The book of Job in poetry; or, A song in the night

Front matter

r

THE BOOK OF JOB

POETRY;

Contents

The divisions of chapters of the Book of Job, in the common version of the Bible, are entirely arbitrary and unnatural. They occm* in the middle of the speeches of Job, Eliphaz, Elihu, and the Almighty. I have discarded this imjDroper sacrifice of miinterrupted connection and sense to short breaks and pauses, and have adopted the more simple and regular divisions of the speeches of the various speakers into separate chapters.

CHAPTER I. Job's History

CHAPTER H.

Job's First Speech — His Complaint .

CHAPTER HI.

First Speech of Eliphaz in Reply to Job .

CHAPTER ly.

CHAPTER V.

Bildad's First Reply to Job

CHAPTER VI.

CHAPTER YII.

Zophar's First Reply to Job

CHAPTER VIIL

CHAPTER IX.

Eliphaz's Second Reply to Job .

PAGE

VI CONTENTS.

PAGE

CHAPTER X.

Job's Second Reply to Eliphaz 137

CHAPTER XI.

Bildad's Second Reply to Job 144

CHAPTER Xn.

Job's Second Reply to Bildad 148

CHAPTER Xni.

Zophar's Second Reply to Job 157

CHAPTER XIV.

Job's Second Reply to Zophar 164

CHAPTER XV.

CHAPTER XVI.

CHAPTER XVII.

Bildad's Third Reply to Job 192.

CHAPTER XVIII.

CHAPTER XIX.

CHAPTER XX.

CHAPTER XXI.

Job's Confession, Acceptance, and Prosperity . .358

CHAPTER XXII.

Concluding Reflections 370

DEDICxiTION.

TO MRS. LYDIA ADAMS:

The heart and life Christian, the good Samaritan, the faithful mother, and the unknown genius ; whose broad, catholic religion knows no sectarianism ; the long pencil of whose life has been pure and coruscant beneath a vail ; whose domestic virtues have shed luster on a large family of sons and daughters ; whose heart ever beats in warm sympathy with liberal ideas and the onward march of human development and progress ; whose words of encouragement first seconded the purpose of my young heart to emerge from the wilderness, without friends or money, to tread the halls of college, through my own unaided eflforts ; whose tender sympathies and prayers have ever been with me in adversity, not less than in prosperity ; and whose lute-strings, in a green old age, though shattered and broken by care, infirmities, and trouble, are yet beautiful, tender, magical, and melodious : together with another precious Friend, of sacred memory, sent by kind angels in my time of need ; whose transcendant virtues, rare wealth of mind and heart, expansive benevolence and generosity — unaffected by vanity, pride, or selfishness — in the midst of affluence and the fashions and pomp of social life ; the patron of art and science, and every form of goodness ; to whom nature has been prodigal of beauty and redundant in the bestowment of happy surroundings ; whose gifts of music, poetry, and spiritual aspirations, kindled by divine love, betoken an immortality of ineffable bliss ; and by whose kind words of cheer and pecuniary aid, in a time of despondency and almost despair, I was encouraged to undertake this publi-

VIU DEDICATION.

cation ; this strain of pensive sadness, heart-felt, though poorly sung; bom of the olden time, though true, and fresh, and touching in every age ; written in the valley of grief, sitting in the ashes unknown and uncomforted like Job ; sanctified by holy tears, and uttered from a broken harp-string, more as the melancholy song of my own soul, in the night of my experience, than that of Job ; is affectionately dedicated ; — to the one, as a long-absent but everloving son; and to the other as a sincere, grateful, and ever-appreciative friend, by the Author.

LIST OF PICTURES AND EXPLAi^ATIONS.

The following pictures were all taken from original engravings especially prepared for this work.

PICTURE NO. I. PAGE 57.

Job Offering Sacrifices for his Children,

And his sons went and feasted in their houses, every one his day, and sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them. And it was so when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings accordmg to the number of them all ; for Job said : " It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts." Thus did Job continually. What a practical denial were these pious and daily rites of the cruel charges brought against Job by Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, of irreligion and impiety !

