Biblical
Reparatory and
Public Domain.
[William Henry Green]
1857] The Book of Job. 281
ART.
VI.--Commentar uber das Buch Hiob,
von, H. A. HAHN
u. s. w.
Das Buch Hiob, verdeutseht und erlautert von Lic. Kon-
STANTIN SCHLOTTMANN.
The
Book of Job; a Translation from the original Hebrew
on the basis of the common and earlier English
versions.
For the American Bible Union, by THOMAS J. CONANT,
the Hebrew Text, and the Revised Version, with
Critical and
Philological Notes 4to. pp. 165. Part Second, The Revised
Version, with Explanatory Notes for the English
reader
4to. pp. 85.
Part Third Revised Version. 4to. pp. 52.
THE poetical books of the Old Testament fall
naturally into
two
divisions of three each. There are distinguished both by
their
subject and by the style of their poetry. The first class
embraces
in addition to the Psalms two brief books, which from
their
character might naturally have been included in the same
collection,
had not their length and importance been such as to-
justify
the assigning to them an independent position. The
Song
of Solomon is an extended 45th Psalm. And the Lament-
tions of Jeremiah find counterparts in the Psalms, as
well in
their
theme (Comp. Ps. lxxix. lxxx.)
as in their alphabetic
structure:
These are all purely lyrical, and express the devout
feelinge of the heart, in the contemplation of the
character of
God,
the truths of his word, or the dispensations of his providence.
The other three books constituting the second
class, are Job,
the
Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes. Their common theme may be
suggested
to us by the use which they make of one character-
istic word, "wisdom." Their aim is to show
that piety, is
wisdom;
that it is the one course promotive of man's true and
highest
welfare. They seek in other words to exhibit the con-
sistency between the truths of God's revelation
and the lessons of
his
providence, by making it appear--that what the former sanc-
tions as right, is attested by the latter as good.
The book of
Proverbs
presents the harmony of the divine law and of the
actual
experience of the world as a general fact. It contains
VOL. XXIX.-NO. II. 36
282
The Book of Job. [APRIL
a
great number of maxims bearing upon every department of
human
life, and, embodying the results of long continued and
careful
observation, which prove conclusively that piety con-
duces to human welfare, and that wickedness is
opposed to it.
Such
is the present constitution of things on the whole; such is
the
native tendency of these respective courses, unless obstructed
by
casual and outside influences. General rules are, however,
liable
to exceptions: this is the case with many of these inspired
maxims.
The conclusion as to the usual course of things cannot,
it
is true, be invalidated in this way; but anxious questionings
and
perplexing doubts may be awakened, which demand a satis-
factory
solution, if one can be furnished. If the identity of
piety
and wisdom is not only a general truth with occasional
exceptions,
but a universal truth with no exceptions; it is impor-
tant that this should be shown, and the apparent
interruptions
of
the general law explained in such a way as to show that it is
at
no time suspended or reversed. It is to this that the books
of
Job and Ecclesiastes are directed. There are but two possi-
ble cases which could be regarded as exceptions to
the general
rule,
and these in various forms and degrees are perpetually
presenting
themselves in the actual life of the world. These
are,
first, piety without prosperity; and, second, prosperity
without
piety. The first is discussed in Job, the second in
Ecclesiastes.
In both, to make the argument perfectly conclu-
sive, the difficulty is presented in its extreme
form. In Job, a
man
without his equal for piety in the world, is overwhelmed by
a
sudden and most extraordinary accumulation of disasters; he
is
stripped of his possessions, bereaved of his family, afflicted by
sore
disease, despised and shunned by his acquaintance, and
made
the victim of cruel suspicions and censures, until life
became
a burden; and yet in it all it is shown that God was not
unfaithful,
and piety did not fail of its reward. On the other
hand,
the book of Ecclesiastes exhibits the spectacle of a man,
who
is raised to the summit of earthly felicity, who has sur-
rounded
himself with every source of gratification that power
or
wealth can command, or his heart desire; who leaves no
project
unfulfilled, no wish un gratified, and gives himself of set
purpose
to extract solid satisfaction from the world, conducting
his
efforts with a sagacity and a wisdom such as no other man
1857.] The Book of Job. 283
has
possessed before or since.; and the: result of all was disap-
pointment and failure, vanity and vexation, of spirit;
and the
conclusion
to which he came after, the baffling experiment of a
life-time
was, that the world without God can, yield no solid
good.
Or as he states the issue himself, Eccl.
xii.13: "Fear"
God,
and, keep his commandments; for this is the whole of
man;"
this sums up at once his duty and his happiness.
These three books, forming thus a complete cycle,
and cov-
ering together the entire range of the subject to whose
illustra-
tion, they are devoted, belong to one common style
of poetry,
the,
gnomic or aphoristic. This style, with its, brief, sententious
apophthegms, seems specially suited to bring out
clearly and
forcibly
the truths of experience, embodying them in such, a
shape
as shall strongly affect the mind, and lodge firmly in the
memory.
It appears in its purest and most unmixed
form in
the
Proverbs; less so in Ecclesiastes, as the nature of the dis-
cussion demanded; least of all in Job, where the
lyrical ele-
ment rises to greater prominence than in either of
the others,
although
the aphoristic is not discarded.
According to a supscription
added, to this book in, the, Sep-
tuagint, Uz lay upon
the borders of Idumea and Arbia;
and
Job
was the grandson of Esau, the same with Jobab (Gen.
xxxvi.
33) one of the kings of
is
to be placed upon this; latter statement, the correctness of
the
former is generally conceded. The
authority of the trans-
lator is itself something, as it is not improbable that,
the land
may
still have been known by its original name in his day.
It
seems to be even mentioned by Ptolemy. And all the
indications
in the book; itself, and in other passages of Scrip-
ture, where the name occurs, conspire to fix it
somewhere in
that
region. Whether it was so called from
the descendant of
Seir, (Gen. xxxvi; 28) or the son of Nahor, (xxii. 21) or of
favoured by the fact that Job is called a son of
the East, (i. 3,)
that,
his property was exposed to incursions of the Sabeans
and
the
Chaldeans, that his friends were from Teman, Shuah,
(Gen.
xxv. 2,) and Naamah, (possibly that mentioned Josh.
xv.
41,) that in Lamentations iv. 2;1, Uz is associated with
284
The Book of Job. [APRIL
That
Job was a real person, and his history is a record of
actual
events, may be inferred from the fact that the localities
are
real, that the names are not significant, (except Job, which
may
mean the one assailed or treated with hostility,) that there
is
no analogy in ancient writers, and particularly in the Bible,
for
such a purely fictitious tale. The question is settled,
however,
by the allusions to Job as an historical person in
Ezek.
xiv. 14, &c., James v. 11. This does not render it
necessary
to assume that everything occurred precisely as is
here
narrated, that the speeches are reported verbatim, that the
Lord
pronounced a long discourse, or that Satan literally
appeared
in heaven among the sons of God. Still less can the
round
numbers in which Job's possessions are stated, and their
exact
duplication afterwards occasion any embarrassment. The
history
is given substantially as it occurred, not with an eye to
precision
in trivial details, but with the view of developing in
their
full extent the important lessons which it was adapted to
convey.
The period when Job lived is nowhere expressly
stated.
But
his grMt longevity, the patriarchal simplicity of the
wor-
ship,
as well as of the life and manners, reflected in this book,
the
absence of all allusion to the miracles or revelations which
marked
the period of the exodus, the fact of such piety existing
out
of the line of the covenant people, incline to the, belief that
he
was not subsequent to the time of Moses. And the mention of
names
(ii. 11; vi. 19; xxxii. 2,) which occur among the descen-
dants of Nahor, Keturah, Ishmael, and Esau, render it probable
that
he did live very long before this time.
The mystery which invests the origin of this
book, as well as
that
of some others belonging to the Old Testament, will proba-
bly never be dispelled. Our ignorance of its author,
however,
does
not prejudice its canonicity, for we may safely acquiesce
in
the decision which admitted it to its present rank while the
evidence
of its inspiration was still in being, attested as it is by
the
infallible sanction of our Lord and his apostles, given to the
integrity
of the Jewish Scriptures, and by repeated citations in
the
New Testament from this individual book. The opinion
that
Job was written in the later times of the kingdom of
1857.] The Book of Job. 285
in
its favour. It is less easy to decide between two
other
epbchs, to which it has been assigned, viz. that of
Moses, and
that
of David and Solomon.. The ablest continental scholars
appear
to be settling down" in favour of the latter,
which, is
maintained
not only by Hahn and Schlottmann, but by Heng-
stenberg, Havernick, Delitzsch, Vaihinger, Hofmann,
(in his
later
publications,) Welte and others. We are pleased to see
that
Professor Conant advocates the former, not so much
because
we
have any settled conviction upon the point, as because no
sufficient
reason has yet been given for abandoning the old
ditional opinion.
The highly artistic structure of this book and
the exquisite
finish
of its poetry, are urged as showing that the poetic art
must
have been long cultivated, and brought to a great degree
of
perfection; and that some such golden period of the sacred
muse
as the age of David must be pre-supposed, before such a
production
as this could have been conceived or executed. But
the
finest specimens of a people's poetry stand sometimes among
the
earliest monuments of their literature. The epics of Homer
furnish
an irrefragable answer to every objection from this
quarter
directed against the antiquity of Job. Poetic genius
was
needed for its production, rather than any formal rules of
art;
and it is impossible to determine upon any general princi-
ples the time when such a genius must have appeared.
It has been argued from the relation in which
this book stands
to
the law as an enlargement of its teachings relative to divine
retribution,
that the law as the foundation must have been first,
and
then Job as the superstructure, must have been built upon
it.
The law says, Fear God, and be blessed. Job shows that
the
truth of the law is still preserved, even when the righteous
do
not externally prosper. The law, it is
alleged, must have
been
promulgated, before the question as to its consistency
with
the facts or experience could have arisen. But as, this
declaration
of the law is a direct consequence of the, divine
rectitude,
it was equally a tenet of the patriarchs by whom this
attribute
of God was known. And at a time when the piety of
men,
like Abraham and Isaac, was reflected in their fortunes,
such
a question as this in the case of Job would be peculiarly
liable
to arise and to occasion the most painful misgivings.
286
The Book of Job. [APRIL
And
if, as is alleged by those who would bring its composition
down
to the time of the exile, a period of national distress would
make
the subject here discussed one of wider interest and im-
portance, would not its consolations be
especially needed when
sion of
able
idolaters held possession of the promised land? Why may
not
the great legislator have been commi~sioned under
these
circumstances
to expound, in what sense the promises of pros-
perity and blessing given of God were meant?
The striking resemblance which undoubtedly
exists between
several
passages in this book, and such as occur in the Psalms
and
Proverbs, is quite as consistent with its priority as with
that
of the latter. It was naturally to be expected that a work
of
such originality and power should leave its traces on all the
subsequent
poetry of the nation. And if we find phrases, words
or
turns of thought common to it with other books, the pre-
sumption is, until the contrary is shown, that
Job was imitated,
not
the imitator. This is admitted in the case of Ezekiel,
Jeremiah,
Isaiah, Amos; why not in that of David and Solo-
mon?
That the whole air of this book is patriarchal,
and that it
never
refers to any event subsequent to the time of Moses, might
be
explained on the hypothesis of the later origin of the book,
by
the assumption that the writer whose subject lay in the olden
time,
strictly observed the proprieties of time and place; though
it
would evidence extraordinary skill that he has not by the
slightest
expression betrayed that his assumed differed from his
real
position. The natural impression, however, antecedent to
proof
of the contrary, must be that the book was written in or
near
the times and scenes which it so admirably portrays. It
is
a remarkable coincidence, even if it be a casual one, that
many
of the things that we expect to find m the writer, meet in
Moses.
