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/net'>13,13/type/net'>13; 19:17; 30:17, than the leprosy referred to above. See LEPER.
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Now his sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one in turn, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and to drink with them.
So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord, and he afflicted Job with a malignant ulcer from the sole of his feet to the top of his head. Job took a shard of broken pottery to scrape himself with while he was sitting among the ashes.
He catches the wise in their own craftiness, and the counsel of the cunning is brought to a quick end.
My body is clothed with worms and dirty scabs; my skin is broken and festering.
If I say, "My bed will comfort me, my couch will ease my complaint,"
If I say, "My bed will comfort me, my couch will ease my complaint,"
"But there is hope for a tree: If it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its new shoots will not fail. Although its roots may grow old in the ground and its stump begins to die in the soil, read more. at the scent of water it will flourish and put forth shoots like a new plant. But man dies and is powerless; he expires -- and where is he? As water disappears from the sea, or a river drains away and dries up, so man lies down and does not rise; until the heavens are no more, they will not awake nor arise from their sleep. "O that you would hide me in Sheol, and conceal me till your anger has passed! O that you would set me a time and then remember me! If a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait until my release comes. You will call and I -- I will answer you; you will long for the creature you have made.
The gray-haired and the aged are on our side, men far older than your father.
My breath is repulsive to my wife; I am loathsome to my brothers.
that with an iron chisel and with lead they were engraved in a rock forever! As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and that as the last he will stand upon the earth. read more. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God, whom I will see for myself, and whom my own eyes will behold, and not another. My heart grows faint within me.
Will you keep to the old path that evil men have walked -- men who were carried off before their time, when the flood was poured out on their foundations? read more. They were saying to God, 'Turn away from us,' and 'What can the Almighty do to us?'
Night pierces my bones; my gnawing pains never cease.
That person sings to others, saying: 'I have sinned and falsified what is right, but I was not punished according to what I deserved. He redeemed my life from going down to the place of corruption, and my life sees the light!' read more. "Indeed, God does all these things, twice, three times, in his dealings with a person, to turn back his life from the place of corruption, that he may be enlightened with the light of life.
Therefore I despise myself, and I repent in dust and ashes!
So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer a burnt offering for yourselves. And my servant Job will intercede for you, and I will respect him, so that I do not deal with you according to your folly, because you have not spoken about me what is right, as my servant Job has."
After this Job lived 140 years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation.
Even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would save only their own lives by their righteousness, declares the sovereign Lord.
For the wisdom of this age is foolishness with God. As it is written, "He catches the wise in their craftiness."
Think of how we regard as blessed those who have endured. You have heard of Job's endurance and you have seen the Lord's purpose, that the Lord is full of compassion and mercy.
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 save only their own lives by their righteousness, declares the sovereign Lord.
Even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, they could not save their own son or daughter; they would save only their own lives by their righteousness.
Think of how we regard as blessed those who have endured. You have heard of Job's endurance and you have seen the Lord's purpose, that the Lord is full of compassion and mercy.
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 things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: "Fear not, Abram! I am your shield and the one who will reward you in great abundance."
Uz the firstborn, his brother Buz, Kemuel (the father of Aram),
These were the chiefs among the descendants of Esau, the sons of Eliphaz, Esau's firstborn: chief Teman, chief Omar, chief Zepho, chief Kenaz,
I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name 'the Lord' I was not known to them.
I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not close at hand. A star will march forth out of Jacob, and a scepter will rise out of Israel. He will crush the skulls of Moab, and the heads of all the sons of Sheth.
His possessions included 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 female donkeys; in addition he had a very great household. Thus he was the greatest of all the people in the east.
Then Satan answered the Lord, "Is it for nothing that Job fears God?
He said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will return there. The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. May the name of the Lord be blessed!"
But he replied, "You're talking like one of the godless women would do! Should we receive what is good from God, and not also receive what is evil?" In all this Job did not sin by what he said.
"Let the day on which I was born perish, and the night that said, 'A man has been conceived!'
He catches the wise in their own craftiness, and the counsel of the cunning is brought to a quick end.
he who crushes me with a tempest, and multiplies my wounds for no reason.
although you know that I am not guilty, and that there is no one who can deliver out of your hand?
