Exposition of Job 1-3, Biblical commentary · Job 3.14, 15, 16, 17, 18
JOB 3. Ver. 14, 15, 16, 17, 18.
Verſe 14. With Kings and Counſellours of the earth, which build deſolate places for themſelves.
Or with Princes that had gold, who filled their houſes with ſilver.
Or as an hidden untimely birth, I had not been, as infants which never ſaw light.
There the wicked ceaſe from troubling, and there the weary be at reſt.
There the priſoners reſt together, they heare not the voice of the oppreſſour, &c.
FRom the 10th. verſe of this Chapter to the end of the 19th, we have ſhewed you, that Job layeth downe the cauſe of his former bitterneſſe and complainings againſt his day. At the 10th. verſe he is angry becauſe it hindred not his conception and his birth; And at the 13th. he giveth a further cauſe of that cauſe, For then (ſaith he) I ſhould have been at reſt. Now being about to prove that in death he ſhould have found reſt, he doth it by an induction of particulars, As if he had thus ſaid. Where all ſorts of perſons, even they who have been hardeſt wrought, and moſt troubled in the world, find reſt; there ſurely I ſhould have found reſt alſo, But in death, perſons that have been hardeſt wrought and moſt troubled in the world find reſt; therefore there I ſhould have found reſt too. Now for the proving of this aſſumption, that in death all ſorts of perſons find reſt, even thoſe who have been moſt travail'd, tired and worne out in the world: To prove this (I ſay) he gives inſtance in divers, almoſt all rankes, degrees and conditions of men.
Firſt, In thoſe who are great, rich and wiſe, in Kings and Counſellours of the earth, which build deſolate places for themſelves. And in Princes who had gold, who filled their houſes with treaſure, &c.
With Kings and Counſellors of the earth.
With Kings.] The word here uſed, properly noteth ſuch as rule by Law, ſuch as are oppoſed to Tyrants,foreign Regnavit Conſilio & Legibas. who rule according to the dictates of their own will. With ſuch Kings Counſellours are uſually joyned; With Kings and Counſellours of the earth. Great Princes have their Councells, and it is a happy conjunction when good Kings and good Counſellours meet together. Yea many times bad men are good Kings, when they are attended with good Counſellours: Whereas evill Counſellours often make a good man a bad King, and by their poiſonous whiſpers and inſtillations at the eare, corrupt the hearts, and taint the ſpirits of the beſt Princes. In the multitude of Counſellours (ſaith Solomon, Prov 15.21.) there is ſafety. The ſafety of Kings, and the ſafety of Kingdomes, doth conſiſt in following this multitude. Where there are good Counſellours, and a multitude of them, we may expect good, and much good, a multitude of bleſſings upon a Nation.
Now when Job had named theſe eminent perſons, Kings and Counſellours, he addeth ſomewhat further by way of their deſcription, he giveth as it were a character of them from their ſtudies and imployments, With Kings and Counſellours of the earth, which build deſolate places for themſelves.
It may ſeeme very doubtfull what is here meant by theſe deſolate places, and the building of them. foreign Propriè deſtr… ctiones.The word in the Hebrew is, deſolations, or destructions; It comes from Charab, which ſignifies to dry up, becauſe dry places are deſolate places, as a deſolate wilderneſſe for the drineſſe of it, being unfit to ſuſtaine man or beaſt. Hence the name of the Mount Horeb, Exod. 3.1. called ſo from drineſſe, becauſe there was no water, Deut. 8.15. The ſame word alſo ſignifies, a ſword; becauſe the ſword (as we ſee by woefull experience) makes places deſolate. But what Job ſhould meane by this, That Kings and Counſellours of the earth, build ſolitary places for themſelves, is queſtionable.
Firſt, Some take it for an expreſſion of vaſt and mighty buildings, Pallaces and houſes of ſuch largeneſſe and content, that when great Princes and Kings have their full retinue and families in them, they can ſcarce be ſeen: But I ſee no reaſon at all for that ſenſe, and therefore I paſſe it; a little touch will make that opinion deſolate.
Others by theſe deſolate places, conceive that Job meaneth Forreſts and Parkes, places of pleaſure, which Kings and great men uſe to build and make up for delight and recreation.
Or thirdly, That by deſolate places, are meant houſes built in deſolate or ſolitary places, in Woods and Forreſts. Princes and great men wil have their houſes farre remote from Townes and places of reſort, that they may be free from ſuitors, and retire when they pleaſe from the throng of the multitude; It is ſaid concerning Solomon, 1 King. 7.2. that after he had built the Temple and his own houſe for his Kingly reſidence, he built a houſe in the Forreſt of Lebanon; But this may be called a building in, rather then a building of deſolate places.
Fourthly, Rather, I conceive that Kings and Counſellours of the earth may be ſaid to build deſolate places, when finding places deſolate and ruined,Inn…it loca vaſta & deſtructa deſolata que , quae ipſi extruebant ad nomen ſibi comparandum, Druſ. they, with vaſt expences raiſe up and build ſtately Fabriques upon them, to get themſelves a name. As want and poverty, warre and troubles turne a Pallace into a deſolate place; ſo riches and plenty, power and peace meeting together in Kings and great men, turne deſolate places into Pallaces. Kings and Counſellours are of ſuch wealth and power, that they can alter the moſt deſolate and ruinous places, into delicate edifices and ſtately dwellings.
Or laſtly, Which doth beſt ſuite with the ſubject of Jobs diſcourſe or curſe in this Chapter; He ſpeaking ſo much of death, by the deſolate places, we may underſtand, Tombes and Sepulchers, places of buriall: which Kings and Counſellours build to or for themſelves: And ſo taken, the ſence may be given thus, as if Job had ſaid, if I had died, I ſhould have lien in the grave with as much eaſe and quiet, as thoſe great Princes and Kings of the earth, who build themſelves ſtately monuments to lie in; It would have been as well with me as with any of them, though interr'd under ſtately tombes. We know it was an ordinary thing for Kings and great men (eſpecially in ancient times) to prepare for themſelves coſtly monuments while they lived, as houſes for their bodies being dead: Which grew to ſuch exceſſive charge among the Romanes, Noſtrae quidem legis interpretes, quo capite jubent ſumptus & luxus removere a Deorum manium …ure, Intelligunt imprimis ſepulchrorum munificentiam eſſe minuendam, Cicero. Major apud Egyptios ſepulchrorum quam donorum cura.that they were forced to make a Law to reſtraine it. The Egyptians beſtowed more care and coſt in building their tombes then their houſes. Even Abraham, (Gen. 23.16.) bought him a burying place before he built himſelfe a houſe, though while he lived, he dwelt in a moveable tent, yet he would be as ſure as he could of a certaine grave. And good Joſeph of Arimathea had made himſelfe a ſepulcher in a rock, Math. 27.60. And it is ſaid of Abſolom, 2 Sam. 18.18. That in his life time he had taken and reared up a pillar, (that is, he had artificially raiſed a great pile of goodly ſtones) in the Kings dale, For he ſaid, I have no ſonne to keepe my name in remembrance; And he called the pillar after his own name. Now as this pillar was to keepe his name, ſo he intended it likewiſe to keepe his body when he ſhould die; For it being related in the verſe before, how as ſoone as he was ſlaine, they made no more adoe with him, but cast him into a great pit in the wood, and layed a very great heape of ſtones upon him; The holy Ghoſt to ſhew us the vanity of man in preparing for a dead body, while he neglects an immortall ſoule, and how God diſappoints the vaine conceits of men in ſuppoſing to perpetuate their own name and greatneſſe; The holy Ghoſt (I ſay) to ſhew this, preſently ſubjoynes in the ſacred ſtory, Now Abſolom in his life time, &c. As if he had ſaid, Doe ye obſerve how this ambitious Prince was buried, even tumbled into a pit with a rude heape of ſtones caſt upon him. This man had prepared himſelfe another kind of monument, even a ſumptuous pillar, &c. Inane monumē tum quod vocatur foreign, Jun. in loc.So that under or by that pillar, he had archt a curious vault for himſelfe to be buried in, called Abſaloms place, namely his burying place.
And the word which we have here for deſolate places, is in Scripture clearely applied to the grave, or a place of buriall. We have it in, Ezek. 26.20. where the Prophet foreſhewing the deſtruction of Tyre, ſpeakes from the Lord, thus, When I ſhall bring thee downe with them that deſcend into the pit, and ſhall ſet thee in the low parts of the earth, in places deſolate of old. There are three words in that verſe, and they are all Synonima's, words of the ſame ſignification; Firſt, The pit. Secondly, The low parts of the earth. Thirdly, The deſolate places; and all theſe are but ſeverall expreſſions for the grave, or for a place to bury in, It is no more but this, When I ſhall bring thee downe, even with thoſe that lie buried in the grave. So that the word which we tranſlate deſolate places, being alſo in other places uſed for the grave or a place of buriall, we may very well expound it ſo here, that deſolate places are the graves or ſepulchers of Kings, and Princes, and Counſellours of the earth; which we may doe eſpecially, becauſe Job treats in this place about death, and the ſtate of the dead.
