The Book of Job Paraphrased, Chapter 16 – Chapter 17
CHAP. XVI.
ARGUMENT.
Job reproves the vanity and obſtinacy of Eliphaz, in repeating the ſame things over again, and ſtill perſiſting in his Inhumanity, though he ſaw his Caſe ſo pitiable. Which he again deſcribes, to make him ſenſible how unworthily he was treated by him and the reſt of his Friends: who, in effect, joyned with his Enemies; who took this opportunity to rail at him. Whereas there was no Crime of his appeared to juſtifie their Accuſations, and to make good Eliphaz his Argument: which ſignified nothing, unleſs he meant to ſay, that Job was like that wicked Tyrant of whom he had diſcourſed. Which was ſo far from any ſhew of truth, that he proteſts he never hurt any-body, and was alway a ſincere lover of God, &c. v. 17, 18. The truth of which God knew; to whoſe Bar he appeals from their unjuſt Sentence.
1. THEN Job anſwered, and ſaid,1. HERE Job interrupted him, and ſaid,
2. I have heard many ſuch things: miſerable comforters are ye all.2. Thou doſt but repeat what hath been often ſaid already: Such Comforters as you, are as troubleſome as my Sufferings.
3. Shall vain words have an end? or what emboldeneth thee that thou anſwereſt?3. May not one endleſly pour out ſuch empty Diſcourſes? (as I may with more reaſon call thine, then thou didſt mine XV. 3.) I wonder at thy confidence, that, having ſo little to ſay, thou ſhouldſt take upon thee to anſwer.
4. I alſo could ſpeak as ye do: if your ſoul were in my ſoul's ſtead, I could heap up words againſt you, and ſhake mine head at you.4. I could inſult as well as you; and, if we could change conditions, let you ſee how eaſy it would be to oppreſs you with ſuch words as theſe, and in a grave faſhion to mock at your Calamities.
5. But I would ſtrengthen you with my mouth, and the moving of my lips ſhould aſſwage your grief.5. But I abhor the thought of ſuch a guilt: I would not fail to fortify you, in that caſe, with the beſt Arguments I could invent; and carefully abſtain from the leaſt word that ſhould augment your Grief.
6. Though I ſpeak, my grief is not aſſwaged: and though I forbear, what am I eaſed?6. Though, as for my ſelf, I find my Miſery admits of no Conſolation: For whether I defend my Innocence, or ſilently ſuffer you to condemn me, it makes no difference.
7. But now he hath made me weary: thou haſt made deſolate all my company.7. God hath long ſince quite tired me with one Trouble upon another. Thou haſt not ceaſed, O God, till Thou haſt left me neither Goods, nor Children, no nor a Friend to comfort me.
8. And thou haſt filled me with wrinkles, which is a witneſs againſt me: and my leanneſs riſing up in me, beareth witneſs to my face.8. The furrows in my face (which is not old) ſhew the greatneſs of my Affliction: which is extreamly augmented by him, who riſes up with falſe Accuſations to take away mine Honour, as this Conſumption will do my Life.
9. He teareth me in his wrath, who hateth me: he gnaſheth upon me with his teeth; mine enemy ſharpeneth his eyes upon me.9. He rends my Good name in pieces with a paſſion equal to his hatred: my Enemy is inraged againſt me, and cruelly ſets himſelf to ſpy out the leaſt occaſion to calumniate me.
10. They have gaped upon me with their mouth, they have ſmitten me upon the cheek reproachfully, they have gathered themſelves together againſt me.10. There is no ſmall number of ſuch as theſe, who look like ſo many wild beaſts coming to devour me: having already moſt ſhamefully abuſed me, and joyned themſelves together, to give full ſatisfaction to their wrath wherewith they are fill'd againſt me.
11. God hath delivered me to the ungodly, and turned me over into the hands of the wicked.11. So God will have it; who hath abandoned the protection of me, and delivered me bound into the hands of the ungodly, to uſe me at their pleaſure.
12. I was at eaſe, but he hath broken me aſunder: he hath alſo taken me by my neck, and ſhaken me to pieces, and ſet me up for his mark.12. How happy was I heretofore! and now I am cruſhed in pieces: From an eminent condition he hath thrown me down into the moſt deſpicable; and there I am expoſed (as a Butt to the Arrow) to all manner of Indignities and Miſeries.
13. His archers compaſs me round about, he cleaveth my reins aſunder, and doth not ſpare; he poureth out my gall upon the ground.13. He is not content to take away all my Goods, and deſtroy my Family; but, to the reproach of my Friends, (which ſtrike like ſo many darts to my very heart,) He hath added Ulcers in every part of my Body, with inward pains which rack me without intermiſſion; and, in one word, hath ſo mortally wounded me, as if my bowels were already ſhed upon the ground.
14. He breaketh me with breach upon breach, he runneth upon me like a giant.14. Before one Wound be cloſed, He makes another; and in ſo violent a manner, that I can make no more reſiſtence then a Dwarf can do againſt a Giant.
15. I have ſowed ſackeloth upon my skin, and defiled my horn in the duſt.15. The Sackcloth which I put on at the firſt, now cleaves ſo faſt to me, as if I had ſewed it to my skin: and all my Authority and Honour is changed into Contempt.
16. My face is foul with weeping, and on my eyelids is the ſhadow of death:16. My Face is dirty, and mine Eyes, in a manner, quite put out, by the very Tears which have faln from thence.
17. Not for any injuſtice in mine hands; alſo my prayer is pure.17. And yet I muſt ſtill ſay, I never offered ſuch a violence as this to any man; and was alway (ſo falſe is Eliphaz his Accuſation XV. 4.) a ſincere Worſhipper of God.
18. O earth, cover not thou my bloud, and let my cry have no place.18. If this be not true, let my bloud be left to the Dogs to lick, when I am dead; and let neither God nor man regard my Complaint while I am alive.
19. Alſo now behold, my witneſs is in heaven, and my record is on high.19. But what need theſe imprecations? The great God who rules over all is my Witneſs; and can teſtify how juſt I have been toward my Neighbours, and how pious toward Himſelf.
20. My friends ſcorn me: but mine eye poureth out tears unto God.20. From your judgment therefore (who, in ſtead of comforting my Innocence, ſcornfully ſet your ſelves to defame me) I appeal to His; and beſeech Him with perpetual tears to vindicate me.
21. O that one might plead for a man with God, as a man pleadeth for his neighbour!21. I am ſo aſſured of the goodneſs of my Cauſe, (as well as of his Juſtice,) that I wiſh for nothing more, then to have it ſpeedily heard and tried by Him, in the ſame manner that pleas are held before earthly Judges.
22. When a few years are come, then I ſhall go the way whence I ſhall not return.22. For my Life cannot laſt long; and I know that when I am gone, I cannot return hither again, for Him to doe me juſtice.
CHAP. XVII.
ARGUMENT.
Here Job deſires he may be tried preſently before God's Tribunal, his Life being juſt upon the point to expire, as he had ſaid in the end of the former Chapter; and continues to urge again in this, becauſe his Friends were very unfit Judges in his caſe, and had paſſed ſuch a Sentence upon him, as upright men would never approve of. Whereby they had given him a new Vexation, to hear them talk ſo idly, and put him in hope of recovering his Happineſs, if he would follow their Admonitions; when they ſaw him juſt dropping into the Grave, which was the onelyonly thing, he ſaith, that he could hope for.
1. MY breath is corrupt, my days are extinct, the graves are ready for me.1. MY vital ſpirits are ſpent, they give but a glimmering and dying light; whereby I can ſee nothing but Graves on every ſide prepared for me.
2. Are there not mockers with me?? and doth not mine eye continue in their provocation?2. How can I ſupport my ſpirits, when my Friends, who ſhould comfort me, mock at all I ſay for my ſelf? This ſo bitterly exaſperates me, that I cannot take a wink of ſleep, nor think of any thing elſe.
3. Lay down now, put me in a ſurety with thee; who is he that will ſtrike hands with me?3. Once more therefore I beſeech Thee, O God, to aſſure me that Thou wilt judge my Cauſe Thy ſelf: Let ſome-body undertake for Thee: who is it that on thy behalf will ingage to doe me right?
4. For thou haſt hid their heart from underſtanding: therefore ſhalt thou not exalt them.4. Not theſe Friends of mine; for they comprehend nothing of the way of thy Judgments: therefore Thou ſhalt not conferr this honour on them, who talk ſo abſurdly.
5. He that ſpeaketh flattery to his friends, even the eyes of his children ſhall fail.5. I muſt ſpeak the truth of them, (though it diſpleaſe them,) and not ſooth them up in their errours: for he that flatters his Friends, when he ſhould reprove them, may look long enough before either he or his Children find one that will deal ſincerely with them.
6. He hath made me alſo a by-word of the people, and aforetime I was as a tabret.6. This very perſon who ſpake laſt hath made me a proverb in every-bodie's mouth; and it is the vulgar paſtime to talk of my Calamities.
7. Mine eye alſo is dim by reaſon of ſorrow, and all my members are as a ſhadow.7. No wonder then that exceſſive Sorrow hath darkned mine eyes; and that all the fleſh of my body is ſo conſumed, that I am but the Shadow of a man.
8. Ʋpright men ſhall be aſtonied at this, and the innocent ſhall ſtir up himſelf againſt the hypocrite.8. Upright men hereafter will be aſtoniſhed at the cruel ſentence which my Friends paſs upon me; and the innocent will reſolutely oppoſe the wicked, when he judges the worſe of Piety, becauſe of my Afflictions.
9. The righteous alſo ſhall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands ſhal be ſtronger and ſtronger.9. The righteous will not be moved by ſuch arguments to change his purpoſe of well-doing: much leſs will he doe any evil action, but grow rather the better by Adverſity, and adde Perſeverance to his Piety.
10. But as for you all, do you return, and come now: for I cannot find one wiſe man among you.10. And truly I wiſh that all you, who have charged me ſo heavily, would conſider things better, and hearken to what I have ſaid: for I muſt tell you again, there is not a man of you that judges truly of my Caſe.
11. My days are paſt, my purpoſes are broken off, even the thoughts of my heart.11. Repent of your harſh Cenſures before I die, as I muſt ſpeedily, my Joys being quite gone, and all the hopefull Deſigns, which had poſſeſſed my heart, being utterly ſubverted.
12. They change the night into day: the light is ſhort becauſe of darkneſs.12. In ſtead whereof other thoughts are come to torment me; which will not let me ſleep in the night, nor enjoy any pleaſure in the day.
13. If I wait, the grave is mine houſe: I have made my bed in the darkneſs.13. If I hope for any thing now, (as you would have me,) it is for a Grave: That's the onelyonly Houſe I can promiſe my ſelf; there I am going to reſt in a bed where I ſhall not be diſturbed.
14. I have ſaid to corruption, Thou art my father: to the worm, Thou art my mother, and my ſiſter.14. I have already made ſo near an alliance with Death, that my Father and Mother and neareſt Kindred are nothing ſo near me as Worms and Rottenneſs.
15. And where is now my hope? as for my hope, who ſhall ſee it?15. How vain then are all the hopes you would have me feed my ſelf withall? (XI. 15, 16, &c.) Who ſhall ſee, when I am ſure I ſhall not, the Happineſs you would have me look for here?
16. They ſhall go down to the bars of the pit, when our reſt together is in the duſt.16. All theſe Hopes you ſpeak of ſhall ſink down into the bottom of the grave; when you my Friends, as well as I, ſhall take up your lodging in the duſt.