Reference: Job
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A patriarch distinguished for his integrity and piety, his wealth, honors, and domestic happiness, whom God permitted, for the trial of his faith, to be deprived of friends, property, and health, and at once plunged into deep affliction. He lived in the land of Uz, lying, it is generally thought, in Eastern Edom, probably not far from Bozrah.
THE BOOK OF JOB, has originated much criticism, and on many points a considerable diversity of opinion still exists. Sceptics have denied its inspiration, and called it a mere philosophical romance; but no one who respects revelation can entertain this notion, or doubt that Job was a real person. Inspired writers testify to both. See Eze 14:14; Jas 5:11, and compare 1Co 3:19 with Job 5:13. The book itself specifies persons, places, and circumstances in the manner of true history. Moreover, the name and history of Job are spread throughout the East; Arabian writers mention him, and many Mohammedan families perpetuate his name. Five different places claim the possession of his tomb.
The precise period of his life cannot be ascertained, yet no doubt can exist as to its patriarchal antiquity. The book seems to allude to the flood, Job 22:15-17, but not to the destruction of Sodom, to the exodus from Egypt, or the giving of the Law. No reference is made to any order of priesthood, Job himself being the priest of his household, like Noah and Abraham. There is allusion to the most ancient form of idolatry, star-worship, and to the earliest mode of writing, Job 19:24. The longevity of Job also places him among the patriarchs. He survived his trial one hundred and forty years, and was an old man before his trial began, for his children were established each at the head of his own household, Job 1:4; 42:16. The period of long lives had not wholly passed away, Job 15:10. Hales places the trial of Job before the birth of Abraham, and Usher, about thirty years before the exodus, B. C. 1521.
As to the authorship of the book, many opinions have been held. It has all the freedom of an original composition, bearing no marks of its being a translation; and if so, it would appear that its author must have been a Hebrew, since it is written in the purest Hebrew. It exhibits, moreover, the most intimate acquaintance with both Egyptian and Arabian scenery, and is in the loftiest style of oriental poetry. All these circumstances are consistent with the views of those who regard Moses as its probable author. It has, however, been ascribed to various other persons. IT presents a beautiful exhibition of patriarchal religion. It teaches the being and perfections of God, his creation of all things, and his universal providence; the apostasy and guilt of evil spirits and of mankind; the mercy of God, on the basis of a sacrifice, and on condition of repentance and faith, Job 33:27-30; 42:6,8; the immortality of the soul, and the resurrection of the body, Job 14:7-15; 19:25-27.
The main problem discussed in Job is the justice of God in suffering the righteous to be afflicted, while the wicked prosper. It is settled, by showing that, while the hand of a just God is manifest in his providential government of human affairs, it is his sovereign right to choose his own time and mode of retribution both to the evil and the good, and to subject the graces of his people to whatever trials he deems best.
The conference of Job and his friends may be divided into three parts. In the first, Eliphaz addresses Job, and Job replies; then Bildad and Job, and Zophar and Job speak, in turn. In the second part, the same order is observed and in the third also, except that after Job's reply to Bildad, the three friends have no more to urge, and instead of Zophar, a fourth friend named Elihu takes up the word; and the whole is concluded by the decision of Jehovah himself. The friends of Job argue that his remarkable afflictions must have been sent in punishment of highly aggravated transgressions, and urge him to confession and repentance. The pious patriarch, conscious of his own integrity and love to God cast down and bewildered by his sore chastisements, and pained by the suspicions of his friends, warmly vindicates his innocence, and shows that the best of men are sometimes the most afflicted; but forgets that his inward sins merit far heavier punishment, and though he still maintains faith in God, yet he charges Him foolishly. Afterwards he humbly confesses his wrong, and is cheered by the returning smile of God, while his uncharitable friends are reproved. The whole book is written in the highest style of Hebrew poetry, except the two introductory chapters and part of the last, which are prose. As a poem, it is full of sublime sentiments and bold and striking images.
The DISEASE of Job is generally supposed to have been the elephantiasis, or black leprosy. The word rendered "boils" does not necessarily mean abscesses, but burning and inflammation; and no known disease better answers to the description given, Job 2:7-8; 7:5,13/type/HCSB'>13,13/type/HCSB'>13; 19:17; 30:17, than the leprosy referred to above. See LEPER.
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His sons used to have banquets, each at his house in turn. They would send an invitation to their three sisters to eat and drink with them.
So Satan left the Lord's presence and infected Job with incurable boils from the sole of his foot to the top of his head. Then Job took a piece of broken pottery to scrape himself while he sat among the ashes.
He traps the wise in their craftiness so that the plans of the deceptive are quickly brought to an end.
My flesh is clothed with maggots and encrusted with dirt. My skin forms scabs and then oozes.
When I say: My bed will comfort me, and my couch will ease my complaint,
When I say: My bed will comfort me, and my couch will ease my complaint,
There is hope for a tree: If it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its shoots will not die. If its roots grow old in the ground and its stump starts to die in the soil, read more. the smell of water makes it thrive and produce twigs like a sapling. But a man dies and fades away; he breathes his last-where is he? As water disappears from the sea and a wadi becomes parched and dry, so man lies down never to rise again. They will not wake up until the heavens are no more; they will not stir from their sleep. If only You would hide me in Sheol and conceal me until Your anger passes, that You would appoint a time for me and then remember me. When a man dies, will he come back to life? [If so,] I would wait all the days of my struggle until my relief comes. You would call, and I would answer You. You would long for the work of Your hands.
Both the gray-haired and the elderly are with us, men older than your father.
