YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

Si "bie. X:^iglis"h. O.'T1 Jolo. ir^'Pv ay xxioi-icL.

THE

BOOK OF JOB:

(ffissap, anb a Utokal Harapjjras*.

BT
ROSSITER W. RAYMOND, PH. D.

WITH AN INTRODUCTORY NOTE
By Eet. T. J. CONANT, D. D.,
AND THE TEXT OF THE REVISED VERSION PREPARED BY DR. CONANT FOR THE
AMERICAN BIBLE UNION.

NEW YORK:
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY,
549 AND 551 BROADWAY.
1878.

COPYRIGHT BT
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY,
1878.

ATJTHOE'S PEEFAOE.

The members of the Adult Bible Class of Plymouth
Church, Brooklyn, at whose request this book has been
published, will need no explanations as to its origin and
nature ; but, for the information of others into whose
hands it may fall, some prefatory remarks seem to be
required. During the year 1877 the class referred to was en
gaged in the critical study of the Book of Job. This
portion of Scripture was selected, partly because it is
one of those which have been most sadly abused both
in translation and in exegesis ; partly because its ad
mitted character as a work of dramatic art takes it to a
great extent out of the realm of theological controversy,
and opens it to unprejudiced critical examination ; and
finally because the result of such an examination is to
shed unexpected light upon the whole theory of Reve
lation as a history of divinely-guided religious culture.
The metrical paraphrase was prepared, week by
week, as the class advanced in the study of the text,

4: AUTHOR'S PREFACE.
and was presented as a convenient means of conveying a
version more accurate in its fidelity to the thought of
the original than that of King James's translators. As
English poetry, it can lay claim to no other virtue than
that of Saxon simplicity. Those scholars who are ac
quainted with the translations and commentaries of
Ewald, Hirzel, Delitzsch, and Conant will find no star
tling novelty in the departures of this paraphrase from
the accepted version. The original has been studied
only through these and other authors, and no change
has been adopted which is not justified with weighty
arguments by one or more of them. Where equally
good authorities disagree, the ground of choice among
them has been furnished by the context rather than
the word or phrase in dispute.
While the paraphrase is chiefly to be judged as an
attempt to reproduce the thoughts and arguments of
the original, it may possibly serve also to convey a
juster conception of the poetry. Much of the current
talk of the sublimity of Job is based on vague impres
sions, formed without analysis. For instance, a famous
passage in the 39th chapter describes the neck of the
war-horse as " clothed with thunder " — a phrase which
is often quoted with admiration, but is merely a sono
rous mistranslation. The notion of noise is inseparable
from our word thunder, while the notion of thunderous
noise has nothing to do with the mane of a charger.

AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 5
It is the shaking of the mane which the original indi
cates — a shaking which inspires awe in the beholder.
This instance is mentioned because it is familiar.
Many others will be found by the reader, in which the
obscurity of the common version entirely interrupts the
thought. It was originally intended to publish the paraphrase
only, as an epitome and memento of the course of study
pursued by the class. But a revision of it for this pur
pose soon developed the necessity of accompanying it
with some of the lectures and running comments which
had attended its first delivery. The execution of this
plan has been much hindered by professional duties,
which have left but scattered and scanty intervals for
the work of winnowing, arranging, verifying, and writ
ing out the memoranda remaining from the colloquial
discourses and discussions of many Sunday afternoons.
Space as well as time has been limited ; and for this
reason the critical notes accompanying the paraphrase
have, of necessity, been much abridged. As a conven
ient method of effecting this abridgment, those notes
have usually been omitted which justified the variations
from the accepted version, where such variations consist
in the adoption of Conant's version instead. The lat
ter, prepared by the Eev. T. J. Conant, D. D., for the
American Bible Union, and published by that society,
is strictly a " revised " version ; that is, it retains the

6 AUTHOR'S PREFACE.
phraseology of our English Bible wherever a conscien
tious application of the rules adopted in translation
does not require a change. In the quarto edition, with
introduction and notes, published by the Bible Union,
the changes in translation are amply discussed and vin
dicated ; and to that volume, which is easily accessible
in this country, the reader of this paraphrase, chiefly
based on that version, is referred for the explanation of
its peculiar renderings. But the German translations
of Ewald, Delitzsch, and others, being not revisions,
but free, original versions, give to many passages inter
pretations which seem preferable to their more conser
vative counterparts in the Revised Yersion. These
authorities are not so likely to be within reach of
American students, and hence, where one of them has
been followed in any important deviation, the notes
will be found to point out the difference.
By the courtesy of the American Bible Union, the
text of its Revised Yersion is included in this volume ;
but from what has abeady been said, the reader will
comprehend that, for a careful study of the paraphrase,
the critical notes of the quarto edition already men
tioned are necessary.
Special acknowledgment should also be made of the
valuable advice and assistance received from Dr. Conant
personally, and for the introductory notice which he has
kindly furnished to the present volume.

AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 7
As to the views expressed in the explanatory essays
concernmg the age, nature, structure, and teachings of
the Book of Job, it may be said that, while they do not
in all respects coincide with those of any previous
writer on fhe subject, they have been conscientiously
formed and expressed, without any desire for novelty
as such ; and they are suggested with all deference,
from the standpoint of a Christian layman, in the hope
that they may contribute somewhat to a better appreci
ation of one of the most remarkable books of Scripture.
R. W. R.
Brooklyn, June, 1878.

CONTENTS.

PAGE
Intboductoey Note  11
I. The Book of Job  15
II. AUTHOBSHIP AND Age OF THE BOOK ... 18
III. The Book of Job as a Histoeioal Piotuee . . 23
IV. The Plan and Puepose of the Book ... 36
V. The Place of the Book in Pboqeessive Revelation 60
VI. The Revised Vebsion and Meteioal Paeaphease . 63

INTEODUCTOEY NOTE.

I have read with much interest the manuscript of
the following work on the Book of Job. Without ac
cording with all the writer's views, as will appear from
his own notes, I cordially commend his book, as a fresh
and in many respects original discussion of the leading
topics suggested by the study of this interesting portion
of oar canonical Scriptures, and noblest production
of the Hebrew mind. Its popular form, its freedom
from scholastic and theological technicalities, its novel
and occasionally somewhat startling suggestions, always
thoughtful and worthy to be weighed, will do much to
awaken fresh interest in this ancient and too much
neglected poem.
The book consists of critical essays, version, and
notes, in the following divisions :
I. General outline of the poem.
II. Its author and age.
III. Analysis of it as a historical picture ; namely,
of the age selected by its author for a historical back
ground, as represented in allusions scattered through
the book; physical features of the country; animals
and plants ; inhabitants, their possessions, social institu-

12 INTRODUCTORY NOTE.
tions, domestic servitude, diet, clothing, ornaments, occu
pations, and industries ; other lands as known by travel ;
rock inscriptions ; laws and public institutions ; walled
cities ; science of nature, of mind ; religious ideas.
IY. Plan and purpose of the poem. Jehovah, lov
ing goodness and believing in it, and Satan, hating and
sneering at it, now first brought out in contrast. Yiews
of God, of life and providence, differing from the ear
lier divine teachings, but legitimately following them in
the line of progressive inspiration and revelation of truth.
Didactic element of the poem, according to the four
leading views; underlying notions of providence and
sin. The conception of Satan in the Book of Job ; a
single feature, but an eternal one, and the germ thought
of the whole New Testament conception.
Y. Its place in progressive revelation. Doctrine of
calamity and doctrine of Satan. Yiews found in pre
vious sacred writings criticised in this, a proof that they
preceded it. Suggestion of suffering as a test of good
ness ; expanded and supplemented in later writers — as
suffering for the truth, vicariously for others, the just
for the unjust, educational, etc. ; all expanded and illu
mined in the New Testament. A new theory of suf
fering revealed in Christ, and shared by His people as a
precious experience.
Finally. Pain, a part of the plan of evolution in
the natural and spiritual world ; divinely perceived by
Job, and declared in the New Testament. Function of
pain shown by science ; recognized by Paul, Rom. viii.
19-24. The writer, a scientist by profession, and a devout
believer in the divine authority of the Holy Scriptures,

INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 13
has mastered the literature of the poem ; and with lov
ing appreciation he seeks to set forth its many claims
on the student of the Scriptures, and on all who are
interested in the struggle of ages with the vexing prob
lems of human life and divine providence.
T. J. Conant.

THE BOOK OF JOB,

THE BOOK OF JOB.

A perusal of this book as a whole leads to several
conclusions concernmg it, with the recognition of which
it will be well to preface our deeper study of its contents.
In the first place, I need scarcely remark, the text as
given in our English Bible is exceedingly obscure. Whole
passages are almost unintelligible, and the connections
and transitions of the argument or the poetry are often
lost. The difficulties which arise from this cause will, I
trust, be removed as we proceed, by suitable comments or
by the substitution of a closer and clearer translation.
It is evident at once that the body of the book is a
dramatic and didactic poem. Hence we should naturally
not expect it to be an accurate transcript of actual con
versations. This conclusion is confirmed .by numerous
evidences of an artificial structure, such as the regular re
currence of the speakers, each in his turn, the division of
the speeches into strophes, the competitive odes or hymns
of praise interjected into the dialogue, the numbers of
Job's cattle and children before and after his affliction,
and (according to some commentators) the names of his

16 THE BOOK OF JOB.
younger daughters, Jemima, a dove ; Kezia, the fragrant
cassia; and TKeren-happuch, a paint-pot for cosmetics.
Even without these evidences, it would be difficult to be
lieve that this series of sustained, often sublime, poetic
discourses could have been uttered, in fact, as an im
promptu colloquy among the persons and under the cir
cumstances described. We have to deal, then, with Job
and his friends as we would with characters in a drama,
not personages in a history.
But Job is referred to, elsewhere in the Bible, as a
real, historic person ; ' and Ewald holds that the names
of Job and his friends are not fictitious but legendary.
Moreover, the disease of Job agrees in symptoms (burning
of the skin, ulcers, drying, cracking, and thickening of the
skin, wasting of the body through years, offensive and
contagious breath, suffocation day and night) with a va
riety of elephantiasis ; and it is not improbable that this
was a part of the true history of a real man, Job.
We may conclude, then, that the author of this drama
selected as a basis the story of the affliction and restora
tion of a historical personage. This variety of literary
composition has been common in all ages. All historical
plays are instances of it. The Book of Ecclesiastes is even
bolder in its adoption of a celebrated name. In that case,
the author himself speaks as King Solomon.
We see at a glance, also, that the didactic purpose of
this drama is apparently twofold. The prologue states
1 See Ezek. xiv. 14, 20 ; James v. 11. The note of the Seventy also
(about 280 b. a), attempting to identify Job with the Jobab of Gen.
xxxvi. 32, is of some value as evidence at least of a strong tradition.
There are also legends about Job in the Koran ; but these may be mere
ly distorted inferences or fanciful additions to the book. One of them
tells how, after his afflictions were happily ended, he "gently chastised"
his erring wife !

THE BOOK OF JOB. 17
one problem — namely, the possibility of disinterested
goodness among men. The dialogue discusses another —
namely, the rule and the meaning of God's providential
dealings with men. Prologue and epilogue, being written
in prose, and disconnected from the rest of the book,
have been suspected of a different authorship. But this
hypothesis is not necessary to account for their difference
in form, spirit, and contents, as we shall see. It is indeed
remarkable that Satan is presented in the prologue as the
active tormentor of Job, and yet neither his agency nor
his existence is so much as hinted at by Job, or his
friends, or Jehovah ; and still more remarkable that the
meaning of Job's affliction — namely, as a test of his good
ness — should not be once alluded to after the prologue.
But I think a true conception of the plan and object of
the drama not only explains but requires these peculiari
ties, as well as the omission of the name Jehovah from all
parts of the book, except the prologue, the epilogue, and
the speech of Jehovah itself.1
Another and most important peculiarity is the omis
sion of all those allusions to the laws, customs, and his
tory of the Israelites with which other Hebrew books are
filled. We are ready to exclaim that the author could
not have heard of the wilderness, the Red Sea, the Egyp
tian captivity, since he was able to discuss the subject of
God's providence without referring to them. Concerning
tabernacle and temple he is equally silent, though he
makes his hero cry out in vain for the presence of God —
a presence which in this special sense a Hebrew would
have sought where the Shechinah dwelt. On the other
hand, the book abounds in allusions and descriptions
1 See a single exception, chap. xii. 9. Another reading gives "God "
here.

18 THE BOOK OF JOB.
showing familiarity with Egypt and Arabia. The hippo
potamus, the ostrich, the crocodile, the swift river-canoes
of the Nile, the operations of mining, the characteristics
of climate and industry, the aspect of the heavens in va
rious latitudes — these and many other signs show that the
author had traveled or dwelt in those countries.
We are thus led to consider the question, Who wrote
the book ? or, if that be insoluble, the perhaps more im
portant question, At what period was it probably written ?

II.
AUTHORSHIP and age of the book.
Under this head we are met at once by the uniform
Jewish tradition that Moses wrote " Job ; " and, since it
contains no allusion to the exodus, that he wrote it before
the exodus. The argument in favor of this view is suc
cinctly and forcibly stated by Conant in his " Introduc
tion to the Revised Version of Job." But there are two
considerations which counterbalance all that can be said
on that side. The first is that the composition of such a
work presupposes an audience for it, and therefore a sort ¦
of current in the thought of the age running toward such
subjects. The tone of this book is not that of the Egyp
tian captivity, but rather of a period subsequent to David.
The second, and to my mind conclusive, consideration is
that the doctrines of the book are clearly post-Mosaic.
If we are to believe that Moses wrote it, then we must
believe that he held these views as an esoteric philosophy,
and omitted from the religion which he gave to his peo-

THE BOOK OF JOB. 19
pie the truths which had been revealed to him. in the des
ert. The book itself must have been suppressed until long
after his day. The ignorant Israelites could not have
been trained under the discipline of the Law, if they had
had at the same time the fiery, cynical, half -skeptical, and
enigmatical commentary which the Book of Job fur
nishes. There is nothing abnormal or contrary to the
conception of an inspired revelation in the development
of truth by wider views and deeper analysis through suc
cessive sacred writers. But it is repulsive to conceive of
an inspired teacher as first gaining the wider view, and
then deliberately hiding it, to utter the truth in cruder
and more partial forms.
Again, the proximity of Moses in time and place to the
seene of this story, though urged in support of his author
ship, is rather an argument to the contrary. For if, as
we have seen, the book is poetry, based on a few histori
cal facts, it is far more likely to have been written when
the facts themselves had become a legend rather than a
familiar history. Moses makes no mention of Job in his
history of the patriarchal ages.
Some of these considerations are equally conclusive
against any Hebrew authorship of this book before the
exodus. We are therefore driven to suppose either that
it was written by a foreigner, and subsequently translated
into Hebrew, or that it was written by a Hebrew of a
later period, who intentionally avoided all Jewish pecul
iarities, ignoring Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the his
tory of the children of Israel.
The first of these suppositions would be a very con
venient solution of several difficulties. But it is exposed
to three serious objections. The style of the book is pro
nounced by all the best critics to be in form and spirit
that of an original creation ; there is no scrap of tradition

20 THE BOOK OF JOB.
to countenance the notion of its foreign origin ; and its
conception of God and His relations to the world is so
deeply and characteristically Hebrew, that it is difficult to
conceive of its birth in any other literature. On this point,
further remarks will be made, in a subsequent chapter.
We are thus shut up to the conclusion that the Book
of Job was written by a Hebrew, who, having placed the
scene and characters of his drama before the dawn of the
Jewish national history, avoided, in obedience to the rules
of his art, the anachronism of introducing allusions to that
history. The deeper motive of thus rendering more freely
and widely applicable to human life the discussion of the
great problem of Providence, may be supposed to have
actuated him in this choice of characters. The opinions
and practices of his own age could be criticised with
greater force through the fictitious speeches of personages
long passed away. A close study of the book leads us to
suspect that this is really what it does ; and there is
nothing in the literary device thus supposed to be em
ployed which is either uncommon among profane, or un
worthy of sacred, writers.
It is not practicable to fix closely the date of the com
position. Without citing in detail the arguments ad
vanced at different periods by scholars, we may say that,
on the whole, it appears probable that it was before the
captivity, and after the reign of David. Several lines of
inquiry converge toward the period favored by Ewald,
the early part of the seventh century b. c, or a somewhat
earlier date, perhaps 750 b. c. These investigations con
sist chiefly of a minute study of the passages in the Book
of Job which seem to be quoted or adapted from other
Scriptural books, and vice versa. It is, of course, not always
easy to decide which is the original, and which the sec
ondary, use of the figure or expression common to two

THE BOOK OF JOB. 21
books,1 nor can it be safely assumed as certain that the
similarity indicates any connection. This kind of reason
ing is acknowledged to require much critical insight as well
as learning, and to acquire force only when many corrob
orative instances have been accumulated.
There is in the present case another criterion — namely,
the analysis of the doctrines of the book, and the determi
nation of their place in the series of progressive revela
tion. This inquiry will occupy another chapter, and will
be found to furnish a strong corroboration of the view
above indicated as to the age of the drama.
The person of the author is absolutely unknown. The
various conjectures which have been put forth (apart
from that which names Moses, on the authority of tradi
tion) are entirely without basis.
As to the genuineness and unity of the book, as we
possess it, there are some differences of opinion. The
prologue, the speech of Elihu, a part of the address of
Jehovah (xl. 15 to xii. 26), and the epilogue are pro
nounced, some by one eminent scholar and some by an
other, to be additions by a later hand. All are defended,
however, with equal ability, by scholars of equal candor.
The conclusion to which I have been led by repeated
1 As a specimen of this argument, I quote (condensing and translat
ing) the following from Ewald's "Buch Ijob" (2. Auflage, 1854, p.
64) : " Of the Psalms of the third period, some refer very distinctly
to this book; as also Zech. i. 10, 11, iii. 1, 2, and vi. 5, presuppose as
long known the descriptions in the first chapters of Job. The term
warfare in Is. xl. 2 is from Job vii. 1, or of the same period. Ezek. xiv.
14, 20 mentions Job, because the book had made that hero again fa
mous. In Jeremiah, and still more in Lamentations, are many echoes.
Compare Jer. xx. 14-18, xv. 18, xvii. 1, xiix. 19, with Job iii. 3-26, vi.
15 et seq., xix. 24, ix. 19, and Lam. i. 12, 13, ii. 4, iii. 4, 1, 9, 12, etc.,
with numerous similar passages in Job. On the other hand, the phrase
in Job ix. 8 is probably from the earlier and simpler Amos iv. 13," etc.

22 THE BOOK OF JOB.
study of the debate is that the speech of Elihu is quite
probably an interpolation, but that the rest are genuine.1
This question, however, will not affect the view to be
taken of the object and teachings of the book. The con
clusions to which we shall be led are substantially the
same, whether the speech of Elihu was originally an inte
gral part of the composition, or was, as some suggest,
subsequently added by the author himself, or was, as
others assert, inserted by a later hand. In any case,
whatever Elihu says that the other characters have not
said before him bears the relation of an afterthought to
the debate. The theory that Elihu is neither answered
by Job nor reproved by the Almighty, because he had
put forward the true solution of the problem under dis
cussion, and had done it in a proper spirit, will not bear
examination.2 0 For able defences, see Conant's " Introduction,'' already cited, and
Smith's " Dictionary of the Bible," art. " Job." As to the speech of
Elihu, the argument of Ewald is partly reproduced by Mr. J. A. Froude
(" Short Studies on Great Subjects — The Book of Job "). It is not, how
ever, the philological argument (which Conant forcibly answers), but the
literary one, and particularly (1) the silence of the book as to Elihu ; (2)
the reply of the Almighty to Job, ignoring Elihu ; (3) the different style
and the weakness, when candidly considered, of Elihu's speech as a
whole ; and (4) the completeness and greater strength of the poem with
out it, which seem to me to incline the balance against it.
a Not only such passages as xxxiv. 5-9, 36, 3*7, xxxv. 15, 16, and
xxxvi. 5-21, but the whole spirit of the speech, shows that Elihu regards
Job in the same light as do the three friends, that of an unrepentant
sinner and hypocrite ; and it would be difficult to point out what they
have said of God that is " not right," which Elihu does not say or imply.
He does indeed suggest the merciful purpose of affliction to lead man to
repentance; but the greater difficulty, which Job has so eloquently
stated, concerning the prosperity of the wicked, he does not meet at all,
except by an impotent denial that they are prospered — a return to the
ground on which the three friends had been ignominiously defeated by

THE BOOK OF JOB. 23
III.
THE book of job as a historical picture.
A historical picture may be a picture painted in the
period, and perhaps by an eye-witness of the scene, which
it commemorates ; or it may be merely the attempt of a
skillful and scholarly artist to depict a period and a scene
with which his learning and his fancy, not his personal
experience, have made him acquainted. In like manner,
history itself may be either contemporaneous, such as is
furnished by the newspapers, or retrospective and second
ary, based on contemporaneous documents. The Book of
Job, considered as a historical picture, belongs to the sec
ond class. It was not written in the age which it de
scribes. It is a picture of that age drawn by a scholar
and artist who never saw it, and centuries after it had
passed away. Its hints of manners, laws, and beliefs are
not the unconscious self -betrayals of nature ; they are the
skillful touches of art. While this fact diminishes, on
the one hand, the historical authority of the book, it en
hances, on the other hand, its literary excellence. In a
few instances, possibly, the author has been betrayed into
anachronisms. The allusions to the captivities of nations,
an appeal to facts too notorious to be contradicted. To call this arro
gant but insufficient reply so complete that, in the conception of the au
thor, Job could not refute it, and the Almighty must needs approve it
by silence, is to underrate the poet's grasp of his subject, and destroy
the real teaching of the book, which is, plainly enough, that the problem
of Providence is, by reason of the greatness of God and the littleness of
man, in its nature insoluble, and that the current theories on the subject
were then, as they are now, inadequate. See, for further discussion of
this, the following chapters.

24 THE BOOK OF JOB.
for instance, seem to be more appropriate to the age of
the writer than that of his subject ; and the speculative
tone of the discussions concerning Providence is in a cer
tain sense not like the patriarchal period. But the latter
is an allowable poetic license. On the other hand, there
are ample proofs of the skill and consistency with which
he has adhered to the type he had chosen. Writing
in an age of commerce, and making frequent allusion
to the sea, he does not once mention ships, because ships
were not in keeping with the patriarchal times of which
he was writing. Holding himself a clear belief in the ex
istence of Satan and his personal hostility to good men,
he does not put into the mouth of any of his characters a
hint of this doctrine, presumably of later origin than their
time. Not unacquainted, if we suppose him to have read
the Scriptures of his own people, with the idea of suicide
as an escape from suffering or dishonor, he nevertheless
represents his hero as enduring the utmost pangs without
a thought of it, and finally rewards him with that pro
longed life, far beyond the longest lives of the times of
Ezekiel or Jeremiah, which constituted in the estimate
of the patriarchs the seal of the favor of God. Above
all, he rigidly excludes from this drama all references to
the national history of the Jews. Adam is mentioned by
name,1 and the flood is probably alluded to in a single
passage ; 2 but here the historical references stop, except
so far as the names of men and places remind us of patri
archal worthies. From such evidences as these, we are
justified in concluding that this unknown author under
took to give to his discussion of a great religious question
the setting of a period not his own, and to keep his poetic
genius, therefore, within the self -prescribed limits of his-
1 xxxi. 33. '' xxii. 16.

THE BOOK OF JOB. 25
torical accuracy. It is worth our while to spend a few
moments in reconstructing, from the rich material be
fore us, the conception which existed in the poet's mind
while he wrote.
Idumsea on the south, Judsea on the west, Bashan on
the north, and Arabia on the east, inclose the scene of
this history — a land of fertile fields, alternating with wide
stock-ranges and pastures, and bounded by mountains and
deserts. The climate is that of a dry inland plateau ; *
the sun blazes hot by day,2 but the nights are cool,3 and
through the clear atmosphere the moon and stars shine
with peculiar brightness.4 Ice and snow lie on the moun
tains in the winter, and, thawing in the spring, fill the
ravines with turbid torrents,5 which flow out into the des
ert and lose themselves, or in the heat of summer dry up
and disappear. The rainy season proper, which occurs in
the autumn, is followed by a few irregular spring show
ers, called the latter rains,6 on which the fate of the growing
crops chiefly depends. But in the dry season also storms
are not unknown. Thunder and lightning,7 great cloud
bursts with deluges of sudden rain, and whirlwinds,8 form
suddenly in the sky, or come sweeping on the stormy east
wind ; 5 and sometimes the simoom from the south invades
the pastures and overwhelms the flocks.10 The scarred
mountain-sides bear witness in their rocky canons of the
force of carving torrents,11 which have scattered the de
bris far over the plain.
Water is the source and sign of all prosperity in such
a land ; 12 without its supply, either by rain or in streams,
the dreaded drouth " destroys all. Only the mountain
1 vi. 15, etc. s xxx. 28. a xxiv. 1. "xxv. 5; xxxi. 26. 5 vi. 15.
6 xxix. 23. ' xxii. 16 ; xxvi. 14 ; xxx. 22 ; xxxviii. 1, 25 ; xxxviii. 35-38.
" xxvii. 20. 9 xv. 2 ; xxvii. 21 ; xxviii. 24. I0 i. 16. " xiv. 19. 12 v. 10.
13 xv. 30. 2

26 THE BOOK OF JOB.
pastures, haunted by the wild goats and asses, are com
paratively exempt from such visitations. The failure of
the harvest or the destruction of the herds, whether by
such climatic vicissitudes or by the ruthless hand of war,
brings famine,1 and upon famine follows pestilence.2
Sometimes ice, snow, and hail afflict the valleys,3 causing
distress and loss. Either through legends or by personal
observation, the terrors of volcanoes 4 and earthquakes °
are not unknown. The regular floods of the Nile,6 like
the inhabitants of its waters, or the unknown stars which
shine in southern zones, or the great, mysterious, stormy
Mediterranean and Indian seas,7 are known only by hear
say to the dwellers in this inland realm.
Of animals, there are a few species employed by man,
and many others running wild. Thousands of sheep
(guarded by dogs), goats, camels, oxen, and asses consti
tute the chief wealth of the richest proprietors ; 8 the
horse is apparently not well known, except as a terrible
animal, rushing with the chariot into battle," or as used
in hunting by some of the desert tribes.10 The onager or
wild ass,11 the deer, and the chamois 12 roam the hills ;
the lion and the jackal haunt the jungle or hunt on the
sandy plain.13 The wild ox14 (perhaps the buffalo, or
perhaps a more imposing and untamable animal) is
occasionally seen ; and still stranger beasts, such as
the unwieldy hippopotamus,15 the fierce crocodile,16 and
the swift ostrich,17 are known through travelers. Per
haps the last even inhabits some portions of the land
of Uz.18 "v. 20. !v. 20; xxvii. 15. sxxxviii. 22,29. 'xviii. 15. s ix. 5;
xxvi. 11. 6 vii. 12. ' ix. 9; xxvi. 16. » i. 3, 17; vi. 5 ; xxiv. 2, 3.
9 xxxix. 19, etc. 10xxxix. 18. " vi. 6; xi. 12; xxiv. 5; xxxix. 5.
12 xxxix. 1. 13 iv. 10; xvi. 10 ; xxxi. 29; xxxviii. 39. u xxxix. 9. ls xl.
15. 16 vii. 12 ; xii. 1. " xxxix. 13-18. 18 xxx. 29.

THE BOOK OF JOB. 27
The hawk 1 and the vulture 3 find their food in the
decaying carcasses of the lion's prey, or the bodies of
animals dead from age or accident ; while the eagle sits
in his mountain eyrie, and watches for his chance to
swoop and slay.3 Other birds too are known, and some,
perhaps rare, imported ones of curious plumage or melo
dious song, are kept to please the ladies.4 Harmless
grubs,5 worms," and spiders 7 delve and spin in the field ;
the asp and the adder are apparently the only poisonous
reptiles 8 commonly found. Fishes are not an article of
food ; perhaps they are not known at all, except vaguely,
as inhabitants of the distant sea." Bees furnish honey ; 10
moths flutter and die, or lay their eggs in store-closets
among the garments, as they have done and will do, to
the annoyance of the housekeeper, forever.
In the plain the palm :1 and the olive,12 and on the
mountain the cedar,13 stand as emblems of strength, glory,
and fruitfulness. The bramble 14 of the wilderness, trans
planted and cultivated, furnishes a thorny hedge 16 to
protect the field and garden. The papyrus,16 both grace
ful and useful, waves by the river side, or is manufactured
into cords, or even woven into boats. Grass grows wild ; "
willows,18 marsh-grass, " and lotus 20 fringe the streams ;
the salt-plant and the broom 21 dot the desert, as do the
sage and grease-wood in the great interior basin of North
America ; the cultivated fields bear wheat and barley,22
and in the vineyards hang clusters from the vine.23 Flow
ers of some kind there must be, since all things that grow
bloom ; but they seem to attract little love or notice.
'xxxix. 26. " xxxviii. 41. 3 xxxix. 27. 4xli. 5. 6xxv. 6. 6xxi.
26, etc. ''viii. 14. sxx. 16. 9xii. 8. 10 xx. 17; iv. 19 ; xiii. 28 ; xxvii.
18. "xv. 32. I2xv. 33. I3xl. 16. "xxx. 7. 16v. 5 ; xix. 8. 16viii.
11 ; ix. 26 ; xl. 21 ; xii. 2. » xxxviii. 27 ; xl. 15. ,8 xl. 22. " viii. 11.
30 xl. 22. !1 xxx. 4. 22 xxxi. 40. 23 xv. 33.

28 THE BOOK OF JOB.
Even the poet only sees in them a type of frailty and
swift destruction.1
Amid such natural surroundings lives a race of men, in
whom the old patriarchal simplicity has not yet been su
perseded by the multitude of new ideas and occupations
which have been added to it. They still count their
wealth in flocks and herds, or in hoarded treasure of pre
cious metals or rich clothing.2 They still practise po
lygamy,3 and maintain the authority of the father and
head of the family over all his descendants and depend
ents.4 Old age is held in reverence among them,5 and
the first-born son leads his brethren.6 Themselves a race
of conquerors, they have banished or enslaved the abo
rigines,7 who are so degraded as not to be useful even as
laborers, but lurk in caves, feed on roots and herbs, or
hang about the settlements to steal. Slaves there are
besides,6 both captives of war " and helpless victims
seized in childhood for the debts of their parents.10 Their
lot is hard or easy, according to the temper of their mas
ters. If they are wronged, they have no redress. Only
the fear of God's wrath restrains the absolute power of
the slaveholder " — in too many cases an impotent consid
eration. Woman takes no part in public or social doings,
and is regarded as an inferior creature.12 The poor who
are not slaves labor for hire.13 In the cities there are
houses 14 and palaces ; 15 in the country people dwell chiefly
in tents.16 Hospitality is shown to strangers ; 1T kinsmen
maintain intimate relations ; 18 friends make long journeys
to visit one another.19 Feast-days are kept ; 20 great joy
1 xiv. 2. 2 xxvii. 16, 17. B xxvii. 15. 4i. 4, etc. "xv. 10; xxix. 8.
* i. 19. 'xxiv. 5; xxx. 1-8. si. 3, 15, 17; iii. 19; xix. 16. 9 iii. 18.
10 vi. 27 ; xxiv. 9. " xxxi. 13. I2 ii. 9, 10 ; xv. 14, etc. I3 vii. 1 ; xiv. 6.
14 xx. 19 ; xxviii. 4. 16 xxi. 28. 16 iv. 19, etc. " xix. 15. '8 xix. 14.
19 ii, 11 20 i. 4..

THE BOOK OF JOB. 29
attends the birth of children, especially of sons ; ' grief
is manifested by shaving the head, tearing the garments,2
and putting sackcloth on the body,3 and sympathy by
sitting long in silence, weeping aloud, and strewing dust
on the head.4 Wine,5 milk,6 bread,7 and eggs 8 are part
of the usual diet. Salt is used in cooking or added
at the table.9 Fires are kept in the tents,10 and lamps or
lanterns hang over them.11 The ashes, perhaps after be
ing leached for lye, are thrown in heaps, together with
broken crockery and other refuse.12 The men wear an
inner 13 and an outer garment, the latter of which is gird
ed up, to shorten it, for work or war.14 Crowns 1B and
rings 16 are worn for ornament or honor. The dead are
buried in tombs,17 and the custom of building pyra
mids 18 as sepulchres is (unless we consider this allusion
an anachronism), if not practised, at least known. All
expressions of feeling are frank and strong. Children
dance ; 19 reverence is indicated by standing and silence 20
in the presence of its object ; contempt by spitting before
his face.21
The occupations of the inhabitants of Uz comprise
many industries. There are, first, the various operations
of cattle-raising " and agriculture. The land is ploughed 23
with the aid of oxen, harnessed with cords ; 24 the seed is
sown,25 and after the latter rains, when the grain is ripe, it
is harvested in sheaves.26 These are loaded by the slaves 27
upon wagons, and hauled to the threshing-floor,28 where
they are threshed by dragging over them a heavy, rough
barrow or threshing-sledge.29 Outcasts glean the har-
Mii. 6. 2i. 20. * xvi. 15. 4 ii. 12, 13. 5 i. 13, 18. 6 xx. 17; xxix.
6. ''xxii. 7. "vi. 6. 9 vi. 6. 10 xviii. 5. " xviii. 6. n ii. 8 ; ix. 30.
"xxx. 18. "xxxviii. 3. I5xxxi. 36. ,6 xiii. 11. "xxi. 32. 18 iii. 14.
"xxi. 11. 2»xxix. 8, 9. 21 xxx. 10. 22 xxi. 10, etc. 23 xxxix. 10. u xxxix.
10. 25 xxxi. 8. 26v. 26. 2' xxiv. 10. 2S xiii. 25; xxxix. 12. 29 xii. 30.

30 THE BOOK OF JOB.
vested fields,1 or the vineyards, which, until the time of
vintage, are closely watched by sentinels, who build
booths upon the spot.2 The grapes are trodden in the
wine-press by the feet of slaves.3 Oil is pressed from
the olive by slave-labor also." Next above this may be
ranked the menial labor of the women, who grind the
grain for household use between two stones.5 Then
there are the different varieties of hunting, such as trap
ping " and snaring,7 or the chase proper,8 and the barter
that springs from these occupations.9 This is facilitated
by the traveling caravans,10 which bring treasures of man
ufactures or precious stones and metals. Perhaps there
are no mines in TJz ; but travelers " are able to tell how
gold is washed from the streams of Ophir,12 and how this
metal, as well as silver,13 copper,14 and iron 16 (wrought or
bar, not cast-iron) are won with daring and persevering
toil from the heart of the rocks. Brass too is made and
formed into pipes,16 and skillful workmen shape vessels
not only of pottery,17 but also of glass and gold, or jewelry
set with sapphire, onyx, rock-crystal, corals and pearls
from the sea, or the famous topaz of Ethiopia.18 Some of
these gems are cut as seals." They are bought with gold
and silver weighed in the balances 20 — a rude form of
money. Humbler metallurgists, yet more useful in their
art, make kettles 21 which will stand fire. Weavers 22 pre
pare woolen goods from the fleece,23 and sacks of skin or
cloth are sewn and patched to hold water, goods, or valu
able documents.24 For books are not unknown,25 though
' xxiv. 6. '' xxvii. 18. "xxiv. 11. 4 xxiv. 11. » xxxi. 1 0 ; xii. 24.
6 xviii. 9. 1 v. 5, etc. °xli. 2, etc. 9 ii. 4. I0vi. IS. " xxi. 29. >2 xxii.
24; xxviii. 9, 10, 15, 19. "xxii. 25 ; xxviii. 1-12. "xxviii. 1. "xxviii.
2 ; xii. 18, 27. 16 vi. 12 ; xii. 18, 27. " ii. 8, 9 ; x. 8 ; xii. 30. 18 xxviii. 6,
16-20. "xxxviii. 14. so vi. 2 ; xxviii. 1 9; xxxi. 6. alxli. 20. 2S vii. 6.
23 xxxi. 20. 24 xiii. 4 ; xiv. 17. 25 xix. 23.

THE BOOK OF JOB. 31
the primitive records, carved in the rocks and filled with
molten lead,1 are considered more permanent. The art
of printing, which makes books permanent by making
them numerous, and by fusing the substance of their con
tents into the consciousness of whole generations, has not
yet been dreamed of. Musicians there are, too, who per
form upon tabret, harp, and pipe,2 or sound the trumpet
in battle.3 Surgery and physic are but little practised.
The blind, the lame, and the diseased 4 are considered as
smitten by fate, and objects for charity rather than cure.
Wounds are bound up ; ° but dislocations and fractures
are apparently deemed beyond help.8
Turning to the laws, institutions, and customs, we see
that society is divided into ranks, partly if not wholly
hereditary. Kings, who lead their subjects to battle,
princes, nobles, counselors, judges, prove the existence of
some settled government.7 Courts are called by notice
given ; 8 criminals are arrested ; complaints are heard ;
lawsuits are conducted concerning disputed inheritances ; °
the magistrate, sitting in the gate, makes summary judg
ments ; 10 witnesses testify ; " sureties are offered for ac
cused parties ; 12 accusers present their charges in writ
ing ; 13 the prison 14 and the stocks 1B await the condemned,
or capital punishment is inflicted with the sword.16 In
civil suits restitution is enforced ; 17 and, where the law
does not inflict due penalty upon those who technically
escape its hand, the citizens in the market-place display
their contempt for the offenders.18 The commonest of
these legal but odious acts is extortion on the part of
creditors, in the exaction of pledges for loans.19 The op-
1 xix. 24. '' xxi. 12; xxx. 31. 3 xxxix. 24. 4 xxix. 15. "v. 18.
' xxxi. 22. ' iii. 14, 15 ; ix. 15 ; xii. 18, 19, 21 ; xv. 24. » xi. 10.
3 v. 5. 10 v. 4 ; xxix. 16, 17. " xvi. 19. 12 xvii. 3. 13 xxxi. 35. "xii. 14.
15 xiii. 27. 16 xix. 29. " xx. 10. 18 xxx. 28 ; xxxi. 34. 19 xxii. 6 ; xxiv. 3.

32 THE BOOK OF JOB.
pression of widows and orphans is particularly con
demned ; ' and in like manner, either by the hand of
justice or the voice of public opinion, murder,2 adul
tery,3 theft,4 cheating,5 wrong to slaves,6 laborers, and
tenants,7 inhospitality,6 and licentiousness,9 are branded
as sins. Yet the tone of society seems to be demoralized.
The judges are bribed by the rich to wrong the poor ; ,0
the sins denounced in public are practised secretly ; slaves
are cruelly wronged ; the victims of power are oppressed;
men admire and are fain to imitate the successful tyrant.11
Violence is not restrained; every man is obliged to watch
his own fields and dwelling against lurking robbers,12 or
call on his friends to help him repel their assaults,13 un
less, like Job, he is suddenly overwhelmed by them.14
The aborigines emerge from their hiding-places to rejoice
in the misfortunes of their conquerors ; 15 and, when a
powerful villain is overthrown, all his former victims are
as fierce for vengeance as they had been tame under in
jury.16 Self-defense being thus to a great extent in the
hands of the individual, it is but natural that charity
should be an individual matter also.1' The society which
has not thoroughly organized justice is not likely to have
organized beneficence.
The presence of walled cities 18 is proof that enemies
from surrounding lands make occasional incursions into
Uz. Not only the Sabssan robber tribes,19 but the disci
plined armies of Chaldea,20 have made the inhabitants
familiar with warfare. They have seen sieges laid,21
breaches stormed,22 and cities reduced to heaps of ruins.23
'xxiv. 21; xxxi. 16. 2 xxiv. 14. 3 xxiv. 15; xxxi. 9. q xxiv. 14.
6 xxxi. 7. 6 xxxi. 13. 'xxxi. 39. "xxxi. 16, 21. 9xxxi. 1. 10xxxi.21.
11 xxi. 33. 12xi. 18. 13 vi. 23. " i. 15, 17. 15 xxx. 9-11. " xx. 22.
17 xxix. 12, etc. I8 v. 4; xvi. 14; xix. 12. 10 i. 15. 20 j i^. si xix.
12. 22 xvi. 14. 23 xv. 28.

