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英文原文
This chapter is Job's answer to Bildad's discourse in the foregoing chapter. Though his spirit was grieved and much heated, and Bildad was very peevish, yet he gave him leave to say all he designed to say, and did not break in upon him in the midst of his argument; but, when he had done, he gave him a fair answer, in which, I. He complains of unkind usage. And very unkindly he takes it. 1. That his comforters added to his affliction, Job 19:2-7. 2. That his God was the author of his affliction, Job 19:8-12. 3. That his relations and friends were strange to him, and shy of him, in his affliction, Job 19:20-22. II. He comforts himself with the believing hopes of happiness in the other world, though he had so little comfort in this, making a very solemn confession of his faith, with a desire that it might be recorded as an evidence of his sincerity, Job 19:23-27. III. He concludes with a caution to his friends not to persist in their hard censures of him, Job 19:28,29. If the remonstrance Job here makes of his grievances may serve sometimes to justify our complaints, yet his cheerful views of the future state, at the same time, may shame us Christians, and may serve to silence our complaints, or at least to balance them.
1-7
The Reply of Job to Bildad (1520 BC)
約伯回答比勒遝（主前1520年）
¹ 約伯回答說：
² 你們攪擾我的心要到幾時？用言語壓碎我到幾時？
³ 你們這十次羞辱我；你們苦待我毫不以為恥。
⁴ 果真我有錯，這錯乃是在我身上。
⁵ 你們若真的要向我自誇，以我的羞辱為證責備我，
⁶ 就當知道神傾覆我，用網羅圍繞我。
⁷ 我因委屈而呼求，卻不蒙應允；我大聲呼求，卻沒有公斷。
約伯的朋友們因他受苦深重而斷定他是個惡人，對他下了極嚴厲的非難；如今他在此告訴他們，他受如此非議是多麼難以忍受。比勒遝曾兩次以 幾時 開頭（Job 8:2，18:2），因此約伯如今要特別回答他，也以 幾時 開頭（Job 19:2）。人所不喜歡的通常都覺得長；但約伯更有理由覺得那些攻擊他的人太長，比他們覺得只為自己申辯的他太長更有理由。為自衛辯護——若我們站在對的一邊——比冒犯弟兄——即使我們站在對的一邊——更能找到正當理由。如今在此請觀察：
I. 他如何描述他們待他的不仁，以及他如何評估這事。1. 他們 攪擾他的心，這比骨頭的擾亂更痛苦（詩 6:2,3）。他們是他的朋友；他們來安慰他，假裝為他提供最好的忠告；卻以許多的嚴肅和對智慧與敬虔的矯飾，圖謀奪去他如今唯一剩下的安慰——一位良善的神、無虧的良心和好名聲；這使他心中煩擾。2. 他們 用言語壓碎他——那些話必然是嚴厲而十分殘忍的，才能將人壓碎：他們使他憂傷，因而壓碎他；因此將來必有一場清算，為一切反對基督和他的百姓所說的刻薄話算帳（猶 15）。3. 他們 羞辱他（Job 19:3），給他加上壞名聲，把一些他不知道的事加在他身上。對一個磊落的人而言，羞辱是切膚之痛。4. 他們 向他生疏——如今他落在患難中，他們就疏遠他，好像不認識他似的（Job 2:12），不再像他在昌盛之時那樣與他親密。當朋友或神的朋友落在患難中就疏遠他們的，是受世界的靈所支配，而不是受任何真正的體面或愛心原則所支配。朋友乃時常親愛。 5. 他們不但疏遠他，還 向他自誇（Job 19:5），不但對他冷淡，還對他擺架子，以高壓的姿態凌辱他，藉著自誇來貶抑他。踐踏跌倒的人，是卑劣的、可恥的事。6. 他們以他的羞辱為證責備他——即他們以他的患難為論據來證明他是惡人。他們本該為他的正直申辯，幫助他在患難之下因正直而得安慰，並以那正直來對抗他的羞辱（正如保羅所做的，林後 1:12）；但他們卻反過來以他的羞辱來攻擊他的正直——這不但不仁，而且極不公正；因為若容許以羞辱為理由來攻擊人，我們還能到哪裏去找誠實人呢？
II. 他如何加重他們不仁的罪。1. 他們如此虐待他已多次（Job 19:3）：你們這十次羞辱我——即非常多次，正如創 31:7 和民 14:22 所用。他們五次發言，每一次都是雙重的羞辱。他說話好像他一直特別記著他們的羞辱，能準確說出共有多少次。如此斤斤計較是心胸狹窄和不友善的，看起來像是存心報復和報復的企圖。我們忘記傷害和不仁，比記住它們並逐一記錄下來，更能增進自己的平安。2. 他們仍繼續虐待他，似乎決心堅持下去：你們攪擾我的心要到幾時？（Job 19:2,5）「我看見你們仍要向我自誇，不顧我為自己所說的一切申辯的話。」話說得太多的人很少覺得自己已經說夠了；當嘴巴在激憤中張開之時，耳朵就向理智關閉了。3. 他們對自己所做的毫不羞愧（Job 19:3）。他們本該為自己的硬心——如此不像人——為自己的不仁——如此不像善人——為自己的虛假——如此不像朋友——而慚愧；但他們慚愧嗎？不，雖然一次又一次被告知，他們卻仍不知羞慚。
III. 他如何回答他們嚴苛的非議——向他們指出，他們所定罪的是可以原諒的，這是他們本該考慮的。1. 他判斷上的失誤是可以原諒的（Job 19:4）：果真我有錯——即因無知或錯誤而錯了，這在人是很容易設想的，在好人也是一樣。人非聖賢，孰能無過；我們也必須樂意把這設想用在自己身上。自以為絕不會錯是愚妄的。「但即使如此，」約伯說，這錯乃是在我身上——即「我照自己最好的判斷說話，完全真誠，不是出於反駁的靈。」或者：「我若錯了，我把它留給自己，不像你們那樣強加於人。我只用以省察自己和自己手中的工作。我不干涉別人，既不教訓他們，也不論斷他們。」人的錯誤若留在自己心裏，不以此攪擾別人，就更可原諒。你有信心，就當留給自己。 有人這樣理解這話：「我若錯了，是我自己要為此受苦；因此你們不必操心；不，是我正在受苦，而且受得很厲害；因此你們不必以你們的非議加增我的痛苦。」2. 他激情的爆發雖不能算為正當，卻是可以原諒的——考慮到他憂傷的深重和痛苦的極限。「你們若要對我所說的每一句抱怨的話吹毛求疵，作最壞的解釋並以此攻擊我，至少也要把抱怨的原因一併考慮，在判斷抱怨之前先衡量那原因，然後再把它變為我的羞辱：就當知道神傾覆我」（Job 19:6）。他要他們考慮三件事：（1）他的患難極大。他被傾覆了，自己不能自拔，被網羅包圍了，無法逃出。（2）神是這一切的施行者，在其中攻擊他：「傾覆我的是他的手；包圍我的是他的網羅；因此你們不必如此與我作對。我與神的不悅搏鬥已經夠了；不要再加上你們的。讓神與我的爭論先結束，然後你們再開始你們的。」人所射的箭不能穿透他的帳幕——迫害神所擊打的人、向他所傷的人說話 是殘忍的（詩 69:26）。（3）他無法為自己的冤屈得著任何昭雪的盼望（Job 19:7）。他抱怨自己的痛苦，卻得不到絲毫舒緩——求問受苦的原因，卻無法查明——向神的法庭上訴以求洗雪自己的無辜，卻連聽審都得不到，更不用說判決了：我因委屈而呼求，卻不蒙應允。 神也許一時似乎向他的百姓掩耳不顧，向他們的禱告發怒，忽視他們向他上訴；在那種情形下，他們若苦苦抱怨，是可以原諒的。神若與我們為敵，我們就有禍了！
英文原文
The Reply of Job to Bildad (1520 BC)
¹ Then Job answered and said,
² How long will ye vex my soul, and break me in pieces with words?
³ These ten times have ye reproached me: ye are not ashamed that ye make yourselves strange to me.
⁴ And be it indeed that I have erred, mine error remaineth with myself.
⁵ If indeed ye will magnify yourselves against me, and plead against me my reproach:
⁶ Know now that God hath overthrown me, and hath compassed me with his net.
⁷ Behold, I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard: I cry aloud, but there is no judgment.
Job's friends had passed a very severe censure upon him as a wicked man because he was so grievously afflicted; now here he tells them how ill he took it to be so censured. Bildad had twice begun with a How long (Job 8:2,18:2), and therefore Job, being now to answer him particularly, begins with a How long too, Job 19:2. What is not liked is commonly thought long; but Job had more reason to think those long who assaulted him than they had to think him long who only vindicated himself. Better cause may be shown for defending ourselves, if we have right on our side, than for offending our brethren, though we have right on our side. Now observe here,
I. How he describes their unkindness to him and what account he gives of it. 1. They vexed his soul, and that is more grievous than the vexation of the bones, Ps 6:2,3. They were his friends; they came to comfort him, pretended to counsel him for the best; but with a great deal of gravity, and affectation of wisdom and piety, they set themselves to rob him of the only comfort he had now left him in a good God, a good conscience, and a good name; and this vexed him to his heart. 2. They broke him in pieces with words, and those were surely hard and very cruel words that would break a man to pieces: they grieved him, and so broke him; and therefore there will be a reckoning hereafter for all the hard speeches spoken against Christ and his people, Jude 1:15. 3. They reproached him, (Job 19:3), gave him a bad character and laid to his charge things that he knew not. To an ingenuous mind reproach is a cutting thing. 4. They made themselves strange to him, were shy of him now that he was in his troubles, and seemed as if they did not know him (Job 2:12), were not free with him as they used to be when he was in his prosperity. Those are governed by the spirit of the world, and not by any principles of true honour or love, who make themselves strange to their friends, or God's friends, when they are in trouble. A friend loves at all times. 5. They not only estranged themselves from him, but magnified themselves against him (Job 19:5), not only looked shy of him, but looked big upon him, and insulted over him, magnifying themselves to depress him. It is a mean thing, it is a base thing, thus to trample upon those that are down. 6. They pleaded against him his reproach, that is, they made use of his affliction as an argument against him to prove him a wicked man. They should have pleaded for him his integrity, and helped him to take the comfort of that under his affliction, and so have pleaded that against his reproach (as St. Paul, 2Co 1:12); but, instead of that, they pleaded his reproach against his integrity, which was not only unkind, but very unjust; for where shall we find an honest man if reproach may be admitted for a plea against him?
II. How he aggravates their unkindness. 1. They had thus abused him often (Job 19:3): These ten times you have reproached me, that is, very often, as Ge 31:7, Nu 14:22. Five times they had spoken, and every speech was a double reproach. He spoke as if he had kept a particular account of their reproaches, and could tell just how many they were. It is but a peevish and unfriendly thing to do so, and looks like a design of retaliation and revenge. We better befriend our own peace by forgetting injuries and unkindnesses than by remembering them and scoring them up. 2. They continued still to abuse him, and seemed resolved to persist in it: "How long will you do it?" Job 19:2,5. "I see you will magnify yourselves against me, notwithstanding all I have said in my own justification." Those that speak too much seldom think they have said enough; and, when the mouth is opened in passion, the ear is shut to reason. 3. They were not ashamed of what they did, Job 19:3. They had reason to be ashamed of their hard-heartedness, so ill becoming men, of their uncharitableness, so ill becoming good men, and of their deceitfulness, so ill becoming friends: but were they ashamed? No, though they were told of it again and again, yet they could not blush.
III. How he answers their harsh censures, by showing them that what they condemned was capable of excuse, which they ought to have considered. 1. The errors of his judgment were excusable (Job 19:4): "Be it indeed that I have erred, that I am in the wrong through ignorance or mistake," which may well be supposed concerning men, concerning good men. Humanum est errare—Error cleaves to humanity; and we must be willing to suppose it concerning ourselves. It is folly to think ourselves infallible. "But be it so," said Job, "my error remaineth with myself," that is, "I speak according to the best of my judgment, with all sincerity, and not from a spirit of contradiction." Or, "If I be in an error, I keep it to myself, and do not impose it upon others as you do. I only prove myself and my own work by it. I meddle not with other people, either to teach them or to judge them." Men's errors are the more excusable if they keep them to themselves, and do not disturb others with them. Hast thou faith? Have it to thyself. Some give this sense of these words: "If I be in an error, it is I that must smart for it; and therefore you need not concern yourselves: nay, it is I that do smart, and smart severely, for it; and therefore you need not add to my misery by your reproaches." 2. The breakings out of his passion, though not justifiable, yet were excusable, considering the vastness of his grief and the extremity of his misery. "If you will go on to cavil at every complaining word I speak, will make the worst of it and improve it against me, yet take the cause of the complaint along with you, and weigh that, before you pass a judgment upon the complaint, and turn it to my reproach: Know then that God has overthrown me," Job 19:6. Three things he would have them consider:—(1.) That his trouble was very great. He was overthrown, and could not help himself, enclosed as in a net, and could not get out. (2.) That God was the author of it, and that, in it, he fought against him: "It was his hand that overthrew me; it is in his net that I am enclosed; and therefore you need not appear against me thus. I have enough to do to grapple with God's displeasure; let me not have yours also. Let God's controversy with me be ended before you begin yours." It is barbarous to persecute him whom God hath smitten and to talk to the grief of one whom he hath wounded, Ps 69:26. (3.) That he could not obtain any hope of the redress of his grievances, Job 19:7. He complained of his pain, but got no ease—begged to know the cause of his affliction, but could not discover it—appealed to God's tribunal for the clearing of his innocency, but could not obtain a hearing, much less a judgment, upon his appeal: I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard. God, for a time, may seem to turn away his ear from his people, to be angry at their prayers and overlook their appeals to him, and they must be excused if, in that case, they complain bitterly. Woe unto us if God be against us!
8-22
Job Complains of God's Displeasure; Job Complains of His Friends (1520 BC)
約伯抱怨神的不悅；約伯抱怨朋友（主前1520年）
⁸ 神用籬笆擋住我的道路，使我不得經過；又使我的路徑變為黑暗。
⁹ 他剝去我的榮耀，摘下我頭上的冠冕。
¹⁰ 他在四面拆毀我，我便過去；他又移去我的盼望，如拔一棵樹。
¹¹ 他向我發怒，將我當作他的仇敵之一。
¹² 他的軍隊一同前來，修築路途攻擊我，在我的帳棚四圍安營。
¹³ 他使我的弟兄遠離我，使我所認識的人全然與我生疏。
¹⁴ 我的親戚斷絕，我的密友忘記我。
¹⁵ 在我家寄居的，和我的使女，都以我為外人；我在他們眼中成了外人。
¹⁶ 我呼召僕人，他卻不回答；我只好用口懇求他。
¹⁷ 我的氣息於我妻子也是生疏的，我雖為自己親身兒女的緣故懇求她。
¹⁸ 連小孩子也藐視我；我若起來，他們就議論我。
*¹⁹ 我一切的密友都厭惡我；我所愛的人轉身攻擊我。
²⁰ 我的皮肉緊貼骨頭，我只剩牙皮逃脫。
²¹ 我的朋友啊，可憐我！可憐我！因為神的手摸了我。
²² 你們為何像神逼迫我，吃我的肉還以為不足呢？
比勒遝很不誠實地把約伯的抱怨曲解為對惡人悲慘景況的描述；但約伯在此重複這些話，為要感動他們的憐憫，在他們心中動工——如果他們還有任何善性的話。
I. 他抱怨自己所承受的神不悅的記號——這正是苦難和悲慘中的茵蔯和苦膽。他的抱怨是何等悲哀！他向我發怒——這怒火閃爍、使他恐懼，這怒火燃燒、使他疼痛（Job 19:11）。地獄的火是甚麼，不就是神的憤怒嗎？麻木的良心在來世要感受它，如今卻不懼怕它。蒙光照的良心如今懼怕它，在來世卻不感受它。約伯此刻的感受是 神把他當作他的仇敵之一；然而同時神愛他，以他為他忠信的朋友而誇耀。認為神所管教的就是他所待為仇敵的，這是嚴重的錯誤，卻非常普遍；相反地，他所愛的，他必責備管教；這是他兒子的紀律。約伯無論往哪裏看，都以為看見了神對他不悅的記號。1. 他回顧從前的昌盛嗎？他看見神的手結束了那一切（Job 19:9）：他剝去了我的榮耀——我的財富、尊榮、權勢，以及我行善的一切機會。我的兒女是我的榮耀，但我已失去了他們；凡是我頭上的冠冕，他都從我摘下了，把我一切的尊榮放在塵土中。請看屬世榮耀的虛空：這是我們很快可能被剝去的；無論剝去它的是甚麼，我們必須看見並承認神的手在其中，順應他的設計。2. 他俯視眼前的患難嗎？他看見神給它們簽發了委任狀、命令它們攻擊他。它們是 他的軍隊——按他的指示行動——在我的帳棚四圍安營（Job 19:12）。使他苦惱的，與其說是他的災禍成群結隊而來，不如說它們是 神的 軍隊——在其中神似乎與他爭戰、有意毀滅他。神的軍隊 在他的帳棚四圍安營，如同士兵圍攻堅固的城池，切斷一切供應的來路，不斷轟擊它；約伯的帳棚就是如此被圍困。曾經有一度神的軍隊為保護而環繞他：你不是在他四圍圈上籬笆嗎？ 如今相反地，它們環繞他，使他恐懼，並 在四面拆毀他（Job 19:10）。3. 他前瞻拯救嗎？他看見神的手切斷了一切拯救的盼望（Job 19:8）：神用籬笆擋住我的道路，使我不得經過。 我如今沒有留下的路可以自救——既不能從患難中自拔，也不能在其中得著舒緩。我若要採取甚麼行動、向拯救邁出甚麼步伐呢？我發現 我的路被籬笆擋住；我不能做我所要做的；不但如此，我若要以將來拯救的遠景自娛呢？我不能；它不但超出我的能力範圍，更超出我的視野範圍：神 使我的路徑變為黑暗，也沒有人告訴我要等多久（詩 74:9）。他斷定（Job 19:10）：我便過去——對這世界來說完全失落和完了；他又移去我的盼望，如拔一棵樹——被砍下或連根拔起，再也不會生長。今生的盼望是將亡之物，但好人當他們的盼望從這世界被剪除之時，不過是如一棵樹被移去——從這苗圃移植到主的園中。我們若理由充分，不可抱怨神如此把我們的盼望從沙土上移到磐石上，從暫時的事上移到永遠的事上。
II. 他抱怨他的親屬和一切舊相識的不仁。在這一點上他也承認神的手（Job 19:13）：他使我的弟兄遠離我——即他把那些患難加在我身上，使他們因懼怕而遠離我，因我的瘡而退避。作為他們的罪，神不是其中的作者；是撒但使人的心與在患難中的弟兄疏遠。但作為約伯的患難，神安排了它以完成他的試驗。正如我們要在從仇敵所受的一切傷害中看見神的手（「主吩咐示每咒罵大衛」），照樣也要在從朋友所受的一切冷遇和不仁中看見——這會幫助我們更耐心地忍受它們。每一個受造之物對我們是甚麼（仁慈或不仁、舒適或不舒適），是神使它成為的。然而這並不能免除約伯的親屬和朋友對他所犯的可怕忘恩和不義之罪——他有理由抱怨；很少有人能像他那樣忍受。他注意到的不仁：1. 親屬和相識的不仁——他的鄰舍以及他從前與之親密的人，他們有義務以一切友誼和禮節的法則來關心他、探訪他、詢問他的安、並隨時準備為他盡一切力量所及的善事；然而這些人 與他生疏（Job 19:13）。他們對他不再關心，好像他是一個他們從不認識的陌生人。他的親屬——他在昌盛之時與他認親的人——如今斷絕了；他們對他從前所表示的友誼和他如今對他們所期望的恩慈都虧缺了。連他的密友——他所記念的——如今也忘記了他，忘記了他從前對他們的友誼，也忘記了他眼前的苦難：他們聽說了他的遭遇，打算去探望他；但事實上他們忘記了，如此不受感動。不但如此，他的至交——他最親密、最放在心上的朋友——不但忘記了他，更厭惡他，盡可能遠離他，因為他貧窮，不能像從前那樣款待他們，又因為他疼痛、是可憎的景象。他所愛的人——因此他們若不在他患難之時愛他，就比稅吏更壞——不但背棄他，更轉身攻擊他，竭力使他成為可憎的，好為自己如此生疏待他而自圓其說（Job 19:19）。人的友誼是何等不可靠；但神若是我們的朋友，他在需要的時候必不使我們失望。但願無論自稱有人性或基督教信仰的人，都不使用約伯的朋友對他所用的方式對待朋友：逆境是友誼的考驗。2. 僕人和家人的不仁。有時我們確實發現，出乎意料之外，有一個朋友比弟兄更親密；但一家之主通常期望家人即使在因身體或心靈軟弱而對別人變得可鄙之時，仍會侍候和照顧他。但可憐的約伯被自己的家人虐待，他的一些最壞的仇敵就是他自己家裏的人。他沒有提他的兒女；他們都死了，我們可以設想，他存活的親屬的不仁使他更加為兒女的死哀悼：他們若還活著， 他會想，我就可以從他們得到安慰。 至於如今在他周圍的人：（1）他自己的僕人輕看他。他的使女不照料他的病，倒把他當作外人和異鄉人（Job 19:15）。他的其他僕人毫不理會他；他若呼叫他們，他們不肯到他的 call，假裝沒有聽見。他若問他們問題，他們不肯 給他一個回答（Job 19:16）。約伯從前對他們是好主人，在他們向他申訴之時 不藐視他們的案件（Job 31:13），如今他們卻對他無禮，在他向他們申訴之時藐視他的案件。我們若從我們所厚待的人手中受惡待，不可以此為怪。他雖然如今病弱，卻不對僕人暴躁和專橫——這是太常見的——而是以口 懇求 他的僕人，雖然他有權命令；然而他們對他不客氣，既不仁也不義。注意，患病和憂愁中的人容易把事情往壞處想、猜疑別人的輕視、把最小的冷遇放在心上：約伯在患難中，連僕人對他的忽略也使他苦惱。（2）但人會想，當所有人都離棄他之時，他懷中的妻子總該對他溫柔吧：不，因為他不肯照她所勸的褻瀆神而死，他的氣息對她也是生疏的；她不願走近他，也不理會他所說的話（Job 19:17）。他雖然以丈夫的溫柔——不是以權柄，而是以那以他們的兒女為憑據的夫妻之愛懇求她——對她說話，她卻不理會他。有人如此讀：雖然我為兒女哀悼——即為我自己肉身所生的兒女的死——這苦難中她與他同樣有份。如今看來，魔鬼把她留給他，不僅是要作他的試探者，更是要作他的折磨者。從她起初對他所說的話——你褻瀆神，死了吧——可以看出她幾乎沒有宗教信仰；從那些眼中沒有敬畏神、不受良心約束的人那裏，還能期望甚麼仁慈和善良呢？（3）連他家裏出生的小孩——他自己僕人的兒女，他們生來就是他的僕人——也藐視他、議論他（Job 19:18）；他雖然出於禮貌站起來友善地對他們說話，或以權威責備他們，他們卻讓他知道他們既不懼怕他，也不愛他。
III. 他抱怨自己身體的衰敗；它的一切美麗和力量都消失了。當周圍的人輕看他之時，他若健康安泰，還可以自娛。但他從自己身上所得的樂趣，也不比別人從他身上所得的多（Job 19:20）：我的骨頭如今緊貼我的皮膚，如同先前緊貼我的肉一般；正是這使他 滿了皺紋（Job 16:8）；他成了完全的骷髏，只剩皮包骨。不但如此，連他的皮也幾乎沒有了，除了 牙的皮——他的牙齦，也許還有嘴唇——之外，幾乎沒有完好的地方；其餘的都被他的毒瘡剝去了。請看我們有何理由放縱肉體——這肉體在我們一切照顧之後，仍可能被其本身所含的疾病的種子所消耗。
IV. 基於這一切，他把自己推薦給朋友的憐憫，並公正地責備他們對他的苛刻。從這對他可悲景況的描述，不難推論出：1. 他們當可憐他（Job 19:21）。他以所能用的最動人、最令人融化的話語懇求這事——足以（人會以為）使鐵石心腸破碎：我的朋友啊，可憐我！可憐我！ 你們若不能為我做別的，至少為我難過，對我表示一些關懷；可憐我！因為神的手摸了我。 我的景況實在悲慘，因為我落在了永生神的手中；我的靈被他憤怒的確知所摸——這是一切災禍中最可憐的。注意，朋友在患難中當彼此可憐，不可塞住憐憫的心腸。2. 然而，他們不可逼迫他；他們若不肯以憐憫減輕他的患難，卻也不可如此野蠻地以非議和毀謗加增它（Job 19:22）：你們為何像神逼迫我呢？ 他的責備對一個人來說已經夠受了；你們不必在他所遞給我的苦杯中加上你們的茵蔯和苦膽——沒有那它也已經夠苦了：神對我有至高的主權，可以隨他的心意待我；但你們以為你們也可以如此嗎？不，我們當立志效法至聖和至慈者，卻不可效法至高和至能者。神不為他的任何事交帳，我們卻要為我們的事交帳。他們若因他的災禍而幸災樂禍，讓他們以他被消耗殆盡的肉為足，卻不可似乎還嫌不夠似的，傷害他的靈、敗壞他的好名聲。對患難中的人，尤其是對心中困苦的人，當極度溫柔。
英文原文
Job Complains of God's Displeasure; Job Complains of His Friends (1520 BC)
⁸ He hath fenced up my way that I cannot pass, and he hath set darkness in my paths.
⁹ He hath stripped me of my glory, and taken the crown from my head.
¹⁰ He hath destroyed me on every side, and I am gone: and mine hope hath he removed like a tree.
¹¹ He hath also kindled his wrath against me, and he counteth me unto him as one of his enemies.
¹² His troops come together, and raise up their way against me, and encamp round about my tabernacle.
¹³ He hath put my brethren far from me, and mine acquaintance are verily estranged from me.
¹⁴ My kinsfolk have failed, and my familiar friends have forgotten me.
¹⁵ They that dwell in mine house, and my maids, count me for a stranger: I am an alien in their sight.
¹⁶ I called my servant, and he gave me no answer; I intreated him with my mouth.
¹⁷ My breath is strange to my wife, though I intreated for the children's sake of mine own body.
¹⁸ Yea, young children despised me; I arose, and they spake against me.
¹⁹ All my inward friends abhorred me: and they whom I loved are turned against me.
²⁰ My bone cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh, and I am escaped with the skin of my teeth.
²¹ Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends; for the hand of God hath touched me.
²² Why do ye persecute me as God, and are not satisfied with my flesh?
Bildad had very disingenuously perverted Job's complaints by making them the description of the miserable condition of a wicked man; and yet he repeats them here, to move their pity, and to work upon their good nature, if they had any left in them.
I. He complains of the tokens of God's displeasure which he was under, and which infused the wormwood and gall into the affliction and misery. How doleful are the accents of his complaints! "He hath kindled his wrath against me, which flames and terrifies me, which burns and pains me," Job 19:11. What is the fire of hell but the wrath of God? Seared consciences will feel it hereafter, but do not fear it now. Enlightened consciences fear it now, but shall not feel it hereafter. Job's present apprehension was that God counted him as one of his enemies; and yet, at the same time, God loved him, and gloried in him, as his faithful friend. It is a gross mistake, but a very common one, to think that whom God afflicts he treats as his enemies; whereas, on the contrary, as many as he loves he rebukes and chastens; it is the discipline of his sons. Which way soever Job looked he thought he saw the tokens of God's displeasure against him. 1. Did he look back upon his former prosperity? He saw God's hand putting an end to that (Job 19:9): "He has stripped me of my glory, my wealth, honour, power, and all the opportunity I had of doing good. My children were my glory, but I have lost them; and whatever was a crown to my head he has taken it from me, and has laid all my honour in the dust." See the vanity of worldly glory: it is what we may be soon stripped of; and, whatever strips us, we must see and own God's hand in it and comply with his design. 2. Did he look down upon his present troubles? He saw God giving them their commission, and their orders to attack him. They are his troops, that act by his direction, which encamp against me, Job 19:12. It did not so much trouble him that his miseries came upon him in troops as that they were God's troops, in whom it seemed as if God fought against him and intended his destruction. God's troops encamped around his tabernacle, as soldiers lay siege to a strong city, cutting off all provisions from being brought into it and battering it continually; thus was Job's tabernacle besieged. Time was when God's hosts encamped round him for safety: Hast thou not made a hedge about him? Now, on the contrary, they surrounded him, to his terror, and destroyed him on every side, Job 19:10. 3. Did he look forward for deliverance? He saw the hand of God cutting off all hopes of that (Job 19:8): "He hath fenced up my way, that I cannot pass. I have now no way left to help myself, either to extricate myself out of my troubles or to ease myself under them. Would I make any motion, take any steps towards deliverance? I find my way hedged up; I cannot do what I would; nay, if I would please myself with the prospect of a deliverance hereafter, I cannot do it; it is not only out of my reach, but out of my sight: God hath set darkness in my paths, and there is none to tell me how long," Ps 74:9. He concludes (Job 19:10), "I am gone, quite lost and undone for this world; my hope hath he removed like a tree cut down, or plucked up by the roots, which will never grow again." Hope in this life is a perishing thing, but the hope of good men, when it is cut off from this world, is but removed like a tree, transplanted from this nursery to the garden of the Lord. We shall have no reason to complain if God thus remove our hopes from the sand to the rock, from things temporal to things eternal.
II. He complains of the unkindness of his relations and of all his old acquaintance. In this also he owns the hand of God (Job 19:13): He has put my brethren far from me, that is, "He has laid those afflictions upon me which frighten them from me, and make them stand aloof from my sores." As it was their sin God was not the author of it; it is Satan that alienates men's minds from their brethren in affliction. But, as it was Job's trouble, God ordered it for the completing of his trial. As we must eye the hand of God in all the injuries we receive from our enemies ("the Lord has bidden Shimei curse David"), so also in all the slights and unkindnesses we receive from our friends, which will help us to bear them the more patiently. Every creature is that to us (kind or unkind, comfortable or uncomfortable) which God makes it to be. Yet this does not excuse Job's relations and friends from the guilt of horrid ingratitude and injustice to him, which he had reason to complain of; few could have borne it so well as he did. He takes notice of the unkindness, 1. Of his kindred and acquaintance, his neighbours, and such as he had formerly been familiar with, who were bound by all the laws of friendship and civility to concern themselves for him, to visit him, to enquire after him, and to be ready to do him all the good offices that lay in their power; yet these were estranged from him, Job 19:13. They took no more care about him than if he had been a stranger whom they never knew. His kinsfolk, who claimed relation to him when he was in prosperity, now failed him; they came short of their former professions of friendship to him and his present expectations of kindness from them. Even his familiar friends, whom he was mindful of, had now forgotten him, had forgotten both his former friendliness to them and his present miseries: they had heard of his troubles, and designed him a visit; but truly they forgot it, so little affected were they with it. Nay, his inward friends, the men of his secret, whom he was most intimate with and laid in his bosom, not only forgot him, but abhorred him, kept as far off from him as they could, because he was poor and could not entertain them as he used to do, and because he was sore and a loathsome spectacle. Those whom he loved, and who therefore were worse than publicans if they did not love him now that he was in distress, not only turned from him, but were turned against him, and did all they could to make him odious, so to justify themselves in being so strange to him, Job 19:19. So uncertain is the friendship of men; but, if God be our friend, he will not fail us in a time of need. But let none that pretend either to humanity or Christianity ever use their friends as Job's friends used him: adversity is the proof of friendship. 2. Of his domestics and family relations. Sometimes indeed we find that, beyond our expectation, there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother; but the master of a family ordinarily expects to be attended on and taken care of by those of his family, even when, through weakness of body or mind, he has become despicable to others. But poor Job was misused by his own family, and some of his worst foes were those of his own house. He mentions not his children; they were all dead, and we may suppose that the unkindness of his surviving relations made him lament the death of his children so much the more: "If they had been alive," would he think, "I should have had comfort in them." As for those that were now about him, (1.) His own servants slighted him. His maids did not attend him in his illness, but counted him for a stranger and an alien, Job 19:15. His other servants never heeded him; if he called to them they would not come at his call, but pretended that they did not hear him. If he asked them a question, they would not vouchsafe to give him an answer, Job 19:16. Job had been a good master to them, and did not despise their cause when they pleaded with him (Job 31:13), and yet they were rude to him now, and despised his cause when he pleaded with them. We must not think it strange if we receive evil at the hand of those from whom we have deserved well. Though he was now sickly, yet he was not cross with his servants, and imperious, as is too common, but he entreated his servants with his mouth, when he had authority to command; and yet they would not be civil to him, neither kind nor just. Note, Those that are sick and in sorrow are apt to take things ill, and be jealous of a slight, and to lay to heart the least unkindness done to them: when Job was in affliction even his servants' neglect of him troubled him. (2.) But, one would think, when all forsook him, the wife of his bosom should have been tender of him: no, because he would not curse God and die, as she persuaded him, his breath was strange to her too; she did not care for coming near him, nor took any notice of what he said, Job 19:17. Though he spoke to her, not with the authority, but with the tenderness of a husband, did not command, but entreated her by that conjugal love which their children were the pledges of, yet she regarded him not. Some read it, "Though I lamented, or bemoaned myself, for the children," that is, "for the death of the children of my own body," an affliction in which she was equally concerned with him. Now, it appeared, the devil spared her to him, not only to be his tempter, but to be his tormentor. By what she said to him at first, Curse God and die, it appeared that she had little religion in her; and what can one expect that is kind and good from those that have not the fear of God before their eyes and are not governed by conscience? (3.) Even the little children who were born in his house, the children of his own servants, who were his servants by birth, despised him, and spoke against him (Job 19:18); though he arose in civility to speak friendly to them, or with authority to check them, they let him know that they neither feared him nor loved him.
III. He complains of the decay of his body; all the beauty and strength of that were gone. When those about him slighted him, if he had been in health, and at ease, he might have enjoyed himself. But he could take as little pleasure in himself as others took in him (Job 19:20): My bone cleaves now to my skin, as formerly it did to my flesh; it was this that filled him with wrinkles (Job 16:8); he was a perfect skeleton, nothing but skin and bones. Nay, his skin too was almost gone, little remained unbroken but the skin of his teeth, his gums and perhaps his lips; all the rest was fetched off by his sore boils. See what little reason we have to indulge the body, which, after all our care, may be thus consumed by the diseases which it has in itself the seeds of.
IV. Upon all these accounts he recommends himself to the compassion of his friends, and justly blames their harshness with him. From this representation of his deplorable case, it was easy to infer, 1. That they ought to pity him, Job 19:21. This he begs in the most moving melting language that could be, enough (one would think) to break a heart of stone: "Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O you my friends! if you will do nothing else for me, be sorry for me, and show some concern for me; have pity upon me, for the hand of God hath touched me. My case is sad indeed, for I have fallen into the hands of the living God, my spirit is touched with the sense of his wrath, a calamity of all other the most piteous." Note, It becomes friends to pity one another when they are in trouble, and not to shut up the bowels of compassion. 2. That, however, they ought not to persecute him; if they would not ease his affliction by their pity, yet they must not be so barbarous as to add to it by their censures and reproaches (Job 19:22): "Why do you persecute me as God? Surely his rebukes are enough for one man to bear; you need not add your wormwood and gall to the cup of affliction he puts into my hand, it is bitter enough without that: God has a sovereign power over me, and may do what he pleases with me; but do you think that you may do so too?" No, we must aim to be like the Most Holy and the Most Merciful, but not like the Most High and Most Mighty. God gives not account of any of his matters, but we must give account of ours. If they did delight in his calamity, let them be satisfied with his flesh, which was wasted and gone, but let them not, as if that were too little, wound his spirit, and ruin his good name. Great tenderness is due to those that are in affliction, especially to those that are troubled in mind.
23-29
Job's Confession of Faith; Happiness of the Redeemed (1520 BC)
約伯的信仰告白；蒙救贖者的福樂（公元前1520年）
²³ 惟願我的言語現在寫上，都記錄在書上！
²⁴ 用鐵筆鎸刻，用鉛灌在磐石上，直存到永遠！
²⁵ 我知道我的救贖主活著，末了必站立在地上。
²⁶ 我這皮肉滅絕之後，我必在肉體之外得見 神。
²⁷ 我自己要見他，親眼要看他，並不像外人。我的心腸在我裡面消滅了！
²⁸ 你們若說：我們逼迫他，要何程度呢？惹事的根乃在乎他。
²⁹ 你們就當懼怕刀劍；因為忿怒惹動刀劍的刑罰，使你們知道有報應。
在約伯與朋友們的一切對話中，我們找不到比這些更有分量、更重要的話了；有人會想到嗎？這幾節經文中包含許多關乎基督和天上的事：說出這些話的人清楚地表明自己尋求那更美的家鄉，就是在天上的；正如那時代的先祖所行的（來 11:14）。我們在這裡看到約伯的信經，或信仰告白。他對父神——全能的創造主，天地的主宰——以及自然宗教的原則，已屢次宣告；但在這裡我們發現他對啟示的宗教並不陌生；雖然那應許之「後裔」和應許之「產業」的啟示，在那時不過如黎明的曙光般隱約可辨，然而約伯卻蒙神教導，信一位永活的救贖主，並盼望死人復活和來世的永生——我們必須理解為他正是在論到這些事。這些是他用以安慰自己的期盼——不是從苦難中得解脫，也不是在今世恢復他的幸福，如某些人所理解的；因為除了他在這裡所用的表達——救贖主末了必站立在地上、他要看見神、親眼要看他——若被理解為任何今世的解脫，乃是極其牽強的之外，他先前剛說過他的路被阻塞（約伯記 19:8），他的指望如樹被拔出（約伯記 19:10）。不但如此，他在這之後也表達了對今生得安慰的絕望（約伯記 23:8-9、30:23）。因此我們必須理解他是在論到他的靈魂從陰間的權勢中得救贖，以及他被接到榮耀裡——這正是詩篇 49:15 所論到的。我們有理由認為約伯此時正受到聖靈特別的感動，這感動使他超越了自己，賜他亮光，也賜他口才，甚至令他自己也驚訝。有人觀察到，在這之後，我們不再在約伯的話中找到先前那種激動、乖戾、不恰當的對神和他的護理的抱怨：這盼望使他靈裡安寧，平息了風暴；既然他已在幔內拋了錨，從此他的心思便保持穩定。讓我們觀察，
I. 約伯在此作出信仰告白的用意。從未有什麼比這更恰切、更有目的地出現。1. 約伯如今正被控告，而這是他的上訴。他的朋友們指責他為假冒為善的人，藐視他為惡人；但他向他的信經、他的信仰、他的盼望和他自己的良心上訴——這良心不僅宣告他無罪於故意的罪，更以蒙福復活的盼望安慰他。這不是被鬼附之人所說的話。他向救贖主的來臨上訴——從法庭的爭辯中上訴到審判臺的裁決，甚至上訴到那一切審判都交託在他手中的主那裡——他知道他必為他主持公道。思念神的日子來到，能使我們以被人論斷為極小的事（林前 4:3-4）。當我們期待我們的救贖主和他所救贖的人在末日的榮耀顯現，而且那時將有名字的復活——如同身體的復活一樣——我們何等容易忍受人所加的不公指責和毀謗！2. 約伯如今正受苦，而這是他的良藥；當他被壓過重時，這使他免於灰心——他相信他必*在活人之地得見耶和華的恩惠；*不是在今世，因為那是死人之地的緣故。
II. 他以何等莊嚴的序言引入這告白（約伯記 19:23-24）。他忽然中斷了他的抱怨，轉而宣告他的安慰——他不僅為自己的滿足而如此行，也是為了別人的益處。他恐怕他周圍的人會輕看他所說的話——事實也證明如此——因此他願望這些話能為後代記錄下來。*惟願我的言語現在寫上，*就是我如今將要說的話！彷彿他在說：「我承認我說了許多輕率的話，是我巴不得被人遺忘的，因為它們既不能給我增光，也不能給別人益處。但如今我要慎重地說話，是我渴望能向全世界公布、為後代保存的——*作為永久的記念，*因此要清楚地寫下、*記錄、或以大而清晰的字體書寫，使跑過的人也能讀；而且不要留在散頁中，而要記在書上；或者，如果那書也消失了，就要如碑文一般用鐵筆鎸刻在鉛中，或在石頭上；*讓雕刻者用盡一切技藝，使它成為對後世的持久呼籲。」約伯在此有些激動地所願望的，神卻恩惠地賜給了他。他的話被寫下了；它們被印在神的書上；因此，這書在哪裡被讀，那裡就必有人述說這事，以為約伯的記念。他因此信，所以如此說。
III. 他的告白本身是什麼；他願意被寫下的話是什麼；我們在這裡讀到了（約伯記 19:25-27）。讓我們來觀察。
1. 他信救贖主的榮耀以及他自己在他裡面的分（約伯記 19:25）：我知道我的救贖主活著，他在，且是我的生命，他末了必站立在地上（或作：在地上）。他必被高舉——或者，他末了必在地上（就是在日期滿足的時候：福音的時代被稱為末後的日，因為那是末後的時代）：如此便指向了他的道成肉身；或者，他必從地上被舉起（如此便指向了他的釘十字架）；或者，他必從地裡復活（如此可應用於他的復活）；或者，如我們通常所理解的，在世界末了他將顯現在地面之上，因為他必駕雲降臨，眾目要看見他，如此靠近這地。他必站在塵土之上（原文如此），站在他一切的仇敵之上——他們必如塵土被放在他的腳下；他必踐踏他們、在他們之上誇勝。在此請觀察，（1.）為墮落的人類預備了一位救贖主，耶穌基督就是那位救贖主。這詞是Goël，用來指至近的親屬——按照摩西的律法，贖回被抵押之產業的權利屬於他（利 25:25）。我們屬天的產業被罪所抵押；我們自己完全無力贖回它；基督是我們的近親——唯一能贖回的至近親屬；他償還了我們的債，為罪滿足了神的公義，從而取消了抵押，並將產業重新立定。我們的人也需要一位救贖主；我們被賣給了罪，被賣在罪之下；我們的主耶穌為我們成就了救贖，向我們宣告救贖——因此他實在是救贖主。（2.）他是一位永活的救贖主。我們既由永活的神所造，也由永活的救贖主所拯救——他既是全能的，又是永恆的，因此能拯救到底。為他作見證的有：他是永活的（來 7:8、啟 1:18）。我們正在死去，但他活著，並已向我們保證他活著，我們也要活著（約 14:19）。（3.）有些人靠著恩典在這位救贖主裡面有分，並能在充分的理由上稱他為他們的。當約伯失去了一切的財富、一切的朋友時，他卻沒有與基督分離，也沒有被切斷與他的關係：「他仍是我的救贖主。」當他所有的親屬都離棄他時，那位至近的親屬卻忠於他，而他從中得了安慰。（4.）我們在救贖主裡面的分是可知的事；而且，在哪裡被知道了，在哪裡就可以誇勝，以為這足以抵消我們一切的憂傷：我知道（請觀察他以何等確信的語氣說出，如同對此事深信不疑的人），*我知道我的救贖主活著。*他的朋友們屢次指控他無知或虛妄的知識；但他知道得夠多了，而且知道得有功效——知道基督是他的救贖主的人，便是知道得夠多了。（5.）將有一個末了的日子、一個最後的日子——時間不再有了的日子（啟 10:6）。那是我們每一天都當思念的日子。（6.）我們的救贖主在那日必站在地上、或在地之上，要從墳墓中召出死人，將他們判 定為不能改變的狀態；因為一切審判都交託給了他。他末了必站在塵土之上——這地將因火焰而被化為塵土。
2. 他信蒙救贖者的福樂，以及他自己對那福樂的權利——在基督再來時，信徒必在榮耀中復活，並在得見和享受神中成為完全有福的人；而且他是將此應用於自己來相信的。（1.）他預料到他的身體將在墳墓中朽壞，並以聖潔的淡然和無所謂的態度談論這事：我這皮肉滅絕之後（這皮已經消損殆盡，除了牙皮之外一無所餘——約伯記 19:20），他們毀壞（那些被指定來毀壞它的——墳墓和其中的蟲，就是他曾論到的——約伯記 17:14）這身體。「身體」一詞是加上去的：「雖然他們毀壞這個——這骸骨、這影子（約伯記 17:7）、這我以手按著的，」（或者，也許指著他虛弱枯乾的肢體說）「這你們所看見的，隨你們叫它什麼；我預料它不久就要成為蟲子的筵席。」基督的身體不曾見朽壞，但我們的必須朽壞。約伯提到這一點，為要使他所信和所盼望的復活的榮耀更加燦爛。注意，我們常常不僅要想到身體即將的死亡，還要想到它在墳墓中的毀壞和分解，這是有益的；但不要讓這事使我們對復活的盼望灰心，因為那最初以塵土造人身體的同樣的權能，也能從它自己的塵土中使它復活。這個我們如今如此小心照料、為之作如此預備的身體，不久就要被毀壞。甚至我的心腸（約伯說）在我裡面消滅了（約伯記 19:27）；身體最深處的部分，也許是最先腐爛的。（2.）他以死亡和墳墓另一邊的福樂之盼望來安慰自己：我醒來之後（旁註如此讀），雖然這身體被毀壞，然而我在肉體中要見神。[1.] 靈魂和身體將重新合一。那必在墳墓中被毀壞的身體必將復活，成為榮耀的身體：然而我在肉體中要見神。離世的靈魂有眼睛——心思的眼睛——可以看見神；但約伯說的是以肉體的眼睛看見他，在我的肉體中，用我的眼睛；那死的身體要復活——是真實的身體，卻是榮耀的身體，適合那世界的作為和享受，因此是屬靈的身體（林前 15:44）。讓我們因此以我們的身體榮耀神，因為為它們設計了這樣的榮耀。[2.] 約伯和神將重新合一：*我在肉體中要見神，*就是說，那位得榮耀的救贖主——他是神。我要在我的肉體中看見神（有人如此讀）——神的兒子披上了身體，將是肉眼可見的。雖然身體在墳墓中似乎卑微可悲，卻要在得見神的異象中被尊榮、得著福樂。約伯如今抱怨他不能看見神（約伯記 23:8-9），但他盼望不久要看見他，再也不會失去這看見；而那看見將在如今的黑暗和隔絕之後更加甘甜。注意，蒙福之人的福氣就在於他們必得見神——要看見他原本的樣式、面對面地看見他，不再隔著鏡子觀看，模糊不清。請看聖潔的約伯何等樂意地詳述這事（約伯記 19:27）：*我自己要見他，*就是說，「看見並享受，看見使我自己得到說不出來的喜樂和滿足。我要看他為我的——以擁有的眼光看他」（啟 21:3）。神要親自與他們同在，作他們的神；他們必像他，因為必得見他的真體，這就是為自己看見（約壹 3:2）。我的肉眼要看見他，並不像外人。第一，「是他，而不是替他代的別人，將被看見——不是他的預表或形像，而是他自己。」得榮耀的聖徒完全確定自己不是被欺騙；這不是感官的錯覺。第二，「是我，而不是替我代的別人，要看見他。雖然我的皮肉身體消滅了，我卻不需要代理人；我要親眼看他。」這正是約伯所盼望、所切慕的——有人認為這是最後一句的意思：*我的心腸在我裡面消滅了，*就是說，「我一切的心願都歸結和總結在這一件事上；這將使它們全部圓滿成就；讓我得著這個，我便別無所求；夠了；這就是一切。」大衛——耶西的兒子——的祈禱，就是如此結束的。
IV. 將這話應用於他的朋友們。他的信經對自己說的是安慰，對那些反對他的人說的卻是警告和恐懼。
1. 這是對他們的警告，不可繼續和堅持對他的不友善之舉（約伯記 19:28）。他已為他們所說的責備了他們，如今告訴他們他們當說什麼，好使自己和自己彼此歸正到更好的性情中。*我們為何逼迫他呢？我們為何因論斷和定他的罪而使他憂傷和煩擾呢？既然惹事的根乃在乎他？*讓這話引導我們，（1.）在關乎我們自己的謹慎上。我們都當注意確保那事的根在我們裡面。心中活潑、令人甦醒、有管束力的恩典原則——就是那事的根，對我們的宗教而言如同樹根對樹一樣必要——樹因根而得著固定和結實。對神和弟兄的愛、對基督的信、對罪的恨惡——這些就是那事的根；與這些相比，別的不過是葉子。真實的敬虔是那不可缺少的一件事。（2.）在我們對待弟兄的行為上。我們當相信，許多人心中有那事的根，雖然他們在凡事上與我們意見不同——他們有自己的愚昧、軟弱和錯誤——而且我們當確定，若我們逼迫這樣的人，後果自負。那使這小子裡一個跌倒的有禍了！神必為此懷恨和報仇。約伯和他的朋友們在一些關乎護理方法的觀念上不同，但他在那事的根上——對另一個世界的信仰——是一致的；因此他們不當為這些差異而彼此逼迫。
2. 這是對他們的恐嚇之詞。基督的再來對那些同伴坐席、下手打同伴的人（太 24:49）將是極其可怕的；因此（約伯記 19:29）：*你們就當懼怕刀劍，*就是神公義那四面轉動的火焰劍；當懼怕，免得你們使自己暴露在它的擊殺之下。好人也需要以全能者的可畏來使他們從罪中受驚嚇而回轉，特別是從妄斷弟兄的罪中回轉（太 7:1、雅 3:1）。那些對弟兄性情乖戾暴躁、苛刻指責、心懷惡意的人當知道，不但他們的怒氣——無論如何偽裝——不能成就神的義，而且，（1.）他們可能在今世為此付出代價：*忿怒惹動刀劍的刑罰。*忿怒導致種種罪行，使人暴露在官長刀劍的刑罰之下。神自己常為此報仇；那些不施憐憫的，也必找不到憐憫。（2.）若不悔改，那便是更壞之事的預兆。藉著這些你們可以知道有審判——不僅有現今的治理，更有將來的審判——在那審判中，苛刻的言語必須交帳。
英文原文
Job's Confession of Faith; Happiness of the Redeemed (1520 BC)
²³ Oh that my words were now written! oh that they were printed in a book!
²⁴ That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever!
²⁵ For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:
²⁶ And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:
²⁷ Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.
²⁸ But ye should say, Why persecute we him, seeing the root of the matter is found in me?
²⁹ Be ye afraid of the sword: for wrath bringeth the punishments of the sword, that ye may know there is a judgment.
In all the conferences between Job and his friends we do not find any more weighty and considerable lines than these; would one have expected it? Here is much both of Christ and heaven in these verses: and he that said such things as these declared plainly that he sought the better country, that is, the heavenly; as the patriarchs of that age did, Heb 11:14. We have here Job's creed, or confession of faith. His belief in God the Father Almighty, the Maker of heaven and earth, and the principles of natural religion, he had often professed: but here we find him no stranger to revealed religion; though the revelation of the promised Seed, and the promised inheritance, was then discerned only like the dawning of the day, yet Job was taught of God to believe in a living Redeemer, and to look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come, for of these, doubtless, he must be understood to speak. These were the things he comforted himself with the expectation of, and not a deliverance from his trouble or a revival of his happiness in this world, as some would understand him; for besides that the expressions he here uses, of the Redeemer's standing at the latter day upon the earth, of his seeing God, and seeing him for himself, are wretchedly forced if they be understood of any temporal deliverance, it is very plain that he had no expectation at all of his return to a prosperous condition in this world. He had just now said that his way was fenced up, (Job 19:8) and his hope removed like a tree, Job 19:10. Nay, and after this he expressed his despair of any comfort in this life, Job 23:8,9,30:23. So that we must necessarily understand him of the redemption of his soul from the power of the grave, and his reception to glory, which is spoken of, Ps 49:15. We have reason to think that Job was just now under an extraordinary impulse of the blessed Spirit, which raised him above himself, gave him light, and gave him utterance, even to his own surprise. And some observe that, after this, we do not find Job's discourses such passionate, peevish, unbecoming, complaints of God and his providence as we have before met with: this hope quieted his spirit, stilled the storm and, having here cast anchor within the veil, his mind was kept steady from this time forward. Let us observe,
I. To what intent Job makes this confession of his faith here. Never did any thing come in more pertinently, or to better purpose. 1. Job was now accused, and this was his appeal. His friends reproached him as a hypocrite and contemned him as a wicked man; but he appeals to his creed, to his faith, to his hope, and to his own conscience, which not only acquitted him from reigning sin, but comforted him with the expectation of a blessed resurrection. These are not the words of him that has a devil. He appeals to the coming of the Redeemer, from this wrangle at the bar to the judgment of the bench, even to him to whom all judgment is committed, who he knew would right him. The consideration of God's day coming will make it a very small thing with us to be judged of man's judgment, 1Co 4:3,4. How easily may we bear the unjust calumnies and reproaches of men while we expect the glorious appearance of our Redeemer, and his redeemed, at the last day, and that there will then be a resurrection of names, as well as bodies! 2. Job was now afflicted, and this was his cordial; when he was pressed above measure this kept him from fainting—he believed that he should see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living; not in this world, for that is the land of the dying.
II. With what a solemn preface he introduces it, Job 19:23,24. He breaks off his complaints abruptly, to triumph his comforts, which he does, not only for his own satisfaction, but for the edification of others. Those now about him, he feared, would little regard what he said, and so it proved, He therefore wished it might be recorded for the generations to come. O that my words were now written, the words I am now about to say! As if he had said, "I own I have spoken many unadvised words, which I could wish might be forgotten, for they will neither do me credit nor do others good. But I am now going to speak deliberately, and that which I desire may be published to all the world and preserved for the generations to come, in perpetuam rei memoriam—for an abiding memorial, and therefore that it may be written plainly and printed, or drawn out in large and legible characters, so that he that runs may read it; and that it may not be left in loose papers, but put into a book; or, if that should perish, that it may be engraven like an inscription upon a monument, with an iron pen in lead, or in the stone; let the engraver use all his art to make it a durable appeal to posterity." That which Job here somewhat passionately wished for God graciously granted him. His words are written; they are printed in God's book; so that, wherever that book is read, there shall this be told for a memorial concerning Job. He believed, therefore he spoke.
III. What his confession itself is; what are the words which he would have to be written; we here have them written, Job 19:25-27. Let us observe them.
1. He believes the glory of the Redeemer and his own interest in him (Job 19:25): I know that my Redeemer liveth, that he is in being and is my life, and that he shall stand at last, or stand the last, or at the latter day, upon (or above) the earth. He shall be raised up, or, He shall be, at the latter day, (that is, in the fulness of time: the gospel day is called the last time because that is the last dispensation) upon the earth: so it points at his incarnation; or, He shall be lifted up from the earth (so it points at his crucifixion), or raised up out of the earth (so it is applicable to his resurrection), or, as we commonly understand it, At the end of time he shall appear over the earth, for he shall come in the clouds, and every eye shall see him, so close shall he come to this earth. He shall stand upon the dust (so the word is), upon all his enemies, which shall be put a dust under his feet; and he shall tread upon them and triumph over them. Observe here, (1.) That there is a Redeemer provided for fallen man, and Jesus Christ is that Redeemer. The word is Goël which is used for the next of kin, to whom, by the law of Moses, the right of redeeming a mortgaged estate did belong, Le 25:25. Our heavenly inheritance was mortgaged by sin; we are ourselves utterly unable to redeem it; Christ is near of kin to us, the next kinsman that is able to redeem; he has paid our debt, satisfied God's justice for sin, and so has taken off the mortgage and made a new settlement of the inheritance. Our persons also want a Redeemer; we are sold for sin, and sold under sin; our Lord Jesus has wrought out a redemption for us, and proclaims redemption for us, and proclaims redemption to us, and so he is truly the Redeemer. (2.) He is a living Redeemer. As we are made by a living God, so we are saved by a living Redeemer, who is both almighty and eternal, and is therefore able to save to the uttermost. Of him it is witnessed that he liveth, Heb 7:8, Re 1:18. We are dying, but he liveth, and hath assured us that because he lives we shall live also, Joh 14:19. (3.) There are those that through grace have an interest in this Redeemer, and can, upon good grounds, call him theirs. When Job had lost all his wealth and all his friends, yet he was not separated from Christ, nor cut off from his relation to him: "Still he is my Redeemer." That next kinsman adhered to him when all his other kindred forsook him, and he had the comfort of it. (4.) Our interest in the Redeemer is a thing that may be known; and, where it is known, it may be triumphed in, as sufficient to balance all our griefs: I know (observe with what an air of assurance he speaks it, as one confident of this very thing), I know that my Redeemer lives. His friends have often charged him with ignorance or vain knowledge; but he knows enough, and knows to good purpose, who knows Christ to be his Redeemer. (5.) There will be a latter day, a last day, a day when time shall be no more, Re 10:6. That is a day we are concerned to think of every day. (6.) Our Redeemer will at that day stand upon the earth, or over the earth, to summon the dead out of their graves, and determine them to an unchangeable state; for to him all judgment is committed. He shall stand, at the last, on the dust to which this earth will be reduced by the conflagration.
2. He believes the happiness of the redeemed, and his own title to that happiness, that, at Christ's second coming, believers shall be raised up in glory and so made perfectly blessed in the vision and fruition of God; and this he believes with application to himself. (1.) He counts upon the corrupting of his body in the grave, and speaks of it with a holy carelessness and unconcernedness: Though, after my skin (which is already wasted and gone, none of it remaining but the skin of my teeth, Job 19:20) they destroy (those that are appointed to destroy it, the grave and the worms in it of which he had spoken, Job 17:14) this body. The word body is added: "Though they destroy this, this skeleton, this shadow (Job 17:7), this that I lay my hand upon," or (pointing perhaps to his weak and withered limbs) "this that you see, call it what you will; I expect that shortly it will be a feast for the worms." Christ's body saw not corruption, but ours must. And Job mentions this, that the glory of the resurrection he believed and hoped for might shine the more brightly. Note, It is good for us often to think, not only of the approaching death of our bodies, but of their destruction and dissolution in the grave; yet let not that discourage our hope of their resurrection, for the same power that made man's body at first, out of common dust, can raise it out of its own dust. This body which we now take such care about, and make such provision for, will in a little time be destroyed. Even my reins (says Job) shall be consumed within me (Job 19:27); the innermost part of the body, which perhaps putrefies first. (2.) He comforts himself with the hopes of happiness on the other side death and the grave: After I shall awake (so the margin reads it), though this body be destroyed, yet out of my flesh shall I see God. [1.] Soul and body shall come together again. That body which must be destroyed in the grave shall be raised again, a glorious body: Yet in my flesh I shall see God. The separate soul has eyes wherewith to see God, eyes of the mind; but Job speaks of seeing him with eyes of flesh, in my flesh, with my eyes; the same body that died shall rise again, a true body, but a glorified body, fit for the employments and entertainments of that world, and therefore a spiritual body, 1Co 15:44. Let us therefore glorify God with our bodies because there is such a glory designed for them. [2.] Job and God shall come together again: In my flesh shall I see God, that is, the glorified Redeemer, who is God. I shall see God in my flesh (so some read it), the Son of God clothed with a body which will be visible even to eyes of flesh. Though the body, in the grave, seem despicable and miserable, yet it shall be dignified and made happy in the vision of God. Job now complained that he could not get a sight of God (Job 23:8,9), but hoped to see him shortly, never more to lose the sight of him, and that sight of him will be the more welcome after the present darkness and distance. Note, It is the blessedness of the blessed that they shall see God, shall see him as he is, see him face to face, and no longer through a glass darkly. See with what pleasure holy Job enlarges upon this (Job 19:27): "Whom I shall see for myself," that is, "see and enjoy, see to my own unspeakable comfort and satisfaction. I shall see him as mine, as mine with an appropriating sight," Re 21:3. God himself shall be with them and be their God; they shall be like him, for they shall see him as he is, that is seeing for themselves, 1Jo 3:2. My eyes shall behold him, and not another. First, "He, and not another for him, shall be seen, not a type or figure of him, but he himself." Glorified saints are perfectly sure that they are not imposed upon; it is no deceptio visus—illusion of the senses. Secondly, "I, and not another for me, shall see him. Though my flesh and body be consumed, yet I shall not need a proxy; I shall see him with my own eyes." This was what Job hoped for, and what he earnestly desired, which, some think, is the meaning of the last clause: My reins are spent in my bosom, that is, "all my desires are summed up and concluded in this; this will crown and complete them all; let me have this, and I shall have nothing more to desire; it is enough; it is all." With this the prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended.
IV. The application of this to his friends. His creed spoke comfort to himself, but warning and terror to those that set themselves against him.
1. It was a word of caution to them not to proceed and persist in their unkind usage of him, Job 19:28. He had reproved them for what they had said, and now tells them what they should say for the reducing of themselves and one another to a better temper. "Why persecute we him thus? Why do we grieve him and vex him, by censuring and condemning him, seeing the root of the matter, or the root of the word, is found in him?" Let this direct us, (1.) In our care concerning ourselves. We are all concerned to see to it that the root of the matter be found in us. A living, quickening, commanding, principle of grace in the heart, is the root of the matter, as necessary to our religion as the root to the tree, to which it owes both its fixedness and its fruitfulness. Love to God and our brethren, faith in Christ, hatred of sin—these are the root of the matter; other things are but leaves in comparison with these. Serious godliness is the one thing needful. (2.) In our conduct towards our brethren. We are to believe that many have the root of the matter in them who are not in every thing of our mind—who have their follies, and weaknesses, and mistakes—and to conclude that it is at our peril if we persecute any such. Woe be to him that offends one of those little ones! God will resent and revenge it. Job and his friends differed in some notions concerning the methods of Providence, but they agreed in the root of the matter, the belief of another world, and therefore should not persecute one another for these differences.
2. It was a word of terror to them. Christ's second coming will be very dreadful to those that are found smiting their fellow servants (Mt 24:49), and therefore (Job 19:29), "Be you afraid of the sword, the flaming sword of God's justice, which turns every way; fear, lest you make yourselves obnoxious to it." Good men need to be frightened from sin by the terrors of the Almighty, particularly from the sin of rashly judging their brethren, Mt 7:1, Jam 3:1. Those that are peevish and passionate with their brethren, censorious of them and malicious towards them, should know, not only that their wrath, whatever it pretends, works not the righteousness of God, but that, (1.) They may expect to smart for it in this world: It brings the punishments of the sword. Wrath leads to such crimes as expose men to the sword of the magistrate. God himself often takes vengeance for it, and those that showed no mercy shall find no mercy. (2.) If they repent not, that will be an earnest of worse. By these you may know there is a judgment, not only a present government, but a future judgment, in which hard speeches must be accounted for.
本章是約伯對前一章比勒達講論的回答。雖然他的心靈憂傷、情緒激動，而比勒達又十分暴躁，他仍容讓他把想說的話全說完，沒有在他的論證中途打斷他；但當他說完之後，約伯便公允地回答他，其中：I. 他抱怨所受的不仁對待，並且他領受得極為痛苦。1. 他的安慰者加重了他的災禍（Job 19:2-7）。2. 他的神是他災禍的肇因（Job 19:8-12）。3. 他的親屬與朋友在他的災禍中對他生疏、躲避他（Job 19:20-22）。II. 他以對來世福樂的信心盼望安慰自己，儘管他在今世幾乎得不著安慰；他鄭重地承認自己的信仰，並渴望這話被記錄下來，作為他真誠的憑據（Job 19:23-27）。III. 他以對朋友的告誡作結，叫他們不要再堅持對他的嚴苛論斷（Job 19:28,29）。約伯在此對自己冤屈的陳述，有時或可為我們的抱怨申辯；然而同時他對未來境況的樂觀看法，也能叫我們基督徒羞愧，並能幫助我們止息抱怨，或至少加以平衡。