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Job having warmly given vent to his passion, and so broken the ice, his friends here come gravely to give vent to their judgment upon his case, which perhaps they had communicated to one another apart, compared notes upon it and talked it over among themselves, and found they were all agreed in their verdict, that Job's afflictions certainly proved him to be a hypocrite; but they did not attack Job with this high charge till by the expressions of his discontent and impatience, in which they thought he reflected on God himself, he had confirmed them in the bad opinion they had before conceived of him and his character. Now they set upon him with great fear. The dispute begins, and it soon becomes fierce. The opponents are Job's three friends. Job himself is respondent. Elihu appears, first, as moderator, and at length God himself gives judgment upon the controversy and the management of it. The question in dispute is whether Job was an honest man or no, the same question that was in dispute between God and Satan in the first two chapters. Satan had yielded it, and durst not pretend that his cursing his day was a constructive cursing of his God; no, he cannot deny but that Job still holds fast his integrity; but Job's friends will needs have it that, if Job were an honest man, he would not have been thus sorely and thus tediously afflicted, and therefore urge him to confess himself a hypocrite in the profession he had made of religion: "No," says Job, "that I will never do; I have offended God, but my heart, notwithstanding, has been upright with him;" and still he holds fast the comfort of his integrity. Eliphaz, who, it is likely, was the senior, or of the best quality, begins with him in this chapter, in which, I. He bespeaks a patient hearing (Job 4:2). II. He compliments Job with an acknowledgment of the eminence and usefulness of the profession he had made of religion (Job 4:3, Job 4:4). III. He charges him with hypocrisy in his profession, grounding his charge upon his present troubles and his conduct under them (Job 4:5, Job 4:6). IV. To make good the inference, he maintains that man's wickedness is that which always brings God's judgments (Job 4:7-11). V. He corroborates his assertion by a vision which he had, in which he was reminded of the incontestable purity and justice of God, and the meanness, weakness, and sinfulness of man (Job 4:12-21). By all this he aims to bring down Job's spirit and to make him both penitent and patient under his afflictions.

INTRODUCTION TO JOB 4 Job's sore afflictions, and his behaviour under them, laid the foundation of a dispute between him and his three friends, which begins in this chapter, and is carried on to the end of the thirty first; when Elihu starts up as a moderator between them, and the controversy is at last decided by God himself. Eliphaz first enters the list with Job, Job 4:1; introduces what he had to say in a preface, with some show of tenderness, friendship, and respect, Job 4:2; observes his former conduct in his prosperity, by instructing many, strengthening weak hands and feeble knees, and supporting stumbling and falling ones, Job 4:3; with what view all this is observed may be easily seen, since he immediately takes notice of his present behaviour, so different from the former, Job 4:5; and insults his profession of faith and hope in God, and fear of him, Job 4:6; and suggests that he was a bad man, and an hypocrite; and which he grounds upon this supposition, that no good man was ever destroyed by the Lord; for the truth of which he appeals to Job himself, Job 4:7; and confirms it by his own experience and observation, Job 4:8; and strengthens it by a vision he had in the night, in which the holiness and justice of God, and the mean and low condition of men, are declared, Job 4:12; and therefore it was wrong in Job to insinuate any injustice in God or in his providence, and a piece of weakness and folly to contend with him.

The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion,.... Which Aben Ezra interprets of God himself, who is compared to a lion; who not only by his voice terrifies, but in his wrath tears the wicked in pieces, and destroys them, and so is a continuation of the preceding account; and others, as R. Moses and R. Jonah, whom he mentions, take this to be a continuation of the means and methods by which God destroys wicked men sometimes, namely, by beasts of prey; this being one of his sore judgments he threatens men with, and inflicts upon men, see Lev 26:22; and in this they are followed by some Christian interpreters, who render the words "at" or "by the roaring of the lion, and by the voice of the fierce lion, by the teeth of the young lions" (c), they the wicked "are broken", ground to pieces, and utterly destroyed; but it is better, with Jarchi, Ben Gersom, and others, to understand it of kings and princes, of the mighty ones of the earth, tyrannical and oppressive rulers and governors; comparable to lions of different ages; because of their grandeur and greatness, their power and might, their cruelty and oppression in each of their different capacities; signifying, that these do not escape the righteous judgments of God: the Targum interprets the roaring of the lion of Esau, and the voice of the fierce lion of Edom; and another Jewish writer (d) of Nimrod, the first tyrant and oppressor, the mighty hunter before the Lord; but these are too particular; wicked men in power and authority in general are here, and in the following clauses, intended, see Jer 4:7 Ti2 4:17; and the sense is, that such ploughers and sowers of iniquity as are like to fierce and roaring lions are easily and quickly destroyed by the Lord: and the teeth of the young lions are broken: the power of such mighty ones to do mischief is taken away from them, and they and their families are brought to ruin; the teeth of lions are very strong in both jaws; they have fourteen teeth, four incisors or cutters, four canine or dog teeth, six molars or grinders. (c) "Rugitu leonis et voce ferocis leonis", &c. Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; so some in R. Someon Bar Tzemach. (d) R. Obadiah Sephorno.

Even, as I have seen, they that plough iniquity, and sow sorrows, and reap the same, by the blast of God do they perish, and by the breath of His nostrils are they consumed. To 'sow griefs' is to utter deceits, but to 'reap griefs' is to prevail by so speaking. Or, surely, they 'sow griefs,' who do froward actions, they 'reap griefs,' when they ate punished for this forwardness. For the harvest of grief is the recompense of condemnation, and whereas it is immediately introduced that they that 'sow and reap griefs,' 'perish by the blast of God,' and are 'consumed by the breath of His nostrils,' in this passage the 'reaping of grief' is shewn to be not punishment as yet, but the still further perfecting of wickedness, for in 'the breath of His nostrils' the punishment of that 'reaping' is made to follow. Here then they 'sow and reap griefs,' in that all that they do is wicked, and they thrive in that very wickedness, as is said of the wicked man by the Psalmist, His ways are always grievous; Thy judgments are far above out of his sight: as for all his enemies, he puffeth at them. And it is soon after added concerning him, under his tongue is labour and grief. So then he 'sows griefs,' when he does wicked things, he 'reaps griefs,' when from the same wickednesses he grows to temporal greatness. How then is it that they 'perish by the blast of God,' who are for the most part permitted to abide long here below, and in greater prosperity than the righteous? For hence it is said of them again by the Psalmist, They are not in trouble as other men, neither are they plagued like other folk. Hence Jeremiah saith, Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? For because, as it is written, For the Lord is a long-suffering rewarder, He oftentimes for long bears with those, whom He condemns for all eternity. Yet sometimes He strikes quickly, in that He hastens to the succour of the pusillanimity of the innocent. Therefore Almighty God sometimes permits the wicked to have their own way for long, that the ways of the righteous may be more purely cleansed. Yet sometimes He slays the unrighteous with speedy destruction, and by their ruin He strengthens the hearts of the innocent. For if He were now to smite all that do evil, on whom would He yet have to shew forth the final Judgment? And if He never at any time smote any man, who would ever have believed that God regarded human affairs? Sometimes then He strikes the bad, that He may shew that He does not leave wickedness unpunished. But sometimes He bears with the wicked for long, that He may teach the heedful what judgment they are reserved for. Thus this sentence of the cutting off of the wicked, if it be not spoken of all men in general at the end of this present state of being, is undoubtedly to a great degree made void of the force of truth; but it will then be true, when iniquity shall no longer have reprieve. And perchance it may be more lightly taken in this sense, since neither 'the innocent perishes' nor 'the upright is cut off,' in that though here he is worn out in the flesh, yet in the sight of the eternal Judge he is renewed with true health. And they that 'sow and reap griefs,' 'perish by the blast of God,' in that in proportion as they go on here deeper in doing wickedly, they are the more severely stricken with the damnation to follow. But whereas he premises this sentence with the word, Remember, it is clearly evident that something past is recalled to mind, and not any thing future proclaimed. Then therefore Eliphaz would have spoken more truly, if he had believed that these things were wrought on the head of the wicked in general by final vengeance. But this point, that God is said to 'breathe,' claims to be more particularly made out. For we, when we 'breathe,' draw the air from the outside within us, and, thus drawn within, we give it forth without. God then is said to 'breathe' in recompensing vengeance, in that from occasions without He conceives the purpose of judgment within Him, and from the internal purpose sends forth the sentence without. When God 'breathes' as it were, somewhat is drawn in from things without, when He sees our evil ways without, and ordains judgment within. And again as if by God 'breathing,' the breath is sent forth from within, when from the internal conception of the purpose, the outward decree of condemnation is delivered. And so it is rightly said that they, that 'sow griefs,' perish 'by the breath of God,' for wherein they execute wicked deeds outwardly, they are deservedly stricken from within. Or, surely, when God is said to 'breathe,' in that the breath of His wrath is immediately introduced, by the designation of His 'breathing' may be denoted that very visitation of His. For when we are wroth, we kindle with the breath of rage. To shew the Lord then meditating vengeance, He is said to 'breathe' in His indignation, not that in His own Nature He is capable of turning or change, but that after long endurance, when He executes vengeance upon the sinner, He, Who continueth tranquil in Himself, seems in commotion to them that perish. For whereas the condemned soul sees the Judge arrayed against its doings, He is exhibited to it as troubled, in that it is itself troubled by its own guiltiness before His eyes.

He carries this metaphor further in speaking about punishment. Corn fields usually dry up and are destroyed by a scorching wind. As Malachi says, "I will rebuke the devourer," i.e. the wind, "so that it may not devour the fruit of your land." (3:11) He refers to this when he says, "they will perish by the blast of God," as though divine judgment itself coming forth to punish evil is similar to the blast of the wind. The very revenge of God is called the breath, i.e. the wind, of his anger. He says not only that they perish, but that they are consumed, because they are not only punished in their own persons, but their children and their whole family perishes so that nothing seems to remain of them. This seemed to express Job both because he had been afflicted in his body and had lost his children, his family and his wealth.

The vanity of life is increased by oppression, Ecc 4:1-3; by envy, Ecc 4:4; by idleness, Ecc 4:5. The misery of a solitary life, and the advantages of society, Ecc 4:6-12. A poor and wise child; better than an old and foolish king, Ecc 4:13. The uncertainty of popular favor, Ecc 4:14-16.

By the blast of God they perish - As the noxious and parching east wind blasts and destroys vegetation, so the wicked perish under the indignation of the Almighty.

FIRST SPEECH OF ELIPHAZ. (Job 4:1-21) Eliphaz--the mildest of Job's three accusers. The greatness of Job's calamities, his complaints against God, and the opinion that calamities are proofs of guilt, led the three to doubt Job's integrity.

breath of his nostrils--God's anger; a figure from the fiery winds of the East (Job 1:16; Isa 5:25; Psa 18:8, Psa 18:15).

In reply to Sommer, who in his excellent biblische Abhandlungen, 1846, considers the octastich as the extreme limit of the compass of the strophe, it is sufficient to refer to the Syriac strophe-system. It is, however, certainly an impossibility that, as Ewald (Jahrb. ix. 37) remarks with reference to the first speech of Jehovah, Job 38-39, the strophes can sometimes extend to a length of 12 lines = Masoretic verses, consequently consist of 24 στίχοι and more. Then Eliphaz the Temanite began, and said: