Job 20:1

Job 20: “Zophar replies to the second test experienced by the patient Job, claiming that any seeming prosperity is short-lived. It is more harsh than the first reply (Job 11). He adds coarseness and rudeness to his previous hostility (Job 20:7,15). Roused by the closing warning of Job (Job 19:28,29; cp Job 20:2,3), his discourse is a covert denunciation of Job as a wicked hypocrite (vv 5,12,19,29), deservedly punished by God. He predicts the violent death of Job and the ultimate manifestation of heaven and earth in witness against him (vv 24-28). So Zophar expounds: [1] Job’s rebuke causes Zophar’s anger: vv 1-3. [2] The prosperity of the wicked is short-lived: vv 4-9. [3] The calamities experienced by the wicked: vv 10-28. [4] These calamities represent divine judgment: v 29.

“Zophar’s reply is a vicious attack on Job personally (vv 6,7,20-29), and typifies the wicked criticism of the Lord Jesus by the Pharisees. The serpent used its tongue to attack Adam and Eve in the beginning, and now the same characteristic is used by Zophar (v 16) against Job. The serpent uses its tongue to track, on the surface of the earth, the scent of mice or various prey. In Zophar’s argument, the serpent revived, and endeavoured to track the innocent Job in his sad circumstances. The serpent lives on in all who act similarly” (GEM).

Vv 1-3: An exasperated Zophar hastens to reply.

Job 20:7

HE SHALL PERISH… LIKE HIS OWN DUNG: A figure which tells us as much of Zophar’s coarseness as it does of the wicked’s fate.

Job 20:10

His posterity, poorer than the poor.

Job 20:12

Vv 12-29: Zophar seems to picture Job as a serpent, swallowing up his prey and producing the venom of snakes! His commentary on Gen 3:15.

HE HIDES IT UNDER HIS TONGUE: Job is pictured as an “epicure”, savoring the last taste of his ill-gotten gains (v 15).

Job 20:16

ADDER: “Ephgeh” (see Isa 51:5n).

Job 20:23

GOD: No name of God in the original.

Job 20:26

A FIRE UNFANNED: A punishing fire not started by man (ie started by God). (Cp usage: “an altar not made with hands”: Heb 9:11; 2Co 5:1.)

Job 8:1

BILDAD: Bildad (Job 8; 18; 25) rests his philosophy on tradition (Job 8:8-10; 18:5-20). Like Eliphaz, Bildad has a far too rigid view of providence (Job 8:11-19; 18:5): ie that God will not “cast away” the perfect man (Job 8:20).

Job 8:19

AND FROM THE SOIL OTHER PLANTS GROW: “And others will rise up to take my place.”

Job 9:1

Job 9,10: “Job’s answer to Bildad shows the dilemma facing the patriarch: Job does not know why he suffers so grievously, and sets forth his feelings in Job 9,10. Bildad had upheld Eliphaz who had set forth the theory of exact retribution — that suffering is an evidence of sin, claiming that to state otherwise would be to set forth that God is not just (Job 4:17). In reply, Job acknowledged that God alone is just, for no man is absolutely free of sin (Job 9:1-3). He acknowledges God’s omniscience and omnipotence, and recognises that man should not presume to sit in judgment on His actions (vv 4-15). Job further recognises his feebleness in comparison with God’s power and declares that if he set to justify himself against the declared revelation of God, he would be self-condemned (vv 16-21). However he repudiates that suffering is an evidence of sin in every case (vv 23,24). At the same time, advancing his own extreme sufferings, Job confesses confusion as to their cause and purpose, and would that he had a ‘daysman’ to intercede on his behalf, and secure an answer of peace (vv 25-35). As a type of the Lord Jesus, Job suffered that others might understand the need for endurance and patience in longsuffering; that notwithstanding what happens in life, there are no reasons to reject the Truth, nor to turn from the Almighty” (GEM).

Job 9:2

In answer to Eliphaz’s statement: “Can a mortal be more righteous than God?” (Job 4:17; cp Bildad in Job 8:3,20).

Job 9:4

WHO HAS RESISTED HIM AND COME OUT UNSCATHED?: “Who hath hardened himself against him, and hath prospered?” (AV). Poss ref to Pharaoh’s, who hardened his heart repeated, and was at last broken.

Job 9:8

SEA: Poss ref to “Yamm”, Canaanite god of the sea; a great sea-monster. See Lesson, Leviathan — esp the “Creation” myth.

