Bible Commentaries

Call now, if there be any that will answer thee; and to which of the saints wilt thou turn?

Call now, if there be any that will answer thee — The beginning of this chapter is hard, saith Mercer, till you come to the seventh or eighth verses, and then all is plain and easy. That which Eliphaz driveth at here is, to drive Job out of all good conceit of his own condition, and to persuade him that never any good man suffered such hard and heavy things as he, or, at least, suffered them so untowardly and impatiently. Call, I pray thee, saith he, call over the roll, look into the records of former saints, and see if thou canst find among them all such another knotty piece as thyself, that needed so much hewing, and made such a deal of complaining. Was there ever the like heard of? Call now, if there be any one answerable to thee. Broughton rendereth it, Call now, if there be any one that will defend thee, that is, be thy patron or advocate, in word, or in the example of their lives.

And to which of the saints wilt thou turn? — q.d. Thou art alone, neither mayest thou hope to meet with thy match in the matter or manner of thine afflictions, unless it be among hypocrites and graceless persons, as Job 5:2 . The Septuagint read it, To which of the angels wilt thou look? and the Popish commentators think they have here an unanswerable ground for their doctrine of invocation of saints and angels. But did not the buzzards take notice of an irony here, and that Eliphaz assureth Job that it would be in vain for him to call to any saint? … Is it not plain, or probable, at least, that he here meaneth the saints living in this world? or if not, yet is Gregory the Great of no authority with them, who acknowledgeth none other to be called upon, here meant, but God; and that the saints are mentioned to Job in derision, as if it were a ridiculous thing to call to them departed out of this life, who cannot hear us.

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For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the silly one.

For wrath killeth the foolish man — Such as thou art, Job; hot and hasty, pettish and passionate, fretting thyself to do evil, and so provoking God to fall foul upon thee as a just object of his wrath, to thine utter ruin, without repentance. Surely, with the froward God will show himself froward, Psalms 18:26 . Neither hath ever any one hardened himself against the Lord and prospered, Job 9:4 . For what reason? he is wise in heart, and mighty in strength, as it is there, every way able to overly master an adversary: if he but turn his own passions loose upon him, such as are wrath and envy, they will soon dispatch him. How many are there who, like sullen birds in a cage, beat themselves to death! Did not Bajazet do so? and was Diodorus any wiser (Laert. lib. 2)? or Homer, who died for anger that they could not resolve certain questions put unto them? or Terence, who drowned himself for grief, that he had lost certain comedies that he had composed? We read of some, that, out of discontent, they turned atheists, as Diagoras, Lucian, Porphyry, …; and of others, that, missing of bishoprics, or other church preferments, they turned heretics in sui solatium: were not these great sinners against their own souls, like the angry bee, who, to be revenged, loseth her sting, and soon after her life? Died they not like fools indeed, that died of the sullens, and so were deeply guilty of suicide? especially if their wrath were bent against God, if they howl against heaven; such are at once twice slain; slain with the wrath of God, and with their own.

And envy slayeth the silly one — Him that is under the power of his passions, et minima afflictione ab officio abducitur, saith Mercer, and is turned off from duty by every light affliction; such a one doth envy at another man’s prosperity, Aγηνορια δε μιν εκτα (De Ajace, Homer). It is the same with wrath, nisi quod vehementius est, but that it is somewhat worse, saith the same author, as being a most quick sighted and sharp fanged malignity. Hence that of Solomon, Wrath is cruel, and anger outrageous; but who can stand before envy? Proverbs 27:4 . It is the rottenness of the bones, Proverbs 14:30 . And like the serpent porphyrius, it drinks the most part of its own venom. See Trapp on " Proverbs 14:30 "

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I have seen the foolish taking root: but suddenly I cursed his habitation.