His long sojourn in Midian explains his acquaintance
with
the facts, while his personal experience and that of his
suffering
people impressed their lessons on his heart. This too
may
furnish a solution of the Arabisms of the book. The
writer's
familiarity with Egyptian objects (which is such that
Schlottmann insists that he must have seen what he
describes,)
1857.]
The Book of
Job. 287
and
the knowledge which he displays of nature and of the arts
will
also be readily accounted for, since Moses was learned
all
the wisdom of the Egyptians. That Ophir (xxii. 24,
xxviii.
16,)
was not known to the Hebrews before the days of Solomon
is
asserted by Hahn; but it might be difficult to prove that
Egyptian
conquests or Egyptian trade had not extended there.
The
powerful and versatile genius of Moses none can dispute;
a
specimen of the various and exquisite poetry he was capa-
ble of producing, is furnished Ex. xv. Deut. xxxii.
and xxxiii.
and
Ps. xc.
We do not venture to say that Moses did write this
book, nor
that
it was written in his time; but only that the contrary is
not
proven. The chief repugnance, which we confess to having
it
assigned to a later period, arises from the manifest disposition
in
those who do so, though it is by no means a necessary conse-
quence, to entertain lax notions of its historical
character.
Schlottmann distinguishes between the event itself
and the tra-
dition of it ,as it came to the writer. And Hengstenberg, after
maintaining
(Kitto's Cyc. II. p. 121)
that there might be some
intangible
historical basis for what is recorded of Job, has at
length
(Lecture before the Evangelical Union in
13)
reached the conclusion that there is none whatever, and
that
all which the allusions of Ezekiel and James compel us to
assume,
is that the lesson of the book is true and that the writer
had
passed through some such conflict in his own experience.
The
different views which have been held of the design and
teachings
of this book, have mostly arisen from not taking a
sufficiently
comprehensive view of the whole, confining the
attention
mainly or exclusively to one portion, and exalting it
to
an undue prominence. This is also the secret of the dispo-
sition manifested by several critics to dispute the
genuineness
of
one section or of another, which they find incompatible with
what
they have arbitrarily assumed to be the governing idea.
It
is decisive against any view of the book at the outset, if such
forcible
measures are necessary in order to carry it through.
No
theory can be admitted which will not furnish the solution
of
it in all its parts just as it exists, without the necessity of its
being
mutilated or altered; in which it shall not appear that
there
is nothing wanting, and nothing superfluous, but that all
288
The Book of Job. [APRIL
harmonizes
and conspires together in its just proportion to pro-
duce
the contemplated end.
The supposition that it is the design of this
book to develope
the
idea of true wisdom, takes its shape from chap. xxviii. and
makes
that the key of the whole. Baumgarten-Crusius, who
maintains
this view, thinks that the different speakers represent
the
different stages in the progress of this idea. Job personates
a
simple, unsophisticated piety; the three friends a legal mind;
Elihu a loftier and more comprehensive intelligence;
while a
thoroughly
instructed religion and wisdom in its highest form are
embodied
in the discourse of the Lord. But besides that this
is
not a just view of the parts sustained by the respective
speakers,
the discussions relate not to wisdom in the abstract,
nor
in the general, but in its bearings upon one particular
case.
Ewald thinks that the aim of
the book is to teach the immor-
tality of the soul, and by means of the hope of a
future state to
reconcile
to the inequalities of the present. This is taking the
key
from chapter xix; a chapter which plays an important
part
in the economy of the book, as will appear hereafter, but
which
is not entitled to the predominance here given it. It is
there
shown how the man of God can rise to an assured
triumph
even in the most desperate case, by holding firmly to
his
faith that the God whom he serves is his friend in spite of
everything
that seems to establish the contrary, and that he
will
surely make this appear, if not on this side of the grave,
yet
beyond it. But this is not the solution given to the
problem
of suffering righteousness. It is possible to vindi-
cate the present as well as to make an appeal to the
future.
Accordingly
the subsequent speeches of Job show that, not-
withstanding
the triumphant assurance which he had gained
respecting
his actually existing relation to God, and the
certain
manifestation of it in the future, yet the distressing
enigma
of its present obscuration, remained to him as insoluble
as
before. And in the discourses of Elihu and of the
Lord,
where
we look for the final settlement of the matter at issue,
man's
immortality is not once referred to. Whatever place
this
may have, therefore, in the complete view of the question,
it
is not its ultimate solution.
1857.] The Book of Job. 289
According to others, the design. of the book is
to inculcate
unconditional
submission to the will of the infinite God. His
ways
are inscrutable. Man's duty is, without murmuring, to
submit
humbly to his dispensations. But instead of solving
the
enigma, this would be to dismiss it as insolvable. The book
of
Job goes far beyond this. The infinite perfections of God
are
presented as a sure ground of confidence, even in his
darkest
dispensations, while his 'gracious purpose in affliction,
,and
its happy issue, are distinctly brought, to view. The
resignation
of the truly pious, on such grounds as these, is at a
world..wide remove from the submission of the Stoic
to inexor-
able
fate. This view has led' several of its advocates to rid
themselves
of the difficulties which the historical introduction
and
conclusion lay in their way, by denying their genuineness.
But
the alleged discrepancies between these and the body of
the
book are of no account. The grounds assigned for Job's
sufferings
in the introduction, and the issue to which they are
conducted
in the conclusion., teach nothing incompatible with
the
intermediate portion of the book, if this be on1y properly
understood.
That Job was a man of eminent holiness, and
bore
his calamities with becoming resignation, is not falsified
by
the subsequent language of impatience and despair, wrung
from
him by their long continued intensity, and by the cruel
censures
of his friends. The Lord's rebuke of Job, xxxviii. 2,
xl.
2, involves ho such apprf1val of his friends, as would conflict
with
xlii. 7. Chapters xix. 17, and xxxi. 8, are not at variance
with
the account of the death of Job's children, i. 18,
19. Pro-
fessor Conant translates the
second passage correctly, "Let my
products
be rooted up." And the first he
renders, "I am offen-
sive to the sons of the same womb;" whatever
question there
may
be as to the first part of this clause, there can be little as
to
the last; the allusion is not to Job's 'children, but to his
brethren,
xlii 11. The death of his children is in fact alluded
to
in the body of the book itself, viii. 4, xxix. 5. That the
introduction
and conclusion are in prose, (as historical sections
always
are,) that they speak of sacrifices, while no mention is
made
of them in the rest of the book (for the reason that there
was
no occasion for it,) that they use the divine name Jehovah,
(though
not exclusively,) while in the rest of, the book the
VOL. XXIX.-NO. II. 37
290
The Book of Job. [APRIL
divine
name employed is Eloah, God, (yet see xii. 9,
xxxviii. 1,
xl.
1, 3, 6, xlii. 1,) can scarcely be considered serious argu-
ments. On the other hand, the positive and invincible
argument
of
genuineness is, that the beginning and the end of the book
are
essential to the understanding of it. Apart from these,
there
is no intimation who the parties are who are here speak-
ing, nor what is the occasion of their discussion.
It is especi-
ally
necessary that the reader should be made aware of Job's
character
at the outset, or how could it be known that there was
any
enigma in his suffering, or that the suspicions of his friends
were
unjust, and that he was not merely pretending to an inno-
cence which he did not possess: and the book would be
mani-
festly unfinished, if it were to stop where the poetic
portion
ends;
that is no suitable conclusion. This is so clearly the
case,
that some who deny the genuineness of the present intro-
duction and conclusion, assert that it must have
had others in
their
stead originally, and that these were removed to make
way
for those we now possess. But this is bringing hypothesis
to
support hypothesis, and only involves the matter in still
greater
difficulties. What has become of that original preface
and
termination? What motive was there for expunging them
to
introduce new ones? And how was it possible that such a
forgery
in so remarkable a book as this, and one, too, included
in
the sacred canon, could succeed? Not to speak of the fresh
obstruction
interposed by the authority of the New Testament,
for
the allusion in James v. 11, is to the historical conclusion.
Others think the book designed to show the
inadequacy of
the
Mosaic doctrine of a temporal retribution. Their notion is,
that,
according to the law of Moses, righteousness is to be inva-
riably rewarded and sin punished in the present life,
in prop or-
tion to their deserts; and that the writer of Job
meant to prove
on
the contrary that men are not treated in this world accord-
ing to their characters. But, 1. It would be inconceivable
that
a
book whose design was to contradict the Mosaic law, should
be
written by a pious member of the theocracy, or that it should
be
admitted to the canon if it was. The law of Moses was
sacred
in the eyes of every Israelite, and antagonism to it
would
not have been tolerated. Those passages in the pro-
phets, which have been alleged to be antagonistic to
the law, in
1857.] The Book of Job. 291
which
they speak of ceremonial observances' as inferior to
spiritual
religion, are not in reality such, for this is the very
spirit
of the law itself. If this book, therefore, takes ground
opposed
to the 1aw, it is without analogy in the whole Old'Tes-
tament. 2. The defenders of this view identity the
position
taken
by the friends of Job with the statements of the law, and
regard
the censure passed upon the former as falling equally
upon
the latter. But this is not correct. It is not the law, but
partial
or erroneous conclusions drawn from its teachings, which
are
here condemned. Just as in his sermonic
on the mount, our
Lord
rebuked not the law itself; but the false glosses and inter-
pretations which the Jews! had put upon
it..B'ecause1ife and:
prosperity
are promised to the righteous, and calamities are
threatened
to the wicked, the friends inferred that the external
prosperity
of' the good must be uninterrupted, and that severe
calamities
always evidence gross wickedness. This
book does,
not
oppose the law, but confirms it, by freeing it from the burden
of
these erroneous inferences. It shows that a man of eminent
piety
may, for reasons inferring no antecedent crime on his part
be
cast down from his prosperity, and involved in the greatest
misfortunes.
It shows moreover that the promises of
God were
after
all fulfilled in the case of Job, and the mystery which
overhung
the ways of
the
end to a higher prosperity than ever; thus revealing that
temporary
sorrows may, be conducive to a future, higher good,
and
may be themselves blessings: in disguise. It is to be
observed
likewise that the discourses of the three friends are
not
to be condemned in toto.
Many of their sentiments are
correct,
and much that they say is just and proper. In fact,
even
where they are wrong, their error is often not so much in
what
they say as in what they intimate. Taken as abstract
propositions,
what they oppose to Job is commonly true; it is
only
the application of it which they design, that is false. Their
statements,
though capable for the most part of being under-
stood
in a sense that is correct, are rendered incorrect by their
being
adduced as the full explanation of a case which they do
not
really meet, and to which they could only be applied by the
most
unjust and unfounded assumptions of the guilt of Job.
3.
The law of Moses, in teaching the righteousness of God's
292
The Book of Job. [APRIL
dispensations
in the present life, is most strictly true, and is in
entire
accordance with the doctrine of the New Testament on
this
same subject. Piety has its temporal as well as its eternal
rewards.
Our Saviour (Matt. v. 5) blesses the meek; for they
shall
inherit the earth. In Mark x. 29, 30, he says that who-
ever
has left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father or mother,
or
wife; or children, or lands, for his sake and the gospel's, shall
receive
an hundred-fold now in this time, and in the world to
come
eternal life. The apostle Paul tells us (1 Tim. iv. 8) that
godliness
has the promise of the life that now is, and of that
which
is to come. The essential righteousness of God in fact
secures
the righteousness of all his dispensations in this world,
as
much as in the future state. The retributions of the world to
come
are not to be regarded as a compensation for present
inequality
and injustice. He who admits that men are not
dealt
with justly here, and treated according to their characters,
cuts
the nerves of the argument for a future retribution, instead
of
strengthening it. For if God is not just now, what assurance
can
we have that he ever will be? But in claiming for the right-
eous the favour and
blessing of God here, it must be distinctly
understood
what that means. For external worldly prosperity
is.
no certain gauge even of present happiness, much less of
men's
true welfare. God consults for the highest interests of
his
people. He sends upon them what he sees to be most for
their
good. Affliction thus sent is not an evil, but a benefit;
while
worldly prosperity without the divine favour is a
curse
instead
of a blessing. Besides it must be borne in mind, and
this
is one of the truths insisted upon in the book before us, that
even
the holiest of men are not free from sin. Conscious, there-
fore,
of ill-desert, they should receive with humility and resigna-
tion whatever sufferings are sent upon them. These
sufferings
have
a direct connection with their sin. They may not be
penal,
indeed, but they are disciplinary. They are needed and
designed
to purge from sin. Their proper effect was produced
upon
Job as soon as he said, (xlii. 6,) "I abhor myself, and
repent
in dust and ashes." When that state of mind was pro-
duced, the discipline had gained its end, and was at
once
removed.