PICTURE NO. II. PAGE QQi

Joh^ Sis Three Friends^ and Elihu.

These three friends were Eliphaz, King of the Temanites; Bndad, King of Shuah; and Zophar, King of

1*

X LIST OF PICTUEES AND EXPLANATIONS.

N"aamali. They were all older than Job. Elihu was a young man, the son of Barachel, the Buzite, of the kindred of Ram. He stood by silently and patiently, and listened to the speeches of Job and his three aged, friends until they ceased speaking. He then, with many apologies for his youth, and with great vehemence, took up the controversy, and showed his opinions. Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zopbar had hitherto believed Job to be perfect and upright. They appear to have been on terms of great intimacy with him ; for when they heard of the great evil that came upon him, they made an appointment to come together, to mourn with him, and to comfort him. And when they lifted up their eyes afar off, and knew him not, because of his changed and desolate appearance, they lifted up their voices, and wept, and rent every one his mantle, and sprinkled dust upon their heads towards heaven. So they sat down with him upon the ground, seven days and seven nights, and none spake a word unto him ; for they saw that his grief was great. But when they saw how dreadfully afflicted Job was ; and that he had lost all his property, and consequently his friends, they changed their opinions concerning him. Educated in a dark and monstrous view of the nature and design of God's moral government over the world, they believed that calamity implied sin arid guilt, and especially such extraordinary afflictions as had fallen on Job could only be regarded as the measure of his great iniquities. Hence they all speak from this stand-point. As it was said of Christ that he was in the world, and the world knew him not ; so Job was before these self-righteous and self-opinionated accusers ; but they knew him not ; neither the scope and end of his dreadful trials. In all ages pivotal men have, in their life-time, been misunderstood and undervalued. They have been tried, persecuted, forsaken, and crucified, in feelings and reputation, if not in body, that others, through them might be saved. No age of the world has ever been so conspicuous for such illustrious examples as the present, and many who are now sitting on the ground, and in the ashes, sorely smitten and afflicted, calumniated and forsaken, will yet become the martyrs and heroes of an age, whose heraldic gushes are

LIST OF PICTURES AND EXPLANATIONS. XI

already purpling a new and glorious morning. The condition of these tried and suffering ones, abandoned by swallow friends, misunderstood by their oldest acquaintances, and tormented most unmercifully by the reproaches, suspicions, and bitter words of narrow-minded bigots, under the hypocritical garb of mourners and comforters, may be seen in the picture on the above named page.

PICTURE NO. in. PAGE 72. ^

The Desolation of Job.

According to the sacred history. Job lived in the land of Uz. This land was somewhere in the East, as it is said in the third verse of the first chapter of the book which bears his name : " this man was the greatest of all the men of the East." Arabian writers always mention Job as a real person, and his grave is shown to this day, on the eastern limits of Arabia, and close to the Euphrates. His residence was undoubtedly in some part of Arabia Deserta, between Palestine and the Euphrates. At the close of the Septuagint translation of the book of Job from the original Hebrew, the following remarkable account of him is appended : " And it is written that he will rise again with those whom the Lord will raise up. This is translated out of a Syrian book. He dwelt indeed in the land of Ausitis, on the confines of Idumea, and Arabia. His first name was Jobab ; and having married an Arabian woman, he had by her a son whose name was Enon. He was himself a son of Zare, one of the sons of Esau, and his mother's name was Bosorra : so that he was the fifth in descent from Abraham. And these were the Kings who reigned in Edom, over which country he bore rule. The first was Balak, the son of Beor, and the name of his city was Dannaba. And after Balak, Jacob, who is called Job, and after him, Asom, who was governor from the region of Thaimanitis ; and after him, Adad, son of Barad, who smote Madian in the plain of Moab, and the name of his city was Getham. And the friends who came to him were

Xll LIST OF PICTURES AND EXPLANATIONS.