My breath is offensive to my wife, and my own children find me repulsive.
or were inscribed in stone forever by an iron stylus and lead! But I know my living Redeemer, and He will stand on the dust at last. read more. Even after my skin has been destroyed, yet I will see God in my flesh. I will see Him myself; my eyes will look at [Him], and not as a stranger. My heart longs within me.
Will you continue on the ancient path that wicked men have walked? They were snatched away before their time, and their foundations were washed away by a river. read more. They were the ones who said to God, "Leave us alone!" and "What can the Almighty do to us?"
Night pierces my bones, and my gnawing pains never abate.
He will look at men and say, "I have sinned and perverted what was right; yet I did not get what I deserved. He redeemed my soul from going down to the Pit, and I will continue to see the light." read more. God certainly does all these things two or three times to a man in order to turn him back from the Pit, so he may shine with the light of life.
Therefore I take back [my words] and repent in dust and ashes.
Now take seven bulls and seven rams, go to My servant Job, and offer a burnt offering for yourselves. Then My servant Job will pray for you. I will surely accept his [prayer] and not deal with you as your folly deserves. For you have not spoken the truth about Me, as My servant Job has."
Job lived 140 years after this and saw his children and their children to the fourth generation.
even [if] these three men-Noah, Daniel, and Job-were in it, they would deliver [only] themselves by their righteousness." [This is] the declaration of the Lord God .
For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God, since it is written: He catches the wise in their craftiness -
See, we count as blessed those who have endured. You have heard of Job's endurance and have seen the outcome from the Lord: the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.
Easton
persecuted, an Arabian patriarch who resided in the land of Uz (q.v.). While living in the midst of great prosperity, he was suddenly overwhelmed by a series of sore trials that fell upon him. Amid all his sufferings he maintained his integrity. Once more God visited him with the rich tokens of his goodness and even greater prosperity than he had enjoyed before. He survived the period of trial for one hundred and forty years, and died in a good old age, an example to succeeding generations of integrity (Eze 14:14,20) and of submissive patience under the sorest calamities (Jas 5:11). His history, so far as it is known, is recorded in his book.
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even [if] these three men-Noah, Daniel, and Job-were in it, they would deliver [only] themselves by their righteousness." [This is] the declaration of the Lord God .
even [if] Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live"-the declaration of the Lord God -"they could not deliver [their] son or daughter. They would deliver [only] themselves by their righteousness.
See, we count as blessed those who have endured. You have heard of Job's endurance and have seen the outcome from the Lord: the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.
Fausets
Age, and relation to the canon. The book has a unique position in the canon. It is unconnected with Israel, God's covenant people, with whom all the other scriptures are associated. "The law" (towrah),the Magna Charta of the rest, occurs but once, and then not in its technical sense (Job 22:22). The Exodus is never alluded to, though the miraculous events connected with it in Egypt and the desert, with both of which Job shows his acquaintance, would have been appropriate to his and the friends' argument. The destruction of the guilty by the flood (Job 22:15), and that of Sodom and Gomorrah (Job 18:15) possibly, are referred to; but no later facts. The inference seems natural that the book was of an age anterior to Israel. Job's own life was of patriarchal length, 200 years. The only idolatry alluded to is the earliest, Sabeanism, the worship of the sun, moon, and seba or heavenly hosts (Job 31:26-28).
Job sacrifices as priest for his family according to patriarchal usage, and alludes to no exclusive priesthood, temple, or altar. Lastly, the language is Hebrew with an Arabic and Syriac infusion found in no other sacred book, answering to an age when Hebrew still retained many of the elements of the original common Semitic, from which in time branched off Hebrew, Syriac, and Arabic, carrying with them severally fragments of the common stock. The obscurity of several phrases, the obsolete words and forgotten traditions (e.g. that of the bushmen, Job 30:4-7), all mark a remote antiquity. The admission of the book into the Hebrew canon, notwithstanding the absence of reference to Israel, is accounted for if Let's theory be adopted that Moses became acquainted with it during his stay in Arabia, near Horeb, and added the prologue and epilogue. To the afflicted Israelites Job's patience and restoration were calculated to be a lesson of special utility.
The restriction of "Jehovah" (the divine name revealed to Moses in its bringing the fulfillment of the promise to God's covenant people just at that time: Ex 6:3) mostly to the prologue and epilogue favors this view. The Holy Spirit directed him to canonize the oriental patriarch's inspired book, just as he embodies in the Pentateuch the utterances of Balaam the prophet from the mountains of the East. The grand theme of the book is to reconcile the saint's afflictions with God's moral government in this present world. The doctrine of a future life in which the seeming anomalies of the present shall be cleared up would have given the main solution to the problem. But as yet this great truth was kept less prominent until "the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ who hath abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." Job plainly refers to the resurrection, but not with that persistent prominence with which the New Testament saints rest on it as their continual hope; Job does not make it his main solution.
Even still we need something in addition, to clear off the clouds which hang over God's present government of this fallen earth. The first consideration suggested in this sublime history and poem is, "an enemy hath done this." The veil which hides the world of spirits is drawn aside, and Satan, the accuser of the brethren, appears as the mediate cause of Job's afflictions. Satan must be let do his worst to show that his sneer is false that religion is but selfishness," doth Job fear God for naught?" (Job 1:9). The patience and the final perseverance of the saints (Job 1:21; 2:10; 13:15), notwithstanding temporary distrust under Satan's persecutions which entailed loss of family, friends, possessions, and bodily health, are illustrated in Job's history.
God's people serve Him for His own sake, not merely for the temporary reward His service generally brings; they serve Him even in overwhelming trial (Ge 15:1). Herein Job is a type though imperfectly of Him who alone, without once harbouring a distrustful thought, endured all this as well as death in its most agonizing, humiliating form, and, worse than all, the hiding of even God's countenance from Him. Job's chief agony was not so much his accumulated losses and sufferings, not even his being misunderstood by friends, but that God hid His face from him, as these calamities too truly seemed to prove (Job 23:9). Yet conscience told him he was no hypocrite, nay though God was slaying him he still trusted in God (Job 23:10-15; 13:15; compare Abraham, Genesis 22). Job's three trials are progressive:
1. His sudden loss of all blessings external to himself, possessions, servants, and sons; he conquers this temptation: "naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there; the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord."
2. His loss of bodily health by the most loathsome sickness; still he conquers: "shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?"
3. His mental conflict brought on by the three friends' suspicion of his insincerity, which he felt untrue, but which seemed justified by his trials from God; this was the poignant sting to his soul, for he accepted their premises, that great suffering proved great sin.
Here he failed; yet amidst his impatient groans he still clung desperately to his faith and followed hard after God, and felt sure God would yet vindicate him (Job 23:10; 19:25-27). His chief error was his undue self justification before God, which he at last utterly renounces (Job 30:25 to Job 31; Job 32:1; 33:9; 9:17; 10:7; 16:17; 27:5; 29:10-17; 40:4-5; 42:5-6). After fretfully demanding God's interposition (23) to vindicate his innocence he had settled down into the sad conviction that God heeds not, and that His ways of providence are as a theory inexplicable to man while practical wisdom is the fear of the Lord (Job 28:28). Elihu gives a leading solution of the problem. God not only hereafter shall judge the world, but even now providentially and morally controls all its affairs.
Even the righteous have sin which needs correction. God speaks to them by chastisement; He is not really silent (Job 16:21; 23:3; 31:35), as Job had complained (Job 33:14, etc.); He teaches them humility, and prepares them for pardon and life through the mediating Angel of the covenant (of whom Elihu is the type: Job 33:6-7,23-30). To Job's charge against God of injustice Elihu answers that God's omnipotence (Job 34:35-36), upholding man in life when He could destroy him, and His universal government, exclude the idea of injustice in Him. To Job's charge that God's providence is unsearchable, Elihu answers that suffering is to teach humility and adorntion of His greatness. Affliction to the saint is justice and mercy in disguise; he is thereby led to feel the heinousness of sin (via crucis via salutis), and not being permitted by God's love to fall away for ever he repents of the impatience which suffering betrayed him into for a time.
Then, justifying God and condemning himself, he is finally delivered from temporal afflictions. Now already the godly are happier amidst afflictions than the ungodly (Mr 10:29-30). Even these considerations do not exhaust the subject; still difficulties remain. To answer these, God Himself (Job 38) appears on the scene, and resolves all that remains uncleared into the one resting thought of faith, the sovereignty of God. We must wait for His solution hereafter of what we know not now (Joh 13:7). Elihu is the preacher appealing to Job's reason and conscience. God alone, in His appearing, brings home the truth experimentally to Job's heart: "Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, But trust Him for His grace; Behind a frowning Providence He hides a smiling face. Blind unbelief is sure to err, And scan God's work in vain; God is His own interpreter, And He will make it plain."
CONSTRUCTION. The artificial construction of the poem appears in the oft recurring sacred numbers three and seven. Job had seven thousand sheep, seven sons, and three daughters, both before and after his trials. His three friends sit with him seven days and nights. "Job" in Arabic means repentance, the name given him in after life from his experiences. His personal reality appears f
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After these events, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield; your reward will be very great.
Uz his firstborn, his brother Buz, Kemuel the father of Aram,
These are the chiefs of Esau's sons: the sons of Eliphaz, Esau's firstborn: Chiefs Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz,
I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty, but I did not make My name Yahweh known to them.
I see him, but not now; I perceive him, but not near. A star will come from Jacob, and a scepter will arise from Israel. He will smash the forehead of Moab and strike down all the Shethites.
His estate included 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and a very large number of servants. Job was the greatest man among all the people of the east.
Satan answered the Lord, "Does Job fear God for nothing?
saying: Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will leave this life. The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. Praise the name of the Lord.
"You speak as a foolish woman speaks," he told her. "Should we accept only good from God and not adversity?" Throughout all this Job did not sin in what he said.
May the day I was born perish, and the night when they said, "A boy is conceived."
He traps the wise in their craftiness so that the plans of the deceptive are quickly brought to an end.
He batters me with a whirlwind and multiplies my wounds without cause.
even though You know that I am not wicked and that there is no one who can deliver from Your hand?
Even if He kills me, I will hope in Him. I will still defend my ways before Him.
Even if He kills me, I will hope in Him. I will still defend my ways before Him.
When a man dies, will he come back to life? [If so,] I would wait all the days of my struggle until my relief comes.
Do you listen in on the council of God, or have a monopoly on wisdom?
although my hands are free from violence and my prayer is pure.
I wish that someone might arbitrate between a man and God just as a man [pleads] for his friend.
Nothing he owned remains in his tent. Burning sulfur is scattered over his home.
But I know my living Redeemer, and He will stand on the dust at last.
But I know my living Redeemer, and He will stand on the dust at last. Even after my skin has been destroyed, yet I will see God in my flesh. read more. I will see Him myself; my eyes will look at [Him], and not as a stranger. My heart longs within me.
When he fills his stomach, God will send His burning anger against him, raining [it] down on him while he is eating. If he flees from an iron weapon, [an arrow from] a bronze bow will pierce him.
Will you continue on the ancient path that wicked men have walked?
Receive instruction from His mouth, and place His sayings in your heart.
When others are humiliated and you say, "Lift [them] up," God will save the humble.
When He is at work to the north, I cannot see Him; when He turns south, I cannot find Him. Yet He knows the way I have taken; when He has tested me, I will emerge as pure gold.
Yet He knows the way I have taken; when He has tested me, I will emerge as pure gold. My feet have followed in His tracks; I have kept to His way and not turned aside. read more. I have not departed from the commands of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my daily food. But He is unchangeable; who can oppose Him? He does what He desires. He will certainly accomplish what He has decreed for me, and He has many more things like these in mind. Therefore I am terrified in His presence; when I consider [this], I am afraid of Him.
I will never affirm that you are right. I will maintain my integrity until I die.
He said to mankind, "Look! The fear of the Lord-that is wisdom, and to turn from evil is understanding."
The noblemen's voices were hushed, and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths. When they heard me, they blessed me, and when they saw me, they spoke well of me. read more. For I rescued the poor man who cried out for help, and the fatherless child who had no one to support him. The dying man blessed me, and I made the widow's heart rejoice. I clothed myself in righteousness, and it enveloped me; my just decisions were like a robe and a turban. I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame. I was a father to the needy, and I examined the case of the stranger. I shattered the fangs of the unjust and snatched the prey from his teeth.
I directed their course and presided as chief. I lived as a king among his troops, like one who comforts those who mourn.
They plucked mallow among the shrubs, and the roots of the broom tree were their food. They were expelled from human society; people shouted at them as [if they were] thieves. read more. They are living on the slopes of the wadis, among the rocks and in holes in the ground. They bray among the shrubs; they huddle beneath the thistles.
Have I not wept for those who have fallen on hard times? Has my soul not grieved for the needy?
if I have gazed at the sun when it was shining or at the moon moving in splendor, so that my heart was secretly enticed and I threw them a kiss, read more. this would also be a crime deserving punishment, for I would have denied God above.
If only I had someone to hear my [case]! Here is my signature; let the Almighty answer me. Let my Opponent compose [His] indictment.
So these three men quit answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.
I am just like you before God; I was also pinched off from [a piece of] clay. Fear of me should not terrify you; the pressure I exert against you will be light.
"I am pure, without transgression; I am clean and have no guilt.
For God speaks time and again, but a person may not notice it.
If there is an angel on his side, one mediator out of a thousand, to tell a person what is right for him and to be gracious to him and say, "Spare him from going down to the Pit; I have found a ransom," read more. then his flesh will be healthier than in his youth, and he will return to the days of his youthful vigor. He will pray to God, and God will delight in him. That man will behold His face with a shout of joy, and God will restore his righteousness to him. He will look at men and say, "I have sinned and perverted what was right; yet I did not get what I deserved. He redeemed my soul from going down to the Pit, and I will continue to see the light." God certainly does all these things two or three times to a man in order to turn him back from the Pit, so he may shine with the light of life.
"Job speaks without knowledge; his words are without insight." If only Job were tested to the limit, because [his] answers are [like] those of wicked men.
Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind. He said:
I am so insignificant. How can I answer You? I place my hand over my mouth. I have spoken once, and I will not reply; twice, but [now] I can add nothing.
I had heard rumors about You, but now my eyes have seen You.
I had heard rumors about You, but now my eyes have seen You. Therefore I take back [my words] and repent in dust and ashes.
For You will not abandon me to Sheol; You will not allow Your Faithful One to see the Pit.
But I will see Your face in righteousness; when I awake, I will be satisfied with Your presence.
The waters of the sea will dry up, and the river will be parched and dry.
Cursed be the day on which I was born. The day my mother bore me- let it never be blessed. Cursed be the man who brought the news to my father, saying, "A male child is born to you," bringing him great joy.
even [if] these three men-Noah, Daniel, and Job-were in it, they would deliver [only] themselves by their righteousness." [This is] the declaration of the Lord God .
even [if] these three men were in it, as I live"-the declaration of the Lord God -"they could not deliver [their] sons or daughters. They alone would be delivered, but the land would be desolate. "Or if I bring a sword against that land and say: Let a sword pass through it, so that I wipe out [both] man and animal from it, read more. even [if] these three men were in it, as I live"-the declaration of the Lord God -"they could not deliver [their] sons or daughters, but they alone would be delivered. "Or if I send a plague into that land and pour out My wrath on it with bloodshed to wipe out [both] man and animal from it, even [if] Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live"-the declaration of the Lord God -"they could not deliver [their] son or daughter. They would deliver [only] themselves by their righteousness.
Wherever the carcass is, there the vultures will gather.
"I assure you," Jesus said, "there is no one who has left house, brothers or sisters, mother or father, children, or fields because of Me and the gospel, who will not receive 100 times more, now at this time-houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions-and eternal life in the age to come.
Then He told them, "These are My words that I spoke to you while I was still with you-that everything written about Me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms must be fulfilled."
Jesus answered him, "What I'm doing you don't understand now, but afterwards you will know."
For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counselor? Or who has ever first given to Him, and has to be repaid?
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.
See, we count as blessed those who have endured. You have heard of Job's endurance and have seen the outcome from the Lord: the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.
They inquired into what time or what circumstances the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating when He testified in advance to the messianic sufferings and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you concerning things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Angels desire to look into these things.
