Job’s three friends having in their turns attacked him, and he having given answer respectively to them, Eliphaz, who began the attack, first enters the debate with him again, and proceeds upon the same plan as before, and endeavours to defend his former sentiments, falling upon Job with greater…

Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite Or, who was of Teman, as the Targum, the first of Job’s friends and comforters, the oldest of them, who first began the dispute with him; which was carried on by his two other companions, who had spoken in their turns; and now in course it fell to him to answer a…

Should a wise man utter vain knowledge As Job had been thought to be, or as he himself thought he was, which he might say sarcastically; or as he really was, not worldly wise, nor merely wise in things natural, but in things divine; being one that had the fear of God, which is the beginning of…

Should he reason with unprofitable talk? &c.] That is, the wise man, such a man as Job; does it become him to talk such idle stuff? that which is false, and foolish, and frothy, that does not minister grace to the hearer, and is not for the use of edifying; as whatever is untrue, unwise, vain, and…

Yea, thou castest off fear Not of man; a slavish fear of man is to be cast off, because that brings a snare, deters men from their duty, and leads into sin; though there is a fear and reverence of men which ought to be given to them, “fear to whom fear”, ; but here the fear of God is meant, which…

For thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity Which was in his heart, and so was an evidence against him, and proved him perverse, and made good the above charges exhibited against him: or “thine iniquity teaches thy mouth” [[23]]; the wickedness that was in his heart prompted his mouth to speak the things…

Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and not I Or shows thee to be a wicked person, guilty of things charged upon thee; out of thine own mouth thou art convicted, there needs no other evidence to be brought against thee, that is sufficient: and thou savest me, and any other, the trouble of passing the…

Art thou the first man that was born? &c.] The first Adam, who was created in wisdom and knowledge, and had a large share of understanding in things natural, civil, and moral; knew much of God and his perfections, of the works of nature, and of the wisdom and power of God displayed in them; one…

Hast thou heard the secret of God? &c.] Or, “in the secret of God” [[0]], in his cabinet council, what was said and done there? hast thou stood in the council of God? hast thou been one of his privy council, or counsellors, and been let into all the secrets of God, of his purposes and providence,…

What knowest thou that we know not? &c.] Which are pretty near the words of Job to his friends, ; and to the same sense is what follows: what understandest thou which is not in us? in our hearts, minds, and understanding; or among us, which one or other, or all of us, have not: yet all men have not…

With us are both the grayheaded The grayheaded man, or one that is so, it is in the singular number; gray hairs are a sign of old age, and an emblem of wisdom, see ; to which words Eliphaz may be thought to refer; Job there suggesting as if wisdom was with him, being an ancient man: and very aged…

Are the consolations of God small with thee? &c.] Meaning either those which Eliphaz and his friends had administered, when, upon his repentance and reformation, they promised him great and good things that should befall him and his family, and that his latter end should be greater than his…

Why doth thine heart carry thee away? &c.] To such conceit of thyself, and contempt of others, and even to slight the consolations of God; the heart, being deceitful and wicked, sometimes carries away good men to say and do those things which are unbecoming; and if, in any instance, this was Job’s…

That thou turnest thy spirit against God Not against men, his friends only, but against God himself, being filled with wrath and indignation at him; showing the enmity of his heart unto him, and committing hostilities upon him, stretching out his hand, and strengthening himself against him, running…

What is man, that he should be clean? &c.] Frail, feeble, mortal man, or woeful man, as Mr. Broughton renders it; since he is sinful, whereby he is become such a weak and dying creature: this question, as well as the following, is put by way of contempt, and as lessening man in a comparative sense,…

Behold, he putteth no trust in his saints In holy men, set apart for himself by his grace, whose sins are expiated by the blood of his Son, and whose hearts are sanctified by his Spirit, and who live holy lives and conversations, as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; these, though he trusts many of them…

How much more abominable and filthy is man In his natural, corrupt, and unregenerate estate; man, as a creature, was not abominable, but becoming sinful he is; he is so in himself, cast out to the loathing of his person, being full of wounds, bruises, and putrefying sores, yea, like a dead…

I will show thee, hear me Here Eliphaz proceeds to illustrate and make plain, to clear and defend, his former sentiment and proposition, and into which the rest of his friends came; that only wicked, and not righteous men, are afflicted of God, especially in such a manner as Job was; and he…

Which wise men have told from their fathers Men wise in the best sense, not to do evil, but to do good; not worldly wise men, but such who have wisdom, sound wisdom in the inward parts; who are wise to salvation, and who are partakers of divine and spiritual wisdom; and such men, as they would…

Unto whom alone the earth was given Who were intrusted with the government of whole kingdoms and nations; and therefore not mean men, but persons of great consequence, and to be credited; being such as were appointed by God, and by him put into such an high office, for which they were qualified by…

The wicked man travaileth with pain all his days Either to commit iniquity, which he is at great pains to do, and even to weariness; and, agreeably to the metaphor used, he conceives it in his heart, he travails with it in his mind, and he brings forth falsehood and a lie, what disappoints him, and…

A dreadful sound is in his ears Or “a voice”, or “sound of fears” [[18]], of what causes fears; and which are either imaginary; sometimes wicked men, fear when there is no cause or occasion for it; they fancy an enemy at their heels, and flee, when none pursues them; they are a “Magormissabib”, or…

He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness When he lies down at night he despairs of ever seeing the light of the morning, through fear of an enemy, a robber, a murderer, or of one disaster or another, (Deut. 28:66, Deut.

He wandereth abroad for bread Either as a plunderer and robber, he roves about to increase his worldly power and substance; or rather, being reduced to poverty, wanders about from place to place, from door to door, to beg his bread; which is a curse imprecated on the posterity of wicked men, ;…

Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid Either his present troubles shall frighten him, they being so very dismal, terrible, and distressing, and make him fear that others were coming on, more dreadful and formidable; or those troubles he fears will be his portion hereafter, these terrify him…

For he stretched out his hand against God Being an hater of him, an enemy to him, yea, enmity itself against him; an enemy in his mind, which appears by his wicked works, which are so many acts of hostility against God; all sins are against God, his nature, his will, his law, and all his…

He runneth upon him, even on his neck As a fierce and furious enemy runs upon another with great wrath and fury; as the he goat in Daniel’s vision ran upon the ram, in the fury of his power, that is, Alexander upon Darius; which instance Bar Tzemach refers to; and as an adversary, who throws down…

Because he covereth his face with his fatness He has no fear of God, nor shame for his sin; he blushes not to rise up against God in the manner he does, because his eyes stand out with fatness; or rather his face is covered with it, that is, he abounds in riches, he enjoys great prosperity, a large…

And he dwelleth in desolate cities This is either a continuation of the account of the wicked man’s prosperity, which makes him haughty; such is his might and power, that he destroys cities and palaces, built and enjoyed by others, and then out of the ruins of them builds greater cities and more…

He shall not be rich Though his heart is set upon it, he is determined at any rate to be rich; he labours for it with all his might and main, and yet shall not attain what he is so desirous of; many, who take a great deal of pains to be rich, and even in a lawful way, and are men of understanding…

He shall not depart out of darkness Out of the darkness of poverty, calamity, and distress he comes into, and, indeed, he despairs of it himself, as in ; and in a spiritual sense he departs not out of the darkness of sin, out of the dark state of unregeneracy; nor will he depart out of the…

Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity Every wicked man is deceived, either by Satan, who deceives the whole world, deceived our first parents, and deceives all their posterity, not only profane sinners, but many professors of religion also; or by their own hearts, which are deceitful and…

It shall be accomplished before his time, Either the recompence or reward of his trusting vanity, in vain persons or things, the punishment of such a trust, the sorrows and troubles following upon it; these shall come upon the wicked man “before his day” [[5]], as it may be rendered; before the day…

He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine Either the wicked man himself shall shake off or lose his substance; or God shall shake off from him all that was dear and valuable to him; or he shall be shaken by one providence or another, just as a vine is shaken by a violent wind and tempest, and…

For the congregation of hypocrites shall be desolate Hypocrites are such who seem to and would be thought to be, what they are not; they are outwardly righteous before men, but inwardly very wicked; have a form of godliness, but are destitute the power of it, ; pretend to much religion, and to be…

They conceive mischief That is, such wicked persons as before described; they meditate sin in their minds, and contrive how to commit it, and form schemes within themselves to do mischief to others: and bring forth vanity; or sin; for lust when it is conceived bringeth forth sin, and that is…