Even if he slays me, I will hope in him; I will surely defend my ways to his face!
Even if he slays me, I will hope in him; I will surely defend my ways to his face!
As water disappears from the sea, or a river drains away and dries up,
If a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait until my release comes.
Do you listen in on God's secret council? Do you limit wisdom to yourself?
although there is no violence in my hands and my prayer is pure.
and he contends with God on behalf of man as a man pleads for his friend.
Fire resides in his tent; over his residence burning sulfur is scattered.
As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and that as the last he will stand upon the earth.
As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and that as the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God, read more. whom I will see for myself, and whom my own eyes will behold, and not another. My heart grows faint within me.
"While he is filling his belly, God sends his burning anger against him, and rains down his blows upon him. If he flees from an iron weapon, then an arrow from a bronze bow pierces him.
Will you keep to the old path that evil men have walked --
Accept instruction from his mouth and store up his words in your heart.
When people are brought low and you say 'Lift them up!' then he will save the downcast;
In the north when he is at work, I do not see him; when he turns to the south, I see no trace of him. But he knows the pathway that I take; if he tested me, I would come forth like gold.
But he knows the pathway that I take; if he tested me, I would come forth like gold. My feet have followed his steps closely; I have kept to his way and have 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 allotted portion. But he is unchangeable, and who can change him? Whatever he has desired, he does. For he fulfills his decree against me, and many such things are his plans. That is why I am terrified in his presence; when I consider, I am afraid because of him.
I will never declare that you three are in the right; until I die, I will not set aside my integrity!
And he said to mankind, 'The fear of the Lord -- that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.'"
the voices of the nobles fell silent, and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths. "As soon as the ear heard these things, it blessed me, and when the eye saw them, it bore witness to me, read more. for I rescued the poor who cried out for help, and the orphan who had no one to assist him; the blessing of the dying man descended on me, and I made the widow's heart rejoice; I put on righteousness and it clothed me, my just dealing was like a robe and a turban; I was eyes for the blind and feet for the lame; I was a father to the needy, and I investigated the case of the person I did not know; I broke the fangs of the wicked, and made him drop his prey from his teeth.
I chose the way for them and sat as their chief; I lived like a king among his troops; I was like one who comforts mourners.
By the brush they would gather herbs from the salt marshes, and the root of the broom tree was their food. They were banished from the community -- people shouted at them like they would shout at thieves -- read more. so that they had to live in the dry stream beds, in the holes of the ground, and among the rocks. They brayed like animals among the bushes and were huddled together under the nettles.
Have I not wept for the unfortunate? Was not my soul grieved for the poor?
if I looked at the sun when it was shining, and the moon advancing as a precious thing, so that my heart was secretly enticed, and my hand threw them a kiss from my mouth, read more. then this also would be iniquity to be judged, for I would have been false to God above.
"If only I had someone to hear me! Here is my signature -- let the Almighty answer me! If only I had an indictment that my accuser had written.
So these three men refused to answer Job further, because he was righteous in his own eyes.
Look, I am just like you in relation to God; I too have been molded from clay. Therefore no fear of me should terrify you, nor should my pressure be heavy on you.
I am pure, without transgression; I am clean and have no iniquity.
"For God speaks, the first time in one way, the second time in another, though a person does not perceive it.
If there is an angel beside him, one mediator out of a thousand, to tell a person what constitutes his uprightness; and if God is gracious to him and says, 'Spare him from going down to the place of corruption, I have found a ransom for him,' read more. then his flesh is restored like a youth's; he returns to the days of his youthful vigor. He entreats God, and God delights in him, he sees God's face with rejoicing, and God restores to him his righteousness. That person sings to others, saying: 'I have sinned and falsified what is right, but I was not punished according to what I deserved. He redeemed my life from going down to the place of corruption, and my life sees the light!' "Indeed, God does all these things, twice, three times, in his dealings with a person, to turn back his life from the place of corruption, that he may be enlightened with the light of life.
that Job speaks without knowledge and his words are without understanding. But Job will be tested to the end, because his answers are like those of wicked men.
Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind:
"Indeed, I am completely unworthy -- how could I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth to silence myself. I have spoken once, but I cannot answer; twice, but I will say no more."
I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye has seen you.
