“Call now, if there be any that will answer thee; and to which of the saints wilt thou turn? turn: or, look?”
Saints. This is a proof of the invocation of the saints (Calmet) and angels. (Haydock) — The Jews often begged God to have mercy on them for the sake of the patriarchs, 2 Paralipomenon vi. 42. (Calmet) — Eliphaz, therefore, exhorts Job, if he have any patron or angel, to bring him forward in his defence. (Menochius) — Septuagint, “Invoke now if any one will hear thee, or if thou perceive any of the holy angels,” (Haydock) as I have done. (Menochius) — He extols himself, to correct the pretended presumption of his friend, (Calmet) and other defects, which none will dare to deny, as he supposes. See St. Gregory, v. 30. (Worthington)
“For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the silly one. envy: or, indignation”
Foolish and….little, here denote the wicked, as in the book of Proverbs. (Calmet) — He accuses Job of anger (Menochius) and folly. (Calmet)
“I have seen the foolish taking root: but suddenly I cursed his habitation.”
And I. Septuagint, “But presently their subsistence was eaten up.” I envied not their riches: but judged they would soon end. (Haydock)
“His children are far from safety, and they are crushed in the gate, neither is there any to deliver them.”
Gate, in judgment. (Menochius)
“Although affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground; affliction: or, iniquity”
Ground. If you had not sinned, you would not suffer. (Calmet)
“Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward. trouble: or, labour sparks: Heb. the sons of the burning coal lift up to fly”
Bird. Hebrew, “sparks fly up.” (Haydock) — You can no more then expect to pass unpunished, since it is impossible for man to be innocent! (Calmet) and, at any rate, labour is inevitable. (Menochius) — We must gain our bread by the sweat of our brow. [Genesis iii. 19.] (Worthington)
“I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause:”
I will, or if I were in your place, I would sue for pardon. (Calmet) — Protestants, “I would seek unto God,” (Haydock) under affliction. (Menochius)
“But he saveth the poor from the sword, from their mouth, and from the hand of the mighty.”
Mouth; detraction and calumny. (Calmet)
“He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee.”
In six, mentioned below; (Menochius) or in many, indefinitely. (Calmet) — Both during the six days of (Menochius) life, and at death, God’s grace delivers us. (St. Gregory) (Worthington)
“Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue: neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh. from: or, when the tongue scourgeth”
Scourge. Ecclesiasticus (xxvi. 9., and xxviii. 21.) has the same expression. See James iii. 6. (Calmet) — Calamity, from robbers, as the Hebrew shod, (Haydock) intimates. The word is rendered destruction, vastitate, ver. 22. (Menochius)
“For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field: and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.”
Stones, so as not to stumble; or, the rocks will be a retreat for thee.
“And thou shalt know that thy tabernacle shall be in peace; and thou shalt visit thy habitation, and shalt not sin. thy tabernacle: or, peace is thy tabernacle sin: or, err”
Beauty does not mean his wife, as some grossly imagine, (Calmet) but a house well ordered. (Menochius) — Hebrew, “thy habitation.” Yet Sanchez adopts the former sentiment. In effect, the habitation includes all the regulation of a wife and family. (Haydock)
“Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in in his season. cometh in: Heb. ascendeth”
Abundance. “With loud lamentations.” (De Dieu) — “In full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in its season.” (Protestants) — After a life spent in happiness, thy memory will not be obliterated. Many shall bewail thy loss. (Haydock)
“Lo this, we have searched it, so it is; hear it, and know thou it for thy good. for: Heb. for thyself”
Which thou. Septuagint, “And what we have heard: but do thou reflect with thyself what thou hast done.” (Haydock) — What had been revealed to Eliphaz was very true. Yet his conclusions were unwarrantable. (Calmet) — How confidently does he speak of his own knowledge, and how great must have been his disappointment, when God condemned him of folly, and sent him to be the prayers of that very man whom he now considered as a wretched sinner! (Haydock)