Bibelkommentare

Elihu also proceeded, and said,

Elihu also proceeded and said — Heb. And Elihu added, viz. this his fourth oration, not unlike the former, made in behalf and for defence of God’s justice, which he here further asserteth against Job (who had seemed to cast some slur upon it) by arguments drawn from his wondrous works, the meteors especially; and all to prevail with Job to submit to God’s justice and to implore his mercy, Ex abundanti quae sequuntur adiecit.

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Suffer me a little, and I will shew thee that [I have] yet to speak on God’s behalf.

Suffer me a little, and I will show thee — He promiseth brevity and thereby wooeth attention: brevity and perspicuity are two great graces of speech, and do very much win upon intelligent hearers, who love to hear much in few, and cannot away with tedious prolixities. When a great trifler had made an empty discourse in the presence of Aristotle, and then cried him mercy for troubling him so long: You have not troubled me at all, said he, for I scarce hearkened to any one word you said all this while.

That I have yet to speak on God’s behalf — Heb. That there are yet words for God. His zeal for God’s glory drew from him this following speech, wherein insignis est Elihu et magnificus. Elihu excelleth himself, and appeareth to be no worse an orator than was M. Crassus among the Romans, who had this commendation given him, Quod cum aliquid accuratius dixisset, semper fere contigit ut nunquam dixisse melius putaretur, That whenever he spoke it was judged to be the very best that ever he spake. (Cir. de Orat. 1. 1).

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I will fetch my knowledge from afar, and will ascribe righteousness to my Maker.

I will fetch my knowledge from afar — Even from heaven, as one taught of God; I will discourse of ancient things (for τα καινα κενα ), and fetch my reasons from the wonderful and sublime works of God, De arduis atque admirandis Dei operibus, those real demonstrations of his Deity. Est autem plane hic Elihu mirus et egregius, saith Mercer. And he is not a little wronged by that French Paraphrast, who saith of him, That he knew well how to begin a discourse, but knew not how to end it; and that seeing well that his tediousness might make him troublesome, he awakened his languishing auditors by this artificial preface.

And will ascribe righteousness to my Maker — This is both the main proposition of the ensuing oration and the main end of man’s creation, viz. to glorify his Maker, Romans 11:36 Revelation 4:11 .

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For truly my words [shall] not [be] false: he that is perfect in knowledge [is] with thee.

For truly my words shall not be false — I shall deal truly and plainly with thee; my discourse shall be simple and solid, having no better ornament but that of truth; which is like our first parents, most beautiful when naked: it was sin covered them, it is treachery hides this. Aperta veritas clausos etiam oculos ferit, saith one.

He that is perfect in knowledge is with thee — Integer sententiis (Vatab.); meaning himself, who fully understood the business between them, and would faithfully deliver it. There are that hold God to be hereby meant. A pious sense, but not so proper.

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Behold, God [is] mighty, and despiseth not [any: he is] mighty in strength [and] wisdom.

Behold, God is mighty, and despiseth not any — Much less oppresseth he any one in a good cause, or tyrannically abuseth his power to the crushing of an innocent. He is equally good as great; neither was Job well advised in seeming to sunder these two excellencies in God, the one from the other; since whatsoever is in God is God; neither ought we to think of him otherwise than of one not to be thought of; as of one whose wisdom is his justice, whose justice is his power, whose power is his mercy, and all himself.

He is mighty in strength and wisdom — Or, He is mighty, the strength of the heart, Validus est, virtus animi (Tram.). He was so to David: Psalms 138:3 , "In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, and strengthenest me with strength in my soul." At the sack of Ziklag, in the fail of all outward comforts, David encouraged himself in the Lord his God, 1 Samuel 30:6 . A Christian is never without his cordial.

Cor patrium, os verax, omnipotensque manus.

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He preserveth not the life of the wicked: but giveth right to the poor.

He preserveth not the life of the wicked — He is no such friend to them; though he be good to the godly, be greatly careth not what becomes of them. Their life they hold of him, and many good things besides; for he is the Saviour, or preserver, of all men, but especially of them that believe. But he suffereth not the wicked to live, as the Hebrew here hath it, he withdraweth them not from the hand of justice, he bindeth not them up in the bundle of life, he reckoneth them not among the living in Jerusalem, among the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven; he many times slayeth them with his own hand, and cutteth them short in righteousness. Or if not so, yet their preservation is but reservation, …

But giveth right to the poor — Or, to the afflicted. For poverty is an affliction, and subjecteth a man to many injuries: Zephaniah 3:12 , they are an afflicted and poor people, but trusting in the name of the Lord, they shall be relieved and righted, not so soon perhaps as themselves would, nor yet so long hence as their oppressors would. In the mount will the Lord be seen, who, as he seldom comes at our times, so he never fails his own time. Meanwhile this comfort they have:

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He withdraweth not his eyes from the righteous: but with kings [are they] on the throne; yea, he doth establish them for ever, and they are exalted.

He withdraweth not his eyes from the righteous — He is so lost in love, as I may say, toward such that he cannot like to look beside them; he beholdeth them when afflicted with singular care and complacency. Then, if ever, the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears open to their cry, Psalms 34:15 ; then they may have anything of God, there being no time like that for heariug of prayers, Zechariah 13:9 . Times of affliction are times of supplication, Psalms 50:15 ; Psalms 91:15 . They are mollissima fandi tempora, Jeremiah 51:19-21 . Then our hearts are largest, then God’s ears are most open. Neither his ears only, but his eyes too, are busied about his suffering servants, as the goldsmiths are about the gold cast into the furnace, that no grain thereof be lost. He sits down by the fire, saith Malachi, and tends it, as a refiner and purifier of silver, Job 3:3 . He refines them, but not as silver, Isaiah 48:10 , that is, not exactly, and to the utmost, lest they should be consumed in that fiery trial: he seeth to it that the choice spirits of his people fail not before him, Isaiah 57:16 , as they would do if he should bring upon them an evil, an only evil, Ezekiel 7:5 , and not in the midst of judgment remember mercy.

But with kings are they on the throne — i.e. He raiseth them to highest honours, as he did Joseph; whose fetters God in one hour changed into a chain of gold, his stocks into a chariot, his jail into a palace, his rags into fine linen, …; yea, as Jeremiah’s rags helped to draw him out of the dungeon, so do afflictions work out to God’s people an exceeding, eternal weight of glory. Here, perhaps, they may be held under, but to him that overcometh will the Lord Christ grant to sit with him in his throne, Revelation 3:21 . The deluge of calamities may assault them, but it shall certainly exalt them. They shall have crowns on their heads, and palms in their hands, and walk arm in arm with angels. Some of the Hebrews by "kings" here understand angels, as if it were written îìàáéí , not Melachim, but Maleochim.

Yea, he doth establish them for ever, and they are exalted — Or, when they are exalted. This no earthly prince can promise himself. Dionysius, who thought his kingdom had been tied to him with cords of adamant, was at length driven out of it. But Christ’s kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and he will not reign alone; if we suffer with him we shall also reign together, Romans 8:37 .

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And if [they be] bound in fetters, [and] be holden in cords of affliction;

And if they be bound in fetters — If it so happens, that through abuse of their prosperity and preferment, they wander, as they are men, out of the right way, and God sends out afflictions as his pursuivants to attack them, and lay them in cold irons for their correction, and to prevent judgment, Psalms 107:10 .

And be holden in cords of affliction — Or poverty; so that irretiti funibus misere vixerint (as the Tigurines here translate), they have only prisoners’ pittances, which will neither keep them alive nor suffer them to die.

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