This book has also been regarded as an allegory,
designed to
1857.] The Book of Job. 293
set
forth, the fortunes of the ,Jewish people. According to
Bishop
Warburton, Job represents the nation of the Jews, and
his
sufferings the calamities, which befell them, including their
captivity;
the three friends were those who obstructed the
rebuilding
of
Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshero; Elihu represents the
writer of
the
book himself. Others make, the three friends stand for the
prophets;
others explain them differently still. But without
going
into the details of any of these schemes, it will, be suffi-
cient to show them to be impracticable in regard to
their chief
character,
in which alone they all agree. Job cannot possibly
represent
the Jewish nation, for the whole mystery, of his suf-
ferings lies in their arising from no fault on his
part, whereas
those
which befell the Jews are always represented as the
penalty
of their transgressions. And there is no allusion in
the
whole book to the circumstances of the people at the time.
of
the exile, and nothing whatever from which an intimation
can
be gained that it is to be allegorically understood. Every-
thing,
indicates the subject to be a case of individual not of
national
suffering. This view too would require the assumption
that
the book was written in or after the exile; it is contra
dicted likewise by the historical character of Job
already;
proved.
The real theme of this book is, as it has, been
well expressed,
“the
mystery of the cross." It is intended to throw light upon
that
perplexing enigma, so trying oftentimes to faith, of the
sufferings
of the righteous. How are they to be reconciled
with
the justice of God, or with the declaration of his law
"Do
this, and thou shalt live?" This purpose is accomplished
by
adducing the case of a man, in whose history the truth to be
taught
is strikingly illustrated. God himself testifies regarding
Job,
that "there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an
upright
roan, one that feareth God and escheweth
evil." This
roan,
not for any special transgression, but at, the solicitation
of
Satan, is suddenly cast down from his prosperity, and made
to
endure the severest inflictions in his property, his family,
and
his person, in order to try the strength of his piety, and
that
his steadfastness may be exhibited to the confusion of the
tempter.
The secret of Job's sufferings is thus far explained
294
The Book of Job. [APRIL
to
the reader before the discussion begins; but it is a mistake
however
common, to suppose that this is the whole mystery.
So
Delitzsch, (Herzog's Encyklop.
art. Hiob,) after enumerat-
ing the four kinds of suffering to which men may be
subjected,
viz.
punishment, chastisement, trial, and martyrdom, insists
upon
it that the third is the only one applicable to this case, in
which
"there is not the remotest connection between the
suffering
and the sinfulness of the sufferer." This initial error
leads
him, as we shall see hereafter, to deny the genuineness of
an
important section of the book. Others who are not pre-
pared
for this extreme, go at least to the length of declaring
that
it contributes nothing toward the proper settlement of the
question
at issue. Even Professor Conant says of the section
referred
to, "Elihu has contributed his suggestions,
without
advancing
a step towards the solution of the problem. For
there
is no place in his theory, any more than in that of the
three
friends, for the actual case presented." It will be suf-
ficient to say here, that it is not the design
of the introduction
to
dispose of the case, but simply' to place it before the reader.
It
prepares the way for the discussion, but without anticipating
its
result. It acquaints the reader with the fact, concealed
from
the human speakers, of Satan's agency in these inflictions.
But
it does not profess to give in full the reasons by which the
Lord
was moved in allowing Satan to deal with Job as he did.
No
haste is exhibited anywhere in this book to disclose the
hidden
purposes of God. They are suffered to unfold them-
selves
in his actual providence, and their ripened issue is their
ample
justification. In fact, a similar course is pursued with
most
of the great lessons here inculcated, and herein lies one of
the
evidences of the wonderful skill of the writer. These
lessons
are strongly brought out, and the impression which they
leave
is perfectly distinct and clear; but this is effected less
by
precise and formal statements, than by the combined effect
of
the whole course of the history and the discussion.
That Satan was used to accomplish results on
behalf of this
pious
man, very different from any that he designed or imagined,
is
suggested by the representation of his appearing statedly
among
the sons of God, when they came to present themselves
before
the Lord. Satan is like them, God's servant, employed
1857.]
The Book of
Job. 295
in
ministrations to men which are directed (or controlled) by
God's
sovereign will, and of his performance of which he comes
like
the rest to render his report. It is not given to this
cious spirit to torture men' as he may please. His
office is to
spy
out the faults of good men, and to tempt them to sin;
labouring to crush where- he cannot seduce them.
But this is
an
agency, which God employs for ends of his own. He does
not
originate the evil, but he uses it. So too, when Satan mis-
leads
the wicked to their ruin, as we are taught in 1 Kings xxii.
19
23, a passage strikingly similar to that before us, it is by
the
same divine permission and in just judgment for their sins.
This
subordination of evil to the designs of the Most High is it
leading
lesson impressed upon the; very front of Job's history.
Perhaps
it may be called one of the original conditions of the
problem.
What those designs were, or how evil can be employed
to
effect them, we must be content to learn as the progress of
events
shall disclose them.
One purpose which God had in view, as shown by
the event
particularly
of the first trial (i. 22, ii. 3,) was, as has been
stated
already,
to test the fidelity of Job, not of course for the satis-
action
of the Lord, who had previously given his unerring judg-
ment of his character, but to confound the tempter
and to pre-
sent
an example of the sustaining power of faith to men. But
it
is nowhere intimated that this was his sole design. From
subsequent
developments we learn that he had another purpose
quite
compatible with the former, but additional to it and dis-
tinct from it. The fire was designed not only to
prove the
existence
of the gold, but to purge away its dross. The trial
was
a chastisement likewise, not for overt acts of sin, but for
the
yet unsubdued corruption of the heart. God would not
have
subjected a perfectly sinless being even temporarily to
Satan's
power, however gloriously his steadfastness might there-
by
be made to appear. If there had been no discipline in them
for
Job himself, permission would not have been given for these.
inflictions.
This antecedent, presumption is confirmed by the
fact
that, latent sin is detected in Job and brought to light
under
"the terrible pressure of his sorrows. There is an unmis-
takable leaven of self-righteousness in his
vindications of him-
self
and in his complaints of God. Job would never have sus-
296
The Book of Job. [APRIL
pected himself of this, nor have sought its
correction, but for
this
affliction. This element of corruption in his soul it is the
evident
aim of the writer to depict with a strong hand. And
this
explains the puzzle, that so eminently good a man, as Job
is
known from divine testimony to have been, could speak so
presumptuously
as he sometimes does. He had been touched
with
divine skill precisely upon his tender point, and this pre-
viously undeveloped evil sprang up at once in
full power. And
his
speeches are so framed as to allow us to look directly in
upon
the struggles of his heart, which is here laid open without
disguise.
The bare discussion of the problem would not call
for
these culpable expressions on the part of Job. But they
were
necessary to bring out the lesson that there is evil in the
best
of men, which the searching test of affliction may discover.
Additional
confirmation is given to this view by the speech of
Elihu, who is an interpreter of the will of God, and
who makes
the
correction of men's inward pride one of the grand aims of
affliction.
The fact too that Job is ultimately brought to
penitence,
and that this is the condition of the removal of his
affliction,
warrants the conclusion that this was one of the
things
to be accomplished by sending it. While, therefore,
Satan
sought Job's ruin, God designed both to exhibit the sin-
cerity of his piety, and to elevate that piety, thus
preparing
him
for a higher measure of happiness.
All this, however, is unknown to Job and to his
friends.
They
are left to confront this mysterious dispensation, without
any
clue being afforded them as to its design. The friends of
Job
having no other idea than that of the invariably penal
character
of suffering, conceive the suspicion that he must have
been
guilty of some gross iniquity to account for such unex-
ampled sorrows. Job, conscious of his own integrity,
cannot
admit
the unjust aspersions of his friends; but is himself in
utter
perplexity as to the cause of what he suffers, and is
strongly
tempted to arraign the righteousness of God's provi-
dence. The answer given to this difficult problem
consists sub-
stantially of two parts, viz. 1. Men must confide
in God; not
only
because they must expect in the dealings of infinite
dom much that transcends their finite
understandings; but
because
his glorious perfections should be a sufficient guaranty
1857.] The Book of Job. 291
that
all he does is right and good, however dark and unexplain-
ed.
2. Affliction has its uses. It not only
tests the constancy
of
faith, but is a necessary discipline which will conduct those
who
properly receive it to higher holiness and happiness
The structure of this book is' eminently
regular. It consists
of
three parts of unequal length--the historical preface and
conclusion
in prose, and the main body of the book in poetry.
The
first contains such statements of fact as are necessary to
the
right understanding of the problem to be discussed. In the
second,
this problem is largely treated and its proper solution
shown.
In the third, the history is brought to
a close, and the
providential
issue of the whole matter exhibited; this last we
regard,
for reasons already hinted' at, but which shall more fully
appear
ptesently, as really forming part of the solution.
The rest of the book after, the historical
preface, is also
divisible
into three parts: the discussion of the problem by Job
and
his three friends, and its twofold decision, first as rendered
by
the instrumentality of a man, Elihu, then as given immedi-
ately; by the Lord himself. The discussion again
consists of
distinct
sections. After the opening discourse of Job, in which
the
theme is, as it were, propounded, the discussion is continued
in
three successive rounds of debate, or three systems of dis-
courses,
in each of; which there is a discourse from the three
friends
severally, in regular order, together with the rejoinders
made
by Job; except that in the last, for a particular reason,
the
third friend, Zophar, says nothing. We have
consequently
the
following scheme:
Introduction, Chaps. i. ii
The Problem treated, Chaps. iii.-xlii
The Discussion,
Chaps. iii.-xxxi.
Job’s opening
discourse, Chap. iii.
First
series of discourses, Chap. iv -xiv.
Second series
of discourses Chap. xv.-xxi.
Third
series of discourses, Chap.
xxii.-xxxi.
Decision rendered by man, (Elihu) Chaps. xxxii.-xxxvii
Decision rendered by God; Chaps. xxxviii.-xlii.
According to the view commonly entertained of
this book, it
is,
plainly not: a drama, or can only be called one in a very
VOL. XXIX.-NO. II. 38
298
The Book of Job. [APRIL
improper
sense. If it is simply the discussion of a grave and
solemn
question, to which a decision is subsequently rendered,
there
is no more propriety in saying that it is a drama than
there
would be in saying the same of the philosophical dialogues
of
essential
to the drama, as is implied by its very name. To be
successful,
there must be a plot which becomes gradually com-
plicated, the interest growing more intense as it
proceeds, while
the
issue is kept in suspense until the final denouement, when
all
is explained. Schlottmann has presented an
exceedingly
ingenious
and captivating view of this book, according to which
it
will be a proper drama, though of course not designed for
scenic
representation; for the Hebrews knew nothing of such
shows,
and it would be beneath the sacred dignity of this
inspired
composition if they did. It is not maintained that this
presents
a precise parallel to any of the dramatic compositions,
whether
of the ancient Greeks or of modern times, but simply
that
it possesses all that is essential to that species of poetry,
having
unity of action and a consistent, regularly developed
plot,
the progress of which is disclosed in the speeches of the
actors;
and that it bears a closer analogy to these than to any
other
productions of the muse. The action of this piece is not
external
and palpable to the senses, but inward and spiritual,
and
has place among the deepest experiences of the soul. Its
subject
he states to be the temptation of Job. The interest of
the
piece consists in watching the effect produced on Job by his
aggravated
sufferings, and seeing whether the tempter gains his
end,
which he pursues so unremittingly, of driving him to
abjure
his God. The alternate speeches of Job and his friends
will
then still contain a discussion of grave truths respecting
the
providence of God in relation to suffering; but it will not;
be
as a mere discussion that they appear here. The part which
they
sustain in the plot, is that the stinging censures of his
friends
are taken into the service of the tempter; they are a
fresh
aggravation of Job's distress, and by exasperating him
add
to the strength of the temptation to give up his confidence
in
God and to renounce his worship. The speeches of Job
himself
on the other hand exhibit the tumult of his soul under
the
temptation, and show how far the tempter succeeded in
1857.] The Book of Job. 299
driving
him to the use of expressions sometimes, which sound
as
though he were on the very point of giving up his trust in
God,
and his allegiance to him, and we almost dread to hear
him
open his lips again, lest the fatal word should be spoken
and
Satan gain his end. But though often on the verge of, the
precipice,
Job holds fast his integrity, and the tempter is foiled.
Then
the discourses of Elihu, and of the Lord, may be
regarded
as
the means employed by God to rescue his servant from this
perilous
position, to check his presumption and bring, him to
humble
penitence and submissive faith; whereupon all the
clouds
are dispersed, the malice of Satan falls harmless at his
feet,
and when the curtain drops upon the scene, Job is possessed
of
a loftier and more secure felicity than ever.
Schlottmann has bestowed great
pains upon the poetical
structure of this book, and has certainly
improved upon the
previous
attempts of. Koster, Stickel,
Ewald and others, to prove
that
it is throughout arranged in stanzas or strophes. The
true
theory of Hebrew verse has long been a matter of curious
inquiry
amongst scholars. Following the lead of
Josephus, Philo,
Eusebius,
Jerome and other ancient testimonies, who speak of
trimeters, pentameters, hexameters, etc., in the
Old Testament,
some
made numerous and persevering attempts to discover
there
the different styles of Greek and Latin verse; others
acting
upon a suggestion of Sir William Jones; sought for
Syriac and Arabic measures; others endeavoured
to develope a
peculiar
system of prosody from the masoretic accents. All
these
efforts failed. It was found impracticable to carry out any
one
of these views without unwarrantable assumptions, arbitrary
changes
of the text, and the constant violation of the simplest
and
most obvious prosodial rules. It is in fact
demonstrable
that
Hebrew verse could not have been regulated by the num-
ber or quantity of syllables, nor by any succession
of feet, for
the
variety in the length or character of lines is palpably such as
could
be embraced within no conceivable rules of that descrip-
tion. Syllables were no doubt so disposed as to
produce a
rhythmical
and. harmonious flow; but that is all that can be
maintained.
The productions of the Hebrew muse took on quite
a different
form
from that developed in other lands, though growing out of
300
The Book of Job. [APRIL
the
same ultimate idea. The ordinary flow of prose resembles
a
quiet stream, through which the thought pours itself in an
even
current until it is expended. Poetry, as the language of
excited
emotion, reflects the state of mind in which it takes its
rise.
It expresses itself in more brief and rapid utterances;
whence
it follows that the thought not expended in the first
flow,
gushes. forth again, thus returning upon itself, and a rela-
tion of correspondence being established between the
first move-
ment and the second. Now in Greek verse, and in
occidental
poetry
generally, the outward form took precedence of the
inward
conception. The correspondence of successive lines was
indicated
by a determinate arrangement of syllables and recur-
rence of feet, so that the reiterated movement was
marked to
the
ear by the rhythmical effect. In Hebrew poetry, on the
other
hand, in which the primitive, unfettered simplicity was
better
preserved, the thought predominated over the form, and
the
correspondence established lay in the repetition or fuller
expression
of the idea in varied style; in other words, in the
parallelism
of clauses.
Parallelism being thus the governing principle
of Hebrew
verse,
as it is fundamentally of all other, the question arises
whether
this is confined to clauses, or whether it has been
extended
likewise to paragraphs and sections. The same law
of
correspondence, which regulated the measure of successive
lines
in Greek verse, gave birth to strophes and antistrophes,
in
which, after a series of varying measures, the same were
repeated
again in precisely the same order. Is there anything
similar
to this in Hebrew poetry? The writers above alluded
to
maintain that there is; that every poem or leading section
of
a poem resolves itself into portions of corresponding length,
containing
the same or nearly the same number of verses, the
predominance
of the thought over the form being here main-
tained as before, and the transition from one thought
to another
marking
the points of division between the strophes. There is
nothing
to be said against this theory but the difficulty of
establishing
its truth. In many cases there is a singular con-
formity in the length of the paragraphs or
divisions, into which
the
various speeches of this book naturally fall. But it seems
doubtful
whether this conformity is due to any conscious design
1857.]
The Book of Job. 301
of
the writer, or is not a simple consequence of his presenting
in
their order several thoughts of nearly equal moment, so that
he
naturally dwells to a similar extent upon each: This expla-
nation
is rendered more probable by the fact that in many cases
the
conformity is not obvious, and can only be educed by arbi-
trary means. Schlottmann's
divisions are highly ingenious;
and
sometimes, by a new grouping of verses, he succeeds in
setting
them in a different light, or in giving them additional
force.
But on the whole, his straining after strophes has been
to
the injury of his exposition, and has frequently led him to
propose
divisions which an unbiased examination of the passage
would
certainly never dictate. Besides, his strophes are reached
by
masoretic verses; whereas, if there were anything in
the
theory,
it is obvious that the only proper mode would be by
clauses
as indicated in the parallelisms.
The discussion between Job and his friends takes
its point of
departure
from the opening discourse of the former, chap. iii.
Weighed
down by the intensity of his anguish, he complains of
three
things; that he was ever born, vs. 3--10, that he was suf-
fered to live after his birth, vs. 11-19, that he is
compelled to
live
on still in his misery, vs. 20-26. The following argument
turns
upon the question of Job's right thus to complain; the
friends
deny, Job affirms. Much of the art with which this
discussion
is managed, is lost by those who fail to observe how
both
the parties gradually shift their ground, or at least modify
their
tone, receding from each other and departing from their
own
early positions as they become warmed in the vehemence
of
debate. Wonderful skill is displayed by the writer in por-
traying in the speeches the growing vehemence of
the speakers.
It
is not proper, to impute to Job in all his discourses the same
presumptuous
chiding with God, which breaks forth in some
them.
Nor must the friends be supposed to have begun the
discussion
with the same harsh suspicions of Job that they
cherished
afterwards. Their seven days silence indicated no
such
suspicion; it was the natural impulse of profound sympa-
thy
in the presence of overwhelming grief, (ii. 13.) Job's open-
ing speech implies no thought of his friends'
unkindness; it is
the
piteous moaning of a man under intolerable sorrows. And
the
first speech of Eliphaz, though without the
tenderness and
302
The Book of Job. [APRIL
consideration
that Job had reasonably expected, (vi. 15, etc.) and
already
betraying the radical error that the external condition
of
men invariably corresponds with their characters, yet assumes
throughout
that Job is a good man, and rebukes him for enter-
taining the thought that being such he could
perish, (iv. 1-11,)
charging
him only with that general sinfulness which is common
to
all men.
In each of the three series of
discourses Eliphaz is the lead-
ing speaker, not only preceding, but, as it were,
guiding the
others.
They take their cue from him, reiterating in other
forms
what he had already substantially said. In the first
series
Job is treated with comparative leniency and each of the
friends
closes with an exhortation to Job to receive his suffer-
ings submissively, promising him in that case a
return and
enlargement
of his former prosperity. In the second series the
tone
of the friends is much harsher and .more irritated. They
are
provoked that Job should continue, in spite of their argu-
ments and exhortations, to maintain a position which
they con-
sider so indefensible and wrong. They now hold out no
pro-
mises for the future, but dwell largely on the
uniform and
necessary
connection of sin and suffering, intimating in no
doubtful
terms, what yet they do not declare in express words,
that
Job had brought his sufferings upon himself by his sins,
and
that nothing but ruin awaited him in the course he seemed
determined
to pursue. In the last series Eliphaz comes out
distinctly
with explicit charges of aggravated crime. That
these
cannot be substantiated, however, is intimated by Bildad's
failing
to repeat them; while the brevity of his speech and his
falling
back upon arguments which had been adduced at the
very
beginning of the discussion and which Job had answered
long
before, showed that he had nothing new to bring forward.
Zophar's not replying at all is an admission that
they have no
more
to say, and that they cannot answer Job.
The discourses of Job are divided into two
portions by the
triumphant
confidence expressed in chap. xix. This chapter is
both
in form and in fact the centre of the whole. It occurs in
the
middle series in the answer to the second friend; and it is
the
turning point in the discussion. This is the culmination of
all
that precedes, for which it has been preparing the way, and
1857.] The Book of Job. 303
to
which it has been tending by gradual and marked advances.
What
follows is of quite a different character. The prominent
feature
of the first portion is the struggle of Job's own mind
against
despair. The prominent feature of the second portion
is
the refutation of the position taken by his friends. What
gave
its chief poignancy to Job's distress was that God seemed
to
have become his enemy. It was because the principle urged
by
his friends led directly to this result, that their speeches
stirred
such a tumult in his soul. They could see nothing in
suffering
but the penalty of sin. As he was conscious
of his
freedom
from crime and of the sincerity of his piety, the ten-
ency of their language; is to make him feel that God
is
treating
him as a criminal without his being one, that he
employing
his omnipotence to crush him for no cause except
that
he has arbitrarily determined so to do. This idea of God
as
cruel and inexorable, as infinite power without regard to
justice
or mercy, bent on his destruction, is the phantom which
is
perpetually rising before him, and with which he has con-
tend.
A fierce conflict is awakened in his soul between his
faith
in God's rectitude and love; and this phantom, which
sense
of his misery and the arguments of his friends, are ever
afresh
forcing upon him. On his first opening his mouth,
chap.
iii., we hear his groans under unutterable woe, and in his
despair
he piteously begs for death as a coveted relief from his
sufferings.
His replies to the first series of his friends dis-
courses
show him to be still in unrelieved despair. They are
divided
between upbraidings of his friends for their hard-hearted
aggravation
of his woe, the justification of his complaint by the
intensity
of his misery, and the fresh utterance of it, coupled
with
remonstrances with God that he should so torment, his
frail
and helpless, creature. In the later speeches of this series,
the
replies to Bildad and Zophar,
we meet the first dawnings of
a
thought, which is soon to overspread his soul with the clear
effulgence
of triumphant exultation; but as yet there is only glim-
mer enough to make the blackness blacker. In ix.
34, 35, he
says,
that if God would but lay aside his terrors and suffer him
to
meet him as he might an equal, he could vindicate himself;
and
in x. 7, that God without such a vindication, knew that he
was
not wicked. But this only aggravated his hopeless misery,
304
The Book of Job. [APRIL
that
in spite of this knowledge of his integrity God had
resolved
upon his destruction. In xiii. 13-22, he expresses his
conviction
that if he could only succeed in bringing his case
before
God for judgment, and were permitted to argue it there,
he
could make his integrity appear, and would obtain sentence
in
his favour. In xiv. 13-15, he ad4s, that if death
were only
a
temporary evil he could bear it. He could lie down in the
grave
resignedly, if a limit was set to the period of God's
anger,
and when that was past he could return once more to
life
and to the enjoyment of his favour. Gloomy as these
words
appear, and vain as are these wishes in the form in which
they
are expressed, they nevertheless contain the seeds of hope,
which
from this moment begins to kindle in his bosom. It is a
desperate
struggle; but his pious trust in God shall gain the
victory.
The heightened intensity of Job's inward
conflict is finely
expressed
by the fact that his complaint and remonstrance from
being
a single section, beside other sections of equal length, as
in
his previous speeches, swell in those that follow over almost
the
whole discourse. He now says little to his friends in the
way
of justifying his complaint to them. He merely, in a few
verses
at the beginning, begs them to be silent and to desist
from
their cruel treatment, and then turns from them to God;
or
even when his words are not in form addressed to him, his
thoughts
are occupied about his relation to him. The seeming
proofs
of God's hostility stare him in the face; and yet he is
thrown
back upon God as his only helper. His friends scorn
him;
he has no hope nor expectation from them. His tearful
prayer
is that God, the witness of his integrity, would take his
part
with God his seeing foe. In the most eloquent and im-
passioned language he makes his appeal from God to
God him-
self,
xvi. 17-xvii. 3. In spite of this present hostility, which
he
cannot understand, he reposes a trust in God which he can-
not
abandon. This tearful appeal is not unheard. The cer-
tainty takes possession of Job's bosom that God will
vindicate
his
innocence, and is even now his friend, for whatever inexpli-
cable
reason he does not so appear, xix. 25-27. Every prospect
of
earthly good, he had already said, had vanished, xvii. 11-16.
There
was nothing for him to look for here, but the grave.
1857.]
The Book of Job.
305
And
yet he knows, notwithstanding all this, that his Redeemer
lives,
and he shall see him after death in that character, no
longer
his foe, but his Saviour and his Friend: Faith here
rises
to
its loftiest triumph.. To outward sense all is cheerless despair.
No
earthly hope remains. God still appears to be pursuing
him
as an implacable foe. The mystery of his sufferings is as
unexplained,
and as seemingly insolvable as ever. But let the
worst
come to the worst, Job still trusts in God. He may 'die
under
the cloud; but he knows that God is his Redeemer, and
that
he will certainly vindicate him yet. The struggle with
despair
is now over, and never reappears. He does not under-
stand
this dark dispensation any better than he had done
before;
but the question of his personal relation to God 'is
settled,
and that gives him comparative peace. The phantom
of
a cruel and inexorable Deity has given place to the vision of
his
Redeemer. And though for some mysterious reason, which
he
knows not how to comprehend, he does not act toward him
in
this character now, but in one that seems to be its opposite,
he
will sometime manifest himself as such.
In favour of the
correctness of the view which has been
taken
of this important, passage, and which finds in it the
assurance
of a divine vindication in a future state, may be
argued—l.
Its position as already exhibited in the plan of the
book.
It stands in the relation of climax to corresponding
passages
in Job's former speeches. It winds up that intense
mental
struggle in which he has been: engaged from the outset,
by
one gigantic exercise of faith, clearing away those dark
clouds
of distressing doubt which had previously overhung his
soul,
so that henceforward we find him in a very different state
of
mind. The enigma remains, but his
apprehensions of God’s
enmity
do not reappear. All this shows that something extra-
ordinary
is to be expected here; something which rises far
above
the level of any of his previous declarations, and which
could
lift him, as nothing else had done, from the depths of
despair
to a triumphant hope. Such is the marked prominence,
in
fact, of this passage in the economy of the book, that Ewald,
as
already stated, considers it the key of the whole, and thinks
that
its grand lesson is concentrated at this point, viz. that the
doctrine
of the soul's immortality can reconcile the inequalities
VOL. XXIX.--NO. II. 39
306
The Book of Job. [APRIL
of
the present state. But it is manifest that the immortality
of
the soul is not presented as a solution of the enigma. That
is
as obscure as ever; though he can stand up in the face of it,
now
that he knows he shall be vindicated hereafter. But it is
still
a puzzle why God makes him suffer so in the present.
Although
this passage, therefore, does not solve the problem of
the
book, it is the focus in which the scattered rays of faith,
which
appear in Job's former speeches, are gathered and in ten-
sified. He had expressed before the confidence that if
he
could
bring his cause before God, he would be justified; he had
wished
for another life after death, which might be blessed with
God's
returning favour; he had claimed God as the witness
of
his
integrity, and had prayed that his blood, causelessly shed,
might
not be covered by the earth nor remain unexpiated.
What
more fitting climax could there be to these thoughts than
that
God would vindicate him and appear on his side in the
future
state?
2. This view is' rendered necessary' by the
formality with
which
this passage is introduced, and the stress which is laid
upon
it, vs. 23, 24. That he should thus mark out these words,
and
put so broad a distinction between them and all else that
he
had uttered; that he should wish them engraved in the rock,
to
endure as his testimony to all future time, warrants us in
expecting
to find something in them which shall be worthy of
so
formal and impressive an introduction.
3. This view alone gives its natural and proper
sense to the
language
which is here employed. We might not perhaps lay
much
stress upon the expression, "at the latter day," or its
original
equivalent, signifying "last," or "at the last," if it
were
by itself. For though it is the same word which 'stands
in
the designation of God as the first and the last, it might be
claimed
that it had here only the general sense of futurity.
But
the period intended is more clearly explained in what fol-
lows.
Of the two clauses of ver. 25, the first states the
character
in
which Job was by faith enabled to contemplate God, and the
second,
the time when he was assured that this character would
be
displayed by him on earth. These clauses are then expanded
separately
in the verses that follow, the second, in ver. 26,
the
first
in ver. 27. The latter day referred to, accordingly
finds its
1857.] The Book of Job. 307
explanation
in the words, "And after my skin [which] they
destroy,
[even] this,' and out of my flesh shall I see God."
There
is no need of supplying "worms" with the common Eng-
lish version as the subject of the verb
"destroy;" it is in the
third
person plural indefinite, a frequent equivalent in Hebrew
of
the passive construction. The agents of the destruction are
not
named, perhaps not distinctly thought of; It is at any
rate
after the destruction of his present skin or, body, that the
vision
of God as his Redeemer is to take place. This cannot
mean
less than after death; mere emaciation by disease not
attended
by dissoltion could not be so described. The next
expression,
"out of my flesh," (
ambiguity
in the original as in the translation. It may mean
either
in the body or disembodied. It may
describe the posi-
tion to be occupied by the speaker, and out from
which he would
look
to see God. In that case, taken in connection with the
other
expressions previously employed, it would mean, that after
the
destruction of his present body he would be clothed with it
afresh
at the resurrection, and from out of it he would see God,
who
had now hidden himself from view. It is more probable,
however,
that “out of my flesh," here: means disembodied, sepa-
rated
from my flesh, in the future state." The two clauses of
the
verse being connected not by "yet," but by' "and,'" the
expressions"
after my skin,” and "out of my flesh," are not
contrasted,
but parallel; and are both alike descriptive of the
period
intended by "at the latter day,” ver. 25.
4. This is the oldest, as it has always been the
most prevalent
interpretation.
The Fathers in fact generally found in this
passage
an allusion not only to a future: state, but to a corpo-
real
resurrection. So Clemens Romanus, Origen,
Cyril, and
others.
Jerome incorporated this idea in his Latin version, and.
was
followed by the writers- of the
It
is likewise expressed in the Septuagint, notwithstanding
Stickel's denial; for even if a]nasth?sai to> de<rma mou
might be
explained
of a raising up to health, the beginning of the apoc-
ryphal section at the close of the book, "It is
written, that he
shall
rise again with those whom the Lord raises up," leaves no
doubt
as to its sense in the intention of the translator.
According to another view of this passage, the
meaning is,
308
The Book of Job. [APRIL
that
Job expected a divine vindication in the present life; he
felt
assured that God would make his innocence appear by the
removal
of his present sufferings, and by restoring him to a
state
of prosperity. This explanation is first found in Chrys-
ostom, and was adopted from him by some later writers
in
both
the Greek and Latin churches. During the prevalence of
rationalism
in
in
that country. But, 1. This is opposed to the whole previous
tenor
of the book. Job always appears just on the verge of the
grave,
and invariably rejects the idea of any earthly expecta-
tion, whenever it is presented to him. 2. It is
inconsistent- with
the
position maintained by Job, in opposition to his friends.
They
assert that men are rewarded in this life according to
their
characters. Job denies it. If now the confidence he here
expresses,
is that of an earthly reward, he comes over to their
ground.
3. It is inconsistent with the obvious meaning of the
language,
as that has been exhibited already. 4. There is
nothing
in such an earthly expectation. to justify the solemn
and
imposing manner in which these words are introduced.
The
idea especially of graving upon rock, to endure for ever, a
statement
which was to meet its fulfilment during his own life,
is
grandiloquent if not absurd.
It has been said in recommendation of "this
view, that the
doctrine
of a future state is elsewhere denied or ignored in this
book,
e. g. vii. 9, xiv. 7-12. Even if this were so, jo
under-
stand
this passage of a vindication in the world to come, would
involve
no greater inconsistency than to refer it to a restoration
in
the present life, when the possibility of that had been over
and
over again denied. But, as a simple inspection of those
passages
will show, they merely declare the impossibility of
another
earthly life after the present, (see vii. 10.) To suppose
a
future state denied, would not only involve an unwarrantable
rejection
of the inspiration of this book, but would be inadmissi-
ble even on the assumption of its merely human
origin. Although
the
Old Testament saints had less light than we have upon the
nature
of that existence upon which the soul enters at death,
they
were never ignorant of the fact of its continued existence.
Had
they been, they would have been behind the very heathen.
The
account of the original creation of man itself contains
1857.] The Book of Job. 309
enough
to settle this question for ever, Gen. ii. 7. The two
elements
of our nature are there plainly distinguished, the body
made
of dust, and to return to dust again, and the immaterial,
immortal
part breathed by God into man's nostrils to make him
a
living soul. That the doctrine of immortality is not spoken
of
before in the book of Job, is: simply because it was designedly
reserved
for this passage as the sublime utterance of a faith
secure
of the future, though without a visible prop in the pre-
sent.
It does not recur afterwards, because the aim of its;
introduction
is now accomplished. "Job's despair is' stilled by it,
but
it is not the solution of the question to whose discussion the
book
is devoted. Hofmann, who (Schriftbeweis II. 2, p.
471)
supposes
an earthly restoration to be the thing intended in this
passage,
is peculiar in his attempt to show from that the writer’s
certain
knowledge of a future state. He says that the very
emphasizing
of the present, involves a tacit opposition to the
future.
We are amazed to find Hahn, who is usually so
correct in his
opinions,
giving a view of this passage, which empties it still
more
of its meaning than that just opposed. According to him;
no
future vindication is referred to at all, by God or man, in-
this
world or the next; all has relation to the present moment,
and
the statement is merely a repetition of what he had said
several
times before, that God was at that very time aware of
his
innocence, though he still allowed him to suffer.. The pro-
cess by which this sense is arrived at is as
extraordinary as the
sense
itself. He translates thus: "I know that my Redeemer"
lives,
and a proctor (this rendering of NvrHx is about matched
by
his making qrb
xx. 25,
mean ‘a stream of blood') stands
above
the earth (in heaven.) Even after my skin which is thus
destroyed
and bare of flesh (in my present emaciated condition)
I
see God',' (I know what his judgment is of my character; he
does
not regard me as guilty.) There is the less need of spend-
ing words upon the refutation of this view, as it has
since been
abandoned
by its author, who has reverted to the old and only
tenable
ground. And there is quite as little necessity of delay-
ing to discuss such notions as that of Aben Ezra, that the
Redeemer
here spoken of, is some man then living, who would
come
forth after Job was dead, and vindicate his memory; or
310
The Book of Job. [APRIL
of
Hirzel, that Job entertained the fanatical
expectation that
God
would instantaneously and visibly appear for him, and
against
his friends.