I have seen the foolish taking root — q.d. I grant that wicked men are not always presently punished, sed Nemesis in tergo; et subito tollitur, qui diu toleratur. God’s wrath is such as no wicked man can avert or avoid. This had Eliphaz well observed, "I have seen"; he had set a memorandum on God’s just judgments, and marked his spits with his own stars, as one speaketh. Eliphaz was a man of much experience. See Job 4:8 . In him that was true which Elihu saith should be, that days spake, and multitude of years taught wisdom, Job 32:7 . Only herein he is mistaken, that he misapplieth all to Job, arguing from his outward condition to his inward; as if, therefore, he were wicked, because seemingly wretched. Thus the gloss he set was viperous, eating out the bowels of the text; it was a truth of God that he uttered, and the same in sense with that of David, Psalms 37:35 ; and that of Solomon, Proverbs 23:18 . But why should he thus writhe it and wrest it, to make the tune sound to his own key? St Peter speaketh of some that wrest the Scriptures, 2 Peter 3:16 , putting them upon the rack, and making them speak that which they never thought. And Tertullian saith of others, that they do murder the Scriptures for their own turns, and to serve their own purposes, Caedem scripturarum faciunt. The make a slaugter of the scriptures. But let us hear Eliphaz: "I have seen," saith he, and what more sure than sight? Numbers 16:14 , "the foolish," the wilful fool, and perhaps he points at some one such rich fool as is mentioned Luke 12:20 , not unknown to Job, and, as Eliphaz deemeth, a fit parallel for him, "taking root," dwelling alone in the earth, confirmed and settled in a fair estate, in a prosperous condition, as Nebuchadnezzar, that goodly tree, thought himself, Daniel 4:4 ; Daniel 4:22 , see Jeremiah 12:2 and Dionysius, tyrant of Sicily, who conceited that his kingdom was bound fast unto him with chains of adamant; but he was soon after cast out, and thereby convinced of singular folly (Aelian. Var. Hist. lib. 2). A tempest, or, at least, an axe, of Divine vengeance, can easily fell these rooted fast and best fruited trees, and lay them low enough, as he did Nebuchadnezzar, that club of the nations and rod of God’s wrath, Isaiah 14:4-8 Daniel 4:22 , …, and Attila, the conquering Hun, who called himself the wrath of God and scourge of the world, and arrogantly said, that the stars of heaven fell before him, and the earth trembled (Jovius), but was soon after rooted up by impartial death in the midst of his nuptial solemnities, Subita morte extinctus est, sanguine copiose in fauces exundante et ex ore erumpente. He died suddenly, much blood pouring from his throat and his mouth.

And suddenly I cursed his habitation — His house, which he held his castle, together with his family, Job 5:4 , and his family provisions, Job 5:5 . All these Eliphaz suddenly (even when he was in the ruff of all his jollity, in the height of his flourish) cursed, Heb. pierced, or bored through, not so much by a malediction as a prediction, Male ominatus sum iis, I foresaw and foretold that that happiness would not hold long; I ominously divined it; I both thought it and spake it. Pium non decent dirae; cursing men are cursed men; but a godly person may presage a curse, and foretell it, according to that, Proverbs 3:33 , "The curse of the Lord is in the house of the wicked," yea, the flying roll of curses, that is ten yards long and five yards broad, shall remain in the midst of it, and consume it, Zechariah 5:4 . Brimstone shall be scattered upon his habitation, and the fire of God shall kindle it; so that his roots shall be dried up beneath, and above shall his branch be cut off, …, Job 18:15-16 .

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His children are far from safety, and they are crushed in the gate, neither [is there] any to deliver [them].

His children are far from safety — This is one principal root of wicked men, viz. their children, which have their very name in Hebrew from building, because by them the house is built up, and way made to greatest honours by friendships and affinities of other great families. These are far from safety, that is, they are in a great deal of danger (Lavater); or, by their intemperance, they run into many diseases and disasters; by their evil practices they come under the lash of the law, and without repentance under the danger of damnation too; salvation is far from them, Psalms 119:155 Isaiah 59:11 .

They are crushed in the gate — That is, they are cast in judgment, all goes against them, and sentence pronounced upon them, as it befell Haman’s children, and David’s enemies, Psalms 109:7 .

Neither is there any to deliver them — None to plead for them, or rescue them, Proverbs 31:8-9 ; none to extend mercy to them, nor any to favour those fatherless children, Psalms 109:12 , and that because their fathers were pitiless, Job 5:13-14 , Haman for instance.