Hastings
JOB
1. The man Job.
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When Bela died, Jobab son of Zerah from Bozrah ruled in his place.
When Bela died, Jobab son of Zerah from Bozrah ruled in his place.
But Moses replied to the Lord, "The Egyptians will hear about it, for by Your strength You brought up this people from them. They will tell [it to] the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that You, Lord, are among these people, how You, Lord, are seen face to face, how Your cloud stands over them, and how You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. read more. If You kill this people with a single blow, the nations that have heard of Your fame will declare, 'Since the Lord wasn't able to bring this people into the land He swore to [give] them, He has slaughtered them in the wilderness.'
When Jabin king of Hazor heard [this news], he sent [a message] to: Jobab king of Madon, the kings of Shimron and Achshaph,
the Sabeans swooped down and took them away. They struck down the servants with the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you!" He was still speaking when another [messenger] came and reported: "A lightning storm struck from heaven. It burned up the sheep and the servants, and devoured them, and I alone have escaped to tell you!" read more. That messenger was still speaking when [yet] another came and reported: "The Chaldeans formed three bands, made a raid on the camels, and took them away. They struck down the servants with the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you!"
Suddenly a powerful wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on the young people so that they died, and I alone have escaped to tell you!"
saying: Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will leave this life. The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. Praise the name of the Lord.
Then Job took a piece of broken pottery to scrape himself while he sat among the ashes.
Now when Job's three friends-Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite-heard about all this adversity that had happened to him, each of them came from his home. They met together to go and offer sympathy and comfort to him.
After this Job began to speak and cursed the day he was born.
May the day I was born perish, and the night when they said, "A boy is conceived." If only that day had turned to darkness! May God above not care about it, or light shine on it.
Let those who curse [certain] days cast a spell on it, those who are skilled in rousing Leviathan. May its morning stars grow dark. May it wait for daylight but have none; may it not see the breaking of dawn. read more. For that night did not shut the doors of my [mother's] womb, and hide sorrow from my eyes.
A word was brought to me in secret; my ears caught a whisper of it. Among unsettling thoughts from visions in the night, when deep sleep descends on men, read more. fear and trembling came over me and made all my bones shake. A wind passed by me, and I shuddered with fear. [A figure] stood there, but I could not recognize its appearance; a form loomed before my eyes. I heard a quiet voice: "Can a person be more righteous than God, or a man more pure than his Maker?" If God puts no trust in His servants and He charges His angels with foolishness, how much more those who dwell in clay houses, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed like a moth! They are smashed to pieces from dawn to dusk; they perish forever while no one notices. Are their tent cords not pulled up? They die without wisdom.
My brothers are as treacherous as a wadi, as seasonal streams that overflow and become darkened because of ice, and the snow melts into them. read more. The wadis evaporate in warm weather; they disappear from their channels in hot weather. Caravans turn away from their routes, go up into the desert, and perish. The caravans of Tema look [for these streams]. The traveling merchants of Sheba hope for them. They are ashamed because they had been confident [of finding water]. When they arrive there, they are frustrated.
What is man, that You think so highly of him and pay so much attention to him?
Such is the destiny of all who forget God; the hope of the godless will perish.
He makes [the stars]: the Bear, Orion, the Pleiades, and the constellations of the southern sky.
God does not hold back His anger; Rahab's assistants cringe in fear beneath Him!
Your hands shaped me and formed me. Will You now turn around and destroy me? Please remember that You formed me like clay. Will You now return me to dust? read more. Did You not pour me out like milk and curdle me like cheese? You clothed me with skin and flesh, and wove me together with bones and tendons. You gave me life and faithful love, and Your care has guarded my life. Yet You concealed these [thoughts] in Your heart; I know that this was Your hidden plan: if I sin, You would notice, and would not acquit me of my wrongdoing. If I am wicked, woe to me! And even if I am righteous, I cannot lift up my head. I am filled with shame and aware of my affliction. If I am proud, You hunt me like a lion and again display Your miraculous power against me. You produce new witnesses against me and multiply Your anger toward me. Hardships assault me, wave after wave.
Which of all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this?
He leads counselors away barefoot and makes judges go mad. He releases the bonds put on by kings and ties a cloth around their waists. read more. He leads priests away barefoot and overthrows established leaders. He deprives trusted advisers of speech and takes away the elders' good judgment. He pours out contempt on nobles and disarms the strong. He reveals mysteries from the darkness and brings the deepest darkness into the light. He makes nations great, then destroys them; He enlarges nations, then leads them away. He deprives the world's leaders of reason, and makes them wander in a trackless wasteland. They grope around in darkness without light; He makes them stagger like drunken men.
Man born of woman is short of days and full of trouble. He blossoms like a flower, then withers; he flees like a shadow and does not last. read more. Do You really take notice of one like this? Will You bring me into judgment against You? Who can produce something pure from what is impure? No one!
Who can produce something pure from what is impure? No one! Since man's days are determined and the number of his months depends on You, and [since] You have set limits he cannot pass, read more. look away from him and let him rest so that he can enjoy his day like a hired hand. There is hope for a tree: If it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its shoots will not die. If its roots grow old in the ground and its stump starts to die in the soil, the smell of water makes it thrive and produce twigs like a sapling. But a man dies and fades away; he breathes his last-where is he? As water disappears from the sea and a wadi becomes parched and dry, so man lies down never to rise again. They will not wake up until the heavens are no more; they will not stir from their sleep.