I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye has seen you. Therefore I despise myself, and I repent in dust and ashes!
You will not abandon me to Sheol; you will not allow your faithful follower to see the Pit.
As for me, because I am innocent I will see your face; when I awake you will reveal yourself to me.
The water of the sea will be dried up, and the river will dry up and be empty.
Cursed be the day I was born! May that day not be blessed when my mother gave birth to me. Cursed be the man who made my father very glad when he brought him the news that a baby boy had been born to him!
Even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would save only their own lives by their righteousness, declares the sovereign Lord.
Even if these three men were in it, as surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, they could not save their own sons or daughters; they would save only their own lives, and the land would become desolate. "Or suppose I were to bring a sword against that land and say, 'Let a sword pass through the land,' and I were to kill both people and animals. read more. Even if these three men were in it, as surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, they could not save their own sons or daughters -- they would save only their own lives. "Or suppose I were to send a plague into that land, and pour out my rage on it with bloodshed, killing both people and animals. Even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, they could not save their own son or daughter; they would save only their own lives by their righteousness.
Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.
Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, there is no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for my sake and for the sake of the gospel who will not receive in this age a hundred times as much -- homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, fields, all with persecutions -- and in the age to come, eternal life.
Then he said to 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 and the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled."
Jesus replied, "You do not understand what I am doing now, but you will understand after these things."
For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor? Or who has first given to God, that God needs to repay him?
Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you.
Think of how we regard as blessed those who have endured. You have heard of Job's endurance and you have seen the Lord's purpose, that the Lord is full of compassion and mercy.
They probed into what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating when he testified beforehand about the sufferings appointed for Christ and his subsequent glory. They were shown that they were serving not themselves but you, in regard to the things now announced to you through those who proclaimed the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven -- things angels long to catch a glimpse of.
Hastings
JOB
1. The man Job.
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When Bela died, Jobab the son of Zerah from Bozrah reigned in his place.
When Bela died, Jobab the son of Zerah from Bozrah reigned in his place.
Moses said to the Lord, "When the Egyptians hear it -- for you brought up this people by your power from among them -- then they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you, Lord, are among this people, that you, Lord, are seen face to face, that your cloud stands over them, and that you go before them by day in a pillar of cloud and in a pillar of fire by night. read more. If you kill this entire people at once, then the nations that have heard of your fame will say, Because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land that he swore to them, he killed them in the wilderness.'
When King Jabin of Hazor heard the news, he organized a coalition, including King Jobab of Madon, the king of Shimron, the king of Acshaph,
and the Sabeans swooped down and carried them all away, and they killed the servants with the sword! And I -- only I alone -- escaped to tell you!" While this one was still speaking, another messenger arrived and said, "The fire of God has fallen from heaven and has burned up the sheep and the servants -- it has consumed them! And I -- only I alone -- escaped to tell you!" read more. While this one was still speaking another messenger arrived and said, "The Chaldeans formed three bands and made a raid on the camels and carried them all away, and they killed the servants with the sword! And I -- only I alone -- escaped to tell you!"
and suddenly a great wind swept across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people, and they died! And I -- only I alone -- escaped to tell you!"
He said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will return there. The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. May the name of the Lord be blessed!"
Job took a shard of broken pottery to scrape himself with while he was sitting among the ashes.
When Job's three friends heard about all this calamity that had happened to him, each of them came from his own country -- Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They met together to come to show sympathy for him and to console him.
After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day he was born.
"Let the day on which I was born perish, and the night that said, 'A man has been conceived!' That day -- let it be darkness; let not God on high regard it, nor let light shine on it!
Let those who curse the day curse it -- those who are prepared to rouse Leviathan. Let its morning stars be darkened; let it wait for daylight but find none, nor let it see the first rays of dawn, read more. because it did not shut the doors of my mother's womb on me, nor did it hide trouble from my eyes!
"Now a word was secretly brought to me, and my ear caught a whisper of it. In the troubling thoughts of the dreams in the night when a deep sleep falls on men, read more. a trembling gripped me -- and a terror! -- and made all my bones shake. Then a breath of air passes by my face; it makes the hair of my flesh stand up. It stands still, but I cannot recognize its appearance; an image is before my eyes, and I hear a murmuring voice: "Is a mortal man righteous before God? Or a man pure before his Creator? If God puts no trust in his servants and attributes folly to his angels, how much more to those who live in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed like a moth? They are destroyed between morning and evening; they perish forever without anyone regarding it. Is not their excess wealth taken away from them? They die, yet without attaining wisdom.