THE BOOK OF JOB. 33
They are familiar with military service, with enlistment,1
with marches, camps, and battle. Arrows,2 sometimes
tipped with poison that carries madness,3 shields,4
swords,6 spears," coats of mail,7 the terrible war-horse,8
doubtless harnessed to the scythed chariot — these are
known to them from vivid experience. They have seen
captives made slaves ; ' and they have noted how famine
and pestilence 10 follow in the track of war.
Of scientific knowledge the dwellers in this land have
comparatively little, and that little is mixed with super
stitions. Eclipses they do not calculate, as the Chinese
and the Chaldeans have done for five hundred years.
On the contrary, they regard them with fear,11 and asso
ciate with them, whether in full belief, or as a reminis
cence of a former belief, the idea of a great monster,
Rahab," which devours sun and moon for a time, and
thus causes the eclipse. This monster has been overcome
and prisoned as a constellation in the sky by the power
of God ; yet it is still to some extent obedient to the
skilled astrologer. The flying serpent is another mon
ster, conquered by God and banished to the sky.13 They
believe in starry influences ; " Orion they associate with
winter, the Pleiads with the vernal equinox ; 16 these,
as well as the Bear 1B and the signs of the zodiac,17 are
conducted through the heavens by the Divine hand.
Time is reckoned by the moon 18 and the seasons,19 and
thus by years, as well as by the daily rising and setting
of the sun. The earth is believed to be a flat disk, sur
rounded by the broad band of the sea. The dawn takes
hold, as it were, of the edges of this disk, and day ir-
1 vii. 1. 2 xvi. 12; xx. 25; xxxix. 23. 3 vi. 4. * xiii. 12; xv. 26.
5 i. 15 ; xxxix. 22. 6 xxxix. 23. '' xii. 26. ¦ xxxix. 20, 25. 9 iii. 18.
10 xxvii. 14, 15. » iii. 5. I2 iii. 8 ; xxvi. 12. 13 xxvi. 13. "xxxviii. 31,
33. 15ix. 9; xxxviii. 31. 16ix. 9. "xxxviii. 32. "iii. 6. 19 xxxviii. 32.

34 THE BOOK OF JOB.
radiates the whole earth at once.1 Beneath it are pil
lars, which stand upon nothing * in the dim shade of the
under world.3 There are gathered the almost imper
sonal shadows of the dead ; 4 thither go the clouds that
disappear behind the horizon ; 5 the gates to this mys
terious realm open from tombs " or from the bottom of
the sea.7
The sky is a crystal arch,8 in which the stars are set,9
and under which the clouds are rolled as a curtain or
floor.10 Through this arch, mysteriously opened and
closed, the rain falls, from the store of waters above the
firmament.11 There are waters also below the earth, per
haps in the under world, which replenish the sea through
springs ; 12 but God's power controls all these reservoirs,
and keeps the sea from overflowing.13 What becomes of
waters that evaporate no one knows ; 14 and science and
poetry are alike silent concerning the exhaustless source
of the wind.15 Earthquakes, storms, floods, and all the
striking phenomena of Nature, are ascribed to the direct
personal action of God. Besides such legendary men or
monsters as Orion, the dragon, and the flying serpent,
other strange creatures are believed in, though never
seen ; as for instance, the wonderful bird Phoenix, which
rises to new life from the ashes of its nest.16
Turning finally to the mental philosophy and religious
life, we find that the distinction between soul and body 17,
the existence of spirits 18, the divine origin of dreams ",
the truth of the one God, creator of all things and all
men,20 and the doctrine of a disembodied life beyond
1 xxvi. 10; xxxviii. 13. 2 ix. 6 ; xxvi. 7. • xvii. 16, etc. « xxvi. 5,
6, etc. 6vii. 9. 6xvii. 13, 16. ' xxxviii. 16, 17. e xxii. 14, etc. 'xxii.
12. 10 xxvi. 8. ll xxxviii. 8. I2 xxxviii. 16. " xxxviii. 1 1 . "xiv. 1.
15 xvi. 3 ; xxxviii. 24. 16 xxix. 18. " xv. 22 ; xix. 26. 18iv. 16. 19vii.
14, etc. 20 xxxi. 15, etc.

THE BOOK OF JOB. 35
death,1 are so universally held that the declaration of
them rouses neither contradiction nor surprise. Jeho
vah is worshiped by sacrifice in the patriarchal mode ; 2
priests are known,3 but these are perhaps the priests of
heathen deities. For the aborigines as well as the sur
rounding tribes are polytheists and idolaters,4 and even
the ruling race is not above being suspected of secretly
paying homage to the sun and moon,6 worshiped in after-
times as Baal and Ashtaroth, and under a hundred names
besides. These heathens are called habitually " the fool
ish," " and distinguished thus from the wicked who de
liberately reject God.7 The righteous pray to Him s for
themselves and for others ; " but His serenity is not be
lieved to be affected by theh character or fate."' He is
generally thought to visit sin with temporal penalty, and
righteousness with temporal rewards. The terrible glory
of His immediate presence no man can bear ; u yet this
most intense personality is blended with an omnipresent
activity in nature and history. The breath in man's nos
trils,12 and the pestilence or drought,13 life and death, alike
and everywhere are the breath of God. Pantheism itself
has never more completely identified the world with its
Creator than does this early faith. Angels are recog
nized,14 but only as imperfect and colorless instruments
of the divine purposes. A spiritual power of evil is not
conceived — not even a Satan, like that of the prologue,
rejoicing in mischief and sneering at good. Rewards and
punishments beyond death do not enter into the popular
creed. The orthodox believer, looking upon the vicissi
tudes of life, considers that the prosperity of the wicked
1 xix. 26. 2 i. 5. 3 xii. 19. 4 ii. 10 ; xxx. 8. » xxxi. 26, 27. 6 ii.
10 ; xxx. 8. '' xxi. 14 ; xxii. 17. 8 viii. 5 ; xxi. 15 ; xxiv. 12 ; xxvii. 9,
etc. 9 xxii. 30. " xxii. 2, 3. » xiii. 21, etc. 12 xxvii. 3. 13iv. 9;
xv. 30. " iv. 18, etc.

36 THE BOOK OF JOB.
is either unreal and full of secret trouble,1 or short-lived
and certain to end in disaster,3 or that at all events his
punishment will be visited upon his children.3 As for
those who are overwhelmed with disaster, and do not find
relief, they are undoubtedly suffering the penalty of their
sins, or at least of their parents' sins. Since all men are
sinful, and sorrow often makes them specially conscious
of this fact and willing to confess it, this logic has taken
firm root in general experience, and the partial truth of it
has been adopted as an axiom in morals, so that the
wicked, who doubt it or disbelieve it, are deemed infidels
and rebels against God. With such infidels (namely, evil-
doing unbelievers) Job is confounded by his friends, in
spite of his earnest protest4 to the contrary.
Such is the scene chosen by the poet for his dramatic
presentation of one of the deepest problems which have
ever agitated the human mind. Whatever we may think
of the Book of Job in its moral aspects, or even in its
character as a poem, we must admit that it is singularly
full as a description of life and manners. Few, if any,
ancient writings contain in so small a compass such wealth
of illustration, such innumerable hints, such vistas and
glimpses into the habits, institutions, and beliefs of a
special age and country.

IV.
THE PLAN AND PURPOSE OF THE BOOK.
Against this background appear the figures of the
drama. The prologue is laid partly in heaven and partly
on earth, and presents in the former part a strange vision
1 xv. 20, 21, etc. 2 xx. 5, etc. 3 iv. 9 ; xv. 30, etc. • xxi. 16.

THE BOOK OF JOB. 37
of shadowy, undefined angels, and a pair of boldly con
trasted characters, clearly drawn in one feature only :
Jehovah, loving goodness and believing in it ; Satan,
hating it and sneering at it. This, the deepest moral dis
tinction that can be conceived, is here clearly made for
the first time in Scripture. Righteousness and sin are
declared from the beginning ; but a power loving and
seeking evil, yet subordinated to the purposes of the
power loving and seeking good, is not recognized by the
patriarchs, or by Moses, or by any of the prophets before
the eighth century b. c. Nor does this book apparently
recognize, as many passages of earlier Scripture seem to
do, the existence of other gods than the one Supreme
God — national gods, real powers, but inferior to the Al
mighty. In the prologue He is spoken of as Jehovah ; in
the dialogue, except where He appears in person, and in
one (disputed) passage besides, He is everywhere called
God ; but the recognition of His unity and sole supremacy
is maintained throughout. I think this fact alone is al
most sufficient to establish the Hebrew origin of the book.
Certainly it is a formidable objection to the theory of a
translation from some other literature ; for it is one of
those deep and pervading peculiarities which a mere
translator could not introduce, and which no other ancient
literature with which we are acquainted could supply.
Taken in connection with the blended intense personality
and omnipresent direct activity attributed to the one God,
it constitutes a critical proof of the strongest character
that the Book of Job, though containing views of life and
Providence not found in the earlier Scriptures, is the
legitimate successor of those Scriptures, proceeding from
the same national mind and spirit, under the stimulus of
the same line of progressive inspiration and revelation of
truth.

38 THE BOOK OF JOB.
The earthly scenes of the prologue show us the pious
and prosperous Job, and sketch with few but powerful
touches his wealth, his family relations and life, his suc
cessive afflictions, and his noble patience. With this pic
ture of him the revelation of his character brought out in
the succeeding dialogue is, at first sight, scarcely in har
mony. Instead of a dignified, pious, and uncomplaining
sufferer, we have a wretched victim of pain and despair,
crying out against his fate and its Author, reciting his
symptoms, and begging his friends to pity him. But this
apparent inconsistency is explained by a closer study. It
must be remembered, in the first place, that the conven
tional heroism which endures bodily pain in silence is not
that of the ancients. The warriors of Homer howl and
weep when they are wounded, or even disappointed. In
the second place, the great patience of Job was shown
(according to the story in the prologue) through a long
series of unexampled trials ; and it is upon this story,
based, as it probably is, on the actual experience of the
historic Job, that his reputation for patience rests, rather
than upon his speeches in the drama. In the third place,
the dramatist has but one way of showing the emotions
of his characters, namely, by their own words and acts.
He cannot explain in running comments, as the author of
a narrative might r do, the workings of their minds ; at
least, he cannot do it without using devices which the
author of Job does not employ, such, for instance, as the
Greek chorus, or the prologue and interludes of the Eliza
bethan age. Hence the characters of a play necessarily
tell more about themselves than do people in real life and
ordinary conversation ; and this is the case with Job,
whose passionate addresses and soliloquies are descriptions
of the struggles of his soul, in the climax of trouble, and
shaken from its equipoise by bodily agony. Finally, how-

THE BOOK OF JOB. 30
ever, if we look deeper than the mere ejaculations and
complaints which modern taste would condemn, we find
a sturdy heroism in the consistent attitude maintained by
Job throughout the debate. He will not deny his integ
rity, though sorely pressed. He is like a martyr upon the
rack, who writhes and groans without attempting to sup
press these evidences of weakness, but refuses steadfastly,
nevertheless, to confess to a falsehood.
The three friends are represented with some individual
differences of character, particularly in the case of Eli-
phaz, who, as the eldest and wisest, takes the lead, and is
_rather echoed than assisted by the others. It is easy to
see that the main purpose of the author is to make them
the mouth-pieces of certain doctrines which Job confutes,
and the types of a spirit which God condemns. The grad
ual passage, in their successive speeches, from well-mean
ing but meddling zeal to personal resentment, from empty
cant to vulgar anger, is admirably shown, and remains to
day a scathing satire upon those who attempt to " im
prove " the providences of God for the benefit of suffering
friends, and regard a refusal to accept their advice and
consolation as sure evidence of an unregenerate spirit.
After Job has silenced the three friends (Zophar hav
ing failed to speak at all when his turn came), and per
haps after the speech of Elihu also, Jehovah is repre
sented as closing the discussion by appearing in a majestic
thunder-storm and addressing to Job a sublime statement
of the Divine power and wisdom, as displayed in the crea
tion and administration of the universe, and a stern re
buke, before which Job bows in humility and repentance.
Then, in the epilogue, the three friends are visited with
yet severer condemnation, and pardoned upon Job's in
tercession (a beautiful touch of poetic retribution), and
Job is restored to double prosperity. The book begins

40 THE BOOK OF JOB.
and ends with the simple narrative of fact or legend
around which its mighty structure of mingled drama and
dogma has been built.
Turning now to the didactic element in this composi
tion, we find almost as many theories as commentators
concerning the truths it was intended to teach. Of these
I select four for special mention, as presenting the most
important views which have been taken — namely, those
of Hengstenberg, Ewald, Froude, and Conant.1
All agree that the subject of debate between Job and
his friends is the method and meaning of God's providen
tial dealings with man, and that in this debate both parties
lay themselves open to the Divine rebuke ; but precisely
what is thus reproved and forgiven, and what is the
moral of the whole, are questions upon which expositors
do not agree.
Hengstenberg may be taken as the representative of
the theological interpreters. With many others, who
follow his view more or less closely, he believes the book
to be an inspired soul-history of Job, and typical of the
soul-history of all afflicted believers whose goodness has
become a snare to them, by leading them to self-righ
teousness. Job, he says, was righteous in his own eyes,
and his anger, roused by the accusations of his friends,
who falsely imputed to him specific crimes, fired him to
blasphemous accusations of -God besides. The friends
were right in attributing his sufferings to his guilt, but
wrong in their uncharitable and unfounded specifications
of that guilt. It is Elihu who brings out the truth that
1 For excellent statements and refutations ofthe first two, and an elo-
.quent presentation of the last, see Conant's "Introduction," already cited.
Froude's view, largely based on Ewald's commentary, but somewhat
different in its standpoint, is found in his essay on the Book of Job,
cited above.

THE BOOK OF JOB. 41
Job's chastisements were needed for his salvation. This
Job receives with the silence of conviction, and is after
ward thoroughly humbled by the presentation of the
Divine greatness and glory ; whereupon he is forgiven,
and, having entered by repentance into a much more in:
timate relation with God than before, is privileged to
forgive and intercede for his friends.
This view is carried still further in the hands of
homiletic commentators.1 Job is pronounced to have
been a " mere moralist " at the beginning, and the steps
by which he passed through all the stages of an orthodox
conviction and conversion are traced in the text, by the
simple method of selecting and emphasizing suitable
sentences, by interpreting poetry as if it were cool theo
logical statement, and by ignoring the explicit contradic
tions which numerous passages, as well as the whole
spirit of the book, oppose to such a forced construction.
In a previous chapter I have pointed out how untenable
is this theory as regards the speech of Elihu. It is dis
proved also by the prologue, which distinctly declares
that the object of Job's affliction was to prove his good
ness, in response to a challenge from Satan. The notion
that the drama was intended to depict " the conversion
of Job" does not arise from the sacred text, but has
been injected into it by those who read with precon
ceived determination to find in every part of the Bible
the doctrines which Christian philosophers of one or an
other school have excogitated and systematized. Equally
audacious is the attempt to define the sin of the three
friends as that of mistaken and uncharitable accusation
1 Among whom, as one of the most recent, may be named an Ameri
can author, Prof. Green, of Princeton. The learning and the fervent
Christian spirit of his book on Job do not remove the objections here
brought against the conception on which it is based.

42 THE BOOK OF JOB.
only, in the face of the Divine declaration1 that they
had misrepresented, not Job merely, but God. And
finally (not to mention a crowd of weighty objections),
this theory asserts that the problem of Providence stated
by Job is solved in the book ; and yet the solution which
it claims to have found is not only insufficient to explain
the suffering of the righteous, but does not touch at all
the other half of the difficulty, namely, the prosperity of
the wicked.
The view of Ewald is also deficient in this respect ;
but it is far nobler and more consonant with the spirit
and letter of the book. According to him, Job feels the
current notions of the inseparable connection of sin and
suffering, virtue and prosperity, inadequate to explain his
own affliction, and, unable to find grounds in himself why
he should be thus treated, falls into a terrible conflict
with doubt and despair, from which he emerges victori
ous, under the inspiration of strength gathered from a
spiritual recognition of God and a fore-glimpse of immor
tality, " the great reconciling truth amid the antagonisms
and contradictions of the earthly life." 2
I cannot here pursue into detail this ingenious and
subtile theory. Its ingenuity and subtilty are indeed
among the marks of its unsoundness. That this drama
was intended to show the necessary place of evil in God's
government, its true function in rousing the spirit from
sluggishness into a higher consciousness, training man to
fortitude and to faith in an immortal future, one can
scarcely believe, even while reading Ewald's translation
with Ewald's commentary. Without these the unbiased
reader would not suspect it. As I have remarked above,
the prosperity of the godless is a part of the problem. It
1 Chap. xiii. 7. 2 Conant's "Introduction," p. xvi.

THE BOOK OF JOB. 43
is indeed discussed at greater length than the correlative
question of the affliction of the righteous ; but Ewald's
theory of a solution leaves it out.
Again, the conception of Job, as led step by step
through the outward and inward conflicts here depicted,
to higher views, and finally to the discovery of immor
tality, is not sustained by a fair construction of the book.
The famous passage beginning, "I know that my Re
deemer liveth," which Ewald considers the climax of the
drama, a sort of trumpet note of victory, is evidently not
that, whatever else it may be. Its doctrine of a life be
yond the grave and outside of the earthly body * is, as
Conant well says, a " recognition," not a discovery. It
does not produce surprise or attract attention from the
other speakers. It is not alluded to by Jehovah. It is
not even advanced by Job as a sufficient solution of his
perplexities. Nor is it, in fact, a solution. The statement
that there is a future hfe, in which the injustice of human
fates in this life will be rectified, does not, taken by itself,
explain why such injustice should be permitted here by
an almighty and equitable God.
With this imperfect notice of the character and defects
of Ewald's view, I pass to consider with equal brevity
that of Mr. Froude. According to him, Job grandly pro
tests against the " Calvinistic " view of his innate deprav
ity which his friends put forward, and remains to the end
a champion of his own innocence ; but step by step he is
brought to realize that outward happiness is not the
object of hfe nor the true reward of virtue. Mr. Froude
uses this mterpretation as a text for a vigorous attack
1 Chap. xix. 26 : " And without my flesh shall I see God." King
James's version here, as all scholars now agree, gives a meaning exactly
opposed to that of the original. See remarks in the notes, following the
paraphrase.

44 THE BOOK OF JOB.
upon Calvinism, and upon the sordid view of life and
duty which perpetually links goodness with its reward.
His theory has the merit of connecting logically the pro
logue with the drama. To be willing to " serve God for
naught " (in the sneering words of Satan) is the lesson
which Job is, on this view, represented as learning through
his suffering ; and, when he has conceived and accepted
this, he is victorious over his own despair, as he had been
victorious by the strength of his innocence over his slan
derous critics. The following passage from Mr. Froude's
essay is acute and just :
" It will have occurred to every one that the secret
which has been revealed to the reader is not, after all,
revealed to Job or his friends, and for this plain reason :
the burden of the drama is, not that we do, but that we
do not, and cannot, know the mystery of the government
of the world ; that it is not for man to seek it, or for God
to reveal it. We, the readers, are, in this one instance,
admitted behind the scenes — for once, in this single case
— because it was necessary to meet the received theory by
a positive fact which contradicted it. But the explana
tion of one case need not be the explanation of another ;
our business is to do what we know to be right, and ask
no questions." This is an admirable statement, so far as it goes, of
the moral of the Book of Job. In many details of his
exposition, however, Mr. Froude has too easily assumed
as settled propositions which are, to say the least, still
open to debate ; 1 and the whole of his essay is too con
troversial and too modern (if I may so say) to be accepted
as a simple, objective study of its nominal subject. Not
1 See the articles on Job in Smith's " Dictionary of the Bible," and
Alexander's " Kitto's Biblical Cyclopaedia."

THE BOOK OF JOB. 45
less really, though less violently and offensively, than the
school of Hengstenberg, he forges the Book of Job into a
-weapon with which to do battle for opinions which have
entered human consciousness in later times.
The -view of Dr. Conant deserves to be fully studied
in his "Introduction." The subject of the book, he says,
is the mystery of God's providential government of men,
and this subject is treated in two ways : first, by an ex
hibition of the difficulties which it presents to the finite
mind ; and secondly, by showing man's true position, in
reference to the ways of the Eternal and Infinite. The
first division shows a man, pronounced perfect and up
right by God himself, suffering under sudden and terrible
afflictions. His three friends represent the traditionary
wisdom of their times, according to which the fate of
Job is the true index of his moral character. Hence
their addresses all pursue one object, to move him to
confession, repentance, and the acknowledgment that he
is justly afflicted. Job, on the other hand, conscious of
rectitude, repels their inferences, and confutes by an ap
peal to notorious facts their philosophy of Providence.
Elihu (whose speech Conant regards as genuine) presents
another view of affliction, as the chastisement of a father
seeking to win back an erring child : an aspect, as this
commentator remarks, " true and valuable in itself, and
necessary to a complete view of the subject, but as far as
that of the three friends from solving the problem under
discussion. Indeed, it seems to be treated " (judging from
the silence with which it is passed over) " as something
aside from the main issue, which respects simply the jus
tice and equity of the Divine government."
In the second part (the speech of the Almighty),
" from the perplexed labyrinth of human life, which Job
has vainly sought to comprehend, he is taken into the

46 THE BOOK OF JOB.
serene order and grandeur of the material universe. . . .
Here, then, in the vast system of Nature and Providence,
in its evidences of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness,
of counsels unsearchable and ways past finding out, is
furnished the answer to the rash questionings of Job.
Shall he, whose life is a span, whose place in the universe
is but a point, who cannot understand the laws of the
material world, nor fathom the mysteries of the least of
God's works, claim to comprehend and judge the eternal
counsels of His moral government ? "
The doctrine of the book is declared by Conant to he
that the apparently arbitrary distribution of the good
and evil of this life is not the result of chance or caprice ;
that the government of the world belongs to Him who
created it ; that to know this is enough for man ; that
more than this he cannot know, since God cannot impart
to him what he cannot comprehend ; and that man's true
position is implicit trust in God and submission to His
will. This view seems to me most in harmony with the
text and spirit of the book, and it has been adopted as
the basis of the present interpretation. But Dr. Conant
must not be held responsible for the form which his expo
sition may assume in other hands. Perhaps the amplifi
cations which will be given to it may seem to its author
unwarrantable changes.
To attempt, then, an independent, though not wholly
an original statement of the plan and purpose of this
book, let us first define more precisely the notions of
Providence and of sin which underlie it. Neither all
God's dealings with man, nor all man's shortcomings tow
ard God, are here made subjects of dispute. The provi
dences referred to are those events which cannot be
traced to the actions of their objects as a proximate

THE BOOK OF JOB. 47
cause : in a word, what we still hear of as " visitations "
of Providence, whether in blessing or in trouble. On
the other hand, the sins described, discussed, and imputed
in the debate are outbreaking, coarse, one might say Vul
gar, sins ; not the subtile errors of spiritual life, or the
evil taints and tendencies of inherited character. When
Mr. Froude talks of Job as uttering a noble protest
against Calvinism, he does violence to the simple story.
It would be more reasonable to say that Job, by his re
peated admission of mortal imperfection, confesses Cal
vinism. But a fair construction leaves the Calvinistic
formula out of the question. A man accused of being a
blasphemer, liar, thief, adulterer, swindler, and tyrant,
may be permitted to say, " Being mortal, I cannot claim
perfect purity, but I am upright and innocent," without
committing himself to either side of the controversy con
cerning the philosophy of sin. Job's friends do not fall
back on any Calvinistic theories ; they do not mean that
Job is a sinner in any sense in which they too would be
counted sinners : when they charge him with anything,
it is with crimes.
The subject of the book being " the mystery of God's
providential government of men," it seems to have been
the purpose of the author to state all the current notions
on the subject, and (through the mouth of Job) demon
strate their inadequacy ; to give at the same time, as it
were, in confidence to his reader, the explanation of Job's
special case ; but, finally, to indicate that the Divine pur
pose in each case is not revealed to man, and that the
Divine government in matters of direct blessing and ca
lamity is part and parcel of the administration of the
universe, which the finite mind cannot hope to grasp ;
but that the good man will receive in resignation the
events of life, neither claiming prosperity as the payment

48 THE BOOK OF JOB.
of his virtue nor suspecting God of injustice or anger
when prosperity is withdrawn.
Thus we find in the prologue the statement that the
real reason of Job's afflictions (never made known to him)
was to test his disinterested goodness, and that Satan was
the agent, under the permission of the Almighty.
Then we have the theory of the three friends, that
Job's calamities were the consequence and measure of his
crimes. To this Elihu perhaps adds (or expresses more
distinctly) the idea that these calamities are mercifully
intended to work repentance and restoration.
Job's theory is that he has committed no sin wor
thy of such punishment ; that the world is full of sim
ilar apparent contradictions ; that God is, in his case,
fully aware of his innocence, and would acquit him if He
would only consider the matter judicially — will acquit
him, indeed, some day, though, alas ! too late perhaps for
earthly vindication ; but that, for the present, God is in
explicably angry with him.
Jehovah is represented as severely condemning the
friends for their fundamental misrepresentation of Him,
and presumably also, though not explicitly, for their
canting, uncharitable accusation of Job. But Job also is
rebuked, not for maintaining his innocence, but for assum
ing that, since his sufferings are not the penalty of crime,
they must be the work of Divine, unreasoning anger ; l
and by a wonderful vision of scenes and creatures not
subject to man or directly connected with his needs, and
not understood by him, Job is taught that in the vast
universe administered by God there may be reasons many
for the fate which befalls the individual creature.
The author appears to have felt a dim foreshadowing
1 xl. 8. Witt thou condemn me, thai thou mayest be righteous ?

THE BOOK OF JOB. 49
of what we should now call " the reign of law " through
out creation, though to his mind it was simply the per
sonal and immediate reign of God. He had, as we shall
see, no thought of many other partial solutions of his
great problem which revelation and science have put for
ward since his time ; but he grasped more clearly than
his predecessors the truth that almighty wisdom is able
to manage the world so that " all things " shall " work
together." The personal history of Job could be at once
the product of a general administration and of a special
purpose. To sum up in a few words, the author seems to have
clothed in dramatic forms a train of thought something
like this : The current notion that calamity is always the
punishment of crime, and prosperity always the reward of
piety, is not true. Neither is it true that the distress of a
righteous man is an indication of God's anger. There are
other purposes in the Divine mind of which we know
nothing. For instance, a good man may be afflicted, by
permission of God, and through the agency of . Satan, to
prove the genuine character of his goodness. But whether
this, or some other reason, involved in the administration
of the universe, underlies the dispensation of temporal
blessings and afflictions, one thing is certain : the plans
of God are not, will not be, cannot be revealed ; and the
resignation of faith, not of fatalism, is the only wisdom
of man.

50 THE BOOK OF JOB.
V.
THE PLACE OP THE BOOK IN PROGRESSIVE REVELATION.
The progressive character of revelation in the Bible is
a truth not sufficiently realized by readers, though it is
receiving continually a wider recognition.1 The test of
the truth at every step of this progress is not that it is
complete, but that it lies in the line of divinely guided
development, so that at each succeeding stage it needs,
not to be destroyed, but to be fulfilled. The conception
of God, not only, but with it also the conception of every
grace and virtue, of right and duty, of responsibility and
immortality, is steadily developed from age to age, until
Christ fulfills all. Even the teachings of Christ are un
folding perpetually new fruits of spiritual meaning and
power, in the experience of His saints.
It must be remembered, however, that crude and par
tial forms of truth are peculiar not merely to certain
periods of history, but to crude natures in all ages. Thus,
in the time of the Saviour, people still held the early
notion that suffering is the penalty of sin, and debated
whether it were, in a given case, the sin of the sufferer or
of his parents, although the Book of Job, centuries before,
had exposed the inadequacy of such a view. The sacred
writings, however, which are acknowledged as authorita
tive in morals and religion by any generation, may be
accepted as representing the highest views of that genera
tion. Whatever may have been held by coarser natures,
1 See the suggestive lecture by the Bishop of Carlisle, on " The Grad
ual Development of Revelation," delivered before the Christian Evidence
Society of Great Britain, and published with other lectures of the course
under the title of " Modern Skepticism " (New York, Randolph & Co.,
1871).

THE BOOK OF JOB. 51
we cannot suppose that Moses or David would fall behind
an inspired predecessor in the completeness of his survey
of the truth so far revealed in or to human consciousness.
The more the Bible is studied, the more plainly this steady
advance is recognized.
The Book of Job presents an exceptionally easy test
of this principle ; because, as we have seen, it distinctly
attempts to collate the notions of the past on certain sub
jects, and to add to them new and enlarged views. In
this light, let us consider briefly two doctrines of the
book, the doctrine of calamity and the doctrine of Satan.
The early notion that unfortunate people are cursed is
allied to the feelings shown by animals in avoiding their
wounded or dying companions. Correlative to it is the
conception of prosperity as blessing or reward. The story
of Eden, philosophically considered, depicts, as the Bishop
of Carlisle has well remarked, the dawn of man's religious
consciousness ; and the first conception arising out of this
consciousness is that of suffering as a penalty. In the
patriarchal age, this view appears to us, enlarged by the
addition of the family sphere. The complete identifica
tion, in that age, of the head of the family with his de
scendants and dependents, made it natural to believe them
all involved in a common condemnation or reward. It
should be added that the long lives and simple social and
political relations of the patriarchs rendered the doctrine
of temporal rewards and punishments a sufficient guide
for conduct and belief. The longer a man lives, and the
less his life is complicated with the actions of others be
yond his control, the more likely is it that, by the opera
tion of unerring moral laws, his fate in this life will cor
respond with his desert. Yet the patriarchal notions of
God, His promises and His retributions, however well
they may have served to educate the religious sense of

52 THE BOOK OF JOB.
those ages, were certainly outgrown in the progress of
revelation ; so that Christ and the Apostles found no more
stubborn obstacle to their higher and wider truth than
the purblind bigotry which would not look beyond the
horizon of Abraham.
In estimating the position of Moses, it must be remem
bered that his mission was to reconstruct the conscience
and the religious sense in a people debased by slavery and
disease. The popular beliefs of Egypt, whatever may
have been the sublimer creed of the initiated priesthood,
were abjectly superstitious. The Egyptian doctrine of
rewards and punishments in a future life, or series of lives,
was a phantasy, fostered by priestcraft and employed in
its service. The famous paradox maintained by Bishop
Warburton in his " Divine Legation of Moses " deduces
the divine origin of the Mosaic religion from its suppres
sion of the doctrine of immortality, and its revival of the
simple, and mainly if not exclusively temporal, creed of
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.1 Moses taught temporal re
wards and punishments, extending to children's children ;
and this teaching was emphasized by the special dealings
of God with the Israelites in the wilderness. But the
patriarchal view was extended by Moses and his succes
sors beyond the bounds of the family, to embrace the na
tion. All these doctrines are true, but partial. Just as the
forces known to physicists before the discovery of capil
larity, magnetism, and electricity were truths, though in
adequate to explain all phenomena, so it was and is true
that virtue and vice are forces, causing happiness and suf
fering ; and that these results affect whole families, na
tions, and races. But the phenomena of experience are
1 See also, for a suggestive rationalistic treatment of the subject,
Schiller's essay, Die Sendung Moses (" The Mission of Moses ").

THE BOOK OF JOB. 53
not completely explained by appealing to these causes ;
still less can these causes, as conceived by the ancients,
and assumed to be the only ones, be reconciled with the
absolute justice of an almighty ruler.
An additional view is suggested by David, namely,
that the prosperity of the wicked is deceitful, and the
affliction of the righteous temporary. This also is a par
tial truth ; but, as a satisfactory solution, it encounters
two fatal objections. First, there are, particularly in civ
ilized life, innumerable instances in which the innocent
are overwhelmed with disaster, never remedied in this
world, or the wicked are prospered to the end of life.
Secondly, to inflict pain, and then make the injury good
by a subsequent benefaction, is merely a clumsy, human
kind of justice — not the way in which an almighty ruler,
undertaking to distribute fortune to men according to
their desert, might be expected to follow that principle.
Some of the Psalms (mainly of later periods) speak of
affliction as intended to reform the righteous by convict
ing them of sin, and inspiring them to repentance. True
again, yet again inadequate. If this were all, why do the
wicked prosper ?
Finally, let us admit without too close a scrutiny that
there are hints in the older Scriptures of a future life, in
which some vague recompense is meted out, to square the
accounts of this life. Even this conception, advanced as
it is beyond the others, and true, as they also are true, is
like them inadequate to explain the seeming contradiction
of an almighty being obliged to have recourse to eternity
to remedy the unavoidable injustice committed in time.
All these views are vigorously criticised in the Book
of Job, and shown to fall short of the requirements of
the problem of Providence ; hence, we feel it fair to as
sume, the sacred writers who rested in any or all of these

54 THE BOOK OF JOB.
views as sufficient, probably preceded the author of Job.
He suggests, however, as we have seen, a new hypothesis
as sometimes applicable, namely, that of affliction as a
test of goodness. This view reappears in some of the
prophets, who, we think, were later than our author. But in
their books the theme receives other variations, of which
the author of Job appears to have known nothing. Thus
we have the doctrines of the suffering of good men as
witnesses to the truth, or of martyrdom ; of vicarious
suffering, the just for the unjust (mystically foreshad
owed perhaps in the Mosaic ritual, but not applied to the
suffering of man for man before the major prophets) ; of
educatory suffering, and so on.
All these views are gathered, expanded, and illumi
nated by the New Testament. In the Sermon on the
Mount we find a new criterion of fortune, by which they
are counted happy whom the world calls unfortunate.
Happiness and prosperity are not the same, though Job
confounded them. Moreover, the full truth of God's
perpetual sympathy with human suffering is revealed in
Christ, with the still higher truth that the fellowship of
suffering unites God and man, since God suffers from the
foundation of the world for the sake of His creatures,
and His saints are invited to suffer with him, that is, as
He does, for others. Suffering is recognized as a precious
experience, both qualifying its subject to become in turn
the comforter of others, and working out in him the
noblest power of patience and the unspeakable blessing
of peace. Finally, the New Testament declares, what the author
of Job dimly perceived, that pain is a part of the plan
of evolution, both in the material and in the sphitual
universe. As one astronomer infers from the apparently
abnormal movements of a planet that some undiscovered

THE BOOK OF JOB. 55
orb exists beyond, and another astronomer brings to
knowledge the star itself, so the author of Job, by a
precisely similar logic, inferred that there were other
causes for suffering than those already recognized, and
pointed out, as it were, the celestial region in which these
unknown causes would be found ; while Christ and the
Apostles in due time confirmed his prediction. Science
has rendered us the great service of throwing much light
upon the functions of pain. Its latest form, the Dar
winian hypothesis (whether fully accepted or not), con
tains an undeniable truth, that by pain, disease, accident,
and chiefly by the calamity of premature death, once
thought most mysterious of all, the progressive adapta
tion of living species, and even of human races, has
been effected.1 But Paul states the matter completely,
in the eighth chapter of Romans, from the standpoint
of the Christian evolutionist, to whom the series from
monad to man does not stop with the animal man, but
goes on unbroken through the stages of spiritual ad
vance, from first fruits to full fruits, even to " the mani
festation of the sons of God." Hear his inspiring sum
mary : 2
" For the history of all things presents the universal
tendency, the earnest expectation, toward this consummat
ing spiritual glory. Creation was made, not perfect, but
perfectible, subject to perpetual change (vanity, evanes
cence) ; and this not by its own will, without a plan, but
by Him who established this law of progress (hope), by
which all living things are to be delivered at last, even
as we are delivered from the bondage of mortality into
the freedom of immortality. Now, knowing that pain,
1 See, for the best popular statement of this argument, Mr. A. R.
Wallace's " Contributions to the Theory of Natural Selection." ' Ro
mans viii. 19-24.

56 THE BOOK OF JOB.
attendant upon progress, has been the rule from the be
ginning, and feeling the pains of spiritual growth in
ourselves, let us take courage and patience from the
blessed analogy of Nature, and remember that this suffer
ing also is the price and means of progress. Let us ex
pect, as the fruit of the Divine process of evolution in
spiritual things, our complete adoption into the spiritual
family, and our deliverance from the thrall of the
body." This, or something like this, is the view which Paul
takes of affliction. As expressed in the passage we have
paraphrased, it sets forth man's fellowship in suffering
with the whole creation. The context declares man's
fellowship in suffering with a Divine Redeemer. The
blending of these two aspects in the eighth of Romans
constitutes perhaps the most comprehensive and satisfac
tory treatment ever given to the problem of suffering, the
rudiments of which are propounded in Job. It will occur
to every student, however, that the Christian philosopher,
no less than the Hebrew poet, leaves the central mystery
unsolved. The good man in affliction may be lifted out
of despair by the sublime conception of the apostle ; but
it is still only through faith and trust, not through the
satisfaction of curiosity as to the exact meaning and pur
pose of his own fortunes, that he attains to peace. We
are permitted, both through science and through the later
revelation, to see more of the machinery of Providence
than did the patriarchs and their successors. We are
permitted to know more clearly that the Great Artificer
is our Father and Friend ; that by His power all things
are working together for good ; that we, with all things,
are parts of His gracious purpose. But we cannot " com
prehend the Almighty to perfection ; " and as for the
labyrinth of our personal perplexities, we must still ever-

THE BOOK OF JOB. 57
more take wings and soar above it ; we cannot traverse
it by any human map.
Leaving this survey of the development of the doc
trine of suffering in revelation, we remark that the stage
of it represented by the Book of Job, when compared
with the other Scriptures, confirms the opinion already
reached on independent grounds as to the age of that
book. A similar conclusion is indicated, though from much
more meagre materials, by a comparative consideration
of the teachings of the various Scriptures concerning
Satan. A rapid survey of the progress of this doctrine
will suffice to fix the position in that respect of the
book before us. But we should first note the fact that
the word translated Satan in this book is usually trans
lated " adversary." ] In two places in the Old Testa
ment,2 besides this book, it is given as a proper name.
One is the passage in Chronicles, where Satan is said
to have stood up against Israel, and provoked David
to number the people. The parallel passage in Samuel
does not name Satan. The other is in the vision of
Zechariah. The conception of arbitrary and wanton gods, seeking
their own pleasure, is common in polytheistic religions.
The Greek mythology may serve as an example. The
corrupt popular creed of Egypt involved the same separa
tion of the idea of God from the idea of goodness. Moses,
in his work of restoring the moral sense of a race, began
with the simplest notions of God and duty. In his phi
losophy, we find most prominent the supreme power of
God, who is represented as using evil to punish sin. As
1 See Num. xxii. 22, 32 ; 1 Sam. xxix. 4 ; 2 Sam. xix. 22 ; 1 Kings v.
4; xi. 14, 23, 25 ; and Ps. cix. 6, where the marginal reading is the bet
ter one. 2 1 Chron. xxi. 1 ; Zech. iii. 1, 2.

