“Therefore do my thoughts cause me to answer, and for this I make haste. I make: Heb. my haste is in me”
Therefore. From this concession which thou hast just made. (Menochius) — Various. Hebrew, “Hence do my thoughts cause me to answer, and for this I hasten.” Septuagint, “I did not thus suspect that thou wouldst contradict these things,” &c. (Haydock) — Sophar only speaks this second time; and he produces little new, but begins with an air of more moderation, as if the arguments of Job had made some impression upon him. (Calmet) — He attempts to prove that the wicked have no comfort long; which is true in one sense, as all time is short, though they may prosper all their lives, as Job corrects his observation, chap. xxi. 13. (Worthington)
“Knowest thou not this of old, since man was placed upon earth,”
I know. Hebrew and Septuagint, “dost thou not know?”
“Though his excellency mount up to the heavens, and his head reach unto the clouds; clouds: Heb. cloud”
Pride. Septuagint, “presents.” (Haydock) — Riches may be meant by pride. (Calmet)
“Yet he shall perish for ever like his own dung: they which have seen him shall say, Where is he?”
Hill. Hebrew, “his own dung.” (Haydock) (Proverbs x. 7.)
“He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found: yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night.”
Fleeth. The poets assign wings to sleep and to dreams. (Homer, &c.) Isaias (xxix. 7.) describes a man who dreams that he is eating, and finds himself hungry when he awakes. Such is the live of the avaricious, (Calmet) and of all wicked people. (Haydock)
“The eye also which saw him shall see him no more; neither shall his place any more behold him.”
Behold him, as if it were susceptible of resentment, and entered into the views of God, chap vii. 10., and Psalm xxvi. 35. (Calmet)
“His children shall seek to please the poor, and his hands shall restore their goods. His children: or, The poor shall oppress his children”
Be. Hebrew, “seek to please the poor, and his hands shall restore their goods,” which the wicked had gotten by oppression. (Haydock)
“His bones are full of the sin of his youth, which shall lie down with him in the dust.”
Vices of, is not in Hebrew, but must be understood. (Haydock) — Youth. Some translate, “hidden.” Sophar perhaps accuses Job of some secret abominations, for which he was afflicted with the venereal disease. At least, nothing is more common than to see people brought to old age and infirmities unnumbered, (Calmet) before their time, in consequence of riotous living in their youth. (Haydock) — Youth may also denote the sin in which we are born, which is the source of all our maladies, and is always dragging us towards the grave. (Calmet)
“Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, though he hide it under his tongue;”
Evil of any king, and particularly (Haydock) injustice, which at first seems sweet, but will prove in the end a mortal poison. (Calmet) — The unjust will be forced to restore his ill-gotten goods, or suffer eternally for the neglect, ver. 14, 18. (Haydock) — Habitual sins are also overcome with most difficulty, ver. 11. (Menochius)
“He shall suck the poison of asps: the viper's tongue shall slay him.”
Head. Hebrew, “venom.” Septuagint, “the wrath of dragons.” (Calmet) — Vipers. The same Hebrew term is elsewhere rendered basilisk, or asp. The precise import of such things is not easily ascertained. (Pineda) — Tongue. The ancients thought that serpents communicated the venom by the tongue, or sting. Moderns think they do it rather by the teeth. (Calmet)
“He shall not see the rivers, the floods, the brooks of honey and butter. the floods: or, streaming brooks”
Butter. The impious may have a short-lived pleasure, but it will not give perfect satisfaction. The poets use similar expressions. (Calmet)
“That which he laboured for shall he restore, and shall not swallow it down: according to his substance shall the restitution be, and he shall not rejoice therein. his: Heb. the substance of his exchange”
Suffer eternal torments. (Calmet) — Hebrew, “according to his substance, shall the restitution be, and he shall not rejoice.” (Protestants)
“Surely he shall not feel quietness in his belly, he shall not save of that which he desired. feel: Heb. know”
Them. Death will overtake him, like the rich man, Luke xii. 20. (Calmet)
“There shall none of his meat be left; therefore shall no man look for his goods. none: or, be none left for his meat”
Continue. Hebrew, “no one shall look for his goods.” The sinner eat up all in his life-time, or saw his possessions slip from him. (Haydock) — At least, he shall not take them with him to the grave. (Calmet)
“When he is about to fill his belly, God shall cast the fury of his wrath upon him, and shall rain it upon him while he is eating.”
May. Hebrew, “And when he shall be about to fill his belly,” like king Baltassar, death shall hurry him away. (Calmet) — Rain. Septuagint, “hurl sorrows upon him,” (Haydock) by an untimely death, followed with eternal hunger and thirst. Thus was treat the rich glutton, Luke xvi. 22. (Calmet)
“He shall flee from the iron weapon, and the bow of steel shall strike him through.”
Brass; of which metal the strongest bows were made. Protestants have, “steel:” (Haydock) but brass was used by the ancients for the same purpose. (Calmet) — This proverb shews that those who endeavour to escape from men, fall into the hands of God. (Delrio. Adag. 9, t. ii.)
“It is drawn, and cometh out of the body; yea, the glittering sword cometh out of his gall: terrors are upon him.”
The sword is, occurs not in the Vulgate, (Haydock) though it be in the Complutensian and Sixtine editions. (Calmet) — Hebrew, “It is drawn, and cometh out of the body; the glittering sword cometh out of his gall; terrors are upon him.” Protestants, “May likewise the dart come out through his body,” &c. (Haydock) — Ones. Hebrew, Enim; giants, who formerly inhabited the land of Moab, near the eastern Idumea. Their name might be placed for any cruel enemies. (Calmet)
“All darkness shall be hid in his secret places: a fire not blown shall consume him; it shall go ill with him that is left in his tabernacle.”
Darkness, or misery. (Calmet) — Septuagint, “Terrors upon him, (26) and all darkness may await him.” (Haydock) — He shall find no means of escaping. (Calmet) — Kindled. Hebrew, “blown.” St. Gregory observes that hell-fire is corporeal, but very different from our material fire. Chaldean, &c., explain this passage in the same sense. It may also intimate interior anguish, (Calmet) lightning, (Vatable) pestilence, (Grotius) and every species of calamity. (Calmet) — Tabernacle, in hell. (Menochius) — We may also translate, “he who is left,” (Haydock) the offspring shall be also miserable. (Menochius)
“The heaven shall reveal his iniquity; and the earth shall rise up against him.”
Heavens, as his sins have cried for vengeance, Genesis xviii. 20. (Calmet) — All creatures shall fight against the wicked. (Menochius)
“The increase of his house shall depart, and his goods shall flow away in the day of his wrath.”
Exposed. Hebrew, “the bud, (Calmet) or increase of his house, shall depart,” (Haydock) and be led away into captivity, (Calmet) and ruined. Septuagint, “Let final destruction draw away his house, and the day of wrath overtake him.”
“This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed unto him by God. appointed: Heb. of his decree from God”
Doings. Literally, “words.” Hebrew, “of his decree.” (Haydock) — This is what he may expect for him impiety both in words and actions. (Calmet)