My brothers have been as treacherous as a seasonal stream, and as the riverbeds of the intermittent streams that flow away. They are dark because of ice; snow is piled up over them. read more. When they are scorched, they dry up, when it is hot, they vanish from their place. Caravans turn aside from their routes; they go into the wasteland and perish. The caravans of Tema looked intently for these streams; the traveling merchants of Sheba hoped for them. They were distressed, because each one had been so confident; they arrived there, but were disappointed.
"What is mankind that you make so much of them, and that you pay attention to them?
Such is the destiny of all who forget God; the hope of the godless perishes,
he makes the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades, and the constellations of the southern sky;
God does not restrain his anger; under him the helpers of Rahab lie crushed.
"Your hands have shaped me and made me, but now you destroy me completely. Remember that you have made me as with the clay; will you 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 knit me together with bones and sinews. You gave me life and favor, and your intervention watched over my spirit. "But these things you have concealed in your heart; I know that this is with you: If I sinned, then you would watch me and you would not acquit me of my iniquity. If I am guilty, woe to me, and if I am innocent, I cannot lift my head; I am full of shame, and satiated with my affliction. If I lift myself up, you hunt me as a fierce lion, and again you display your power against me. You bring new witnesses against me, and increase your anger against me; relief troops come against me.
Which of all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this,
He leads counselors away stripped and makes judges into fools. He loosens the bonds of kings and binds a loincloth around their waist. read more. He leads priests away stripped and overthrows the potentates. He deprives the trusted advisers of speech and takes away the discernment of elders. He pours contempt on noblemen and disarms the powerful. He reveals the deep things of darkness, and brings deep shadows into the light. He makes nations great, and destroys them; he extends the boundaries of nations and disperses them. He deprives the leaders of the earth of their understanding; he makes them wander in a trackless desert waste. They grope about in darkness without light; he makes them stagger like drunkards.
"Man, born of woman, lives but a few days, and they are full of trouble. He grows up like a flower and then withers away; he flees like a shadow, and does not remain. read more. Do you fix your eye on such a one? And do you bring me before you for judgment? Who can make a clean thing come from an unclean? No one!
Who can make a clean thing come from an unclean? No one! Since man's days are determined, the number of his months is under your control; you have set his limit and he cannot pass it. read more. Look away from him and let him desist, until he fulfills his time like a hired man. "But there is hope for a tree: If it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its new shoots will not fail. Although its roots may grow old in the ground and its stump begins to die in the soil, at the scent of water it will flourish and put forth shoots like a new plant. But man dies and is powerless; he expires -- and where is he? As water disappears from the sea, or a river drains away and dries up, so man lies down and does not rise; until the heavens are no more, they will not awake nor arise from their sleep.
Surely now he has worn me out, you have devastated my entire household. You have seized me, and it has become a witness; my leanness has risen up against me and testifies against me. read more. His anger has torn me and persecuted me; he has gnashed at me with his teeth; my adversary locks his eyes on me. People have opened their mouths against me, they have struck my cheek in scorn; they unite together against me. God abandons me to evil men, and throws me into the hands of wicked men. I was in peace, and he has shattered me. He has seized me by the neck and crushed me. He has made me his target; his archers surround me. Without pity he pierces my kidneys and pours out my gall on the ground. He breaks through against me, time and time again; he rushes against me like a warrior. I have sewed sackcloth on my skin, and buried my horn in the dust; my face is reddened because of weeping, and on my eyelids there is a deep darkness, although there is no violence in my hands and my prayer is pure.
Even now my witness is in heaven; my advocate is on high.
As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and that as the last he will stand upon the earth.
As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and that as the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God,
And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God, whom I will see for myself, and whom my own eyes will behold, and not another. My heart grows faint within me.
whom I will see for myself, and whom my own eyes will behold, and not another. My heart grows faint within me.
Is not your wickedness great and is there no end to your iniquity? "For you took pledges from your brothers for no reason, and you stripped the clothing from the naked. read more. You gave the weary no water to drink and from the hungry you withheld food. Although you were a powerful man, owning land, an honored man living on it, you sent widows away empty-handed, and the arms of the orphans you crushed.