Job 9:9

The study of astronomy: Seth and Enoch “invented” astronomy (Josephus). “Holy men spake since world began” (Luk 1:67-70; Act 3:20,21; Jdg 14). God speaks in heavens (Psa 19:1). Its ancient truth was corrupted by others (Gen 11:4n). Aristotle speaks of ancient wisdom, lost and replaced by mythology — either through ignorance or design (Bullinger, “Witness of Stars” 60). Wise men of East looked for star (Mat 2:1,2). Paul knew Zodiac (Rom 1:20; Act 17:28n).

THE BEAR: “Arcturus” (AV).

Job 9:10

Job acknowledged the statement of Eliphaz in Job 5:9. But Eliphaz was describing the inevitability of God’s power and judgment. Job responds, “Yea, truly, but you even admit that you cannot know how He operates!”

Job 9:12

WHO CAN SAY TO HIM, ‘WHAT ARE YOU DOING?’: “I cannot ask God to account for His actions. He does not have to explain things to me.”

Job 9:13

RAHAB: Sig lit “pride” or “boasting”. (1) Egypt, in Psa 87:4; 89:10; Isa 30:7. (2) Apparently, a mythological sea-monster in Isa 51:9; Job 9:13; 26:12. Poss ref to the crocodile of the Nile, sym of proud Egypt and her gods. See Lesson, Rahab (Egypt). The sentiment here is rather similar to that at the end of the book of Job, where Job is humbled before Yahweh in the wake of the second divine speech in which it is implied that he (Job) cannot overcome the chaos monsters Leviathan and Behemoth, which Yahweh did overcome (cf Job 40-42:6).

Job 9:17

CRUSH: “Shuwph” = to bruise, as in Gen 3:15 (cp Psa 139:11).

Job 9:22

IT IS ALL THE SAME; THAT IS WHY I SAY, ‘HE DESTROYS BOTH THE BLAMELESS AND THE WICKED’: “God knows when the good things are safe and when the evil things are needed; and the scriptural attitude is to accept, with a reverential submission, whatever comes; if good, with thanksgiving; if evil, with resignation. It would be altogether a mistake to assume that goodness only will be our lot, or that God regards us not if He suffer evil to happen. Job is ever a helpful illustration on this point. A man of the thoroughly approved stamp, God overthrew him in all his affairs without letting him know that he was being subjected to a test. Job, while asserting his integrity, took it all in submission, on the ground that God was supreme and did as He willed, and that man, as a created being, had no room to murmur if evil as well as good were his lot. In this Job took the right ground; for his judgment of the case was divinely endorsed as against that of his three friends, who argued that because Job had fallen into evil, therefore he must have been unrighteous” (SC 22).

Job 9:24

IF IT IS NOT HE, THEN WHO IS IT?: If God is not the author of this “confusion”, who is?

Job 9:26

BOATS OF PAPYRUS: Very light, swift boats — could be rowed faster than a man could run (Dawn 63:9).

Job 9:27

IF I SAY, ‘I WILL FORGET MY COMPLAINT’: “Even if I try to be uncomplaining…”

Job 9:30

Job acknowledges that he cannot save himself.

Job 9:33

SOMEONE TO ARBITRATE BETWEEN US”: “A daysman” (AV). A man who sets the day and time to plead a case (v 19), and brings the two parties together. Cp 1Co 4:3, where man’s “day” = man’s judgment.

Job 10:1

I LOATHE MY VERY LIFE; THEREFORE I WILL GIVE FREE REIN TO MY COMPLAINT AND SPEAK OUT IN THE BITTERNESS OF MY SOUL: “In a charming essay on music, a recent writer has gathered up a great deal in one telling sentence. He speaks of the various moods of the world’s masterpieces of music — the romance, the sorrow, the aspiration, the joy, the sublimity expressed in them, and he adds that there is only one mood forever unrepresented, for, ‘Great music never complains.’ At first, this seems too sweeping. We remember so many minor keys, so many tragic chords, in the best music. But, as we think over it longer, it becomes truer and truer. Great music has its minor keys, its pathetic passages, its longing, yearning notes; but they always lead on to aspiration, to hope, or to resignation and peace. Mere complaint is not in them. The reason, after all, is simple. Complaint is selfish, and high music, like any other great art, forgets self in larger things. The complaining note has no possible place in noble harmonies, even though they be sad. So, if we want to make music out of our lives, we must learn to omit complaint.

“Some young people think it rather fine and noble to be discontented, to complain of narrow surroundings, to dwell on the minor notes. But it is well to remember that the one thing to avoid in singing is a whine in the voice; and whining is perilously close to any form of pathos. ‘Great music never complains.’ That is a good motto to hang up on the wall of one’s mind, over our keyboard of feeling, so to speak. The harmonies of our lives will be braver and sweeter the more we follow this thought. Without it, fret and discord will come, and mar the music that might be, and that is meant to be” (BI).

