Paraphrase on the Book of Job, Chapter 42
CHAP. XLII.
WHen Job had heard out1. Then Iob answered the Lord, and said. God, hee thus makes answer.
2. I humbly acknowledge it, that thou2. I know that thou canst doe every thing; and that no thought can bee withholden from thee. and thou only hast made all the creatures, and workes of wonder which thou hast spoken of, yea that thou canst doe even whatsoever pleaseth thee to doe, and that thy power is of such large extent, that not so much as a thought of any mans heart (which also is of thy making) can be hid from thee, nor can any thought or intention of thine bee withstood or hindred from being brought to passe by thee.
3. Well mightest thou taxe me as thou3. Who is he that hideth counsell without knowledge? therefore have I uttered that I understood not, things too wonderfull for mee, which I knew not. didst of my foolish questioning thy wise decrees and proceedings with my weake reasonings, which by an eye of faith issuing from an humble heart are only discernable, therefore I humbly confesse my fault, That I have been too bold and saucy with so great a majesty and with thy sacred decrees and actions, uttering things ignorantly of thee and them, I wist not what, which now repent me.
4. I am not the man I was, therefore4. Heare, I beseech thee, and I will speake: I will demand of thee, & declare thou unto me. now that thou hast done, I beseech thee heare me speake, which shall bee in another manner then at first when I passe my foolish chalenge, desiring now to bee instructed and not disputed with by thee.
5. I confesse I have beene ignorant5 I have heard of thee by the hearing of the eare: but now mine eye seeth thee. of thee to this very day, for though I have had some manner knowledge of thee by heare-say of what hath beene taught mee of old from my forefathers who were but men like my selfe, as also even now by Elihu; Yet now this short lesson of thine owne immediate teaching hath learned me more, and to more purpose in a little time being an eye-witnesse of thy glory, then all that ever I knew before.
6. In so much that now I eate my6. Wherefore I abhorre my selfe, and repent in dust and ashes. words and abhorre my selfe for my presumptuous misbehaviour, repenting it with as lowly a spirit as I sinned it with an high.
7. When God had finished his busines7. And it was so, that after the Lord had spoken these words into Iob, the Lord said to Elipha…, the Temanit…. My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for yee have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath. with Iob, & matters were reconciled between them two, having quickly brought him to see his folly and repent his pride; Then God turnes himselfe to Iobs three friends to convince them also of their miscarriage, and because Eliphaz was the ancientest and had first broached the errour whereof the other two were after guilty, he addresses himselfe to him by name and tells him, That he was justly angry with him, and his two companions, for because you have preached false doctrine touching me, and have been too bold to limit my soveraignety, by chalking me out wayes, and prescribing me rules of justice in the execution of my will, and dispensation of my providence, as if I alwayes must and did afflict men for, and according to the measure of their sins, & spare them for their righteousnes and innocency sake, which is a grosse untruth, and the contrary to which my servant Iob maintained, to wit, That I am free to doe my will, and incomprehensible in my wayes, which is right.
8. Therefore to expiate your offence8. Therefore take unto you now seven Bullocks, and seven Rammes, and goe to my servant Iob, and offer up for your selves a hurnt offering, and my servant Iob shall pray for you, for him will I accept: lest I deale with you after your folly, in that yee have not spoken of me the thing which is right, like my servant Iob. take with you such a sacrifice as I shall appoint, that is, seven Bullocks and seven Rammes, and goe to my servant Iob, reconcile your selves to him as touching the wrong you have done him as well as me, and give them him that hee may doe the office of a Priest, that is, offer up sacrifice and prayers for you all joyntly, who have all been guilty of the same sinne; and the prayers of my servant Job who is an upright man, and one whom I much respect, how ever you misiudged him, shall prevaile with me (through the office and person of my sonne which herein he resembles) to pardon you: I say doe this, thus, and excuse not the matter by your ignorance or welmeaning towards me, nor dispute my command, as loath to eate your words, or to justifie Iob whom you have already condemned; but dispatch, and goe about this businesse, least I give you your desert and make you feele the effects of your foolish presumption, in that you have dared to measure me out by your meet▪ wands, and prescribe me wayes to walke in, and so have falsified the truth, which my servant Iob maintained against you.
9. Whereupon these three aforesaid9. So Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naaneathite, went and did according as the Lord commanded thē: the Lord also accepted Iob. friends of Iob, Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naaneathite went streightway, having received so strickt a charge from God, and did what the Lord commanded them; for whom at their requests, Job put up his petitions to God, and was so accepted in his person, sacrifice and prayer, being a figure of Christ therein, that at his intercession their offence was forgiven them.
10. And as Iob in his meeknesse and10. And the Lord turned the captivity of Iob, when he prayed for his friends: also the Lord gave Iob twice as much as he had before. charity forgave his friends their trespasses, and prayed for them; so God forgave him his, and at that instant released him of his misery which hee had beene held in so long, and turned his sorrow into joy, by testifying his love to him in his acceptance of him, and by vindicating his uprightnesse and innocency against his accusers: moreover, God recompensed the losse and sufferings which Iob sustained, with double to what he had before.
11. And brought him into favour11. Then came there unto him all his brethren, and all his sisters, and all they that had been of his acquaintance before, and did eate bread with him in his house: and they bemoned him, and comforted him over all the evill that the Lord had brought upon him: every man also gave him a piece of money, and every one an eare-ring of gold. againe with those parties that partly for his poverty, and partly upon suspition of his hypocrisie had cast him off, so that now there flocked to him from far and neere, all his brethren and sisters and his old acquaintance, which it seemes though they were neere to him, and had beene intimate with him, yet upon this occasion had beene of late estranged, till now that they saw the face of things were changed, and then they come themselves to visit him, and to pity him for what hee had suffered, and to comfort him with gratifying his deliverance and freedome from all the afflictions that God had laid upon him; moreover, besides their visiting him, every man further congratulated his recovery (God moving their hearts) with a present of money and jewells, in testimony of their love and respect.
12. Thus the Lord humbled Job 12. So the Lord blessed the later end of Iob more than his beginning; for hee had fourteen thousand sheep, and sixe thousand Camells, and a thousand yoke of Oxen, and a thousand she-Asses.very low, to be a patterne of faith and patience to his Saints in aftertimes, by remembring his later end, which God made farre to exceed his beginning in abundance of all good things, yea, double to what he had; for whereas before hee had but seven thousand sheepe, now he had foureteene thousand, and so likewise his former three thousand Camels were now multiplied into sixe thousand, and his five hundred yoke of Oxen were doubled into a thousand, and his five hundred sheAsses into as many.
13. And whereas all his children13. He had also seven sonnes and three daughters. you heard were taken from him, he had them restored him againe, even their full number; seven sonnes and three daughters.14. And he called the name of the first Jemima, and the name of the second Kezia, and the name of the third Kerenhappuch.
14. Whom hee thus named: The eldest daughter hee called Iemima, or long life: The second he called Kezia, or pleasant spice: the youngest he called Keren-happuch, or the horne of beauty; prophesying in them the long life, together with the comfortable and happy condition which by the bounteous goodnesse of God he should yet enjoy.
15. Which three daughters, for a15. And in all the land were no women found so faire as the daughters of Iob: and their father gave them inheritance among their brethren. further blessing unto Iob, were the fairest women in all the land where hee lived, and were had in greatest reputation for their beauty, and as God gave them an extraordinary blessing to him, so he made them an extraordinary president; for out of his love to them, and in reward of their vertues hee gave to every of them severally, as to his sons, a portion of his land in stead of money to inherit, to them and to their heires for ever; so that they shared proportionably with their brethren by their fathers Will and Testament, and were coheires with them in his estate.16. After this lived Job an hundred and forty yeeres, and saw his sonnes, and his sonnes sonnes, even foure generations.
16. And thus all these sorrows which Iob thought he should never have seene an end of, he survived, and after them lived in prosperity and plenty a hundred and forty yeeres, so that he became a great Grandfather before he died.17. So Iob died being old, and full of daies.
17. And so Iob ended his daies in a good old age, and was carried to his grave like as a shock of corne commeth in, in his season.
FINIS.
Imprimatur.
Tho. Wykes. Iunij 14. 1638.
End of the text · George Abbot, Paraphrase on the Book of Job (1640)