22 And it casteth at him, and doth not spare, From its hand he diligently fleeth.
And what do ye at a day of inspection? And at desolation? -- from afar it cometh. Near whom do ye flee for help? And where do ye leave your honour?
For if God messengers who sinned did not spare, but with chains of thick gloom, having cast `them' down to Tartarus, did deliver `them' to judgment, having been reserved, and the old world did not spare, but the eighth person, Noah, of righteousness a preacher, did keep, a flood on the world of the impious having brought,
I have seen the Lord standing by the altar, and He saith: `Smite the knob, and the thresholds shake, And cut them off by the head -- all of them, And their posterity with a sword I do slay, Not flee to them doth the fleer, Nor escape to them doth a fugitive. If they dig through into sheol, From thence doth My hand take them, And if they go up the heavens, From thence I cause them to come down. And if they be hid in the top of Carmel, From thence I search out, and have taken them, And if they be hid from Mine eyes in the bottom of the sea, From thence I command the serpent, And it hath bitten them.
And perished hath refuge from the swift, And the strong strengtheneth not his power, And the mighty delivereth not his soul.
And to the others he said in mine ears, `Pass on into the city after him, and smite; your eye doth not pity, nor do ye spare; aged, young man, and virgin, and infant, and women, ye do slay -- to destruction; and against any man on whom `is' the mark ye do not go nigh, and from My sanctuary ye begin.'
Therefore, I live -- an affirmation of the Lord Jehovah: Because My sanctuary thou hast defiled, With all thy detestable things, And with all thine abominations, Mine eye pitieth not, and I also spare not. Do not even I also diminish?
for, at this time I am sending all My plagues unto thy heart, and on thy servants, and on thy people, so that thou knowest that there is none like Me in all the earth,
He fleeth from an iron weapon, Pass through him doth a bow of brass.
And Sisera hath fled on his feet unto the tent of Jael wife of Heber the Kenite, for peace `is' between Jabin king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite; and Jael goeth out to meet Sisera, and saith unto him, `Turn aside, my lord, turn aside unto me, fear not;' and he turneth aside unto her, into the tent, and she covereth him with a coverlet. And he saith unto her, `Give me to drink, I pray thee, a little water, for I am thirsty;' and she openeth the bottle of milk, and giveth him to drink, and covereth him. And he saith unto her, `Stand at the opening of the tent, and it hath been, if any doth come in, and hath asked thee, and said, Is there a man here? that thou hast said, There is not.' And Jael wife of Heber taketh the pin of the tent, and taketh the hammer in her hand, and goeth unto him gently, and striketh the pin into his temples, and it fasteneth in the earth -- and he hath been fast asleep, and is weary -- and he dieth.
And it cometh to pass, in their fleeing from the face of Israel -- they `are' in the descent of Beth-Horon -- and Jehovah hath cast upon them great stones out of the heavens, unto Azekah, and they die; more are they who have died by the hailstones than they whom the sons of Israel have slain by the sword.
Jehovah is not willing to be propitious to him, for then doth the anger of Jehovah smoke, also His zeal, against that man, and lain down on him hath all the oath which is written in this book, and Jehovah hath blotted out his name from under the heavens,
and turneth aside the wheels of their chariots, and they lead them with difficulty, and the Egyptians say, `Let us flee from the face of Israel, for Jehovah is fighting for them against the Egyptians.' And Jehovah saith unto Moses, `Stretch out thy hand toward the sea, and the waters turn back on the Egyptians, on their chariots, and on their horsemen.' And Moses stretcheth out his hand towards the sea, and the sea turneth back, at the turning of the morning, to its perennial flow, and the Egyptians are fleeing at its coming, and Jehovah shaketh off the Egyptians in the midst of the sea, and the waters turn back, and cover the chariots and the horsemen, even all the force of Pharaoh, who are coming in after them into the sea -- there hath not been left of them even one.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Job 27
Commentary on Job 27 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 27
Job 27:1-23.
It was now Zophar's turn to speak. But as he and the other two were silent, virtually admitting defeat, after a pause Job proceeds.
1. parable—applied in the East to a figurative sententious embodiment of wisdom in poetic form, a gnome (Ps 49:4).
continued—proceeded to put forth; implying elevation of discourse.
2. (1Sa 20:3).
taken away … judgment—words unconsciously foreshadowing Jesus Christ (Isa 53:8; Ac 8:33). God will not give Job his right, by declaring his innocence.
vexed—Hebrew, "made bitter" (Ru 1:20).
3. Implying Job's knowledge of the fact that the living soul was breathed into man by God (Ge 2:7). "All the while." But Maurer, "As yet all my breath is in me" (notwithstanding my trials): the reason why I can speak so boldly.
4. (Job 6:28, 30). The "deceit" would be if he were to admit guilt against the witness of his conscience.
5. justify you—approve of your views.
mine integrity—which you deny, on account of my misfortunes.
6. Rather, my "heart" (conscience) reproaches "not one of my days," that is, I do not repent of any of my days since I came into existence [Maurer].
7. Let … be—Let mine enemy be accounted as wicked, that is, He who opposes my asseveration of innocence must be regarded as actuated by criminal hostility. Not a curse on his enemies.
8. "What hope hath the hypocrite, notwithstanding all his gains, when?" &c. "Gained" is antithetic to "taketh away." Umbreit's translation is an unmeaning tautology. "When God cuts off, when He taketh away his life."
taketh away—literally, "draws out" the soul from the body, which is, as it were, its scabbard (Job 4:21; Ps 104:29; Da 7:15). Job says that he admits what Bildad said (Job 8:13) and Zophar (Job 20:5). But he says the very fact of his still calling upon God (Job 27:10) amid all his trials, which a hypocrite would not dare to do, shows he is no "hypocrite."
9. (Ps 66:18).
10. Alluding to Job 22:26.
always call—He may do so in times of prosperity in order to be thought religious. But he will not, as I do, call on God in calamities verging on death. Therefore I cannot be a "hypocrite" (Job 19:25; 20:5; Ps 62:8).
11-23. These words are contrary to Job's previous sentiments (see on Job 21:22-33; Job 24:22-25). Job 21:22-33; 24:22-25). They therefore seem to be Job's statement, not so much of his own sentiments, as of what Zophar would have said had he spoken when his turn came (end of the twenty-sixth chapter). So Job stated the friends' opinion (Job 21:17-21; 24:18-21). The objection is, why, if so, does not Job answer Zophar's opinion, as stated by himself? The fact is, it is probable that Job tacitly, by giving, in the twenty-eighth chapter, only a general answer, implies, that in spite of the wicked often dying, as he said, in prosperity, he does not mean to deny that the wicked are in the main dealt with according to right, and that God herein vindicates His moral government even here. Job therefore states Zophar's argument more strongly than Zophar would have done. But by comparing Job 27:13 with Job 20:29 ("portion," "heritage"), it will be seen, it is Zophar's argument, rather than his own, that Job states. Granting it to be true, implies Job, you ought not to use it as an argument to criminate me. For (Job 28:1-28) the ways of divine wisdom in afflicting the godly are inscrutable: all that is sure to man is, the fear of the Lord is wisdom (Job 28:28).
by the hand—rather, concerning the hand of God, namely, what God does in governing men.
with the Almighty—the counsel or principle which regulates God's dealings.
12. "Ye yourselves see" that the wicked often are afflicted (though often the reverse, Job 21:33). But do you "vainly" make this an argument to prove from my afflictions that I am wicked?
13. (See on Job 27:11).
14. His family only increases to perish by sword or famine (Jer 18:21; Job 5:20, the converse).
15. Those that escape war and famine (Job 27:14) shall be buried by the deadly plague—"death" (Job 18:13; Jer 15:2; Re 6:8). The plague of the Middle Ages was called "the black death." Buried by it implies that they would have none else but the death plague itself (poetically personified) to perform their funeral rites, that is, would have no one.
his—rather, "their widows." Transitions from singular to plural are frequent. Polygamy is not implied.
16. dust … clay—images of multitudes (Zec 9:3). Many changes of raiment are a chief constituent of wealth in the East.
17. Introverted parallelism. (See Introduction). Of the four clauses in the two verses, one answers to four, two to three (so Mt 7:6).
18. (Job 8:14; 4:19). The transition is natural from "raiment" (Job 27:16) to the "house" of the "moth" in it, and of it, when in its larva state. The moth worm's house is broken whenever the "raiment" is shaken out, so frail is it.
booth—a bough-formed hut which the guard of a vineyard raises for temporary shelter (Isa 1:8).
19. gathered—buried honorably (Ge 25:8; 2Ki 22:20). But Umbreit, agreeably to Job 27:18, which describes the short continuance of the sinner's prosperity, "He layeth himself rich in his bed, and nothing is robbed from him, he openeth his eyes, and nothing more is there." If English Version be retained, the first clause probably means, rich though he be in dying, he shall not be honored with a funeral; the second, When he opens his eyes in the unseen world, it is only to see his destruction: the Septuagint reads for "not gathered," He does not proceed, that is, goes to his bed no more. So Maurer.
20. (Job 18:11; 22:11, 21). Like a sudden violent flood (Isa 8:7, 8; Jer 47:2): conversely (Ps 32:6).
21. (Job 21:18; 15:2; Ps 58:9).
22. cast—namely, thunderbolts (Job 6:4; 7:20; 16:13; Ps 7:12, 13).
23. clap … hands—for joy at his downfall (La 2:15; Na 3:19).
hiss—deride (Jer 25:9). Job alludes to Bildad's words (Job 18:18).