1 There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. He was without sin and upright, fearing God and keeping himself far from evil.
Even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, only themselves would they keep safe by their righteousness, says the Lord.
Even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, by my life, says the Lord, they would not keep son or daughter safe; only themselves would they keep safe through their righteousness.
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord came to him, and said, I am God, Ruler of all; go in my ways and be upright in all things,
And the Lord said to the Satan, Have you taken note of my servant Job, for there is no one like him on the earth, a man without sin and upright, fearing God and keeping himself far from evil?
And all the mixed people and all the kings of the land of Uz, and all the kings of the land of the Philistines, and Ashkelon and Gaza and Ekron and the rest of Ashdod;
And the Lord said to the Satan, Have you taken note of my servant Job, for there is no one like him on the earth, a man without sin and upright, fearing God and keeping himself far from evil? and he still keeps his righteousness, though you have been moving me to send destruction on him without cause.
Have joy and be glad, O daughter of Edom, living in the land of Uz: the cup will be given to you in your turn, and you will be overcome with wine and your shame will be seen.
By mercy and good faith evil-doing is taken away: and by the fear of the Lord men are turned away from evil.
And he said, Let not your hand be stretched out against the boy to do anything to him; for now I am certain that the fear of God is in your heart, because you have not kept back your son, your only son, from me.
And let him be turned from evil and do good; searching for peace and going after it with all his heart.
My feet have gone in his steps; I have kept in his way, without turning to one side or to the other. I have never gone against the orders of his lips; the words of his mouth have been stored up in my heart.
O Lord, keep in mind how I have been true to you with all my heart, and have done what is good in your eyes. And Hezekiah gave way to bitter weeping.
I made an agreement with my eyes; how then might my eyes be looking on a virgin? For what is God's reward from on high, or the heritage given by the Ruler of all from heaven? Is it not trouble for the sinner, and destruction for the evil-doers? Does he not see my ways, and are not my steps all numbered? If I have gone in false ways, or my foot has been quick in working deceit; (Let me be measured in upright scales, and let God see my righteousness:) If my steps have been turned out of the way, or if my heart went after my eyes, or if the property of another is in my hands; Let me put seed in the earth for another to have the fruit of it, and let my produce be uprooted. If my heart went after another man's wife, or if I was waiting secretly at my neighbour's door; Then let my wife give pleasure to another man and let others make use of her body. For that would be a crime; it would be an act for which punishment would be measured out by the judges: It would be a fire burning even to destruction, and taking away all my produce. If I did wrong in the cause of my man-servant, or my woman-servant, when they went to law with me; What then will I do when God comes as my judge? and what answer may I give to his questions? Did not God make him as well as me? did he not give us life in our mothers' bodies? If I kept back the desire of the poor; if the widow's eye was looking for help to no purpose; If I kept my food for myself, and did not give some of it to the child with no father; (For I was cared for by God as by a father from my earliest days; he was my guide from the body of my mother;) If I saw one near to death for need of clothing, and that the poor had nothing covering him; If his back did not give me a blessing, and the wool of my sheep did not make him warm; If my hand had been lifted up against him who had done no wrong, when I saw that I was supported by the judges; May my arm be pulled from my body, and be broken from its base. For the fear of God kept me back, and because of his power I might not do such things. If I made gold my hope, or if I ever said to the best gold, I have put my faith in you; If I was glad because my wealth was great, and because my hand had got together a great store; If, when I saw the sun shining, and the moon moving on its bright way, A secret feeling of worship came into my heart, and my hand gave kisses from my mouth; That would have been another sin to be rewarded with punishment by the judges; for I would have been false to God on high. If I was glad at the trouble of my hater, and gave cries of joy when evil overtook him; (For I did not let my mouth give way to sin, in putting a curse on his life;) If the men of my tent did not say, Who has not had full measure of his meat? The traveller did not take his night's rest in the street, and my doors were open to anyone on a journey; If I kept my evil doings covered, and my sin in the secret of my breast, For fear of the great body of people, or for fear that families might make sport of me, so that I kept quiet, and did not go out of my door; If only God would give ear to me, and the Ruler of all would give me an answer! or if what he has against me had been put in writing! Truly I would take up the book in my hands; it would be to me as a crown; I would make clear the number of my steps, I would put it before him like a prince! The words of Job are ended. If my land has made an outcry against me, or the ploughed earth has been in sorrow; If I have taken its produce without payment, causing the death of its owners; Then in place of grain let thorns come up, and in place of barley evil-smelling plants.
This Hezekiah did through all Judah; he did what was good and right and true before the Lord his God. And for everything he undertook, in connection with the work of the house of God and his law and orders, he got directions from God and did it with serious purpose; and things went well for him.
The sons of Shem: Elam and Asshur and Arpachshad and Lud and Aram and Uz and Hul and Gether and Meshech.
But for the rest, take from among the people able men, such as have the fear of God, true men hating profits wrongly made; and put such men over them, to be captains of thousands, captains of hundreds and of fifties and of tens;
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Job 1
Commentary on Job 1 Matthew Henry Commentary
An Exposition, With Practical Observations, of
The Book of Job
Chapter 1
The history of Job begins here with an account,
In all this he is set forth for an example of suffering affliction, from which no prosperity can secure us, but through which integrity and uprightness will preserve us.
Job 1:1-3
Concerning Job we are here told,
Job 1:4-5
We have here a further account of Job's prosperity and his piety.
Job 1:6-12
Job was not only so rich and great, but withal so wise and good, and had such an interest both in heaven and earth, that one would think the mountain of his prosperity stood so strong that it could not be moved; but here we have a thick cloud gathering over his head, pregnant with a horrible tempest. We must never think ourselves secure from storms while we are in this lower region. Before we are told how his troubles surprised and seized him here in this visible world, we are here told how they were concerted in the world of spirits, that the devil, having a great enmity to Job for his eminent piety, begged and obtained leave to torment him. It does not at all derogate from the credibility of Job's story in general to allow that this discourse between God and Satan, in these verses, is parabolical, like that of Micaiah (1 Ki. 22:19, etc.), and an allegory designed to represent the malice of the devil against good men and the divine check and restraint which that malice is under; only thus much further is intimated, that the affairs of this earth are very much the subject of the counsels of the unseen world. That world is dark to us, but we lie very open to it. Now here we have,
Job 1:13-19
We have here a particular account of Job's troubles.
Job 1:20-22
The devil had done all he desired leave to do against Job, to provoke him to curse God. He had touched all he had, touched it with a witness; he whom the rising sun saw the richest of all the men in the east was before night poor to a proverb. If his riches had been, as Satan insinuated, the only principle of his religion now that he had lost his riches he would certainly have lost his religion; but the account we have, in these verses, of his pious deportment under his affliction, sufficiently proved the devil a liar and Job an honest man.
Lastly, Here is the honourable testimony which the Holy Ghost gives to Job's constancy and good conduct under his afflictions. He passed his trials with applause, v. 22. In all this Job did not act amiss, for he did not attribute folly to God, nor in the least reflect upon his wisdom in what he had done. Discontent and impatience do in effect charge God with folly. Against the workings of these therefore Job carefully watched; and so must we, acknowledging that as God has done right, but we have done wickedly, so God has done wisely, but we have done foolishly, very foolishly. Those who not only keep their temper under crosses and provocations, but keep up good thoughts of God and sweet communion with him, whether their praise be of men or no, it will be of God, as Job's here was.