This and the following chapter contain Job’s answer to Bildad, and in this he asserts the strict justice at God; which is such, that no man can be just in his sight, not being able to answer to one charge, or for one sin, of a thousand he is guilty of, Job 9:1–3; and that such are his wisdom and…

Then Job answered and said. ] Without taking notice of Bildad’s harsh expressions and severe censures, or his unfriendliness to him; he enters directly into the argument, grants some things, confutes others, and defends himself and his conduct.

I know it is so of a truth That is, that God is just, and does not pervert justice and judgment, as Bildad had observed, ; Job was a man of great natural parts and capacity; he had a large share of knowledge of things, natural, civil, and moral; and he was a good man, in whom the true light of…

If he will contend with him If God will contend with man, so Sephorno; enter into a controversy with him, litigate and dispute the point in law, whether he is just or not, man cannot answer to the allegations he will produce; or if man should contend with God, a potsherd strive with its maker, to…

He is wise in heart Originally, essentially, truly, really, and perfectly so; he is the only, and the all wise God; his understanding is infinite; he is able to traverse all the schemes of men, in things civil or religious, and disappoint all their devices; for though there be ever so many of them,…

Which removeth the mountains This and what follow are instances of the power of God, and are full proofs of his being mighty in strength; and may be understood, either literally, not only of what God is able to do if he will, but of what he has done; and history [[23]] furnishes us with instances…

Which shaketh the earth out of her place Can do it, and will do it at the last day, when it shall be utterly broken down, clean dissolved, and reel to and fro like a drunkard, and be removed as a cottage, and which John in a vision saw flee away from the presence of him that sat upon the throne,…

Which commandeth the sun, and it riseth not Either he could do it if he would, by a word speaking, as he ordered it to stand still in the times of Joshua, , and caused the shadow to return ten degrees it had gone back in the dial of Ahaz, in the times of Hezekiah, ; or else the sense is, it rises…

Which alone spreadeth out the heavens The expanse, or what we commonly translate “firmament”; but has its name in the Hebrew language from its being expanded, spread, and stretched out, over the earth and all around it; and seems chiefly to design the ether or atmosphere, which is a fine thin…

Which maketh Arcturus By which is meant not a single star, but a collection of stars, as Bar Tzemach and Ben Melech, a constellation; hence we read of Arcturus and his sons, .

Which doth great things past finding out In heaven and earth; great as to quantity and quality, not to be thoroughly searched out so as to tell their numbers, nor explain and express the nature of them to the full; even what he has done, and does in creation, providence, and grace: yea, and wonders…

Lo, he goeth by me, and I see him not This is expressive of the invisibility of God; for though the angels in heaven always behold his face, and men, in the works of creation, may see his eternal power and Godhead, and other perfections of it displayed therein; and saints by faith have a…

Behold, he taketh away There are some things God never takes away from his people; he never takes away his love from them, he always rests in that towards them, let them be in what condition they will; he never takes away his grace from them, when once bestowed on them, or wrought in them; he never…

If God will not withdraw his anger Or “God will not withdraw his anger” [[11]]; he is angry, or at least seems to be angry with his own people, in their apprehension, when he afflicts them and hides his face from them, or does not immediately appear to their relief and assistance; but this does not…

How much less shall I answer him Who is wise in heart, and mighty in strength, and has done and does the many things before related; who is invisible, passes by, and onwards insensibly; so that there is no knowing where to speak to him, or how to guard against him, since he can come on on every…

Whom, though I were righteous, yet would I not answer This is not to be understood of the righteousness of his cause, that Job made no supposition of, but strongly asserted and determined to hold it fast as long as he lived; nor of his evangelic righteousness, the righteousness of faith he was…

If I had called, and he had answered me Mr. Broughton reads the words, “if I cry, will he answer me?” as if Job had some doubt upon his mind whether God would vouchsafe to answer him, though he should make his supplication to him, as he proposed; seeing he had so sorely afflicted him, and still…

For he breaketh me with a tempest Which rises suddenly, comes powerfully, and carries all before it irresistibly; hereby signifying the nature of his present sore afflictions, which came upon him at once, pressed him down, and utterly destroyed him, against which there was no standing: perhaps he…

He will not suffer me to take my breath Which some think refers to Job’s disease, which was either an asthma, or a quinsy in his throat, which occasioned great difficulty in breathing: I should rather think the allusion is to the hot burning winds in those countries before mentioned, which…