Surely He has now exhausted me. You have devastated my entire family. You have shriveled me up-it has become a witness; My frailty rises up against me and testifies to my face. read more. His anger tears [at me], and He harasses me. He gnashes His teeth at me. My enemy pierces me with His eyes. They open their mouths against me and strike my cheeks with contempt; they join themselves together against me. God hands me over to unjust men; He throws me into the hands of the wicked. I was at ease, but He shattered me; He seized [me] by the scruff of the neck and smashed me to pieces. He set me up as His target; His archers surround me. He pierces my kidneys without mercy and pours my bile on the ground. He breaks through my defenses again and again; He charges at me like a warrior. I have sewn sackcloth over my skin; I have buried my strength in the dust. My face has grown red with weeping, and the shadow of death covers my eyes, although my hands are free from violence and my prayer is pure.
Even now my witness is in heaven, and my advocate is in the heights!
But I know my living Redeemer, and He will stand on the dust at last.
But I know my living Redeemer, and He will stand on the dust at last. Even after my skin has been destroyed, yet I will see God in my flesh.
Even after my skin has been destroyed, yet I will see God in my flesh. I will see Him myself; my eyes will look at [Him], and not as a stranger. My heart longs within me.
I will see Him myself; my eyes will look at [Him], and not as a stranger. My heart longs within me.
Isn't your wickedness abundant and aren't your iniquities endless? For you took collateral from your brothers without cause, stripping off their clothes and leaving them naked. read more. You gave no water to the thirsty and withheld food from the famished, while the land belonged to a powerful man and an influential man lived on it. You sent widows away empty-handed, and the strength of the fatherless was crushed.
Receive instruction from His mouth, and place His sayings in your heart.
They float on the surface of the water. Their section of the land is cursed, so that they never go to [their] vineyards. As dry ground and heat snatch away the melted snow, so Sheol [steals] those who have sinned. read more. The womb forgets them; worms feed on them; they are remembered no more. So injustice is broken like a tree. They prey on the barren, childless woman and do not deal kindly with the widow.
Dominion and dread belong to Him, the One who establishes harmony in the heavens.
Then Job answered: How you have helped the powerless and delivered the arm that is weak! read more. How you have counseled the unwise and thoroughly explained [the path to] success! Who did you speak these words to? Whose breath came out of your [mouth]? The departed spirits tremble beneath the waters and [all] that inhabit them. Sheol is naked before God, and Abaddon has no covering. He stretches the northern [skies] over empty space; He hangs the earth on nothing. He enfolds the waters in His clouds, yet the clouds do not burst beneath their weight. He obscures the view of [His] throne, spreading His cloud over it. He laid out the horizon on the surface of the waters at the boundary between light and darkness. The pillars [that hold up] the sky tremble, astounded at His rebuke. By His power He stirred the sea, and by His understanding He crushed Rahab.
By His power He stirred the sea, and by His understanding He crushed Rahab. By His breath the heavens gained their beauty; His hand pierced the fleeing serpent.
By His breath the heavens gained their beauty; His hand pierced the fleeing serpent. These are but the fringes of His ways; how faint is the word we hear of Him! Who can understand His mighty thunder?
As God lives, who has deprived me of justice, and the Almighty who has made me bitter, as long as my breath is still in me and the breath from God remains in my nostrils, read more. my lips will not speak unjustly, and my tongue will not utter deceit. I will never affirm that you are right. I will maintain my integrity until I die.
I will never affirm that you are right. I will maintain my integrity until I die. I will cling to my righteousness and never let it go. My conscience will not accuse [me] as long as I live!
I will cling to my righteousness and never let it go. My conscience will not accuse [me] as long as I live! May my enemy be like the wicked and my opponent like the unjust.
May my enemy be like the wicked and my opponent like the unjust. For what hope does the godless man have when he is cut off, when God takes away his life?
For what hope does the godless man have when he is cut off, when God takes away his life? Will God hear his cry when distress comes on him?
Will God hear his cry when distress comes on him? Will he delight in the Almighty? Will he call on God at all times?
Will he delight in the Almighty? Will he call on God at all times? I will teach you about God's power. I will not conceal what the Almighty has planned.
I will teach you about God's power. I will not conceal what the Almighty has planned. All of you have seen [this] for yourselves, why do you keep up this empty talk? read more. This is a wicked man's lot from God, the inheritance the ruthless receive from the Almighty.
This is a wicked man's lot from God, the inheritance the ruthless receive from the Almighty. Even if his children increase, they are destined for the sword; his descendants will never have enough food.
Even if his children increase, they are destined for the sword; his descendants will never have enough food. Those who survive him will be buried by the plague, yet their widows will not weep [for them]. read more. Though he piles up silver like dust and heaps up a wardrobe like clay- he may heap [it] up, but the righteous will wear [it], and the innocent will divide up his silver. The house he built is like a moth's [cocoon] or a booth set up by a watchman. He lies down wealthy, but will do so no more; when he opens his eyes, it is gone. Terrors overtake him like a flood; a storm wind sweeps him away at night. An east wind picks him up, and he is gone; it carries him away from his place. It blasts at him without mercy, while he flees desperately from its grasp. It claps its hands at him and scorns him from its place.
He said to mankind, "Look! The fear of the Lord-that is wisdom, and to turn from evil is understanding."
So I thought: I will die in my own nest and multiply [my] days as the sand.
then let thorns grow instead of wheat and stinkweed instead of barley. The words of Job are concluded.
then let thorns grow instead of wheat and stinkweed instead of barley. The words of Job are concluded.