Now Tombes and Monuments may be called deſolate places in two reſpects.
Firſt, Becauſe when the body is layed in there, all company and all friends leave it; you ſhall have a mighty traine following their friend to the grave, but there they leave him. Kings and Counſellours have ſtately Funerals, but when their ſubjects or friends, favourites or flatterers have brought them to the tombe and opened the doore of the grave, they goe no further, they will not goe in with them, and dwell with their bodies in the duſt of death, as much as they honour'd or ador'd them when they lived: ſo that, they are in deſolate places.
Secondly, Graves may be called deſolate places, becauſe Tombes and Sepulchres were in deſolate places, they were made in ſome high Mountaine or caved Valley, in ſome place remote from the company and habitations of the living; for in former times they did not bury in Cities or in Townes, but in places where few came, till they were carried, and therefore properly called deſolate places. Eutrop. l. 8. In Ʋrbe ne ſepelito neve …ite.It is obſerved, that among the Romans, the firſt Emperour that was buried in Rome was Traian. And the law of the twelve Tables did prohibit both the buriall and the burning of the dead within the City. So then it is cleare, that anciently Tombes and Monuments were erected in deſolate places, and that great coſt was beſtowed in building and beautifying of them; both which favour and illuſtrate the expoſition given. It followes in the Text; Or with Princes that had gold, who fill their houſes with treaſure.
foreignThe word Sar, a Prince, in the Hebrew as in moſt other languages, ſignifies the chiefe, the head, the firſt; Some Criticks conceive that our Engliſh word [Sir] comes from it, it is very neere in ſound, and ſo is the French word [Mounſier] to this Originall for a Prince or Chiefe.
Job deſcribeth Princes thus, they are ſuch as had gold, noting both what the ſtudy and indeavours of Princes are, namely, to lay up gold; and likewiſe what is requiſite for them. Gold is of great uſe in a high eſtate; Treaſures are neceſſary for Princes. Princes that had gold. Therefore Solomon that wiſe Prince ſaith of himſelfe, Eccleſ, 2.8. And he putteth it among his Princely workes, I gathered me alſo ſilver and gold, and the peculiar treaſure of Kings: When the Wiſe-men came to Chriſt, the firſt thing they offered him was gold, and they did wiſely, for he was a Prince: gold being the chiefe, and as it were the prince of Mettals, is a very proper offering for Princes. And howſoever wiſedome and goodneſſe, juſtice and clemency are farre more neceſſary requiſites in Princes then gold, yet there is ſuch a neceſſary conjunction of theſe two, that we find him in the Prophet (Iſa. 3.7.) refuſing the governement becauſe he was poore. Be thou our Ruler (ſay they verſ. 6.) and let this ruine be under thine hand, that is, be thou our Prince and take charge of us; Not I ſaith he, I will not be an healer, for in mine houſe is neither bread nor cloathing, make me not a Ruler of the people; As if he had ſaid, I am but a poore man, a man of a weake eſtate, Princes muſt have treaſure and great eſtates to beare up the dignity of their places; As covetouſneſſe, ſo poverty is very unbecoming in a Prince. The Romane ſtory tells us, that when two great Conſulls ſtood in competition for a great employment in the affaires of that Common-wealth, One of the Senators being as'kt upon which of the two he would beſtow his vote, Anſwered, upon neither: And gives this reaſon,Valerius: Maximus▪ l. 6.5.4. One hath nothing, and the other can never have enough; One was ſo poore that he had nothing to ſupport him, and the other was ſo covetous that nothing would ſatisfie him. Therefore, as before Job joyned Counſellours with Kings, ſo here he joyneth gold with Princes; The next expedient for Princes to counſell and wiſedome, are gold and treaſures. We find indeed, that God gives it in charge to the Kings of Iſrael, concerning their gathering of treaſures, that they ſhould not be exceſſive, (Deut: 17.17.) Neither ſhall he greatly multiply to himſelfe ſilver and gold, He doth not ſay, your Prince or your King ſhall not multiply ſilver or gold, but he ſhall not greatly multiply ſilver or gold, that is, he ſhall not ſet his heart upon them, or thinke he never hath enough, he ſhall not greatly doe it,foreign Argentum quod ab omnibus ap… petitur. but let him be carefull to doe it proportionably to his occaſions either of peace or warre.
Further, It is added, Who fill their houſes with treaſure. The word which we here tranſlate treaſure, is ordinarily tranſlated ſilver, The root from which it ſprings, ſignifieth to deſire, and the reaſon is, becauſe treaſure, ſilver or gold, are ſuch deſireable things, or things upon which the deſires of moſt men are ſet: therefore the Hebrewes give ſilver a name proper to its own nature, or rather to the nature of men, whoſe deſires are enflamed after it. With this deſireable thing, Princes fill their houſes.
What are theſe houſes?
A houſe is a place wherein man liveth, or inhabiteth while he liveth: this is the ordinary acception of the word; and ſo it may be taken here, for the ordinary dwelling houſes or Pallaces of Princes; And then it is an heightning of the ſenſe, They had gold, yea, they had ſo much, as they filled their houſes with it.
Then againe, (That we may keepe in this clauſe to the expoſition given in the laſt, of the deſolate places,) we may underſtand by the houſes that theſe Princes filled with treaſure, the graves, the Tombes wherein they were buried; And it is the language of Scripture, to call the grave a houſe, mans houſe. Two Texts I will give you for it, one out of this booke, Job 30.23. where Job ſpeaking of the grave, calleth it the houſe appointed for all living; And Eccleſ. 12.5. where Solomon calls it our long home, Man dieth, foreign Ad domum ſaeculi.and goeth to his long home; the word in the Originall is, he goeth to the houſe of his age, or to the houſe of age. God is called the rock of ages, becauſe he is an everlaſting ſtrength, Iſa. 26.4. The grave is called an houſe of age, becauſe it is a very laſting houſe, an abiding houſe, a houſe where man muſt abide till God ſound him up by the voice of a Trumpet to the reſurrection; So then the grave is likewiſe called an houſe, the houſe of all living, becauſe thither every one that is living is travailing, man travailes to the grave as to his houſe; And a long-home, in oppoſition to our ſhort home, our uncertaine abode in thoſe houſes wherein we dwell upon the earth.
Princes (ſaith Job) that had gold, and this is one uſe they make of it, they fill their houſes, that is, their graves or their tombes with this treaſure. In thoſe times (it ſeemes) they did not only beſtow great coſt upon their Tombes and places of buriall, but they put great ſtore of treaſure into the Tombes with them. According to this interpretation, the meaning of Job may be thus repreſented, If I had died before, and had been buried poorely and obſcurely, yet I ſhould have done as well as Kings and Counſellours, who with vaſt expence of treaſure build ſtately Tombes for themſelves, yea as well as Princes that put their treaſure into their Tombes with them.
That it was a cuſtome to put in much treaſure into Tombes, is obſerved by Joſephus in his 13th. book of Antiquities and 15th.Ioſeph. l. 13. Antiq. c. 15. & l. 16. c. 11. chapter, ſhewing how Hircanus opened Davids Sepulcher, and tooke out three thouſand Talents; And in his 16th. booke, chap. 11. he notes, that afterward Herod opened the Sepulchre of David, and thought to have found a great deale of treaſure there, but found only ſome precious garments, &c. And the ſtory is famous out of Herodotus concerning Semiramis, Herodotus. l. 1.That ſhe having built a ſtately Tombe, makes this inſcription upon it, Whatſoever King ſhall ſucceed here and wants money, let him open this Tombe and he ſhall have enough to ſerve his turne; Which Darius in afterages being in ſtreights for want of treaſure attempting to doe, in ſtead of money found only this reproofe written and laid up there. Ʋnleſſe thou hadſt been extreamely covetous and greedy of filthy lucre, thou wouldeſt not have opened the graves of the dead to ſeeke for money. The Lord, threatens by the Prophet Jeremie, that the Chaldeans ſhall bring out the bones of the King of Judah, and the bones of his Princes, and the bones of the Prieſts, and the bones of the Prophets, &c. out of their graves, chap. 8.1. It is conceived that the reaſon why the Chaldeans digg'd up and raked in the graves of the Jewes, was not ſo much from cruelty as from covetouſneſſe: They having heard that the Jewes uſed to put rich ornaments upon the dead, or riches into their graves with them. Or this might be as a juſt puniſhment of that grredineſſe after gaine, ſo eminent in the Jewes, that the Prophet in the very Chapter where this is threatned, chargeth them thus, ver. 10. Every one from the leaſt to the greatest, is given to covetouſneſſe. Thus it is cleare, that there was a cuſtome to put riches and treaſure into the grave with the dead, to which Job might allude in this place,
So much for the opening of the words from the ſenſe given. Obſerve, firſt,
That neither power, nor wiſedome, nor riches, are any priviledge at all againſt the ſtroake of death. Here are Kings, men that have great power; Counſellours, men full of wiſedome; Princes that have riches, ſo much gold that they can ſtuffe their graves with it, yet theſe cannot defend themſelves againſt death: Death will not obey the authority of Kings, nor doth it feare their frownes; the ſubtilty or policy of Counſellours is not able to defeate it, there is no eloquence, no Rhetorick can perſwade death to depart; all the gold and riches in the world cannot bribe death or ſtay its hand; I (ſaith Job) ſhould have found Kings and Counſellours, and rich men, even all theſe in the grave, and we ſhould have reſted together. Riches availe not in the day of wrath, (Prov. 11.4.) but righteouſneſſe delivereth from death. Righteouſneſſe delivereth from death, why, ſhall not righteous men die? Surely Job might have ſaid, with righteous men, with holy men ſhould I have reſted, with Abraham, with Iſaac and with Jacob, theſe are in the grave, death ſeaz'd on them as well as other Princes, and Kings and Counſellours; How then doth Solomon ſay, that righteouſneſſe delivereth from death? Death is there either to be underſtood of ſome dangerous judgement, for, ſaith he, riches availe not in a day of wrath; that is, in a day of publike calamity, but righteouſneſſe delivereth from death; that is, from thoſe troubles and dangers; God hath reſpect to a righteous perſon, and hideth him from that death. Or righteouſneſſe doth deliver from death, that is, from the evill of death, from the ſting of death, from the bitterneſſe of death; the bitterneſſe and evill of death is paſt to a righteous man. But riches they availe not at all, they cannot at all, as not deliver from death, ſo not mitigate the paine, or pull out the ſting, or ſweeten the bitterneſſe of death; yea rather riches encreaſe all theſe: That is a truth, O death how bitter is thy remembrance to a man that is at eaſe in his poſſeſſion. Men may put their riches with them into the grave, but riches cannot keepe them a moment out of the grave. This thought, How bitter!
Secondly, When Job ſpeakes of Kings, and Counſellours and Princes, theſe great men of the world, he ſheweth us what their ſtudy and buſineſſe for the moſt part is in the world, it is about worldly things; They build deſolate places, they have gold, they fill their houſes with treaſure; Theſe are their employments, the current of their cares and endeavours runs out this way. Hence obſerve,
That the thoughts of the greateſt and wiſest of the world, are uſually but for and about the world, The poore receive the goſpell, and the rich receive the world. As a godly man is deſcribed by his faith, Abraham beleeved God: By feare, by uprightneſſe, by juſtice, as Job in the firſt chapter of this Booke, by meekneſſe, as Moſes, &c. by the heavenlineſſe of their ſpirits and converſations: Our converſation is in Heaven, Phil. 3.20. So worldly men are deſcribed by their proper ſtudies. Kings, Counſellours and Princes, build Pallaces, gather riches, heape up gold. They buy, they ſell, they build, they plant, they eate, they drinke, as the worldly world is pictur'd, Luk. 17.27, 28. In the 17th. Pſalme, great men are called, the men of the world, as if they were for nothing but the world, or all for the world; as if all their proviſions were laid in for this world, ſo it followes, who have their portion in this life, ver. 14. It is a ſad thing to have received our portion, It is ſaid of the rich man, Sonne, remember that thou in thy life time receivedſt thy good things, thou haſt had thy portion. In Pſal. 49.11. It is ſaid concerning ſuch men, that their inward thought is, that their houſes ſhall continue for ever, and their dwelling places to all generations, and they call their lands after their own names. Their inward thoughts are upon theſe things; It is ſomewhat a ſtrange kind of ſpeaking, to ſay, their inward thoughts, for there are no thoughts but inward, thoughts are all wrought in the ſecret ſhop of the heart. But there is an elegancy in it, the Hebrew is their inwards, their internalls; Internum vel interiora.Their inwards are, how they may get themſelves a name and riches, not only are their thoughts about theſe things, but the very inmoſt of their thoughts, the moſt retired thoughts and receſſes of the ſoule are about theſe things, theſe lie neereſt to their hearts; As the ſtory ſaith of Queen Mary, when ſhe died, ſhe had them open her and they ſhould finde Calice at her heart, It was a pitifull caſe, that a rotten Towne ſhould lie (where Chriſt ought) at the heart of ſuch a Princeſſe; The heart is the place where Chriſt and the thoughts of Heaven ſhould lodge: All below Heaven ſhould be below our hearts. But as a godly mans inward thoughts are for Heaven and the things of Heaven, for grace and for holineſſe; he hath thoughts upon the world, but (if I may ſo ſpeake) they are his outward thoughts, not his inward thoughts: That which lies neereſt his heart, his inward thoughts are for Heaven: So the inward thoughts of worldly men are for the world; the Apoſtle might well ſay, Not many wiſe, nor many rich, nor many noble are called, the thoughts of wiſe Counſellours, of potent Kings and rich Princes, are legible in their actions.
Thirdly, Having expounded theſe deſolate places to be Tombes, and theſe houſes graves, Obſerve,
That ſome take in their life time more care for their Sepulchers, then they doe for their ſoules. Here are great men, what doe they? They build deſolate places, they will be ſure to have ſtately monuments: And they had gold, they will be ſure to fill their graves with treaſure, they will be buried richly, or they will have their riches buried with them; But what care did theſe take for their poore ſoules in the meane time, where they ſhould lie? Had they taken order what ſhould become of their ſoules? When all things are diſpoſed of, this choice peece for the moſt part is left undiſpoſed of, unprovided for; Some will carefully provide for their children, they will provide for their families, they will provide for their dead bodies, for their carcaſſes, but for their immortall ſoules there is no proviſion made: While their bodies are aſſured of a reſting place, they may ſay of and to their departing ſoules (as that trembling Emperour beſpake his) O our poore fleeting wandring ſoules, whether are you going, where is the place of your reſt. As it is ſaid of Abſolom in the place before cited, He in his life time had reared up a pillar (a monument, or a Tombe) for himſelfe in the Kings dale; What a carefull Prince was this for his body! But how careleſſe was this Prince for his ſoule! He will have a pillar to preſerve his name, and yet runs out in rebellion againſt his owne father, to the deſtruction of his ſoule. The great buſineſſe of the Saints on earth, is to get aſſurance of a place for their ſoules to lodge in when they die: It troubles them not much what lodging their bodies have, if they can put their ſpirits into the hand of Chriſt: What though their bodies be caſt upon a dung-hill, or trodden upon,Facilis jactu…a ſepulchri. like mire in the ſtreetes, by cruell men? A Heathen ſaid, The loſſe of a Funerall, or of a Sepulcher may eaſily be borne; I am ſure, a Chriſtian may: That loſſe will never undoe any man, eſpecially not thoſe who beleeve. For in the perſon of ſuch the Apoſtle ſpeaketh, 2 Cor. 5.2. We know that if our earthly houſe of this Tabernacle were diſſolved, we have a building of God, an houſe not made with hands, eternall in the Heavens. All that rich worldlings, and ungodly great ones can ſay when they die, is, We know when the earthly houſe of this Tabernacle ſhall be diſſolved, we have a building of man, a ſtately Tombe made with hands, and with all the skill of the cunning artificer: We have ſeene it done already, or we have taken order in our wills to have it done. The beleever erects his pillar in Heaven, and his whole life is a preparation for his houſe which is above; And often he ſettles the buſineſſe ſo, that he can ſay, I know that when this houſe of my body is taken downe, I have a building, &c. And he can ſay, I know, with farre greater aſſurance then any worldly man, who hath ſealed it in his will, that thus and thus his body ſhall be entombed. It is a ſad thing to take care for a rotting carkaſſe, and forget an immortall ſoule.
Job having thus paraleld or compared himſelfe in death, with Kings, Counſellours and Princes, notwithſtanding all their pompous funeralls and curious Tombes, paſſeth as it were in the next verſe to the other extreame.
Verſe 16.
Or as an hidden untimely birth, I had not beene, as infants which never ſaw light.
As if he had ſaid, if any thinke that I have ſtrained too high in making my ſelfe equall in death with Kings, &c. yet ſurely I ſhould have beene as thoſe, that never knew themſelves to be in this world, or as thoſe that the world never knew to be, that is, As an hidden untimely birth, or as infants which never ſaw light.