Job's own inward conflict being thus stilled, he
no longer
acts
merely on the defensive, but proceeds in his remaining
discourses
to assail the position of his friends. And the first
blow
which he deals is really decisive of the conflict. In his
reply
to Zophar, chap. xxi. he demonstrates by undeniable
facts
that suffering is not invariably attendant upon sin, and
graduated
by it. With their first principle thus hopelessly
demolished,
only one course remains open to the friends, if they
will
continue to maintain. the show of an argument; and this
Eliphaz takes in his next discourse which opens
the third and
last
series. The discussion can no longer be kept up as here-
tofore on general grounds. The universality of the
connection
between
sin and punishment in the external lot of men, can~
not
be reasserted in the face of what Job has now said, and
the
facts of experience which he has adduced. The only thing
that
can be done, is to claim that in this particular case that
connection
has been observed. Eliphaz accordingly comes out
with
a direct and explicit attack upon the life and character
of
Job, maintaining that his enormous criminality sufficiently
accounted
for the extraordinary sufferings he was enduring.
The
question at issue was thus brought down to a very narrow
compass.
It was now a simple matter of fact, which could
readily
be ascertained. Was Job the guilty man, which he had
been
alleged to be, or was he not? In his
reply he takes up
the
challenge thus thrown down. While he
considers it beneath
him
to notice particularly these unfounded charges of specific
crIme, he solemnly appeals to the tribunal of the
Searcher of
hearts,
as vouching for his innocence; and then proceeds to
show
more conclusively than before, that there were cases of
aggravated
suffering not the fruit of sin, and of aggravated sin
not
succeeded by suffering. This puts an end to this argument,
upon
which the friends have been ringing changes from the
beginning,
and which has been the main staple of their dis-
courses.
It has now been refuted both in the general and in
its
application to this case. There is
nothing left for Bildad,
therefore,
but to present, which he feebly does, their other
1857.] The Book of Job. 311
standing
argument, the infinite exaltation 'of God, before whom
no
man can pretend to absolute purity.
As the defeat of the friends is intimated by Zophar's failing
to
answer Job's next speech, so the victory of Job is intimated
by
the unusual length to' which his closing speech is extended
and
by his pausing twice as though he was waiting for a reply,
which
they do not make. This peculiarity of external form
must
not, however, be allowed too much effect upon the inter-
pretation. It is not three speeches, but one
speech in three
distinct
but closely related parts, and of gradually increasing
length,
and is to be regarded as a general reply to all that had.
been
urged upon the other side, a summing up of the whole
argument.
In the first section, chap. xxvi., Job concedes the
fact
upon which one of the arguments of the friends, that just
reiterated
by Bildad, is built, viz. God's, infinite greatness;
but
shows
its inapplicability by outdoing Bildad in the
description;
without
yielding his position. In the second section, chaps;
xxvii.,.
xxviii., he does the same with their other main argument,
the
rectitude of God's retributions. Though insisting that this
is
inapplicable to his own case, he concedes the fact and ex-
hibits the true ground upon which it rests. For while
man;
though
able to uncover the secrets of nature, cannot find, and
the
world cannot teach, wherein true wisdom lies, God has
revealed
that it consists in the fear of God, and in departing
from
evil. It is a lesson; therefore, resting on higher authority
than
any human experience, that ruin attends wicked courses,
and
happiness is only for. the good. A large number of com-
mentators, and among them Hahn and Schlottmann, understand
chap.
xxviii. differently, supposing it to teach the inscrutable
ture of divine providence, and the impossibility of
man’s
comprehending
the wisdom by which God manages the world.
We
prefer, however, the view already given, which is substan-
tially that of Hengstenberg
and of Prof. Conant.
Considerable embarrassment has been created by
the fact that
Job
seems to assert in this section, what he had strenuously
denied
in his previous speeches. Hen«e some have been dis-
posed
to think that the missing speech of Zophar has, by
some
error
and confusion of the text, been assigned to Job. The
whole
difficulty may be explained, however, by attending to the
312
The Book of Job. [APRIL
design
of the respective passages. Job had denied the univer-
sality of a providential retribution, by showing that there
were
multitudes
of cases, his own among the number, to which that
rule
would not apply. But he had no idea of denying that
God
exercised a moral government, on account of these inex-
plicable anomalies. He never meant to say that
the course of
the
sinner was the path of wisdom and the high road to happi-
ness.
Accordingly he does not here contradict, but merely
qualifies
and explains his previous statements. He first pro-
vides
for the exceptional cases which he had before exclusively
insisted
upon, by maintaining his own integrity notwithstanding
his
afflictions. He then freely concedes, what he had never
doubted
nor disputed, the existence of a righteous government
in
the world. In fact so far from being foreign to Job's views,
it
was this very conviction of God's essential righteousness,
which
enabled him to rise to that triumphant expression of his
faith
in chap. xix.
The fundamental idea of wisdom common to this
book with
the
other two of the same class, and their mutual relations, have
already
been remarked upon. The resemblance of chap. xxviii.
to
various passages in Proverbs chaps. i.-ix. has been
often
observed,
and is one of the grounds urged in favour of the com-
position
of this book in 'the age of Solomon. But it may be
worth
while to notice the occurrence of a similar thought with
a
remarkable similarity of expression in the writings of Moses,
Deut.
xxx. 11-16, where he speaks of the life and good which
he
set before the people, as obtained not by searching for it in
heaven,
nor by going beyond the sea, but as brought nigh them
by
the revelation of God.
In the third section of his discourse Job
proceeds to show
that
in spite of the concessions just made, the enigma of his
own
case remained unsolved. The problem in fact was one not
reached
by their arguments; it was that of suffering righteous-
ness.
He dwells (chap. xxix.) upon his former happy condition;
then
states in contrast (chap. xxx.) the present dismal reverse,
and
(chap. xxxi.) his freedom from any crime which could
account
for the change. The opinion expressed by Delitzsch
and
others, that xxxi. 35-37 has been shifted from its proper
place,
and that this solemn appeal to God and asseveration of
1857.] The Book of Job 313
innocence
ought to stand at the close of the chapter, could only
have
arisen from overlooking the plan upon which the whole
is
arranged. This plan is to group together a number of hypo-
hetical statements of his guilt of various
crimes, with the occa-
sional introduction of a parenthesis denying the fact
of the
crime
hypothetically assumed, and to terminate the entire series
by
the imprecation of a severe penalty upon himself, if he were
really,
guilty. Thus ver.
22 is the imprecation following the
various
hypothetical statements of criminality found in vs. 13,
16,
19, 20, 21, while vs. 14, 15 and ver. 18 contain parentheses
declaring
his abhorrence of, or freedom from the forms of crim-
nality named. So
ver. 40 is an imprecation closing the series of
hypothetical
statements beginning with ver. 24, the form of the
sin
last named. In the course of this series
of assumed possi-
ilities he introduces parenthetical clauses
denying the truth of
the
suppositions made, e. g. vs. 28, 30, 32. So also vs. 35-37;
having
supposed the case that, he might have concealed crimes
which
he was really guilty, he introduces this parenthesis
affirming
in the most emphatic terms that he had no cause to
do
so. Then after another hypothetical
statement of crime he
adds
to the whole an imprecation. And there
are few probably,
who,
would not say that the imprecation is the most fitting and
emphatic
close.
Job is thus, the victor in the argument. His friends
have
failed
in their attempt to show cause why he should not com-
plain.
All, that they have been able to advance, has fallen
before
his double appeal to the inequalities existing in the
world,
and to his own internal consciousness of rectitude. So
far
he stands justified, and his complaint against the providence
of
God appears, to be well founded. The matter cannot of
course
be suffered to rest here. The question has only become
more
and more perplexed as the discussion has advanced; and
some
foreign aid is needed to disentangle it; some umpire to
set
both parties right, point out what is wrong in each, and
show
where the truth lies--to show how it is that a righteous
man
like, Job can suffer as he did, and yet no reproach be cast
upon
the providence of God, nor the sufferer have any just
ground
to complain. This want is supplied in the remaining
VOL. XXIX.-NO. II. 40
314
The Book of Job. [APRIL
chapters,
which contain the decision. It is two-fold, as ren-
dered by Elihu, and as
rendered by the Lord.
No part of this book has given more trouble to
interpreters than
the
speech of Elihu. It has been an exceedingly vexed question,
what
he is intended to represent, in what relation his decision
stands
to that of the Lord, or why two decisions are given, in
place
of settling the controversy by one. Many German crit-
ics, instead of patiently untying the knot, cut it
by the assump-
tion that the discourse of Elihu
is an interpolation.
In proof of this it is urged, 1. That its
language and style are
different
from the rest of the book. But a degree of individu-
ality is given to each of the speakers by
peculiarities of lan-
guage; it was natural that this should be done for Elihu as for
the
rest. And if words and expressions occur here which are
not
met with again in the book, the same might be said of any
portion
of equal extent which could be selected in any part of
it;
for the whole abounds in unusual words and forms. Besides
these
are more than balanced by a still greater. number of char-
acteristic expressions which do occur in other
parts of the book
and
betray identity of authorship.
2. No mention is made of Elihu
elsewhere than in this single
section.
But there is no professed enumeration of the dramatis
personae in the previous part of
the book. The three friends
are
spoken of because with them the discussion is carried on.
Elihu only speaks because they cannot answer Job. To
announce
him at the beginning, therefore, would be to antici-
pate
their failure before their incapacity had been actually
shown.
That nothing is said of him after his speech is con-
cluded, is just because there was nothing to be said
about him.
Job
makes no reply because he is silenced by the force of what
is
presented; and Elihu was not one of the parties to
the con-
test,
in reference to whom a judgment was to be expressed.
His
decision is impliedly sanctioned by the Lord, and that is all
that
could be asked.
3. This speech is alleged to be inconsistent
with the plan
and
purpose of the book, but upon grounds mutually repugnant,
and
which may very properly be allowed to neutralize each
other.
Some object that it anticipates the Lord's decision, and
so
renders it superfluous; others, that it contradicts his deci-
1857.]
The Book of
Job. 315
sion, and consequently cannot be admitted. N either
charge is
true,
as a correct exposition will show.
A good illustration of the facility with which
some German
critics
can believe or disbelieve just what they please, is fur-
nished by Delitzsch's
assertion that this speech, which he thinks
to
be greatly in advance of the rest of the book in its teachings,
and
to have been added to it by way of correction, is an inter-
polation, but is nevertheless canonical.
Among those who admit the genuineness of this
discourse,
there
is still a wide difference of opinion as to the function
assigned
to it in the plan of the writer. Some have thought
him
to be the representative of human reason, and his decision
to
be not true but false, the true decision being subsequently
given
by the Lord. The purpose of his introduction will then
be
to show that here is an enigma, which unaided reason cannot
solve.
This is not a decent opinion. Jerome found in Elihu
the
representative of philosophy as opposed to faith, which
latter
was taught in the discourse of the Lord. Gregory the
Great
regarded him as a boastful, conceited stripling, presump-
tuously undertaking to solve a question to which
older and
wiser
men had shown themselves incompetent. These lights in
the
western Church had a great influence upon subsequent com-
mentators, down to the time of the Reformers, with
whom a
different
view prevailed. The majority of Rationalistic writers
take
a like depreciating view of the part of Elihu. Eichhorn
says
that Job does not reply, for the reason that a giant would
not
measure himself with a boy. Among those who regard
Elihu as the exponent of human reason, there is quite
a diver-
sity of judgment as to the ability which marks his
discourse;
some
regarding it as empty and shallow in the highest degree,
others
as clear and forcible, and representing the loftiest result
of
the unaided wisdom of man, which fails, it is true to give a
just
solution, but only because the problem itself transcends
man's
capacity, and requires the intervention of God himself in
order
to explain it. The advocates of this view, however
modified,
generally assume that Elihu stands upon the same
platform
essentially with the three friends, that of the invaria-
ble connection of suffering with sin, and that his
doctrine is
tantamount
to theirs, or so nearly so, as not to embrace the case
316
The Book of Job. [APRIL
in
hand; while the doctrine of the decision given by the Lord
is
on the other hand, that these providences are inscrutable by
man,
as God's other works are. Man must bow to the infinite
greatness
of God, and submit without murmuring to his sove-
reign
though inexplicable pleasure. .