If I speak of strength, lo, he is strong Or think of it, or betake myself to that, and propose to carry my point by mere force, as some men do by dint of power and authority they are possessed of; alas! there is nothing to be done this way; I am a poor, weak, feeble creature in body, mind, and…

If I justify myself Seek for justification by his own righteousness, trust in himself that he was righteous, say that he was so, and pronounce himself a righteous man, what would it signify? mine own mouth shall condemn me; the words of it being sinful, vain, idle, and frothy; and if a man is to be…

Though I were perfect Really and truly so, not conscious of any sin in thought, word, or deed; this is only a case supposed: yet would I not know my soul; I would not own myself to be so before God; I would not insist upon such perfection in his presence, as what would justify me before him; since…

This is one thing Or “one thing there is” [[22]] in the world, as Jarchi adds; or “one measure”, as the Targum, to good and bad men; one event alike to the righteous, and to the wicked, ; so that, as others render it, “it is all one” [[23]], whether a man righteous and perfect, or whether he is…

If the scourge slay suddenly Not Satan, as Jarchi and Bar Tzemach; but any sore calamity which surrounds a man, lashes, cuts, and distresses him, as a whip or scourge; such as any of God’s sore judgments, the sword, famine, pestilence, or evil beasts, which sometimes come suddenly, unawares,…

The earth is given into the hands of the wicked Either the wicked one, Satan, as Jarchi and Bar Tzemach, who is the god of this world; or some wicked tyrant, as Nimrod, or some other known by Job in his time, to whom he may have respect; or wicked men in general, who for the most part have the…

Now my days are swifter than a post Or “than a runner” they flee away; like a shadow, or a dream, or a tale that is told: they see no good; or he saw, perceived, or enjoyed no good in them; not but that he did see and enjoy much good, even much temporal good, which is what is intended; but this was…

They are passed away as the swift ships Those that are lightest built, and run swiftest. Bar Tzemach thinks such vessels as are rowed with oars are meant, which may be called “ships of will or desire” [[1]], as the words may be rendered, because they may be rowed at pleasure, and be carried to any…

If I say, I will forget my complaint The cause of it, the loss of his children, servants, substance, and health, and endeavour to think no more of these things, and cease complaining about them, and attempt to bury them in oblivion, and change his note: I will leave off my heaviness; his melancholy…

I am afraid of all my sorrows That they would return upon him, and surround him, and overwhelm him, so that he should not be able to stand up against them, or under them; that they would increase and continue with him, and so he should never be released from them: I know that thou wilt not hold me…

If I be wicked, why then labour I in vain? ] If he was that wicked person, that hypocrite, Bildad and his other friends took him to be, it was in vain for him to make his supplications to God, as they advised him; so Gersom gives the sense of the words; since God hears not sinners, such as live in…

If I wash myself with snow water As it came from heaven, or flowed from the mountains covered with snow, as Lebanon, see ; or was kept in vessels for such use, as being judged the best for such a purpose; so it was used by the ancients [[12]], as being what whitens the skin, and strengthens the…

Yet shall thou plunge me in the ditch In the filthy ditch of sin, the pit wherein is no water, the horrible pit, the mire and clay, in which all unregenerate men are, and to which hypocrites return, as the swine to its wallowing in the mire; and in which impurity self-righteous persons are, and are…

For he is not a man, as I am For though the parts and members of an human body are sometimes ascribed to him, yet these are to be understood by an anthropopathy, speaking after the manner of men, there being something in him, which in a figurative sense answers to these; otherwise we are not to…

Neither is there any daysman betwixt us Or “one that reproves” [[15]]; who upon hearing a cause reproves him that is found guilty, or is blameworthy, or has done injury to another; but there is no such person to be found, among angels or men, capable of this, supposing, as if Job should say, I…

Let him take his rod away from me Not his government over him, of which the rod or sceptre is an ensign, Job did not want to be freed from that; but, his rod of affliction, or stroke, as the Targum, the stroke of his hand, which, though a fatherly chastisement, lay heavy upon him, and depressed his…

Then would I speak, and not fear him With a servile fear, though with reverence and godly fear; meaning either at the throne of grace, having liberty of access, boldness of spirit, and freedom of speech through Christ the Mediator, and in the view of his blood, righteousness, and sacrifice; for…