An hidden untimely birth. The word [Nephel] in the Hebrew for an untimely birth, comes from [Naphal] which ſignifieth to fall downe, or to fall off,Quaſi decidum aut immaturus fructus qui ante maturitatis tē pus ex arbore decidit inutilis, Bolduc. in loc. as untimely fruite falls off from a Tree; which falling off before it is ripe, is unprofitable and uſeleſſe: When the mother miſcarries, her fruit is like the fruit of a tree, ſhaken off and falling downe before it be ripe, or in the blooming. And the ſame word is uſed in the Hebrew, to ſignifie a Giant; There were (Nephilim) Giants in the earth in thoſe dayes, Gen. 6.4. and the reaſon why they are ſo called, is as ſome apprehend, becauſe they were Apoſtates, ſuch as fell off from God, from true worſhip and Religion: Or becauſe they did fall upon men, as that phraſe is applied to cruell men, they did fall upon the poore, So the word is uſed, chap. 1. ver. 15. of this Booke, The Sabeans fell upon Jobs Oxen, &c, They who fall from God by impiety, will quickly fall upon men by cruelty. Or becauſe the dread and terrour of them made men to fall downe for feare before them: It is very obſervable, that the ſame word ſhould ſignifie, an infant of leſſe then a ſpan long, and a Giant (it may be) of more then ſix cubits and a ſpan, (1 Sam. 17.4.) and both upon equall reaſon, and with equall ſignificancy.
Further we may take notice, that the Hebrewes expreſſe any dead body or carkaſſe by the ſame word; the dead body of the oldeſt man is called Mappeleth, from the ſame roote and reaſon too in part, from which they denominate, an untimely birth, that never lived a day. When the old man dies, he falls as well as the newly conceived embryon; The one falls off as a bloſſome from the tree, the other as the fruitfully ripe, which (if you pull it not off) muſt fall off.foreign, Cadaver a cadendo. The Greeke word for a dead body, and the Latine, have the ſame reaſon of their derivation, namely from falling: So ſaith Job, I had been as one of theſe untimely births, that fall to the earth before their time.
The Apoſtle Paul ſaith concerning himſelfe (1 Cor. 15.8.) I was as one borne out of due time, I was an untimely birth: Some of the naturaliſts ſay,foreign, Apud Ariſtotelem ſignificat f…etum poſt ſeptimum & intra quadrageſſimū diem conc…ptū; Apud Hippocratem octavo menſe natos. Ariſtot l. 7. de Hiſtor. Anima…. c. 7. that word ſignifies ſuch abortions as are after the ſeventh, and before or at the fortieth day after conception. Others, that it ſignifies thoſe who are borne the eighth monethmonth, which uſually as they are untimely, ſo they die. Now Paul calleth himſelfe an untimely birth, to ſuite the humble thoughts which he had of himſelfe, with an humble expreſſion of himſelfe, which reaſon he ſeemes to give in the next words, ver. 9. For I am the leaſt of the Apoſtles, that am not meete to be called an Apoſtle, &c. Even as an untimely birth is not fit to be called a birth; or, becauſe children that are ſo borne, are very imperfect, they are leſſer, and weaker then thoſe of full growth: So ſaith he, I am as a poore abortive, as a child borne out of due time, I am the least of the Apoſtles, Iuſtum temporis ordinem ſervavit dominus in creandis, fovendis & formandis Apoſtolis. Paulus vero vix dum bene concepto Spiritu vitali ex utero projectus fuera…, momen…o ſimul genitus & natus & vir plene aetatis fuit, Pined.and I am leſſe then the leaſt of all Saints, Epheſ. 3.8. I am not come to that ſtature and growth of a timely birth. Secondly, He calleth himſelfe an untimely birth, or one borne out of due time, probably for this reaſon, becauſe of the ſuddenneſſe or violence of his converſion; For you know every abortion or untimely birth, comes from ſome ſuddaine danger into which the mother falleth; ſome ſtraine or violence cauſeth abortion: Paul in this ſenſe was an untimely birth, his converſion was a wonderfull violent converſion; Chriſt came upon him of a ſuddaine, whereas the other Apoſtles were a great while a forming, a ſhaping, a fitting to an Apoſtleſhip, but Paul was as it were in a moment conceived and borne, brought forth and perfected an Apoſtle, and ſo from the ſuddenneſſe and violence of his new-birth, he may call himſelfe an unimely birth.
But to paſſe on from that to the words of Job, As an hidden, untimely birth, I had not been. Here are two things diſtinct about this birth. Firſt, It is called an untimely birth. Secondly, a hidden birth.
An untimely birth, is called a hidden birth, becauſe it is hid from the eyes of others; Abortives are unpleaſing and undeſireable ſpectacles, therefore they are covered and laid by; there is no remembrance of their forme or likeneſſe, therefore Salomon ſpeaking of an untimely birth, Eccleſ. 6.4. thus deſcribes it, He commeth in with vanity and departeth in darkeneſſe, and his name ſhall be covered with darkeneſſe.
As a hidden untimely birth, I had not beene.
An untimely birth is ſaid not to have been. A not being is taken two wayes. Firſt, Strictly for that which never had any life at all, and ſo ſome interpret this, for there are abortions or untimely births, before quickning or before there is any life. Secondly,Eſſe dicit…r qui vivit & non eſſe qui mort…us eſt. Not to be, is not to ſubſiſt, or not to live: When that which hath lived dies, it is ſaid not to be. The Prophet brings in Rachel, weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, becauſe they were not, Jer. 31.15. that is, becauſe they were dead. Joſephs bretheren pleading before unknowne Joſeph, tell him, thy ſervants are twelve bretheren, and behold the youngest is this day with his father, and one is not, Gen. 42.13. that is, one is dead. So Jacob ſpeakes at the 30th. verſe of the ſame chapter, Joſeph is not, &c. Hence that anſwer of the Wiſe-man to Alexander, who demanding of him, whether the living or the dead were more in number, ſaid, The living, for the dead are not.
As infants that never ſaw the light.] This clauſe may be an expoſition of the former clauſe, ſhewing what Job meanes by an untimely birth, even an infant, that never ſaw the light. Yet all infants that never ſee the light are not untimely births. Infants are often ſtill-borne, when their mothers have gone out their time to the laſt houre, before the paines of travaile come upon them. And therefore I rather underſtand this as diſtinct from the former. In the one Job intending ſuch as are borne before time, which births, are commonly called abortions or miſcarriages. And in the other, thoſe who die in the birth,foreign Significat parvulum ablactatum, per Catachreſin uſurpatur de infantibus in utero matris extinctis. who are commonly called ſtill-borne. The word which is here uſed for an infant, ſignifies properly a weaned infant, but it is likewiſe transferred to ſignifie an infant dying in the birth, which is therefore ſaid never to ſee the light; So Salomon expreſſeth it too, in that place, Eccleſ. 6.5. Moreover, he hath not ſeene the Sunne; And in alluſion to this, David when he curſeth the plots of wicked men, that though they have conceived miſchiefe, and though they have gone with it a long time, and are ready to bring it forth, yet in Pſal. 58.8. ſaith he, let them be (that is, let their counſels and deſignes be) like the untimely birth of a woman, that they may not ſee the Sunne, that is, let them be daſhed and blaſted, let them never bring forth their poiſonous brood to the hurt and trouble of the world. To theſe ſaith Job, I am ſure I ſhould have bin like, if not to Kings and Counſellours, and had beene as well, and all one to me. In death, untimely births and thoſe that goe downe to the grave as a ſheafe of corne that cometh in ripe, are all one; there is no difference in the grave betweene the infant that never ſaw the Sunne, and him that hath lived to ſee an hundred recourſes of the Sun.
The ſpeech of Job proceedes to a third ſort, he ſtrengthens his argument of reſt in death. I ſhould certainely have had reſt in death, for in death, even they who have been moſt vexed, who have had leaſt reſt, who have been even reſtleſſe in the world, they have found reſt in death, this he cleares by a further induction, in the 17, 18, 19, verſes.
There the wicked ceaſe from troubling, and there the weary be at reſt.
There the priſoners reſt together, they heare not the voice of the oppreſſour.
The ſmall and great are there, and the ſervant is free from his maſter.
When he had ſpoken of the reſt of death, concerning thoſe great and mighty ones, and the reſt of death concerning untimely births and infants, then he ſpeakes of the reſt which poore oppreſſed ones, or which wicked oppreſſours have in death; all theſe have a reſt in regard of outward bodily troubles, agitations and labours in the grave, therefore certainely there I ſhould have been at reſt.
There (that is in the grave) the wicked ceaſe from troubling: True reſt and wickedneſſe never meete, reſt and the wicked meete but ſeldome. And it is but halfe a reſt, and it is reſt but to halfe a wicked man, to his bones in the grave, and it is reſt to that halfe but for a little time, only till the reſurrection.
foreignThe word which is here uſed for wicked, is conſiderable: Though every wicked man be a ſinner, yet every ſinner is not a wicked man: It is one thing to ſin, and another thing to be wicked; there are divers words in the Hebrew tongue, which ſignifie as it were the divers ſtatures of ſinners, and the degrees of ſinne; And the Hebrew which uſually expreſſeth many things by one word, doeth here uſe many words to ſignifie one thing, only differing in degree.
Firſt, A ſinner is called ſometime [Cata] that's the loweſt expreſſion, noting one that doth miſſe a marke or his way,foreign Erravit, a ſc… po vel via, …a potiſſimum peccata ſignificat quae vel errore vel per ignorantiam vel infirmitate carnis committuntur, Moller in Pſal. 106. v. 6. foreign Peccatum ex ſuperbia. Tranſgreſſio non ſimplex & qualiſcun que , ſed malicioſa ac temerar…a, unde & aliquando rebellio vocatur, Muſc. in Pſal. 5. v. 10. he aimes at the marke, yet miſſes it, he would goe in the right way, yet miſtakes it or is miſled: So every man, the holieſt men are ſinners, they often miſſe the marke, the white which God ſets up, though they take their aime, and level carefully at it.
Secondly, A ſinner is called [Peſhang] which ſignifieth a willingneſſe to ſin, and an unwillingneſſe to obey, it ſignifieth pride in ſinning, or a ſinning from pride, which is plaine rebellion.
Thirdly, The word here uſed, and in divers other places, ſignifieth wickedneſſe in the height, and men moſt active in wickedneſſe: So that when Job ſaith, There the wicked are at reſt, he meanes thoſe who had beene reſtleſſe in ſin, who could not ſleepe till they had done miſchiefe, nor ſcarce ſleepe for doing miſchiefe: He meanes thoſe who had out-run others in the ſinfull activity, or rather turbulency and unquietneſſe of their ſpirits; ſuch as are without peace themſelves, and ſeeke to moleſt and diſturbe the peace of others: The Prophet deſcribes them to be like the troubled ſea which cannot reſt, (Iſa. 57.20.) The proper ſignification of the word (wicked) in the Hebrew, is the word unquiet, vexatious, or without reſt; 1 Sam. 14.47. Whereſoever Saul turned himſelfe he vexed the enemy. So Job. 34.29. And the reaſon of it is given, becauſe men of this height and ſtature in ſin, are men of troubled, unquiet and reſtleſſe ſpirits. As it notes a height in holineſſe and grace, to have a kind of unquietneſſe upon the ſpirit till we can doe good, and compaſſe holy deſignes and purpoſes, when we are not only pious, but zealous; As David reſolves, Pſal. 132.3, 4. Surely I will not come into the Tabernacle of my houſe, nor goe up into my bed, I will not give ſleepe to mine eyes, nor ſlumber to mine eyelids, untill I find out a place for the Lord, &c. So unquietneſſe upon the ſpirit till it can put ſin into act, and compaſſe an evill project, notes a compleateneſſe in the ſinner. Sin wakes and workes in them to purpoſe, who cannot ſleepe till they have wrought out their ſin; of theſe it is properly that Job ſpeakes here, theſe troublers of themſelves, and troublers of Iſrael, theſe whom the Lord ſhall trouble this day, or one day: There, ſc. in the grave, theſe wicked ones ceaſe from troubling; there they have a kind of reſt being dead, who could not reſt while they lived; there at leaſt they ceaſe from raging. This word (Ragaz) notes any vehement motion, either of mind or body, ariſing from feare, or grief or anger, or the concurrence of them all: As when David heard of the death of Abſolom, the Text ſaith, 2 Sam. 18.33. The King was much moved, &c. He was as it were for a time enraged or diſtracted, much troubled, I am ſure, with paſſions, or the working of many paſſions together. The word, you ſee, in the Hebrew, hath a neere affinity in ſound and ſenſe with our Engliſh word raging, and we tranſlate it ſo, Pſal. 2. Why doe the heathen rage? It is the ſame word; So here, the wicked ceaſe from raging, or from troubling; that is, from that madneſſe of rage in troubling the poore, eſpecially ſuch as feare God: Wicked men are not only ſinfull, but they are mad in their ſin; As Paul ſpeakes of himſelfe before his converſion, I puniſhed them oft in every Synagogue, and compelled them to blaſpheme, and being exceedingly mad against them, I perſecuted them even unto strange Cities, Acts 26.11. In Paul unconverted, ſee the picture of a wicked mans ſpirit, he could not ceaſe from troubling, but in death he ſhall.
And there the weary are at rest.
The weary.] Some by the weary, underſtand thoſe whom the wicked have wearied by troubling of them; and that is a truth, that in the grave, the wearied, thoſe that wicked men have turmoiled and vexed,Sicut prior pa…s de tyrannis & oppreſsoribus intelligitur, ita haec ſecunda poteſt de afflictis & oppreſſis. Sed congruentiùs ſi tota haec periodus, referatur ad viros fam…ſos, qui dicuntur feſſi robore, mille ſeſe obijcientes vitae diſcriminibus, Pined. are at reſt; ſo the ſenſe is made out thus; that in the grave, they that trouble others, and the troubled, the poore perſecuted, and the proud perſecutors are at reſt. But rather, by the wearied, we are to underſtand only the wicked themſelvs, There the wicked ceaſe from troubling, and there the weary be at reſt, that is, there thoſe wicked men, who weary and tire out themſelves with vexing and troubling of others, are at reſt; they then ceaſe from thoſe vexatious undertakings, which have conſumed their ſpirits and worne out their bodies; And the reaſon why I rather expound the weary to be the wicked (though the other be a good ſenſe) is, becauſe Job afterward ſpeakes of the reſt of thoſe that are wearied, who are paſſive under the cruelties and plottings of thoſe wicked ones. There the wicked ceaſe from troubling, and there the weary be at reſt. Hence obſerve, firſt,
That wicked men are troublers both of themſelves and others. There the wicked ceaſe from troubling, as if the wicked did nothing in the world but trouble the world. As before Job had given the ſpeciall character of great ones and Princes, They get gold, build Palaces and Sepulchers, and fill them with treaſure: So when he ſpeakes of wicked ones, he ſaith, There the wicked ceaſe from troubling; As intimating, that while they live in the world, they are a perpetuall trouble to the world. The Prophet Iſaiah is expreſſe, (chap, 57.20.) The wicked are as the troubled ſea, that cannot reſt; they can doe any thing better, then be quiet, they have not ſtrength enough to ſit ſtill, they cannot reſt. King Ahab had this apprehenſion of Elijah, (1 King. 18.17.) when the kingdome of Iſrael was full of trouble, (for God did vex them with great adverſity.) Art not thou he (ſaith Ahab) that troubleſt Iſrael? No ſaith Elijah, (who could make up a better judgement then Ahab in that point) I am not he that troubleth Iſrael, but it is thou and thy fathers houſe. Ahab had ſold himſelfe to worke wickedneſſe, and ſo had ſtock enough to purchaſe trouble for Iſrael; wicked ones are the troublers of all; they are troublers of their own families, troublers of the places and Cities where they live, the troublers of a whole Kingdome, troublers of the Churches of Chriſt, and the troublers of their own ſoules, they are borne to trouble both active and paſſive, they love to trouble, and they have what they love: It is the character and the argument of an extreame wicked man, to be a troubler; Even as it is a great argument of great grace, when you ſee one a comforter of others, or buſie to helpe others, to doe good to others; The tree is knowne by the fruites.
Secondly, Taking the latter words of this verſe, (There the weary be at reſt,) for thoſe wicked men who are wearied by troubling others, we may obſerve,
That wicked men by troubling others, doe as much weary and tire out themſelves; And though they find that in troubling others they weary themſelves, yet they will not give it over, they will trouble ſtill. Job ſaith thus of a wicked man, in the 15th. of this booke, ver. 20. The wicked man travaileth with paine all his dayes, not only doth he put others to paine, but himſelfe is in paine; and they are frequently expreſſed in Scripture as wearying themſelves, ſometimes as weary of themſelves, ſo Jer. 9.5. They weary themſelves to commit iniquity; And thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counſels, Iſa. 47.13. Thou art wearied in the greatneſſe of thy way, Iſa. 57.10. and that was but a way of troubling the Church; She wearieth her ſelfe with lies, Ezek. 24.12. The ſins which wicked men commit only in and againſt themſelves, weary them, but they are moſt wearied, when they are perſecutors of others: It is obſerved of Antiochus Epiphanes, that famous troubler of the Church, (by him that hath written the Itinerary of the Saints) that he did undertake more troubleſome journeyes, and went upon more hazardous deſignes, meerely to trouble, and vex, and oppoſe the Church of the Jewes, then ever any of his predeceſſors did about any other conqueſt or noble enterpriſe; that he travail'd more miles to doe miſchiefe, then (as the Authour doth compare their journeys) any of the Saints did to doe good; and therefore he concludes the ſtory of him, with this generall truth concerning perſecutors, All ſuch wicked men goe with more trouble to eternall death, then the Saints doe to eternall life; they toyle themſelves more, and ſuffer more to worke out their own damnation, then the godly doe in working out their ſalvation: To be wicked in the height, is the height of trouble. Solomon ſaith, that a good man is mercifull to his beaſt, but a wicked man is unmercifull to himſelfe, he will tire himſelfe more then a good man will tire his beast. This is a certaine truth, he that will follow ſinne and ſerve his own luſts, (eſpecially the luſt of pride and oppreſſion, whoſoever ſerveth thoſe luſts) ſerveth a hard maſter, a maſter that will make him toile, and ſweat, and weary himſelfe while he lives, and at the laſt pay him with death. The worke of ſin is bad enough, but (as to the ſinner) the wages of ſinne is worſe.
The laſt thing I ſhall note from it is this. There the wicked ceaſe from troubling. There, where is that? At the grave, when they come to die, they make an end of their troubling, not before: Obſerve then,
Wicked men will never ceaſe troubling untill they ceaſe to live. In the grave they ceaſe troubling, there they are at reſt; If they ſhould live an eternity in this world, they would trouble the world to eternity. As a godly man never gives over doing good; he will doe good as long as he lives, though he fetches many a weary ſtep, ſo wicked men, never give over doing evill, untill they ſtep into the grave. And the reaſon of it is, becauſe it is their nature to doe evill, and that which men doe naturally, they doe alwayes; they never give it over, nothing but death can ſuſpend and ſtop nature.
There are indeed two caſes wherein wicked men ceaſe troubling, while they live. One is, when they are deſperate in their deſignes, and ſee they cannot by troubling themſelves, trouble others ſufficiently, when they cannot have their will nor compaſſe their ends fully; they being in deſpaire of doing the miſchiefe they would, will doe no more: So the Hiſtorian notes concerning Diocleſian, Exiſtimant aliqui Diocleſianū etiam dolore motum fuiſſe, ut imperium deponeret, cum perficere ſe no… poſſe videret ea, quae contra Chriſtian…s molitus fuerat. Chriſt. …z. Mellif. Hiſtor. Par. 2.the moſt bloody perſecutour that ever the Church had, at the laſt he gave over the Empire, and declined the governement (not becauſe he was weary of perſecuting, but he was weary of being diſappointed,) Becauſe he ſaw he could not hatch that which he had long brooded, or bring forth thoſe deſignes he had contrived for the utter extirpation of the Chriſtians: Being thus out of hope to doe all the miſchiefe he intended, he puts himſelfe out of power to doe that miſchiefe, reſignes the Empire. A ſecond caſe, wherein wicked men ceaſe troubling, is, when they have fully attained their ends in this life; ſometimes they bring their worke to ſuch perfection, to ſuch a period, that they thinke they have attained all, all their plots have taken, all's theirs; and when they have fully done the Devils work, then he gives them a play day, they have ſome ceſſation: But otherwiſe except in theſe two caſes, they never ceaſe from troubling; therefore the Apoſtle Paul, Gal. 5.12. prayeth, that they which trouble them, might even be cut off: As if he had ſaid, they are ſuch a kind of men,Quam mortem cominatus eſt Deus homini ut a peccando illum deterreat, eandem ipſam▪ inſert ut a peccando ceſſet. there is no curing of them, they will never have done doing miſchiefe, untill they be cut off by death. As God threatens death to deterre men from ſin, ſo ſometimes he is (as it were) conſtrained to ſend death to keepe or take men off from ſin; A godly man ſaith, If God kill mee, yet will truſt I in him: and ſome wicked men ſay (in effect, if not in the letter) Till God kills us we will ſinne againſt him. The Pſalmiſt askes the queſtion, Pſal. 94.4, 5. How long ſhall the wicked? how long ſhall the wicked triumph? How long ſhall they utter and speake hard things? and all the workers of iniquity boaſt themſelves? They breake in pieces thy people O Lord. What anſwer ſhall we give, what date ſhall we put to this, How long? The anſwer is given, ver. 23. The Lord ſhall bring upon them their own iniquity, and cut them off in their own wickedneſſe: yea, the Lord our God ſhall cut them off. As if he had ſaid, except the Lord cut them off in their wickedneſſe they will never leave off doing wickedly. The wicked (ſaith Hannah in her ſong, 1 Sam. 2.9,) ſhall be ſilent in darkneſſe, The wicked will ſinne while they have any light to ſin by, therefore God puts out their candle, and ſends them downe into darkneſſe, and there they will be quiet, The wicked ſhall be ſilent in darkneſſe. They will ſinne againſt the light of the word, as long as they enjoy the light of the world, and doe the workes of ſpirituall darkeneſſe, till they are ſhut up in poenall darkeneſſe. It followes.
There the priſoners reſt together, they heare not the voice of the oppreſſour.
Here is another ſort, The Priſoners.] The word is, thoſe that are bound: And theſe priſoners may be of two ſorts. Firſt, Slaves and captives, who are under hard taskmasters, ſuch as ſet them to hard labour; Or men that are in debt, and put into priſon by cruell creditors: Priſoners, in either of theſe reſpects are at reſt, or they reſt together in the grave; when they have paid that debt to nature, all their other debts are diſcharged; death is their debt to nature, and when they have paid that debt, they (ſaith Job) receive an Acquittance, (a quietus eſt,) they reſt together, when they have done that worke, the worke of dying, poore captives and priſoners have done all, and paid all.
foreignIt is added, They heare not the voice of the oppreſſour.] The word which we tranſlate an oppreſſour, ſignifieth by violence to compell one to worke or to pay a debt; So the Taskemaſters, Exod. 5. are ſaid to compell the people with violence to goe on about the worke. The ſame word ſignifieth both an Exactor and an Oppreſſour; An Exactor of Debt, an Exactor of Tribute, an Exactor of Labour, in all theſe wayes the word is uſed; and becauſe thoſe three, (Tribute, Debt and Labour) are demanded many times againſt right and equity, often with much violence and cruelty, therefore the word ſignifies alſo an Oppreſſour; Exaction is alwayes within a ſtep of oppreſſion, and is often put for the ſame; and becauſe oppreſſours uſe bitter words, and hard ſpeeches, wounding with their tongues as much as with their hands, therefore poore priſoners dying are ſaid to be free from the voice of the oppreſſour: Poore priſoners heare not the voice of the oppreſſour in the grave; there they are beyond the ſound and out of the hearing of thoſe vexing, railing taskemaſters, or exacting creditors. Hence obſerve, firſt,
That an eſtate of bondage is a miſereble reſtleſſe eſtate. There the priſoners reſt together; Captives and bondmen have little reſt untill they reſt in the grave: The language of priſoners is a ſorrowfull language; their ſpeech is ſighs, Pſal. 79.11. Let the ſighing of the priſoners come before thee, and Pſal. 12.5. becauſe of the oppreſſion of the poore, and for the ſighing of the needy. It is a reſtleſſe condition which yeelds nothing but ſighs and groanes: Indeed we reade in the Acts, (chap. 16.25.) of priſoners that ſpake another language, even the language of joy; we reade there of the ſinging of the priſoners, Paul and Silas did not ſigh but ſing in the night while they were bound in priſon, but this was extraordinary; They receiving enlargement of heart, and wonderfull conſolation from the holy Ghoſt, pray in priſon and ſing praiſe to God: Chriſt ſent the comforter that night to them, who made them a feaſt in the priſon, and they ſung to it, they made muſick, heavenly muſick, they ſung praiſe to God. It was not from the good cheare, or any comfortable meſſage which they had from the Jaylour, or from their oppreſſours, but Chriſt came and viſited them; any place, or any eſtate is comfortable, when Chriſt is preſent to the ſoule: But in it ſelfe impriſonment is a ſad condition. Therefore the Apoſtle biddeth us, remember thoſe that are in bonds, even as bound with them, Heb. 13.3. and Chriſt takes a priſon viſit as a ſpeciall point of ſervice and kindneſſe done unto him, I was in priſon and ye viſited me, Mat. 25.36. I, in my afflicted members was in priſon, and your viſit was an eaſe to my affliction, and (as it were) a looſening of my chaines. Such viſits are now ſeaſonable: now remember the bondage and captivity, the hard uſage and impriſonment of our bretheren in many parts of this nation, Let the ſighing of the priſoners come up before you, even the ſighing of thoſe Joſephs whoſe feet are hurt in the ſtocks, and the iron enters into their ſoules, As ſome tranſlate that, Pſal. 105.18. When you are at your tables, and have plenty, then remember the bread of adverſity, and the water of affliction which the poore priſoners your bretheren are ſerved with, and muſt be contented with every day or ſtarve in priſon. When you are in your pleaſant warme chambers and ſoft beds, thinke of the cold, loathſome dungeons and hard boards, in which, and on which many of them lie. And when you heare the voice of love, and ſuch ſpeaking, to you, who have the law of kindneſſe in their tongues, Prov. 31.26. then remember thoſe who heare the voice of the oppreſſour. From which take this ſecond obſervation,