So these three men quit answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. Then Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite from the family of Ram became angry. He was angry at Job because he had justified himself rather than God. read more. He was also angry at Job's three friends because they had failed to refute [him], and yet had condemned him. Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job because they were [all] older than he. But when he saw that the three men could not answer Job, he became angry. So Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite replied: I am young in years, while you are old; therefore I was timid and afraid to tell you what I know.
A person may be disciplined on his bed with pain and constant distress in his bones, so that he detests bread, and his soul [despises his] favorite food. read more. His flesh wastes away to nothing, and his unseen bones stick out. He draws near the Pit, and his life to the executioners. If there is an angel on his side, one mediator out of a thousand, to tell a person what is right for him and to be gracious to him and say, "Spare him from going down to the Pit; I have found a ransom," then his flesh will be healthier than in his youth, and he will return to the days of his youthful vigor. He will pray to God, and God will delight in him. That man will behold His face with a shout of joy, and God will restore his righteousness to him. He will look at men and say, "I have sinned and perverted what was right; yet I did not get what I deserved. He redeemed my soul from going down to the Pit, and I will continue to see the light."
He opens their ears to correction and insists they repent from iniquity.
God rescues the afflicted by afflicting them; He instructs them by means of their torment.
God rescues the afflicted by afflicting them; He instructs them by means of their torment.
Look, God shows Himself exalted by His power. Who is a teacher like Him?
Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind. He said:
Can you fasten the chains of the Pleiades or loosen the belt of Orion?
The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully, but are her feathers and plumage like the stork's? She abandons her eggs on the ground and lets them be warmed in the sand. read more. She forgets that a foot may crush them or that some wild animal may trample them. She treats her young harshly, as if [they] were not her own, with no fear that her labor may have been in vain. For God has deprived her of wisdom; He has not endowed her with understanding. When she proudly spreads her wings, she laughs at the horse and its rider.
I had heard rumors about You, but now my eyes have seen You.
After the Lord had finished speaking to Job, He said to Eliphaz the Temanite: "I am angry with you and your two friends, for you have not spoken the truth about Me, as My servant Job has.
After the Lord had finished speaking to Job, He said to Eliphaz the Temanite: "I am angry with you and your two friends, for you have not spoken the truth about Me, as My servant Job has. Now take seven bulls and seven rams, go to My servant Job, and offer a burnt offering for yourselves. Then My servant Job will pray for you. I will surely accept his [prayer] and not deal with you as your folly deserves. For you have not spoken the truth about Me, as My servant Job has."
Now take seven bulls and seven rams, go to My servant Job, and offer a burnt offering for yourselves. Then My servant Job will pray for you. I will surely accept his [prayer] and not deal with you as your folly deserves. For you have not spoken the truth about Me, as My servant Job has." Then Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite went and did as the Lord had told them, and the Lord accepted Job's [prayer]. read more. After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his prosperity and doubled his [previous] possessions. All his brothers, sisters, and former acquaintances came to his house and dined with him in his house. They offered him sympathy and comfort concerning all the adversity the Lord had brought on him. Each one gave him a qesitah, and a gold earring. So the Lord blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the earlier. He owned 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys.
So the Lord blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the earlier. He owned 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys. He also had seven sons and three daughters.
He also had seven sons and three daughters.
He also had seven sons and three daughters. He named his first [daughter] Jemimah, his second Keziah, and his third Keren-happuch. read more. No women as beautiful as Job's daughters could be found in all the land, and their father granted them an inheritance with their brothers. Job lived 140 years after this and saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. Then Job died, old and full of days.
what is man that You remember him, the son of man that You look after him?
Cursed be the day on which I was born. The day my mother bore me- let it never be blessed. Cursed be the man who brought the news to my father, saying, "A male child is born to you," bringing him great joy. read more. Let that man be like the cities the Lord overthrew without compassion. Let him hear an outcry in the morning and a war cry at noontime because he didn't kill me in the womb so that my mother might have been my grave, her womb eternally pregnant. Why did I come out of the womb to see [only] struggle and sorrow, to end my life in shame?
The word of the Lord came to me: "Son of man, if a land sins against Me by acting faithlessly, and I stretch out My hand against it to cut off its supply of bread, to send famine through it, and to wipe out [both] man and animal from it, read more. even [if] these three men-Noah, Daniel, and Job-were in it, they would deliver [only] themselves by their righteousness." [This is] the declaration of the Lord God . "If I allow dangerous animals to pass through the land and depopulate it so that it becomes desolate, with no one passing through [it] for [fear of] the animals, even [if] these three men were in it, as I live"-the declaration of the Lord God -"they could not deliver [their] sons or daughters. They alone would be delivered, but the land would be desolate. "Or if I bring a sword against that land and say: Let a sword pass through it, so that I wipe out [both] man and animal from it, even [if] these three men were in it, as I live"-the declaration of the Lord God -"they could not deliver [their] sons or daughters, but they alone would be delivered. "Or if I send a plague into that land and pour out My wrath on it with bloodshed to wipe out [both] man and animal from it, even [if] Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live"-the declaration of the Lord God -"they could not deliver [their] son or daughter. They would deliver [only] themselves by their righteousness.
But there will be a deliverance on Mount Zion, and it will be holy; the house of Jacob will dispossess those who dispossessed them.
See, we count as blessed those who have endured. You have heard of Job's endurance and have seen the outcome from the Lord: the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.
Morish
1. The 'perfect and upright man' whose history is given in the book of Job.
2. Son of Issachar. Ge 46:13. See JASHUB.
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Smith
(persecuted), the third son of Issachar,
called in another genealogy JASHUB.