58 THE BOOK OF JOB.
it was not safe to unfold the truth of immortality upon
the basis of the Egyptian superstitions regarding the
future life, so, on the other hand, the existence of a per
sonal power of evil could not be taught to Israel at once,
because it would lead the nation, tainted already with
polytheism, to make another god out of Satan. This was,
indeed, the case in the Zoroastrian religion, dating more
than twelve centuries before Christ. In that creed, to
escape from making God responsible for evil, a dual prin
ciple was conceived, giving birth to two brothers, Aura-
mazda and Ahriman. The latter was imprisoned for three
thousand years, but after his release created thousands of
evil spirits to counteract the good spirits meanwhile cre
ated by Auramazda, and finally mixed an egg containing
evil with the egg of Auramazda containing good, out of
which the world, thus mixed of good and evil, proceeded.
This philosophy easily degenerated into the belief that
the good spirit was not the sole creator of the world, but
a subordinate being, of equal rank with the evil spirit.
Probably the influence of this Persian conception
would have led the Hebrew nation into error, but for the
peculiar emphasis laid by Moses on the almighty power
of God as the central truth of his system. To allow the
conception of good and bad angels to grow in definite-
ness without trenching upon that of the One Supreme
Being, and breeding a new polytheism — this was the
problem solved in the education of the Israelites. God
and Righteousness — this was the foundation on which
alone it was safe to build.
We find accordingly that the angels of the early
Scriptures are colorless, irresponsible agents of the com
mands of God. In Numbers xxii. the angel of the Lord
stood for a Satan against Balaam ; and in 1 Kings xxii. a
curious vision is reported by Micaiah the prophet, which

THE BOOK OF JOB. 59
shows what were the conceptions on this subject as late
as the days of Jehoshaphat, 900 years before Christ. Here
Jehovah is represented as asking advice of His angels,
how to mislead Ahab. And there came forth a spirit
and stood before Jehovah and said, I will persuade him.
And Jehovah said unto him, Wherewith ? And he said,
I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth
of all his prophets. And He said, Thou shalt persuade,
and prevail also : go forth atid do so."
This may be merely the quasi-poetic way in which
Micaiah contradicted the prophets of Ahab. But it is
introduced with the solemn formula of authority, Sear
thou the word of Jehovah / and it illustrates the current
notions of angels, as beings working evil, even, at the
command of God. There is, however, a new feature of
voluntary activity here. The angels in this vision make
suggestions. By Isaiah 1 (about 700 b. c.) a punishment of bad
angels is described ; and Zechariah 2 (about 500 b. c.)
represents Satan as appearing to claim the soul of one
saved, and Jehovah as rebuking him in wrath. These two
passages show a great advance in the definiteness of the
doctrine, and prepare the way for the clearer view of
Satan expressed by Christ and the Apostles, who describe
him as the adversary of souls.
If the Book of Job was written after the books of
Moses and before the Book of Isaiah, and if the scene
of the drama was laid in a time at least as early as Moses,
we might expect to find among the personages of the
book no allusion to Satan at all, and in the author him
self a conception of Satan between that of the lying
spirit of Micaiah's vision and that of the evil spirits
1 Is. xxiv. 21. 2 Zech. iii. 1.

60 THE BOOK OF JOB.
whose punishment Isaiah pictures. This is exactly what
we do find. Satan is separated from the sons of God,
but not yet cast out ; he is malicious, but not rebellious.
He differs with Jehovah, but does not defy him. He
neither believes nor trembles. Jehovah is represented as
tolerating his presence, recognizing without wrath his
evil temper, and permitting, on a sort of wager, within
defined limits, his machinations against a righteous man.
This can hardly fail, on rational consideration, to be
recognized as a transitional conception. But how won
derfully deep and true is its characterization ! A single
feature only is sketched, but it is an eternal one. A sin
gle note is sounded, but it is the key-note. Jehovah,
loving and believing in goodness ; Satan, disbelieving
and hating it. Out of this germ-thought the whole New
Testament conception naturally grows. The activity of
Satan in spreading physical evils drops, in great meas
ure, away ; but the true Satanic element, willful skepti
cism of goodness, expands into the terrible proportions
of the great enemy of souls.
It is curious to notice how literature has made dispro
portionate use of the transitional forms of the doctrine of
Satan, often losing sight of its eternal centre. The gro
tesque mediasval conceptions of the devil are distortions
of Scripture, mixed with relics of paganism. He is in
appearance like the god Pan. He hunts for souls, as an
Indian for scalps. He buys them, traps them, cheats and
is cheated, with grim humor and much odor of brimstone.
Finally he becomes a mere bugaboo, to be exorcised by
the sign of the cross or by the incantations of priests.
Milton has gathered his devils from pagan mythology,
and named them after the gods of the heathen. This is a
poetic use of the early belief of the Hebrews themselves,
according to which the heathen deities actually existed,

THE BOOK OF JOB. 61
but the God of Israel was their superior in power, giving
victory to the people to whom He specially belonged.
Milton's Satan is simply an adversary. True, he says
" Evil, be thou my good ; " but he only says it. His evil
deeds are like the legitimate stratagems of warfare. Apart
from his formal hostility to God, he commands our re
spect, in spite of the repeated attempts of the poet to ex
plain how bad he is. The central Satanic element is over
laid with a splendor of heroism.
Byron, in his " Vision of Judgment," goes but a step
farther, when he represents Michael and Satan saluting
each other before the gate of Heaven, with the courtesy
of knightly foes.
Dante's Satan is a horrible symbolic monster, described
with that minuteness of detail in which this sombre poet
clothes his epic allegory — to the great injury of its sub
limity, in the feehngs at least of modern students. We
may fairly say that with him Satan is but the climax of
hell — a hideous beast, in whose dripping jaws the worst
sinners suffer the worst agonies.
Mrs. Browning, in her " Drama of Exile," has given a
conception of Satan which is noble, but not Satanic. Such
a being might repent. He recognizes the wrong. He
believes remorsefully in the good. To the mourning
world after the fall, he says :
" Ve wail ; ye all wail ; peradventure I
Could wail among you ! "
It is in Goethe's " Faust " that we find the Satan of
Scripture and experience. This drama is a pitiless picture
of both the human and the Satanic elements of evil. We
understand by intuition how Faust can repent and be
saved ; but not Mephistopheles, whose character is rooted
in disbelief . Ich bin der Geist der stets verneint, " I am

62 THE BOOK OF JOB.
the spirit that always denies," is his comprehensive self-
description. The sneer, not the curse, is his perpetual
expression. Goethe started, as the development of this
doctrine in Scripture starts, with the Satan of the Book
of Job. Although the characters in Job nowhere allude to the
existence of Satan, the spirit which is ascribed to him in
the prologue is unconsciously shared by the three friends.
They sit face to face with goodness, and disbelieve it.
They are swift to suspect and accuse. More devilishly
still, the Pharisees looked upon Christ, and attributed his
miracles of mercy to the power of Beelzebub. In both
cases the Devil was inspiring the critics, even while they
thought themselves the representatives of righteousness.
The author of " Ecce Homo " says in substance that
the test of an inspired teacher or prophet is this, that his
message must be the eternal truth, but its form must be
local and temporary. The doctrine of suffering and the
doctrine of Satan, as set forth in the Book of Job, respond
to this challenge. The eternal truth is in them, while
the conditions of a development still in progress surround
and limit them.
As for the inspiration of this book, it would be useless
to enter into argument on that subject. The earnest stu
dent will find inspiration in it, because he will receive in
spiration from it. In the absence of this proof, no other
would convey to him either conviction or benefit. But
to one who has felt the truth itself, the attestation of
Christ and His Apostles, which the Book of Job receives
in common with other Old Testament Scriptures, possesses
more than dogmatic authority.

THE BOOK OF JOB. 63
VI.
THE REVISED VERSION AND METRICAL PARAPHRASE.
In the choice of a stanza for this paraphrase, the con
sideration of convenience was predominant. The three
lines of this stanza permit either the condensation of two
of the Hebrew couplets, or the expansion of one, as the
rendering of the thought may require. No attempt has
been made to reproduce the strophic structure of the
original, which Ewald, for instance, professes to follow
closely, but which seems, nevertheless, to be a matter of
considerable obscurity and doubt among critics. There
is, however, no doubt that the poem is constructed with
much skill, according to certain rules of art ; and, for the
pleasure which the recognition of this skill would give to
a competent reader of the original, a partial substitute is
offered in the use of rhyme, as imparting a more artificial
form to the paraphrase.1 At the same time, the represen
tation of the shades of thought in the original has been
the controlling condition throughout. This is, however,
not a translation, but a paraphrase. The thought, not
the word, is carefully followed.
In the notes at the end of the paraphrase will be found
some explanations of obscure passages and statements
of the grounds upon which certain readings have been
adopted. By the kindness of the American Bible Union, the
Revised Version prepared for that society by Dr. Conant
is presented for comparison. Where this version has been
foUowed, in preference to the common one, there is usu-
1 See, in Dugald Stewart's " Philosophy," an interesting analysis of
the nature of the pleasure given by rhymed verse.

64 THE BOOK OF JOB.
ally no reason given in the notes. The student will find
this deficiency made good in the critical notes of the
quarto edition of Conant's " Job," which he is earnestly
advised to study.

PROLOGUE.
1 There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job. This
2 man was perfect and upright, and one who feared God and shunned
3. evil. There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. His
substance was seven thousand sheep and goats, and three thousand
camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she-asses,
and very many servants. And this man was great, above all the
sons of the East.
4 Now his sons went and held a feast, at the house of each, on his
day ; and they sent, and invited their three sisters, to eat and to drink
5 with them. And when they had let the feast-days go round, Job
sent and purified them. And he rose early in the morning, and
offered burnt-offerings, according to the number of them all : for
Job said, it may be that my sons have sinned, and have forsaken
God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually.
6 Now it was the day, when the Sons of God came to present them-
7 selves before Jehovah ; and Satan also came among them. And Je
hovah said to Satan : From whence comest thou ? And Satan an-
8 swered Jehovah and said : From roaming over the earth, and from
walking about upon it. And Jehovah said to Satan : Has thou ob
served my servant Job, that there is none like to him on the earth,
9 a perfect and upright man, one that feareth God and shunneth evil ?
10 And Satan answered Jehovah and said : For naught, doth Job fear
God ? Hast not thou hedged him about, and his house, and all that
he hath, on every side ? The work of his hands thou hast blessed,
11 and his substance is spread abroad in the earth. But, put forth
12 now thy hand and touch all that he hath, — if he will not renounce
thee, to thy face ! And Jehovah said to Satan : Lo, all that he hath
is in thy power ; only, against himself do not put forth thy hand.
And Satan went out from the presence of Jehovah.

ohap. n.] THE BOOK OF JOB. 65
Now it was the day, that his sons and his daughters were eating, 13
and drinking wine, in the house of their brother, the first-born. And 14
there came a messenger to Job, and said : The cattle were ploughing,
and the she-asses were grazing beside them ; and Sabseans fell upon
and took them ; and the servants they have smitten with tho edge of 15
the sword, and only I alone escaped to tell thee.
Whilst he was still speaking, there came another, and said: The 16
fire of God fell from heaven, and burned the flocks and the servants,
and consumed them ; and only I alone escaped to tell thee.
Whilst he was still speaking, there came another, and said : Chai- 17
dseans formed three bands, and set upon the camels and took them ;
and the servants they have smitten with the edge of the sword, and
only I alone escaped to tell thee.
Whilst he was still speaking, there came another, and said: Thy 18
sons and thy daughters were eating, and drinking wine, in the house
of their brother, the first-born. And lo, there came a great wind from 19
beyond the wilderness, and struck upon the four corners of the house,
so that it fell on the young men, and they died ; and only I alone es- 20
caped to tell thee.
Then Job arose, and rent his garment, and shaved his head ; and he
fell to the earth, and worshipped. And he said ; Naked came I forth 21
from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither. Jeho
vah gave, and Jehovah hath taken away ; blessed be the name of
Jehovah !
In all this Job sinned not, nor uttered folly against God. 22
Now it was the day, when the Sons of God came to present them- 1
selves before Jehovah ; and Satan also came among them, to present
himself before Jehovah. Then said Jehovah to Satan : From whence 2
comest thou ? Satan answered Jehovah, and said : From roaming
over the earth, and from walking about upon it. Then said Jehovah 3
to Satan : Hast thou observed my servant Job, that there is none like
to him on the earth, a man perfect and upright, one that feareth God
and shunneth evil ? And still he holds fast his integrity, though thou
didst move me against him, to destroy him without cause.
Satan answered Jehovah, and said : Skin for skin; and all that a 4
man hath will he give for his life. But, stretch forth now thy hand 5
and touch his bone and his flesh ; if he will not renounce thee, to thy
face ! And Jehovah said to Satan : Lo, he is in thy hand ; only, 6
spare his life.
And Satan went out from the presence of Jehovah, and smote Job 7

66

THE BOOK OF JOB.

[ouap. m.

8 with grievous ulcers, from the sole of his foot to his crown. And he
9 took a potsherd to scrape himself therewith, as he sat among the
ashes. Then said his wife to him : Dost thou still hold fast thy in-
10 tegrity ? Bless God, and die ! And he said to her : Thou speakest
as one of the foolish women speaks. The good shall we receive from
God, and shall we not receive the evil ? In all this, Job sinned not
with his lips.
11 Now three friends of Job heard of all this evil that had come upon
him. And they came each from his place, Eliphaz the Temanite, and
Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite ; for they had con-
12 certed together, to go and mourn with him, and comfort him. They
raised their eyes afar off, and knew him not ; and they wept aloud
13 and rent each one his garment, and strowed dust upon their heads
toward heaven. And they sat down with him upon the earth, seven
days and seven nights ; and none spoke a word to him, for they saw
that the affliction was very great.
1 Afterward, Job opened his mouth, and cursed his day. And
2 Job answered, and said :JOB'S LAMENT.

REVISED version.
3 Perish the day, wherein I was
born;
and the night, which said : A
man-child is conceived !
4 That day, let it be darkness :
let not God from above seek
for it,
nor light shine forth upon it.
5 Let darkness and death-shade
reclaim it ;
let clouds rest upon it ; [it.
let darkenings of the day affright
6 That night, thick darkness seize
upon it !
let it not rejoice among the days
of the year,
nor come into the number of the
months.

PARAPHRASE.
Perish my day of birth for- 3
lorn —
The night which said, A man-
child born !
Thick darkness hide its hour of 4
morn;
Let God forget to seek its
light,
Clouds lower, and eclipse af- 5
fright,
Yea, deeper darkness whelm its 6
night !
Nor be it counted in the days
Of years, nor reckoned by the
rays
Of any moon's advancing phase.

CHAP. III.]

THE BOOK OF JOB.

67

REVISED VERSION.
7 Lo, let that night be barren,
and no sound of joy enter therein.
8 Let them that curse days, curse it ;
they that are skilled to rouse up
the leviathan.
9 Let the stars of its twilight be
dark;
let it wait for light, and there be
none;
neither let it behold the eyelids
of the morning.
10 Because it did not shut the doors
of the womb that bore me,
and hide sorrow from my eyes.
11 Wherefore did I not die from
the womb —
come forth from the womb, and
expire ?
1 2 Why were the knees ready for me,
and why the breasts, that I
might suck ?
13 For now, I had lain down and
should be at rest ;
I had slept, then would there be
repose for me :
14 with kings, and counsellors of
the earth,
who have built themselves ruins :
15 or with princes, who had gold,
whofilledtheirhouses with silver :
or like a hidden untimely-birth,
16 I should not be ;
as infants that never see light.
17 There, the wicked cease from
troubling,
and there, the weary are at rest.
18 The prisoners all are at ease;
they hear not the taskmaster's
voice.

PARAPHRASE.
Barren henceforth that night 7
remain,
Nor hear a mother's cry again
Of joy, triumphant over pain !
Curse it, all they, whose sorceries 8
Can rouse the dragon ofthe skies
That swallows planets as he flies !
Itsstarsofmorning-twilightgone, 9
Vain may it yearn, nor see anon
The rosy eyelids of the dawn !
Because for me that day of doom 10
Closed not the portals of the
womb,
Hiding mine eyes from woe to
come.

Why died I not in birth at first ? 1 1
Whywaslgentlyheldandnursed, 12
To keep in me a life accurst ?
Why could I not forever stay 13
With souls that never saw the (16)
day,
Orprinceswhohavepassedaway? 14
Their pyramids the great did
build ;
Their stately tombs with treasure 15
filled,
Their slaves commanding as they
willed.
But in the grave the wicked cease 17
From troubling; captives find 18
release,
And all the weary are at peace.

68

THE BOOK OF JOB.

[ohap. rv.

REVISED VERSION.
19 Small and great, both are
there ;
and the servant is free from his
master.
20 Wherefore gives He light to the
wretched
and life to the sorrowful in
heart ;
21 who long for death, and it comes
not,
and search for it more than for
hidden treasures,
22 who are joyful, even to exult
ing,
are glad, when they find the
grave : —
23 to a man, whose way is hid
den,
and God hedgeth about him ?
24 For with my food, comes my
sighing ;
and my moans are poured forth
as water.
25 For I feared evil, and it has
overtaken me ;
and that which I dreaded, is
come upon me.
26 I was not at ease; nor was I
secure ;
nor was I at rest; yet trouble
came.

PARAPHRASE.
Of onedegreearegreatandsmall; 19
Theslaveis freefrora every thrall;
Silence and rest encompass all !

For this I long — 0 why doth 20
He
Give hated life and light to me,
Who seek for death to set me 21
free?
As robbers break a pyramid,
Wherein are countless treasures
hid,—
But not to lift the coffei's lid !
I would break through, and in
the gloom
Bid gold and silver give me —
room !
Eejoicing, if I gained a tomb ! 22
Why life to him, whose path to 23
hide,
God sets a wall on every side ?
Sighs are my food, my tear3 a 24
tide!
Forlo! Iwatchedagainstdistress, 25
Nor rested in self-righteousness; 26
Yet trouble smites me, ne'erthe-
less !

ELIPHAZ.

1 Then answered Eliphaz the Te-
manite, and said :
2 Should one venture a word to
thee, wilt thou be offended ?
But who can forbear speaking !

Canst thou without offense at- 2
tend
The admonition of a friend
Who needs must speak, though
he offend ?

OHAP. IV.]

THE BOOK OF JOB

69

REVISED VEBSION.
8 Lo, thou hast admonished many,
and hast strengthened the feeble
hands.
4 Thy words have confirmed the
faltering,
and the sinking knees thou hast
made strong.
6 But now, it is come to thee and
thou faintest ;
it touches thee, and thou art
confounded.
6 Is not thy fear thy confidence ?
Thy hope, it is the uprightness
of thy ways.
7 Remember now, who that was
guiltless has perished ?
and where were the righteous
cut off?
8 As I have seen : they that plough
iniquity,
and that sow mischief, reap the
same. [ish ;
9 By the breath of God they per-
and by the blast of his anger are
they consumed.
10 The lion's cry, and the voice of
the roaring lion,
and the teeth of the young lions,
are broken.
11 The strong lion perishes for lack
of prey, [tered.
and the lioness' whelps are scat-
12 Now a word was stealthily
brought to me,
and my ear caught the whisper
thereof.
13 In thoughts from visions of the
night,
when deep sleep falls upon men ;

PARAPHRASE.
What, thou who oft, where grief 3
unmanned,
Hast nerved again the feeble
hand,
The sinking knees made strong 4
to stand,
Now thou art smitten, dost thou 5
faint,
Forgetting, in thy wild com- 6
plaint,
A righteous life preserves the
saint ?
What judgment e'er on goodness 7
came ?
Nay, rather, they that plough 8
for shame
And plant for mischief, reap the

The wicked, he is marked for 9
death,
And blasted by God's angry
breath,
In that fierce tempest perish
eth.
Toothless and tame, his whelps 10
all gone,
His roaring shrunk into a
moan,
The fierce old lion dies alone ! 1 1

That whispered word I hear 12
again
Which came in nightly visions, 13
when
Deep slumber falleth upon men.

70

THE BOOK OF JOB.

[ouap. v.

REVISED VERSION.
14 fear came upon me, and trem
bling, [shake.
which made all my bones to
15 Then a spirit passed before me:
the hair of my flesh rose up.
16 It stood still, but I could not
discern its form,
an image was before my eyes ;
there was silence ; and I heard
a voice : — [God ?
17 Shall man be more just than
shall a man be more pure than
his Maker ?
18 Lo, he trusteth not in his ser
vants, [folly.
and to his angels he imputeth
19 Much more, they who dwell in
houses of clay,
whose foundation is in the dust,
who are crushed like the moth.
20 From morning to evening they
are destroyed,
so that, unheeded, they perish
forever.
21 Is not their excellency taken
away with them ?
they die, and without wisdom.
1 Call now: is there any that
will answer thee ?
and unto whom, of the holy,
wilt thou turn ?
2 For grief slayeth the foolish,
and envy killeth the simple.
3 I have myself seen the wicked
taking root ;
but soon, I cursed his habitation.
4 His children arc far from safety ;
they are oppressed in the gate,
and there is no deliverer.

PARAPHRASE.
In quaking fear I lay. At last 14
Before my face a spirit passed : 15
Mystiffening hair stoodupaghast.
It passed, it paused — a formless 16
shade — [dread !
No substance, but a semblance
Silence ; and then a voice, which
said :
Shall mortals be more pure and 17
just
Tlian God wlu> made them ? Lo,
He must
From angels, even, withhold His 18
trust I
Much more from them, in tents 19
who lie,
Pitched inthe dust, that by-and-by,
Like moths with crushed wings,
fall and die.
From morn to cue, tlieir limit 20
small ; [faH >'
Tlie cords are cut, the dwellings 21
Ever unheeding perish all I

Call dow ; what good man's an- 1
swer sent
Would praise and share thy
wild lament ?
'Tis fools are slain by discontent. 2
What though the wicked thrive ? 3
I wait,
And soon his place is desolate,
His children friendless iu the 4
gate.

OHAP. V.]

THE BOOK OF JOB.

71

REVISED VERSION.
5 Whose harvest the hungry shall
devour,
and take it, even out from the
thorns :
and the snare is gaping for their
substance.
6 For evil goes not forth from the
dust,
nor does trouble sprout up from
the ground ;
7 for man is born to trouble,
even as sparks fly upward.
8 But I, to God would I seek ;
and unto God commit my cause.
9 Who doeth great things, and un
searchable ; [ber.
things wonderful, without num-
10 Who giveth rain on the face of
the earth,
and sendeth water on the face
of the fields.
] 1 He sets the humble on high,
and the mourning are raised to
prosperity.
12 He breaks up the devices of the
crafty, [thing purposed.
that their hands shall not do the
13 He ensnares the wise in their
craftiness,
and the counsel of the cunning
is made hasty :
14 by day, they meet darkness,
and grope at noonday, as in the
night.
15 So he rescues the victim from
their mouth, [the strong.
and the needy from the hand of
16 Thus there is hope to the weak,
and iniquity shuts her mouth.

PARAPHRASE.
Where power their heritage de- 5
mands,
While hedges round his harvest
lands
Are broken down by robber
hands.
For trouble is no earth-born 6
fate;
Man makes and finds it, soon or 7
late,
As sparks fly up, by force
innate.

To God my cause I would com- 8
mit,
Whose purpose — who can com- 9
pass it ?
Whose wondrous works are
'infinite.
The humble he exalts again, (11)
As o'er the earth His streams 10
and rain
Restore to bloom the barren
plain.
The crafty plot he turns to 12
naught,
The schemer in his scheme is 13
caught,
His hasty counsels all un-
wrought,
And, struck with blindness, 14
gropes along ;
So God delivers from the strong 15
The weak, and shuts the mouth 16
of wrong !

72

THE BOOK OF JOB.

[chap. v.

REVISED VERSION.
17 Lo, happy is the man whom
God correcteth,
therefore, spurn not thou the
chastening of the Almighty.
18 Forhewoundeth,andbindethup,he smiteth, and his hands make
whole.
19 In six troubles, he will deliver
thee;
yea in seven, there shall no evil
befall thee.
20 In famine, he will free thee from
death,
and in war, from the power of
the sword.
21 From the scourge of the tongue
thou shalt be hidden,
and shalt not be afraid of de
struction when it cometh.
22 At destruction and at famine
thou shalt laugh ;
and of the beasts of the earth
thou needst not be afraid.
23 For with the stones of the field
shalt thou be in league,
and the beasts of the field shall
be at peace with thee.
24 So shalt thou know, that thy
tent is in peace,
and shalt visit thy pastures, and
miss nothing.
25 And thou shalt know, that nu
merous is thy seed,
and thy offspring as the green
herb of the earth.
26 Thou shalt come to the grave in
hoary age,
as the sheaf is gathered in, in its
season.

PARAPHRASE.
Count it good fortune if He 17
smite,
Nor spurn His rod. His hands
delight
To bind the wounds of hearts 18
contrite.
Though troubles six thy life 19
befall,
Yea, seven may threaten ; if thou
call,
He will deliver thee from
all:
From famine's fate and foeman's 20
sword,
And from the lash of slander's 21
word,
And ruin, stealing up unheard.
At troubles of a scanty year 22
Thou mayest laugh when they
appear,
And fiercest beasts thou needst
not fear.
Thou shalt be friends with brute 23
and rock ;
Thy tent secure from hostile 24
shock,
Thine eye miss naught from
field or flock.
Thy hoary age (when thou hast 25
seen
Thy children round thee grow
ing green),
A ripe sheaf, shall be gathered 26
in.

CHAP. VI.]

THE BOOK OF JOB.

73

REVISED VERSION,
27 Lo this, we have searched it
out; so it is:
hear it, and know thou, for thy
self.

PARAPHRASE.
Lo, this indeed is truth alone, 27
Since this the truth our lives
have shown :
Heed, and apply it to thine own !

JOB TO HIS FRIENDS.

1 Then answered Job, and said :
2 0 that my grief could be fully
weighed,
and all my calamity be laid in
the balances.
3 For now, it would be heavier
than the sands of the sea ;
for this cause, my words have
been rash.
4 For the arrows of the Almighty
are within me, [spirit :
whose poison drinketh up my
the terrors of God array them
selves against me.
5 Does the wild-ass bray, by the
fresh grass ;
or lows the ox, at his fodder ?
6 Can that which is tasteless be
eaten without salt ;
oris there any relish in the white
of an egg ?
7 My soul refuses to touch !
they are as food which I loathe.
8 0 that my request might come ;
that God would grant my longing:
9 and that it would please God to
destroy me ;
that he would let loose his hand,
and cut me off.
10 For it should still be my solace,
yea I would exult, in pain that
spares not,
4

Weigh but my words against 2
my woe,
Heavy as ocean's sands ; and 3
lo!
Ye would not blame me, mourn
ing so.
God's marshaled terrors gather 4
round ;
His poisoned arrows pierce pro
found,
And madness burns in every
wound !
Nature gives voice in nature's 5
way;
The browsing ass forgets to
bray;
The ox lows not before the
hay.
But who would seek unsavory 6
food,
And call the nauseous mixture
good?
My soul refuses what ye would ! 1
For death I lift my prayer in 8
vain;
Destruction would I count but 9
gain;
I would exult in utmost pain. 10

74

THE BOOK OF JOB.

[CHAP. VI.

REVISED VERSION.
that I have not denied the words
of the Holy One.
11 What is my strength, that I
should hope,
and what is my end, that I should
be yet patient ?
12 Is my strength the strength of
stones,
or is my flesh of brass ?
13 Is not my help within me gone,
and recovery driven away from
me?
14 Kindness, from a friend, is due
to the despairing,
ready to forsake the fear of the
Almighty.
15 My brethren are deceitful, like
the brook,
as the channel of brooks that
pass away :
16 that become turbid, from ice ;
the snow hides itself in them. -
17 At the time they are poured off,
they fail ;
when it is hot, they are consumed
from their place.
18 The caravans, along their way,
turn aside ;
they go up into the wastes, and
perish.
19 The caravans of Tema looked;
the companies of Sheba hoped
for them :
20 they were ashamed that they had
trusted ;
they came thither and were eon-
founded.
21 For nowye are become nothing:

PARAPHRASE.
That threatened fate I seek. By
all
My blameless life on Him I
call:
Cut the tent's cord, and let it fall I (9)
What should I hope from long 11
delay ?
Am I of brass or stone, to stay 12
While death comes slowly, day 13
by day ?
Pity is due from friend to friend 14
Whom shadows of despair at
tend,
Tempting his soul to darker end.
My brethren — false spring 15
streams, that flow,
Turbid with ice and melting 16
snow,
To fail beneath the summer's 17
glow !
From Tema through the (19)
scorching gust,
From Sheba o'er the glowing
dust,
(0 fatal end of foolish trust !) (20)
The caravans theirchannelsgain, 18
Find them and follow them in
vain,
Then die upon the thirsty plain.
Thus ye my yearning hope 21
betray,
View my affliction with dismay,

ye see a terror, and are dismayed. [ And into nothing shrink away!

chap, vn.]

THE BOOK OF JOB.

REVISED VERSION.
22 Have I said : Give it to me ;
or, Bestow of your wealth for my
sake:
23 or, Deliver me from an enemy's
hand,
and from the hand of the vio
lent set me free ?
24 Teach ye me, — and I will keep
silence ;
and make me know wherein I
have erred.
25 How forcible are right words !
but what does your upbraiding
prove ?
26 Do ye intend to censure
words,
when the words of the despair
ing are as wind ?
27 Ye would even cast lots for the
orphan,
and dig a pit for your friend.
28 And now, consent to look upon
me;
for I will not speak falsely to
your face.
29 Return I pray ; let there be no
wrong:
yea return ; I yet have a right
eous cause.
30 Is there wrong in my tongue ?
cannot my taste discern what is
perverse ?

PARAPHRASE.
Have I said: Share your gold 22
with me ?
Or, Risk your lives to set me free 23
From any violent enemy ?
Instruct me ; let but wisdom 24
come [am dumb
Even from your mouths, and I
To hear my errors' list and sum.
How mighty is wise speech and 25
kind! [blind
But what avails your censure 26
Of desperate words that are as
wind i
So in a pit-fall might a knave 27
Murder a friend, and by his grave
Cast lots, his orphans to enslave !
[The friends rise to depart in
offended dignity.]
Nay, do not coldly leavethe place, 28
But look, I pray you, in my face :
Would I deceive in such a case ?
Return; I would not do you 29
wrong ;
Return, for still my cause is
strong,
Nor is there evil on my tongue. 30
[The friends return.]

TO THE ALMIGHTY.

Has not a man a term of war
fare on the earth,
and are not his days as the days
of a hireling ?

Man is a soldier, battle-scarred, 1
Who stands his weary time on
guard —
A laborer, waiting his reward.

76

THE BOOK OF JOB.

[OHAP. VII.

REVISED VERSION.
2 As the servant pants for the
shadow,
and as the hireling longs for his
wages ;
3 so I am allotted months of
wretchedness,
and wearisome nights are ap
pointed to me.
4 When I lie down, I say :
when shall I arise, and the night
be gone !
and I am wearied with tossings,
till the morning.
5 My flesh is clothed with rot
tenness, and clods of earth;
my skin closes up, and breaks
out afresh.
6 My days are swifter than a
weaver's shuttle,
and consume away without
hope.
7 Remember that my life is a
breath ;
my eye shall not again see
good.
8 The eye of him that seeth me,
shall behold no more ;
thine eyes will seek ine, but I
shall not be.
9 The cloud consumes away, and
is gone ;
so he that goes down to the
under world, shall not come
up.

PARAPHRASE.
The slave at noon-day pants for 2
shade ;
The hireling longs till he is paid ;
So I, through woeful months 3
delayed !
Wretched I cry, my couch upon, 4
When shall I rise, and night be
gone ?
And toss unresting till the dawn.
Through the foul crust upon my 5
flesh
Mine ulcers ever break afresh ;
And, like a shuttle In the mesh, 6
My days shoot swiftly to and fro,
Wasting the life-thread as they
go
To weave a web of hopeless woe !
Thou know'st my life is like a 7
breath,
That, being breathed out, scat-
tereth,
And cannot be recalled from
death.
No good mine eyes again shall
see;
Nor eyes of others look on me — 8
Though Thine eye seek, I shall
not be !
That under-world, where clouds 9
appear,
When, setting, they are lost
from here,
Holds mortals too, in exile drear.

CHAP. VII.]

THE BOOK OF JOB.

77

REVISED VERSION.
10 He shall not return again to his
house,
and his place shall know him no
more.
11 As for me, I will not restrain
my mouth ;
I will speak in the anguish of
my spirit ;
I will complain in the bitterness
of my soul.
12 Am I a sea, or a monster of the
deep,
that thou shouldst set a watch
over me ?
13 When I say : my bed shall com
fort me,
my couch shall lighten my com
plaint :
14 then thou scarest me with
dreams,
and terrifiest me by visions.
15 So that my soul chooseth stran
gling,—
death rather than my bones !
16 I waste away: I shall not always
live;
cease from me: for my days
are a vapor.
17 What is man, that thou shouldst
magnify him,
and set thy thoughts upon
him;
18 that thou shouldst visit him ev
ery morning,
shouldst, every moment, try him?
19 How long wilt thou not look
away from me,
nor let me alone, till I can swal
low my spittle?

PARAPHRASE.
Whoso descends into that space, 10
No more returns — his very face
Forgot in each familiar place !
Then I my lips will not restrain ; 11
I will speak out my spirit's pain,
And in soul-bitterness complain !
Must thou needs watch me all 12
the while,
Like them who fear the floods
of Nile,
Or guard against the crocodile ?
Amlso dangerous — I, who creep 13
To bed, and say, There's rest in
sleep ?
Yet through my dreams thy 14
terrors sweep,
Till I would rather choose to die, 15
Yea, strangle once and utterly,
Than wake and waste, and live
thereby ?
And death comes slowly, with- 16
out cure ; [dure ;
I waste, and shall not long en-
Spare; forthe vapor's fate is sure !
Why is weak man so magnified, 17
Each morn reviewed, each mo- 18
ment tried, [aside ?
And never from thy thought
How long wilt thou not turn thy 19
face [grace
Away from me and grant me
To draw mybreath a little space ?

78

THE BOOK OF JOB.

[CHAP. VIU.

REVISED VERSION.
20 If I sin, what do I unto thee,
thou observer of men ?
Wherefore hast thou made me
thy mark,
that I should become a burden
to myself?
21 and wilt thou not pardon my
transgression,
and remit my iniquity ?
22 For soon, I shall lie down in the
dust;
and thou wilt seek me, — but I
shall not be.

PARAPHRASE.
Can any sin of mine have 20
weight
To make thee feel the burden
great,
And mark me for the stroke of
fate?
Pardon my sin. Earth waits for 21
me;
And though, to bless me tar- 22
dily,
Thou seek me soon, I shall not
be!

BILDAD.

1 Then answered Bildad, the
Shuhite, and said :
2 How long wilt thou speak these
things,
and the words of thy mouth be
a strong wind ?
3 Will God pervert right,
or will the Almighty pervert
justice ?
4 Though thy sons have sinned
against him,
and he hath given them into the
power of their transgression :
5 if thou thyself wouldst seek God,
and make supplication to the
Almighty ;
6 if thou wert pure and upright ;
surely even now, he would awake
for thee,
and make thy righteous dwelling
secure.
7 Then, though thy beginning be
small,
thy end shall be exceeding great.

How long wilt thou assert thy 2
cause,
Thy words a tempest without
pause ?
Will God pervert His righteous 3
laws?
Doubtless thy sons were repro- 4
bate,
Delivered to the sinner's fate ;
Yet tbou shalt find it not too 5
late,
If thou repent and make thee 6
pure;
Beseeching God, His mercy sure
Will make thy righteous house
secure !
Though small at first thy lot be 7
cast,
He can enlarge thee at the last,
Exceeding all thy glory past.

chap, vm.]

THE BOOK OF JOB.

79

REVISED VERSION.
8 For inquire, I pray, of the for
mer generations,
and note what their fathers have
searched out.
9 For we are of yesterday, and
know nothing,
and our days upon earth are a
shadow.
10 .Will not they instruct thee, and
tell thee,
and utter words from their
heart : —
11 Does the paper-rush shoot up,
except in the marsh ?
will the marsh-grass grow with
out water ?
12 While yet in its greenness, and
they cut it not,
it drieth up sooner than any
herb.
13 So are the ways of all who for
get God ;
the hope of the impure shall per
ish.
14 For his confidence shall be cut
off;
and his trust, it is a spider's web.
15 He shall lean upon his house,
but it shall not abide ;
he shall lay hold on it, but it
shall not stand.
16 He, in the face of the sun, is
green,
and his sprouts shoot forth over
his garden.
17 Over a stone-heap are his roots
entwined ;
he seeth the habitation of
stones.

PARAPHRASE.
Ask of the former age, I 8
pray,
And listen what the fathers
say;
We are but shades of yester- 9
day!
But they will teach thee what 10
thou art,
With words deep -springing from
the heart,
Not merely from the lips that
start.
The rushes and the flags grow 11
high
And rank; but, when the pools
are dry,
Before all grasses faint and die. 12
So thrives awhile, his God forgot, 13
The wicked ; so, when winds are
hot,
Withers and dies upon tbe
spot.
His trust, a cobweb-tent, will 14
bear
No weight — nor clutch of his 15
despair
Can stop its flattering in the
air!
The weed grows greenly towards 16
the sun ;
Its branches spring forth one by
one;
Around the rocks its rootlets 17
run.

80

THE BOOK OF JOB.

[OHAP. IX.

REVISED VERSION.
18 When he shall be destroyed from
his place,
it shall deny him ; I have not
seen thee.
19 Lo, that is the joy of his
way;
and from the dust shall others
sprout up.
20 Lo, God will not spurn the
upright,
nor take hold of the hand of the
wicked.
21 While he fills thy mouth with
laughter,
and thy lips with rejoicing,
22 they that hate thee shall be
clothed with shame :
but the habitation ofthe wicked,
— it comes to naught.

PARAPHRASE.
It dies : the stones its memory 18
flout!
Behold its only joy — that out 19
Of its dead dust new weeds shall
sprout !
Lo ! God the good will not dis- 20
tress
(Nor clasp the hand of wicked
ness !)
Repent, and smiles thy mouth 21
shall bless,
While shame upon thy foes is 22
sent;
But ruin shakes the sinner's
tent —
Dost thou invite such punish
ment?

JOB.

1 Then answered Job, and said :
2 Of a truth, I know that it
is so;
for how can man be just with
God?
3 If he should desire to contend
with him,
he could not answer him, for one
of a thousand.
4 Wise in heart and strong in pow
er!
who withstands him, and is se
cure ?
5 He that removeth mountains, ere
they are aware ;
who overturneth them in his an
ger.

Indeed ! I know the lesson true, 2
And could recite, as well as
you,
God's power, and man's weak
ness too !
How can a mortal justify
Himself to God and make reply 3
Once, though a thousand times
he try?
God's wisdom is profound and 4
sure ;
His strength is mighty and se
cure ;
Wlw can withstand Him and
endure ?

OHAP. IX.]

THE BOOK OF JOB.

81

REVISED VERSION.
6 He that makes the earth to trem
ble from its place ;
and the pillars thereof are sha
ken.
7 He that bids the sun, and it shin
eth not,
and sealeth up the stars ;
8 He spread out the heavens,
alone,
and treads upon the heights of
sea.
9 He made the Bear, Orion, and
the Pleiads,
and the secret chambers of the
South.
10 He doeth great things, beyond
searching out,
and wonders, without number.
11 Lo, he goes by me, but I see
hira not :
he passes along, but I do not
perceive him. .
12 Lo, he seizes the prey ; who shall
hinder him ?
who will say to him : What do
est thou ?
13 God will not turn away his
anger ;
proud helpers bow beneath
it.
14 Should I then answer him, —
choose out my words against
him?
15 Whom, though I be righteous, I
would not answer ;
I would make supplication to my
judge.
16 If I called and he answered
me

PARAPHRASE.
The mountains unawares He takes 6
With fierce upheaval, and He
makes
Earth tremble, and her pillars 6
shakes.
The sun is dark at His behest, 1
And stars are sealed, and skies 8

He treads tlie sea, from crest to
crest.
He made Orion and the Seven, 9
The Great Bear of the North —
yea, even
The chambers qf the Southern
heaven,
Where secret stars unseen are lit :
His purpose, who can fathom it? 10
His wondrous works are infinite !

Me He assails, unseen His way; 11
He presses on to seize the prey ; 12
What doest thou ? none dare to

His anger will not cease to 13
lower ;
The proudest champions shrink
and cower ;
Shall /seek words to brave His 14
power ?
Though righteous, I would beg 15
for grace,
Not sue for justice, face to face ;
For, though He answered in my 16
case,

82

THE BOOK OF JOB.

[OHAP. IX.

