27. Lo! I know your devices well,

And the plots with which you attack me. 28. For ye say, Where is the house of the oppressor,*

And where is the pavilion of the wicked? 29. Have you not yet inquired of those who traverse the ways,a

This disingenuousness in the thoughts of the friends, consists in the speech borrowed from their mouth in verse 28. Job's misfortune proves the truth of their assertion, that the wicked comes to a melancholy end; but since he did not consider himself to be guilty, his view opposed to theirs could not be decisive, for he would not speak against his own interest.

-in the fol רְשָׁעִים standing over against נָדִיב

lowing hemistich, is here used in a bad sense, as in Isaiah xiii. 2. Vide the elucidation of the words in my Commentary on Proverbs, ch. xvii. 7.

-we must understand a tent con אֹהֶל מִשְׁכְּנוֹת By

taining many dwellings, with reference to the riches of the wicked, as Eichhorn has rightly expressed the meaning in his translation, "Where are the pavilions of the sinner?" Doubtless the words were used with reference to Job.

a

Vide Lament. i. 12. From such wanderers an impartial answer might be expected. Job sees

And will you not acknowledge their tes

timony ?b

30. In the day of misfortune the wicked is spared;

In the day of vengeance he escapeth.

clearly that his enemies (who always attribute his misfortunes to guilt) will not admit him as an impartial judge of the justice of the proposition which they maintained. Wherefore, says he, let them ask the opinion of the passengers on the high road, who are in no way connected with him, and who, as distant travellers, may be supposed to have experience of men and things.

b Their testimony is a confirmation of his assertion. i signum, onusov, is explained, Isaiah vii. 11. Vide Theol. Stud. and Crit. Jahr. 1830, 3, 542. Here it serves as a sign for confirmation of the word spoken. It conveys a force of proof which suits perfectly here. For other explanations, vide Rosenmüller in loco. The last hemistich is most simple and powerful, when taken as a continued question. Others translate, " And ye will not mistake their directions," taking in a privative sense = .Vide Gesenius and De Wette, and on the other hand, vide Winer.

* The result of worldly wisdom and experience next follows. In times of misfortune it is the

31. Who dare advance his way before his face?

What he hath done, who may repay it

unto him ?d

32. Solemnly shall he be brought to the grave,

wicked who are spared. to spare, Isaiah xiv.

and it opposes the object בְּיוֹם stands for לְיוֹם .6

of the discourse when it is thus translated: "The wicked is snatched away from the evil day." Vulg. "Quia in diem perditionis servatur malus." Although in verse 32, occurs in the sense of being borne to the grave, it does not follow that it must here be used in the same sense. The parallel. memb. at least does not require it; and the explanation that the sinner on the day of execution is borne to the grave well secured, seems to be too artificial.

a The wicked is in general so powerful, that no one dares to oppose his scandalous conduct, or to

TT

66

and he * וְהוּא־עָשָׂה .accuse him because of it

הוא on

acts." The emphasis lies on N. His actions are naturally lawless.

The verb implies a solemn leading to the

grave.

Vide Psalm xlv. 16; cviii. 11. Thus, even after death, honour is testified to the wicked. "To the graves" that is, "to the place where the graves are."

And yet he watcheth on the mound.

33. Sweet unto him are the clods of the valley,"

f

The meaning is, the remembrance of the wicked is kept up by a monument erected over his grave. In these words, often misunderstood, we must not omit to mark the well-chosen Tipy. He watches upon the grave, while in reality he sleeps in it. The usual translation, "They watch the hillock of the grave," is tame. W is here hillock of the grave. Gesenius compares the Arab. A> VIII. sepulcrum sibi paravit. That

is as unds, heap or hillock generally, and is used here like the Latin tumulus. Compare it with the Chald. W, to heap up. Landau's explanation of the word by leader, is too bold. Vide his Rabbinical-Aramaic-German Dictionary, part ii. 361. For various other explanations, vide Rosenmüller in loco.

SII

· Est ei terra levis. clods. Vide chapter xxxviii. 88, Gesenius and De Wette; and J. D. Michaelis in Suppl. p. 2230. The latter compares the Arab. whereby we must understand the stones which the Arabians throw over graves. Thus Eichhorn; but the parallel place, ch. xxxviii. 38, appears to require clod, which suits here well.

و رجم

And after him followeth the world, And before him hosts innumerable.h 34. How then can ye comfort me in vain? And thus only wickedness remaineth in your objections !i

h A bitter expression! If one wicked person is extirpated, another follows, as thousands have preceded him. D is not to be taken strictly; it means very many.

It is generally translated, "He draws after him every man." TUP stands absolutely, like our word draw. We supply the 777. Vide ch. xxiv. 22, and Neh. ix. 30, where

Thou didst * וַתִּמְשֹׁךְ עֲלֵיהֶם,it is said of Jehovah

delay long against them," viz. thy wrath (N).

i The emptiness of their grounds of consolation consisted in their always repeating, that the innocent sufferer should at length become happy, while even amid the most joyful prospects, the end of the sinner should be miserable. But Job demonstrates the contrary. The literal meaning of the second hemistich is: "As to your repetitions, only wickedness remains of them, for, as you yourselves must perceive, they contradict the experience of real life; and you use them only with evil intent against me."