See Jashub
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Watsons
JOB, a patriarch celebrated for his patience, and the constancy of his piety and virtue. That Job was a real, and not a fictitious, character, may be inferred from the manner in which he is mentioned in the Scriptures. Thus, the Prophet Ezekiel speaks of him: "Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord God," Eze 14:14. Now since Noah and Daniel were unquestionably real characters, we must conclude the same of Job. "Behold," says the Apostle James, "we count them happy which endure: ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy," Jas 5:11. It is scarcely to be believed that a divinely inspired Apostle would refer to an imaginary character as an example of patience, or in proof of the mercy of God. But, beside the authority of the inspired writers, we have the strongest internal evidence, from the book itself, that Job was a real person; for it expressly specifies the names of persons, places, facts, and other circumstances usually related in true histories. Thus, we have the name, country, piety, wealth, &c, of Job described, Job i; the names, number, and acts of his children are mentioned; the conduct of his wife is recorded as a fact, Job ii; his friends, their names, countries, and discourses with him in his afflictions are minutely delineated, Job 2:11, &c. Farther: no reasonable doubt can be entertained respecting the real existence of Job, when we consider that it is proved by the concurrent testimony of all eastern tradition: he is mentioned by the author of the book of Tobit, who lived during the Assyrian captivity; he is also repeatedly mentioned by Arabian writers as a real character. The whole of his history, with many fabulous additions, was known among the Syrians and Chaldeans; and many of the noblest families among the Arabs are distinguished by his name, and boast of being descended from him.
Since, then, says Horne, the book of Job contains the history of a real character, the next point is the age in which he lived, a question concerning which there is as great a diversity of opinion, as upon any other subject connected with this venerable monument of sacred antiquity. One thing, however, is generally admitted with respect to the age of the book of Job, namely, its remote antiquity. Even those who contend for the later production of the book of Job are compelled to acquiesce in this particular. Grotius thinks the events of the history are such as cannot be placed later than the sojourning of the Israelites in the wilderness. Bishop Warburton, in like manner, admits them to bear the marks of high antiquity; and Michaelis confesses the manners to be perfectly Abrahamic, that is, such as were common to all the seed of Abraham, Israelites, Ishmaelites, and Idumeans. The following are the principal circumstances from which the age of Job may be collected and ascertained:
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Then Noah built an altar to the Lord. He took some of every kind of clean animal and every kind of clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
Then Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine; he was a priest to God Most High.
and she bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. Jokshan fathered Sheba and Dedan. Dedan's sons were the Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim.
Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-paneah and gave him a wife, Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest at On. And Joseph went throughout the land of Egypt.
Then Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to God, and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat a meal with Moses' father-in-law in God's presence.
These were the outermost cities of the tribe of the descendants of Judah toward the border of Edom in the Negev: Kabzeel, Eder, Jagur,
Gederoth, Beth-dagon, Naamah, and Makkedah-16 cities, with their villages;
There was a man in the country of Uz named Job. He was a man of perfect integrity, who feared God and turned away from evil.
His sons used to have banquets, each at his house in turn. They would send an invitation to their three sisters to eat and drink with them. Whenever a round of banqueting was over, Job would send [for his children] and purify them, rising early in the morning to offer burnt offerings for all of them. For Job thought: Perhaps my children have sinned, having cursed God in their hearts. This was Job's regular practice.
Now when Job's three friends-Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite-heard about all this adversity that had happened to him, each of them came from his home. They met together to go and offer sympathy and comfort to him.
For ask the previous generation, and pay attention to what their fathers discovered, since we were [born only] yesterday and know nothing. Our days on earth are but a shadow.
For You record bitter accusations against me and make me inherit the iniquities of my youth.
Both the gray-haired and the elderly are with us, men older than your father.
I wish that my words were written down, that they were recorded on a scroll or were inscribed in stone forever by an iron stylus and lead!
if I have gazed at the sun when it was shining or at the moon moving in splendor, so that my heart was secretly enticed and I threw them a kiss, read more. this would also be a crime deserving punishment, for I would have denied God above.
Should I continue to wait now that they are silent, now that they stand [there] and no longer answer? I too will answer; yes, I will tell what I know.
So the Lord blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the earlier. He owned 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys.
Job lived 140 years after this and saw his children and their children to the fourth generation.
Job lived 140 years after this and saw his children and their children to the fourth generation.
About Edom, this is what the Lord of Hosts says: Is there no longer wisdom in Teman? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom rotted away? Run! Turn back! Lie low, residents of Dedan, for I will bring Esau's calamity on him at the time I punish him.
Therefore, hear the plans that the Lord has drawn up against Edom and the strategies He has devised against the people of Teman: The flock's little lambs will certainly be dragged away, and their grazing land will be made desolate because of them.
even [if] these three men-Noah, Daniel, and Job-were in it, they would deliver [only] themselves by their righteousness." [This is] the declaration of the Lord God .
therefore this is what the Lord God says: I will stretch out My hand against Edom and cut off both man and animal from it. I will make it a wasteland; they will fall by the sword from Teman to Dedan.
The Lord says: I will not relent from punishing Edom for three crimes, even four, because he pursued his brother with the sword. He stifled his compassion, his anger tore [at them] continually, and he harbored his rage incessantly. Therefore, I will send fire against Teman, and it will consume the citadels of Bozrah.
In that day- the Lord's declaration- will I not eliminate the wise ones of Edom and those who understand from the hill country of Esau? Teman, your warriors will be terrified so that everyone from the hill country of Esau will be destroyed by slaughter.
See, we count as blessed those who have endured. You have heard of Job's endurance and have seen the outcome from the Lord: the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.