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Whose harvest the hungry eateth up, and taketh it even out of the thorns, and the robber swalloweth up their substance.

Whose harvest the hungry eateth up — This is another root of the wicked one, his estate, against which God raiseth up a rout of needy wretches to pillage him. These are as a sweeping rain, that leaveth no food, Proverbs 28:1 . These, as lean lice, bite hardest, and, as sparrow hawks, are extremly greedy: Malesuada fames putteth them upon it. These harpies seize upon his very harvest ad maiorem cruciatum et miseriam, to the more crude and wretched, pulling the meat out of his mouth, as it were, and not suffering him to roast that which he took in hunting, Proverbs 12:27 . He shall meet with greatest disappointment, and come to that poverty which he so studiously shunned, singing that doleful ditty,

• En queis consevimus agros?

Aλλοι μεν σπειρουσ ’ , αλλοι δ αυ αμησονται .

See this threatened Leviticus 26:19 Deuteronomy 28:33 Isaiah 1:6 Micah 6:15 .

And taketh it even out of the thorns — Creeping through the midst of the thorns and bushes wherewith it is fenced and hedged in, to steal it away. Hunger, we say, breaks through stone walls: the Rabbis sense it thus, He that comes out of the thorns, that is, every base fellow, carrieth away the store of this rich oppressor (Scultatus). The armed man carrieth it away, so the Vulgate after the Septuagint. Mr Broughton reads it thus, The hungry shall eat up his harvest which he had gotten through the thorns, that is, not without a great deal of care, and much pains in stubbing up the thorns, that he might not sow amongst them.

And the robber swalloweth up their substance — Or, the thirsty shall drink up their substance, as gold thirsty Babel did Hezekiah’s treasure for his coming so near the garb and guise of the wicked in his ostentation. The thirsty shall swill up their wealth, so Broughton rendereth it: so that neither their esculenta food, nor poculenta drink shall escape the spoiler, but there shall be a clean riddance of all; the enemy shall play at sweepstake, he shall sup up all ( שׁàó ) as the Hebrew hath it, and as Eliphaz would have Job consider that the Chaldeans and Sabeans had done his substance.

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Although affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground;

Although addiction cometh not forth of the dust — It cometh not by fate or blind fortune, it haps not as it may that men suffer. Philistines indeed will say, haply, It is a chance, 1 Samuel 6:9 , a common occurrence, that had a time to come in, and must have a time to go in; but every Naomi will in such case conclude, "The hand of the Lord is gone out against me," Ruth 1:13 , and carry her sails accordingly, Job 5:20-21 ; and every good soul will cry out, I will bear the indignatiou of the Lord (who is the efficient cause of all my miseries), because I have sinned against him, which is the meritorious cause. The word here rendered affliction signifieth also iniquity; and well it may, since they are tied together with chains of adamant, as that heathen said; Flagitium et flagellum sunt sicut acus et filum, saith another. Man weaves a spider’s web of sin out of his own bowels, saith a third; and then he is entangled in the same web; the troubles which ensnare and wrap about him are twisted with his own fingers. "Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth, where no gin is for him?" Amos 3:5 . Turdus sibi malum cacat, Of the blackbird’s dung is made the bird lime whereby he is taken; so out of the dung of men’s sins are made the lime twigs of their punishment.

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Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.