This seems to be a defective view of the' case.
For, 1. It is
antecedently
very improbable that a character to whom so large
a
space and so much prominence are assigned in the book,
should
contribute nothing or next to nothing to its main design.
If
the speech of Elihu does little more than repeat what
had
been
said by the friends, and especially if it is mere twaddle
and
empty declamation; it is unworthy of its place and of the
writer.
2. The positions taken by Elihu
are not identical with those
of
the friends, and ought not to be confounded with them. The
writer
evidently did not intend them to be identical, for he says
expressly
(xxxii. 3) that Elihu blamed the friends for not
having
found
the proper answer to Job. His own must consequently
stand
upon different ground from theirs. All that is plausible
in
this view of the matter arises from the fact that Elihu
in
several
cases repeats the language of the friends, or uses
expressions
similar to those which they had employed. But he
does
so discriminatingly. They had said much that was just
and
true, and was only vitiated by the wrong application made
of
it. Elihu sanctions what was right, condemns what was
wrong,
and puts the whole matter upon its proper basis. The
intimate
relationship between the discourse of Elihu and that
of
the
Lord is also such as to lend a divine sanction to the former,
and
attest the truth of his claim to inspiration.
3. The solution of the sufferings of the
righteous furnished in
this
book is something more than that they must be resigned to
an
arbitrary allotment, which admits of neither justification
nor
explanation. That would leave the problem entirely un-
solved,
and would not remove the difficulty at all. A man may
be
crushed under an infinite force, and have to submit to it.
But
such a view of the matter will not satisfy his higher nature,
and
it will be impossible, except upon stoical principles, to acqui-
esce unmurmuringly in such
an allotment.
The relation of these two decisions, as we
conceive it, may be
1857.] The Book of Job. 317
expressed
by calling the first the theoretical, and "the second the
practice
decision. As far as, there was any need of argument
to
justify the ways of God, this task was committed to Elihu.
Be
meets Job like an equal, takes up the various points involved
in
the controversy, and shows; Job that he was "wrong in
complaint,
and that God was right. The way is thus prepared
for
the Lord, to appear and bring the whole matter to a final
issue,
rendering a decision not by mere words, but by acts.
The position of Elihu
is distinguished from that taken, by the
friends,
mainly by two particulars. Be, like them, maitains
a
constant connection between suffering and sin. That this is
not
inconsistent, with what is said of this infliction in the his-
torical preface, has already been seen. Unlike
them, however,
he
regards suffering as disciplinary, whereas they considered it
as
exclusively penal, with the exception of v. 17, which solitary
passage
had no influence on the general tone of their discussion
and
sin is understood by him, not of gross external crimes
merely,
but as including inward states of heart, such as pride,
xxxiii.
17, xxxv. 12, xxxvi. 9. Bis speech consists of four
divisions.
In the first (chap. xxxiii.) he establishes that suffering
is
sent. upon the same errand with God's revelations to reclaim
from
sin; and if, when God's messenger explains its design, it
is
submissively received., its end is answered, and it will be
removed.
In the second, (chap. xxxiv..) he shows; that God is
righteous
in, all his dealings;; in the third (chap. xxxv.) that
man
can have no such merit before God as; to claim exemption
from
suffering as a right; in the fourth (chaps. xxxvi. xxxvii.)
that
grace is joined with power in God. Job's silence is an
admission
that these principles are conclusive, and that they
have
effectually put an end, to his complaint.
The discourse of the Lord is, as was fitting,
far the sublimest
portion
of the book. Though the former speeches abound in
lofty
and striking passages, where one would, think that the
writer
was exhibiting iris full power, it is plain, when we see
the
new grandeur and majesty which are here developed, that
he
has been consciously, holding back his strength to the last,
with
the view of making a worthy contrast between the divine
speaker
and the men who had preceded.
The principles upon which the question between
Job and his,
318
The Book of Job. [APRIL
friends
should be settled, having been stated by Elihu,
nothing
remains
but to give to this the seal of the divine attestation by
the
actual issue to which God shall conduct the whole matter.
This
is the aim of the personal intervention of the Lord himself,
and
of his practical decision. He enters into no explanation
of
the principles upon which he conducts his providence; he
makes
no statement even of what had been his design in this
instance;
he brings no argument to justify to men the course
which
he had taken, or which he might at any time please
to
take. As far as it had been thought necessary or proper to
give
explanations and arguments, this had been devolved upon
Elihu, who as God's agent and ambassador might very
properly
reason
with his fellow-man, and labour to correct his misappre-
hensions, and justify to him the ways of God. It
would not
have
been compatible with the divine dignity, however, to
suffer
the impression to be made that God regarded himself as
amenable
to human opinion or to the tribunal of his creatures.
He
is not responsible to them; nor are they authorized judges
of
his acts. The event itself is the only explanation which he
deigns
to furnish. The wisdom and goodness which mark the
issue,
afford sufficient proof that, in spite of previous appear-
ances, he has been wise and good throughout. The
issue to
which
God brings the sufferings of Job, and by which conse-
quently his decision of the case is practically
rendered, consists
of
two parts. It is, 1. Internal and spiritual, xxxviii. I-xlii. 6,
concerning
the feelings and heart of Job; 2. External,
xlii.
7-17, concerning his outward circumstances.
The spiritual effect or issue produced upon the
heart of Job
is,
that he is brought to penitence and humiliation, xlii. 6. He
is
brought to say, "I abhor myself, and repent in dust and
ashes."
That which immediately produces this effect is his
seeing
God, ver. 5, "I have heard of thee by the
hearing of
the
ear, but now mine eye seeth thee." These verses
are the
key
to what precedes, and must guide us in its interpretation.
The
great thing done by the Lord in this first part of his de-
cision is, that he manifests or reveals himself to Job
in such a
way
as brings him to humble penitence. He so appears as to
make
upon Job a profound impression of his presence and
glory.
The discourse, which he utters, is subordinated wholly
1857.
] The Book of
Job. 319
to
this design of deepening Job's sense of the present God, of
bringing
home to his soul the thought of how great and glorious
that
Being is, who has appeared and who speaks to him.
In unfolding his greatness and glory to Job, the
Lord dwells
chiefly
and almost exclusively upon those displays of it which
are
found in creation and in the external world, which he has
made
and which he upholds. It is to misconceive the purport
of
the decision which the Lord here renders, to see in it only
an
appeal to his omnipotence; so that the lesson would simp1y
be,
it is man's wisdom to submit to a power which it is vain for
him
to think of resisting. This would reduce its teaching to
the
heathen idea of submission to inexorable fate. Besides, if
this
were the meaning of the Lord's discourse, it cou1d never
have
produced the effect upon the heart of Job, which it did
produce,
and to which allusion has already been made. In fact
it
was his being tempted to take this very view of God, and of his
providential
dealings toward him, which had awakened the pre-
vious struggle in his mind and been the source of his
bitterest
comp1aints.
The whole art of the tempter lay in representing
the
Most High as an almighty force, crushing him without
right
or reason to the earth. God is more than power; or the
peart of the sufferer could never be so melted into
acquiescence
as
Job's was.
Nor again is it the design of this discourse
simply to present
the
evidences of God's infinite wisdom, observable everywhere
in
the works of his hands; as though the lesson to be inculcated
were
exclusively this, that his orderings are infinitely wise and
lifted
immensely above the comprehension of man. His duty,
therefore,
in relation to afflictive dispensations, is to bow impli-
citly before a mystery which he cannot comprehend,
but which
is
not on that account less profoundly wise. The real lesson is
much
broader than this. More is done towards solving this
mystery
than thus to pronounce it insolvable. And more
comfort
is given to the sufferer in view of the divine dealings
than
would be afforded by saying simply that they are inscru-
table.
These incorrect or rather partial views of the
design of the
Lord's
discourse have arisen in the first place from the errone-
ous supposition that it is designed as the direct
answer to Job's
320
The Book of Job. [APRIL
difficulty;
whereas it makes no immediate nor express allusion
to
the case in hand. It is not directed to the solution of the
enigma,
but is subsidiary to the fact that God now appears
before
Job. It. is simply designed to make a vivid impression
upon
Job's mind and heart of his character and greatness. It
is
but, as it were, the speaker's announcement of himself, I am
GOD.
A second source of these partial views has been the dis-
severing
of this discourse from that of Elihu, as though they
were
two independent things; whereas Elihu's was a prepara-
tion for this, and his statements and reasonings are here presup-
posed.
Elihu had dwelt upon the grace and the holiness of
God,
and had shown that these attributes are not impaired by
the
afflictions which he sends. He is gracious and just even in
these
afflictions. He is just, because no man has any such
merit
or claims, that God deprives him of his rights by afflict-
ing him. He is gracious, because these afflictions
are sent with
a
merciful design. These reasonings and explanations of
Elihu
removed
the stumbling-block out of Job's mind, reconciled to
him
what he had found it impossible to reconcile before, and
took
away that obstacle which had prevented him from seeing
God
in his true character. When God now appeared, he was
prepared
to discern in him the possession of all his glorious
attributes.
He carried with him into his view of the divine.
nature
those lessons which Elihu had taught him. He now saw
the
justice and benevolence of God. So that as soon as God
appeared
to him, and a practical impression was made upon
his
heart of the majesty and glory of the Most High, these
attributes
which had been so long obscured, shone out brightly
with
the rest. The words uttered by the Lord are occupied, it
is
true, with appeals to his works in nature, which may be said
to
yield a direct proof, only or at least mainly of his power and
wisdom.
But it is because these works palpable to every eye,
give
the grandest impression of his exalted being. They carry
with
them the irresistible conviction that he is the all-perfect
One;
and if this is so, he must be perfect in every attribute.
No
such monstrous conception could be admitted, as a being
perfect
in power, and perfect in wisdom, but devoid of goodness
and
of holiness. And hence after the instruction given by
Elihu, and the preparation which his discourse
afforded, it was
1857.] The Book of Job. 321
only
necessary for the Lord to bring vividly to view the sub-
lime
greatness of his nature in anyone of its manifestations, in
order
to dispose Job to accept it in every. other. Job, had him-
self
discoursed before at length of. the wisdom and power of God
But
he had contemplated these too much as isolated-attributes;
and
this knowledge did not humble him. But now, when he
not
only. hears of God, but sees him, and consequently views
these
in their indissoluble connection with the other divine per-
fections; when he views them as exalting the
infinite nature of
Him
who is possessed of every lofty and glorious, attribute, all
disposition
to murmur is hushed, and Job bows subdued in
penitent
submission.
The decisive reason, therefore, here given why
he had no
right
to complain, is found in God's: infinitely glorious nature;
not
in his power merely, nor in his wisdom abstracted from his
other
perfections, but in that exalted nature which embraces
within
itself the whole assemblage of divine perfections. The
perfections
of God present a ground for the most assured trust
of
his creatures; they can confide in him and ought to confide
in
him, under all circumstances. Such a being as he is, cannot
do
anything but what is wise and right and good. As soon as
Job
felt God's presence, he was instantly ashamed; and abhorred
himself
for what he had said. It was God who had done it, and
that
was enough. He could acquiesce, without a word of com-
paint.
The second, lesson brought to view by this issue
or Job’s
affliction
is, that the design of God in sending or permitting it,
was
to bring Job to this increased acquaintance with himself.
Or,
as the practical knowledge of God is identical with true
piety,
this is equivalent to saying that it was designed to lead
him
to a more elevated piety. The design of God in this matter
is
to be learned not from any verbal explanation which he makes,
that
would have comported less with the divine dignity--but
from
the event. That event is that Job is brought to a better
and
fuller acquaintance with God than he, had before. The
only
solution of his enigma is found in God's infinitely perfect
nature
being brought practically home to his inmost feelings
and
convictions. He can find peace and satisfaction in no
other.
