Commentary on Ezra Nehemiah Ester Job and Psalms, Commentary 4 · Chapter 26
CHAP. XXVI Verſe 1. But Job anſwered and ſaid]
BIldad had vexed him with his impertinencies and ſuperfluous diſcourſes of Gods Attributes, as if Job had denied them, or doubted of them, which was far from him, witneſs this Chapter. He therefore rippleth up Bildad with a continued ſmart irony, in the three next following verſes, letting looſe the reines to his juſtly conceived grief and indignation, and invading his adverſary with theſe ſharp queſtions by way of wonderment.
Verſe 2. How haſt thou helped him that is without power?] q.d. Full well haſt thou done it, ſurely. (See a like irony Mark 7.9. and 1 Cor. 4.8, 10) Thou art a very goodly comforter, and with a great deal of Wiſdome thou haſt framed thy diſcourſe to my preſent neceſſity. Thou lookeſt upon me as a poor, forlorn, ſtrengthleſſe, fruitleſſe creature. Thou ſhouldſt therefore have ſet thy ſelf to ſupport me and ſhore me up, by uttering not only commoda, ſed & accommoda, things true and profitable, but things fit and ſutable to my diſtreſſed condition. Thou haſt ſpoken much of the Majeſty and purity of Almighty God (wherein I well accord thee) but theſe are words of terror, ſuch as I can hardly bear. Of ſtrong Phyſick we ſay, Quòd nec puero, nec ſeni, nec imbecillo, ſed robuſto …conveniat, That it is not for children, or old folks, or weak ones, but for the ſtronger ſort; it is not for every complexion and ſtate. So neither is every diſcourſe for all ſort of people. It is a ſingular skill to be able to time a word, Iſai. 50.4. and to ſet it upon its wheels, Prov. 25.11. to declare unto a man his righteouſneſs, which not one of a thouſand can tell how to do it like him, Job 33.23. to ſeek to find out pleaſant words, ſuch as have both goads and nailes in them, Eccleſ. 12.10, 11. (to prick them on to duty, and to faſten them to the right, as pales are to their railes) to divide the Word of God aright, 2 Tim. 2.25. and to give every one his portion in the due ſeaſon, Matth. 24.45. Not as he in the Emblem, who gave ſtraw to the dog, and a bone to the Aſſe. The good Word of God, is well applyed, is profitable to all things, as is here hinted; ſcil. to help the powerleſſe, to ſave the ſtrengthleſſe, to counſel the ignorant, and to ſet forth things as they are, that there may be no manner of miſtake; but then it muſt be wiſely handled, and the help of Gods holy Spirit muſt be implored, verſe 4. that it may be a Word of reconciliation, a ſavour of life unto life, 2 Cor. 2.16. and 5.19. and whatſoever elſe is ſaid in commendation of it, Pſal. 19.7, 8, 9, 10. Mercer interpreting this verſe and the two following, H…c de Deo accipio, ſaith he: Theſe things I underſtand concerning God, and it is as if Job had ſaid to Bildad, O how bravely helpeſt thou him that is weak, and pleadeſt for him that is forlorn, as if God wanted thy patronage and defence! No queſtion but thou art a man fit to adviſe him, and to ſet him in a courſe that he cannot otherwiſe hit on: This is a good ſenſe alſo. But what meant Brentius to bring in Job blaſpheming here, as thus, Quem juvas? impotentem? ſalvas brachium invalidi? Cui conſulis? inſipienti? &c. Whom helpeſt thou, O God? the impotent? ſaveſt thou the arm of the ſtrengthleſſe? Whom counſelleſt thou? the ignorant? &c. q.d. Surely thou ſhouldſt do ſo by promiſe, and it would well become thee to do ſo by me: But (alaſſe) thou doſt nothing leſs; and hence it is, that I ſtill ſtick in the bryers, &c. Upon this gloſs wee may write as the Canoniſts do ſometimes, Palea, or, Hoc non credo.
Verſe 3. How haſt thou counſelled him that hath no wiſdom?] q.d. Thou lookeſt upon me as a fool and an Atheiſt; but this thou doſt with far greater folly: for I am not the man thou takeſt me for, but can ſay as much for God as thy ſelf, and more too: and if I were ſuch as thou wouldſt make of me, I might ſo continue for any help I ſhould have by thy counſel. The like hereunto we may ſay to the Papiſts and other Seducers, who pretend to tender our good, to counſel us for the beſt, and to wiſh our ſalvation.
And how haſt thou plentifully declared the thing as it is?] Heb. the Eſſence, or the Reaſon, or the naked truth: q.d. What ado haſt thou kept to tell me, no mere then I knew before? wherein thou haſt fairly loſt thy labour, and miſſed of thy deſign, if ever thou intendeſt to counſel and comfort me. Very wiſely haſt thou done it, I muſt needs ſay for thee.
Verſe 4. To whom haſt thou uttered words?] And as thou thinkeſt, words weighty, and worthy of all acceptation, when in truth there is no ſuch matter: Bubbles of words they are, and big ſwolne fancies, ſed cui bono? What tack is there in them? and to what good purpoſe are they? Melancthon makes mention of a certain good man,Manl. loc. com. 536. who reading Ariſtotles Diſcourſe concerning the Rainbow, conceited thereupon many ſtrange ſpeculations, and wrote to a friend that he had far outdone Ariſtotle in that matter. But coming afterwards to the Univerſity, and diſputing there upon that Subject, he was found to be utterly out in thoſe fancies of his, which indeed were no better then a ſublime dotage.
And whoſe ſpirit came from thee?] Or, Came out of thee? Was it by Gods Spirit that thou ſpakeſt, or thine owne rather? For there is a ſpirit in man, but the Inſpiration or the Almighty giveth them underſtanding, Job 32.8. Job would not have Bildad think and term his diſcourſes to be divine Inſpirations, or ſuch admirable pieces,Scult. Ann. pag. 238 rare ſayings, being but vulgar and ordinary buſineſſes. Muncer the arch Anabaptiſt wrote a Book againſt Luther, wherein he boaſteth much of the Spirit, and of Prophetical Light, accuſing Luther for unſpiritual, and one that ſavoured nothing but carnal things. The Antinomians uſe to call upon their hearers to mark; it may be they ſhall hear that which they have not heard before, whenas the thing they deliver after ſo promiſing a preface, is either falſe, or what is taught ordinarily by others. Some read the words thus, Whoſe Spirit admired thee? for the ſpirit goeth as it were out of it ſelf after thoſe things it admireth. The Hebrewes expound it thus, Whoſe Spirit haſt thou quickned, or confirmed by theſe thy words? Who is the wiſer or the better for them? Quam animam per hac feciſti? What ſoul haſt thou gained to God by thy Doctrine? Confer Gen. 12.5 the ſouls which they had made, that is, brought to the true fear and ſervice of God.
Verſe 5 Dead things are formed form under the waters] Here Jobs tongue, like a ſilver bell, begins to found out the great things of God far better then Bildad had done,Abbots. beginning at the bottom, and declaring that nothing is bred or brought forth, whether animate or inanimate, fiſh or other things in all the vaſt and deep Ocean, but it is by his decree and power. The Septuagint or Vulgar, for dead and lifeleſs things, render Giants, and underſtand thereby Whales, thoſe huge Sea Monſters formed under the waters.
And the Inhabitants thereof] That is, ſaith One, other fiſhes in general, which are in the Seas where thoſe Whales are: For there is that Leviathan, and there are creeping things (that is, ſmaller fiſhes) innumerable. And in particular certaine little fiſhes that are noted alwayes to ſwimme with the Whales, as Guides of their way, that they may not unawares coming into muddy places, be miered there. Ariſtotle calleth them Muſcles; Pliny, Muſticets.
Verſe 6. Hell and deſtruction are before him] Here beginneth a Magnifical and ſtately deſcription of the Majeſty of God; and 1. from his Omniſcience; 2. From his Omnipotence. For the firſt, Hell and deſtruction are before him: Not the grave only, but the neathermoſt hell, that moſt abſtruſe part of the Univerſe, and moſt remote from heaven, Gods Court. Of hel we know nothing ſave only what the Scripture ſaith of it in general, that there is an hell, and that the pains of it are endleſſe, eaſeleſſe, and remedileſſe, &c. but God only knoweth who are in hell, and who is yet to be hereafter hurled into it. It is the Saints happineſſe that to them there is no ſuch condemnation. Rom. 8.1. that over them this ſecond death hath no power, Rev. 20.6. That if hell had already ſwallowed them up (as they ſometimes when deſerted feel themſelves to be in the very ſuburbs of it) it could no better hold them, then the whales ſtomack could do Jonas. Luke 22.31. Satan hath deſired to have th…e; ſcil, to hell, but that he ſhall never have; for they are the Redeemed of the Lord, ſaved from the wrath to come, and may triumphingly ſing, Death, where a thy ſting? Hell, where's thy victory? &c.
And deſtruction hath no covering] that is, Hell the place of deſtruction, the Palace of King Abaddon, (ſo the Divel is called, Rev. 9.11) and ſo hell is called in this Text, becauſe thereinto are thruſt all that are deſtined to deſtruction, all the brats of fathomleſſe perdition, ſuch as was Judas the Traytor, who went to his place, and all wicked ones, who ſhall ſurely be turned into hel, with all thoſe that forget God. Pſal. 9 17. This place is not covered, ſaith Ferus here, but open to God, for whomſoever he will caſt thereinto.
Verſe 7. He ſtretcheth out he North ever the empty place] Heb. Over Toh…. Ariſtotle ſaith, that beyond the moveable heavens, there is neither body, nor time, nor place,De cal… text. 99 nor vacuum. But on this ſide of the heaven there are bodies, time, place, and as it may ſeem to ſome, an empty place: for ſo the Air is here called, over which, and not over any ſolid matter, for a foundation, God hath ſpread and ſtretched forth the heavens which are here called the North, becauſe they are moved about the North-Pole, and beſides the North is held the upper part of the world, according to that of Virgil,
Mundus ut ad Scythiam Riphaeaſque arduus arces
Conſurgit; premitur Libya dovexus ad anſtres.
Hènce it is here put for the whole heaven, which held up by the Word of Gods power, without any other props, leaneth upon the liquid Aire, the Aire upon the earth, and the earth upon nothing.
And hangeth the earth upon nothing.]
Terra pilae fimilis, nullo fulcimine nixa,
Aere ſublato tam grave pendet onus.Ovid. 6. Faſtor.
The earth hangs in the midſt of heaven, like Architas or Archimedes his Pigeon, equally poiſed with his own weight. Of this great wonder,This is the very finger of God Ariſtotle himſelf admireth it. De Cal. l. 2. c. 13 the Philoſophers after much ſtudy, can give no good reaſon, becauſe ignorant of this, that God hath appoined it ſo to be, even from the firſt Creation, Pſal. 104.5. Heb. 1.2. The Poets fable, that Atlas beareth up heaven with his ſhoulders: but we confeſſe the true Atlas; viz. the Lord our God, who by his Word alone beareth up heaven and earth: And it is here fitly alledged as an Argument of his Almightineſſe. The greatneſs of this work of God, appeareth hereby, ſaith Merlin, that men cannot ſpread aloft the thinneſt curtaine, abſque fulcris, without ſome ſolid thing to uphold it.
Verſe 8. He bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds] Heb. Clouds, which yet have their name from thickneſſe, becauſe they ariſe from Aire condenſed. In theſe God bottleth up the rain, and there keepeth it in by main ſtrength (as the word ſignifieth) though thoſe veſſels are as thin, and thinner then the liquor that is contained in them. This duly weighed, were enough to convince an Atheiſt, eſpecially if he conſider how.
The cloud is not rent under them] And ſo cauſeth a cataclyſme to drown the earth, as ſometimes at ſea eſpecially, great hurt is done this way among ſhips, by a ſpout, as Mariners call it, the Greeks foreign, and the Dutch Ein Wolckenbruch, or Heavenbreach; viz. when clouds cleave aſunder, and diſcharge themſelves all at once, for a great miſchief to mankind. Now that God thus binds up theſe heavy vapours, and keeps them in the clouds as a ſtrong man in a Cobweb, till brought by the winds whitherſoever he pleaſeth to appoint them, they drop upon the earth buy little and little, to make it fruitful; this is a wonderful work of God, and ſhould bring us to the knowledge of his Power, Wiſdom and Goodneſſe, Rom. 1.19, 20. ſee Job. 38.37. Jer. 5.22.
Verſe 9 He holdeth back the face of his Throne] i.e. Of heaven, Iſai. 66.1. which he eftſoons overcloudeth and muffleth up or masketh, with a vail: myſtically, by the Face of his Throne, we may underſtand the knowledg of his glory: for this is held from us ſo in this world, that we cannot perfectly know him as he is, but muſt content our ſelves with a learned ignorance, 1. Joh. 3.3. Here darkneſs is, and will be under his feet, Pſal. 18.9.
And ſpreadeth his cloud upon it] It is fitly called, his cloud, becauſe 1. It is his handy-work, Pſal. 18.11. Gen. 9.14. Job 28.26, 27. and 37.15, 16. and 38.9. Pſa. 104.5. His Sun draweth up thoſe vapours, which being thickned in the middle Region of the aire, by the cold encompaſſing and driving them together, become a cloud. 2 He uſed it of old as a ſign of his glorious Power, and gracious preſence with his people, Exod. 13.21. and 16.10. 2 Chron. 5.13, 14. And as a figure of Chriſts guiding and protecting his Church through the wilderneſſe of this world, Iſai. 4.5, 6. 3. He ſtill rideth in ſtate upon the clouds, Iſai. 19.1. Chriſt was by a cloud coached up to heaven, Act. 1.9. and ſhall come in like manner, Apoc. 1.7. and 10.1. We alſo ſhall then be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the Aire, and ſo ſhall we ever be with the Lord, 1 Theſſal. 4.17. —O mora! Chriſte veni.
Verſe 10.Trem. He hath compaſſed the waters with bounds] Decreto circinavit ſuperficiem aquarum: He hath as it were with a pair of Compaſſes drawne a circle about the ſea, that it may not paſſe to drown the earth. Confer chap. 38.8, 10, 11. Pſal. 33.7. and 89.10. and 104 9. Prov. 8.29. So he drew a circle round about the earth, Prov. 8.27. doing all with infinite Wiſdome, Pondere, menſura numero, &c. He founded the earth not upon ſolid Rocks, but fluid waters. And that it floteth not upon them, nor is ſhaken with them (as oft as there is a tempeſt in the Ocean that begirteth it) neither yet is overflowed by them, this is the wonderful-work of God. Ariſtotle in his Book De Mirabil…bus, admireth it, and acknowledgeth Gods providence, which elſewhere he denyeth. Terminum aquis preſcripſit, ſaith Job here. And this either he had from Moſes. Gen. 1.10. or, if he lived before Moſes, as it is moſt likely he did; he had it, as he had many other things, by tradition from the Fathers. Saylers tell us, that as they draw nigh to the ſhore, when they enter into a haven, they run as it were down hill, And yet men are ſaid to go down (not up) to the ſea in ſhips, Pſal. 107.23. See a reaſon hereof in this Text, and Pſal: 104.96. An vero non ſtupendum eſt? ſaith Lavater. But is it not a wonderful thing, that ſo fierce an Element, ſo huge a maſſe of waters, toſſed by the winds, ſhould be bounded and bridled by ſands, confined and kept within their preſcribed place and ſhore? Eſpecially if the water be (as ſome affirm) ten times bigger then the earth, the air then the water, the fire then the air.
Ʋntil the day and night come to an end] Heb. Until the conſummation of light with darkneſſe; that is, till time ſhall be no more, till the end of the world, when all things ſhal be let looſe to devaſtation, and the ſea ſhall overflow the Land again, as that then it ſhall, ſome would gather from this Text.
Verſe 11. The Pillars of heaven tremble] i.e. the Angels, ſay ſome, who tremble out of conſcience of their own comparative imperfections. The beſt of Saints on earth, ſay others (according to Gal. 2.9. Rev. 3.12. Prov. 9.1, 2.) who tremble at Gods Word, Iſai. 66.2. and have many concuſſions by afflictions. But better underſtand the Firmament of heaven, Hag. 26, 7. Matth. 24.29. The Powers of heaven ſhall be ſhaken, they ſhall quake with the loud check of his Thunder claps. Or the high and mighty mountaines whereon the heavens ſeeme to reſt, as on ſo many pillars, ſhaken by Earth-quakes, and ſometimes with great aſtoniſhment removed out of their places.
And are aſtoniſhed at his reproof] As all the beaſts of the field are at the roaring of the Lion;Lavat. Ʋt quis a gravi & magnae pot…ſtat… vire. objurgatus, iremit & …hementer ſolicitus eſt, as a ſlave chidden by a Prince trembleth, and is aghaſt.
Verſe 12. He divideth the ſea with his power] i.e. With his ſtrong winds cauſing tempeſts, ſee the like Iſai. 51.15. ſo that it lyeth as it were in ridges, the top of one wave far from another, Jer. 31.35. That was a ſtrange thing that is reported to have fallen out at London the laſt week. On Munday Aug. 14, 1654.Sever. Proceed. of State affirm p. 4033. by reaſon of the great winds the Tide was ſo low in the Thames. that boyes waded over it from the one ſide to the other, the old Watermen affirming, they never ſaw it ſo before.
And by his underſtanding he ſmiteth through the proud] Heb. Pride, or Rahab, which is oft put for Egypt; as Pſal. 87.4. and 89.10. Iſai. 51.9. whence ſome would have Pharaoh meant: others the Divel: others, the Whale daſhing againſt a Rock, or driven to ſhore where he is taken: others, the proud waves of the ſea, He hath the ſea in as great awe as a Giant hath a Pigmee.as chap 38.11. diſabled by God to ſtir more; as a man mortally wounded, is to fight longer. An inſtance hereof we have in the hiſtory of Jonas, and another in the Goſpel, Mat. 8. and 14. As God is powerful enough to raiſe ſtormes, ſo he is wiſe enough to lay them again, Pſal. 107.25, 29.
Verſe 13. By his Spirit he hath garniſhed the heavens] Spiritu ejus coeli ſunt ipſa pul…cudo. By his Spirit the heavens are beauty it ſelf, ſo Vatablus. rendreth it. That Three … One, and One in Three, wrought in the Creation, ſee Pſal. 33.6.Adoravit, decoravit, pulchrcfecit. Hins foreign. By the Word of Jehovah were the heavens made, and all the hoſte of them by the breath of his mouth Here Jehovah, his Word and his Spirit, are noted to be the Maker of the world, ſo Gen. 1. The Heathens had ſome blind notions hereof, as appeareth by Plutark, who reporteth that in Thebe a Town of Egypt, they worſhipped a God whom they acknowledged to be immortal; but how painted they him?Plut. de Ifid. & Ofirid. Var. dere ruſt. lib. 2. c. 1. In the likeneſſe of a man blowing an egg out of his mouth; to ſignifie, that he made the round world by the Spirit of his mouth. Upon the heavens eſpecially, God hath beſtowed a great deal of skill and workmanſhip, as appeareth, Heb. 11 10. and Pſal. 8.3. where heaven is called, The work of Gods fingers; a curious divine work: a Metaphor from them that make Tapeſtry. Garniſhed it is with Stars, as a Palace is with ſtately Pictures, beſides the inward beauty which is unconceivable. There is ſomething of a Saphir in the Hebrew word here rendred Garniſhed, and Revel. 21. ſearch is made through all. the bowels of the earth to find out all the precious Treaſures that could be had. Gold, Pearles, and precious Stones of all ſorts, and what can theſe ſerve to? only to ſhadow out the glory of the walls of the new Jeruſalem, and the gates and to pave the ſtreets of the City? See alſo Iſai. 54.11, 12.
His hand … formed the crooked Serpent] Enixe eſt, peperit, hath …ough… forth as by birth, hath formed the moſt deformed and dread…. Creature in the earth Or thoſe flaming Dragons flying in the Aire (Meteors … mean;) Or the Conſtellation in heaven called the Dragon, betwixt the two Beares, and not far from the North-Pole (Eſt hos ſane maximum, & maxime conſpicuum in coelo fidus, &c.) Or laſtly, thoſe Sea-Dragons the Whales, which Mercer thinketh moſt likely to be here meant; and compareth Iſai. 27.1. Pſal. 104.26, Job. 40.20. Neither need we wonder, ſaith he, that the beginning of the verſe is of heaven, and the end of the ſea: for Job would ſhew and ſet forth two admirable works of God, in two extremes of the world viz. in heaven above, and in the waters under the earth. his Power and Wiſdome ſhineth every where in the Creatures, neither can a … eaſily ſook beſides a miracle. Job therefore inſiſteth not long upon particulars, but as one loſt in the labyrinth of Admiration at ſo great things, he … ſhuts up
Verſe 14. Lo, theſe are parts of his wayes] Or rather, Particles of his Works: Extrema ſunt viarum ejus ſo the Tigu…es tranſlate it: theſe are the ends, extremities or utmoſt parts of them, the foreign, as Saint Paul calleth it, that which may be known of God, par … treaturaru…, Rom. 1.19, 20 as the Sun may bee ſeen in the water after a ſoft, but in ro…, as the Schooles ſpeak, in the Cirele where in it runs, we are not able to behold him ſo ſomething of God may be ſeen in his Works in his Word, his back parts we may ſee and live, as Moſes Exod. 33. Quam exigultatem. Piſcat. Parva… ſtillam Vulg. foreign a. Sept. Paucu… de p…nco, puſillum & parum. admilum Merc.His truth in the Temple, as …
But how little a portion is heard of him?] Heb. What a …, or ſh… of a word or thing, is heard of him? As when one heareth the latter end only of a … that which the eccho reſoundeth, and no more: it is … a … cannot know, we are as narrow mouthed veſſels: Ye are not able to … what I have to ſay to you, ſaith Chriſt to his Apoſtles, John 16.12. And to the people h… ſp…ke as they were able to hear, Mark 4.33. and not as he was able to have ſpoken. Lequimur de Deo non quantum debemus, ſed quantum poſſumus. ſaith Gratian the Emperor, We ſpeak of God,I… Epiſt ad Ambroſ. not ſo much as we ſhould, but ſo much as we can. We prophecy but in part, and what wonder, ſith we know but in part, 1 Cor. 13. In humane things, the wiſeſt men have profeſſed, that the greateſt part of what they knew, was the leaſt of that they knew not: how much more in things divine? By no expreſſions do we ſo fully ſet forth God, ſaith Scaliger, as by thoſe which ſet forth our ignorance. Our ſafeſt Eloquence concerning God, is our ſilence, ſaith learned Hooker.
But the thunder of his power, who can underſtand?] Heb. Of his powers; that is, his powerful thunder: which whilſt Alladius King of the Latines would by certain Engines (that he had made him) imitate, he juſtly periſhed by a Thunderbolt from heaven, his houſe alſo, wherein he had attempted ſo to do, was conſumed with fire from heaven, as Dionyſ. Halicarn. and Oroſius teſtifie. Some by thunder here underſtand Gods aſtoniſhing preſence and utterance of himſelf. Others, his force and grandeur, his notable and thundering exploits, which ſhine all the world over, and to which if all that have been inſtanced ſhall be compared, they will appear to be but as a few heat drops to a great ſhowre of raine. He that ſhall go about co declare them,Lucret. ſhall be forced to ſay with the Poet, Clandicat ingenium, delirat linguaque, menſque.