And the beastes of the felde shall give the peace.

I believe the above to be the meaning of the place.

See the next verse.

Thou shalt be so

Verse 24. Thou shalt know] fully satisfied of the friendly disposition of all thy neighbours, that thou shalt rest secure in thy bed, and not be afraid of any danger, though sleeping in thy tent in the field; and when thou returnest from thy country excursions, thou shalt find that thy habitation has been preserved in peace and prosperity, and that thou hast made no mistake in thy trust, in thy confidence, or in thy confederates.

rience on these important points. These are established maxims, which universal experience supports. Know-understand, and reduce them to practice for thy good. Thus ends Eliphaz, the Temanite, "full of wise saws and ancient instances;" but he miser

ably perverted them in his application of them to Job's case and character. They contain, however, many wholesome truths, of which the wise in heart may make a very advantageous practical use.

The word s oholecha, "thy tabernacle," means

pins, and cloth or skin, to be pitched any where in a few moments, and struck again with the same ease. The word navecha, which we properly translate thy habitation, signifies a solid, permanent dwelling-place. See Josh. xxii. 4, 6, 7, 8; 2 Sam. xviii. 17, xix. 8; 1 Kings xii. 16; Ps. lii. 7, xci. 10, cxxxii. 3; Lam. ï. 4; Mal. ii. 12; and with these passages compare the place in the text.

As to worn techeta, which we translate thou shalt Det SIN, it comes from xn chata, to err, to mistake, to miss the mark: hence to sin, transgress God's laws, seeking for happiness in forbidden and unlawful things, and therefore missing the mark, because in the happiness is not to be found: and it is very likely, from the connexion above, that to mistake or err is its meaning in this place. I need not add, that the Arab chiefs, who had their castles or strong-holds, frequently in their country excursions lodged in tents in the open fields; and that on such occasions a hostile neighbour sometimes took advantage of their absence, attacked and pillaged their houses, and carried off their families and household. See at the end of this chapter.

Verse 25. Thine offspring as the grass] Thou shalt have a numerous and permanent issue.

Verse 26. Thou shalt come to thy grave] Thou shalt not die before thy time; thou shalt depart from life like a full-fed guest; happy in what thou hast known, and in what thou hast enjoyed.

Like as a shock of corn] Thou shalt completely run through the round of the spring, summer, autumn, and winter of life; and thou shalt be buried like a wholesome seed in the earth; from which thou shalt again rise up into an eternal spring!

Verse 27. Lo this, we have searched it] What I

dered. A similar incident was the ground of the old heroic ballad of Hardicanute. When the veteran

heard that a host of Norwegians had landed to pillage the country, he armed, and posted to the field to meet the invading foe. He slew the chief in battle, and routed his pillaging banditti. While this was taking place, another party took the advantage of his absence, attacked his castle, and carried off or murdered his lovely wife and family; which, being perceived on his return by the war and age worn chief, is thus affectingly described by the unknown

Loud and chill blew the westlin wind,
Sair beat the heavy showir,
Mirk grew the nicht eir Hardyknute
Wan neir his stately tower:

His tower that us'd with torches bleise,
To shine sae far at nicht,
Seim'd now as black as mourning weid,
Nae marvel, sair he sich'd.

"Thair's nae light in my lady's bowir;

"Thair's nae light in my hall; "Nae blink shynes round my Fairly fair; "Nor ward stands on my wall. "What bodes it, Thomas! Robert! say?" Nae answer-speaks their dreid; "Stand back, my sons, I'll be your gyde;" But bye they pass'd with speid.

"As fast I haif sped owr Scotland's foes-" There ceis'd his brag of weir.

Sair schamt to mind ocht but his dame,
And maiden Fairly fair.

Job deplores his sufferings,

Black feir he felt; but what to feir
He wist not yet with dreid;
Sair schook his body, sair his limbs,

And all the warrior fled.

The ending of this poem is lost; but we here see that the castle of Hardicanute was surprised, and his family destroyed, or carried off, while he and his sons had been employed in defeating the invading Norwegians. Thank God! civilization, the offspring of the spread of Christianity, has put an end to these barbarous

and prefers death. practices amongst us; but in the East, where Christianity is not, they flourish still. Britons! send out your Bible and your missionaries to tame these barbarians; for whom heathenism has done nothing, and the Koran next to nothing. Civilization itself, without the Bible, will do as little; for the civilized Greeks and Romans were barbarians, fell and murderous; living in envy and malice, hateful, hating one another, and offering hundreds at a time of human victims to their ruthless deities. Nothing but Christianity ever did, or ever can, cure these evils.

Verse 2. Oh that my grief were thoroughly weighed] Job wished to be dealt with according to justice; as he was willing that his sins, if they could be proved, should be weighed against his sufferings; and if this could not be done, he wished that his sufferings and his complaining might be weighed together; and it would then be seen that, bitter as his complaint had been, it was little when compared with the distress which occasioned it.

Verse 3. Heavier than the sand of the sea] This includes two ideas: their number was too great to be counted; their weight was too great to be estimated. Verse 4. The arrows of the Almighty] There is an evident reference here to wounds inflicted by poisoned arrows; and to the burning fever occasioned by such wounds, producing such an intense parching thirst as to dry up all the moisture in the system, stop all the salivary ducts, thicken and inflame the blood, induce putrescency, and terminate in raging mania, producing the most terrifying images, from which the patient is relieved only by death. This is strongly expressed in the fine figure: The POISON DRINKETH up my SPIRIT; the TERRORS of GOD SET THEMSELVES in ARRAY against

me.

That calamities are represented among the eastern writers as the arrows of the Almighty, we have abundant proofs. In reference to this, I shall

A. M. cir. 2484. B. C. cir. 1520. Ante I. Ol.

cir. 744.

4 For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, the poison whereof drinketh up my Ante U.C. c.767 spirit: the terrors of God do set themselves in array against me.

5 Doth the wild ass bray 'when he hath grass? or loweth the ox over his fodder? 6 Can that which is unsavoury be eaten d Ps. xxxviii. 2.‚———e Ps. lxxxviii. 15, 16.—Heb. at grass.

adduce that fine saying attributed to Aaly, the sonin-law of Mohammed, in the Toozuki Teemor; which I have spoken of elsewhere. "It was once demanded of the fourth califf (Aaly), 'If the canopy of heaven were a bow; and if the earth were the cord thereof; and if calamities were the arrows; if mankind were the mark for those arrows; and if Almighty God, the tremendous and glorious, were the unerring Archer; to whom could the sons of Adam flee for protection ?' The califf answered, 'The sons of Adam must flee unto the Lord."" This fine image Job keeps in view in the eighth and ninth verses, wishing that the unerring marksman may let fly these arrows, let loose his hand, to destroy and cut him off.

Verse 5. Doth the wild ass] pere, translated onager by the Vulgate, from the ovos aypios of the Septuagint, which we, properly enough, translate wild ass. It is the same with the tame ass; only in a wild state it grows to a larger size, is stronger, and more fleet. The meaning of Job appears to be this: You condemn me for complaining; do I complain without a cause? The wild ass will not bray, and the ox will not low, unless in want. If they have plenty of provender, they are silent. Were I at rest, at ease, and happy, I would not complain.

Verse 6. Can that which is unsavoury] Mr. Good renders this verse as follows: Doth insipid food with

Job complains of the

A. M. cir. 2484.
B. C. cir. 1520.
Ante I. Ol.
cir. 744.
Ante U.C. c. 767.

forsaketh the fear of the Almighty.

deceitfully as a brook, and as the stream of

brooks they pass away;

19 The troops of 'Tema looked, the companies of Sheba waited for them.

B. C. cir. 1520.

A. M. cir. 2484.

Ante I. Ol.

cir. 744. Ante U.C.c.767.

20 They were confounded because they had hoped; they came thither, and were ashamed.

k

e

consumed out of

17 What time they wax warm, they vanish: d when it is hot, they are their place.

18 The paths of their way are turned aside; Heb. they e Heb. extinPs. lxxii. 10.

a Ps. xxxviii. 11. xli. 9.- b Jer. xv. 18.are cut off d Heb. in the heat thereof. guished. Gen. xxv. 15.- -1 Kings x. 1.

The word on lammas, which we render to him who is AFFLICTED, from masah, to dissolve, or waste away, is in thirty-two of Dr. Kennicott's and De Rossi's MSS. DN lemoes, "to him that despiseth his friend;" and hence the passage may be read: To him who despiseth his friend, it is a reproach; and he will forsake the fear of the Almighty: or, as Mr. Good translates,

"Shame to the man who despiseth his friend! He indeed hath departed from the fear of the Almighty." Eliphaz had, in effect, despised Job; and on this ground had acted any thing but the part of a friend towards him; and he well deserved the severe stroke which he here receives. A heathen said, Amicus certus in re incerta cernitur; the full sense of which we have in our common adage :

--

A FRIEND IN NEED is a FRIEND INDEED. Job's friends, so called, supported each other in their attempts to blacken the character of this worthy man; and their hand became the heavier, because they supposed the hand of God was upon him. To each of them, individually, might be applied the words of another heathen :

Absentem qui rodit amicum,
Qui non defendit alio culpante; solutos
Qui captat risus hominum, famamque dicacis;
Fingere qui non visa potest; commissa tacere
Qui nequit ; hic niger est; hunc tu, Romane, caveto.
HOR. Satyr.lib. i., s. iv., ver. 81.

He who, malignant, tears an absent friend;
Or, when attacked by others, don't defend;
Who trivial bursts of laughter strives to raise,
And courts, of prating petulance, the praise;
Of things he never saw who tells his tale,
And friendship's secrets knows not to conceal ;-
This man is vile; here, Roman, fix your mark;
His soul's as black as his complexion's dark.

FRANCIS.

Verse 15. Have dealt deceitfully as a brook] There is probably an allusion here to those land torrents which make a sudden appearance, and as suddenly vanish; being produced by the rains that fall upon the mountains during the rainy season, and are soon

m

casting down, and are afraid.

22 Did I say, Bring unto me? or, Give a reward for me of your substance?

23 Or, Deliver me from the enemy's hand? or, Redeem me from the hand of the mighty? Ezek. xxvii. 22, 23. - Jer. xiv. 3. 1 Or. For now ye are like to them. Heb. to it.- k Ch. xiii. 4.m Ps. xxxviii. 11.

Heb. not.

absorbed by the thirsty sands over which they run. At first they seem to promise a permanent stream, and are noticed with delight by the people, who fill their tanks or reservoirs from their waters; but sometimes they are so large and rapid as to carry everything before them; and then suddenly fail, so that there is no time to fill the tanks. The approach of Job's friends promised much of sympathy and compassion; his expectations were raised: but their conduct soon convinced him that they were physicians of no value; therefore he compares them to the deceitful torrents that soon pass away.

Verse 16. Blackish by reason of the ice] He represents the waters as being sometimes suddenly frozen, their foam being turned into the semblance of snow or hoar-frost: when the heat comes, they are speedily liquefied; and the evaporation is so strong from the heat, and the absorption so powerful from the sand, that they soon disappear.

Verse 18. The paths of their way] They sometimes forsake their ancient channels, which is a frequent case with the river Ganges; and, growing smaller and smaller from being divided into numerous streams, they go to nothing and perish-are at last utterly lost in the sands.

Verse 19. The troops of Tema looked] The caravans coming from Tema are represented as arriving at those places where it was well known torrents did descend from the mountains, and they were full of expectation that here they could not only slake their thirst, but fill their girbas or water-skins; but when they arrive, they find the waters totally dissipated and lost. In vain did the caravans of Sheba wait for them; they did not re-appear: and they were confounded, because they had hoped to find here refreshment and rest.

Verse 21. For now ye are nothing] Ye are just to me as those deceitful torrents to the caravans of Tema and Sheba; they were nothing to them; ye are nothing to me.

Ye see my casting down] Ye see that I have been hurried from my eminence into want and misery, as the flood from the top of the mountains, which is divided, evaporated, and lost in the desert.

And are afraid.] Ye are terrified at the calamity