*H Whom hast thou desired to teach? was it not him that made life?
Ver. 4. Life. Sept. also seem to understand this of God. C. — Job does not blame his friends for undertaking to approve the ways of Providence, but for condemning himself (S. Chrys.) rashly, (H.) and, with an air of haughtiness, endeavouring to restrain him from pleading his cause before the divine tribunal. M. — Heb. "Whose spirit came from thee?" Prot. (H.) Did I receive my life, or do I seek advice from thee? C. — God stood in no need of Baldad's wisdom (W.) no more than Job. H.
*H Behold the giants groan under the waters, and they that dwell with them.
Ver. 5. With them. The less and greater fishes, (M.) or rather the giants and others who were buried in the waters of the deluge, and are confined in the dungeons of hell. The poets speak in the same manner.
*H Hell is naked before him, and there is no covering for destruction.
Ver. 6. Hell. The grave. — Destruction. Heb. abaddon. H. — S. John (Apoc. ix. 11.) styles the bottomless abyss; (C.) or its angel, (H.) Abaddon, or Apollyon. It may here be called destruction, (C.) as all its victims are lost for ever to every thing that is good. The obscurity of the grave, and even that of hell, can hide nothing from God.
*H He stretched out the north over the empty space, and hangeth the earth upon nothing.
Ver. 7. North pole, which alone was visible in Idumea, and continued unmoved, while all the stars performed their revolutions. C. — Nothing. Terra, pilæ similis, nullo fulcimine nixa. Ovid, Fast. vi. C. — All tends to the centre, (M.) by the laws of attraction. Newton, &c. H.
*H He bindeth up the waters in his clouds, so that they break not out and fall down together.
Ver. 8. Clouds, as in a vessel or garment. Prov. xxx. 4.
*H He withholdeth the face of his throne, and spreadeth his cloud over it.
Ver. 9. Over it. The firmament, with all its beauty, is but like a cloud, to conceal from our feeble eyes the splendor of God's throne.
*H He hath set bounds about the waters, till light and darkness come to an end.
Ver. 10. End. Till the end of the world, the ocean will respect these limits. H. — The ancients looked upon it as a continual miracle that the world was not deluged, as the waters are higher than the earth. Jer. v. 22. Amos v. 8. S. Bas. and S. Amb. Hexem. Cicero, Nat. ii. — Philosophers have explained this phenomenon. But it is still certain that the power and wisdom of God preserve the equilibrium, without which all would return to the ancient chaos. C.
*H The pillars of heaven tremble, and dread at his beck.
Ver. 11. Heaven. The mountains are so styled by Pindar; and the poets represent them supporting the heavens. Totum ferre potest humeris minitantibus orbem. Petron. — Yet others understand that power which keeps all things together, (C.) or the angels, to whose rule the ancients attributed the celestial bodies. S. Greg. Ven. Bede, &c.
*H By his power the seas are suddenly gathered together, and his wisdom has struck the proud one.
Ver. 12. Together, at the beginning. Gen. i. 9. Heb. "By his strength he has divided the sea; and by his wisdom he has pierced the proud, or Egypt." Rahab, (H.) or Rachab, is often put for Egypt; (Ps. lxxxviii. 11.) and all would naturally have concluded that the fall of Pharao was pointed at, if it had not been supposed that Job lived before that event. That is, however, dubious. Isaias (li. 9.) uses the same terms in describing the fall of this tyrant. C. — Yet the Sept. translate, "the whale," (H.) or some sea monster, which God holds in subjection, (Pineda) like the weakest creature. H. — The foaming billows (M.) are likewise subject to his control. H.
*H His spirit hath adorned the heavens, and his obstetric hand brought forth the winding serpent.
Ver. 13. Heavens, with stars, &c. Ps. xxxii. 6. Wisd. i. 7. God also sends winds to disperse the clouds, that the heavens may appear. C. — Artful, (obstetricante) "being the midwife." The least things are ruled by Providence. W. — Serpent; a constellation, lightning, the devil, or rather the leviathan. Isai. xxvii. 1. Drusius. C. — Sept. "by his decree, he killed the apostate dragon." H. — But there is no need of having recourse to allegory. C.
*H Lo, these things are said in part of his ways: and seeing we have heard scarce a little drop of his word, who shall be able to behold the thunder of his greatness?
Ver. 14. Drop. This comparison is often applied to speech. Deut. xxxii. 2. Isai. lv. 10. If the little that we know of God's works give us such an exalted idea of his greatness, what should we think if we could fully comprehend his mysteries? C.