1 There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job. That man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God, and turned away from evil.
though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, says the Lord Yahweh.
though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live, says the Lord Yahweh, they should deliver neither son nor daughter; they should but deliver their own souls by their righteousness.
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, Yahweh appeared to Abram, and said to him, "I am God Almighty. Walk before me, and be blameless.
Yahweh said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant, Job? For there is none like him in the earth, a blameless and an upright man, one who fears God, and turns away from evil."
and all the mixed people, and all the kings of the land of the Uz, and all the kings of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Gaza, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod;
Yahweh said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? For there is none like him in the earth, a blameless and an upright man, one who fears God, and turns away from evil. He still maintains his integrity, although you incited me against him, to ruin him without cause."
Rejoice and be glad, daughter of Edom, that dwell in the land of Uz: The cup shall pass through to you also; you shall be drunken, and shall make yourself naked.
By mercy and truth iniquity is atoned for. By the fear of Yahweh men depart from evil.
He said, "Don't lay your hand on the boy, neither do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me."
Let him turn away from evil, and do good. Let him seek peace, and pursue it.
My foot has held fast to his steps. His way have I kept, and not turned aside. I haven't gone back from the commandment of his lips. I have treasured up the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.
Remember now, Yahweh, I beg you, how I have walked before you in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in your sight. Hezekiah wept sore.
"I made a covenant with my eyes, How then should I look lustfully at a young woman? For what is the portion from God above, And the heritage from the Almighty on high? Is it not calamity to the unrighteous, And disaster to the workers of iniquity? Doesn't he see my ways, And number all my steps? "If I have walked with falsehood, And my foot has hurried to deceit (Let me be weighed in an even balance, That God may know my integrity); If my step has turned out of the way, If my heart walked after my eyes, If any defilement has stuck to my hands, Then let me sow, and let another eat; Yes, let the produce of my field be rooted out. "If my heart has been enticed to a woman, And I have laid wait at my neighbor's door; Then let my wife grind for another, And let others sleep with her. For that would be a heinous crime; Yes, it would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges: For it is a fire that consumes to destruction, And would root out all my increase. "If I have despised the cause of my man-servant Or of my maid-servant, When they contended with me; What then shall I do when God rises up? When he visits, what shall I answer him? Didn't he who made me in the womb make him? Didn't one fashion us in the womb? "If I have withheld the poor from their desire, Or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail, Or have eaten my morsel alone, And the fatherless has not eaten of it (No, from my youth he grew up with me as with a father, Her have I guided from my mother's womb); If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, Or that the needy had no covering; If his heart hasn't blessed me, If he hasn't been warmed with my sheep's fleece; If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, Because I saw my help in the gate: Then let my shoulder fall from the shoulder-blade, And my arm be broken from the bone. For calamity from God is a terror to me, By reason of his majesty I can do nothing. "If I have made gold my hope, And have said to the fine gold, 'You are my confidence;' If I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, And because my hand had gotten much; If I have seen the sun when it shined, Or the moon moving in splendor, And my heart has been secretly enticed, My hand threw a kiss from my mouth: This also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges; For I should have denied the God who is above. "If I have rejoiced at the destruction of him who hated me, Or lifted up myself when evil found him; (Yes, I have not allowed my mouth to sin By asking his life with a curse); If the men of my tent have not said, 'Who can find one who has not been filled with his meat?' (The foreigner has not lodged in the street; But I have opened my doors to the traveler); If like Adam I have covered my transgressions, By hiding my iniquity in my heart, Because I feared the great multitude, And the contempt of families terrified me, So that I kept silence, and didn't go out of the door-- Oh that I had one to hear me! (Behold, here is my signature, let the Almighty answer me); Let the accuser write my indictment! Surely I would carry it on my shoulder; And I would bind it to me as a crown. I would declare to him the number of my steps. As a prince would I go near to him. If my land cries out against me, And the furrows of it weep together; If I have eaten the fruits of it without money, Or have caused the owners of it to lose their life: Let briars grow instead of wheat, And stinkweed instead of barley." The words of Job are ended.
Thus did Hezekiah throughout all Judah; and he worked that which was good and right and faithful before Yahweh his God. In every work that he began in the service of the house of God, and in the law, and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart, and prospered.
The sons of Shem: Elam, and Asshur, and Arpachshad, and Lud, and Aram, and Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Meshech.
Moreover you shall provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God: men of truth, hating unjust gain; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers 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.