Accept instruction from his mouth and store up his words in your heart.
"You say, 'He is foam on the face of the waters; their portion of the land is cursed so that no one goes to their vineyard. The drought as well as the heat carry away the melted snow; so the grave takes away those who have sinned. read more. The womb forgets him, the worm feasts on him, no longer will he be remembered. Like a tree, wickedness will be broken down. He preys on the barren and childless woman, and does not treat the widow well.
"Dominion and awesome might belong to God; he establishes peace in his heights.
Then Job replied: "How you have helped the powerless! How you have saved the person who has no strength! read more. How you have advised the one without wisdom, and abundantly revealed your insight! To whom did you utter these words? And whose spirit has come forth from your mouth? "The dead tremble -- those beneath the waters and all that live in them. The underworld is naked before God; the place of destruction lies uncovered. He spreads out the northern skies over empty space; he suspends the earth on nothing. He locks the waters in his clouds, and the clouds do not burst with the weight of them. He conceals the face of the full moon, shrouding it with his clouds. He marks out the horizon on the surface of the waters as a boundary between light and darkness. The pillars of the heavens tremble and are amazed at his rebuke. By his power he stills the sea; by his wisdom he cut Rahab the great sea monster to pieces.
By his power he stills the sea; by his wisdom he cut Rahab the great sea monster to pieces. By his breath the skies became fair; his hand pierced the fleeing serpent.
By his breath the skies became fair; his hand pierced the fleeing serpent. Indeed, these are but the outer fringes of his ways! How faint is the whisper we hear of him! But who can understand the thunder of his power?"
"As surely as God lives, who has denied me justice, the Almighty, who has made my life bitter -- for while my spirit is still in me, and the breath from God is in my nostrils, read more. my lips will not speak wickedness, and my tongue will whisper no deceit. I will never declare that you three are in the right; until I die, I will not set aside my integrity!
I will never declare that you three are in the right; until I die, I will not set aside my integrity! I will maintain my righteousness and never let it go; my conscience will not reproach me for as long as I live.
I will maintain my righteousness and never let it go; my conscience will not reproach me for as long as I live. "May my enemy be like the wicked, my adversary like the unrighteous.
"May my enemy be like the wicked, my adversary like the unrighteous. For what hope does the godless have when he is cut off, when God takes away his life?
For what hope does the godless have when he is cut off, when God takes away his life? Does God listen to his cry when distress overtakes him?
Does God listen to his cry when distress overtakes him? Will he find delight in the Almighty? Will he call out to God at all times?
Will he find delight in the Almighty? Will he call out to God at all times? I will teach you about the power of God; What is on the Almighty's mind I will not conceal.
I will teach you about the power of God; What is on the Almighty's mind I will not conceal. If you yourselves have all seen this, Why in the world do you continue this meaningless talk? read more. This is the portion of the wicked man allotted by God, the inheritance that evildoers receive from the Almighty.
This is the portion of the wicked man allotted by God, the inheritance that evildoers receive from the Almighty. If his children increase -- it is for the sword! His offspring never have enough to eat.
If his children increase -- it is for the sword! His offspring never have enough to eat. Those who survive him are buried by the plague, and their widows do not mourn for them. read more. If he piles up silver like dust and stores up clothing like mounds of clay, what he stores up a righteous man will wear, and an innocent man will inherit his silver. The house he builds is as fragile as a moth's cocoon, like a hut that a watchman has made. He goes to bed wealthy, but will do so no more. When he opens his eyes, it is all gone. Terrors overwhelm him like a flood; at night a whirlwind carries him off. The east wind carries him away, and he is gone; it sweeps him out of his place. It hurls itself against him without pity as he flees headlong from its power. It claps its hands at him in derision and hisses him away from his place.
It claps its hands at him in derision and hisses him away from his place.
And he said to mankind, 'The fear of the Lord -- that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.'"
"Then I thought, 'I will die in my own home, my days as numerous as the grains of sand.
then let thorns sprout up in place of wheat, and in place of barley, weeds!" The words of Job are ended.
then let thorns sprout up in place of wheat, and in place of barley, weeds!" The words of Job are ended.
So these three men refused to answer Job further, because he was righteous in his own eyes. Then Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, became very angry. He was angry with Job for justifying himself rather than God. read more. With Job's three friends he was also angry, because they could not find an answer, and so declared Job guilty. Now Elihu had waited before speaking to Job, because the others were older than he was. But when Elihu saw that the three men had no further reply, he became very angry. So Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite spoke up: "I am young, but you are elderly; that is why I was fearful, and afraid to explain to you what I know.
Or a person is chastened by pain on his bed, and with the continual strife of his bones, so that his life loathes food, and his soul rejects appetizing fare. read more. His flesh wastes away from sight, and his bones, which were not seen, are easily visible. He draws near to the place of corruption, and his life to the messengers of death. If there is an angel beside him, one mediator out of a thousand, to tell a person what constitutes his uprightness; and if God is gracious to him and says, 'Spare him from going down to the place of corruption, I have found a ransom for him,' then his flesh is restored like a youth's; he returns to the days of his youthful vigor. He entreats God, and God delights in him, he sees God's face with rejoicing, and God restores to him his righteousness. That person sings to others, saying: 'I have sinned and falsified what is right, but I was not punished according to what I deserved. He redeemed my life from going down to the place of corruption, and my life sees the light!'
And he reveals this for correction, and says that they must turn from evil.
He delivers the afflicted by their afflictions, he reveals himself to them by their suffering.
He delivers the afflicted by their afflictions, he reveals himself to them by their suffering.
Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind:
Can you tie the bands of the Pleiades, or release the cords of Orion?
"The wings of the ostrich flap with joy, but are they the pinions and plumage of a stork? For she leaves her eggs on the ground, and lets them be warmed on the soil. read more. She forgets that a foot might crush them, or that a wild animal might trample them. She is harsh with her young, as if they were not hers; she is unconcerned about the uselessness of her labor. For God deprived her of wisdom, and did not impart understanding to her. But as soon as she springs up, she laughs at the horse and its rider.
I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye has seen you.
After the Lord had spoken these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, "My anger is stirred up against you and your two friends, because you have not spoken about me what is right, as my servant Job has.
After the Lord had spoken these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, "My anger is stirred up against you and your two friends, because you have not spoken about me what is right, as my servant Job has. So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer a burnt offering for yourselves. And my servant Job will intercede for you, and I will respect him, so that I do not deal with you according to your folly, because you have not spoken about me what is right, as my servant Job has."
So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer a burnt offering for yourselves. And my servant Job will intercede for you, and I will respect him, so that I do not deal with you according to your folly, because you have not spoken about me what is right, as my servant Job has." So they went, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite, and did just as the Lord had told them; and the Lord had respect for Job. read more. So the Lord restored what Job had lost after he prayed for his friends, and the Lord doubled all that had belonged to Job. So they came to him, all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and they dined with him in his house. They comforted him and consoled him for all the trouble the Lord had brought on him, and each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring. So the Lord blessed the second part of Job's life more than the first. He had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys.
So the Lord blessed the second part of Job's life more than the first. He had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys. And he also had seven sons and three daughters.
And he also had seven sons and three daughters.
And he also had seven sons and three daughters. The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-Happuch. read more. Nowhere in all the land could women be found who were as beautiful as Job's daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance alongside their brothers. After this Job lived 140 years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. And so Job died, old and full of days.
Of what importance is the human race, that you should notice them? Of what importance is mankind, that you should pay attention to them,
Cursed be the day I was born! May that day not be blessed when my mother gave birth to me. Cursed be the man who made my father very glad when he brought him the news that a baby boy had been born to him! read more. May that man be like the cities that the Lord destroyed without showing any mercy. May he hear a cry of distress in the morning and a battle cry at noon. For he did not kill me before I came from the womb, making my pregnant mother's womb my grave forever. Why did I ever come forth from my mother's womb? All I experience is trouble and grief, and I spend my days in shame.
The word of the Lord came to me: "Son of man, suppose a country sins against me by being unfaithful, and I stretch out my hand against it, cut off its bread supply, cause famine to come on it, and kill both people and animals. read more. Even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would save only their own lives by their righteousness, declares the sovereign Lord. "Suppose I were to send wild animals through the land and kill its children, leaving it desolate, without travelers due to the wild animals. Even if these three men were in it, as surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, they could not save their own sons or daughters; they would save only their own lives, and the land would become desolate. "Or suppose I were to bring a sword against that land and say, 'Let a sword pass through the land,' and I were to kill both people and animals. Even if these three men were in it, as surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, they could not save their own sons or daughters -- they would save only their own lives. "Or suppose I were to send a plague into that land, and pour out my rage on it with bloodshed, killing both people and animals. Even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, they could not save their own son or daughter; they would save only their own lives by their righteousness.
But on Mount Zion there will be a remnant of those who escape, and it will be a holy place once again. The descendants of Jacob will conquer those who had conquered them.
Think of how we regard as blessed those who have endured. You have heard of Job's endurance and you have seen the Lord's purpose, that the Lord is full of compassion and mercy.
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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Noah built an altar to the Lord. He then took some of every kind of clean animal and clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (Now he was the priest of the Most High God.)
She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. Jokshan became the father of Sheba and Dedan. The descendants of Dedan were the Asshurites, Letushites, and Leummites.
Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-Paneah. He also gave him Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, to be his wife. So Joseph took charge of all the land of Egypt.
Then Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and sacrifices for God, and Aaron and all the elders of Israel came to eat food with the father-in-law of Moses before God.
These cities were located at the southern extremity of Judah's tribal land near the border of Edom: Kabzeel, Eder, Jagur,
Gederoth, Beth Dagon, Naamah, and Makkedah -- a total of sixteen cities and their towns.
There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. And that man was pure and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.
Now his sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one in turn, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and to drink with them. When the days of their feasting were finished, Job would send for them and sanctify them; he would get up early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job thought, "Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts." This was Job's customary practice.
When Job's three friends heard about all this calamity that had happened to him, each of them came from his own country -- Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They met together to come to show sympathy for him and to console him.
"For inquire now of the former generation, and pay attention to the findings of their ancestors; For we were born yesterday and do not have knowledge, since our days on earth are but a shadow.
For you write down bitter things against me and cause me to inherit the sins of my youth.
The gray-haired and the aged are on our side, men far older than your father.
"O that my words were written down, O that they were written on a scroll, that with an iron chisel and with lead they were engraved in a rock forever!
if I looked at the sun when it was shining, and the moon advancing as a precious thing, so that my heart was secretly enticed, and my hand threw them a kiss from my mouth, read more. then this also would be iniquity to be judged, for I would have been false to God above.
And I have waited. But because they do not speak, because they stand there and answer no more, I too will answer my part, I too will explain what I know.
So the Lord blessed the second part of Job's life more than the first. He had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys.
After this Job lived 140 years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation.
After this Job lived 140 years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation.
the people of Dedan, Tema, Buz, all the desert people who cut their hair short at the temples;
The Lord who rules over all spoke about Edom. "Is wisdom no longer to be found in Teman? Can Edom's counselors not give her any good advice? Has all of their wisdom turned bad? Turn and flee! Take up refuge in remote places, you people who live in Dedan. For I will bring disaster on the descendants of Esau. I have decided it is time for me to punish them.
So listen to what I, the Lord, have planned against Edom, what I intend to do to the people who live in Teman. Their little ones will be dragged off. I will completely destroy their land because of what they have done.
Even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would save only their own lives by their righteousness, declares the sovereign Lord.
So this is what the sovereign Lord says: I will stretch out my hand against Edom, and I will kill the people and animals within her, and I will make her desolate; from Teman to Dedan they will die by the sword.
This is what the Lord says: "Because Edom has committed three crimes -- make that four! -- I will not revoke my decree of judgment. He chased his brother with a sword; he wiped out his allies. In his anger he tore them apart without stopping to rest; in his fury he relentlessly attacked them. So I will set Teman on fire; fire will consume Bozrah's fortresses."
At that time," the Lord says, "I will destroy the wise sages of Edom! the advisers from Esau's mountain! Your warriors will be shattered, O Teman, so that everyone will be destroyed from Esau's mountain!
Think of how we regard as blessed those who have endured. You have heard of Job's endurance and you have seen the Lord's purpose, that the Lord is full of compassion and mercy.