REVISED VERSION.
I would not believe that he lis
tened to my voice.
17 For he dashes me in pieces with
a tempest, [out cause.
and multiplies my wounds with-
18 He will not suffer me to recov
er my breath ;
but fills me with bitter plagues.
19 If it be of might, lo he is the
Strong !
and if of right, who will appoint
me a time ?
20 Though I were righteous, myown
mouth would condemn me ;
if I were perfect, he would show
me perverse.
21 Though perfect, I should take no
thought for myself,
nor should I value my life.
22 It is all the same ; therefore I
say,
he consumes the righteous and
the wicked.
23 When the scourge shall sudden
ly destroy,
he mocks at the distress of the
innocent.
24 The earth is given into the hand
of the wicked ;
the face of its judges he vails ;
if not, who then is it ?
25 My days are swifter than a run
ner;
they are fled, and have seen no
good.
26 They have passed by, like the
reed-skiffs ;
as the eagle darts upon its
prey. "*

PARAPHRASE.
I could not trust him, while
alarm,
Tempest and wounds come from 17
His arm,
And strangling, and full bitter 18
harm !
If might rules — lo ! He is the 19
Strong !
If right — when could I prove
Him wrong ?
Betrayed by mine own stammer- 20
ing tongue,
And proved perverse, in my dis
may,
I should not know myself that 21
day,
And, reckless, cast my life away.
What boots it? His quick scour- 22
ges fall «
On good and bad, destroying all ;
He mocks the guiltless victims' 23
call!
The world He yields to evil 24
might ;
Of them who judge, He veils the
sight,
Lest they should see and judge
aright !
If not, who is it ?— Swift the 25
while
As swooping eagles, skiffs of 26
Nile,
Or couriers, running mile on
mile,

CHAP. X.]

THE BOOK OF JOB.

83

REVISED VERSION.
27 If I say : I will forget my com
plaining,
I will change my aspect, and be
joyous :
28 then I shudder at all my
woes ;
I know thou wilt not declare me
innocent.
29 I, I am accounted guilty ;
why then should I weary myself
in vain !
30 Though I wash myself in snow
water,
and cleanse "my hands with
lye;
31 then, thou wilt plunge me into
the pit,
and my clothes would abhor
me.
32 For he is not man, like me, that
I should answer him ;
that we should enter into judg
ment together.
33 There is no arbiter between
us,
that might lay his hand upon us
both.
34 Let him turn away his rod from
me,
that the dread of him may not
overawe me :
35 I will speak and will not be
afraid of him ;
for not so am I, in myself.
1 My soul is weary of my life ;
I will give free course to my
complaint ;
I will speak in the bitterness of
soul

PARAPHRASE.
My days go by ; and if I fain 27
Would cease to murmur and
complain, [pain !
How quick returns each pang of 28
I know that Thou wilt not ac
quit !
Thy doom upon my soul doth sit : 29
Why should I strive to lighten
it?
Though I be cleansed with snow 30
and lye,
What shall I haply gain thereby ?
Thou wilt but plunge me sud- 31
denly
Into the slime, to make me more
Wretched and loathsome than
before —
Whom mine own garments
would abhor !
For God is God. No umpire 32
stands
To lay on God and me His hands, 33
And hear, and judge of our de
mands !
It is not guilt doth make me (35)
weak.
Let Him but cease His wrath to 34
wreak, [speak !
And, free from terror, I will 35
Yet, life is all I have to lose ; 1
And death is what I fain would
choose :
Despair's full freedom I will use!

84

THE BOOK OF JOB.

[CUAP. X.

REVISED VERSION.
2 I will say unto God, do not hold
me guilty ;
show me, wherefore thou con-
tendest with me.
3 Does it seem good to thee, that
thou shouldst oppress,
shouldst contemn the work of thy
hands,
and shine upon the counsel of
the wicked ?
4 Hast thou eyes of flesh,
or seest thou as man seeth ?
5 Are thy days as man's days,
or are thy years as the days of a
man?
6 That thou shouldst seek after
my iniquity,
and shouldst search for my sin ;
7 though thou knowest I am not
wicked, [hand.
and none can deliver from thy
8 Thy hands have fashioned me,
and made me,
in every part ; and yet thou dost
destroy me !
9 Remember now, that thou hast
formed me, as with clay ;
and wilt thou bring me to dust
again ?
10 Didst thou not make me flow as
milk,
and thicken like the curd ; —
11 clothe me with skin and flesh,
with bones and sinews inter
weave me ?
12 Life and favor thou hast granted
me,
and thy providence has pre
served my spirit.

PARAPHRASE.
To God I'll say : Condemn me 2
not ! [hot ?
Say, wherefore is Thine anger
Shatt tyranny Tliy greatness blot ? 3
Wouldst thou Thy handiwork

And torture me to tell Thee lies
As wicked men do ? Are Thine 4
eyes
Short-sighted like their eyes, for
sooth,
Or does Thine age so chase Thy 5
youth, [truth,
Thou hast no lime to find the
That Thou dost seek iniquity, 6
Who knowest it is not in me, 7
And couldst not lose me, were I
free?
Wilt Thou, who fashumedsl every 8
part —
A potter, moulding clay with 9
art-
Crush me to dust, as at the start ?
1
As milk, didst Thou not make me 10
flow [grow,
And thicken, as the curds do
Then robes of flesh around me 11
throw,
With bones and sinews laee the
whole,
And grant, the body lo control, 12
The crowning grace of life and
soul?

CHAP. X.]

THE BOOK OF JOB.

85

REVISED VERSION.
13 Yet these things thou didst hide
in thy heart ;
I know that this was in thy mind.
14 If I sin, thou observest me,
and will not absolve me from
my guilt.
15 If I am wicked, woe unto me !
and if righteous, I may not lift
my head,
filled with shame, and the sight
of my misery !
16 If it lift itself up, thou dost hunt
me like the lion,
and show again thy wondrous
power upon me.
17 Thou renewest thy witnesses
against me,
and increasest thy displeasure
toward me,
with host succeeding host
against me.
18 Why then didst thou bring me
forth from the womb ?
I should have died and no eye
would have seen me.
19 Ishouldbeasifl had not been; —
should have been borne from the
womb to the grave.
20 Are not my days few? Let
him forbear !
let him withdraw from me, that
I may rejoice a little while :
21 before I shall go, and not return ;
to the land of darkness and of
death-shade ;
22 a land of gloom like the thick
darkness,
of death-shade, without order ;
and the light is as thick darkness.

PARAPHRASE.
And this. was always Thine in- 13
tent —
If I should sin, swift punishment, 14
And nothing less if innocent !
My righteous head, shame-bowed 15
to see
Mine own exceeding misery,
I may not lift for dread of Thee !
Or if to raise it I should dare, 16
Thou springest from a lion's lair
To prove Thy strength and my
'ir! .

New griefs Thou sendest upon old, 17
Witness Thine anger manifold —
Host upon host, against me rolled !
<.
Why didst Thou make my life 18
in?

Better, an instant grave within,
To be as if I had not been ! 19
My days are few. Let God for- 20
bear,
A little space from torment spare,
A little joy from woe and care.
Let Him withdraw His hand, 21
before [shore
To yonder dark and shadowy
I journey, to return no more !
A land of death-shade without 22
light ;
A land of dim, disordered sight,
Where morning is as dark as
night !

86

THE BOOK OF JOB.

[CHAP. XI.

ZOPHAR.

REVISED VERSION.
1 Then answered Zophar, the
Naamathite, and said :
2 Shall the multitude of words not
be answered ?
or shall a man of talk be account
ed right ?
3 Shall thy boastings put men to
silenGe,
that thou mayest mock, and
none make thee ashamed ;
4 and say : My doctrine is pure,
and I am clean in thy sight ?
5 But, would that God would

and open his lips against
thee:
6 and would show thee the secrets
of wisdom,
how manifold is understand
ing;
then shalt thou know, that God
remembers not all thy guilt
against thee.
7 Canst thou find out the deep
things of God,
or find out the Almighty, to per
fection ?
8 It is as high as heaven ; what
canst thou do ?
deeper than the under-world
what canst thou know ?
9 longer than the earth, in its
measure,
and broader than the sea !
10 If he pass by, and shall appre
hend,
and call an assembly, who will
answer him ?

PARAPHRASE.
Shall many words pass unde- 2
nied —
A man of talk be justified
To silence us with boastful pride, 3
That thou may'st mock, devoid
of shame,
In spite of God pure doctrine 4
claim,
And life unstained by any blame ?
Let Him but speak, to show 5
thee all
His secrets deep, and thou shalt 6
call
His judgment for thy guilt too
small !
His wisdom — can thy vain pur- 7
suit
Ever lay bare its hidden root,
Or bring its summit under foot ?
'Tis high as heaven ; what canst 8
thou do ?
'Tis deeper than the world below;
What canst thou of its secrets
know?
Longer than earth's far limits be, 9
It lies in its immensity,
And broader than the boundless
sea !
If God the sinner apprehend 10
His dread tribunal to attend,
Who dares the culprit's case
defend ?

CHAP. XI.]

THE BOOK OF JOB.

87

REVISED VERSION.
11 For he, he knows evil men ;
and sees iniquity, when he seems
not to regard it.
12 But vain man is void of under
standing ;
a foal of the wild ass, is man from
his birth.
13 And thou, if thou direct thy
heart,
and spread forth thy hands, un
to him; —
14 If iniquity is in thy hand, put it
far away,
and let not wrong abide in thy
dwellings ; —
15 surely, then shalt thou lift thy
face without spot,
and be steadfast and shalt not
fear.
16 For thou shalt forget sorrow ;
as waters passed away, shalt
thou remember it.
17 And brighter than noonday, shall
life arise ;
and darkness shall become as
the morning.
18 Then wilt thou trust, because
there is hope ;
yea, thou wilt search, and lie
down without fear.
19 Thou shalt repose, and none
make thee afraid,
yea, many shall make their
court to thee.
20 But the eyes of the wicked shall
waste away ;
refuge vanishes from them ;
and their hope, it is the breath
ing out of life.

PARAPHRASE.
For lo ! He knoweth evil men, 11
And seeth their misdoings, when
They seem beyond His look or
ken.
But what can foolish man com- 12
mand —
A wild colt foaled in desert sand,
Nor ever trained to understand ?

And thou, if thou submit, confess, 13
Repent, reform, and make redress
Of whatsoever wickedness, 14
Nor let it in thy tents remain, —
Then surely thou shalt lift again 15
A'steadfast face, without a stain !
No fear, no memory shall stay 16
Of all thy sorrows, passed away
Like waters flowing yesterday.
And brighter than the noon- 17
day skies
Thy new life-morning shall arise,
To fill with hope and trust thine 18
eyes.
Thy search shall find no lurking
foes;
No fear shall trouble thy repose, 19
While flattery's throng thy great
ness shows.
But wicked eyes shall waste 20
with fear
To see each refuge disappear,
Their hope — that life's last
breath is near.

THE BOOK OF JOB.

[chap. xii.

JOB.

REVISED VERSION.
1 Then Job answered and said :
2 of a truth, ye are the people ;
and with you wisdom will die !
3 I also have understanding, as
well as you ;
I am not inferior to you :
and who has not such things as
these.
4 I am become one, that is a
mockery to his friends ;
who has called upon God, and he
answered ;
a mockery is the just and the
upright !
5 There is scorn for misfortune, in
the thought of the secure,
ready for those who waver in
their steps.
6 Peaceful are the tents of the
spoilers,
and secure are they that provoke
God,— [eth.
he into whose hand God bring-
7 But ask now the beasts, and
they will teach thee ;
and the birds of heaven, and
they will show thee.
8 Or speak to the earth, and it
will teach thee ;
and the fishes of the sea will tell
it thee.
9 Who knows not, by all these,
that the hand of Jehovah does
this;
10 in whose hand is the breath of
all living, [man ?
and the spirit of all the flesh of

PARAPHRASE.
Indeed, ye are the people, who 2
Being dead, good-by to wisdom
too!
Yet I am not less wise than you ; 3
And I need take no lower
stand — [mand
Nay, who has not at his com-
Such old familiar truths on hand ?
Yet am I sunk to such a plight, 4
Who dealt with God, and walked
upright —
Mocked by my friends with bab
blings trite !
So scornfully the fortunate flout 5
The unhappy, tottering about,
A torch that flickers to go out !
Yet peaceful dwells the spoiler's 6
horde, [Lord
And safely they provoke the
Whose only God is their own
sword !
Ask beasts of earth, and birds 7
of air,
Or fish of sea : they will declare 8
Jehovah's power is everywhere. 9
The breath of life is in His 10
hand,
The souls of man He doth com
mand,
And doeth all things, as He
planned.

OHAP. XII.]

THE BOOK OF JOB.

89

REVISED VERSION.
11 Does not the ear try words,
even as the palate tastes food for
itself?
12 Among the aged, is wisdom ?
and is length of days under-
standing ? [might ;
13 With him are wisdom and
to him belong counsel and un
derstanding.
14 Lo, he casts down, and it shall
not be built up ;
he shuts up a man, and he shall
not be set free.
15 Lo, he withholds the waters, and
they dry away ;
and he sends them forth, and
they lay waste the earth.
16 With him are strength and coun
sel ; [err, are his.
the erring, and he that causes to
17 He leads counsellors captive,
and judges he makes fools.
18 The girdle of kings he looses,
and binds a cord upon their loins.
19 Priests he leads captive ;
and the long established he
overthrows. [speech,
20 The trusted he deprives of
and takes away the wisdom of
the aged.
21 He pours contempt upon nobles,
and looses the girdle of the
strong.
22 Deep things he reveals, out of
the darkness,
and the shadow of death he
brings forth to light.
23 He gives the nations growth, and
he destroys them ;

PARAPHRASE.
Cannot the ear distinguish 11
sound —
The palate, taste ? Is sense pro- 12
found
To age alone confined and bound ?

With Him are strength and skill 13
and lore ;
He casteth down, and none restore ; 14
No prisoner lifts His dungeon-
door !
He maketh, as He deemeth good, 15
The waters dry up where they
stood,
Or sends them forth a wasting
flood.
With Him almighty counsel is ; 16
Deceiver and deceived are His ;
The wise in man's authorities 17
Barefoot behind His car He
brings ;
He makes of judges witless things,
And chains for girdles hangs on 18
kings ;
Priestcraft o'erturns, andancient 19
rights ;
The old, the wise, with dumb- 20
ness smites ;
Unbelts in scorn the noblest 21

Out of the darkness He doth call 22
Deep dreadful things — destruc
tion's pall,
Tlie rise of nations and their fall. 23

90

THE BOOK OF JOB.

[chap. xm.

REVISED VERSION.
he extends the bounds of na
tions, and he leads them
away.
24 The leaders of the people of the
land he deprives of under
standing,
and makes them wander in a
pathless waste.
25 They grope in darkness, and
there is no light ;
he makes them reel like a
drunken man.
1 Lo, my eye has seen it all ;
my ear has heard, and perceived
it.
2 What ye know, I know also ;
I am not inferior to you.
3 But I, to the Almighty will I

unto God, I desire to make my
plea.
4 But ye, — forgers of lies,
botchers of vanities, — are ye
all.
5 Would that ye would be alto
gether silent ;
for it would be your wis
dom.
6 Hear now my defense ;
and listen to the pleadings of
my lips.
7 Will ye, for God, speak that
which is wrong,
and for him will ye utter de
ceit?
8 Will ye regard his person,
or will ye contend for God ?
9 Is it well, that he should search
you out ?

PARAPHRASE.
He bids them grow, extends their
bounds,
Then leads them captive, and con- 24
founds
Their leaders, lost in pathless
rounds.
Tliey grope, and cannot see or 25
feel;
Dense shadows all their way con-
ceal ;
Like drunken men He makes
them reel.

Mine eye, mine ear, have caught 1
it too ;
Ye cannot tell me what is 2
new —
I need not bow the knee to
you!
To God I'd speak. Ye weave 3
but lies
To patch them into vanities. 4
Be still, and men may deem you 5
wise !
Yet hear my cause. Do ye 6
think meet
To speak for God with foul de- 7
ceit,
In flattery of His strength com- 8
plete,
Corruptly taking power's part ?
What if He came to search your 9
heart?
Could ye cheat Him with human
art?

chap, xm.]

THE BOOK OS JOB.

91

REVISED VERSION.
or, as a man is deceived, can ye
deceive him ?
10 He will surely rebuke you,
if ye secretly have regard for
persons.
1 1 Shall not his majesty make you
afraid,
and the dread of him fall upon
you?
12 Your wise sayings, — they are
maxims of ashes ;
your towers of defense are tow
ers of clay.
13 Keep silence before me, that I
now may speak :
and let come upon me what
will.
11 Why do I take my flesh in my
teeth,
and put my life in my hand ?
15 Behold, he will slay me ; I may
not hope :
yet, in his presence, I will de
fend my ways.
16 And he too will be my deliver
ance ;
for the impure shall not come
before him.
17 Hear attentively my speech,
and that which I declare in your
ears.
18 Behold now, I have made ready
my cause ;
I know that I am inno
cent.
19 Who is he that can contend with
me?
For then I would be silent, and
die.

PARAPHRASE.
He will chastise with blows that 10
burn;
Your fawning friendship He will
spurn ;
Do ye not dread His a wful scorn ? 1 1
Your learned saws will shrivel all 12
To ashes, and your shields will fall
Mere heaps of clay, when He
shall call !
[The friends attempt to inter
rupt him.]
Nay, hold your peace ; for I will 13
speak,
Whatever fate may overtake
My speech, or strike me for its
sake.
Why should I bear my life away 14
As desperate beasts their per
iled prey,
Or warriors breaking through
the fray ?
'Twere vain. My hopeless doom 15
is near.
Yet this remains — to be sincere,
Defend my ways, and make Him
hear!
Yea, He shall hear, and show me 16
grace, [face !
Since hypocrites must shun His
Then listen ye unto my case ! 17

Lo, I am here my cause to try, 18
And innocent — who dares deny ? 19
If not, I would be still, and die.

92

THE BOOK OF JOB.

[OHAP. XIV.

REVISED VERSION.
20 Only two things do thou not un
to me;
then will I not hide myself from
thee.
21 Thy hand remove thou from
upon me,
and let not thy terror make me
afraid :
22 then call thou, and I will an
swer;
or I will speak, and answer thou
me.
23 How many are my iniquities
and sins ?
My transgression and my sin
make known to me.
24 Wherefore dost thou hide thy
face,
and regard me as thine ene
my?
25 A driven leaf wilt thou put in
fear,
and pursue the dry chaff?
26 For thou writest bitter things
against me,
and makest me inherit the sins
of my youth :
27 and puttest my feet in the stocks,
and watchest all my paths ;
thou settest a bound to the soles
of my feet.
28 And he, as rottenness, shall waste
away;
as a garment, which the moth
consumes.
1 Man, of woman born,
is of few days and full of trouble.
2 Like a flower he goes forth, and
is cut off;

PARAPHRASE.
Let not thy hand of pain be- (21)
numb
And choke my speech — nor, if
Thou come, [dumb !
With sudden glory strike me
So spared, I will not hide my 20
brow, [now ;
But give Thee instant answer 22
Or I will speak, and answer Thou!
How many sins and faults and 23
flaws
Are charged to me, that Thou
hast cause
For wrath and battle without 24
pause ?
A withered leaf, the wind before, 25
Dry chaff, from out the thresh
ing-floor, [more,
Wilt Thou pursue to fright it
That Thou dost make indict- 26
ment hot
Of sins bequeathed by youth for
got—
Holdest thy victim on the spot, 27
A prisoner in the stocks alway,
Guarded and watched, until the 28
day
He finds deliverance in decay ?
Man born of woman — ah, how 1
brief [grief!
And few his days, yet full of
The flower that falls with 2
shriveled leaf.

OHAP. XIV.]

THE BOOK OF JOB.

93

REVISED VERSION.
he fleeth as the shadow, and
abideth not.
3 And on such an one openest thou
thine eyes,
and me dost thou bring into
judgment with thee ?
4 Who can show a clean thing, out
of the unclean ?
There is not one !
5 If his days are determined,
if the number of his months is
before thee ;
6 if thou hast set his bounds, that
he cannot pass ;
look away from him, that he may
rest,
bo that he may enjoy, as a hire
ling, his day.
7 For there is hope for the tree,
if it be cut down, that it will
flourish again,
and that its sprout will not fail.
8 Though its root become old in
the earth,
and its trunk die in the ground ;
9 through the scent of water it will
bud, [ling-
and put forth boughs like a sap-
10 But man dies, and wastes away ;
yea, man expires, and where is
he!
11 Waters fail from the pool,
and the stream decays and dries
up:
12 so man lies down, and will not
arise ;
till the heavens are no more,
they will not awake,
nor be roused from their sleep.

PARAPHRASE.
The shadow, changing with the
time,
Are emblems of his passing
prime :
Such weakness dost Thou watch 3
for crime ?
Me wouldst Thou try by stern
est law ? —
Who e'er from source imperfect 4
saw
A life proceed without a flaw ?
If Thou hast fixed my change- 6
less fate,
At least give respite while I 6
wait,
Nor make the hireling's toil too
great !
The tree cut down may sprout 7
again,
Yea, old and dry in root and 8
grain,
May spring anew at scent of 9
rain.
But man expires, and where is 10
he?
Like waters we no more shall 11
see,
From pool or stream gone utter-
iy-
So man in death unwaking lies, 12
Nor from his slumber shall
arise,
While yet endure the eternal
skies !

94

THE BOOK OF JOB.

[OHAP. XIV.

REVISED VERSION.
13 0 that thou wouldst hide me in
the under-world,
wouldst conceal me till thy wrath
is past,
wouldst appoint me a time, and
remember me.
14 If a man die, will he live again ?
All the days ofmy warfare would
I wait,
until my change come.
15 Thou wilt call, and I will answer
thee;
thou wilt yearn towards the work
of thy hands.
16 For now, thou numberest my
steps ;
dost thou not watch for my sin?
17 My transgression is sealed up in
a bag;
and thou sewest up my iniquity.
18 But the mountain falling crum
bles,
and the rock is removed out of
its place.
19 Water wears out the stones;
its floods sweep away the dust
of the earth ; [man.
so thou destroyest the hope of
20 Thou assailest him continually,
and he goes hence ;
thou changest his countenance,
and sendest him away.
21 His sons come to honor, and he
knows it not;
and they are brought low, but he
heeds them not.
22 Only, his flesh for itself shall
have pain, [mourn.
and his soul for itself, shall

PARAPHRASE.
(0 hide me but on Sheol's shore, 13
And call me back, thy wrath
being o'er —
Vain thought ! the dead return 14
no more —
Yet were it thus, my term to
learn
Patient I'd wait, till Thou didst 15
yearn
And call; then swift I would
return !
But Thou pursuest me in- 16
stead ;
My unknown sin, my sentence 17
dread,
Sealed beyond change, hang o'er
my head !)
As rivers grind the mountains 18
low,
And floods sweep down the 19
valleys, so
Thy pitiless destructions flow.
Storm after storm on man they 20
play,
Carve deep with change the
face of clay,
Then headloDg sweep the dust
away.
His sons are honored — over- 21
thrown —
He heeds it not ; his bitter 22
moan
Bewails no suffering but his
own.

OHAP. XV.]

THE BOOK OF JOB.

95

ELIPHAZ.

REVISED VERSION.
1 Then answered Eliphaz the Te-
manite, and said :
2 Shall a wise man answer with
windy knowledge,
and fill his breast with the east
wind;
3 reproving, with speech that helps
not,
with words wherein is no profit ?
4 Yea, thou thyself dost cast off
fear, [God.
and withholdest prayer before
5 For thy mouth teaches thine in
iquity,
although thou choosest the
tongue of the crafty.
6 Thy mouth condemns thee, and
not I;
and thy lips testify against thee.
7 Art thou the first man born,
and before the hills wast thou.
brought forth ?
8 Hast thou listened, in the coun
cil of God; [thyself?
and reservest thou wisdom to
9 What dost thou know, and we
know it not,
or understand, and we have not
. the same?
10 The aged also, and the hoary-
headed, is with us,
older than thy father.
11 Are theconsolations of God too
little for thee ; [with thee ?
and the word that gently deals
12 Why does thy heart carry thee
away;
and why twinkle thine eyes ;

PARAPHRASE.
Do wise men let the east wind 2
loose,
Storm without substance, vain
abuse,
Wherein is nothing found of 3-
use?
Thou dost deny the reverence 4
due
To God, despising prayer; yet 5
through •
Thy crafty words thy guilt I
view.
Thy mouth condemns thee, and 6
not I,
And thine own lips, blaspheming
high,
Loudly against thee testify.
Wast thou the first-born man of 7
men?
Did God tell thee His secret, 8
when
He made the hills ; and hast
thou then
Kept it till now? What dost 9
thou know
And we not? Age is with us: lo, 10
Thy sire hath not such locks of
snow !
Our gentle words dost thou de- 1 1
spise,
Nor godly consolations prize ?
Else wherefore flash thine aDgry 12
eyes,

96

THE BOOK OF JOB.

[CHAP. XV.

REVISED VERSION.
13 that against God, thou dost turn
thy spirit,
and utter words from thy mouth ?
14 What is man, that he should be
pure,
one born of woman, that he
should be righteous ?
15 Lo, He trusteth not in his holy
ones,
and the heavens are not clean in
his eyes.
16 Much more, the abominable and
polluted,
man, that drinks in iniquity like
water.
17 I will show thee; listen thou
to me:
and that which I have seen I will
declare,
18 what the wise make known,
and have not hidden, — from their
fathers. [given,
19 To whom alone the land was
and no stranger passed among
them.
20 All the days of the wicked
man, he is in pain,
and the number of years that
are laid up for the oppressor.
21 Sounds of fear are in his ears ;
in peace, the destroyer comes
upon him :
22 he trusts not that he shall escape
out of darkness r
and he is destined for the sword.
23 He wanders about for bread:
Where is it ?
he knows that a day of darkness
is ready, at his hand.

PARAPHRASE.
And wherefore doth thine evil
soul
To evil words thy lips control, 13
And against God thyself extol ?
Can mortal man be pure to Him 14
Who trusteth not the seraphim, 15
And unto whom the heavens are
dim?
What sterner judgment man 16
shall win —
A thing corrupted from within,
And drinking up, like water,
sin?
I speak what wise men have not 17
hid—
Learned from their sires, who 18
dwelt amid
These places ere the stranger 19
did.

The wicked is not free from 20
fears,
However long his destined years,
A dreadful sound is in his ears ! 21
In peace he is the slayer's mark ;
He can but tremble, vainly 22
hark,
And wait the sword-thrust in the
dark.
He wandereth — whither wbo 23
can say ? —
A hungry beast, in search of
prey —
Knoweth at hand a darker day ;

OHAP. XV.]

THE BOOK OF JOB.

97

REVISED VERSION.
24 Trouble and distress make him
afraid —
overpower him, as a king ready
for the battle.
25 Because he stretched out hi3
hand against God,
and proudly set himself against
the Almighty ;
26 ran upon him, with stiffened
neck,
with the thick bosses of his
bucklers.
27 Recause he covered his face with
his fatness,
and gathered fat upon the
loin;
28 and abode in desolated cit
ies,
whose houses none inhabit,
which are destined for stone-

29 He shall not be rich, nor shall
his wealth endure,
nor shall their possessions spread
¦ abroad in the earth.
30 He shall not escape out of dark
ness;
a flame shall dry up his
branches ;
and by the breath of His mouth
shall he pass away.
31 Let him not trust in evil ; he is
deceived.
for evil shall be his re
ward.
32 Before his time, it is ful
filled ;
and his Palm is no longer
green. 5

PARAPHRASE.
And fainteth, on his fears to 24
think,
As monarchs feel their courage
sink
Upon some battle's awful brink,
Because he dared, with bossy 25
shield
And stiffened neck, the sword to 26
wield
Against the Almighty in the field !
Since he grew fat by violence, 27
Dwelling in wasted cities, whence 28
His victims fled without defence,
He shall not gather wealth, or 29
shoot,
A spreading tree from thrifty
root,
Or bend to earth with weight of
fruit.
The buried seed shall bide in 30
gloom ; [doom,
Or if it grow, God's breath of
Like flame, the branches shall
consume.
Let him not hope : the evil seed 3 1
Will evil harvest surely breed,
And vain exchange will be his
meed.
Yea, ere the harvest-time be 32
Been, [vene ;
His doom fulfilled shall inter-
His palm shall be no longer
green.

98

THE BOOK OF JOB.

[chap. xvi.

REVISED VERSION.
33 He shall shake off, like the vine,
his unripe grapes,
and, like the olive, cast away
his blossoms.
34 For the household of the impure
is desolate,
and a fire devours the tents of
bribery.
35 They conceive mischief, and
bring forth vanity ;
and their womb matures false
hood.

PARAPHRASE.
He, like the vine, unperfected 33
Shall drop his clusters ; he shall
shed
Like olive-trees his blossoms
dead.
For barrenness, like fire, hath 34
caught
The household with corruption
fraught.
When sin conceives, the birth is 35
naught.

JOB.

1 Then answered Job, and said:
2 I have heard many such
things ;
miserable comforters are ye
all.
3 Is there any end to words of
wind ?
or what emboldens thee, that
thou shouldst answer ?
4 I also could speak as ye
do;
were your soul in place of
mine,
I could frame words against
you,
and could shake my head at
you.
5 I would strengthen you with my
mouth,
and the comfort of my lips should
uphold !
6 If I speak, my grief is not as
suaged ;
and if I forbear, does it at all de
part from me ?

Poor comforters are ye — no 2
more ; [o'er,
Ye do but plague me o'er and
With the same things I heard
before.
Thy speech is like the empty 3
wind,
That blows, and still leaves more
behind :
Else what fresh pretext canst
thou find ?
Ah, were your souls in my soul's 4
stead,
I could leave you uncomforted,
Falsely accuse, and shake my
head !
Nay, my words should give 5
strength again —
But now, to ease my steadfast 6
pain
My speech, my silence are in vain.

OHAP. XVI.]

THE BOOK OF JOB.

99

REVISED VERSION,
7 But now, He hath wearied me
out;
thou hast made all my household
desolate ;
8 and me hast thou seized — it is
become a witness ;
and my leanness rises up against
me,
it bears witness, to my face.
9 His anger rends, and it pursues
me;
he gnashes on me with his
teeth;
my enemy sharpeneth his eyes
at me.
10 They gape upon me with their
mouth ;
with scorn, they smite me on the
cheek ;
together they combine against
me.
11 God delivers me up to the un
righteous,
and casts me into the hands of
the wicked.
12 I was at rest, — and he shattered
me;
he laid hold of my neck, and
dashed me in pieces,
and set me up for his mark.
13 His strong ones beset me
round ;
he cleaves my reins, and does
not spare ;
and pours out my gall upon the
earth.
14 He breaks me, with breach upon
breach ;

PARAPHRASE.
For God hath worn me out. At 7
first
Thy wrath upon my household
burst ;
Then one by one, from worse to
worst,
Thy judgments fell, until at last
My wasted frame by men is 8
classed
A witness of my guilty past !
A lion He, that on the plain 9
Rends and pursues and rends
again, [dain,
With eyes that glitter fierce dis-
Then leaves to jackal men the (11)
chase :
With gaping jaws they crowd 10
the place, [face.
And smite the helpless victim's
I was at rest. He laid me low, 12
Seizing my throat ; then made
me, so,
A target for yet further woe.
His arrows pierce me all around ; 13
He cleaves my reins with fatal
wound ;
My life runs out upon the ground.
Like some stronghold, the foe 14
will take,
Breach upon breach I feel Him
make,
Through which in triumph He

he runs upon me like a warrior. \ may break.

100

THE BOOK OF JOB.

[CHAP. XVII.

REVISED VERSION.
15 I have sewed sack-cloth upon
my skin,
and have thrust my horn into
the dust.
16 My face i3 inflamed with weep
ing,
and a death-shade is on my eye
lids;
17 although no violence is in my
hands,
and my prayer is pure.
18 Earth, cover not thou my
blood !
and let my cry have no resting-
place !
19 Even now, behold my witness is
in heaven,
and my attestor is on high.
20 My mockers, are my friends :
unto God my eye poureth
tears ;
21 that he would do justice to a
man with God,
as a son of man to his fel
low.
22 For a few years will pass,
and I shall go the way that I re
turn not.

1 My breath is consumed,
my days are extinct ;
the graves are my portion.
.2 Of a. truth, mockeries beset
me;
and my eye must dwell on their
provocation.

PARAPHRASE.
Sackcloth upon my skin is sewn ; 15
My head in dust is overthrown,
My face inflamed with tears 16
alone,
And in mine eyes the death-
shade stands, [hands,
Albeit no violence stains my 17
And pure my prayer, as He
commands.
Earth, cover not my martyr- 18
blood,
Nor let my cry lack echoes

To bear it through the solitude !
My witness far in heaven at- . 19
tends,
Nor to attest me condescends :
My mockers are my faithless 20
friends !
Therefore to God with tears I cry
That He would judge me right- 21
eously,
Though I am low and He is high,
Yea, as a man would deal with
men;
For my few years will pass,, and 22
then
I go, and shall not come again !

My breath is spent ; my days 1
are sped ;
My portion now is with the dead ;
Yet mockeries I must bear in- 2
stead.

CHAP. XVII.]

THE BOOK OF JOB.

101

REVISED VERSION.
3 Give a pledge, I pray thee ;
be thou my surety with
thee:
who is there, that will give his
hand for mine ?
4 For their heart thou hast kept
back from wisdom ;
therefore, thou wilt not exalt
them.
5 Whoso betrays friends for a
prey,
even the eyes of his children shall
fail.
6 And me has He set for the peo
ples' by-word ;
I am become one to be spit upon
in the face.
7 My eye is bedimmed with
grief,
and my members, all of them,
are as the shadow.
8 The upright will be astonished
at this,
and the innocent will be roused
against the impure.
9 Yet will the righteous hold on
his way,
and he that is of clean hands
will increase in strength.
10 But as for them all, — come on
again I pray ;
for I find not a wise man among
you.
11 My days are passed ; my plans
are broken off,
the treasures of my heart !
12 Night is joined to day ;
light is just before dark
ness.

REVISED VERSION.
Be Thou my surety. Other- 3
where
None can be found the pledge to
dare,
My hand to clasp, my fate to
share.
From these dull hearts I hope no 4
aid,
Who thus a helpless friend be- 5
trayed
(His little children's eyes shall
fade !)
But me hath God set up, as 6
one
For tribes to scorn and spit
upon,
Tear-blind — a faint shade in the 7
sun!
A sight for wrath and wonder, 8
sure,
To upright men ; yet being pure, 9
I shall grow strong while I en
dure!
As for all them whom I de- 10
spise —
Come on again ! Your past re
plies
Prove not a man among you
wise !
My days are past. Death's 11
severing blow
Cuts off the plans I cherished so ;
The gloom is close upon the 12
glow !

102

THE BOOK OF JOB.

[OHAP. XVIII.

REVISED VERSION.
13 Lo, I wait my abode in the under
world,
in the darkness have I spread
my couch ;
14 I have called to corruption, My
father art thou ; [sister !
to the worm, My mother and my
15 And where then is my hope?
yea my hope, who shall see it !
16 It will go down to the bars of
the under-world, [dust.
so soon as there is rest in the

PARAPHRASE.
Chill house, dark bed! unto 13
decay,
Father, I cry; to worms that 14
prey,
My mother and My sister, say.
A grewsome household, 'tis con
fessed ;
Where then my hope ? Beyond 15
all quest
Dungeoned with me in dust — 16
and rest !

BILDAD.

1 Then answered Bildad the Shu-
hite, and said :
2 How long will ye hunt for words ?
understand; and afterward let
us speak. [the brute, —
3 Wherefore are we accounted as
are impure in your eyes ?
4 One that teareth himself in his
rage!
for thee, shall the earth be for
saken, [place ?
and the rock remove out of its
5 Yea, the light of the wicked
shall go out,
and the flame of his fire shall
not shine.
6 The light darkens in his tent,
and his lamp above him goes out.
7 His strong steps become strait
ened, [down.
and his own counsel casts him
8 For he is driven into a net by
his pwn feet,
and he walks upon snares.

How long will ye hunt words 2
alone ?
First understand, and then make
known,
Why deem us brutes and vile ? 3
Thine own
The rage that rends thee, whom 4
none chased.
To please thee must the earth 5
be waste, [placed ?
And rocks for thy sake be dis-
I tell thee still, the lamp's last 5
spark
That shines, the sinner's tent to 6
mark, [dark !
Shall die, and leave him in the
With shortened stride, and self- 7
misled,
He stumbles ; nets and snares 8
are spread [dread.
Beneath his feet in ambush

OHAP. XVIII.J

THE BOOK OF JOB.

103

REVISED VERSION.
9 The trap will seize by the heel,
the snare will take fast hold of
him;
10 hidden is its cord in the earth,
and its noose upon the path
way.
11 On every side, terrors affright
him,
and pursue him, at his foot-
. steps.
12 His strength becomes famished
and destruction is ready, at his
side.
13 It devours the parts of his skin ;
his limbs the first-born of death
devours.
14 He shall be torn from the se
curity of his tent,
and be led away to the king of
terrors.
15 There shall dwell in his tent
they that are not his ;
brimstone shall be showered up
on his habitation.
16 Beneath, his roots shall dry up ;
and above, his branch shall be
cut off.
17 His memory perishes from earth ;
and he has no name on the face
ofthe fields.
18 He shall be thrust forth from
light into darkness,
and shall be driven from the
habitable world.
19 He has no offspring and no
progeny among his people,
and no survivor in his dwellings.
20 They that come after are aston
ished at his day ;

PARAPHRASE.
The springing trap, the cords 9
that hide
To draw the noose securely 10
tied,
Affright him sore on every 11
side.
Grim famine wastes his vigorous 12
powers
Till he, grown fierce through 13
hungry hours,
Death's first-born, his own limbs
devours !
From his tent's refuge he is 14
torn
And to the King of Terrors
borne ;
Strangers his heirs. His fields 15
forlorn
A rain of sulphur shall de
spoil ;
His roots shall shrivel in the 16
soil;
His branches cease to climb and
coil.
His memory lost, from earth 17
concealed,
Shall perish, even unre-
vealed
By any name on any field !
From daylight into darkness 18
whirled,
From human habitations hurled,
He leaves no child in all the 19
world.

104

THE BOOK OF JOB.

[chap. XIX.

REVISED VERSION.
and they that were before are
terror-stricken.
21 Such only are the habitations
of the wicked,
and such the place of him that
knows not God.

PARAPHRASE.
The distant west and east are 20
awed!
Such the abode of sin and 21
fraud ;
Such is his place, who knows not
God!

JOB.

1 Then answered Job, and said :
2 How long will ye vex my soul,
and break me in pieces with
words ?
3 These ten times do ye reproach
me;
without shame, ye stun me.
4 And even if,intruth,I have erred,
my error abides with myself.
5 If, indeed, against me ye will
make your boast, [proach.
then prove against me my re-
6 Know now, that God has wrest
ed my cause ; [me.
and his net he has cast around
7 Lo, I cry out for wrong, and am
not answered ; [tice.
I call aloud, and there is no jus-
8 My way he has hedged up, that
I cannot pass,
and has put darkness over my
paths.
9 He has stripped me of my glory,
and taken the crown from my
head.
10 He breaks me down on every
side, and I perish ;
my hope he uproots like the tree.
11 He makes his anger burn against
me ; [me.
as his enemies, does he regard

When will ye cease to vex, and 2
hush
Your stony words, my soul that 3
crush —
Unblushing, while ye make me
blush ?
Mine error's mine, if I have 4
erred ;
And ere ye speak a boastful 5
word
Against me, let your proof be
heard !
But know, my cause hath God 6
abused ;
Caught in His net, I am ac
cused ;
I cry, and justice is re- 7
fused !
The ways He closed, in darkness 8
frown ;
He hath stripped off my glory's 9
crown ;
On every side He breaks me 10
down.
I die, uprooted like a tree ;
His anger burneth terribly, 11
As if I were His enemy.

OHAP. XIX.]

THE BOOK OF JOB.

105

REVISED VERSION.
12 Together come all his bands ;
they cast up their way to me,
and encamp around my tent.
13 My brethren he has removed far
from me;
and they that know me are
wholly estranged from me.
14 My kinsmen stand aloof;
and my acquaintances have for
gotten me.
15 Sojourners in my house, even
my maid-servants, count me a
stranger ;
I am become an alien in their
eyes.
16 I call to my servant, and he an
swers not ;
with my mouth, I entreat him.
17 My breath is strange to my wife ;
I am offensive to the sons of the
same womb.
18 Yea, children spurn at me ;
if I would rise up, they speak
against me.
19 All the familiar friends abhor
• me;
and they whom I love are turned
against me.
20 My bone cleaves to my skin and
to my flesh ;
so that I am escaped with the
skin of my teeth.
21 Have pity on me, have pity on
me, ye my friends ;
for the hand of God hath touched
me.
22 Why do ye pursue me as God,
and are not satiated with my
flesh!

