represented as having obtained his Deliverance (as the two others had done, one from the Flood, the other from the Den of Lions) by his Righteousness. This fuited the Prophet's Argument; and the Inftance would equally ferve his Purpose, whether the Character were real or fictitious. The fame holds likewise in regard to St. James; who, wanting to recommend Patience by an Example, would naturally refer his Countrymen to this Book. But had there ever been fuch a Perfon as Job, it has been shewn in the last Note that he must have been in all Probability a contemporary with Abraham; and as he is faid to have been an Idumean, (or an Inhabitant of Arabia deserta, which bordered upon Canaan,) it might be expected that there would have been fome Intercourfe between these great and good Men; that Abraham in his Journeys to Egypt would have taken an Opportunity of doing him Honour, as he did to Melchifedec, or that Job would gladly have embraced any Opportunity of making himself known to the Father of the Faithful. The fame may be faid in regard to the fucceeding Patriarchs, if he be supposed to have lived later. But if we bring him down to the Time of Mofes, (which is the latest Period that can be affigned) it will appear ftill more extraordinary, that he, who lived in Sight of Mount Sinai, should have continued to walk ftill by the Light of Nature only, when he must have had fenfible Demonstration of God's Revelation of his Will, and might have put himself under the more immediate Direction of Jehovah. Besides, what would make Job's Character ftill more extraordinary is, that he should always have retained his Integrity amidst the Contagion of bad Example; for the Wild Arabs, from the Days of Ifhmael to these Days, have uniformly been Rovers and Freebooters, as was predicted of them. Gen. XVI. 12.

WHEREAS if we fuppofe this Poem to be merely of the Dramatic Kind, (the effential Requifites of which it has) it would answer the Author's Purpose best to create a Subject, that Hiftoric Truth might not embarrass him in any Circumftance conducing to the End he propofed.

Now if we fuppofe the Author to have been a Jew, and that he wrote his Book with a Defign of comforting his captive Brethren, the Book will be found perfectly confiftent with this Hypothefis; which is to fhew, that temporal Evils are not always intended by Providence as Punishments for paft Crimes, but also for Trials of Virtue, and for the Benefit of inftructive Example to others; and that Patience and Submiffion to the Will of Heaven is both the indispensable Duty of

I 2

Perions

Perfons under Affliction, and the most probable Means of procuring them Deliverance and Restoration. This exactly quadrates with the Cafe of the Jews. They were carried to Babylon, not merely for the punishment of their Idolatries and Wickedness; but also that they might be tried in the Furnace of Affliction, which thoroughly purified them from idolatrous Practices at leaft; and with this farther View likewise, that the most confpicuous Part of the then known World might be more acquainted with their History and their facred Books, which contained both the past Difpenfations of God's particular Providence, and his future Defigns with respect to Mankind. They were also taught by their Prophets to look for a Reftoration after a stated Period, and exhorted to wait patiently and quietly till the Change should come.

IT is furprizing that the Name of the Author of fo excellent a Compofition fhould always have been concealed from the World. What his Motives for fuch Concealment were, and who he was, it would be loft Time to inquire, as it is now perhaps impoffible to difcover. That he wrote about the Time of the Captivity appears to me clearly from the many Chaldee Words, and Chaldee Termination of Hebrew Words, throughout the Book: but a ftill more forcible Argument is the frequent indirect Allufion to the Pentateuch and other Books of the Jewish Canon; whereby the Author inadvertently betrays himself; of which see the following Lift.

PASSAGES IN THE BOOK OF JOB, WHICH HAVE A REFERENCE TO OTHER PARTS OF THE SACRED WRITINGS.

I Kings

CHAPTER I. 5. Have curfed God in their Hearts. XXI. 10. "Thou didst blafpheme God and the King." V.6. The Sons of God came to prefent themselves. Here the Angels are called Sons of God. The Expreffion is particular: but we find it used in Daniel, Ch. III. v. 25. viz. "the Form of the fourth is like the Son of God." What Daniel meant by that Expreffion appears from V. 28. "Bleffed "be God who hath fent his Angel." So that Angel and Son of God here fignify the fame Thing. V. 21. Naked came I out of my Mother's Womb &c. This answers to Ecclef. V. 15. “As he came forth of his "Mother's Womb, naked fhall he return to go as he came." Land of Uz is mentioned Lam. IV. 21. "O Daughter of Edom, that "dwelleft in the Land of Uz." The Edomites fettled in Arabia; and Uz, as it appears from this Paffage, was a Part of that Country: thus the Place was called at the Time of the Captivity.

The

Ch. III. 3.

Ch. III. 3. Let the Day perish, wherein I was born. Jer. XX. 14. "Curfed be the Day, wherein I was born." V. 5. - the Shadow of Death. The fame Expreffion, Pf. XXIII. 4. V. 16. As an hidden untimely Birth, I had not been; as Infants which never faw the Light. This feems to be an Improvement upon Pf. LVIII. 8. "As the untimely "Fruit of a Woman, let them not see the Sun.", untimely Fruit, is the Word in both Places. V. 23. Whom God hath hedged in. So Lam. III. 7. "He hath hedged me about, that I cannot get out."

.3.

Ch. IV. 4. Thou haft ftrengthened the feeble Knees. So Ifa. XXXV. Strengthen the weak Hands, and confirm the feeble Knees.". V. 8. They that plow Iniquity, and fow Wickedness, reap the fame. Hof.X.13. "Ye have plowed Wickedness, ye have reaped Iniquity." V. 9. By the Blaft of God they perish, and by the Breath of his Noftrils are they confumed. This seems to be borrowed from Exod. XV. 8. "With the "Blast of thy Noftrils the Waters were gathered together." V.19. Which are crushed before the Moth. This Image is frequently used in Scripture. Pf. XXXIX. 11. "As the Moth, thou makest his Beauty to confume "away." Hof. V. 12. "I will be to Ephraim as a Moth." Ifa. L. 9. "The Moth fhall eat them up.”

Ch. V. 4. They are crushed in the Gate. So Prov. XXII. 22. "Neither opprefs the afflicted in the Gate." Gate is used in both Places to fignify a Court of Juftice. V. 14. And grope in the NoonDay as in the Night. So Deut. XXVIII. 29. "And thou shalt grope " at Noon-Day, as the blind gropeth in Darkness." V. 18. He maketh fore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his Hands make whole. Hof. VI. 1. “He hath smitten, and he will bind us up." And Deut. XXXII. 39. "I wound, and I heal." V. 23. The Beasts of the Field fhall be at Peace with thee. So Hof. II. 18. "I will make a Covenant for "them with the Beasts of the Field."

Ch. VI. 3. Heavier than the Sand of the Sea. Perhaps this may be taken from Prov. XXVII. 3. "The Sand is weighty." V. 4. The Arrows of the Almighty are within me. Pf. XXXVIII. 2. "Thine Arrows "stick faft in me." V. 20. Job fpeaking of the Caravans, which come, to the Springs in Arabia, and find no Water, fays, They were confounded, because they had hoped: they came thither, and were afhamed. Jer. XIV. 3. fays upon the fame Occafion, " "They returned with their "Veffels empty; they were afhamed and confounded, and covered "their Heads." The Thought is the fame: but in Job the Manner of expreffing it is more poetical.

Ch.

Ch. VII. 2. AS THE HIRELING EXPECTETH HIS WAGES. The Law

of Mofes fays, "the Wages of the Hireling, ( by, the Words "are the fame,) fhall not abide with thee.' V. 10. Neither shall his Place know him any more. Pf. CIII. 16. has exactly the fame Words, viz. p my '. V. 20. Why haft thou fet me as a Mark against thee. So Lam. III. 12. " He hath fet me as a Mark for the Arrow."

Ch. X. 4. Seeft thou as Man feeth. So 1 Sam. XVI. 7. I "The Lord "feeth not as Man feeth." V.9. Thou haft made me as the Clay, and wilt thou bring me into the Duft again? which feems to be an Allufion to these Words, "Duft thou art, and to Duft fhalt thou return." V. 20, 21. Let me alone, that I may take Comfort a little, before I whence I shall not return. So Pf. XXXIX. 13. "Spare me, that I may recover Strength, before I go hence, and be no more."

Ch. XI. 19. Thou shalt lie down, and none shall make thee afraid. This feems to be taken from Lev. XXVI. 6. "Ye fhall lie down, and "none fhall make you afraid."

Ch. XII. 14. He fhutteth up a Man, and there can be no opening: taken probably from Ifai. XXII. 22. "He shall shut, and none shall "open. V. 16. The deceived and deceiver are his—probably alludes to the History of the Fall. V. 22. He difcovereth deep Things out of Darkness. So Dan. II. 22. "He revealeth the deep and secret Things; "he knoweth what is in the Darkness." V. 24. He taketh away the Heart of the chief of the People of the Earth, and caufeth them to wander in the Wilderness, where there is no Way. So Pf.CVII.40. "And causeth them "to wander in the Wilderness, where there is no way." The Words of the Pfalm are allowed to refer to the wandering of the Children. of Ifrael in the Wilderness.

Ch. XIII. 5. O that you would altogether hold your Peace, and it fhould be your Wisdom: alluding perhaps to Prov. XVII. 28. "Even a "Fool, when he holdeth his Peace, is counted wife." V. 14. And put my Life in my Hand. The Expreffion is remarkable, and feems to be taken from 1 Sam. XXVIII. 21. "I have put my Life in my Hand;" i. e. I have exposed myself to the utmoft Danger. We have it too, Pf. CXIX.109. "My Soul is alway in my Hand." V. 24. Wherefore hideft thou thy Face? So Pf. XIII. 1. "How long wilt thou hide thy Face " from me."

Ch. XV. 14. What is Man that he should be clean? So Prov.XX.9. "Who can say I have made my Heart clean ?" V. 16. Drinketh Ini

quity like Water. So Prov. XIX. 28. "The Mouth of the wicked de"voureth Iniquity." V. 23. He wandreth abroad for Bread, faying, where is it? So Pf. LIX. 15. "Let them wander up and down for "Meat." V. 27. He covereth his Face with his Fatness. Pf. XVII. 10. "They cover themselves with their Fatness"

Ch. XVI. 10. They have fmitten me upon the Cheek reproachfully. So Lam. III. 30. "He giveth his Cheek to him that fmiteth him he is "filled full with Reproach." V. 18. O Earth, cover not thou my Blood, and let my Cry have no Place; which feems to allude to Gen. IV. 10. "The Voice of thy Brother's Blood crieth out to me

"from the Ground."

Ch. XVII. 7. Mine Eye alfo is dim by reafon of Sorrow. So Pf. VI. 7. "Mine Eye is confumed because of Grief.'

Ch. XVIII. 19. He shall neither have Son nor Nephew. This appears clearly to be taken from Isaiah XIV. 22. "I will cut off from Babylon, "faith God, both the Son and the Nephew," 1 The Author of the Book of Job uses the fame Words, defcribing the Judgments of God in the Punishment of a wicked Man, and makes a Sentence of

.לא נין לו ולא נכד,them

Ch. XIX. 7, 8. Behold, I cry out of Wrong, but I am not heard; I cry aloud, but there is no Judgment. He bath fenced up my Way, that I cannot pass, and he hath fet Darkness in my Paths. Here is a very near Refemblance to Lam. III. 8, 9. "When I cry and fhout, he "fhutteth out my Prayer: he hath inclosed my Ways with hewn "Stone; he hath made my Paths crooked." V. 13. He hath put my Brethren far from me, and mine Acquaintance are verily eftranged from me. So Pf. LXXXVIII. 8. "Thou haft put away mine Acquaintance "far from me.'

Ch. XX. 6. Though his Excellency mount up to the Heavens, and his Head reach unto the Clouds. Thus Ifa. XIII. 14. "I will afcend into "Heaven: I will ascend above the Heights of the Clouds; I will be "like the most High;" where the Prophet fpeaks of Lucifer. V. 16. He fhall fuck the Poifon of Afps. So Deut. XXXII. 33. "Their Wine "is the Venom of Afps."

Ch. XXI. 5. Be aftonished, and lay your Hand upon your Mouth. So Judg. XVIII. 19. "Hold thy Peace, lay thy Hand upon thy Mouth." God layeth up his Iniquity for his Children. This feems to

V.

19.

allude