Yet man is born unto trouble — Which is the natural fruit of his sin; and a piece of the curse. He hath in him a πανσπερμια , a common seminary of all sin, and this he brings into the world with him; what wonder, then, though troubles come trooping in upon him on every side, as if he were born for no other end but to suffer, and that as naturally as fire ascendeth? Sure it is, that sin doth as naturally and ordinarily draw and suck judgments to it as the loedestone doth iron, or turpentine fire. Some read the words thus, Man is born to sin, and so consequently to trouble; for sin usually ends tragicly and troublesomely. Hence the same word, both here and that in the former verse, signifies both sin and sorrow; and man, by reason of his birth blot, hath a birthright to them both, he is even born to them. The devil, when he speaketh lies, speaketh of his own, John 8:44 . And we, when either we do evil, we work de nostro et secundum hominem, of our own, and according to men, 1 Corinthians 3:3 ; or when we suffer evil, we suffer nothing but what is human and incident to men, 1 Corinthians 10:13 . The very heathen could say as much; witness that of Xenophon, παν προσδοκαν δει ανθρωπον οντα , It behoveth him that is no more than a man to expect all sorts of troubles; and that of Demosthenes, It is fit for men to hope the best, but bravely to bear the worst, as that which is common to all mankind; and that of Isocrates, O μεμνημενος , …, He that remembereth that he is a man will not be discontented at whatsoever trouble befalleth him; and that of Herodotus, πας εστιν ανθρωπος συμφορα , every man is miserable. For this it was likely that God, to keep Ezekiel lowly in the abundance of revelations, calleth him so oft son of man. And when the French king, being prisoner to Charles V, saw written upon the wall that emperor’s motto, plus ultra, more beyond, further yet, and underwrote, Hodie mihi, cras tibi, Today for me, tomorrow for you, I am now thy prisoner, thou mayest hereafter be mine; the emperor came after him, and subscribed, I confess I am a man, and may soon suffer anything incident to mankind, Homo sum, humani nihil a me alienum puto (J. Manl. loc. com. 175).

As the sparks fly upward — Heb. The sons of the quick or live coal lift up to fly. The Vulgate hath it, As the birds fly upward; the Septuagint, As the young vultures fly upward. Sparks and birds fly upward naturally, and by a principle of their own, they need not be taught it; so here. Birds, though they have more of the earth than of the other three elements, Genesis 2:19 , yet are light (which is a wonder), and delight in high flying, and this is innate to them; so is it to man, as man, to be in trouble, Job 14:1 . Some of the Hebrews by sparks, or sons of the quick coal, here understand the devils, and make this to be the sense; like as sin is connatural to men, so doth God stir up the devils, to whom it is as natural to flutter up and down here for the punishment of such as sin; Sed hoc friget, but this is cold, saith Mercer; but this is not likely to be the meaning.

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I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause:

Surely I would seek unto God — Not let fly at him, as thou hast done, cursing thy birthday, and wishing thyself out of the world. Assure thyself, this that thou takest is not the way to get off with comfort, but rather to return by repentance unto him that smiteth thee, and to seek the Lord of hosts, Isaiah 9:12 , since else his anger will not turn away, but his hand will be stretched out still (as the prophet there hath it); for is it fit that he should lay down the bucklers first? or that we should stand upon terms, and capitulate with him, and not stoop unto him by a humble yieldance? especially since,

• Deus crudelius urit

Quos videt invitos succubuisse sibi (Tibul. Eleg. i. 8).

God burns more severely those he sees to have laid themselves down in envy. The way to disarm God’s heavy indignation, is to submit to his justice, and to implore his mercy, Hosea 5:14 , to flee from his anger to his grace. Blood letting is a cure for bleeding, and a burn a cure against a burn; and running to God is the way to escape him; as to close and get in with him that would strike you doth avoid the blow: and this is the thing I would do, were I in thy case, saith Eliphaz here. He doth not vaunt (as Olympiodorus mistaketh his meaning), but advise Job to humble himself, and confess his sins, and sue for pardon of sin and release of punishment; to kiss the rod, and not to bite it; to drink from God’s cup willingly and at first, when it is full (as Mr Bradford, martyr, hath it), lest if he linger, he drink at length of the dregs with the wicked.

And unto God — The righteous judge, as the word importeth, who πασι δικαια νεμει, μηδε κρισιν ες χαριν ελκει (Phocyl.), neither hateth nor feareth any man (as it was said of Trajan the emperor, but more truly of God): he proceedeth according to truth, not according to opinion or appearance, and greatly scorneth to look at displeasure, revenge, or recompense.

Would I commit my cause — Put my case and condition, by self resignation, and humble supplication. This David did notably, 2 Samuel 15:25-26 Psalms 142:2 , and counsels all to do accordingly, Psalms 55:22 . Cast thy burden (or thy request) upon the Lord by virtue of this writ or warrant.

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