Paraphrase on the Book of Job, Chapter 2
CHAP. II.
1. Againe, in like manner, as aforesaid,1. Againe, there was a day when the sonnes of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them to present himselfe before the Lord. there was another time, wen as God summoned his ministring Spirits the Angells before him, who, (as at the first time) presented themselves to the Lord, and so did Satan also.
2. Of whom the Lord asked the2. And the Lord said unto Sathan; From whence commest thou? And Satan answered the Lord, and said, from going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and downe in it. same question; Whence he came, &c. thereby to give a further occasion, more fully to convince Satan of Iobs integrity, and to perfect his owne purpose concerning him. To whom Satan returned the same answer; That hee came from going to and fro upon the earth, to find advantages to tempt men.
3. Why then saies the Lord, thou3. And the Lord said unto Satan, hast thou considered my servant Iob, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evill? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him to destroy him without cause. canst not but have taken speciall notice of my servant Iob, what manner of man he is, who besides all that I told thee of him touching his faith and honesty, which in despite of thee hee hath made good to the utmost, thou seest still to continue in his uprightheartednesse and humble obedience towards me, although thou prevailed with me, thus seemingly to declare my selfe against him (and that in such a manner, as none but such an one as I have told thee hee is, could possibly have borne it as he hath done) by laying such heavie afflictions upon him, and that without any provocation, or cause on his part procuring it.
4. 'Tis true, saies Satan, I cannot deny4. And Satan answered the Lord, and said, skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will hee give for his life. it but he hath held out well, and I have got no ground of him hitherto, but yet for all that, the reason is not as thou saiest, from his uprightnesse, but from the nature of his sufferings, and his owne selfe-respect; for hitherto thou hast only tried him with forraine afflictions, and hast made him to suffer only in the suffrings of others, but hast not touched him at all in his owne person, and thou knowest it is naturall to every man nothing so much to lay to heart, or be moved with relative, as with personall afflictions, as is seene by common experience; for who will not, if he may be his owne chooser, rather suffer in any other, though never so neere unto him than in himselfe, and thinke it a good bargaine to lose all he has to save his life?
5 And that thou maist see that this5. But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face. is true, let mee prevaile with thee once more, to try him a little further with this kind of triall which I have spoken of, lay but thine afflicting hand upon his owne person, by some bodily pressure, and then tell me whether hee retaine his uprightnesse, nay, then see if my words prove not true, that hee will cast off all respect of thee, and blaspheme thee to thy face.
6. Well saies God, seeing thou art6. And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, hee is in thine hand, but save his life. not yet convinced, goe on, I grant thee thy desire, doe thy worst to his person also: but as before I restrained thee from harming his body, so doe I now forbid thee to take away his life.
7. Satan glad hee had sped so well,7. So went Satan forth from the presence of the Lord, and smote Iob with sore boyles from the sole of his foote, unto his crowne. quickly left cōmuning with God, and went streightway while the anguish of Iobs other afflictions were fresh upon him, to put his commission in execution, for the trying of him by bodily pressures, which hee fulfilled to the uttermost, by over-running him in every part from head to foot with a painfull disease, strangely breaking out all over his body in grievous and noysome boyles.
8. In so much that every one lothed8. And he tooke him a potsheard to scrape himselfe withall; and he sate downe among the ashes. him, nor would any endure to lend him their helping hand, wherefore being destitute of all other meanes, hee himselfe was forced, (being driven to that poverty, and enduring that misery) to take for want of better, a piece of a broken pot, from off the dunghill, and there (as unfit for any other place) to sit downe, and scrape the abundant filth from off his body.
9. Satan seeing all these temptations9. Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retaine thine integrity? Curse God, and die. would not make Job blaspheme, puts him at last directly upon the very point it selfe, by the desperat counsell and provoking suggestion of his bosome-friend, his wife, who in stead of administring conjugall helpe to him, by the Divells instigation, she takes the opportunity of this his deep dejection to spur him on to a further evill, under the plausible pretence of remedy, by tempting him no longer to feare and adhere to such a God in dependance and reverence, nor any longer to beare his afflicting hand with patience, that had thus unmercifully and without cause tormented him, but being that he sped no better by his integrity, rather to spite God, as God had spited him, by easting off his fruitlesse faith and patience, and turning it into blasphemy; for so should he get more from God by provoking him therewith to destroy him out and out, than hee had done by blessing him, which all this while had gained him no good, but procured God to sustaine him alive under insupportable miseries, and so was like to doe still.
10. But herein also Satan came short10 But hee said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh; What? shall wee receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evill? In all this did not Iob sinne, with his lips. of his hopes, as we see by Jobs smart reproofe, together with his faithfull and humble answer: For, saies hee to his wife, How darest thou utter these words, that hast beene brought up in the knowledge of God; it were a speech fitter to have come out of the mouth of one of those ignorant heathenish women that have no knowledge of the true God, than from thee, who hast beene otherwaies instructed, and oughtest to know, that all the good that wee, or any injoy, is of his free gift, without our procuring, or deserving; and how comes it to passe then, that thou art so farre devoid of godlinesse and reason, as not to know it is but equity in God, when his good pleasure is, to take that from us, which of his onelyonly good pleasure hee freely gave unto us; In all which triall of Job, though in spirit he was sore troubled, yet could not Satan get one misbeseeming word from him against God.
11 Now when Eliphas the Temanite,11. Now, when Jobs three friends heard of all this evill that was come upon him, they came every one from his owne place: Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite; for they had made an appointment together to come to mourne with him, and to comfort him. and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite, which were all godly men, and the three speciall friends of Job, had heard of all Iobs miseries, they came all of them together, by joynt appointment from the places where they lived, with intent to testifie themselves his true and faithfull friends in a voluntary sympathising his afflictions, and so to mitigate his sorrowes by their friendly condolings, and to support his spirit by their godly advise.
12. But as they drew towards the12. And when they lift up their eyes a far of, and knew him not, they lifted up their voyce, and wept, and they rent every one his mantle, and sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven. end of their journey, they cast their eyes toward Iobs house, and of a sudden seeing him in his owne person in that manner and estate to sit upon the dunghill, and his distresse to goe so far beyond report and their owne imaginations of him, they through amazement could not believe their own eyes for a while that it was hee, whom before they had never seene but in a splendidous fashion, but by beholding him, being at length assured that pitifull spectacle wa their very friend Iob, they could not but through amazement and affectionate sympathy, break out into a transported manifestation of their abundant sorrow both in words and tears, and deforming themselves with rending their mouths, and sprinkling dust upon their heads in token of their humbling themselves before God at the sight of his judgements.
13. Thus all of them having at the13. So they sate down with him upon the ground, seven daies, and seven nights, and none spake a word unto him; for they saw that his griefe was very great. first sight of him their hearts stricken with the awfull feare of God, as also in pity of him whom they beheld in such misery, when they came to him, sate them downe by him in that very place, upon the ground, eying and considering him with such astonishment, as that they spent the most part of seven daies and seven nights in that very place with him, without giving almost any regard to their ordinary rest and sustenance. And all that while they kept silence, because they thought him uncapable of discourse, by reason of his extreme paine and griefe.