Eliphaz, of the sons of Esau, the king of the Thaimanites, Bildad, the sovereign of the Saucheans, and Zophar, the king of the Manaians." It is supposed by the best authority that he lived somewhere between the age of Terah and Jacob, and that he was cotemporary with the most distinguished patriarchs. In character he " was perfect and upright." He had seven sons and three daughters. His substance was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she-asses, and a very great household. He was a distinguished Judge, and the greatest man in that part of the world. In all his surroundings he seems to have been singularly prospered, honored, and happy. At this period the most sudden and overwhelming calamities befel him. The Sabeans fell upon his oxen and asses and took them away, and slew the servants who were ploughing with them, and tending them in the field. The fire of God fell from heaven and consumed the sheep and the servants that watched them. The Chaldeans made out three bands, and fell upon the camels and carried them away, and slew the servants that guarded them. A great wind from the wilderness smote the four corners of the house where all his children were feasting, and it fell upon them, and killed them. Under these sudden and dreadful calamities he rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell upon the ground and worshiped. But his afliictions did not end here. He was smitten with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown. He took a potsherd to scrape himself withal, and sat down among the ashes. In this desolate attitude I have represented him. His cruel wife turns against him, and against his God, and advises him to curse his God and die. But instead of doing this Job opened his mouth and cursed his day. He said : " Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said : There is a man-child conceived. Let that day be darkness, let not God regard it from above, neither let the light shine upon it. Let darkness and the shadow of death stain it ; let a cloud dwell upon it ; let the blackness of the day terrify it. . . . Why died I not from the womb ? . . For now should I have lain still and been quiet ; I should have

LIST OP PICTURES AND EXPLANATIONS. 1111

slept ; then had I been at rest. . . There the wicked cease from troubling ; and there the weary be at rest. . . . "Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery, and life unto the bitter in soul; who long for death, but it Cometh not ; and dig for it more than for hid treasures ; who rejoice exceedingly, and are glad, when they can find the grave ? Why is light given to a man whose way is hid, and whom God hath hedged in ? . . . . For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me. I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet, yet trouble came." How many others, under similar or more aggravating circumstances, are now sitting down in the ashes ? Reader, if this be you, then you will more perfectly comprehend and realize the desolate and pitiable condition of Job, as represented by the cut above referred to.

PICTURE NO. IV. PAGE 77.

Job represented by Eliphaz as an old lion that has lost his power ^ through age^ to devour more prey.

The old lion perisheth for lack of prey.

Job iv. 2.

These words are employed by Eliphaz in reply to Job. He means to tell him that the pitiable condition of the old lion, whose bravery, strength, teeth, rage, and ferocity are now all in vain by reason of the feebleness of old age, resembles his helpless and miserable state ; that he has been a very wicked and savage man, devouring the poor and weak ; but that now he is old and wasted away by reason of his calamities ; that he is perishing now for lack of more prey. It is the language of invective and acrimonious reproach. The accusation which it covertly implies was false and inhuman. It is the unworthy speech of a self-righteous and uncharitable man, incapable of understanding and pitying the upright and noble sufierer, and seeking to account for his afflictions by supposing them

XIV LIST OF PICTURES AND EXPLANATIONS.

to be the result of his heinous and monstrous sins. Instead of a comforter Eliphaz was a false accuser and an aggravating tormentor. How often do narrow-minded religionists, moved by false zeal, censure and taunt a good man, whom they cannot comprehend, as a vile sinner and hypocrite, in consequence of his misfortunes ? But God condemned Eliphaz and accepted Job.

PICTUP.E NO. v. PAGE 80.

Eliphaz Sees a Spirit.

Now a thing was secretly brought to me, and mine ear received a little thereof. In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men, fear came upon me and trembling, which made all my bones to shake. Then a spirit passed before my face ; the hair of my flesh stood up : it stood still, but I could not discern the form thereof ; an image was before mine eyes ; there was silence, and I heard a voice saying : Shall mortal man be more just than God ? Shall a man be more pure than his maker ?

The object of Eliphaz was to use the authority of a spirit, returning from the other life, to convince Job that he was less just and pure than his maker ; and that therefore he was not righteous and free from sin. This spirit was unquestionably not an angel that never dwelt in a human form, but a returned intelligence that once dwelt upon the earth. This is obvious from the diiference between the terms spirit and angel. The picture represents Eliphaz looking up, in a state of trepidation, in the direction of a luminous influx from the clouded heavens. The spirit is not shown, because in the first place it is impossible to represent by an engraving the celestial aspect of such a heavenly messenger ; and secondly, because Eliphaz says he could not discern " the form thereof," but that only " an image " was before his eyes. The spirit therefore is supposed to be visible to Eliphaz alone, through a luminous opening in the direction of his vision. This is

LIST OP PICTUEES AND EXPLANATIONS. XV

the only positive demonstration of immortality to be found in the whole Book of Job. Sheol expressed Job's idea of the future world — a land of total darkness.

PIOTUEE NO. VI. PAGE 124. »^

Job in the Stocks.

Thou puttest my feet also in the stocks.

Job xiii. 27.

The word stocks denotes the wooden frame in which criminals were confined for punishment. The position is constrained and distressing. It is supposed by Rosenmiiller and others that Job was literally confined within certain limits, beyond which he was not allowed to go. This restraint, he supposes, was effected by binding his feet with a cord to the stocks, so that he could not go beyond a certain distance. But this interpretation is not supported by any other authority save a very lively imagination. The meaning is far deeper than this. Job is replying to the arguments of his friends. They asserted the free agency, responsibility, accountability, and blame-worthiness of man. They consequently alleged that Job's calamities were the results of his sins. Job denied this, and taught, in opposition, the almighty sovereignty of God in the government of the world ; that, in his inscrutable wisdom, human beings are not treated according to their apparent characters and conduct ; that an absolute, divine control extends to every human volition, and every action and condition consequent thereupon ; and hence that he is the victim of unalterable and uncontrollable circumstances, ordained by God for the wise and benevolent purpose of developing man from an embryotic and infantile condition of ignorance, angularity, and imperfection, to higher planes of wisdom, truth, love, justice, and divine knowledge. It is in the light of these considerations that Job continually and vehemently denied that his calamities came upon him as the result of his sins. He felt that they were God's

XVI LIST OP PICTURES AND EXPLANATIONS.

doings, and that they were marvelous in his sight ; that, though he could not comprehend why God should so afflict him without an apparent cause, yet it must be that it was for his good ; and that, when he had tried him, he should shine forth as gold ; and that hence, though he slew him, he would nevertheless trust in him. His condition was entirely, ia his view, the result of God's unchangeable and sovereign will, and not of his want of uprightness. What gives the bitterest pungency to human sorrow, is to feel that it is undeserved ; and the sublimest height of reconciliation to God is to feel that this sorrow, however intense and unbearable, is just right, as the mysterious and inscrutable means, according to infinite wisdom, of working out for the patient sufferer a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. Job felt, at this point, that a wise, just, and sovereign God was the sole author of his miseries, for loving and beneficent ends ; although he could not imderstand the reasons therefor, nor feel fully reconciled to his lot. Hence he says : Wherefore hidest thou thy face, and boldest me for thine enemy? Wilt thou break a leaf driven to and fro ? and wilt thou pursue the dry stubble ? For thou writest bitter things against me, and makest me to possess the iniquities of my youth. Thou puttest my feet also in the stocks, and lookest narrowly unto all my paths ; thou settest a print upon the heels of my feet. — Job 13 : 24-27. The doctrine here taught is, that God puts all men, even the best, in the stocks, and that reconciliation to him is unmurmuring contentment with one's daily lot ; that the circumstances and conditions which environ each one, in this life, are the stocks in which a good, wise, just, and paternal Being has placed him or her, and from which escape is impossible ; that no one can run away from himself or from the laws of God ; that human freedom consists in being divinely bound ; that constraint and restraint are put upon the universe, and not the fall of a sparrow shall be allowed to disappoint its grand consummation. To live in the love and practice of this doctrine, consciously and daily, honors God, and gives heavenly peace to the soul.

LIST OP PICTURES AND EXPLANATIONS. XVll

PICTURE NO. VII. PAGE 154.

Job wishes his loords were graven icith an iron pen and lead in the rock forever.

Oh ! that my words were now written ! Oh ! that they were printed in a book ! That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock forever.

These are remarkable words. They show that the art of a peculiar kind of book-making, printing, and engraving, was known and practised in the time of Job. Pliny says, lib. xiii. 11 : "At first men wrote on the leaves of the palm, or the bark of certain trees ; but afterwards public documents were preserved in leaden volumes (or rolls), and those of a private nature on wax or linen. Montfaucon purchased at Rome, in 1699, an ancient book entirely com- 230sed of lead. In was about four inches long and three inches wide ; and not only were the two pieces that formed the cover and the leaves — six in number — of lead, but also the stick inserted through the rings to hold the leaves together, as well as the hinges and nails. It contained Egyptian Gnostic figures and unintelligible writing. Brass, as more durable, was used for the inscriptions designed to last the longest, such as treaties, laws, and alliances. These public documents were, however, usually written on large tablets. The style for writing on brass and other hard substances, was sometimes tipped with diamonds." Books were anciently made with plates of metal, leaves, bark, skins, etc. Engravings were made on stone and in rocks, and the cavities filled up with lead, so as to make the letters more distinct. The iron pen was a small, sharp-pointed piece of iron or steel. % It was more commonly called a stylus. Job desired a more permanent record of his words to be made than could be executed with chalk or paint, for the benefit of future ages. He felt that great injustice had been done him ; that he had been wrongfully accused by his friends of hypocrisy, improper motives, and heinous sins. He wished that what he had said in vindica-

XVm LIST OF PICTURES AND EXPLANATIONS.

tion of himself might be preserved for posterity to read. Although his pious wish was not granted in the precise manner he desired, yet a more permanent and multiplied record of his noble defense has been made than if engraven on plates of lead or in the rock forever.

PICTURE NO. VIII. PAGE 168.

The wicked make themselves merry with Musical Instru-

m^ents.

They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound

Job xxi. 12.

of the organ.

To understand the force of this picture, it must be borne in mind that Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar maintained that God invariably punishes the wicked and prospers the righteous in this world according to their respective characters and conduct, and consequently that the wicked were constantly overwhelmed with calamities, afflictions, and miseries. By this method of reasoning they came to the conclusion that Job was a very wicked man because he was dreadfully afflicted. Job, on the other hand, denied their assertions, and maintained that God does not, in this world, treat men according to their characters and conduct ; that the wicked live, become old, and wax mighty in power ; their seed is established, and their offspring flourish before their eyes ; their houses are safe from fear, and the rod of God is not upon them. Their bull gendereth and faileth not ; their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf. They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance. \ They sing to the timbrel and harp. They become exhilarated and excited by the sound of the tabor and the organ, and trip merrily at the voice of the pipe :

Now pursuing, now retreating, Now in circling troops they meet ;

To brisk notes in cadence meeting, Glance their many-twinkling feet.

LIST OF PICTURES AND EXPLANATIONS. XIX

The word organ is derived from a Hebrew word which signifies to breathe, to blow. Consequently it is probable that the organ was some kind of a wind instrument. It is well known that wind and stringed instruments of music were generally known and used in the early ages of the world. From the book of Job we learn that such was the case in his day. The picture, therefore, represents the mirth and merry-making of the wicked, dancing, singing, and exhilarating themselves with the timbrel, the harp, and the sound of the pipe or organ.

PICTURE NO. IX. PAGE 208.

Surely there is a vein for the silver, and a place for gold where they fine it.

Job xxviii. 1.

The picture referred to on the above page represents a mining device — a shaft fiunk down to the gold or silverbearing stratum ; a swinging apparatus for descending into the mine and raising up the metalliferous ore ; and miners at work at the bottom of the shaft. A view of this picture, and its careful consideration, will throw much light upon one of the most beautiful chapters of the Book of Job. The friends of Job pretended to understand why God afflicted him, and maintained that He deals with man according to his character. Job denied this, and heM that the ways of God were mysterious and past finding out. He did not understand why the wicked lived, grew old, and waxed mighty in power ; and why the righteous were often plimged into the deepest seas of trouble. He believed this was to be referred to the inscrutable wisdom of God, and that the duty of man was to acquiesce unmurmuringly in the divine dealings, although he might see no reason for so doing. He held that the divine providence and administration of God, in relation to the moral world, cannot be comprehended by the most sagacious intellect. He illustrates this argument by the amazing discoveries of man in the works of nature ; by the arts of mining, refin-

XX LIST OF PICTURES AND EXPLANATIONS.

ing the precious metals, collecting the choicest diamonds, an*d overcoming the greatest obstacles in the pursiiit of his scientific researches — such as removing immense stones, overturning mountains, cutting canals through massive rocks, confiniug the angry floods, and sinking shafts into the bowels of the earth, where he digs, through sparry ores, a path which no fowl knoweth ; which the vulture's eye hath not seen ; which the lion's whelps have not trodden ; but where he cuts out rivers, sees every precious thing, binds the floods from overflowing, brings forth hidden things to light, and displays— as the products of his industry, perseverance, sagacity, and daring — the fiery diamonds, the flashing sapphires, the burning rubies, the gold of Ophir, and the topaz of Ethiopia. But notwithstanding all these discoveries and acquisitions of man. Job declares that he has not found out true wisdom ; that the miner who has gone down the deepest into the bowels of the earth and put an end to darkness, and' searched out all perfection, and brought up the choicest treasures, has not discovered the reason why God governs the world ^ as he does ; why he afflicts the righteous and spares the wicked ; in other words, why he himself was so afflicted, when he had led a life so perfect and upright. This, to him, was a profound mystery. And he means to tell Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar that this is a much more difficult subject to comprehend than they supposed ; that the most searching and discovering mind, illustrated and represented by the daring, adventurous, and subterranean miner, had failed to solve this mighty problem. True wisdom, he^ tells them, is the fear of the Lord ; and understanding is to depart from sin. This remarkable chapter on mining throws much light on the condition of the arts and sciences, and the perfection of civilized life, in reference to its conveniences and comforts, in that early age of the human race. It shows that the metals and the various precious stones were then well known and in general use ; that they were so skillfully and ingeniously refined, and curiously wrought into ornaments and articles of value and use, as to illustrate the wisdom, skill, and ingenuity of man. But Job intends by this illustration of his argument to tell his friends that all

LIST OF PICTURES AND EXPLANATIONS. XXI

this human wisdom, skill, and ingenuity had failed to discover the secret method, laws, purposes, plans and ends of the divine government over this world; and consequently failed to discover the cause and design of his own calamities.

PICTURE NO. X. PAGE 298.

The Lord Answering Job from the Whirlwind.

Elihu, at the close of his speech sees and describes the approaching tempest, clouds, thunder, lightning, and fluid gold overspreading the sky, and the luminous opening in the North, made by a wind that seemed to sweep the clouds away and part them in folds to make a passage for the approach of *the Almighty to address Job and close the pending controversy. Clouds, darkness, thunder, lightning, and tempests have often been the sublime symbols employed by poetical and sacred writers to represent the majesty of God. The picture does not show any ideal or imaginary form of Jehovah, because it is in vain to imdertake a representation so impossible. He holdeth back the face of his throne, and spreads a cloud upon it. Under a sense of the overpowering grandeur, majesty, and sublimity of the scene. Job, Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar, and Elihu, bow their heads, in devout awe and reverence, to the ground, and in this attitude, listen to the solemn utterances of the Almighty. It is not to be supposed that this representation is to be taken literally so far, at least, as the real presence, in an embodied form, of the Supreme Being is concerned. God often emnlovs subordinate intelligences, as his agents or ministers, to do his pleasure, and accojtnplish his purposes. Celestial manifestations, through the ministry of angels, for purposes of divine instruction, have, in all ages of the world, been of frequent occurrence. The scope and burden of the speech, purporting to come from the Lord, were not such as Job had desired. He wanted a clear and direct statement of the principles, methods, and objects of the divine government of God over this w^orld. But instead of