“Remember now, who being innocent ever perished?
Or where
were the upright ever wiped out?
Just like I have seen, those who plow iniquity
and sow
trouble, reap the same.
By the breath of God they perish,
and by the
blast of His anger they are destroyed.
The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce
lion,
and the
teeth of the young lions are broken.
The old lion perishes for lack of prey,
and the cubs
of the lioness are scattered.
Job 4:7-11 Modern English Version (MEV)
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Eliphaz
here advances another argument to prove Job a hypocrite, and will have not only
his impatience under his afflictions to be evidence against him but even his
afflictions themselves, being so very great and extraordinary, and there being
no prospect at all of his deliverance out of them. To strengthen his argument
he here lays down these two principles, which seem plausible enough: -
I.
That good men were never thus ruined. For the proof of this he appeals to Job's
own observation (Job_4:7): “Remember, I pray thee; recollect all
that thou hast seen, heard, or read, and give me an instance of any one that
was innocent and righteous, and yet perished as thou dost, and was cut off as
thou art.” If we understand it of a final and eternal destruction, his
principle is true. None that are innocent and righteous perish for ever: it is
only a man of sin that is a son of perdition, 2Th_2:3. But
then it is ill applied to Job; he did not thus perish, nor was he cut off: a
man is never undone till he is in hell. But, if we understand it of any
temporal calamity, his principle is not true. The righteous perish (Isa_57:1):
there is one event both to the righteous and to the wicked (Ecc_9:2),
both in life and death; the great and certain difference is after death. Even
before Job's time (as early as it was) there were instances sufficient to
contradict this principle. Did not righteous Abel perish being innocent?
and was he not cut off in the beginning of his days? Was not righteous Lot
burnt out of house and harbour, and forced to retire to a melancholy cave? Was
not righteous Jacob a Syrian ready to perish? Deu_26:5. Other
such instances, no doubt, there were, which are not on record.
II.
That wicked men were often thus ruined. For the proof of this he vouches his
own observation (Job_4:8): “Even as I have seen, many a time, those
that plough iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap accordingly; by the blast of God
they perish, Job_4:9. We have daily instances of that; and
therefore, since thou dost thus perish and art consumed, we have reason to
think that, whatever profession of religion thou hast made, thou hast but
ploughed iniquity and sown wickedness. Even as I have seen in others, so do I
see in thee.”
1. He
speaks of sinners in general, politic busy sinners, that take pains in sin, for
they plough iniquity; and expect gain by sin, for they sow wickedness. Those
that plough plough in hope, but what is the issue? They reap the same.
They shall of the flesh reap corruption and ruin, Gal_6:7, Gal_6:8.
The harvest will be a heap in the day of grief and desperate sorrow, Isa_17:11.
He shall reap the same, that is, the proper product of that seedness.
That which the sinner sows, he sows not that body that shall be, but God
will give it a body, a body of death, the end of those things, Rom_6:21.
Some, by iniquity and wickedness, understand wrong and injury done to others.
Those who plough and sow them shall reap the same, that is, they shall be paid
in their own coin. Those who are troublesome shall be troubled, 2Th_1:6;
Jos_7:25. The spoilers shall be spoiled (Isa_33:1), and
those that led captive shall go captive, Rev_13:10. He further
describes their destruction (Job_4:9): By the blast of God they
perish. The projects they take so much pains in are defeated; God cuts
asunder the cords of those ploughers, Psa_129:3, Psa_129:4. They
themselves are destroyed, which is the just punishment of their iniquity. They
perish, that is, they are destroyed utterly; they are consumed, that
is, they are destroyed gradually; and this by the blast and breath of God, that
is, (1.) By his wrath. His anger is the ruin of sinners, who are therefore
called vessels of wrath, and his breath is said to kindle Tophet,
Isa_30:33. Who knows the power of his anger? Psa_90:11.
(2.) By his word. He speaks and it is done, easily and effectually. The Spirit
of God, in the word, consumes sinners; with that he slays them, Hos_6:5.
Saying and doing are not two things with God. The man of sin is said to be
consumed with the breath of Christ's mouth, 2Th_2:8. Compare Isa_11:4;
Rev_19:21. Some think that in attributing the destruction of sinners to
the blast of God, and the breath of his nostrils, he refers to the wind
which blew the house down upon Job's children, as if they were therefore sinners
above all men because they suffered such things. Luk_13:2.
2. He
speaks particularly of tyrants and cruel oppressors, under the similitude of
lions, Job_4:10, Job_4:11. Observe, (1.) How he describes their
cruelty and oppression. The Hebrew tongue has five several names for lions, and
they are all here used to set forth the terrible tearing power, fierceness, and
cruelty, of proud oppressors. They roar, and rend, and prey upon all about
them, and bring up their young ones to do so too, Ezk_19:3. The devil is
a roaring lion; and they partake of his nature, and do his lusts. They are
strong as lions, and subtle (Psa_10:9; Psa_17:12); and, as far as
they prevail, they lay all desolate about them. (2.) How he describes their
destruction, the destruction both of their power and of their persons. They
shall be restrained from doing further hurt and reckoned with for the hurt they
have done. An effectual course shall be taken, [1.] That they shall not
terrify. The voice of their roaring shall be stopped. [2.] That they shall not
tear. God will disarm them, will take away their power to do hurt: The teeth
of the young lions are broken. See Psa_3:7. Thus shall the remainder
of wrath be restrained. [3.] That they shall not enrich themselves with the
spoil of their neighbours. Even the old lion is famished, and perishes
for lack of prey. Those that have surfeited on spoil and rapine are perhaps
reduced to such straits as to die of hunger at last. [4.] That they shall not,
as they promise themselves, leave a succession: The stout lion's whelps are
scattered abroad, to seek for food themselves, which the old ones used to
bring in for them, Nam_2:12. The lion did tear in pieces for his
whelps, but now they must shift for themselves. Perhaps Eliphaz intended,
in this, to reflect upon Job, as if he, being the greatest of all the men of
the east, had got his estate by spoil and used his power in oppressing his
neighbours, but now his power and estate were gone, and his family was
scattered: if so, it was a pity that a man whom God praised should be thus
abused.
Matthew
Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible
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