8. But I would seek unto El,

And unto Elohim would I submit my cause*: 9. Who' doeth things great and unsearchable, Wonders surpassing enumeration!

10. Who giveth rain upon the earth,

And sendeth forth waters over its surface, 11. To set on high those that are brought low;

When the mourners are lifted up with salvation.

Eliphaz would lead the thoughts of Job, and of all sufferers in their calamities, unto God-that, not imputing them to chance, or to blind fatality, or to the will of man, they should see is hand in all that hath befallen them, and look to him alone for redress. He points out the many plain and wonderful interpositions of his providence, which all must own and acknowledge. Especially he seems to instance, how often in times of drought have the distressed and suppliant mourners been made sensible that they owed their preservation and returning prosperity to HIM, who heareth prayer,' and who sent them rain in their extremity, and " filled their hearts with joy and gladness."

Eliphaz next reflects on other well-known proofs of a superintending Providence in the affairs of

men :

12. Who' dissipateth the schemes of the crafty,

So that their hands cannot execute their' policy!

a Mr. Good.

Their wonted policy, their sound wisdom, or right reasonng, as the word signifies.

13. Catching the wise in their subtlety,

And precipitating the counsels of the wily". 14. They meet with darkness in the day-time, And grope about at noon, as in the night!

b

15. And He delivereth the persecuted from their mouths, And the helpless from the hand of the strong:

16. And there is hope for the exhausted ©,

And iniquity stoppeth her mouth.

It had already, it should seem, been open to the observation of mankind, how often in a remarkable manner the best laid schemes of human policy had been defeated; the wisest and ablest been made the victims of their own wicked stratagems, which they had formed for others; and the most prudent and experienced' appeared, in some great crisis, as if infatuated in their counsels! As remarkable had also sometimes been the deliverance of a persecuted man from the very jaws of his pursuers, when all hope and strength were gone, and there seemed no possible deliverance at hand. These things had happened so, that the boasting of the wicked had been silenced, and men had been compelled to own, that there was a reward for the righteous, verily, a God that judgeth the world.' Such was the experience of the observing in these remote ages; and notwithstanding the mystery

Literally "twisted."

b See Mr. Good.

"For the worn-out, or reduced." Idem.

from the sayings of the ancients, may be too indiscriminate; but it shall be thus, or better than thus, where there is no longer any thing to correct or purify by trouble. We may receive it as generally true, 'godliness has the promise of the life that now is;' and although some of the followers of Christ have been called to give up what we naturally call prosperity, that they may have treasure in Heaven; yet this is a particular case, and even here a hundred-fold reward is promised, even in this present world.

With respect to his case, Job found what Eliphaz said literally true, and did afterwards' experience it for himself,' though at present he could not receive it. He had no hope in life, nor was he as yet properly convinced of his sin, nor humbled under the chastening hand of God.

SECTION II.

Job's First Reply to Eliphaz.

Chap. vi. Ver. 1. And Job answered and said,
2. Oh! that my grief could be exactly weighed,

a

And my calamities be lifted together on the balance!

Properly, the cause I have of grief and vexation, which has provoked and stimulated me to pour forth these bitter lamentations.

21. Thou shouldst be sheltered from the spreading of the flame*,

Nor shouldst thou fear the waster when he cometh. 22. At devastation" and want thou shouldst smile,

Nor shouldst thou be in fear for the food of the earth; 23. For thou shouldst be in league with the stones of the field,

And the beasts of the field should be at peace with

thee.

24. Thou shouldst know that thy tent were in safety, Thou shouldst inspect thy dwelling, and nothing be amissd.

25. Thou shouldst know that thy seed were numerous, And thine offspring as the herbage of the earth. 26. Thou shouldst come, in old age, to the tomb,

When it shall rise a heap of corn in its season.

27. Lo, this we have searched out; thus it is, Hear it, and do thou know it for thyself'.

Eliphaz's assurances of temporal prosperity to the obedient child of God, quoted, most probably,

"The tongue," not " of men," I conceive, but " of fire." "The laying waste of an enemy," in particular.

c "Tribes of the field." Mr. Good, after Reiske, . But the stones, or stony places, might be a source of danger to the cattle, from the noxious animals which they sheltered.

"Thou shalt overlook thy property, and nothing shall be wanting."

e is both a heap of corn in the straw, and a heap of stones or earth raised over a body interred. PARKHURST. "An old man's tumulus is as seasonable as the heap of corn laid ready for threshing."

Or apply it to thyself, or rather appreciate it for thyself.

from the sayings of the ancients, may be too indiscriminate; but it shall be thus, or better than thus, where there is no longer any thing to correct or purify by trouble. We may receive it as generally true, 'godliness has the promise of the life that now is; and although some of the followers of Christ have been called to give up what we naturally call prosperity, that they may have treasure in Heaven; yet this is a particular case, and even here a hundred-fold reward is promised, even in this present world.

With respect to his case, Job found what Eliphaz said literally true, and did afterwards experience it for himself,' though at present he could not receive it. He had no hope in life, nor was he as yet properly convinced of his sin, nor humbled under the chastening hand of God.

SECTION II.

Job's First Reply to Eliphaz.

Chap. vi. Ver. 1. And Job answered and said, 2. Oh! that my grief could be exactly weighed, And my calamities be lifted together on the balance!

Properly, the cause I have of grief and vexation, which has provoked and stimulated me to pour forth these bitter lamentations.