That the words of oppreſſours are wounding words. The voice of an oppreſſour is a terrible voice; And therefore Job puts this in, as a ſpeciall priviledge that the poore priſoners ſhall have in the grave, They ſhall not heare the voice of the oppreſſour; who can reſt where they ſpeake, or heare their words and not be troubled? therefore not to heare the voice of the oppreſſour, is a circumlocution,Non audire vocem exactoris circumlocutio eſt maximae libertatis. noting full liberty: The wilde-Aſſe is ſo deſcribed, Job 39.7. he regardeth not the crying or the voice of the driver, the Originall word is that in the Text, he regardeth not the voice of the oppreſſour, or of the exacter: This is the liberty of the wild-Aſſe, which was never in hand or under burdens; whereas other Aſſes that are in hand, and are employed to beare and travaile, they muſt be at the voice of the driver, they heare the voice of their oppreſſours: And ſome men are very unmercifull to their beaſts; It is greevous to the poore cattell to heare the voice of ſuch drivers; and the groanes of thoſe beaſts will riſe up in judgement againſt their drivers: And if ſo, how then will the groanes of the Saints riſe up againſt theirs drivers. We have lately heard of oppreſſours turn'd drivers, they have driven their poore bretheren as beaſts or cattell before them; and more cruell then any ſuch drivers, they have not ſuffered them to drinke of the pudled water through which they paſſed; And yet more, the words of theſe drivers, as goades and ſtaves beate their eares, and prickt them to the very hearts in their paſſage. The voice of theſe oppreſſours, is the voice of ſcorne, the voice of ſlander and reproach; and David ſhewes us from his owne experience, how reproaches worke, (Pſal. 42.10.) as with a ſword in my bones mine enemies reproach me; And the Apoſtle (Heb. 11.36.) ſpeakes of the beleeving, perſecuted Jewes, that they had this triall of cruell mockings, their oppreſſours ſharpened their tongues as well as their ſwords againſt them; the tongue wounds deeper then the ſword, the tongue wounds the ſpirit, but the ſword cannot reach beyond the fleſh: And God will take as deepe, if not a deeper revenge upon oppreſſours for their tongue-woundings, then for their ſword-woundings: hard words as well as hard blowes muſt be accounted for. And the Apoſtle Jude aſſures us, ver. 15, That the Lord cometh to execute vengeance upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them, of all their ungodly deedes which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly ſinners have ſpoken against him. If any ſhall ſay, when did we ſpeake againſt the Lord? Chriſt will anſwer as in the Goſpell, (Matth. 25.) In as much as you have ſpoken againſt any one (and you have ſpoken againſt many) of the least of theſe my bretheren, yee have spoken againſt me. To how many of my bretheren, have you ſaid, many times, Where is now your God? To how many have you ſaid, as they (Pſal. 22.9.) in that prophecy of Chriſt, You truſted on the Lord that he would deliver you, let him deliver you. To how many have you ſaid, Where are your prayers and faſtings where is your Parliament? Where are your hopes? Theſe are hard ſpeeches. This voice of the oppreſſour cuts the heart of the poore priſoner, he can with more eaſe die, then heare ſuch blaſphemies and reproaches. The wicked (Mal. 3.13.) bluſter and ſpeake bigge againſt God himſelfe, your words have beene stout against me, ſaith the Lord: If wicked men will ſpeake ſtoutly againſt God, the high God, how ſtoutly will they ſpeake againſt a poore oppreſſed captive, that lies under their feet?
Seeing then it is ſuch a wound and a terrour, to be under the power of inſulting oppreſſours, who will not only ſtrike with the ſword, but ſtrike with every word: Let us pitty and pray for our bretheren that are under the hands, yea feet, and which is worſe, under the tongues of ſuch drivers; pitty them, in regard of the wants which they feele, and of the words they heare every day. And let us betimes hearken to another voice, that we may not at laſt come to heare this voice, O that my people had hearkened unto me (ſaith God, Pſal. 81.) If we would hearken to the voice of God, we ſhould not heare the voice of ſuch men. It is the puniſhment which God layes upon a people, (and it is a ſuitable puniſhment) for not hearing his voice, that he gives them up to heare this voice; when a Nation will not heare the voice of the Prophets, then they muſt heare the voice of oppreſſours; Let us haſten to heare the voice, the ſweet voice, the pleaſant voice of our God in his miniſters of the Goſpell, leſt we be given up to heare the dreadfull, grating, cutting voice of ſuch miſcreants, who yet are the miniſters of Gods juſt diſpleaſure againſt a diſobedient people. If we, like the deaf adder, ſtop our eares at the voice of the charmer, charme he never ſo wiſely, (Pſal. 58.5.) doubtleſſe the Lord will (yea he hath done it in part already) ſend Serpents and Cockatrices among us, which will not be charmed, and they ſhall bite us, (with bitter and ſharpe words,) Jer: 8.17. Let us therefore ſo heare the voice of the word, that we may be delivered from this rod of the voice (which ſmarts worſe then the voice of the rod,) and from the ſcourge of tongues. And let us pray, that God would haſten the performance either of that gracious promiſe, (Iſa. 14.2.) They ſhall take them captives whoſe captives they were, and they ſhall rule over their oppreſſours: or of that, (Iſa. 60.17.) that he would make thoſe great and notable changes in the Church, and give us for braſſe gold, and for iron ſilver, and for wood braſſe, and for stone iron: That he would alſo make our Officers peace, and our Exactors righteouſneſſe; This will be a time of refreſhing indeed, And as the time of the reſtitution of all things which God hath ſpoken by the mouth of all his holy Prophets, ſince the world began, Acts 3.21. namely when our Officers ſhall be peace, and our very Oppreſſours righteouſneſſe: When the very troublers of a people become their peace, how great is that peace? when they, who were the oppreſſours of a people, are turned to be, very righteouſneſſe, how great is that righteouſneſſe? And where there is great righteouſneſſe and great peace, how great is the joy of that people? Yet howſoever the wiſe God ſhall order theſe outward diſpenſations, yet His priſoners have freedome in, though not from their captivity: And they ſhall heare the voice of his Spirit ſpeaking more comfort to their hearts, then the voice of their oppreſſours can ſpeake terrour to their eares. And their eares ſhall not long be ſmitten with the hard speeches of ungodly men; death, a bleſſed death, will ſhortly lead them into the houſe and chambers of ſilence, where as Job here ſpeakes, they ſhall never heare the voice of the oppreſſour any more.
Verſe 19.
The ſmall and the great are there, and the ſervant is free from his master.
The laſt inſtance which Job gives of reſt in death, is contained in this 19th. verſe. In the words before he ſaid, There the priſoners reſt together, they heare not the voice of the oppreſſour, here he adds, The ſmall and the great are there, and the ſervant is free from his master.
The ſmall and the great are there.
Small and great.] There is a two-fold quantity, in which men may be conſidered. There is a naturall quantity, and there is a civill quantity, and in both quantities, ſmall and great are there.
Firſt, There is a naturall quantity, by which men are diſtinguiſhed into ſmall and great, children and men of full growth: in the grave ſuch ſmall and great are mixed: little children, children of a ſpan long, mingle their duſt with men of higheſt ſtature.
Againe, There is a civill quantity, and ſo the ſmall are the poore, the low and the meane, they are ſmall ones in a civill account: And civill greatneſſe, is power, riches and honour: the honourable they are the great men, and the rich are great men, in a civill quantity; ſo the word is uſed, Chap. 1. ver. 3. Job was the greateſt of all the men of the Eaſt, he was the greateſt in civill quantity, in regard of his power, honour and riches. The Prophet Jeremie oppoſes the poore and the great, (chap. 5. ver. 4, 5.) Therefore I ſaid, ſurely theſe are poore, &c. I will get me unto the great men, ſc. the rich and honourable, the Princes and the Magiſtrates.
The ſmall and the great are there. In Scripture, when we find the two extreames, (ſmall and great are extreames in quantity) we are to underſtand all the middle acts, or things, or perſons, that is, all that lies between thoſe extreames. We reade ſuch Scripture language concerning the actions of men, Pſal. 139.2. Thou knoweſt my down-ſitting and my upriſing. Here are two extreames, the two termes of a mans actions and of his life, his down-ſitting and his upriſing, now when it is ſaid, God knowes theſe two, we are to underſtand, that God knoweth whatſoever a man doth, all his actions between his down-ſitting and his upriſing. So in that promiſe of a continuall bleſſing from God, Pſal. 121.8. The Lord ſhall preſerve thy going out and thy coming in. Here are two extreames, between theſe, we are to include and ſuppoſe all that a man doth while he is abroad. God ſhall preſerve thy going out and thy coming in, that is, every thing thou takeſt in hand (according to his will) from the time thou goeſt forth or beginneſt thy worke in the morning, till thy coming home from worke, or the end of thy worke in the evening; thus it is cleare about things or actions: It is likewiſe cleare about perſons, Pſal. 49.2. when David calls high and low, rich and poore to heare, he calls all to heare; Give care all ye inhabitants of the world, ver. 1. So when it is ſaid in this Text, The ſmall and the great are there, it is not, as if thoſe only were there, or that thoſe of a middle quantity, either in regard of naturall or civill proportion were not there; For death ſeizeth upon middle men, as well as ſmall and great; There are graves of all imaginable ſizes and dimenſions between ſmall and great, According to that of the Apoſtle, Heb. 9.27. It is appointed to men once to die, to men indefinitely, of what ſort, or degree, or ſize, or quantity, or quality ſoever, It is appointed to men; therefore ſmall and great are there, and many of all ſorts are there.
Ex aequo illic ſunt tam parvi quam magni, ſecundum illud. Mors Sceptra ligonibus aequat. Druſ. foreignThere is a further elegancy yet in the Originall, we reade it, ſmall and great are there, but the Hebrew ſtrictly read in the letter runs thus, the ſmall and the great are there the ſame: Or as Mr. Broughton renders it, little and great are there all one. The words taken thus, yeeld theſe two points to our meditation. Firſt this,
Death ſeizeth equally upon all ſorts and degrees of men. The ſmall and the great are there, the ſmall cannot eſcape the hands or ſlip through the fingers of death, becauſe they are little; the greateſt cannot reſcue themſelves from the power, or breake out of the hands of death, becauſe they are bigge.
That the ſmall are there, ſhould be an admonition to young ones, take heed of putting off repentance untill you are great, for the ſmall are in the grave; That the great are there, ſhould be an admonition to the greateſt and ſtrongeſt, to prepare for death, for all your ſtrength and greatneſſe, your honours, your ſwelling Titles, your vaſt riches, cannot oppoſe, much leſſe prevent or overcome death. The ſmall and the great are there. Secondly, Obſerve,
That death makes all men equall, or That all are equall in death. As death equally takes hold of all men, ſo death makes all men equall; not only are the ſmall and the great there, but there the ſmall and the great are the ſame: Death takes away all diſtinctions, and the grave knowes no difference among the ſons of men. While men live, they are at a great diſtance one from another. There is and there ought to be diſtinctions among men, and men ought to know their termes of diſtance, and to acknowledge men in their greatneſſe, power and places. As there is one glory of the Sunne, and another glory of the Moone, and another glory of the Starres, for one Starre differeth from another Starre in glory, 1 Cor. 15.41. So there is one terreſtriall glory of Kings, and another glory of Nobles, and another glory of the Common-people, and theſe have not the ſame glory in common, even among them, one man differs from another man in this worldly glory; but when death comes, there is an end of all degrees, of all diſtinctions, There the ſmall and the great are the ſame. As the Apoſtle ſpeakes of our being in Chriſt, in regard of the priviledges of the Goſpell, Col. 3.11. In Chriſt there is neither Jew nor Gentile, there is neither male nor female, there is neither bond nor free, that is, all have a like and an equall ſhare in Chriſt, and in the priviledges of the Goſpell: the Goſpell makes no diſtinction between poore and rich, in regard of ſpirituall priviledges and benefits; ſo death takes away all diſtinctions in regard of civill priviledges, In death there is neither ſmall nor great, neither male nor female, neither bond nor free; the greateſt ſhall lie, as low as the ſmalleſt, and the higheſt as low, as the meanest, every one there ſhall be but as his neighbour, and as his brother in the fleſh. There is but one diſtinction that will out-live death, and death cannot take it away; the diſtinction of holy and unholy, cleane and uncleane, beleever and an infidell, theſe diſtinctions remaine after death, and ſhall remaine for ever; but rich and poore, honourable and baſe, high and low, King and ſubject, theſe diſtinctions ſhall be done away, and forgotten as if they had never been: no difference, no diſtinction (but that which God makes, and that which grace makes) can ſtand out againſt the power and ſtroake of death, There, the ſmall and great are the ſame.
And the ſervant is free from his Maſter.
The ſervant.] There are two ſorts of ſervants. There are ſome who are voluntary ſervants, and others who are ſervants by conſtraint. There are ſome who might be free, but they will not, and there are others, who would be free but they cannot. Of the former ſort we reade a Law, Exod. 21.5. where the ſervant that loved his maſter and refuſed his freedome ſaying, I will not goe out free, muſt be brought before the Judges and have his eare bored thorow with an awle, in token of his willingneſſe to ſerve that Maſter for ever. Others are ſervants by conſtraint, as the people of Iſrael in Egypt, who were made to ſerve with rigour, Exod. 1.14. to ſerve whether they would or no, which is ſervitude rather then ſervice.
We may underſtand the Text of both, The ſervant, that is, either he that doth voluntarily ſerve, and willingly puts himſelfe under the command of another, or he, which is under the command of another whether he will or no: to both theſe death giveth freedome, whether their Maſters will or no, The ſervant is free from his Maſter.
foreignThe word which we tranſlate [is free] noteth that formall manumiſſion or ſetting at liberty which is uſed in places or Corporations, where freedomes are either purchaſed by money, or deſerved by appointed ſervice.
Tria ſunt quorum terminatio pluralis, & ſenſus ſingularis, videlicet Adonim Dominu, Elohim Deus. Bagnalim, Herus.And the word here tranſlated, Maſter, is plurall, Maſters: it is one of the Names of God, Adonai, which Name the Lord hath from government; That very name is given to Maſters of Families, becauſe they ought to governe and order the affaires and buſineſſe of the family, with wiſedome and juſtice, Every master of a family, is a governour of the family, he is (as it were) a King in his own family. The ſervant is free from his Maſter. Hence note, firſt this,
Sinne brought in ſervility and the ſubjection of man to man. I ground it thus, becauſe Iob ſpeakes of ſervice as of an eſtate of affliction, as of an eſtate of trouble, under which many groane, and from which they can get no releaſe, till death breake the bands, and ſets them free.
In the ſtate of innocency, there was a dominion granted to man over the beaſts, but there was no dominion granted to man over man:Gen. 1.26. In the ſtate of integrity relations ſhould have continued, but ſubjection ſhould not have been found: only that naturall ſubjection of children to Parents, but as for civill ſubjection there had been no ſuch thing in the world.Peccatum ubi intravit libertatem perdidit & corrupit poteſtatem naturae datam Chryſoſt Hom. 29. in Gen Subſtantivum ſeipſum genititivo caſure en… ſuperlativam locutionem cum ſingulari energia de…otat. Buxt. rf. Servus abjectiſſimus. Before man forſooke the ſervice of God, he needed none to ſerve him; ſervice comes in by ſinne, and the increaſe of it, by the increaſe of ſinne; As we ſee, when Canaan was ſo vile as to forget the duty of a ſonne, he is ſet below or in the worſt condition of a ſervant, Gen. 9.5. Curſed be Canaan, a ſervant of ſervants ſhall he be unto his bretheren, that is, the loweſt and moſt abject ſervant: As God of Gods, is the greateſt God, and Lord of Lords, is the Higheſt Lord, ſo ſervant of ſervants, is the loweſt, the baſeſt ſervant: So then, as civill ſubjection came at firſt from ſin, ſo the increaſe of ſubjection, which is to be a ſervant of ſervants, came from the increaſe and progreſſe of ſin. Obſerve ſecondly,
A ſervant is not in his own dispoſe. Though he be a voluntary ſervant, yet he muſt ſerve the lawfull will of his maſter. He may, yea he ought, in every ingenuous ſervice, to ſerve willingly, but he is not at his own will, to ſerve when, or where, or how he will.
Some have thought they have a freedome from ſervice, by the liberty of the Goſpell, or Goſpel-priviledge: and that is the reaſon why the Apoſtle, 1 Tim. 6.1. gives that rule, Let as many ſervants as are under the yoke, count their own Maſters worthy of all honour, &c. He ſpeakes of beleeving ſervants. Some preſumed they had ſuch freedome by Chriſt, that they might caſt off ſubjection to men; No, ſaith the Apoſtle, as many as are under the yoke, that is, while they continue ſervants, they muſt ſubmit to their condition, yea though their Maſters be unbeleevers, as the next verſe ſhewes, And they that have beleeving Maſters, let them not deſpiſe them, &c. nothing takes away ſubjection but death, for as he that is called in the Lord, being a ſervant, is the Lords free-man, 1 Cor. 7.22. So he that is the Lords free-man, being called to it, is and ought to be mans ſervant; The Centurion in the Goſpell ſhewes the ſervants duty, I ſay unto one, goe, and he goeth, and to another, come, and he cometh, and to my ſervant, doe this, and he doth it. The ſervant is at his Maſters beck, not at his own diſpoſe, and nothing can free him but death, ſo long as he continues under the yoke, in that relation. Hence obſerve thirdly,
That death concludes the ſubjection of man to man. In the grave, or there, the ſervant is free from his Maſter, there is no more ſervice due to man, when once death, that king of terrours hath carried us into his dominions.