PARAPHRASE.
His armed hosts together sent, 12
March hither on destruction bent,
And camp about my hapless tent.
Brethren and friends, at His be- 13
hest,
Are strangers. They who know 14
me best
Forget me now, like all the rest.
My guests, my maids, continually 15
Count me an alien. Though I cry, 16
My very slave makes no reply.
My wife,mybrethen, with disgust 17
Behold me. Even the children 18
must
Scoff at my rising from the dust.
The friendship of familiar friend, 19
The love of best-beloved, end ;
Horror and hate on me they
spend.
To flesh and skin cleaves fast 20
the bone ;
I am escaped from death alone,
With nothing I can call my own.
Have pity on me ! Have pity on 21
me,
0 ye my friends ! Do ye not see
God's hand hath touched me
heavily ?
Why will ye then, like God, pur- 22
sue,
Hungry, unsated, as ye do,
Adding to His your torments too?

106

THE BOOK OF JOB.

[OHAP. XX.

REVISED VERSION.
23 Oh that my words were writ
ten!
oh that they were inscribed in
the book !
24 that with an iron stile, and
lead,
they were graven in the rock
forever !
25 But I, I know my redeemer
lives,
and in after time will stand upon
the earth ;
26 and after this my skin is de
stroyed,
and without my flesh, shall I see
God.
27 Whom I, for myself, shall see,
and my eyes behold, and not
another,
when my reins are consumed
within me.
28 If ye say : How will we pursue
him !
and the root of the matter is
found in me,
29 be ye afraid of the sword ;
for wrath is a crime for the
sword,
that ye may know there is a
judgment.

PARAPHRASE.
0 were my speech a book instead, 23
Or carved in rock, with iron and 24
lead,
That should abide when I am
dead!
Yet failing this, I know full clear 25
That my Redeemer liveth, and
here
Upon my dust He shall appear !
Yea, though my body shall be 26
trod,
Athing decayed, beneath the sod,
Out of the flesh shall I see God.
When death consumes this body 27
base, [face —
Mine eyes shall see Him face to
Yea, mine-^no stranger's in my
place.
If ye then think to persecute, 28
Deeming my wickedness the root
To all this weight of bitter fruit,
Beware His sword of punishment, 29
That bites and burns, with keen
intent,
On earth in tardy justice sent.

ZOPHAR.

1 Then answered Zophar the Na-
amathite, and said :
2 For this, do my thoughts give
answer to me,
and because of my eager haste
within me.

At this foul charge against me 2
brought,
My spirit flashes through my 3
thought
In passion with swift answer
fraught.

OHAP. XX.]

THE BOOK OF JOB.

107

revised version.
3 My shameful Chastisement must
I hear ;
and the spirit, from my under
standing, will answer for me.
4 Dost thou know this to have
been from of old,
since man was placed upon the
earth;
5 that the triumphing of the wick
ed is short,
and the joy of the impure for a
moment ?
6 Though his height mount up to
the heavens,
and his head reach to the clouds :
7 according to his greatness, so
shall he perish forever ;
they that saw him shall, say:
Where is he ?
8 As a dream shall he fly, and not
be found ;
and be chased away, as a vision
of the night.
9 The eye that saw him shall see
him no more,
and his place shall no more be
hold him.
10 His sons the weak shall oppress ;
and his hands shall make resti
tution of his wealth.
11 His bones are full of his youth ;
but it shall lie down with him in
the dust.
12 Though evil be sweet in his
mouth, [tongue ;
though he hide it under his
13 though he be sparing of it, and
will not let it go,
and hold it in his palate ;

PARAPHRASE.
Art thou aware, since man was 4
man,
How brief the sinner's triumph 5
ran,
Ending as soon as it be
gan?
Though high as Heaven, his fall 6
shall be
The greater for his greatness. 7
He
Shall fall and perish utterly.
" Where is he ? " they who watch
shall say.
Fled like a vision chased by 8
day;
Seen in his place no more for 9
aye.
His hands that smote and spoiled 10
the poor,
Spoiled in their turn, shall grasp
no more,
But all their ill-got gains re
store.
Though youth yet thrills in every 11
limb,
Its strength is vain. Death's
mandate grim
Shall lay it in the dust with
him.
Yea, though with palate and 12
with tongue
He hold the savory taste of 13
wrong,
Its evil sweetness to prolong,

108

THE BOOK OF JOB.

[OHAP. XX.

REVISED VERSION.
14 his food is turned in his bowels,
the gall of asps within him !
15 He swallows down riches, but
shall disgorge them ;
God will dispossess them from
his belly.
16 He shall suck in the poison of
asps;
the tongue of the adder will slay
him.
17 He shall not look on the water
courses,
the flowing streams of honey and
milk.
18 The fruit of toil he restores,
and shall not devour,
as his borrowed possession, and
shall not rejoice in it.
19 Because he oppressed, aban
doned the weak,
the houses he has plundered he
shall not build up.
20 Because he knew no rest in his
bosom,
of all his delights he shall save
nothing.
21 His greedy appetite nothing es
caped ;
therefore his prosperity shall not
endure.
22 In the fullness of his superfluity,
he shall be straitened ;
every hand of the wretched
shall come upon him.
23 His belly shall be filled !
God shall cast on him the fury
of his wrath,
and shall rain his food upon
him!

PARAPHRASE.
Within him it shall turn, to 14
make
The fatal poison of the snake —
The sweeter taste, the sharper
ache!
His wealth he vomits forth again; 15
Only its poison shall remain — 16
By adders' tongues he shall be
slain.
Surrendering all he earned or (18)
took,
He may not on the flowing brook 17
Or streams of milk and honey
look.
Because he spoiled and cast aside, 19
The houses he destroyed shall
bide,
Nor be rebuilt to swell his pride.
Because his greed and wild un- 20
rest
Paused not, nor spared, he shall 21
be blest
With naught of all that he pos-

His want amid his wealth shall 22
grow,
While victims' hands of long ago
Shall reach to strike him, blow
on blow.

His belly shall beyond desire 23
Be bravely filled : God's anger
dire
Shall rain upon him tood of fire!

OHAP. XXI.]

THE BOOK OF JOB.

109

REVISED VERSION.
24 If he flee from the iron weapon,
the bow of brass shall strike
him through.
25 He plucks it out ; it comes forth
from his body
the gleaming weapon, from his
gall!
terrors come upon him !
26 All darkness is hoarded up for
his treasures ;
a fire not blown shall consume
them ;
it shall devour the remnant in
his tent.
27 Heaven shall reveal his in
iquity,
and earth stand up against
him.
28 The increase of his house shall
depart,
shall flow away, in the day of
His wrath.
29 This is the portion of a wicked
man from God,
and his appointed lot from the
Mighty One.

PARAPHRASE.
His fate is sure. Albeit he might 24
The iron sword escape by flight,
The brazen bow afar shall smite.
When from his flesh the gleam- 25
ing dart [start
He plucks, with horror he shall
To find the point hath pierced
his heart !
His hidden wealth more darkly 26
yet
Shall be concealed. A flame unlit
By human hands shall swallow it,
To the last scrap his tent can
yield ;
But not his sin shall be con- 27
cealed —
By earth abhorred, by earth re
vealed !
His treasure, in God's anger hot, 28
Shall flow like water from the
spot:
Such is the sinner's certain lot. 29

JOB.

I Then answered Job, and said :
2 Hear ye attentively my speech ;
and let your consolations be
this.
3 Suffer me, that I may speak ;
and after I have spoken, mock on.
4 As for me, is my complaint to
man?
Or wherefore should I not be
impatient ?

By way of consolation new, 2
Pray let me speak, and hear me 3
too.
Then, Zophar, mock when I am
through.
Is my complaint of human range? 4
Have I not cause in suffering
strange,
Impatient to bewail my change ?

110

THE BOOK OF JOB.

[chap. xxi.

REVISED VERSION.
5 Look upon me, and be aston
ished,
and lay the hand upon the
mouth !
6 For when I remember, I am dis
mayed ;
and trembling seizes my flesh.
7 Wherefore do the wicked live,
grow old, yea become mighty in
power ?
8 Their seed with them is estab
lished in their sight,
and their offspring before their
eyes.
9 Their houses are in peace, with
out fear ;
and no scourge of God is upon
them.
10 His cattle breed, and fail
not;
his kine bring forth, and mis
carry not.
11 They send out their little ones
like the flock,
and their children dance.
12 They shout, with tabret and
harp,
and rejoice, to the sound of the
pipe.
13 In prosperity they spend their
days,
and in a moment, go down to
the under-world.
14 And they say unto God : Depart
from us ;
for we desire not the knowledge
of thy ways.
15 What is the Almighty, that we
should serve him ?

PARAPHRASE.
Behold and wonder and be still ! 5
The mystery frights me; and a 6
thrill
Of awe my very flesh doth fill.
Why grow the wicked old and 7
strong,
Their seed established and among 8
Their household peace, nor fear 9
of wrong ?
No scourge of God on them lets 10
fall [all
Its pestilent stroke ; their cattle
Unfailing breed in field and stall.
And like their flocks, their chil- 11
dren throng,
In youthful gladness dance along,
With lyre and tabret, pipe and 12
song.
Thus prosperously they spend 13
their day,
And die at last, without delay
Of weary waiting on the way.
Yet these have said to God : Be- 14
gone I
We would not know T/iy ways,
nor own [throne !
In service or in prayer Thy
Who is this Migldy One, they 15
sneer ;
That we to Him should bow in
fear ? '
What we sliould gain doth not
appear !

CHAP. XXI.]

THE BOOK OF JOB.

Ill

REVISED VERSION.
and what are we profited, if we
pray unto him ?
16 Lo, their good is not in their
hand!
Far from me is the counsel of
the wicked.
17 How oft, does the lamp of the
wicked go out,
and their destruction come upon
them,
or He, in his anger, distribute
sorrows ?
18 or they are as stubble before the
wind,
and as chaff, which the whirl
wind snatches away ?
19 Will God treasure up his iniquity
for his sons ?
on him let him requite it, that
he may know !
20 Let his eyes see his destruc
tion,
and let him drink of the wrath
of the Almighty.
21 For what is his concern in his
house after him,
when the number of his months
is cut off?
22 'Shall one teach God knowl
edge,
when it is he that judgeth the
high?
23 One dies in his full prosper
ity;
he is wholly at ease, and se
cure.
24 His sides are full of fat,
and the marrow of his bones is
moistened.

PARAPHKASE.
The good they deem they do not 16
need,
They will not grasp. But I, in
deed,
Far from me put their evil creed.
Yet, pray, how oft are they 17
brought low,
Their lamp put out, that they
may know
How God in wrath distributes
woe?
How oft o'ermastered by despair, 18
Like stubble, storm-swept here
and there,
Like chaff the whirlwind lifts in
air?
God pays the sinner's sons, ye 19
prate,
Nay, let himself be desolate,
That he may know and feel his
fate!
Let him drink wrath and see de- 20
spair !
His time cut off, what will he 21
care [fare ?
How afterwards his household
Can any give with skill uncouth 22
To the all-judging God, forsooth,
A clearer knowledge of the truth ?
One dies in fullness of success, 23
In perfect ease and quietness —
Plenty and strength without dis- 24
tress.

112

THE BOOK OF JOB.

[OHAP. XXI.

REVISED VERSION. PARAPHRASE.
25 And another dies in bitterness Another dies in bitter pains, 25

of soul,
and has not tasted good.
26 Together they lie down in the
dust,
and the worm covers them.
27 Lo, I know your devices,
and the plots with which ye
would oppress me.
28 For ye say : Where is the house
of the Noble ;
and where the tent, in which
the wicked have dwelt ?
29 Have ye not asked the way
farers ?
and do ye not know their to
kens?
30 That the wicked is kept unto
the day of destruction ;
they are brought on to the day
of wrath.
31 Who, to his face, will declare
his way?
and what he has done, who will
requite him ?
32 And he, to the graves is he borne
away,
and watch is held over the
tomb.
33 Sweet to him are the clods of
the valley ;
and all men will draw after
him,
as before him, without num
ber.

Ere any blessing he attains.
Both die — the worm for both re- 26
mains.
Behold, I know your crafty 27
thought :
The plot wherein ye would have
caught
My soul, discerned, shall come
to naught !
Ye say, Where is his palace? 28
and, Lo,
Tke wicked's dwelling is laid low !
Wayfarers, even, better know ! 29
They know, and can with proofs
make clear,
The wicked is preserved here, 30
While others wrath and ruin fear!
Who shall rebuke him to his 31
face?
And who requite him with dis
grace ?
Men bear him to his resting-place, 32
Then watch with reverence o'er
his tomb,
While sweet the flowers above 33
him bloom,
Shedding like peace their still
perfume.
And all men strive to emulate
The life that ends in such a fate,
As men have always aped the
great.

OHAP. XXII.]

THE BOOK OF JOB.

113

REVISED VERSION.
34 How then comfort ye me in
vain,
when in your answers there re
mains only deception !

PARAPHRASE.
Why do ye comfort me in vain, 34
Since of your answers, sifted
plain,
Deception only doth remain ?

ELIPHAZ.

1 Then answered Eliphaz the
Temanite, and said :
2 Can a man profit God ?
' for it is himself the wise man
profits.
3 Is it a pleasure to the Almighty,
that thou shouldst be right
eous,
or a gain, that thou shouldst
make thy ways perfect ?
4 Will he, for thy fear, rebuke
thee,
enter into judgment with thee ?
5 Is not thy wickedness great ?
and there is no end to thy in
iquities.
6 For thou hast taken a pledge of
thy brother for naught,
and stripped off the garments of
the naked.
7 The fainting thou gavest no wa
ter to drink,
and from the hungry thou hast
withholden bread.
8 But the man of might, his was
the land ;
and the honored one, he dwelt
therein.
9 Widows thou hast sent empty
away,
and the arms of the orphans
were broken.

No man can profit God, I 2
ween :
He sits above, supreme, se- 3
rene,
Whether thy ways be foul or
clean.
The wise are wise for their own (2)
gain.
Would God thy piety disdain, 4
Or visit with his judgments
plain ?
Nay, 'tis thy great, thy endless 5
sin !
A cruel usurer thou hast 6
been,
Tby naked brother's pledge to
win.
Drink to the fainting hast de- 7
nied;
Bread to the hungry, while in 8
pride
Of wealth and power thou didst
abide.
Widows thou dravest empty 9
hence ;
Orphans bewailed in innocence
The arms that once were their
defence.

114

THE BOOK OF JOB.

[chap. xxii.

REVISED VERSION.
10 Therefore snares are round about
thee,
and fear suddenly confounds
thee ;
11 or darkness, that thou canst not
see;
and the flood of waters covers
thee.
12 Is not God in the height of
heaven ?
and behold the summit of the
stars, how high !
13 And thou sayest : How does
God know ?
Can he judge through the thick
cloud ?
14 Clouds are a covering to him,
and he sees not ;
and he walks upon the vault of
heaven.
15 Wilt thou keep the old way,
which wicked men have trodden ?
16 Who were seized before the time ;
their foundation was poured
away in a flood.
17 Such as say unto God: Depart
from us ;
and, What can the Almighty do
to them?
18 When he their houses had filled
with good :
but far from me is the counsel
of the wicked !
19 The righteous look on, and re
joice;
and the innocent mock at them :
20 Truly, our adversary is cut off;
and what is left to them a fire
consumes.

PARAPHRASE.
Therefore the snares about thee 10
spread —
The darkness and the sudden 11
dread,
The flood of waters o'er thy head !
God dwellelh in the heavenly height 1 2
Beyond the summit of the niglit.
Whence farthest stars let fall
their light;
And how, thou sayest, can He 13
know,
The vaulted heavens treading so, 14
Or see through clouds the world
below ?
Wilt thou the way of ruin hold 15
Thatwickedmenhavetrodofold,Till floods untimely o'er them 16
rolled ?
Such men as say to God, Begone I 17
Or such as judge what He hath 18
done,
Complaining of the Almighty
One—
Wliat can He do to them, indeed?
Hath He not blest them beyond 18
need?
Far be from me such evil creed !
The righteous at their doom re- 19
joice.
Truly, they cry with mocking 20
voice,
What death hath left the fire de
stroys I

chap, xxii.]

THE BOOK OTE JOB.

115

REVISED VERSION.
21 Now acquaint thyself with him,
and be at peace ;
thereby shall good come upon
thee.
22 Take now the law from his
mouth,
and lay up his words in thy
heart.
23 If thou return to the Almighty,
thou shalt be built up,
if thou remove wickedness far
from thy dwellings.
24 And cast to the dust the pre
cious ore,
and the gold of Ophir to the
stones of the brooks ;
26 for the Almighty will be thy
precious ores,
and silver, sought with toil, for
thee.
26 For then shalt thou have delight
in the Almighty,
and shalt lift up thy face unto
God.
27 Thou wilt pray to him, and he
will hear thee ;
and thou wilt perform thy
vows.
28 For thou wilt purpose a thing,
and it shall stand ;
and light will shine upon thy
ways.
29 When they are cast down, thou
shalt say : There is lifting up !
and the meek-eyed he will save.
30 He will deliver one that is not
guiltless ;
and he shall be saved by the
pureness of thy hands.

PARAPHRASE.
Be friends then with thy right- 21
eous friend :
The law he speaks, if thou attend 22
And lay to heart, in good shall
end.

If thou put evil from thy door,
Give back to earth the precious 24
ore;
Cast Ophir's gold, from streams
set free, [be
To streams again ; for God shall 25
Both gold and silver unto thee !
In Him thou shalt delight, and 26
raise
Thy face unshamed in prayer and
praise ;
And light will shine upon thy (28)
ways ;
Thy prayers be heard, thy vows 27
be paid ;
And every purpose thou hast laid 28
A thing established shall be made.
And if thy paths in shade de- 29
scend,
Thou shalt see sunshine at the
end;
For God the humble will defend.
Yea, He will save the sinner, even, 30
For whom saints lift their hands
to heaven :
As thou mayest do — thyself for
given.

116

THE BOOK OF JOB.

[chap. XXIII.

JOB.

REVISED VERSION.
1 Then answered Job, and said :
2 Even to-day, my complaint is
frowardness !
The hand upon me is heavier
than my groaning. [him,
3 0 that I knew how I might find
might come even to his seat !
4 I would array my cause before
him, [ments.
and fill my mouth with argu-
5 I would know the words he
would answer me, [me.
and mark what he would say to
6 Would he, with great power,
contend with me ? [to me.
no! he surely would give heed
7 There, the upright might reason
with him ;
and I should be delivered for
ever from my judge.
8 Lo, I go toward the east, but
he is not there,
and toward the west, but I per
ceive him not ;
9 toward the north where he work-
eth, but I behold him not,
he covers himself in the south,
and I see him not. [take ;
10 But he knows the way that I
when he tries me, I shall come
forth as the gold.
11 My foot has held fast to his step;
his way have I kept, and not
turned aside.
12 The commandment of his lips, I
put it not away ;
above my own law, I prized the
words of his mouth.

paraphrase.
Even now I sin, if I but moan; 2
His heavy hand forbids a
groan.
0 that I stood before His 3
throne !
My cause, my proofs, I would ar- 4
ray
Before His face, nor turn
away
Till I had heard what He would 5
say!
Would His omnipotence inter- 6
fere?
Nay, let Him but my reason 7
hear,
And I should stand forever
clear !
Eastward I turn — He is not 8
there ;
Westward — I see Him not, nor
where
In North or South His hidings 9
are.
Unknown His paths. He know- 10
eth mine :
And when He tries me, I shall
shine,
Pure gold, no finer need re
fine.
My foot, that never turned 11
aside,
Steadfast in His way did abide.
I prized His law above my pride. 12

CHAP, xxiv.]

THE BOOK OF JOB.

117

REVISED VERSION.
13 But he is the same, and who can
turn him ?
and what his soul desires he will
do.
14 Truly, the purpose concerning
me he will accomplish,
and many such things are with
him.
15 Therefore do I tremble before
him,
I consider, and am afraid of
him.
16 And God makes my heart soft,
and the Almighty confounds
me.
17 For I should not be dumb be-
" cause of darkness,
because thick darkness covers
me.
1 Why, if times are not hidden
from the Almighty,
do they that know him not see
his days ?
2 Landmarks they remove ;
flocks they seize upon, and feed.
3 The orphans' ass they drive
away;
they take the widow's ox for a
pledge.
4 They turn aside the needy from
the way ;
all the oppressed of the land are
made to hide themselves.
5 Lo, as wild-asses in the wilder
ness,
they go forth to their toil, search
ing for the prey ;
the desert to him is bread for
the children.

paraphrase.
But who can turn the Only One ? 13
His soul desires — and it is done ;
He will complete the doom be- 14
gun.
Nor mine alone, but many a fate
He doth like mine predestinate.
I tremble, this to meditate ! 1 5
The Almighty makes my heart 16
to fail,
Affrights, confounds. I would 17
not quail
If dark woes only did prevail.

If God doth certainly foreknow 1
His wrath shall lay the wicked
low,
Why do 'His friends not find it
so?
Behold, how men on every hand 2
Move landmarks, stealing flocks
and land,
Or drive away with stern de
mand
The orphan's ass, the widow's 3
steer ;
Their hunted victims hide in 4
fear.
Like wild beasts in the desert 5
drear,
At morn, the refuge that con
cealed
Early they leave, to seek afield
What bread the wilderness may
yield

118

THE BOOK OF JOB.

[OHAP. XXIV.

REVISED VERSION.
6 In the field, they reap his fod
der,
and glean the vineyard of the
wicked.
7 Naked they pass the night, with
out clothiug, [cold.
and with no shelter in the
S They are wet with the mountain
storm,
and cling to the rock for want
of refuge.
9 The orphan is torn from the
breast,
and on the sufferer is imposed a
pledge.
10 Naked they go about, without
clothing ; [sheaves :
and hungry they bear the
11 prepare oil between their walls ;
tread the winepresses, — and
thirst.
12 For anguish do the dying
groan,
and the soul of the wounded
cries out ;
and God heeds not the prayer.
13 There are they who rebel
against light ;
they know not its ways,
and they abide not in its paths.
14 At the dawn, the murderer rises
up;
he slays the poor and needy :
and by night, he will be as the
thief.
15 And the eye of the adulterer
watches for the twilight,
saying : No eye shall see me !
and puts a veil over the face.

paraphrase.
To stay the children's hunger
keen —
The oppressor's harvest-sheaves 6
between,
Or in the vineyard, fain to
glean.
When night and mountain 7
storms distress, [press,
More closely to the rocks they 8
Naked and cold and shelterless.
Or orphaned infants — helpless 9
prey ! — [away,
Are torn from widowed breasts
Some debt they did not owe, to
pay-
Naked and hungry slaves, they 10
toil
To bring for others corn and oil, 11
Or tread the grapes, and thirst
the while !
Dying they groan in anguish 12
strong, [long?
Or, wounded sore, cry out, How
In vain — God heedeth not the
wrong !
But see the enemies of light, 13
Who hide their evil deeds from
sight, [night !
Murder at dawn, and lurk at 14
Adulterers, that for twilight 15
skies [eyes
Wait veiled, and say, No human
Shall penetrate our safe disguise !

OHAP. XXIV.]

THE BOOK OF JOB.

119

REVISED VERSION.
16 They break through houses in
the darkness :
by day they shut themselves
up;
they know not the light.
17 For morning is death-shade to
them all :
when one can discern, it is the
terrors of death-shade !
18 Light is he on the face of the
waters :
accursed is the portion of such
in the earth ;
he turns not into the way to
fruitful fields.
19 Drought and heat bear off the
snow-water, —
the under-world them that sin.
20 The womb will forget him,
when the worm feeds sweetly on
him;
he will no more be remem
bered,
and iniquity will be broken, as
the tree.
21 He despoils the barren that
beareth not ;
and shows no kindness to the
widow.
22 And he removes the strong by
his might ;
he rises up, and no one is sure
of life:
23 he grants to them safety, and
they are at rest ;
and his eyes are upon their
ways.
24 they rise high ; a little while, and
they are gone !

paraphrase.
Their dark deeds done, ere day 16
appear,
They hide again. Like death 17
they fear
The dawn, that makes men's
faces clear !
Doubtless on such the floods will 18
burst —
Not floods enriching fields that
thirst,
But sweeping o'er a place ac
cursed,
And vanishing in after-drought 19
Into the under-world, without
A trace 1 So these shall pass, no
doubt !
The worm will feast, the womb 20
forget,
Nor any mention with regret
The sinner, like a tree upset,
Cut off untimely — he who late
The substance of the childless ale, 21
And left the widow to her fate 1
Nay ; God the strong delivereth 22
With mighty power from fear of
death ;
In safe repose they draw their 23
breath.
His guardian eyes are on them
cast,
They grow, they flourish; and 24
at last,
The summer's limit being passed,

120

THE BOOK OF JOB.

[chap. xxvi.

25

REVISED VERSION.
they are brought low; like all
are they gathered,
and are cut off like the topmost
ears of corn.
And if it be not so, who then
will prove me false,
and make my words of no
effect?

PARAPHRASE.
Death comes with kindly swift
ness. Then,
Asreapers reap theripened grain,
They are cut off, like other men.
Yea, tallest ears are they, whose
leaves [sheaves :
Are honored in the harvest-
Disprove it, he who disbelieves ! 25

BILDAD.

1 Then answered Bildad the Shu-
hite, and said :
2 Dominion and fear are with him ;
he maketh peace in his high
places !
3 Is there any number to his ar
mies ? [arise ?
and on whom does not his light
4 How then shall man be just with
God, [born of woman ?
and how shall he be pure that is
5 Lo, even the moon, it shines not
and the stars are not pure in his
eyes.
6 How much less man, a grub !
and the son of a man a worm !

With Him are power and majes
ty:
The heavenly places ruleth
He;
Their endless hosts His glory
see!
Before His eyes the moon doth
seem
To shine not, and the stars are
dim :
Shall man, a worm, be pure to
Him?

JOB.

1 Then answered Job, and said :
2 Hast thou helped the powerless
succored the feeble arm ! [wise;
3 How hast thou counseled the un-
and understanding thou hast
taught abundantly !
4 By whom hast thou uttered
words, [from thee ?
and whose breath has come forth
5 The shades tremble,

How hast thou brought the 2
weak, defense,
And counselled with abundant 3
sense! [quence?
What spirit taught this elo- 4
The shades of dead men, thai 5

Beneath the swarming ocean tide,
Tremble to find they cannot hide.

OHAP. XXVI.]

THE BOOK OF JOB.

121

REVISED VERSION.
beneath the waters and their in
habitants !
6 Naked is the under-world before
him,
and destruction has no cover
ing.
7 He stretched out the north over
empty space ;
changed the earth upon noth
ing.
8 He binds up the waters in his
thick clouds,
and the cloud is not rent under
them.
9 He shuts up the face of the
throne ;
he spreads upon it his cloud.
10 A circling bound he drew on
the face of the waters,
unto the limit of light with
darkness.
11 The pillars of heaven trem.
bie,
and are astonished, at his re
buke.
12 By his power he quells the
sea;
and by his wisdom he smites
down pride.
13 By his spirit are the heavens
adorned ;
his hand formed the fleeing Ser
pent.
14 Lo, these are the borders of
his ways ;
and what a whisper of a word is
that we hear !
But the thunder of his power
who can comprehend ?
6

PARAPHRASE.
Death and the grave to Him lie 6
bare,
¦ Who spanned the North o'er 7
empty air
And hung the earth on nothing
there.
In clouds securely prisoned 8
He locked the waters over
head ;
Before His throne tlie clouds He 9

And on the sea His hand di- 10
vine
Marked out the circling border
line,
The light and darkness lo de
fine.
Anon the heavenly pillars shake ; 11
At His rebuke, amazed they
quake ;
His power bids the ocean wake / 12
Then He, whose wisdom over
threw
The monster, and the serpent 13
slew,
Breathes, and ihe heavens find
rest anew.
Lo 1 this is but the hither 14
end!
A -whisper of that power un-
kenned,
Whose thunder, who can compre
hend?

122

THE BOOK OF JOB.

[OHAP. XXVII.

REVISED VERSION.
1 And again Job took up his dis.
course, and said :
2 As God liveth, who has taken
away my right,
and the Almighty, who has af
flicted my soul ;
3 so long as my breath is in me,
and the spirit of God is in my
nostrils ;
4 my lips shall not speak wicked
ness, [deceit.
and my tongue shall not utter
5 Far be it from me, that I should
justify you ;
till I die, I will not put away my
integrity from me.
6 My righteousness I hold fast,
and will not let it go ;
my heart reproaches none of my
days.
7 Let my enemy be as the wicked,
and he that rises up against me,
as the unrighteous.
8 For what is the hope of the im
pure, though he despoil,
when God shall take away his
soul?
9 Will God hear his cry, [him ?
when distress shall come upon
10 Will he delight himself in the
Almighty ?
will he call on God, at all times ?
11 I will teach you, concerning
God's hand ;
what is with the Almighty I will
not conceal.
1 2 Lo, all ye yourselves have seen it •
and why then speak ye what is
utterly vain?

PARAPHRASE,
By Him I swear, whose awful 2
might
Hath wrung my soul and wronged
my right :
Until my breath forsakes me 3
quite
(His spirit in my nostrils), I
With lip and tongue disdain to 4
lie,
Your slanderous words to jus- 5
tify!
Yea, until death shall take me
hence,
I will maintain mine inno- 6
cence
And memory clear of all of
fence.
Evil I hold the sinner's lot ; 7
God calls his soul, and gains ill- 8
got
For help or hope avail him
not.
Will God console in his de- 9
spair ?
Will he delight in God, or 10
dare
Ever draw near to Him with
prayer ?
Yet ye have seen — need I (12)
again
Teach you the ways of God to 11
men?
Why do ye say so vainly 12
then,

OHAP. XXVII.]

THE BOOK OF JOB.

123

REVISED VERSION.
13 This is the portion of a wicked
man with God,
and tbe heritage of oppressors,
wliich they receive from the
Almighty.
14 H his children multiply, it is for
the sword ;
and his offspring shall not be
satisfied with bread.
15 In the pestilence shall they that
remain to him be buried,
and his widows shall not bewail !
16 If he heap up silver, as the dust,
and prepare raiment, as the
clay;
17 he may prepare, but the just
shall put it on,
and the silver shall the innocent
divide.
18 He builds, like the moth, his
house ;
and as a booth, which the watch
man makes.
19 The rich man shall lie down, and
shall not be gathered ;
he opens his eyes, and he is gone !
20 Terrors, like the waters, shall
overtake him ;
by night, the whirlwind snatches
him away.
21 The East-wind carries him away,
and he is gone ;
yea, it hurls him out of his place.
22 For He shall cast at him, and
will not spare :
he would fain flee out of his
hand.
23 They clap their hands at him,
and hiss him out of his place.

PARAPHRASE.
This is the wicked's heritage : 13
Against his sons ihe sword shall 14
wage
A fatal war, and famine's rage
And pestilence dire the last con- 15
sume:
Not even his widows from the
doom
Escape, to wail above his tomb.
Though silver he like dust possess, 1 6
And robes like clay for common
ness,
The just shall win them, ne' erthe- 17

His house, ye say, a moih's-wing, 1 8
breaks :
A booth, some vineyard-watchman
makes,
Uses awhile, and soon forsakes.
Tfie rich, ye say, shall by-and-by 19
From sleep in terror suddenly,
All unattended, wake and die /
A flood shall take him by sur- 20
prise ;
A whirlwind from the midnight 21

Snatch him away ere he arise.
He flies — God's arrow doth not 22
miss!
And all men clap their hands and
hiss.
Why do you vainly tell me this 1

124

THE BOOK OF JOB. [chap, xxviii.

REVISED VERSION.
1 For there is a vein for the sil
ver,
and a place for the gold, which
they refine.
2 Iron is taken out of the dust,
and stone is fused into cop
per.
3 He puts an end to the dark
ness ;
and he searches out, to the very
end,
stones of thick darkness and of
death-shade.
4 He drives a shaft away from
man's abode ;
forgotten of the foot,
they swing suspended, far from
men !
5 The earth, out of it goes forth
bread ;
and under it, is destroyed as
with fire.
6 A place of sapphires, are its
Stones ;
and it has clods of gold.
7 The path, no bird of prey has
known it,
nor the falcon's eye glanced on
it;
8 nor proud beasts trodden it,
nor roaring lion passed over it.
9 Against the flinty rock he puts
forth his hand ;
he overturns mountains, from
the base.
10 In the rock he cleaves out riv
ers;
and his eye sees every precious
thing.

PARAPHRASE.
Silver and gold yet unrefined, 1
And iron, and the ores com- 2
bined
That copper yield, in veins are
mined.
Man presses to the farthest 3
bound
Of darkness in his search pro
found ;
Yea, death-dark are the rocks
around !
He drives his shaft. Men come 4
and go
Above his head, and do not
know
Who swings suspended far be
low.
Above, the peaceful field and 5
fold;
Beneath, the flame reaps har
vests old,
Whose grain is gems, whose soil 6
is gold.
No hawk's or vulture's piercing 7
eye
Did e'er this secret path de
scry,
Nor prowliDg beast these eham- 8
bers try.
Anon, the flinty rocks men face, 9
O'erturning mountains from
their base,
And pouring rivers in their 10
place ;

cnAP. xxviii.] THE BOOK OF JOB.

125

REVISED VERSION.
11 He binds up streams, that they
drip not ;
and the hidden he brings out to
light.
12 But wisdom, whence shall it be
found ?
and where is the place of under
standing ?
13 Man knows not its price ;
nor is it found in the land of the
living.
14 The deep saith : It is not in me ;
and the sea saith ; It is not with
me.
15 Choice gold shall not be given in
exchange for it ;
nor shall silver be weighed for
its price.
16 It cannot be weighed with gold
of Ophir, [phire.
with the precious onyx and sap-
17 Gold and glass shall not be com
pared with it,
nor vessels of fine gold be an
exchange for it.
18 Corals and crystal shall not be
named ;
and the possession of wisdom is
more than pearls.
19 The topaz of Ethiopia shall not
be compared with it ;
it shall not be weighed with pure
gold.
20 But wisdom, whence comes it ?
and where is the place of under
standing ?
21 since it is hidden from the eyes
of all living, [heaven.
and covered from the fowls of

PARAPHRASE.
Then guide the streams on either 11
hand,
And closely search the glittering
strand
For treasures hidden in its sand.
But wisdom is more hard to win. 13
Who knoweth where he needs 12
begin,
To find tbe place it hideth in ?
Earth saith, It is not in my 14
caves ;
And ocean, Not beneath my waves; .
Nor can he purchase it who 15
craves.
Nor gold nor silver pays the
debt—
Not gold of Ophir, costlier yet 16
With onyx and with sapphire
set;
Not vessels of pure gold alone, 17
Or gold with glass, adroitly
blown,
Or corals, clasping crystal stone : 18
Not pearls or southern topaz 19
mate
The price of its possession great ;
Not pure gold, measured weight
for weight.
Yea, whence doth wisdom eome, 20
where hide,
Covered from all, and undescried 21
By birds of heaven the keenest-
eyed?

126

THE BOOK OF JOB.

[OHAP. XXIX.

REVISED VERSION.
22 Destruction and death say :
with our ears have we heard the
fame of it.
23 God understands the way to
it,
and he knows the place of it.
24 For he, to the ends of the earth
he looks ;
and he sees under the whole
heaven :
25 to make the weight for the
wind;
and he meted out the waters by
measure.
26 When he made a decree for the
rain,
and a track for the thunders'
flash ;
27 then he saw, and he declared it ;
he established it, yea and
searched it out.
28 And to man he said :
Behold, the fear of the Lord,
that is wisdom;
and to depart from evil is under
standing.
1 And again Job took up his dis
course, and said :
2 0 that I were as in months
past,
as in days when God preserved
me :
3 when his lamp shined over my
head;
by his light I walked through
darkness.
4 As I was in my autumn days,
when the favor of God was over
my dwelling ;

PARAPHRASE.
Death cannot find it, or de- 22
cay;
Our ears have heard iis fame,
they say ;
God only knoweth place and 23
way.
He looketh to earth's borders 24
wide
Beneath the skies on every
side ;
Weigheth and measureth wind 25
and tide.
What time he gave the law to 26
rain,
And tracks of lightning did or
dain,
He saw, declared it, fixed it 27
plain !
And unto man, Behold, said 28
He,
To fear the Lord, from evil
flee-
This thy sufficient wisdom be !

0 were I as in months 2
agone,
Where God's defence was round
me thrown,
His guiding lamp above me 3
shone !
Fair autumn days, when o'er my 4
tent
God's favor like a firmament
Hung full of bounty yet un-
spent !

CHAP. XXIX.]

THE BOOK OF JOB.

127

REVISED VERSION.
5 while yet the Almighty was with
me,
my children were round about
me;
6 when my steps were bathed in
milk,
and the rock poured out by me
streams of oil.
7 When I went forth to the gate
by the city,
and placed my seat by the broad
way;
8 young men saw me, and hid
themselves,
and old men rose, and stood
up.
9 Princes refrained from words,
and laid the hand upon their
mouth.
10 The voice of Nobles was
hushed.
and their toDgue cleaved to their
palate.
11 For the ear heard, and blessed
me;
and the eye saw, and witnessed
for me.
12 Because I delivered the poor
that cried,
and the orphan, and him that
had no helper.
13 The blessing of the perishing
came upon me,
and the heart of the widow I
made to sing for joy.
14 I put on righteousness ; and it
clothed itself with me :
as a mantle and a turban, was
my rectitude.

PARAPHRASE.
Yea, God was with me. All 5
around
My children stood. The very
ground
Streamed milk and oil, with 6
plenty crowned.
When forth I fared, and placed 7
my seat
Where by the gate the towns
men meet
In crowds along the broadest
street,
Young men "who saw me hid from 8
view;
Old men arose with reverence
due;
Nobles were dumb, and princes 9
too.
For their ears heard, nor praise 11
denied,
And their eyes saw and testi
fied
How I delivered him that cried. 12
Orphans and friendless poor did
bring
The benison of the perishing ; 13
I made the widow's heart to
sing.
With righteousness I was en- 14
dued —
An outward grace, an inward
good —
A robe, u. crown of recti
tude.

128

THE BOOK OF JOB.

[chap. xxix.

REVISED VERSION.
15 I was eyes to the blind,
and feet was I to the lame.
16 1 was a father to the needy ;
and the cause of him I knew
not, I searched it out.
17 And I broke the fangs of the
wicked,
and from his teeth I dashed the
prey.
18 And I said: Surely, I shall ex
pire in my nest ;
and as the sand, shall I multiply
days;
19 my root is open to the waters,
and the dew lies all night on my
branch ;
20 my glory is fresh upon me,
and my bow is renewed in my
hand.
21 To me they gave ear, and wait
ed;
they were silent for my counsel.
22 After my word, they spoke not
again ;
and my speech distilled upon
them.
23 Yea, they waited for me as for
the rain,
and opened wide their mouth, as
for the latter rain.
24 I smiled upon them, they be
lieved it not ;
nor let the light of my counte
nance fall.
25 Their way I chose, and sat as
chief,
and dwelt as king in the host,
as one who comforts the mourn
ing.

PARAPHRASE.
I was as eyes unto the blind, 15
Feet to the lame ; a father kind 16
The needy did not fail to find.
I did search out the stranger's
cause,
And broke the fangs of wicked 17
jaws, [and claws.
Snatching the prey from teeth
And I said ; Like the phoenix, I 18
Myprosperous days shall multiply,
Until in mine own nest I die !
My watered root and branch be- 1 9
dewed, [ful wood ;
Clothe with fresh green thefruit-
My strength is like a bow renewed. 20
Yea, for my words the listening 21
folk
Waited in silence till I spoke,
Nor afterwards the silence broke. 22
My speech upon them was dis- 23
tilled [is spilled,
As rain in mouths of flowers
That open thirsty to be filled.
On whom I smiled, could scarce 24
believe
Their lot, such fortune to receive,
Nor dared that smile away to
grieve.
Their way I chose. A chief I sate, 25
A king amid his armies great,
A comfort to the desolate !

OHAP. XXX.]

THE BOOK OF JOB.

129

REVISED VERSION,
1 But now, they mock at me,
they who are inferior to me in
years ;
whose fathers I disdained,
to set with the dogs of my
flock.
2 Even the strength of their hands,
what is it to me,
they in whom old age is perish
ing?
3 with want and with hunger fam
ished !
who feed on the desert, the dark
ness of utter desolation ;
4 who pluck the salt-plant by the
bushes,
and broom-roots are their food.
5 From the midst are they driven
forth ;
they cry out against them, as
against the thief;
6 to dwell in gloomy gorges,
in holes of the earth and
rocks.
7 They bray among the bushes ;
stretch themselves beneath the
brambles.
8 Sons of the foolish, yea, sons of
infamy !
they are beaten out of the
land.
9 And now, I am become their
song;
yea, I am become a bye-word
for them.
10 They abhor me ; they stand aloof
from me ;
they forbear not to spit before
my face.

PARAPHRASE.
But now arouDd me mocking 1
creep
Young men, whose sires I
scorned to keep
Among the dogs that watched
my sheep.
A tribe to useless weakness bred, 2
In whom old age was well-
nigh dead,
By want and hunger famished, 3
They gnaw in desert solitude 4
The salt-plant, by the thickets
rude, [food.
Or gather broom-roots for their
Outcast from men, unhappy 5
slaves !
Hunted with cries, like thievish
knaves, [caves,
They dwell in gloomy glens and 6
Beast-like among the bushes cry, 7
Or underneath the brambles lie,
Whipt heathen, sons of infamy ! 8
Now I become — 0 deep dis- 9
grace ! —
Their song, their by-word. From
my place [face.
They turn, and spit before my 10
Because the Almighty loosed His 11
rein
To ride me down, they too are
fain
With bridles loose to charge
amain.

130

THE BOOK OF JOB.

[OHAP. XXX.

REVISED VERSION.
11 Because He has let loose his
rein and humbled me,
they also cast off the bridle be
fore me.
12 On the right hand rises up a
brood;
my feet they thrust aside ;
they cast up against me their
ways of destruction.
13 They break up my path ;
they aid on my fall ;
there is no helper against them !
14 As at a wide breach, they come
in;
they roll on beneath the ruin.
15 Terrors are turned against
me;
they chase away, like the wind,
my princely state,
and my prosperity has passed
like the cloud.
16 And now, my soul is poured
out within me ;
the days of trouble have taken
hold of me.
17 By night, my bones are pierced
and severed from me,
and my gnawers take no
rest.
18 By sore violence, my covering is
disfigured ;
like my inner garment it girds
me round.
19 He has cast me into the
mire,
and I am become like the dust
and ashes.
20 I cry unto thee, and thou an-
swerest me not ;

PARAPHRASE.
Lo, on the sight arise a swarm 12
To thrust me forth with violent
arm !
Their ways they build to work
me harm,
Destroy the pathways round my 13
wall,
And press the fortress to its
fall:
In vain for any help I call !
The wall is weak, the breach is 14
wide;
Among the ruins, like a tide,
They pour their terrors multi
plied ;
And in the tempest of their hate, 15
A wind-swept cloud, my princely
state
Departs, to leave me desolate.
My soul within me melts and 16
flows
To feel by day the clutch of woes,
And pain by night that comes 17
and goes,
Piercing my bones and gnawing
keen,
Unpausing. My disfigured skin, 18
A loathsome garment, wraps me
in.
Into the mire, 0 God ! Thou hast 19
Me like the dust and ashes cast,
A thing despised, whose use is
past.

OHAP. XXX.]

THE BOOK OF JOB.

131

REVISED VERSION.
I stand, and thou observest
me.
21 Thou art become cruel to
me;
with thy strong hand thou liest
in wait for me.
22 Thou dost lift me to the
wind, and let me be borne
away,
and be dissolved in the tempest's
crash.
23 For I know thou wilt bring me
to death,
and to the house appointed for
all the living.
24 Yea, there is no prayer, when
He stretches out the hand ;
nor, when He destroys, can they
cry for help.
25 Verily, I have wept for him
whose lot is hard,
and my soul has sorrowed for
the needy.
26 When I looked for good, then
evil came ;
and I waited for light, but there
came darkness.
27 My bowels are made to boil, and
have no rest ;
the days of trouble have over
taken me.
28 I go blackened, but not with
sun-heat :
I stand up in the congregation,
I implore help.
29 I am become a brother to
Jackals,
and a companion to the Ostrich-
brood.

PARAPHRASE.
I cry to Thee, without reply. 20
I wait — Thou watchest cruelly 21
To smite more fiercely by-and-by.
Thou liftest me, but only so 22
That I may feel the tempest blow
And crash mine utter overthrow.
Thou bringest me, I know, to 23
death —
That house, each mortal enter-
eth—
And any prayer is wasted breath. 24
Yea, when His hand is stretched
to kUl,
There is no prayer against His
will ; [still !
No help — His purpose holdeth
I wept for every sorrowing one 25
Whose lot was hard, whose way
was lone :
Now I can only wail mine own !
I looked for good — and evil 26
found ;
For light — and darkness closed
around. [found.
I seethe in ceaseless pains pro- 27
O'ertaken by affliction's days,
Blackened — but not by any rays 28
From summer sun's too fervid
blaze.
Vain my appeal unto my kind ;
My brethren I must be resigned 29
In jackals, ostriches, to find.

132

THE BOOK OF JOB.

[chap. xxxi.

REVISED VERSION.
30 My skin blackens and falls from
me,
and my bones are dried up with
heat.
31 And my harp is turned to mourn.
ing,
and my pipe to sounds of the
weeping.
1 I made a covenant for my eyes ;
how then should I look upon a
maid ?
2 For what is the portion God as
signs from above,
and the allotment of the Al
mighty, from on high ?
3 Is not destruction for the wicked,
and calamity for the workers of
iniquity ?
4 He, does he not see my ways,
and number all my steps ?
5 If I have walked with falsehood,
and my foot has hastened tow
ards deceit ;
6 He will weigh me in scales of
justice,
yea, God will know my innocence.
7 If my step has turned aside from
the way,
and my heart has gone after my
eyes, [hands.
and a stain has cleaved to my
8 Let me sow, and another eat,
and let my products be rooted up !
9 If my heart has been enticed
towards a woman,
and I have lain in wait at my
neighbor's door ;
10 let my wife grind for another,
and let others lie with her.

paraphrase.
My skin decayeth. Every bone 30
Burneth. My harp cau only 31
moan ;
My pipe will utter sobs alone.

I made a .law mine eyes obeyed. 1
How should I look upon a maid
With thought of lawless wrong ?
I said.
For what hath God on high de- 2
creed
But ruin as tlie sinner's meed? 3
And He discernelh every deed. 4
If I have walked in falsehood — 5
nay,
Let God in scales of justice 6
weigh,
And know me guiltless, as I say !
If from the path of honor 7
plain
Mine eyes have led my heart, for
gain,
And on my hands be any stain,
Then may I plant, and other 8
hands
Reap food from off my harvest-
lands,
Uprooting all that on them
stands !
If I for lust have lain in wait 9
To wrong my neighbor, let that 10
fate
Make my own household deso
late !

OHAP. XXXI.]

THE BOOK OF JOB.

133

REVISED VERSION.
11 For that is wickedness ;
yea, that is a crime for the
judges.
12 For it is a. fire; to destruction
will it consume, and root out
all my increase.
13 If I spurn my servant's and my
handmaid's right, in their con
troversy with me ;
14 then what shall I do, when God
ariseth ?
and when he visiteth, what shall
I answer him ?
15 Did not he, who made me in the
womb, make him ?
and has not One formed us in
the womb ?
16 If I keep back the weak from
their desire,
and make the eyes of the wid
ow consume away;
17 and eat my morsel alone,
and the orphan hath not eaten
of it;
18 (for from my youth, he grew up
to me as to a father,
and I have been her guide, from
my mother's womb) :
19 If I see one perishing for want
of clothes,
and that the needy hath no cov
ering ;
20 if his loins have not blessed me,
and he has not been warmed
from the fleece of my lambs :
21 If I have shaken my hand at
the orphan,
because I saw my helper in the
gate:

PARAPHRASE.
For this is wickedness indeed ; 1 1
A crime ¦ by human laws de- '
creed,
A fire, destroying all my seed. 12
If I despised a servant's right, 13
Or man or maiden, in my spite,
How should I answer in His 14
sight,
When God ariseth, He who doth
Visit, inquire — who made us 15
both,
Yea, fashioned us and gave us
growth ?
If I withheld what beggars 16
prayed,
Or caused the widow's eyes to
fade,
Or no place at my table made 17
For orphans (Rather, by my side 18
He like a son did always bide
And she hath found in me a
guide) ;
If e'er the naked raet mine 19
eye
And did not bless me speedily, 20
Wanned with the fleece my
lambs supply ;
If I have raised my hand to of- 21
fend
The fatherless, nor feared the
end,
Because I knew the judge my
friend,

134

THE BOOK OF JOB.

[ CHAP. xxxi.

REVISED VERSION.
22 let my shoulder fall from its
shoulder-blade,
and my fore-arm be broken from
its bone !
23 For to me, destruction from God
is a terror ;
and before his majesty I am
powerless.
24 If I made gold my hope,
and said to the fine gold: My
trust !
25 If I rejoiced, because my wealth
was great,
and because my hand hath gotten
much :
26 If I saw the sun, how it
shined,
and the moon walking in maj
esty ;
27 and my heart in secret was be
guiled,
and my hand my mouth hath
kissed ;
28 This too were a crime to be
judged ;
for I should have been false to
God on high.
29 If I rejoiced in my enemy's ca
lamity,
and triumphed when evil befell
him;
30 (yea, I suffered not my mouth
to sin,
to ask, with cursing, for his
life) :
31 If the men of my tent have not
said,
where is one, that with his meat
has not been filled !

PARAPHRASE.
Then may that arm drop out and 22
break !
Yea, as before God's wrath I 23
quake,
Nor dare to Him resistance
make!
If e'er I put my trust in gold, 24
Or worshipped, as I proudly 25
told
With joy my treasures manifold ;
Or if to sun or moon on high 26
I paid mine homage secretly, 27
Kissing my hand when none was
nigh,
This too were crime: nor gold 28
nor sun
And moon are gods ; and this
being done
Were treason to the Almighty
One.
If I rejoice to see my foe 29
By any evil fate laid low,
And triumphed o'er him, falling
so
(Nay, I forbade my lips to speak 30
With curses, my revenge to
wreak,
Or with a wish his life to
seek !) ;
If any in my tent can say 31
I sent one man unfilled away
(My doors were open night and 32
day);

OHAP. XXXI.]

THE BOOK OF JOB.

135

REVISED VERSION.
32 (the stranger passed not the
night without ;
my doors I opened to the travel
er) :
33 If I have covered like Adam my
transgression,
to hide my iniquity in my bo
som:
34 Then let me dread the great as
sembly,
and let the contempt of the
tribes confound me ;
and let me hold my peace, nor
go forth at the door.
35 0 that I had one who would
hear me !
behold my sign ; let the Almighty
answer me,
and my adversary write a
charge.
36 Verily, on my shoulder would I
bear it ;
I would bind it on, as a crown
for me !
37 All my steps would I show
him,
as to a prince would I go near
him.
38 If my land cries out against
me,
and all its furrows weep ;
39 if I have eaten its fruits without
pay,
and made its tenants sigh out
their breath :
40 let thorns come forth, in place
of wheat,
and weeds, in place of barley.
The words of Job are ended.

PARAPHRASE.
Or if, like Adam, I have tried 33
Within my breast to seal and hide
Any iniquity beside ;
Then let me hide in silent shame, 34
Nor dare to come where once I
came,
And meet the great assembly's
blame !
0 that there were a judge to 35
hear !
Behold my sign : let God appear,
Answer, and make indictment
clear !
Upon my shoulder as a gown, 36
Or round my temples like a
crown,
I'd bind the charge, to make it
known,
And fearless to His presence
bring,
To give account of everything, 37
Advancing upright, like a king !
If against me my land complain, 38
Its furrows wet with tears for
rain,
Of slaves unpaid who toiled in 39
vain,
And died through me, in cruel 40
pain,
Let thorns spring up in place of
grain,
And poisonous weeds alone re
main !

136 THE BOOK OF JOB. [chap, xxxii.
REVISED VERSION.
1 So these three men ceased from answering Job, because he was
righteous in his own eyes.
2 Then was kindled the anger of Elihu, son of Barachel the Buzite, of
the family of Ram. Against Job was his anger kindled, because he
3 accounted himself more just than God : and against his three friends
was his anger kindled ; because they had found no answer, and yet
4 had condemned Job. But Elihu had delayed answering Job, because
5 they were older than he. And Elihu saw that there was no answer
in the mouth of the three men, and his anger was kindled.
ELIHU.
6 Then answered Elihu, son of Barachel the Buzite, and said :
Young am I in years,
and ye are men of age :
therefore I was afraid,
and feared to show you my opinion.
7 I said : Days should speak,
and the multitude of years teach wisdom.
8 But a spirit there is in man ;
and the breath of the Almighty gives them understanding.
9 Not the great are wise,
nor do the old understand the right.
10 Therefore I said : Hearken to me ;
I will show, I also, my opinion.
11 Behold, I have waited for your words;
have given ear to your reasonings,
whilst ye searched out words.
1 2 And unto you I gave heed ;
and lo, Job has none that confutes him,
none of you that answers his words.
13 That ye may not say : We have found out wisdom ;
that God may thrust him down, not man.
14 For he has not directed words against me ;
nor with your words will I answer him.
15 They were confounded ; they answered no more ;
words were taken away from them.
16 And I waited, because they spoke not ;
because they stood still, and answered no more.
17 I, I also on my part will answer ;

ohap. mm.] THE BOOK OF JOB. 137
REVISED VERSION.
I will show, I also, my opinion.
For I am filled with words ; 18
the spirit within me constrains me.
Behold, my breast is as wine that has no vent ; 19
like new bottles that are bursting.
I will speak, and be relieved ; 20
I will open my lips, and will answer.
Let me not regard the person of man ; 21
nor will I give flattery to a man.
For I know not how to flatter : 22
speedily would my Maker take me away :
But hear now, 0 Job, my sayings, 1
and give ear to all my words.
Lo now, I have opened my mouth, 2
my tongue has spoken in my palate.
My words, they are the integrity of my heart, 3
and my lips speak knowledge purely.
The Spirit of God made me, 4
and tbe breath of the Almighty gives me life.
If thou art able, answer me ; 5
array thyself against me, take thy stand.
Lo, I am of God as thou art ; 6
I too was taken from the clay.
Lo, the dread of me will not make thee afraid 7
nor my burden be heavy upon thee.
But thou hast said in my ears, 8
and the sound of the words I heard :
I am pure, without transgression ; 9
I am clean, and have no guilt.
Lo, he devises quarrels against me, 10
he regards me as his enemy.
He puts my feet in the stocks ; 11
he watches all my paths.
Lo, in this thou art not just ; I will answer thee, 12
for God is greater than man.
Wherefore dost thou contend with him ? 13
for of none of his affairs will he give account.
For once does God speak, — 14
yea twice, — when one heeds it not :

138 THE BOOK OF JOB. [chap, xxxiu.
REVISED VERSION.
15 in a dream, a vision of the night,
when deep sleep falls on men,
in Blumbers upon the bed.
16 Then opens he the ear of men,
and seals up their instruction :
17 that man may put away a deed,
and he may cover pride from man ;
18 may keep back his soul from the pit,
and his life from perishing by the dart.
19 And he is chastened with pain upon his head,
and with a strife in his bones continually.
20 And his spirit abhorreth bread,
and his soul dainty food.
21 His flesh wastes away from sight ;
and naked are his bones, that were not seen.
22 And his soul comes nigh to the pit,
and his life to the destroyers.
23 If there be a messenger with him,
an interpreter, one out of a thousand,
to show unto man his right way :
24 then will He have mercy on him, and say :
deliver him from going down to the pit ;
I have found a ransom.
25 His flesh becomes fresher than in childhood ;
he shall return to the days of his youth.
26 He shall pray to God ; and He will accept him,
and cause him to behold His face with joy,
and will render back to man his righteousness.
27 He will chant it before men, and say :
I have sinned, and have perverted the right :
and it was not requited me.
28 He has redeemed my soul from going into the pit,
and my life, that it may behold the light.
29 Lo, all these things doth God,
twice, yea thrice, with man :
30 to bring back his soul from the pit,
that he may be lightened with the light of life.
31 Attend, 0 Job; hearken unto me :
keep silence, that I may speak.

ohap. xxxiv.] THE BOOK OF JOB. 139
REVISED VERSION.
If there are words, answer me ; 32
speak, for I desire to justify thee.
If not, do thou hearken unto me ; 33
keep silence, and I will teach thee wisdom.
And Elihu answered, and said : 1
Hear ye wise men my words ; 2
and ye knowing ones give ear to me.
For the ear trieth words, 3
even as the palate tastes to eat.
Let us examine for ourselves the right, 4
let us know among us what is good.
For Job has said : I am righteous ; 5
and God has taken away my right :
against my right, shall I speak false ? 6
my arrow is fatal, without transgression.
Who is a man like Job, 7
that drinks in scoffing, like water ;
and walks in company with evil doers, 8
and goes with wicked men?
For he has said : A man is not profited, 9
when he takes delight with God.
Therefore, men of understanding, hearken to me : 10
far from God be wickedness,
and iniquity from the Almighty !
For man's work will he requite to him, 1 1
and let each one receive according to his way.
Yea, of a truth, God will not do evil, 12
nor will the Almighty pervert justice.
Who has committed to him the earth ? 13
and who founded the whole habitable world ?
Should He set his thoughts upon him, 14
withdraw to himself his spirit and his breath ;
all flesh would expire together, 1 5
and man return to dust.
BTnow there is understanding, hear thou this ; 16
give ear to the voice of my words.
Can he indeed bear rule, that hateth right ? 17
or wilt thou condemn the Just, the Mighty ?
Shall one say to a king : 0 Worthless ! 18

140 THE BOOK OF JOB. [chap, xxxiv.
REVISED VERSION.
0 Wicked ! unto princes ;
19 to Him .who regards not the persons of princes,
nor knows the rich more than the poor ?
for they are all the work of his hands.
20 In a moment they die ;
at midnight, the people are smitten and pass away, '
and the mighty is removed without hand.
21 For his eyes are on each one's ways,
and he sees all his steps.
22 There is no darkness, and no death-shade,
where the workers of iniquity can hide themselves.
23 For not again does He set his thoughts upon one,
that he may go to God in judgment;
24 he breaks the mighty, without inquisition,
and sets up others in their stead.
25 He therefore knows their works ;
and in a night he overturns, and they are destroyed.
26 As the wicked does he smite them,
in the place where men look on.
27 Because they turned from after him,
and regarded none of his ways ;
28 to bring up to him the cry of the weak,
and that he may hear the cry of the afflicted.
29 For he gives rest, and who shall condemn !
he hides the face, and who shall behold it !
toward a nation, and toward a man, alike ;
30 from the ruling of corrupt men,
from snares of the people.
31 Surely, to God it should be said :
I have borne it ; I will not be perverse.
32 Beyond what I see do thou teach me ;
if 1 have done evil, I will do it no more.
33 Shall he according to thy mind requite it,
that thou dost refuse, —
that thou thyself wilt choose and not I ?
then what thou knowest speak.
34 Men of understanding will say to me,
even the wise man who listens to me :
35 Job speaks without knowledge,

chap, xxxvi.] THE BOOK OF JOB. 141
REVISED VERSION.
and his words are without wisdom.
My desire is, that Job may be tried to the end, 36
for answers in the manner of evil men.
For he adds rebellion to his sin ; 37
in the midst of us he mocks,
and multiplies his words against God.
And Elihu answered, and said : 1
This dost thou regard as right, — 2
my righteousness, thou saidst, is more than God's ?
For thou sayest : What will it profit thee ; 3
what shall I gain more than by my sin ?
I will make answer to thee, 4
and to thy friends, with thee.
Look to the heavens, and see ; 5
and survey the skies, that are high above thee.
If thou hast sinned, what dost thou against him ? 6
and are thy offenses many, what dost thou unto him ?
H thou art righteous, what givest thou to him ? 7
or what will he take from thy hand ?
For a man, like thyself, is thy wrong ; 8
and for a son of man, thy righteousness.
For the multitude of oppressions they cry out ; 9
they cry for help, because of the arm of the mighty.
But they say not : Where is God my Maker, 10
who giveth songs in the night !
who has taught us more than the beasts of the earth, 1 1
and made us wiser than the birds of heaven.
There cry they, and he answers not, 12
because of the pride of evil men.
Surely, vanity will God not hear, 13
nor will the Almighty regard it.
Much less when thou sayest : Thou regardest him not ! 14
the cause is before him ; and wait thou for him.
But now, because his anger visits not, 15
nor does he strictly mark the offense ;
therefore, Job fills his mouth with vanity, 16
he multiplies words without knowledge.
And Elihu added, and said : 1
Wait for me a little, that I may show thee ; 2

142 THE BOOK OF JOB. [ohap. xxxvi.
REVISEO VERSION.
for there are yet words for God.
3 I will bring my knowledge from afar ;
and will render justice to my Maker.
4 For verily, my words are not falsehood ;
one perfect in knowledge is before thee.
6 Lo, God is mighty, but he contemns not ;
mighty in strength of understanding.
6 He will not prosper the wicked ;
and the right of the suffering he will grant.
7 His eyes he withholds not from the righteous ;
and with kings on the throne,
he makes them sit forever, and they are exalted.
8 And when, bound with chains,
they are held in the bonds of affliction ;
9 then he shows to them their deed,
and their transgressions, that they deal proudly ;
10 and opens their ears to the instruction,
and commands that they turn from iniquity.
II If they hear and obey,
their days they shall spend in prosperity,
and their years in pleasures.
12 But if they hear not, by the dart they perish,
and expire without knowledge.
13 So the impure in heart lay up wrath ;
they cry not for help when he binds them.
14 Their breath shall expire in youth,
and their life with the unclean.
15 The sufferer he delivers in his affliction,
and in distress he opens their ear.
16 Thee too he lures from the jaws of the strait,
to a broad place with no narrows beyond it ;
and thy table in peace, filled with fatness !
17 But if thou art filled with the judgment of the wicked,
judgment and justice will lay hold of thee.
18 For beware, lest anger stir thee up against chastisement,
and a great ransom shall not deliver thee.
19 Will he value thy riches without stint,
and all the might of wealth ?
20 Long not for that night,
where the nations are gathered to the world below them.

ohap. xxxvii.] THE BOOK OF JOB. 143
REVISED VERSION.
Take heed, turn not to iniquity ; 21
for this thou choosest rather than affliction.
Lo, God shows himself great in his power ; 22
who is a teacher like to him ?
Who appoints to him his way ? 23
and who says : Thou hast done wrong ?
Remember, that thou magnify his work, 24
which men do sing.
All men gaze thereon; 25
man beholds from afar.
Lo, God is great, and we know him not ; 26
the number of his years, it is unsearchable.
For he draws up the water-drops ; 27
rain, of his vapor, they refine ;
with which the skies flow down, 28
they distill on man abundantly.
Yea, can one comprehend the bursting of the cloud, 29
the crash of his pavilion ?
Lo, around him he spreads his light, 30
and covers over with ocean-depths.
For therewith rules he nations, 31
gives food in abundance.
The palms of the hands he covers over with light, 32
and gives it a command against the enemy.
His thunder tells of hira ; 33
to the herds, even of Him who is on high.
Yea, at this my heart trembles, 1
and starts up from its place.
Hearken attentively to the roar of his voice, 2
and the rumbling that goes forth from his mouth.
He directs it under the whole heavens, 3
and his light over the margins of the earth.
After it a sound roareth ; 4
he thunders with his voice of majesty ;
nor lets them linger when his voice is heard.
God thunders marvelously with his voice ; 5
great things does he, and we understand not.
For to the snow he says : Be thou on the earth ; 6
and to the pouring rain,
even the pouring of his mighty rains.

144 THE BOOK OF JOB. [chap, xxxvu.
REVISED VERSION.
7 The hand of every man he seals up,
that all the men he has made may know ;
8 and beasts go into the lair,
and in their dens abide.
9 Out of the secret chamber comes the whirlwind,
and cold out of the north.
10 By the breath of God there is ice,
and the breadth of the waters is straitened.
11 Yea, with moisture he loads the thick cloud,
he spreads his lightning-cloud abroad ;
12 and it turns with his guidance every way,
that they may do all he commands,
over the face of the habitable earth ;
13 whether as a scourge, for its land,
or as a kindness he allots it.
14 Give ear to this, 0 Job ;
stand and consider the wonders of God.
15 Dost thou know, when God sets his thoughts upon them,
and the light of his cloud blazes forth ?
16 Understandest thou the balancing of the clouds ;
the wonders of the Perfect in knowledge ?
17 What time thy garments are hot,
when he lulls the earth with the south wind ;
18 dost thou with him spread out the skies,
firm as the molten mirror ?
19 Teach us what we shall say to him ;
for we cannot order it because of darkness.
20 Shall it be told him, that I would speak ?
or does one say a thing, that he may be swallowed up ?
21 For now, they look not on the light,
when it is shining in the skies,
and the wind has passed over and cleared them.
22 Out of the north comes gold ;
with God there is terrible majesty.
23 The Almighty, we cannot find him out ;
great in power and rectitude,
and in fullness of justice ; he will not oppress.
24 Therefore do men fear him ;
he regards not any of the wise in heart.

ohap. xxxviii.] THE BOOK OF JOB.

145

JEHOVAH.

REVISED VERSION.
1 Then Jehovah answered Job
out of the storm ;
and he said :
2 Who is this, that darkens
counsel,
by words without knowledge ?
3 Gird up now thy loins like a
man;
and I will demand of thee, and
inform thou me.
4 Where wast thou, when I found
ed the earth ?
declare, if thou hast understand
ing.
5 Who fixed its measures, that
thou shouldst know ? [it ?
or who stretched the line upon
6 Whereon were its foundations
sunken ?
or who laid its corner-stone ;
7 when the morning-stars sang to
gether,
and all the sons of God shouted
for joy !
8 And he shut up the sea with
doors,
when it burst forth, came out
from the womb.
9 When I made the cloud its gar
ment,
and the thick cloud its swathing-
band;
10 and appointed it my bound,
and set bars and doors ;
11 and said: Thus far shalt thou
come, and no farther,
and here shall thy proud waves
be stayed !
7

PARAPHRASE.
Who darkeneth here with foolish 2
word
My counsel ! Rise ; thy loins up- 3
gird,
And let thine answering voice be
heard !
If thou be truly wise, declare, 4
When I laid earth's foundations,
where
Wast thou? Who fixed its 5
measures square?
Who stretched the line ? What 6
sunken base [trace ?
Held the foundation — didst thou
Who laid the corner-stone in
place ?
When morning stars together 7

And heaven that did overhang,
With the glad shouts of angels
rang?
Who shut the sea with doors? 8
When first
Uproarious from the womb it
burst,
I wrapped it, like an infant 9
nursed,
In swathing-bands of cloud, and 10
made
Its bounds and bars. Thus far, 11
I said ;
But here shall thy proud waves be
stayed I

146

THE BOOK OF JOB. [ohap. xxxvni.

REVISED VERSION.
12 Hast thou, since thy days, com
manded the mornmg,
made the dayspring to know its
place ;
13 that it might take hold on the
margins of the earth, [of it ?
and the wicked be shaken out
14 It is changed like the signet-clay ;
and they stand forth as in gay
apparel.
15 And from the wicked is their
light withheld ;
and the uplifted arm is broken.
16 Hast thou come to the springs
of the sea, [the deep ?
and walked in the recesses of
17 Have the gates of death been
opened to thee ;
and the gates of death-shade
dost thou behold ?
18 Hast thou surveyed even to the
breadths of earth ?
declare, if thou knowest it all.
1 9 What is the way to where light
dwells ;
and darkness, where is its abode ?
20 That thou shouldst bring it to
its bounds,
and that thou shouldst know the
paths to its house !
21 Thou knowest; for then wast
thou born, [great !
and the number of thy years is
22 Hastthou come to the treasuries
of snow, [thou behold ;
and the treasuries of hail dost
23 which I have reserved for the
time of distress,
for the day of conflict and war?

PARAPHRASE.
Didst thou e'er bid the dawn at 12
birth
Embrace the world with glowing 13
girth,
And fright the wicked from the
earth ?
The earth new-stamped, the hills 14
new-clad :
Gone is the light the wicked 15
had,
And frustrate their adventure
bad.
Hast thou the sea-springs vis- 16
ited,
And walked the deepest ocean-
bed,
Even to the portals of the dead ? 17
For thee stood those dark gates
ajar,
Or hast thou even surveyed so 18
far
As earth's remotest boundaries
are?
Then say, where is of light the 19
abode,
And where of darkness ; what 20
the road ?
Since thou wast born when 21
light first glowed !
Or hast thou found where snow 22
and hail
I keep in treasuries, lest they 23
fail
Against the day of war and wail ?

ohap. xxxvm.] THE BOOK OF JOB.

147

REVISED VERSION.
24 What is the way to where light
is dispensed,
and the east-wind spreads over
the earth ?
25 Who divided channels for the
rain, [flash ;
and a track for the thunder's
26 to cause rain on a land without
men,
a wilderness wherein is no man ;
27 to satisfy the wilds and wastes,
and cause tKe springing grass to
grow?
28 Is there a father to the rain ? or
who has begotten the drops of
dew ? [the ice ?
29 Out of whose womb came forth
and the hoar-frost of heaven,
who has begotten it ?
30 As in stone are the waters hidden,
and the face of the deep cleaves
fast together.
31 Dost thou bind the soft influ-
ences of the Pleiads,
or loose the bands of Orion ?
32 Dost thou lead forth the Signs
in their season ;
and the Bear with her young,
dost thou guide them ?
33 Knowest thou the ordinances of
the heavens ;
or dost thou establish their do
minion over earth ?
34 Dost thou lift thy voice to the
clouds, [thee ?
and a flood of waters shall cover
35 Dost thou send forth lightnings,
and they go ;
and say to thee : Here are we !

paraphrase.
What is the way to sources 24
whence
The light its radiance doth dis
pense,
Or the east wind its vehemence ?
Who guided thunder-flash and 25
rain
To water even the desert plain, 26
And make the grass grow green
again ?
Rain, dew, and ice, and frosty 28
wreath, [beneath
Who hath begot? The stream 29
Lies hidden in a stony sheath ! 30
Dost thou control the Seven that 31
bring
With starry power the gentle
Spring ;
Or canst thou break Orion's ring
In winter's chain, or lead each 32
Sign
Forth in its season, or confine
The She-Bear and her youDg in
line?
Or knowest thou the laws on 33
high,
And dost o'er earth maintain
thereby
The sure dominion of the sky ?
Will clouds in rain reply to thee, 34
Or lightnings sent go instantly 35
And come, and thunder, Here are

148

THE BOOK OF JOB. [ohap. xxxix.

REVISED VERSION.
36 Who put wisdom in the reins,
or who gave to the spirit under
standing ?
37 Who numbers the clouds by
wisdom,
and who inclines the bottles of
the heavens ;
38 when dust is poured into a mol
ten mass,
and clods cleave fast together ?
39 Dost thou hunt the prey for the
lioness,
and the craving of the young
lions dost thou fill ;
40 when they crouch down in the
dens,
lie in ambush in the covert ?
41 Who provides for the raven its
prey,
when its young ones cry unto
God,
wander without food !
1 Dost thou know the time the
wild rock-goats bear,
observe when the hinds are in
labor?
2 Dost thou number the months
they fulfill,
and know the time of their bring
ing forth ?
3 They bow themselves, they bring
forth their young,
they cast away their pains.
4 Their young mature, grow up in
the field,
go forth, and return not to them.
5 Who sent out the wild-ass free,
and who loosed the wanderer's
bands ;

paraphrase.
Who taught the air its myster- 36
ies,
Inspired the meteor as it flies,
Numbered the clouds that fill the 37
skies ?
Who hath heaven's pitchers
overturned,
When dust in liquid floods is 38
churned
And in firm cakes together
burned ?

Dost thou the she-lion's prey 39
provide
Wherewith her whelps are sat
isfied
That in the den or thicket 40
hide?
Dost feed the vulture, eager- 41
clawed,
What time her young ones roam
abroad
And in their hunger cry to
God?
Knowest thou the months wild 1
goat and doe
Bear young, that soon forgot- 2, 3
ten grow
And thrive, and unreturning 4
go?
Who made the wild ass free to 5
roam —
To whom I gave a desert home 6
In every place where he might
come?

ohap. xxxix.] THE BOOK OF JOB.

149

REVISED VERSION.
6 whose house I made the desert,
and the barren waste his abodes ?
7 He mocks at the clamor of the
city;
the driver's shouts he hears
not.
8 The range of the mountains is
his pasture,
and he searches after every green
thing.
9 Will the wild-ox be willing to
serve thee,
or abide at thy crib ?
10 Wilt thou bind the wild-ox with
his cord in the furrow,
or will he harrow the valleys
after thee ?
11 Wilt thou trust him because his
strength is great,
and commit to him thy labors ?
12 Wilt thou believe him, that he
will bring home- thy seed,
and gather into thy threshing-
floor?
13 The wing of the ostrich waves
exulting ;
with pious pinion and plum
age?
14 Nay, she abandons her eggs to
the earth,
and warms them in the dust ;
15 and forgets that the foot may
crush them,
and the beast ofthe field trample
them.
16 She is hard towards her young,
as not her own ;
in vain her pains, without
fear!

PARAPHRASE.
He mocks the clamor of the 7
town :
He hears no driver's shout ; his
own
Are all green things on moun- 8
tains grown.
Or will the wild ox, thinkest 9
thou,
Bide at thy crib, or harnessed
bow
And through the valley pull thy
plough ?
Wilt trust his strength to do no 10
more
Than bring thy harvest to thy 11
door
And spread it on thy threshing-
floor?
The ostrich waveth proud her 13
plume,
Yet doth no brooding cares as
sume.
Her eggs, abandoned to their 14
doom,
She leaveth for the sand to
warm,
Forgetting any foot might harm, 15
And foolishly, without alarm, 16
Treating her brood as not her
own ;
For God to folly made her 17
prone,
And understanding gave her

150

THE BOOK OF JOB.

[ohap. xxxix.

REVISED VERSION.
17 For God has made her forgetful
of wisdom,
and given her no share in under
standing.
18 When she lashes herself on
high,
she mocks at the horse and his
rider.
19 Dost thou give strength to the
horse ?
dost thou clothe his neck with
terror ?
20 Dost thou make him bound like
the locust ?
his proud snorting is terri
ble!
21 They paw in the valley, and
exult in strength ;
he goes forth to meet the weap
on.
22 He mocks at fear, and is not dis
mayed ;
and turns not back for the
sword.
23 The quiver rattles against him,
the flaming spear and the
dart.
24 With trembling and rage he
swallows the ground ;
he believes not that it is the
trumpet's voice !
25 With every trumpet he says:
Aha!
and scents from afar the bat
tle,
the thunder of the captains and
the shouting.
26 By thy understanding does the
hawk mount upward,

PARAPHRASE.
Yet when she lashes high her 18
side,
Horses and riders are defied ;
She mocks them with her flying
stride !
Dost thou the charger's strength 19
ordain,
Or clothe his neck with mighty
mane, [again ?
That, shaking, makes men shake
Dost thou instruct him how to 20
bound
Swift as the locust from the
ground ? [sound !
In terrible pride his nostrils
Men in the valley scan the height ; 21
He will not wait, but in his might
Rusheth exulting to the fight.
He turneth not though hosts ap- 22
pear ; [spear,
Nor rattling dart, nor flaming 23
Nor sword dismays : he mocks at
fear.
The shaking fields beneath him 24
fly;
He heareth glad the bugles cry,
And saith, " Aha ! " in fierce re- 25
ply!
He scenteth battle from afar,
The thunder where the chieftains
are,
The shoutings and the songs of
war !

OHAP. XL.]

THE BOOK OF JOB.

151

REVISED VERSION.
his wings toward the
south ?
27 Or soars the eagle at thy com
mand,
and builds his nest on high ?
28 The rock he inhabits ; and
abides
on the tooth of the rock and the
stronghold.
29 From thence he searches out
. food ;
his eyes behold afar off.
80 His young ones suck up blood ;
and where the slain are, there
is he.
1 And Jehovah answered Job,
and said :
2 Will the reprover contend with
the Almighty ?
he that censures God, let him
answer it.

PARAPHRASE.
Is it by thine instruction wise 26
The hawk is tutored when to rise
And spread his wings for sunnier
skies ?
Or soars the eagle at thy hest, 27
To build on high his lonely
nest?
From the sharp summit's craggy 28
crest
His eyes the distant booty see ; 29
His young for blood cry thirstily, 30
And where the slain are, there is
he!
Will the reprover vainly try 2
With words the Almighty to
defy?
Let him who censured God re-
ply!

JOB.

3 And Job answered Jehovah,
and said : [answer thee ?
4 Behold, I am vile ; what shall I
I lay my hand upon my mouth !
5 I have spoken once, and will not
answer ; .
and twice, but I will not again.

Lo, I am vile ; what shall I 4
say?
The words already spoken? 5
Nay;
Upon my mouth my hand I
lay!

JEHOVAH.

6 Then Jehovah answered Job
out of the storm, and he
said:
7 Gird up now thy loins like a
man;

Gird up thy loins now like a 7
man!
I will demand, as I began,
And make thou answer, if thou
can !

152

THE BOOK OF JOB.

[CHAP. XL.

REVISED VERSION.
I will demand of thee, and inform
thou me.
8 Wilt thou even annul my
right ?
wilt thou condemn me, that thou
mayest be righteous ?
9 Or hast thou an arm like
God;
and canst thou thunder with a
voice like him ?
10 Deck thyself now with grandeur
and majesty,
and array thyself in splendor
and beauty.
11 Send out the floods of thy
wrath ;
and behold all that is high, and
abase it.
12 Behold all that is high, and bring
it low ;
and tread down the wicked in
their place.
13 Hide them in the dust to
gether ;
bind up their faces in dark
ness.
14 Then I too will praise thee,
that thy right hand can save
thee!
15 Behold now the river-ox, which
I have made with thee ;
he eateth grass like the herd.
16 Behold now his strength in his
loins,
and his force in the sinews of
his belly.
17 He bends his tail like a cedar ;
the sinews of his thighs are knit
together.

PARAPHRASE.
Wilt thou destroy my righteous 8
name,
And make me guilty, that thy
fame [blame ?
May be thereby discharged of
Or hast thou then an arm like 9
mine,
A thunder like the Voice Divine ?
Then let thy power and glory 10
shine !
Arraythyself in splendors bright;
Send out in floods thy wrathful 11
might ; [smite !
Behold the high — behold, and
Yea, all the proud and high 12
abase ;
Tread down the wicked in his
place, [face !
And hide in dust and dark his 13
Then I will also praise, and own 14
The strength of thy right hand
alone
Able to rescue thee is shown.

Look now upon the river-ox 15
I made with thee. Like grazing
flocks
He feedeth. Strong for strains 16
or shocks,
Behold his loins, his corded
paunch ;
His tail that bends, a cedar 17
staunch ; [haunch !
The close-knit sinews of his

OHAP. XLI.]

THE BOOK OF JOB.

153

REVISED VERSION.
18 His bones are pipes of brass ;
his bones are as bars of iron.
19 He is the chief of the ways of
God.
He who made him gives his
sword.
20 Formountainsyieldhim produce,
and all beasts of the field play
there.
21 He lies down beneath the lotuses ;
in the covert of reeds, and
marshes.
22 Lotuses weave for him his shade ;
willows of the brook surround
him. [not;
23 Lo the stream swells, he startles
is fearless, though Jordan rush
forth to his mouth.
24 Before his eyes do they take him,
pierce through the nose with
snares.
1 Wilt thou draw out the croco
dile with a hook,
and press down his tongue with
a cord ?
2 Wilt thou put a rush-cord in his
nose,
and bore through his jaw with a
hook?
3 Will he make many supplications
to thee, [thee?
or will he speak soft things to
4 Will he make a covenant with
thee?
wilt thou take him for a servant
forever ?
5 Wilt thou play with him as with
a bird,
and bind him for thy maidens ?

PARAPHRASE.
His legs as pipes of brass are 18
seen ;
His ribs as bars of iron between ;
God's masterpiece! Yet mild 19
his mien ;
For He who made him dulled his
sword,
And bade him feed upon the 20
sward
Where play the wild beasts in
accord.
Through reedy coverts he doth 21
wade,
To lie beneath the woven shade 22
By lotus and by willows made.
He starts not, though the flood 23
o'erflows
Even to his lips ; yet human foes 24
Lead him ensnared, with pierced
nose.
But wilt thou put rush-cords 1
about
Tbe crocodile's tongue, or pierce
his snout,
Or hook /mjaw to draw him out? 2
Will he in fear thy grace implore, 3
Promise to serve thee evermore ; 4
And wilt thou spare his life there
for?
Wilt thou play with him as a sort 5
Of curious bird, or, bound
athwart,
Parade him for thy ladies' sport ?

154

THE BOOK OF JOB.

[OHAP. XLI.

REVISED VERSION.
6 Will partners dig a pit for him,
divide him among the mer
chants ?
7 Wilt thou fill his skin with darts,
and his head with fish-spears ?
8 Lay tby hand upon him !
of battle thou shalt think no
more.
9 Lo, his hope is belied ;
is he cast down even at the sight
of him ?
10 None so fierce that he will rouse
him up !
then who is he that will stand
before me ?
11 Who has first given me, that I
should repay ?
under the whole heavens, it is
mine !
12 I will not pass his limbs in
silence,
and bruited strength, and beauty
of his equipment.
13 Who has uncovered the face of
his garment ?
his double jaws, who enters in?
14 The doors of his face who has
opened ?
the circuits of his teeth are ter
rible.
15 The strong shields are a pride ;
shut with a close seal,
16 They join one upon another,
and no' breath can come between
them.
17 Each is attached to its fel
low,
they hold fast together, and can
not be sundered.

PARAPHRASE.
Will partners bargain him away, 6
And share what Canaan's mer
chants pay ?
Think'st thou through hide or 7
head to slay
With darts and harpoons by the
score ?
Touch him but once — 'twill soon 8
be o'er ; [more !
Of battle thou shalt think no
Behold the hunters' courage fail ! 9
Even at the sight of him they
quail ;
None is so fierce as to assail. 10
(Then who before my face will
stand,
Or strike, and wait my answer- 11
ing hand ? [o'erspanned !)
Mine are all things by heaven
Nor be his limbs from notice 12
slipped,
In beauty and in strength
equipped : [stripped ?
That mailed garment, who hath 13
His double jaws — who passeth
'neath [sheath
Those doors, that hold in open 14
The circling terrors of his teeth ?
His back is glorious. Shield on 15
shield
Firmly they hold, and will not 16
yield, [sealed.
Air-tight, sword-proof, together 17

OHAP. XLI.]

THE BOOK OF JOB.

155

REVISED VERSION.
18 With his sneezings shines a
light;
and his eyes are like the eyelids
• of the morning.
19 From his mouth go flames,
and sparks of fire escape.
20 From his nostrils goes forth
smoke,
like a kettle with kindled
reeds.
21 His breath enkindles coals,
and flame goes forth from his
mouth.
22 In his neck abideth strength,
and terror dances before him.
23 The flakes of his flesh cleave
fast;
firm upon him, it is not sha
ken.
24 His heart is firm as stone ;
yea, firm as the nether mill
stone.
25 At his rising up the mighty are
afraid ;
they lose themselves for terror.
26 H one assail him with the sword,
it shall not hold
the spear, the dart, and the
mail.
27 Iron he accounts as straw ;
brass as rotten wood.
28 The arrow cannot make him
flee;
to him, sling-stones are turned
to chaff.
29 Clubs are accounted as stub
ble;
and he laughs at the shaking of
the spear.

PARAPHRASE.
His nostrils flash ; his eyes 18
agleam
The eyelids of the morning seem,
Upshining through the twilight
stream.
A cloud of steam his nostril 19
breeds
With flame that from his mouth (21)
proceeds —
Like water, boiled o'er burning 20
reeds.
Strength clothes his neck; and 22
in advance,
A courier grim, doth Terror
dance,
Affrighting earth's inhabitants.
Firm cleaves his flaky flesh, nor 23
will
Be loosed. His heart is firmer 24
still—
A nether grindstone of the mill.
At his uprising heroes quail : 25
Vain they endeavor to assail 26
With sword or spear or dart or
mail.
Iron and brass accounteth he 27
As straw and rotten wood to be ;
The arrow cannot make him flee. 28
Sling-stones for him are turned
to chaff;
Clubs are but stubble cut in half, 29
And hurled javelins make him
laugh!

156

THE BOOK OF JOB.

[chap. xlii.

REVISED VERSION.
30 Shard-points are under him ;
he spreads a threshing-sledge
over the mire.
31 He causes the deep to boil like
the pot ;
he makes the sea like a pot of
ointment.
32 Behind him he makes a glisten
ing path ;
one would think the deep hoar
with age.
33 On earth there is none that rule3
him ;
he is made without fear.
34 He looks on all that is high ;
he, the king over all the sons of
pride.

PARAPHRASE.
His belly rough with many a 30
shard
Drags, and the mire by ridges
hard
As by a threshing-sledge is
scarred.
Pot-like to bubble he doth 31
make
The sea. Men might his glisten- 32
ing wake
For Ocean's hoary age mistake.
Fearless, he owns no king be- 33
side;
Himself, unconquered, undenied,
The king of all the sons of 34
pride !

JOB.

1 Then Job answered Jehovah,
and said :
2 I know that thou canst do all
things ;
and from thee no purpose can
be withheld.
3 Who is this that obscures coun
sel without knowledge ?
I have therefore uttered what I
understand not ;
things too hard for me, which I
know not.
4 Hear now, and I will speak ;
I will demand of thee, and in
form thou me.
5 I have heard of thee by the
hearing of the ear ;

I know thou canst all things de- 2
cree,
No purpose being too hard for
thee,
Who darkeneth here, Thou saidst 3
to me,
With foolisti words my counsel?
Lo,
I have been babbling, even
so,
Of things too hard for me to
know.
Hear now, Thoa saidst; I will 4
inquire,
And answer thou, to my desire /
Yea, I had heard, and did aspire 5

OHAP. XLII.]

THE BOOK OF JOB.

157

REVISED VERSION.
but now my eye seeth thee.
6 Therefore do I abhor it,
and repent in dust and ashes.

PARAPHRASE.
To meet Thee face to face. But
now
I do abhor my hasty vow,
And prone in dust and ashes bow!

THE EPILOGUE.
7 Now after Jehovah had spoken these words to Job, Jehovah said to
Eliphaz the Temanite : My anger is kindled against thee, and against
8 thy two friends ; because ye have not spoken of me what is right, as
my servant Job. Now then, take ye seven bullocks and seven rams,
and go to my servant Job, and offer up a burnt-offering for you.
And Job my servant will pray for you. But him will I accept, that
I visit not the folly upon you ; for ye have not spoken of me what is
right, as my servant Job.
9 Then went Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, Zophar
the Naamathite, and did as Jehovah had spoken to them ; and Jeho
vah accepted Job.
10 And Jehovah turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his
11 friends. And Jehovah increased all that Job had, twofold. And
there came to him all his brethren and all his sisters, and all who
before had known him ; and they ate bread with him in his house,
and mourned with him, and comforted him for all the evil which
Jehovah had brought upon him. And they gave him each a kesita,
and each a ring of gold.
12 And Jehovah blessed the end of Job more than his beginning. And
he had fourteen thousand sheep and goats, and six thousand camels,
13 and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she-asses. And he had
seven sons and three daughters. And he called the name of the first
Jemima, and the name of the second Kezia, and the name of the
third Keren-happuch. And there were found no women fair as the
daughters of Job, in all the land ; and their father gave them an in
heritance among their brethren.
And Job lived, after this, a hundred and forty years : and he saw
his sons, and the sons of his sons, four generations. And Job died,
old and full of days.

158 THE BOOK OF JOB.
NOTES. CHAPTER I.
Verse 1. Us. See Gen. x. 23 ; xxii. 21 ; xxxvi. 28 ; Jer. xxv. 20 ;
Lam. iv. 21. The LXX. say it was on the border of Idumea and Arabia ;
i. e., bounded south by Idumea, west by Judea, east by Arabia, and north
probably by Bashan, which the Mohammedans confound with Uz. Or it
was part of northern Arabia, whence Job is a son of the East. See
verse 3 ; Gen. xxv. 6 ; Judges vi. 3. — Verse 2. Perfect and upright ; i. «,.,
pious and virtuous (two different things). Thus, " the pious ^neas," so
called because he duly reverenced the gods. — Verses 4, 5. A sample of
Job's piety. Not superstitious for the age in which it is placed. The
act of sacrifice now superseded, but the attitude of humility and repent
ance, even for omissions of which he is not conscious, eternally appropri
ate to man. Forsaken, not cursed, but literally blessed, or, in secondary
meaning, said farewell to, — Verse 7. Roaming .... walking. The He
brew words indicate a roaming vigilantly, though not on any definite
errand. — Verse 11. To thy face. In verse 6 it is only in their hearts.
An open farewell to God, like that of the Israelites when they set up the
calf at Sinai. Compare xxi. 14; xxii. 17. — Verse 15. Job's losses alter
nately from acts of man and " acts of God." Sabceans. Sons of Ham ?
Gen. x., 7, or Shem ? GeD. x. 28. But probably from Sheba, grandson of
Abraham and Keturah, Gen. xxv. 3. A tribe of Arabs, half of whom
(probably the N. W. half) pursued robbery, and the other half commerce,
vi. 19. — Verse 16. Fire of God. A rain of brimstone? Ps. xi. 5, or a
fire, according to numerous passages in the Mosaic books ? Not light
ning. If any natural phenomenon of the desert, perhaps the simoom;
which in its heat and appearance while approaching resembles a flame. —
Verse 17. Chaldeans. A regularly warlike people, from the northeast.
Three bands. Military tactics. Compare Gen. xiv. 5 ; Judges vii. 16;
1 Sam. xi., 11. This mention ofthe Chaldeans may have been suggested
to the author by their revival of warlike power about 750 B. C, under
Nabopolassar. — Verse 19. From the other side : i. e., blowing clear across.
That this might destroy tents and houses, travelers' accounts prove.
Matt. vii. 27. — Verse 20. First natural grief, then worship and resigna
tion. — Verse 21. Thither: i. e., to the earth. Compare Ecci. v. 15;
1 Tim. vi. 7. In the New Testament the thought is not of returning to
earth, but of this world and another.

THE BOOK OF JOB. 159
Notice in this chapter the evidently poetic construction of the story :
the observance of the " unities " of time and place ; all the calamities
happening on one day; the various balanced agencies; the invariable
survival of one witness, etc. Note also that it is the first day of the
annual week of feasting, so that Job cannot suppose that his sons and
daughters are slain for some sin committed during the week, such as he
was accustomed to offer sacrifice for at its close.
CHAPTER II.
Verses 2, 3. The repetition of i. 7, 8, is another proof of artificial
form. But Jehovah adds an expression of regret that He was persuaded
to permit Job's affliction. This conception of God as repenting is com
mon in the Old Testament. Gen. vi. 6, etc. — Verse 4. Skin for skin.
A proverb, meaning quid pro quo, or a fair bargain. — Verse 9. Woman
is represented as morally the weaker. The difference is great between
the Old and New Testaments in this respect, though even among the
early Jews there were honored prophetic women. Bless God and die ;
i. e., either Say farewell to God, and die, or Still adhere to God and die.
The latter is more completely ironical, the former more in harmony with
the context. But both are bitter. The first is adopted by Ewald, and
explained to mean, Give up now, at ihe command of death, your God, to
whom you have foolishly adhered so long in vain. — Verse 10. As one of
the foolish women: i. e., one of the heathen, accustomed to abandon a
god that proved an incompetent protector, and take up another. But
Job says : " There is but one God from whom all fates come ; and we
must take what He sends." — Verse 11. The Temanite, from the Idumean
city of Teman, Gen. xxxvi. 11, 15, noted for wisdom, Jer. xiix. 7. The
Shuhite, from Shuah, Gen. xxv. 2, probably northeast of Uz. The Na-
amathite, from Naamah, a city of Judah, Josh. xv. 41. Thus the friends
came by appointment from the south, east, and west. — Verse 12. Job
out of doors, as a leper would be, and so changed that they did not know
him. — Verse 13. The preliminary mourning, Gen. 1. 10; Gen. xxix. 14;
Ez. iii. 15. Oriental politeness, like that of North American Indians.
CHAPTER III.
Job begins with personal complaint, and is led by the figure of the
pyramids to a reflection on the rest of the grave, from which he returns
to his personal trouble. The progress of the thought is : " Cursed be

160 THE BOOK OF JOB.
the day of my birth ! Why was I born at all ? Being born, why did I
not die at once, and share the peaceful rest of the dead and the unborn ?
Having lived till now, why do I live any longer, who long for death ? "—
Verse 4. Let God not seek for it, as a thing utterly gone and not even
missed. — Verse 5. Darkenings of the day. Eclipses. — Verse 8. Skilled
to rouse up the leviathan. According to Ewald, the dragon; i. e., taken
in connection with the context, probably an allusion to some legend, like
the ancient Indian and modern African ones, of a monster which swal
lows sun and moon, causing eclipses. — Verse 14. Ruins. Pyramids, as
proposed by other translators, gives a key to the transitions of the
thought. Verse 18. The captive slaves who built the pyramids ; an an
tithesis to verse 14. — Verse 19. Literally, Small and great, it is all one.
— Verses 25, 26. i" took pains, was not proudly secure. Compare i. 5 ;
Ps. lxiii. ; 2 Sam. xxii. 28 ; Dan. v. 20 ; Is. Ixvi. 2 ; lvii. 15.
CHAPTER IV.
Eliphaz, the eldest, older than Job's father, xv. 10, begins in a man
ner indicating that he expects to offend Job for his good. — Verses 3-6.
A faintly suggested charge of hypocrisy. — Verse 6. Fear, i. e., of God. —
Verse 7. The attack bolder. Either Job has nothing to fear, being
righteous, or his overthrow proves him wicked. — Verse 10. This figure
of an old, toothless, forsaken, and dying lion, is offensively like the case
of Job. — Verse 13. In thoughts from visions of the night, or When dreams
bring faces of the night. — Verse 19. Literally, tents of clay. Clay stands
for flesh. The tents are represented as being crushed like moths ; a fine
simile, as all will feel who have witnessed the striking or blowing down
of tents. — Verse 21. Their excellency; literally, their cord, probably in
allusion still to the tent. The spirit of this speech is that a man must
not question God's justice, because he is certain to deserve its retributions
on general grounds. CHAPTER V.
Verse 1. Who of the saints on earth will agree with you ? They will
all say your grief and envy are folly. — Verse 4. In the gale. See Ruth
iv. ; Prov. xxii. 22 ; Amos v. 12, 15. — Verse 5. From the tliorns, i. e.,
through the hedge. Tlie snare refers to litigants grasping after the es
tate. — Verse 6. For man comes to disaster not by reason of anything in
outward nature, but by his own inward nature, as sparks fly upward.
The thought is not that man is doomed to trouble, apart from his moral

THE BOOK OF JOB. 161
character, but precisely the contrary. — Verse 10. Rain and streams re
store fertility to the fields ; so (verse 11) God restores the humble. —
Verses 12-17. These allusions to the downfall of the wise and strong
are probably aimed at Job. Subsequently the friends betray openly their
belief that in his prosperity he had abused his power. — Verse 17. Happy,
i. e., fortunate. The same meaning belongs to the word translated
blessed in the Sermon on the Mount. — Verse 19. In six troubles ....
yea, in seven. Six only are enumerated ; the seventh is omitted. This
may be a significant allusion to Job's disease, such an affliction not be
ing mentioned at all in the list. Or, the use of these numbers may be
merely proverbial. — Verse 21. Destruction, i. e., any such providential
calamity as destroys life and property. — Verse 22. Famine is here the
scarcity which affects the whole land. The allusion in verse 20 is rather
to personal starvation. — Verse 24. Visit thy pastures and miss nothing.
An evident improvement on the phrase in King James's version, andshalt
not sin. The idea common to both is that of shortcoming; but the true
seDse is that the proprietor shall not come short when he counts his flocks.
With this speech of Eliphaz, the issue is joined. The speech con
tains noble passages, and is full of truths or truisms, so misplaced as to
be practically errors. Brentius says: "He who looks with spiritual
eyes judges not the moral character of a man by his afflictions, but the
affliction by the moral character." It was the very essence of Job's
trouble that, being righteous, he seemed to be forsaken. But Eliphaz,
assuming at once his guilt, began to deal with him for that, applying a
series of inappropriate maxims and reflections. Thus the inner false
hood in the speech conflicts with its outer form. Truth thus handled
becomes cant.
The subtlety of this misunderstanding between Job and his friends,
and of the misunderstanding of God on the part of Job, is the most re
markable peculiarity of this ancient drama. Compare it with " Prome
theus Bound," in which the issue between the hero and the gods is one
of open hostility and brute force. Prometheus endures his torture in
grim defiance, hugging to his breast the secret knowledge of a future dis
aster to his tormentor. There is no tragic misunderstanding in the plot.
In this respect the drama of Job shows the higher art.
CHAPTER VI.
Verse 4. The figure is of poisoned arrows, causing madness; and
hence taking away responsibility for wild words. — Verses 5-8. Animals

162 THE BOOK OF JOB.
don't complain when satisfied ; but no one can pretend content with
tasteless things. Job refuses to be such a hypocrite. — Verses 8-10. Re
peats the outbreak for which he was reproved. Cut me off, an allusion
to the swift destruction by cutting of the tent-cords already described by
Eliphaz. " The thing which you hold up as a warning, namely, sudden
death, is the thing I most desire. For it would still be my solace ; yea,
I would exult in unsparing pain." The last line of verse 10, For I have
not denied the words of the Holy One, is taken on Ewald's authority to be
a sort of ground of adjuration. Job prays for such a death as Eliphaz
has threatened, claiming it as a favor due to his uprightness, not a pun
ishment visited upon sin. — Verse 13. Is not my hope within me gone, and
recovery driven away from me? A justification of his prayer for death
as release from hopeless pain. — Verse 14. Job turns upon his friends.
His first thought, not so much defense against their suspicions as re
proach of their treachery: a characteristic of innocence. Ready to for
sake ; i. e., sorely tempted to lose faith. — Verses 15-21. A vivid figure.
The caravans strike many miles across arid plains, calculating to reach
water. The brook, so full when the snows thawed, is dry. But they
turn aside from their route to follow up its bed, hoping to find water
above ; and, failing in this, they perish. Tema, Ishmaelites, Gen. xxv.
15, 16; and living in Arabia, Is. xxi. 13, 14. Sheba: see note on i. 15.
— Verse 21. The figure applied : " You are afraid of being mixed up
in my trouble." Those friends who feel the danger, but not the duty,
of sharing a man's fall, are more likely to forsake him than stran
gers who can show sympathy without being themselves involved. " It
is high time for us to look out for ourselves ; we can do no good
here," is their feeling. The disciples forsook Christ and fled. Those
who adhered to him in his defeat were his mother ; a few loving wom
en who were willing to lose all, if they must lose him ; a rich man not
publicly connected with him, and not likely (being on good terms with
the authorities) to get into trouble by showing sympathy ; and a bold
guerrilla chief, accustomed to defy the opinions of respectable people,
and already arrived at his final disgrace and punishment. — Verse
27. You would even cast lots for the orphan, and dig a pit for your
friend. Strong examples of meanness, giving jointly the figure of
traitors first plotting the destruction of a friend, and then casting
lots to determine who shall own as a slave his fatherless child. —
Verses 28, 29. The friends rise, to retire in offended dignity; but are
persuaded, by Job's pathetic though proud appeal, to stay and hear
him.

THE BOOK OF JOB. 163

CHAPTER VII.
Job appears to ignore the presence of the friends, after they return.
He addresses his meditation to God. — Verse 2. The slave pants for the
shade. — Verse 6. The figure of the weaver's shuttle is finer than that of
a stream or a vapor, because there is a periodical alternation as well as
a monotonous swiftness. — Verse 12. Am I a flood of the Nile, or a mon
ster of the wave (the crocodile), that I should be watched ? — Verse 17.
Almost a parody of Ps. viii. 5, and cxliv. 3, and perhaps a scornful
reference to them. — Verse 20 (last clause). Am I become a burden to
thee? This is Delitsch's translation, and seemingly the most appro
priate. CHAPTER VIII.
Verse 4. Remark the brutality of the charge against the sons of Job.
Kind consolation this, to a bereaved parent ! — Verse 8. Probably in allu
sion to the aged Eliphaz, who speaks the wisdom of a past generation.
Note throughout this speech the bolder tone of insinuation concerning
Job's wickedness. CHAPTER IX.
Verse 2. Of a truth, i. e., Indeed 1 a sarcastic reply, following which
Job proves that he can praise the almighty power of God as well as his
interlocutors. The passage to the end of verse 10 is, so to say, a com
petitive hymn, and has hence been italicized in the paraphrase, to mark
the transition back to the personal argument. It is easy to see that both
in breadth of view and in sublimity of diction Job's poem surpasses those
ofthe former speakers. — Verse 5. A description of an earthquake. — Verse
6. The pillars thereof. This figure (even if it be a figure) is too common
not to have a basis in an accepted natural philosophy. Compare 1 Sam.
ii. 8 ; Job xxxviii. 6 ; Ps. Ixxv. 3 ; civ. 5 ; Prov. viii. 29, etc. The ex
pression in Job xxvi. 7 is not inconsistent with it, since the pillars rest
upon nothing, or in the hand of God. We have stated in another place
the views of the earth's form, etc., apparently entertained by this writer.
— Verse 8. He spread out the heavens. Rather, He bows the heavens, Ps.
xviii. 7, drawing them close with stormy clouds. Thus our expression
of a " lowering " sky. Treads upon the heights of the sea. Deut. xxiii. 29 ;
Amos iv. 13; Micah i. 3. — Verse 9. Tlie Bear, containing the North
Star, has been called in numerous nations, ancient and modern, by the
name of some animal, and its importance among the constellations has been

164 THE BOOK OF JOB.
universally recognized. Orion, the star of winter ; the Pleiades, the stars
of spring. The precession of the equinoxes has changed the relation
which these constellations bore in ancient times to the equinoctial peri
ods. The secret chambers of the South, the regions of the heavens visible
below the equator, and revealing, according to the reports of travelers,
strange, unknown stars. — Verse 10. He doeth, etc. Job concludes this
hymn by quoting from Eliphaz, verse 9, to emphasize the superiority of
his own description of the Almighty's power. — Verse 11. Job recurs to
his own case, as if saying that all this rhapsodizing over admitted facts
is aside from the question at issue. God's wisdom and power would not
justify injustice. He goes by me. Rather, He assails me. I see him not;
so, in verse 5, God is said to be move mountains " ere they are aware." 
Verse 14. In this and following verses, call and answer are legal terms,
like summons and answer in our courts. — Verse 15. Job would not answer
as to an opponent, but submit as to a judge. — Verse 21. A picture of
terrified confusion and the recklessness of fear. — Verse 23. The scourge.
This phrase usually indicates a pestilence.— Verse 24. If not, who is it ?
This is one of the points in the drama where the entire absence of any
allusion to Satan or other malign spirits as the agents of evil is most re
markable.— Verse 26. Reed-skiffs, the papyrus-canoes of the Nile.— Verse
33. Arbiter (in the common version, daysman), not mediator, in the sense
of one who negotiates between a superior and an inferior. The idea is
that God and man are not equals, and cannot submit an issue to arbitra
tion by a third party. — Verse 35. I would then speak without fear ; for
the cauSe of my fear is not in me ; i. e., in a guilty conscience.
CHAPTER X.
Verse 1. Job recurs to his old complaint. The transition of the
thought from the last chapter appears to be indicated in the paraphrase
by the word yet.— Verse 2. I will say unto God. This speech, to the end
of verse 19 (italicized in the paraphrase), is not a direct address to God,
but a recital of what Job is resolved to say. His actual appeal to the
Almighty comes later, in Chapter xiii., if, indeed, that also be not a re
hearsal. When Jehovah appears in answer to repeated challenges, Job
has nothing to say.— Verse 3. And shine upon tlie counsel of the wicked.
The passage is a bold allusion to the practices of human justice. Men
torture prisoners to make them confess, because men have neither knowl
edge of the truth nor time enough to wait till it is revealed. Moreover,
if they let the accused go from their grasp, they may not be able to re-

THE BOOK OF JOB. 165
capture him, should his guilt be made clear. Job declares that none of
these excuses for the barbarity of imperfect human justice can apply to
God. — Verse 18. Compare iii. 11, etc. Job returns in conclusion to his
first complaint, as if to reassert that it was reasonable.

CHAPTER XI.
Verse 5. Zophar seems to reply, after the usual introductory sar
casm, You say you would speak so and so to God. 0 that He might show
you your folly by granting your wish, and by speaking to you 1 — Verse 7.
To perfection ; literally, io tlie summit. The preceding half of the verse
is thus completed, and the thought carried on. — Verse 10. The terms
apprehend and call an assembly (in the common version shut up and gather
together) are legal phrases, corresponding with arrest and open a court.
Zophar means to indicate that, if God should appear, Job would find him
self an arrested culprit, not a litigant. — Verse 12. The wild ass; not a
type of stupidity, but of untrained ignorance. — Verse 15. A reference to
Job's words, x. 15. — Verse 18. Thou wilt search and lie down without fear.
An allusion to the evening inspection of house and fold. Compare verse
24. CHAPTER XII.
The wish of Zophar does not awe, but enrages, Job. He charges his
friends with sycophantic partisanship, and turns upon them with bold
denunciations of God's displeasure. This situation is dramatically and
rhetorically very fine. — Verse 3. Who has not such things as these? i. e.,
trite common-places kept on hand. — Verse 5. The paraphrase follows
the accepted version. — Verse 6. Into whose hand God bringeth. The al
ternative reading, He who brings God in his hand, is generally favored,
though not by Conant. Olshausen suggests that the weapon in the hand
is meant. — Verses 6-9. Job repeats his proposition that God does as He
will with good and bad. — Verses 11, 12. A challenge, introducing a com
petitive poem, which occupies the rest of the chapter. The ancient fash
ion of reciting in rivalry hymns to the gods, as illustrated in the early
Dorian contests, the Pythian and Isthmian games (and in later times by
the amabcean verses of Theocritus and the second Eclogue of Virgil),
may have influenced the author of Job ; but he has employed it with far
subtler skill, furnishing a natural motive for the contest, more dignified
than a mere wager or prize. Job is indirectly attacked even by the
praises of the Almighty, recited by his friends as if he needed to be im-

166 THE BOOK OF JOB.
pressed with such elementary truths ; and it is a part of his defense to
show that he can even excel them in this style. The present passage
rises above the plane of the similar productions of Zophar and the others,
by extending the view of God's sovereignty to include the fates of nations
as well as individuals. He also shows that God deals with ranks and
classes, not according to human estimates of their sacredness. — Verses
23-25. Supposed to be a sign that the book was composed after the be
ginning of the national disasters of the Hebrews.
CHAPTER XIII.
Job resumes the direct address. — Verses 1, 2. A sort of sarcastic
parody of the appeal of Eliphaz to experience, v. 27. — Verse 4. Forgers
of lies, botchers of vanities ; i. e., manufacturers of falsehoods and clumsy
patchers of them into useless arguments. The figure appears to be that
of unskilfully constructed water-skins, which will not hold water. Physi
cians, in the accepted version, is a secondary meaning of the word botch
ers, deduced from the idea of mending. — Verse 14. Two figures ; that
of a lion, attempting to escape with his prey in his teeth; and that
of a soldier, cutting his way out when surrounded. The thought is
that no such desperate attempt would succeed : hence Job will not
try to escape, nor (verse 15), since death is inevitable, will he be
silent. — Verse 15. Though he slay me, yet will I trust in Him. An
ancient but erroneous reading, found in some MSS., and now general
ly rejected, being traced by scholars to a clerical error. The true sense
(harmonious also with the context) is, He will slay me; I may not
hope. — Verse 17. This repeated demand for attention indicates that
the listeners are impatient. — Verses 20, 21. He stipulates that his
disease shall not physically incapacitate him, and that the terrible glory
of God shall not appear, to confound him.
CHAPTER XIV.
Verse 1. Of woman born. Probably only a synonym for mortal, yet
possibly a hint of the feebleness and imperfection ascribed by the an
cients to woman. Eve was first tempted. Minerva the wise was fabled
not to have been born of woman. In the light of these and many other
proofs of the lower place accorded to woman in ancient times, Christ's
birth, honoring and exalting womanhood, appears as the fit commence
ment of the new era, in which woman by the genius of Christianity has

THE BOOK OF JOB. 167
been raised more and more to her true position. — Verse 2. A flower.
Any flower. The shadow. The shadow indicating the waning day. 
Verse 6. As a hireling ; i. e., at least as much as a hireling. — Verses 7-
13. A beautiful contrast between the apparent destruction of a tree,
which may nevertheless grow again, and the death of man, which is com
pared to the drying-up of water. The ignorance of the ancients as to the
real condition of water thus lost to sight gives force to the passage. —
Verse 12. The heavens are here named, as in Ps. Ixxxix. 29, 37, as a
symbol of eternal duration, not as in Is. li. 6, doomed to perish. Hence
the sense is that man will never return to this life. A continued exist
ence of some sort in the land of shadows is not denied. — Verses 13-18.
A parenthetical digression, the sense of which is sufficiently explained in
the paraphrase. The question in verse 14 is an interjection, rhetorically
conveying a negative. — Verse 17. Sealed up in a bag; i. e., filed away
safely, like the record of a trial and conviction, beyond alteration. —
Verse 18. The comparison beginning verse 7 is resumed, and the moun
tain offered as a second contrast to the tree. The carving-out of canons
is compared to the human face furrowed by grief (verse 20, Thou changest
his countenance), and the removal of earth and debris by floods to the
removal of man, or masses of men, by death. — Verse 22. Man's suf
ferings here cannot be made good to him by the fortunes of his descend
ants.
CHAPTER XV.
In xii. 11, xiii. 6, 13, 17, etc., Job has repressed the interruptions of
his friends, until they finally listen in silence to his impassioned speech.
Eliphaz, being the oldest, is specially offended, and replies with a ludi
crous mixture of zeal for God and anger on his own account. — Verse 5.
Ihe tongue of the crafty. He regards Job as charging sin upon his
friends, as a thief cries "stop thief! " — Verse 10. An allusion to him
self. — Verse 18. What the wise have not hidden. Compare verse 8, where
Job is ironically asked if he has kept his wonderful knowledge to him
self for so long a time. — Verse 19. An allusion to some conquest of the
land, or perhaps to Job himself as of a different race from Eliphaz, and
one of more recent residence in Uz. — Verse 20. The argument here
is that, though the wicked outwardly prosper, he is always in peril
and fear. The implication is conveyed that Job's -prosperity was of
this kind, and the allusion to just such calamities as have overtaken
him carries an indirect charge of tyranny (verse 27) and bribery (verse
34) against him.

168 THE BOOK OF JOB.

CHAPTER XVI.

Verse 3. The question is the characteristic Hebrew form of stating a
negative. The sense is, There is no end lo words of wind; else what
could move thee again to answer? The mysterious endlessness of wind is
compared to the ceaseless babble of those who love to hear themselves
talk. — Verse 8. The climax of all the suffering is that the suffering itself
becomes a witness, that is, is construed as proof of guilt. — Verses 9, 10.
A bold figure. God is represented as a lion, pursuing and rending his
prey, and human critics as meaner beasts, crowding about the disabled
victim with cowardly insult. — Verses 12, 13. A new figure, that of a
wounded prisoner bound to the stake as a target. — Verse 14. Probably an
allusion to battering rams. — Verse 15. Horn, the sign of male strength
and pride among beasts. Hence, doubtless, its use as an adornment of
the head or helmet, both in ancient and in modern times. Many gods
were sometimes represented with horns. Alexander the Great is por
trayed with horns, on coins. The legendary horns of Moses (shown for
instance in Michael Angelo's famous statue) are traced to a mistranslation
by Aquila and the Vulgate of Ex. xxxiv. 29, 30, 35. Grotius, who ac
cepts this error, suggests that the horns were to remind the Israelites
ofthe golden calf! — Verse 18. The sense, to the end of the chapter, ap
pears to be : Earth, perpetuate my complaint ! My only witness is in heaven,
inaccessible. Those who are at hand, my friends, only mock me. This is
my cry (which I call upon Earth lo echo forever) ; that God would render
me equal justice as man to man; and this is the reason of my appeal to
Earth to perpetuate my complaint, that I shall soon pass away, and be un
able to repeat it in person. CHAPTER XVII.
There is no division here in the sense. The thought is continued. —
Verses 1,2./ am doomed to die ; and my portion is with the dead already ;
yet I must be tortured with mockeries and forced to pay attention to them.
— Verse 3. Job appeals to God against Himself, as one might call even
upon an enemy to bear witness to one's honor, at least. This, and other
passages like it, seem to be best explained by the view elsewhere dis
cussed, that Job regards God as angry with him, and desperately en
deavors to break through the barrier of that passion, in order to reach
the just, omniscient Being, who, once recalled to a candid consideration
ofthe case, would acknowledge the innocence of His servant, and regret
His own wrath. — Verse 4. Therefore thou wilt not exalt. Ewald's trans-

THE BOOK OF JOB. 169
lation, Tlierefore there is no betterment, i. e., no hope of rescue from
them, seems preferable, in view of the preceding and following context.
—Verse 5. The eyes of his children shall fail. A parenthesis, height
ening the force of the description of treason just given. The sense,
according to this view, would be: There is no hope for me from these
stupid and false people, who would betray a friend into captivity, and
leave his helpless children to starve. It is not necessary to believe that
in this poetic invective actual allusion is made, as some suppose, to
young children of Job, still remaining alive. On the other hand, the
translation of Conant, though a great improvement upon the accepted
version, still agrees with the latter in rendering verse 5 as an interjected
aphorism, denouncing a curse upon such treason ; and this view appears
to break unnecessarily the continuity of the thought. — Verse 6. The
peoples ; i. e., the tribes. A retort on Eliphaz, who has boasted (xv.
18, 19) of his ancient race. — Verse 12. Night is joined to-day; liglit
is just before darkness. The sense is that the last hour of Job's day is
at hand. CHAPTER XVIII.
Verse 3. Bildad takes offense at the figure of the jackals (xvi. 10).
—Verses 12, 13. A terrible picture of a lost and starving wanderer. He
devours the parts of his skin; i. e., is reduced by hunger to tear his own
flesh. Compare Is. ix. 19. — Verse 15. Compare Gen. xix. 24, Ps. xi. 6. —
Verse 20, they that come after are the dwellers in the west, as they that
go before are those in the east. If taken as referring to time, the latter
half of the verse would be incomprehensible. CHAPTER XIX.
Verse 20. With the skin of my teeth. Ewald thinks this an allusion
to the fact that the Elephantiasis attacks tongue and mouth last, thus
making speech impossible. By the skin of the teeth he understands
the gums. But the phrase is more probably proverbial, and de
scribes, not a " narrow escape," but a complete loss ; the point being
that the teeth have no skin, so that the skin of the teeth stands for
nothing at all. — Verse 22. This appeal to the friends is the climax
of Job's passionate outcry. It appears to be received in silence by
them. — Verse 23. Oh that they were written in the book ! In putting
these words into the mouth of Job, the author was actually writmg
them in-a book. This is perhaps the most ancient instance of a liter-

170 THE BOOK OF JOB.
ary device common to this day in romances and dramas. Thus, in
many plays, an actor on the stage remarks, " This is as good as a
play ! " or, " If this were acted in a play, people would say it was
improbable!" and the like. Good examples may be found in Shakes
peare's "Twelfth Night" and "Julius Cassar."— Verses 25-27. But I,
I know my redeemer lives, and in after-time will stand upon the earth
(i. e., upon my grave) ; and after this my skin (i. e., this skin or body
of mine) is destroyed, and without my flesh, shall I see God. Whom I
for myself, shall see, and my eyes behold, and not another, when my reins
are consumed within me. Mr. Froude argues from the word here trans
lated redeemer, which may mean deliverer or avenger, that the refer
ence is to a vindicating and avenging human successor, probably a
kinsman. The latest and best interpreters reject this view, and re
gard the language of the passage as referring undoubtedly to an ex
istence beyond the grave. Without my flesh is generally admitted to
be the better translation of the phrase rendered in my flesh in the
common version. The literal meaning of the original is from my
flesh, the ambiguity of which is analogous to that of the English sen
tence, " Out of the house, I saw," etc. (Here the person seeing might
be in the house, though the strict construction of the words probably
involves the opposite idea.) The text before us is therefore not to
be understood as declaring the resurrection of the body, but the con
trary. The poetic figure boldly represents the Divine Avenger as stand
ing upon the earth which holds the decayed remains of Job, and
Job as personally conscious of his presence, though disembodied. This
passage, both in its signification as an isolated " proof-text " and in its
relations to the plan and progress of the drama, has been much dis
cussed, and, as it seems to me, often misconstrued. Ewald finds in
it the turning-point of the struggles of Job's mind, and professes to
trace in the subsequent dialogue the victorious peace which this as
sured glimpse of immortality and recompense has imparted to the suf
ferer. Other commentators frequently refer to it as u, sort of trumpet-
note of triumph, sounded over all the conflict with doubt and de
spair. It is often cited as the first annunciation of life beyond death,
and in a similar sense has been indissolubly associated with Christian
sentiment and music. But an impartial consideration of the passage
itself and of the context seems to discredit this interpretation ; which
is, moreover, open to the objection (not removed by the ingenuity of
Ewald) that it involves a violation of the unity and progress of the
drama, and is not consistent with the argument of the author. To

THE BOOK OF JOB. 171
consider first this latter objection, the notion of some sort of con
tinued existence after death is recognized in earlier passages of this
book, and in other books of Scripture of earlier authorship. The He
brew conception of Sheol corresponded with the New Testament Hades,
except that it was less defined. That the shades of the dead were be
lieved to continue an individual existence, the story of the witch of Endor
shows. Job's allusion to it in this passage does not produce any effect
upon his friends. Zophar makes no allusion to it in his immediate reply,
nor does the Almighty, in summing up the debate, mention it. It is ap
parently rather a reference to a well-known and common belief than the
sudden declaration of a new truth. To say that it is the turning-point
either of Job's inward or of his outward conflict, seems to be assuming
too much, since both conflicts go on unaffected by it. But this is really
required by the logic of the case. Job complains of present injustice at
the hands of an Almighty sovereign. Now, to this complaint the doctrine
of future recompense brings neither adequate reply nor complete consola
tion. Injustice made good by subsequent compensation is not justice,
but a device of human infirmity to repair the consequences of its own
mistakes. A Being of infinite resources could not justly make a forced
loan, even under promise of future repayment. As Hengstenberg says,
a God who has aught to set right in his government is no God. If we
may correctly assume, then, that Job, in this passage, is not advancing a
new doctrine as the solution of the mystery of Providence, but making
use of an acknowledged belief, what is the meaning ofthe allusion ? The
question is certainly not without difficulty ; but a consideration of the
context and the argument throws some light upon it. Let it be remem
bered that Job's theory of his affliction is that God is inexplicably angry
with him. Repeatedly he declares that, upon calmer reflection, God,
knowing well his innocence, will regret the wrong thus inflicted, and will
seek to repair it, but too late. In Chapter xvi., he calls upon the earth
to perpetuate his protest, since human friends are false, and God with
draws Himself from present appeal. In the present passage the same
thought recurs. Job wishes that bis words were preserved to vindicate
his character before men. As for himself, he feels sure of meeting God
face to face, and receiving the long-delayed acknowledgment of his inno
cence. But it is his eyes, and not another's, which will see this sight.
It will be, so to speak, a private, not a public acknowledgment. Job is
not thinking of it as a complete atonement for his unparalleled afflictions,
but rather as the belated confession to which he has already elsewhere
made allusion (compare vii. 8, 22 ; *. 7, 21 ; xvi. 22). He has (xiv. 13-

172 THE BOOK OF JOB.
15) expressed parenthetically a yearning desire, admitted in the same
breath to be vain, that God would recall him after a time from the nether
world, as a prisoner pardoned and restored. Now he returns to a
new infliction of the thought, and makes it the occasion of renewing
the denunciation of xiii. 9-12. The connection thus established be
tween the 27th and 28th verses of the xixth chapter seems to com
plete the train of thought, which may be epitomized thus : 0 that my
protest of innocence could be recorded for my vindication before my
fellow-men ! This, alas ! appears impossible. So far as I am con
cerned, God himself will visit my grave, and I, though long dead, shall
rise at His coming, meet him face to face, alone, and hear Him confess
my innocence. Nothing will be left Him then but lo be my avenger.
Too late for remedy, it will not be too late for vengeance. Then you,
who have pursued me as guilty, will find your wrath to have merited His
sword, and you will then find out what justice is — you who prate of jus
tice to me ! This construction, while it may be startling to many read
ers, is entirely consistent with the previous utterances of Job, and
with the course of the argument. It explains the anger of Zophar,
which follows this bold attack just as the anger of Eliphaz (xv. 5, 6)
followed the similar attack before (xiii. 10, 11). For a refutation of the
ordinary interpretations ofthe passage, see Conant's "Introduction" and
his critical and exegetical notes. The view here given is, however, not
Conant's, and is suggested with deference. It is not fully expressed in
the paraphrase, which is intended rather in this passage to reproduce the
literal sense of the original, retaining even its obscurity. — Verse 28. The
root of the matter ; i. e., the source of the trouble.
CHAPTER XX.
Verse 7. According io his greatness, so shall he perish forever. The
accepted version is here both unworthy and unfortunate. — Verses 12-16.
The figure is of a sweet morsel, which, being swallowed, proves poison
ous, producing first vomiting, then death. The accepted version almost
wholly misses the fine series of antithetic denunciations extending to verse
24. — Verse 22. Every hand of the wretched, i. e., of his victims, reaching
out for revenge. — Verse 23. Magnificent irony, lost in the accepted ver
sion. — Verses 24-25. A vivid figure of a fugitive, flying from combat at
close quarters and pierced at a distance by the fatal arrow. — Verse 26.
There is in the original a play upon words, which cannot be translated.
The literal statement is : All darkness is hoarded for his hoards ; i. e.,

THE BOOK OF JOB. 173
his hidden treasures shall prove to be hidden indeed — mere darkness, in
fact, and nothing more. CHAPTER XXI.
Verse 2. Ironical. Suppose you try a new kind of " consolation," name
ly, io sit still, and let me talk awhile ! The suggestion has not lost force
by the lapse of centuries. — Verse 3. The change from the plural to the
singular indicates that Mock on is addressed specially to Zophar, the last
speaker. — Verse 9. The scourge of God is murrain or pestilence ; in this
case, as the context shows, the former. — Verse 13. In a moment ; i. e.,
mot like me, with lingering pain. A speedy death after a prosperous life
is everywhere Job's ideal of good fortune. Disregard of this obvious fact
has led to some ludicrous misconceptions of his meaning in this and simi
lar passages. — Verse 16. Job disclaims, in the midst of his description,
any sympathy with the wicked man's view of life and God. — Verses 19-
21. The accepted version here misses entirely the sense of one of the
most important passages in the book. Will God treasure up iniquity for
his sons ? On him let him requite it, that he may know 1 Let his eyes
see his destruction, etc. The declaration is that punishment of the next
generation is not an adequate or just retribution. — Verse 22. Will you
try to teach God what are the facts ? He knows better. He knows that
these are the facts, lo wit, one dies, etc. — Verse 27. The devices here allud
ed to are the indirect suggestions and analogies by which they had sought
to convict Job of sin not only, but of particular sins, feeling about, as it
were, to discover which was his weak point. Compare viii. 6 ; xi. 14 ;
xv. 6, 25-35 ; xx. 12, 19-28. They subsequently carry this method
still further, openly charging specified crimes, for the purpose of find
ing out, perhaps, from Job's answers, what is his precise guilt. — Verse
30. The wicked is kept lo the day of destruction. So Conant, and the
accepted version. But the context favors another reading, viz., in
the day of destruction (and likewise, in [not to] the day of wrath) ; the
sense being that the wicked are notoriously not always punished, but
rather preserved in the day of wrath. The plain reference to xx. 28
and other passages is destroyed by Conant's view that this is an allu
sion to a judgment beyond death. The present speech of Job is full
of references to what his friends have been saying, and must be read
in the light of them. — Verses 32-33. The picture of a stately funeral.
" Light lies the sod above him." His success draws all men to imitate
his career, as he himself has imitated the example of countless prede
cessors.

174 THE BOOK OF JOB.

CHAPTER XXII.
Eliphaz betakes himself to his last resort, open accusation. But he
begins cautiously. — Verses 2-5. God is not profited by man's virtue.
Hence He is an impartial judge. But it is doubly absurd to suppose that
He would actually punish piety ; tlierefore it must be sin that He is pun
ishing. — Verses 12-14. These three verses are all included in the senti
ment ascribed by Eliphaz to Job. — Verse 16. Perhaps an allusion to the
Deluge. — Verses 17-18. Such as say to God, Begone 1 or such others,
equally wicked, as say that God prospers evil-doers. The last clause of the
18th verse is a sarcastic quotation of Job's disclaimer (xxi. 16). — Verse
21. With him, i. e., with me, the righteous observer and counsellor. —
Verse 24. Not a command, but a comparison. Return to God and eschew
evil ; and you could afford to throw away gold and silver, etc. Job is al
ready impoverished, and is not exhorted to throw away what he has not.
The allusion to the gold of Ophir shows that it was obtained by " gulch-
mining," as distinguished from gold which needed to be refined (xxviii. 1),
or what is popularly known among our miners as " quartz gold," obtained
by mining in the rocks. The alluvial gold appears to have been, as is the
general experience now, more valuable, that is, less alloyed with silver,
than that obtained from veins. Hence the special value attached to tbe
gold from_the brooks of Ophir. In our own country, different gold-mining
districts have well-recognized, distinct reputations for fineness (i. e., puri
ty) of product. — Verse 29. When they are cast down ; i. e., not men, but thy
ways. The sense is : Liglit will shine upon thy ways, and when they are cast
down, thou shatt say, There is ascent again. — Verse 30. The accepted ver
sion is here absurd. Conant's is followed in the paraphrase. The verse
presents an exquisitely subtile, almost humorous situation. Eliphaz holds
out to Job, as a crowning happiness, that if he will repent, he will not only
experience the divine favor, but be able to rescue sinners, through the
power of his own innocence and consequent influence with God. If you
will be very good, you may even be permitted to save the wicked, as we are
trying to do now ! With what delicate poetic justice the drama touches
this point when at the close the self-righteous friends are told (xiii. 8) : Job
my servant will pray for you. But him will I accept, that I visit not the
folly upon you 1 CHAPTER XXIII.
Verse 1. Even in this utmost trouble, it is rated sin if I do but com
plain ! — Verses 8-9. The ancients stood facing the sunrise, when they

THE BOOK OF JOB. 175
determined the points of the compass. Hence forward, backward, left,
and right, are terms for east, west, north, and south. — Verse 14. Many
such things; i. e., many mysterious fates. — Verses 16-17. Therefore. Job
is appalled not so mjuch by his own suffering as by the speculations
which it arouses. CHAPTER XXIV.
Job begins, verse 2, a description of open and high-handed oppression
ofthe helpless, whose sufferings are described in verses 5, 6. In the field
they reap his fodder, and glean the vineyard of the wicked; i. e., they live
on the gleanings of the fields which they formerly owned, but of which
(verse 2) they have been robbed. — With verse 9 begins a powerful de
scription of slavery originating in debt. — Verse 13. A new class of crim
inals is now described, those who sin in secret. — Verse 18 begins an iron
ical passage, as if Job had said, Of course they are swept away, 0 yes ! —
The figure in verses 18, 19, is that of a flood which does not fertilize, but
curses and wastes the earth and then dries up. — Verse 22. Here Job re
turns with sudden contrast to his own description of the real fate of the
wicked. The paraphrase here follows Ewald, whose translation appears
to be the best. He (i. e., God) maintains the strong by His might ; He raises
up when no one is sure of life (i. e., He rescues them from threatened death).
— Verse 24. A picture of a prosperous life and a quick and happy death
at the end. Like all ; i. e., in accordance with the common lot of men
they are gathered, and are honored in the harvest, like the highest stalks
of the grain. This throws back upon Eliphaz the picture he had drawn
(verse 26) of a similar fate for the righteous.
CHAPTER XXV.
Bildad's reply is the last gasp of the argument on that side ; and
the author shows this fact very delicately by putting into the mouth of
Bildad mere echoes of what had been said already — the reiteration of one
who is at a loss for fresh reasons. Compare ix. 2 ; xv. 15.
CHAPTER XXVI.
Verse 4. By whom hast thou, etc. A sarcastic allusion to Bildad's
want of originality. Compare xx. 3, where Zophar says his own spirit
has been roused to reply. Job now taunts Bildad, Well, what spirit do
you rely on ? After this personal introduction, Job begins another " com-

176 THE BOOK OF JOB.
petitive poem," a grand description of the power of God in the three
worlds, overtopping the conception of Bildad, which comprised the starry
heavens only. This episodical poem occupies the remainder of the chap
ter. — Verse 5. The shades ¦ tremble beneath the waters. The sea cannot
hide from God the under-world. — Verse 11. A storm raised by His power.
— Verses 12, 13. The calm following. The translation followed by the
paraphrase of this passage is based on Ewald's. • By His power he quells
the sea ; by His wisdom he smote Rahab. (See note on iii. 8, where Rahab
is translated "mourning" in the common version, and "leviathan" by
Conant). By His spirit are the heavens adorned; His hand slew the ser
pent. He who overcame this monster (or these monsters, if two are
meant), and bound it as a constellation in the sky, can quell the storm
He has raised and restore to beauty the heavens He controls. — Verse 14.
Lo, these are the borders of His ways ! Better, perhaps, the ends, i. e., the
hither ends or beginnings — as of paths reaching into infinite distance.
And what a whisper of a word is that we hear ! But the thunder of His
power who can comprehend? CHAPTER XXVII.
After this episode, Job takes up his direct discourse, with a bold re-
assertion of his own integrity, a disclaimer of the wicked life as his own
ideal, and a bitter rehearsal of the vain dogmatic -theory of his friends.
— Verse 7. Let my enemy be, etc. A proverbial phrase, meaning, / could
not wish an enemy anything worse than lo be. It is not a curse upon an
actual enemy. — Verse 9. Will God hear his cry, etc. The thought ap
pears to be that, when the wicked man is really in distress or at the
point of death, he dares not call upon God : whereas Job, though at this
time inexplicably shut out from the favor of God, had always heretofore
delighted in the Almighty. — Verse 12. Why then speak ye what is utterly
vain? This question (less literally translated in the common version)
seems to introduce the passage occupying the rest ofthe chapter, which
Eichhorn regards, I think correctly, as a recapitulation of the " utterly
vain " talk alluded to by Job. The passage is one of the most trouble
some to commentators, because it appears to be a retraction on the part
of Job, and an admission of the truth of the assertions he has victorious
ly disputed. There are three views : 1. According to Ewald and others,
Job here makes concessions which the previous heat of the argument
caused him to omit ; or rather, as Conant says, " having refuted the false
positions of his opponents, he now takes up this question [whether, after

THE BOOK OF JOB. 177
all, the way of transgression is wise], showing the general law of the
divine government." But this view is, I think, open to several objec
tions. The passage is as unqualified in its terms as any of the speeches
ofthe friends. Moreover, it consists to a large extent of repetitions of
the very figures which they had used. Where Job speaks for himself in
this drama, he does not usually copy the imagery of the other speakers,
but almost invariably overtops their efforts with grander ones. Ori
ginality is a literary characteristic, as distinctly present in his other
speeches as it is distinctly absent from this one. To say that he here em
ploys the previous language of his antagonists, but does not mean it in
the same sense, is to adopt a means of escape from difficulty which tbe
text does not suggest, and which would only be tolerable if it were the
only resort. Finally, such a turn in the discussion as this view implies
is, I think, foreign to the spirit of the book, and inconsistent with the
steadfast attitude ascribed to Job throughout. It must be remembered
that the book is more didactic than dramatic. The personages are rather
types than portraits. They represent different views of tho problem
under discussion ; and they do not change their minds ; nor does any
one of them represent the author's own view, as I have elsewhere shown.
Hence it is not necessary or appropriate to assume that Job drops the
line of argument which he has followed intensely from the outset, and to
which he afterward returns, in order to " take a wider view." 2. Kenni-
cott thinks this passage to be the missing speech of Zophar, whose turn
it should now be to speak for the third time, as the others have done.
He thinks it has been inadvertently attached to the preceding words of
Job by an error of copying. To this hypothesis the critical objections
are less conclusive ; but it lacks positive support, either in the various
versions of the original, or in the structure of the drama. After the
feeble reply of Bildad (Chap, xxv.), it is quite appropriate that Zophar
should say nothing ; and this, I think, is indeed implied in xxxii. 1. The
artificial symmetry of the debate (Job, Eliphaz— Job, Bildad — Job,
Zophar — and so on, three times round) must not be pushed too far, in
the face of such objections as, for example, the style of xxviii. 1, which
is, as will be shown, an appropriate episode, but lacks both the title and
tbe introduction which elsewhere invariably mark the commencement of
a new speech. According to Kennicott, this must be the beginning of
Job's "summing-up." According to the internal evidence, I think it
cannot be so. If (for reasons elsewhere given) we omit the speech of
Elihu, as an interpolation, the argument for the symmetry of the debate
is turned with startling force against Kennicott's view ; for we now have

178 THE BOOK OF JOB.
(xxxii. 1) the three men " ceasing from answering Job," and immediately
'(xxxviii. 1), Then Jehovah answered Job I That is, the Almighty ap
pears, in place of the silenced Zophar. 3. The view of Eichhorn and
others, which I have adopted, and venture to support with some addi
tional arguments, is that Job, in the passage xxvii. 13-23 inclusive,
rehearses the assertions of his opponents as specifications under his gen
eral charge of utter vanity (verse 12). In favor of this view, several lines
of proof concur. Sarcastic quotations of this kind are common in the
book. The dialogue, in its later parts, fairly echoes with cross-references
among the debaters. . Phrases are hurled to and fro, and more or less
colored and distorted versions of previous utterances are employed by
succeeding antagonists. See, for example, xxi. 17, 18; xxi. 28; xxii.
12-14; xxiv. 18-21; as well as other passages already mentioned in
these notes, and many which I have not paused to point out. Again,
many of the figures of this. passage are intentional repetitions. Compare
verse 13 with xx. 29 ; verse 14 with v. 4, xviii. 19, etc. ; verse 17 with
xx. 10, 22, etc. ; verse 18 with iv. 19 ; verse 20 with xxii. 16, etc. ; verse
21 with xv. 30, etc. ; verse 22 with xx. 24 ; verse 23 with xxii. 19, 20,
etc., etc. Finally, the passage, attributed in this sense to Job, forms a
natural transition introducing the beautiful episode on wisdom, Chap.
xxviii. According to this view, the course of the thought, after the com
petitive poem which closes Chap, xxvi., would be as follows: Job vehe
mently declares with an oath that he will not deny his integrity; he pro
ceeds to repudiate the inference that he deems wickedness as good as
righteousness, because he has asserted that wickedness is often pros
pered; he declares that, when the wicked are afflicted, they have no
thought of God or comfort in Him ; and with these preliminaries he re
turns to the attack, on precisely his old ground, and cites as utterly
vain, and contradicted by acknowledged facts, the fine phrases of his
opponents about temporal retribution. But, if their solution of the prob
lem is palpable folly, what is wisdom ? Thus he is led to the episode
of Chapter xxviii., after which he returns to the consideration of his own
individual case. That a man" should be represented as pausing, in the
midst of the passion of heated discussion and the passion of personal
anguish, to recite such calm, speculative, and poetical passages as are
often put into the mouth of Job, is chiefly, no doubt, due to the nature
and purpose of the composition. Dramatic literature is full of instances.
Shakespeare usually manages to make such passages as the soliloquy of
Hamlet or Portia's description of mercy rise naturally out of the dra
matic situation. Other tragic authors are often less happy. In the Book

THE BOOK OF JOB. 179
of Job, we may perhaps be justified in fancying a connection between
the changes of topic and style in Job's speeches, and the recurring
paroxysms of physical suffering which are imagined as calling back his
thoughts from sublime generalizations to the special circumstances of his
own case. Carried away by the reflections of Chap, xxviii., he " takes
up his discourse again " (xxix. 1), in the tone of personal lament and
protest. — Verses 14, 15. War, famine, and pestilence, three companions
then as now. His widows sliall not bewail ; i. e., He shall leave no widows
lo mourn him, all his house being destroyed. The meaning is not that
his widows shall be glad he is gone. — Verse 16. As the dust . . . as tlie
clay ; i. e., as common and abundant as these things. — Verse 19. Shall
lie down and shall not be gathered ; he opens his eyes and he is gone. The
curse lies in the unexpectedness and loneliness, not the quickness, of the
death. He sliall die in sudden terror, without friendly attendance.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
See notes on preceding chapters. The argument is : Why do ye
attempt vainly to mark out the ways of God with men ? Wisdom — i. e.,
the true theory of life and providence — cannot be thus ascertained — dug
up, as it were, like ore. No amount of searching will give the explana
tion of life's mystery ; and man's wisdom in the presence of the inscruta
ble facts is the resignation of faith (not of fatalism) and righteousness —
the fear of the Lord, and the departure from evil . — Verses 1-11 inclusive.
A fine description of ancient mining, of which verses 1-9 apparently
refer to deep mining, and the remainder to surface mining with the aid
of floods — a rude hydraulic mining system. We know that both were
employed by the ancients. The meaning of this passage is hopelessly
buried in the mistranslations of the common version. Conant's render
ing is excellent, but the full meaning can only be brought out in a para
phrase. This I have attempted (following Ewald in one or two minor
points) with the more confidence, since my own profession as a. mining
engineer enables me, for this one occasion, to look upon my learned
guides as laymen ! — Verse 1. Gold which they refine is the " quartz gold "
of our American miners, which is often associated with pyrites, etc., and
is retorted and refined by various operations, before becoming fit for use.
The gold of Ophir (xxii. 24, xxviii. 16) seems to have been "placer" or
*' gulch-gold," which is often very pure. Even the refining of the an
cients would probably leave the gold alloyed with silver ; but it is well
known that some diluvial deposits (though not all) furnish gold of ap-

180 THE BOOK OF JOB.
proximate purity. The color of such gold would show its superiority;
and hence, perhaps, tbe special excellence attributed to the gold of Ophir.
The statement here is that native silver, inferior gold, and iron and cop
per ores occur in veins underground. — Verse 4. Forgotten of the foot,
they swing suspended far below. A vivid description (of which it is use
less to seek any trace in the common version) of the miners hanging by
ropes in a shaft, unknown to those who walk above them on the surface.
— Verses 5, 6. A comparison between the peaceful grain-fields above
and the strange fields and methods of labor below. — Verses 9-11. Rocks
and bluffs are removed, streams are turned from their courses, and pre
cious things are sought in their beds — as in our present surface, bar, and
gulch mining for gold. — Verses 16, 17. Manufactured jewelry is here
meant, as more costly than mere gold or silver unwrought (verse 15).
CHAPTER XXIX.
See notes on Chapter xxvii. — Verse 7. Job's house, or settlement
(compare i. 4, etc.), was apparently near a city, where he was known and
honored. — Verse 14. I put on righteousness, and it clothed itself with me
— not, il clothed me. The thought is, I put it on and it put me on ; i. e.,
I was righteous outwardly and inwardly. — Verse 18. As thephcenix shall
I multiply days. This translation (Ewald's) is better than sand. Com
pare the first half of the verse. The legend of the phoenix is of Eastern
origin. In one form of it, the bird builds his own funeral pyre and dies
in his nest, to rise again from his own ashes. But this form may have
been later. All the legends seem to have in common the idea of great
longevity and some mysterious power of prolonging or renewing life. It
is of course not necessary to suppose that Job here alludes to the phoe
nix, as did the early Christian fathers, as a type of the resurrection. In
fact, it must be confessed, the conjecture of Ewald, though both in
genious and probable, is not very well supported philologically. It
has the Talmud and rabbinical writers to back it ; but the cautious
Conant calls it a " foolish conceit." If the rendering sand is retained,
the general meaning is not changed, but a commonplace mixed figure
is substituted for a striking and consistent one. Hence I have followed
Ewald. — Verse 23. The latter rain is the spring rain, and the most im
portant to the growing crops. Compare Deut. xi. 14; Prov. xvi. 15;
Jer. iii. 3, v. 24 ; Hos. vi. 3 ; Zech. x. 1, etc. — Verse 24. They could
not believe it for joy when I smiled, nor would they do anything to forfeit
my favor.

THE BOOK OF JOB. 181

CHAPTER XXX.
The opening description indicates a race of slaves, different from any
classes heretofore described, unless they be those of xxiv. 4. — Verse 4.
The salt-plant grows among shrubs or in hedges. It has juicy leaves
and buds of saltish taste. The broom-root is very bitter, and would not
be used for food, except in dire necessity. — Verse 8. The foolish are
usually the heathen (compare ii. 10). These degraded beings are prob
ably descendants of the aboriginal inhabitants. — Verse 11. Because He
has let loose His rein .... they also cast off the bridle ; i. e., they charge
upon me, because they see that God has done the same. — Verse 12. On the
right, the position of the accuser. This " brood " of assailants appears
to consist of the personified sorrows and afflictions of Job, rather than
of a new class of human enemies. — Verses -16, 17. The day and night
symptoms of his disease. — Verse 18. My covering ; \. a, my skin.
CHAPTER XXXI.
Job concludes with a final, solemn asseveration of innocence, speci
fying the crimes of which he has been directly or indirectly accused.
— Verse 1. For (not with) my eyes ; i. e., for my eyes to obey. The terms
of this covenant are then given : How sliould I look, even, upon a maid,
since God sees all and will punish wickedness ? Job gives this as his
former belief, and challenges God on this basis to punish him if he has
sinned. In the enumeration of crimes we have, first, robberies by fraud
and treachery, including deceit (verse 5), stealing (verse 7), and adultery
considered as treachery to a friend (verse 9. The patriarchal notions,
in which the proprietorship of the husband was the leading idea, inspire
this verse). Then follow wrongs inflicted by a master upon his servants
(verses 13-15 inclusive) ; then neglect and violence toward the weak (16-
23 inclusive) ; then idolatry, of gold (24, 25), and of the sun and moon
(26, 27) ; revenge (29, 30) ; lack of hospitality (31, 32)^ concealment of
any iniquity (33) ; and finally, cruelty and oppression generally (38).
This last has been covered by the foregoing catalogue ; but Job returns
to it, as the charge most offensively and frequently pressed by his accu
sers. The great value, to the student of the history of human culture,
of a catalogue like this, which evidently sums up the cardmal sins of the
moral code of the time, is self-evident. — Verse 35. 0 that I had one who
would hear me ! Behold my sign ; let the Almighty answer me, and my
adversary write a charge. A challenge in legal terms.

182 THE BOOK OF JOB.

CHAPTER XXXVIII.
Six chapters, containing the speech of Elihu, arc here omitted. See
the introductory portions of this volume, and the notes on Chapter xxvii.
Jehovah (not Deity merely) answers Job. — Verse 1. Out of the storm.
This seems to be an allusion to the approaching thunder-storm described
by Elihu (xxxvii. 1, 5), and thus a proof of the genuineness of the chap
ters I have omitted from the Paraphrase. But if, for any apparently
good reason, the speech of Elihu be regarded as a pious interpolation
or later addition, this phrase may have been added also, to connect
the two portions ; or the description of the thunder-storm may be but
an amplification of the hint here given. The main point is, that the
Almighty still refuses to appear in person, as Job has demanded, but
speaks through the veil, so to speak, of a great natural phenomenon.
The reverence of the author in this respect is in sublime contrast to the
puerile conceptions of later and middle-age literature. The same feature
is found in all the Scriptures. God speaks, but He does not appear. —
Verse 7. The morning stars ; i. e., the angels, called in the next line,
which merely repeats the thought in alternative phrase, the sons of God.
— Verse 13. A fine figure of tbe dawn, shining around the horizon, as
one might embrace the margin of a gigantic dish. The wicked are
scared away by the day from their evil courses. — Verse 14. Tlie earth is
changed as if a new stamp had been pressed upon it, and the hills stand
forth as in gay apparel. — Verse 15. The light of the wicked (i. e., secret
malefactors) is darkness. — Verses 16, 17. The gates of the under-world
are conceived to be in the bottom of the sea. Compare xxvi. 5. — Verse
19. The division of light and darkness considered a mystery. In all this
catalogue of natural phenomena, given to convince Job how little he
knows about the laws of the universe, many things are enumerated
which we now " understand ; " yet with all our science we have only put
the mystery a little further back. — Verse 21. Not a question, as in the
common version, but an assertion in scornful irony. — Verse 22. Hail and
snow are ranked as unusual and disastrous occurrences, as is natural in
a warm climate and a pastoral and agricultural region. — Verse 26. The
ministration of rain to uninhabited wastes is emphasized as showing that
the needs and prayers of men are not the only occasion of God's activity.
— Verse 31. See note on ix. 9. — Verse 33. An indication of the ancient
belief in the influence of the stars upon earthly affairs. — Verse 36. The
words here commonly translated inward parts and heart (according to
Conant, reins and spirit) are more probably, as Ewald, corroborated by

THE BOOK OF JOB. 183
the context, argues, terms referring to meteorological phenomena. The
change in the form of the questions may be significant. From verse 31
to verse 36, it is, Dost thou control the seasons, stars, clouds, rains and
lightnings? In verse 36 and following verses it is, Who inspires and
directs, then, the atmospheric wonders, numbers the clouds, and pours the
rain ? Verse 39. The references to the animal kingdom comprise only
wild animals, of which man possessed little knowledge or control. Con
cerning the horse, an apparent exception, see notes on next chapter.
CHAPTER XXXIX.
The breeding of wild goats and deer is described, in implied contrast
with the care given by man to the breeding of domestic animals and the
raising of their young. — Verses 3, 4. They cast away their pains. Their
young mature, etc. The wild animals, though untended by man, have
easy birth-pains, soon forgot ; and their offspring grow up and go off on
their own account — God being the only shepherd who cares for them, yet
His care being sufficient to effect all that man takes so much trouble to
arrange in domestic flocks. — Verse 5. Compare xxiv. 5 ; Is. xxxii. 14 ;
Jer. ii. 24 ; Hos. viii. 9 ; Dan. v. 21. — Verse 9. The wild ox. Probably
a species of ox now extinct, but formerly inhabiting parts of Asia and
Europe. The oriental buffalo is known to have been domesticated for
many centuries, and hence does not answer the description here given. —
Verses 13, 14. The wing of the ostrich waves exulting ; with pious pinion
and plumage ? Nay, she abandons, etc. The question is merely a rhet
orical negative ; and the meaning is that the magnificent plumage of tbe
ostrich is not piously devoted to brooding her eggs. The stork, which
assiduously cares for its young, is called pious. Thus in Ps. civ. 17,
where the pious is properly translated the stork. Hirzel suggests that
there is in this description of the ostrich an allusion (for contrast) to the
' stork. The common version confesses failure in translating the passage,
by desperately adding the words Gavest thou ? to make sense. But this
sense is not the true one. The habits of the ostrich, not its wings, are
described as remarkable, and attributed to God's ordainment. — Verse 19.
Both the allusion to the horse (verse 18) as used in hunting the ostrich
and this description of the war-horse represent this animal, not as famil
iarly known and used for domestic purposes, but rather as an object of
special wonder for speed and spirit. We may perhaps fairly infer that
the author conceives ostrich-hunting to be known to Job by hearsay, and
the use of chariots in war by terrible experience of their effects. He is

184 THE BOOK OF JOB.
nowhere represented as .owning horses. — Verse 1 9. With terror, not thun
der. The literal meaning is trembling, and the reference is to the terrible
shaking of a heavy mane. — Verse 21. Tliey paw in the valley, etc. The
word here rendered paw is held by Ewald to mean hesitate, spy about, re
connoitre ; and the verse, in this view, gives a contrast between the cau
tion of an army in the valley and the reckless courage of the war-horse,
which dashes exultingly down among them. The vivid picture of a char
iot-charge against bowmen and spearmen is thus heightened in effect. —
Verse 24. Swallows the ground ; i. e., devours distance with his speed. Be
lieves not, etc. An expression of the joy with which he hears the trumpets
sounding the onset. A similiar phrase occurs in xxix. 24. — Verse 25.
Shoutings. Battle-songs and war-cries are included. — Verse 26. Some
hawks, it is said, are birds of passage. — Verses 27-30 inclusive. The
eagle does not eat carrion, and hence this description has been supposed
to refer to the vulture. But the slain (verse 30) may be of the eagle's
own slaying. — Verse 30. Suck up, or are thirsty fori This sublime pict
ure is copied in Tennyson's brief poem, " The Eagle," which I cannot
forbear quoting : " He clasps the crag with hooked hands ;
Close to the sun in lonely lands,
Kinged with tho azure world he stands.
" The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls :
He watches from hia mountain walls,
And hke a thunderbolt he falls."
CHAPTER XL.
There is here no discussion of Job's case. He is admitted to be
innocent. That is the very basis of the Divine rebuke, which consists,
thus far, in showing him how many things beyond the knowledge and
power of man are continually managed by God. It is not because He does '
not care, but because He cares so much and for so many, that man cannot
understand His providence. There is necessary pain in the operation of
natural law, with which, nevertheless, God's purposes and the uses of our
pain to us are consistent.— Verses 3-5 inclusive. Job confesses that this
view is unanswerable. It is the evident purpose of the author to repre
sent Jehovah, not as entering the argument, but as uttering the incontro
vertible facts beyond argument.— Verse 8. The terse application of the
preceding reflections. Wilt thou treat mc as thou sayest I treat thee? By
ascribing his unmerited suffering to God's unreasoning anger, Job has

THE BOOK OF JOB. 185
himself condemned God unheard. Annul my right (or, as in the common
version, disannul my judgment) is neither usurp my sovereignty nor deny
my wisdom, but, refuse me justice — just what Job complains of in xxvii.
2, and other passages. — Verse 9. A new inflection of sarcastic rebuke.
Or canst thou do it better? Then try. — Verse 14. That thy right hand can
save thee. The ironical invitation is that Job shall undertake the manage
ment ofthe universe, and, of course, besides punishing evil-doers, rescue
himself. And the thought lying back of this sarcasm is, as has been
suggested by the survey of Nature already given, that Job could not har
monize the ends he would seek with the vast, complicated, and unknown
conditions of universal government. A perfectly wise providence must
be also omniscient and omnipotent. — Verse 15. The description of the
behemoth and the leviathan, which extends from this point to the end of
the next chapter, is rejected by Ewald as a later addition. His reasons
are, that the argument is closed with xl., 14 ; that these two descriptions
are in style unlike the preceding ones, being feeble and prolix ; that they
are likewise without the moral meaning elsewhere enforced, since the
monsters are described, not as illustrations of God's wisdom and power,
but simply as monsters ; and that the drama is improved by taking them
out. Ewald adduces also some peculiarities in the language as proofs of
a different authorship. On candid examination, all these grounds appear
to be more ingenious than valid. It is true that the catalogue given in
Chapter xxxix. is sufficient to illustrate the power and wisdom of the
Almighty, and His multifarious administration in Nature. But so would
a shorter catalogue have been. Every description, indeed, carries the
argument complete in itself; and it would be as fair to strike out the
war-horse or the eagle, as the behemoth or the leviathan, on the plea of
superfluity. It is true, again, that the climax ofthe argument is xl. 8-15
(though this is not exactly the way in which Ewald conceives it). But
we are not justified in declaring positively that the climax must be the
end. On the contrary, there seems to be a natural connection between
the challenge to Job, to try his hand at managing the world, and the re
sumption of the enumeration of things which he could not comprehend
or control. As for the alleged absence of moral purpose in these two
descriptions, it can scarcely be maintained in view of xl. 15, 19 ; xii. 10.
The alleged feebleness of the style is certainly not established, nor are
Ewald's philological arguments on this passage generally accepted. Fi
nally, it should be borne in mind that the author of Job possessed and
exercised the same right as any other poet, of introducing fine passages
in adornment of the general thought and in enforcement of the general

186 THE BOOK OF JOB.
purpose of his drama. Job's discourse on Wisdom (Chapter xxviii.), like
the Almighty's description of the two monsters, besides being appropriate
to the plot and the personage, is a legitimate display of the genius of the
author. To say that the drama would be improved by striking out this
passage or the other, is legitimate criticism, though it may not be well
founded. So Goethe, in " Wilhelm Meister," " improves " the play of
" Hamlet ; " but he does not argue that the passages he amends are not
Shakespeare's. And as to the improvement itself, most of us still prefer
Shakespeare's " Hamlet " to Goethe's. While we retain, then, as genuine,
the passages here discussed, it must be confessed that the attempts of
commentators to give them any significance beyond that of a further ex
tension of Chapter xxxix. are unsuccessful. — Verse 15. The behemoth,
i. e., the river-ox or hippopotamus, strong but mild, is contrasted with
the leviathan or crocodile (xl. 1), who is strong and fierce. — Verse 19.
He who made him dulls his sword. This is Ewald's rendering. The
thought is that God has established the strange distinction in habits be
tween the mighty but peaceful and graminivorous river-ox and the terrible
crocodile. — Verse 20. Perhaps a hint of the use to which the tusk of the
hippopotamus is applied, in rooting up plants. Although he lives in the
water, yet he takes his food on the mountains, where other beasts play
unharmed around him. — Verse 23. Jordan. Used for any large stream.
Not a proof that hippopotami ever inhabited the Jordan.
CHAPTER XLI.
The leviathan is here doubtless the crocodile. The exaggerated terms
of the description may be regarded as poetic license merely, or as indi
cating the author's lack of familiarity with the animal, and consequent
reliance upon travelers' stories. Both the hippopotamus and the croco
dile were worshiped in Egypt as gods — a circumstance which enhances
the force of the thought that Jehovah created them and is their master.
— Verse 1. Wilt thou undertake to do with the crocodile what can be done
with the hippopotamus ? — Verse 6. Dig a pit (common version, make a
banquet) is perhaps better given by Ewald, cast lots. — Verse 18. The
Egyptians represented the dawn as a crocodile coming to the surface, or
lying with the top of its head and its eyes just out of water. — Verse 24.
Tlie nether millstone. The heavier, perhaps also the harder. — Verse 30.
Shard points are under him ; he spreads a threshing-sledge over the mire.
The trail of the crocodile is compared to that of a threshing-sledge, a
sort of heavy harrow.

THE BOOK OF JOB. 187

CHAPTER XLII.
It is evident that the first part of verse 3 and the whole of verse 4
are quotations. Compare xxxviii. 2, and xl. 7. — Verse 7. Jehovah con
demns the friends in language of profound significance, declaring that
they have not spoken of Him what is right, and approving Job's concep
tion of His providence. Since Job has already been rebuked for ascrib
ing unjust anger to God, it is evidently the remainder of his view which
is thus approved. This may be found in those passages in which he
rises above his own sufferings, notably in the chapter on Wisdom (xxviii.
28. See note on this passage, and also general discussion in the intro
ductory chapters of the present volume). — Verse 8. And Job my servant
will pray for you. See note on xxii. 30. — Verse 11. A kesita (common
version, piece of money) was probably not a stamped coin, but a certain
weight of gold or silver. The word occurs in Gen. xxxiii. 19, to which
reference is made in Josh. xxiv. 32, from which latter passage it appears
that the kesita was, in that instance, silver. It is not mentioned else
where in Scripture, and its value is undetermined, unless we accept the
supposition (having for its very meagre basis a comparison of Gen.
xxxiii. 19 with Gen. xxiii. 16) that it weighed four times as much as the
shekel. But the patriarchal shekel itself is an unknown quantity. All
that can be said is, that it was certainly not stamped and current by au
thority ; for it is declared to have been weighed out by Abraham at its
market value (current with the merchant). — Verse 12. Comparison of
these figures with those of i. 3, shows the details of the narrative to be
in part, at least, fictitious. — Verse 14. The names of tbe three daughters
(Jemima, a dove, Keziah, the spicy cassia, and Keren-happuch, a paint-
horn, or casket for cosmetics) are also adduced as evidences of fiction,
all three being names to indicate beauty. By itself, this argument would
be weak ; as a corroboration of many other signs of art in the story, it
may be accepted. — Verse 15. Gave them an inheritance among their
brethren. Not usually granted to daughters. See Num. xxvii. 8. —
Verse 16. This term of life isattributed to the later patriarchal period.
Compare Gea xi. 10-26 ; xxv. 1, 8 ; xxxv. 28, 29.

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IV.
Beeton's (Isabella) Book of Household Management.
Being a History of the Origin, Properties, and Uses, of All Things
connected with Home Life and Comfort. Also, Sanitary, Medical,
and Legal Memoranda. 12mo. 1,140 pages, with Colored Illus
trations. 1 vol., 12mo. $3.00. v.
Eassie's (TV.) Healthy Houses.
A Hand-book to the History, Defects, and Remedies of Drainage,
Ventilation, Warming, and Kindred Subjects. With Estimates
for the Best Systems in Use, and upward of 300 Illustrations. By
William Eassie, C. E., F. L. S., F. G. S., etc., etc., late Assistant
Engineer to Renkioi Hospital during the Crimean War. 1 vol.,
12mo. Cloth, $1.00. VI.
Scotfs (Frank J.) Suburban Home Grounds,
And the Best Modes of laying out, planting, and keeping Deco
rated Grounds. Hlustrated by upward of 200 Plates and Engrav
ings of Plans for Residences and their Grounds, of Trees and
Shrubs and Garden Embellishments. With Descriptions of the
Beautiful and Hardy Trees and Shrubs grown in the United States.
1 vol., large 8vo. Cloth, extra, $8.00.
D. APPLETON & CO., 549 & 551 Broadway, New York.

TEIT-WOKK H PALESTINE :
A Record of Discovery ani Adventure.
By CLAUDE REIGNIER CONDER, R. E.,
Officer in Command of the Survey Expedition.
Published for the Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
With 33 Illustrations by J. W. WBTMPER.

2 Vols., 8vo.

Cloth, $6.00.

CONT
The Road to Jerusalem.
Shechem and the Samaritans.
The Survey of Samaria.
The Great Plain of Esdr^lon.
The Nazareth Hills.
Carmel and Acre.
Sharon.Damascus, Baalbek, and Hermon.
Samson's Country.
Bethlehem and Mar Suba.
Jerusalem. The Temple and Calvary.

EKTTS. Jericho.The Jordan Valley.
Hebron and Beersheba.
The Land of Benjamin.
The Desert of Judah.
The Shephdah and Philistria.
Galilee.
The Origin of the Fellahin.
Life and Habits of the Fellahin.
The Bedawin.
Jews, Russians, and Germans.
The Fertility of Palestine.

This book is intended to give as accurate a general description as
possible of Palestine, which, through the labors of the Committee of. the
Exploration Fund, is brought home to us in such a way that the student
may travel, in his study, over its weary roads and rugged hills without
an ache, and may ford its dangerous streams and pass through its mala
rious plains without discomfort.

D. APPLETON & CO., 549 & 551 Broadway, New York.