In that he finds instant repose. And as Job's case is
VOL. XXIX. NO. II. 41
322
The Book of Job. [APRIL
proposed
as an example for the whole class of sufferers to which
he
belonged, the design of God here rendered apparent by the
event
may be safely taken as evidence of the design entertained
by
him in every like instance. Suffering and trial put a man
in
a position, in which an ordinary amount of faith in God will
not
answer; in which a faith that might maintain itself in times
of
prosperity will not hold out. It requires an increased per-
suasion
of God's infinitely glorious attributes to give a man
comfort
and peace then; and this persuasion the severity of
his
affliction will lead him to struggle after, and by God's grace
to
attain. A condescending disclosure of himself made, if not
like
this to Job by an audible voice from the whirlwind, yet by
the
inward voice of his Spirit confirming and applying the word
sent
by his human messengers, such as Elihu, is the
customary
end
of the afflictions of the pious.
The Lord's discourse is divided into two parts,
at the close:
of
each of which Job gives expression to the feelings of abase-
ment, awakened by the view of God now vouchsafed to
him.
God
first speaks of the displays of himself made in the inani-
mate
and the animate creation, xxxviii. 1-xl. 2. Job can
only
reply that his unutterable sense of his own meanness in
the
contrast has silenced his complaint, xl. 3-5. God speaks
again
of the absurd presumption of his venturing a conflict with
the
Creator, who could not even contend with his creatures,
xl.
6-xli. 34. Job replies more deeply humbled still. The
inner
workings of his thoughts are finely portrayed. We hear
him
repeating over to himself the words of God, which had so
deeply
penetrated his heart, and echoing their justice and their
force.
He first charges home upon his soul the opening words
of
God's first address, containing the theme to which it had
been
directed, (xxxviii. 2,) "Who is he that hideth
counsel
without
knowledge ?" Who is he that in his folly obscures or
denies
the wisdom of the divine proceedings? He admits the
justice
of the reproof, and owns that he has been talking of
things
above his capacity. He then repeats to himself the
challenge
with which God began his second address, (xl. 7,)
rebuking
his presumption for contending with him, and to
which
that branch of the Lord's discourse had been directed.
But
the new views now obtained of the glory of the divine nature,
1857.]
The Book of Job.
323
made
him loathe himself that he had been guilty of such
arrogance.
The spiritual design of the affliction being
thus accomplished
the
Lord proceeds to the second or external part of his practi-
cal
decision, by rectifying Job's standing in relation to his
three
friends, and then reversing his calamities and doubling
his
previous prosperity. The friends had been looking down
upon
him as justly condemned of heaven. The Lord, however;
pronounces
against them, and in his favour. He had, it, is
true,
spoken some things rashly and presumptuously, but for
these,
he had now expressed the deepest penitence. Mean-
while;
in spite of the sorest temptation, he had held fast to his
confidence
in God, and even risen to a triumphant statement of
it.
They had not only cruelly assailed instead of succouring
their
distressed friend, but in their professed defence of
divine
providence,
had really limited God more than Job had done.
They
had prescribed a scheme of providential retribution, as
though
that were the only one consistent with equity and
righteousness,
which yet was very different and palpably so
from
the one God actually pursues. It was tantamount, there-
fore
to an indirect charge of injustice, even mote serious than
that
made by Job, and for which they had' no similar extenu-
tion, in that they were not exposed to a like
temptation.
Their
pardon being suspended upon his intercession, the first
step
in his restoration is made to test the thoroughness of that
humiliation
which his affliction has wrought." Will he forgive
his
friends for the unkind speeches which had so provoked and
embittered
him against them? As Job sustains this test, the
next
and concluding step is taken in his restoration.
Seeking again the design of God in the event, we
learn that
it
was his purpose, by means of this affliction, to enhance Job's
happiness.
As far as Satan was concerned, this affliction, sent
at
his instigation, was designed for his confusion by the exhibi-
tion of Job's constancy; and this end was answered, notwith-
standing
any weakness he may have betrayed in the hour of its
greatest
severity. But as far as Job himself was concerned,
we
are taught, by combining the leading points of the Lord's
decision,
that the grounds of acquiescence in afflicting dispen-
sations are to be found, first, in God's
glorious perfections, and,
324
The Book of Job. [APRIL
secondly,
in his gracious design thereby to advance the holiness
and
the highest welfare of the sufferer. And this is precisely
the
teaching of Elihu, though presented in a different
form.
What
he says in words, the Lord confirms by deeds. The two
decisions
are in entire harmony, yet, each is indispensable. I
That the mystery of this perplexing subject is
not so fully
opened
up in this book, belonging to the former dispensation,
and.
perhaps to its earlier periods, as it is in the New Testament,
is
a matter of course. The Comforter was not yet given to the
saints
so largely as he is now. And -we find holy men all
through
the Old Testament, and especially in this book and in
the
Psalms, uttering their complaints in their afflictions as
though
they were suffering beneath God's frowns. The full
revelation
of divine love had not then been made, nor the per-
fection of the triumph of divine grace over evil
been exhibited.
So
that it might be thoroughly and practically felt how com-
pletely afflictions have changed their nature, and
instead of
being
frowns and tokens of displeasure, though merited and
temporary,
they are become positive fruits and evidences of
love,
according to the munificence of that gospel grant, "All
things
are yours," "All things work together for good."
The
great Pattern of submissive Buffering had not then ap-
peared, nor could the argument so full of consolation
be em-
ployed, "Seeing that Christ hath suffered for us
in the flesh,
arm
yourselves with the same mind." And as life and immor-
tality were not "then so fully brought to light,
it could not be
said
with the joyful confidence of an apostle, "These light
afflictions,
which are for a moment, work for us a far more ex-
ceeding and eternal weight of glory." And
yet it will be per-
ceived that the germs of the whole gospel doctrine are
already
here,
only needing to be expanded to New Testament dimen-
sions. There is not only the utmost harmony, but
absolute
identity;
only one pursues the same course to a further point
than
the other. Perhaps it may not be improper to seek here
the
germs of future doctrine to even a greater extent than has
now
been intimated. It may be that the Messianic contents of
this
book, (for Christ cannot be absent from any leading por-
tion of the Old Testament,) is to be sought less in
detached
passages
than in its prominent figure, and in the idea presented
1857.]
The Book of
Job. 325
of
the righteous sufferer. The struggle with Satan's malignity
under
the seeming hidings of God's face, conducted to Satan's
overthrow;
the being made perfect through sufferings, and the
heightened
blessedness consequent upon them, present a con-
ception to the mind which was to be realized in
its most perfect
ideal.
This thought we find freshly pursued under the guidance
of
the Spirit in those Psalms, in which the righteous sufferer is
again
depicted, with a basis, perhaps, in the actual experience
of
the writer, but with unmistakable reference to the future
ideal.
A line of typical or prophetic reference is thus drawn,
culminating
in Isaiah liii. in a clear statement of the doctrine
of
a suffering but sinless Messiah. The counterpart is written
in
the Gospels.
Everyone who reads it, must be struck with the
sublime
power
of this wonderful book. And certainly no one can study
it
without an ever heightening admiration. The marvellous
fertility
of its imagery, the grandeur of its descriptions, the
masterly
treatment of its high and solemn theme, the skill
with
which its various characters are managed, the vivid bold-
ness
with which the workings of a soul in the intensest
inward
struggles
are depicted, and the delicate nicety displayed even in
minute
points of its structure and arrangement, place it among
the
loftiest productions of genius, even were it to be considered
in
no other light. That the author of such a book as this should
have
wholly dropped from sight, and have made no figure with
his
transcendent abilities in the history of
supposable.
It has often and justly been remarked, that the
writer
must have drunk deeply of the cup of affliction himself,
have
known in his own experience the in ward conflict he por-
trays,
and had brought home to his own heart the lessons that
are
here set before others. Can it be only another, in a series
of
fortuitous coincidences, that the reputed son of Pharaoh's
daughter
was driven forth an exiled fugitive for forty years
for
the crime of sympathizing with the Lord's people?—“choos-
ing rather to suffer affliction with the people of
God, than to
enjoy
the temporary pleasures of sin." Who can tell what it
cost
him to submit to this sudden reversal of fortune, and this
apparently
utter blasting of long cherished hopes, instilled even
by
a mother's faith into his infant mind? We see a momentary
326
The Book of Job. [APRIL
trace
of it dimming his joy at the birth of his first-born son,
Ex.
n. 22. We read its permanent effects in the transformation
of
the impetuous youth into the man of self-distrust, and of
meekness
beyond that of any upon the face of the earth.
The volumes named at the head of this article are the best
wIth whIch we are acquainted,
that have appeared upon Job
within
the present decennium in
Professor
Conant is a translation with notes; each of the
others
is
a commentary with a translation. The very cursory exami-
nation
which we have been able to bestow upon the work of
Professor
Conant satisfies us of the scholarship and ability
with
which
it has been executed; and we have no hesitation in com-
mending
it to students of this book as a valuable aid toward its
interpretation.
That we find ourselves to differ from him in
some
of his views, does not surprise us in a book which confess-
edly presents so many difficulties.
While such is our judgment, however, of this
work as a pri-
vate enterprise, we must not be understood for one
moment to
endorse
the action of the Society, under whose auspices it is
given
to the public, nor to consent that this new translation
should
supersede in general and ecclesiastical use the common
authorized
version. It savours of no small presumption, in our
judgment,
for the fraction of a single denomination to arrogate
to
itself the work of altering that version, which is the common
property
of English-speaking Christendom. We do not claim
perfection
for the common version, but we do say that it is the
best
version in use in any language, ancient or modern. And
the
chances are ten thousand to one, that if the attempt was
now
made to prepare a substitute, it would be worse instead of
better.
And judging by representations made by those who
ought
to know, we should rate the chances in the attempt made
by
this Society at an immensely higher figure than that. The
evils
of making any change will be so serious, that nothing but
the
certainty of a great and positive good can justify the expe-
riment. The common agreement of all Christian bodies
upon
the
existing version, the familiarity of the people with it, the
reverence
with which it is regarded, the extent of its introduc-
tion into our religious literature, are advantages
which will
all
be thrown away, the moment it begins to be tinkered
1857.]
The Book of
Job. 327
with.
And what, even upon the most favourable assumption,
is
to
be gained by the change? In the great
body of the Bible
the
common version is the very best for the popular reader that
could
be made even at this day. The parts, where improve-
ment is possible, form not the rule, but the
exception, and a very
limited
exception too. It is almost exclusively in the most
difficult
passages of such books as Job, or the obscurer prophets,
that
corrections could be made. In none of these is any impor-
tant point of doctrine or duty involved; in most,
the essential
meaning
of the passage as a whole would be little if at all
affected
by the changes to be introduced; while in many, the
best
scholars are still far from being agreed as to the precise
rendering
to be preferred. To give a single instance of this
diversity,
Professor Conant translates Job xxx. 24, "Yea,
there
is
no prayer, when he stretches out the hand; nor when he
destroys,
can they cry for help." Hahn," May not a man in
falling
even raise his hand, nor in his destruction cry thereat?”
Schlottmann, "Only let no one lay hands upon
ruins; or is his
fall
another's weal?" Besides it is not impossible that there may
be
a reaction in Hebrew philology, and at least a partial return
to
old traditional interpretations from which it has departed.
Of
whatever service, therefore, such a translation as that of
which
we are speaking may be in the study of the Bible, and
however
it may serve as one of the preparatory steps toward
an
improvement of the existing version at some future time, we
are
more than ever convinced that the proper time for making
any
changes in the authorized version has not yet come. And
if
ever a time should come, when such a thing shall be feasible
or
expedient, let it be not a sectarian but a Christian enterprise,
undertaken
by the entire Church using the English language.
Please report any errors to Ted
Hildebrandt at: