Verse 1. Cursed his day. Job cursed the day of his birth, not by way of wishing evil to any thing of God’s creation; but only to express in a stronger manner his sense of human miseries in general, and of his own calamities in particular. Challoner.—He has these only in view: though, in another light, it is better for a man to be born, and to undergo any misery, that he may obtain eternal rewards. Bible.—Some allowances must be made for extreme pain, and for the style of the Eastern ( Calmet.) poetry. Bible.—Jeremias, (20:14.) Habacuc, (1:2) the psalmist, and even our Saviour in his agony, made use of such strong expressions. Matthew 26:39 and 27:46. Some heretics accuse Job of impatience and blasphemy. The devil, therefore came off with victory; and the praises given to Job’s patience are false. He might offend by some degree of exaggeration. Calmet.—But even that is by no means clear. Time past could not be recalled, nor receive any injury by the maledictions. Bible.
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Verse 7. Praise, by the appearance of the stars. Calmet. 38:7. Calmet.
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Verse 8. Day. The nations of Ethiopia, under the line, curse the sun as their greatest enemy. Strabo xvii. Pliny verse 8.—They also brave the fury of the leviathan or crocodile. Calmet. 40:27 and 41:1. Psalms 73:14. The natives of Tentyra, upon the Nile, were supposed to be a terror to that monster, or they were very courageous in entangling and pursuing it. Seneca q. 4. 2. Pliny viii. 25.—Leviathan. Prot. “their mourning.” De Dieu rejects this interpretation, substituting “and thou, leviathan, rouse up,” and so forth The fathers generally understand the devil to be thus designated. Septuagint “he who is about to seize the great whale,” ( Bible.) or fish, which they also explain of the conflict of Satan with Jesus Christ.” Origen, and so forth
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Verse 10. Nor took. Septuagint “for it would then have freed my eyes from labour.”
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Verse 11. In the. Hebrew “from the womb,” ( Bible.) or as soon as I was born. Calmet.—He seems to have lost sight of original sin, (verse 1) or there might be some method of having it remitted to children unborn, which we do not know. Bible.
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Verse 12. Knees, by my father or grandfather. Genesis 30:3. Iliad ix. Calmet.
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Verse 13. Sleep. So death is often styled.
Olli dura quies oculos et ferreus urget
Somnus: in æternam clauduntur lumina noctem. Æneid x.
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Verse 14. Consuls. Hebrew “counsellors,” or any in great authority. Septuagint “kings, the counsellors of the land, who rejoiced, boasting of their swords.” The same word, choraboth, ( Bible.) means both swords and solitudes. D.—Those great ones had prepared their own tombs, which were usually in solitary places; ( Calmet.) or they had filled all with their extensive palaces; and removed the people to a distance. Bible.
Job
Verse 15. Houses, while alive; ( Calmet.) or their tombs were thus enriched with silver, ( Menochius.) as this practice was not uncommon, verse 22. Joseph. xiii. 15.—Marcian forbade it. Saint John Chrysostom complains it subsisted in his time. Orat. Annæ. Calmet.
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Verse 16. Light; dying in the womb. He expresses a desire that he had been thus prevented from feeling his present miseries and danger of sin. Bible.
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Verse 17. Tumult. In the grave they can no longer disturb the world. Menochius.—In strength. Septuagint “in body.” Both heroes and labourers then find rest, ( Calmet.) if they have lived virtuously. Bible.
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Verse 18. Bound in chains, like incorrigible slaves, ( Calmet.) or debtors. Cocceius.—These were formerly treated with great severity. Luke 12:59. Calmet.
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Verse 21. Not. The feel the same eagerness for death as those who seek for a treasure; ( Calmet.) and when death is at hand, they rejoice no less than those who discover a grave, in which they hope to find some riches, verse 15, 22.
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Verse 22. Grave, full of stores, or the place where they may repose. Bible.
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Verse 23. To. Why is life given to? and so forth The uncertainty whether a man be worthy of love or hatred, (EcclI. 9:1) and whether he will persevere to the end, is what fills Job with distress; though we must trust that God will suffer none to be tempted above their strength. 1 Corinthians 10:13.—He finds himself surrounded with precipices, and in the dark. Calmet.—So God often tries this faithful servants. D.
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Verse 24. Sigh, through difficulty of swallowing, (Pineda) or sense of misery. Bible.
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Verse 25. Fear. In prosperity he feared the assaults of pride. Now he is in danger of yielding to impatience and despair. Calmet.
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Verse 26. Dissembled my sufferings, making no complaint, not only during the seven days that his friends had been with him, but long before. Hebrew and Septuagint “I was not in safety, nor at rest; neither was I indolent: ( Bible. in the administration of affairs. Calmet.) yet trouble came.” Bible.—I have enjoyed no peace, since the wrath of the Lord has found me. Calmet.—In such a situation, Job might well beg to be delivered, ( Bible.) and to pray that those things which obstructed his repose in God might be removed; considering them not so much as the works of God, as the effects of sin. Pineda. Worthington.—In this light he cursed his birth-day, and will no longer look upon it as a joyful and happy day. D.