in
ashes, as he afterwards repented in dust and ashes; and it was usual in the
times of mourning to put dust or ashes upon the head; which may be meant by his
horn, the horn of a beast, to which the allusion is, being in the head; and
this may be put for the whole body, which sometimes, on such occasions, was
rolled in dust and ashes, see Joshua 7:6; and the
horn being an emblem of grandeur, power, and authority, may denote that Job now
laid aside all the ensigns of it, and was content to have his honour laid in
the dust, and lie low before God, and not lift up his horn unto him, and much
less stretch out his hand against him; the Targum is,
"I
sprinkled my glory in or with dust.'
Job 16:16 16 My face is flushed from
weeping, And on my eyelids is the shadow of death;
YLT
16My face is foul with
weeping, And on mine eyelids [is] death-shade.
My face is foul with weeping,.... On account of the
loss of his substance, and especially of his children; at the unkindness of his
friends, and over his own corruptions, which he felt working in him, and
breaking forth in unbecoming language; and because of the hidings of the face
of God from him: the word used in the Arabic languageF9חמרמרה "intumuit", V. L. Tigurine version;
"fermentescit", Schultens. has the, signification of redness in it,
as Aben Ezra and others observe; of red wine, and, as Schultens adds, of the
fermentation of it; and is fitly used to express a man's face in excessive
weeping, which looks red, and swelled, and blubbered:
and on my eyelids is the shadow of death; which were
become dim through weeping, so that he could scarcely see out of them, and,
like a dying man, could hardly lift them up; and such was his sorrowful
condition, that he never expected deliverance from it, but that it would issue
in death; and which he supposed was very near, and that he had many symptoms of
it, of which the decay of his eyesight was one; and he was so far from winking
with his eyes in a wanton and ludicrous way, as Eliphaz had hinted, Job 15:12; that
there was such a dead weight upon them, even the shadow of death itself, that
he was not able to lift them up.
Job 16:17 17 Although no violence is
in my hands, And my prayer is pure.
YLT
17Not for violence in my
hands, And my prayer [is] pure.
Not for any injustice in my hands,.... Came all
those afflictions and calamities upon him, which occasioned so much sorrow,
weeping, mourning, and humiliation; he does not say there was no sin in him,
not any in his heart, nor in his life, nor any iniquity done by him, he had
acknowledged these things before, Job 7:20; but that
there was nothing in his hands gotten in an unjust manner; he had taken away no
man's property, nor injured him in the least in a private way; nor had he
perverted justice as a public magistrate, by taking bribes or accepting
persons, and could challenge any to prove he had, as Samuel did, 1 Samuel 12:3;
also my prayer is pure: he prayed, which
disproves the calumny of Eliphaz, Job 15:4; and his
prayer was pure too; not that it was free from failings and infirmities, which
attend the best, but from hypocrisy and deceit; it came not out of feigned
lips, but was put up in sincerity and truth; it sprang from an heart purified
by the grace of God, and sprinkled from an evil conscience; it was put up in
the faith of Christ, and as a pure offering through him; Job lifted up pure and
holy hands, and with these a pure and holy heart, and for pure and holy things;
so that it was not for want of doing justice to men, nor for want of devotion
towards God, that be was thus afflicted by him; compare with this what is said
of his antitype, Isaiah 53:9.
Job 16:18 18 “O earth, do not cover my
blood, And let my cry have no resting place!
YLT
18O earth, do not thou cover
my blood! And let there not be a place for my cry.
O earth, cover not thou my blood,.... This is an
imprecation, wishing that if; he had been guilty of any capital crime, of such
acts of injustice that he ought to be punished by the judge, and even to die
for them, that his blood when spilt might not be received into the earth, but
be licked up by dogs, or that he might have no burial or interment in the
earth; and if he had committed such sins as might come under the name of blood,
either the shedding of innocent blood, though that is so gross a crime that it
can hardly be thought that Job's friends even suspected this of him; or rather
other foul sins, as injustice and oppression of the poor; the Tigurine version
is, "my capital sins", see Isaiah 1:15; then
he wishes they might never be covered and concealed, but disclosed and spread
abroad everywhere, that all might know them, and he suffer shame for them; even
as the earth discloses the blood of the slain, when inquisition is made for it,
Isaiah 26:21;
and let my cry have no place; meaning if he was the
wicked man and the hypocrite he was said to be, or if his prayer was not pure,
sincere, and upright, as he said it was, then he desired that when he cried to
God, or to man, in his distress, he might be regarded by neither; that his cry
might not enter into the ears of the Lord of hosts, but that it might be shut
out, and he cover himself with a cloud, that it might not pass through, and
have any place with him; land that he might not meet with any pity and
compassion from the heart, nor help and relief from the hand of any man.
Job 16:19 19 Surely even now my witness
is in heaven, And my evidence is on high.
YLT
19Also, now, lo, in the
heavens [is] my witness, And my testifier in the high places.
Also now, behold, my witness is in heaven,.... That is,
God, who dwells in the heavens, where his throne is, and which is the
habitation of his holiness, and from whence he beholds all the sons of men, and
their actions, is the all seeing and all knowing Being; and therefore Job
appeals to him as his witness, if he was guilty of the things laid to his
charge, to bear witness against him, but if not to be a witness for him, which
he believed he would, and desired he might:
for my record is on high; or "my
testimony"; that can testify for me; who is an "eyewitness"F11שהדי "oculatus meus testis", Schultens. , as some
render it, before whom all things are naked and open; who has seen all my
actions, even the very inmost recesses of my mind, all the thoughts of my
heart, and all the principles of my actions, and him I desire to bear record of
me; such appeals are lawful in some cases, which ought not to be common and
trivial ones, but of moment and importance, and which cannot well be determined
in any other way; such as was the charge of hypocrisy against Job, and
suspicions of his having been guilty of some notorious crime, though it could
not be pointed at and proved; see 1 Samuel 12:3, 2 Corinthians 1:13.
Job 16:20 20 My friends scorn me; My
eyes pour out tears to God.
YLT
20My interpreter [is] my
friend, Unto God hath mine eye dropped:
My friends scorn me,.... Not that they
scoffed at his afflictions and calamities, and at his diseases and disorders,
that would have been very brutish and inhuman, but at his words, the arguments
and reasons he made use of to defend himself with, see Job 12:4;
but mine eye poureth out tears
unto God; in great plenty, because of his very great sorrows and
distresses, both inward and outward; and it was his mercy, that when his
friends slighted and neglected him, yea, bore hard upon him, and mocked at him,
that he had a God to go to, and pour out not only his tears, but all his
complaints, and even his very soul unto him, from whom he might hope for
relief; and what he said, when he did this, is as follows.
Job 16:21 21 Oh, that one might plead
for a man with God, As a man pleads for his neighbor!
YLT
21And he reasoneth for a man
with God, And a son of man for his friend.
Oh that one might plead for a man with God,.... That is,
that one might be appointed and allowed to plead with God on his account; or
that he be admitted to plead with God for himself; or however, that there might
be a hearing of his case before God, and that he would decide the thing in
controversy between him and his friends, when he doubted not but it would be
given on his side:
as a man pleadeth for his neighbour; using great
freedom, and powerful arguments, and having no dread of the judge, nor fear of
carrying the cause for his neighbour; so Job wishes, that either one for him,
or he himself, might be freed from the dread of the divine Majesty, and might
be suffered to speak as freely to his case as a counsellor at the bar does for
his client. The words will admit of a more evangelic sense by observing that
God, to whom Job says his eye poured out tears, at the close of Job 16:20, is to be
understood of the second Person in the Godhead, Jehovah, the Son of God, the
Messiah; and then read these words that follow thus, "and he will plead
for a man with God, and the Son of man for his friend"; which last clause
perhaps may be better rendered, "even the Son of man", &c. and so
they are expressive of Job's faith, that though his friends despised him, yet
he to whom he poured out his tears, and committed his case, would plead his
cause with God for him, and thoroughly plead it, when he should be acquitted.
The appellation, "the Son of man", is a well known name for the Messiah
in the New Testament, and is not altogether unknown in the Old, see Psalm 80:17; and
one part of his work and office is to be an advocate with the Father for his
friends, whom he makes, reckons, and uses as such, even all the Father has
given him, and he has redeemed by his blood; for these he pleads his blood,
righteousness, and sacrifice, to the satisfaction of the law, and justice of
God, and against Satan, and all enemies whatever, and for every blessing they
want; and for which work he is abundantly fit, because of the dignity of his
person, his nearness to God his Father, and the interest he has in him.
GussetiusF12Ebr. Comment. p. 320, 321. goes this way, and observes
that this sense has not been taken notice of by interpreters, which he seems to
wonder at; whereas our English annotator on the place had it long ago, and Mr.
Caryll after him, though disapproved of by some modern interpreters.
Job 16:22 22 For when a few years are
finished, I shall go the way of no return.
YLT
22When a few years do come,
Then a path I return not do I go.
When a few years are come,.... As the years of
man's life are but few at most, and Job's years, which were yet to come, still fewer
in his apprehension; or "years of number"F13שנות מספר "anni
numeri", Montanus, Vatablus, Bolducius; "numbered days",
Broughton; so Tigurine version. , that are numbered by God, fixed and
determined by him, Job 14:5; or being
few are easily numbered:
then I shall go the way whence I shall not return; that is, go
the way of all flesh, a long journey; death itself is meant, which is a going
out of this world into another, from whence there is no return to this again,
to the same place, condition, circumstances, estate, and employment as now;
otherwise there will be a resurrection from the dead, the bodies will rise out
of the earth, and souls will be brought again to be united with them, but not
to be in the same situation here as now: this Job observes either as a kind of
solace to him under all his afflictions on himself, and from his friends, that
in a little time it would be all over with him; or as an argument to hasten the
pleading of his cause, that his innocence might be cleared before he died; and
if this was not done quickly, it would be too late.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》
New King James
Version (NKJV)