Job 10:3

Could God possibly gain pleasure from the exercise of arbitrary power?

Job 10:4

Could God’s view of things be as defective as man’s view?

Job 10:5

“You act as though You have but little time to finish with me.”

Job 10:8

Yet all the above thoughts (vv 3-7) are incompatible with what Job knows of God, as he describes in vv 8-12.

Job 10:10

The mysterious “curdling” of the embryo in the womb; the creation of something (the child) out of “milk” (semen).

Job 10:13

You were planning to bring such sufferings on me all along?

Job 10:14

If I sin or not, it seems to make no difference to You.

Job 10:21

Job sees death as the reversal of the process of birth: vv 8-12.

Job 11:1

ZOPHAR (Job 11; 20) is content with mere assumption, dogmatism (Job 11:6; 20:4). He also has a too rigid view of providence (Job 11:13-20; 20:5): ie “the triumphing of the wicked is short” (Job 20:5).

Job 11: Beginning from his two premises — (1) the law of exact retribution, and (2) personal innocence, Job’s argument was unassailable.

Zophar can only contend that Job is unaware of his sins. (Job’s guilt is still assumed, not proven.)

Job 11:3

WILL YOUR IDLE TALK REDUCE MEN TO SILENCE?: At last, in the 3rd cycle, the blustery Zophar does hold his peace.

Job 11:5

OH, HOW I WISH THAT GOD WOULD SPEAK…: “Zophar was agitated that Job said that he hadn’t sinned and that he was pure in God’s sight. Zophar was sure that Job was wrong — after all, he thought, God must be punishing Job for his sin. So Zophar voiced a wish. He said, ‘Oh, how I wish that God would speak, that he would open His lips against you and disclose to you the secrets of wisdom, for true wisdom has two sides.’

“Zophar’s wish did eventually come true. But the result wasn’t what he had expected. God did answer Job and he put him back in his rightful, humble place. But God also told Job to pray for his friends — including Zophar, so that He would not deal with them as their sins deserved. He told them that He was angry with them because they had not spoken the truth about Him as Job had.

“God can see the big picture. The men in the story of Job may have thought they could see the whole picture of what was going on, but in actual fact their view was very lopsided. We too can have the same problem when we judge another person and wish a judgement on them. But beware: If we haven’t seen the big picture that same judgement might fall on us as it did to Zophar” (RP).

Job 11:14

IF YOU PUT AWAY SIN THAT IS IN YOUR HAND…: But how could Job repent of sins he did not know? A basic flaw in Zophar’s argument.

Job 11:20

Eliphaz had held before Job a picture of unalloyed brightness (Job 5:19-26). Bildad referred to Job’s enemies perishing, but Job was not included (Job 8:22). But Zophar said, ‘If the shoe fits, wear it!’

Est 10:1

Est 10: “The ultimate greatness of Ahasuerus and Mordecai. What a wonderful moment is depicted in Est 10 — typical of the glorious millennium just ahead. The great king (Yahweh) spreads his glory throughout the empire, through lands and seas. His faithful servant, Mordecai (Yahshua), is next to the royal throne, the viceroy of Yahweh on earth, being ‘great among the Jews and accepted of his brethren, seeking the wealth of his people and speaking peace to his seed.’ The glory of the kingdom will be eclipsed by the great antitype, when the glory of Yahweh covers the earth as the waters do the sees. The downfall of all fleshly power will be as sudden and precipitous as that of Haman, to make way for the elevation of the antitypical Mordecai and the universal rule of God” (GEM).

Est 10:3

The Book of Esther ends with a glorious picture: in type, Mordecai portrays the Lord Jesus Christ, ruling over all the “earth”, worshiped and adored by all men, and especially by his own people the Jews — a prince of peace!

MORDECAI THE JEW WAS SECOND IN RANK TO KING XERXES: As Jesus Christ was and is second in rank to his heavenly Father (1Co 15:26-28).

PREEMINENT AMONG THE JEWS: Jesus comes in the name of the LORD: Spa 118:24-26.

HELD IN HIGH ESTEEM BY HIS MANY FELLOW JEWS: Cp Zec 12:10; 13:9.

HE WORKED FOR THE GOOD OF HIS PEOPLE: Spa 72:2.

SPOKE UP FOR THE WELFARE OF ALL THE JEWS: “Welfare” = “shalom”, “peace”! Cp Spa 72:3,17-19.

A final lesson of Esther: “No weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you” (Isa 54:17).

Author: Possibly Moses.

Time: Apparently around 1500 BC.

Summary: Job is the first poetic book of the OT. It relates the anguish of a righteous man as he and his friends struggle to explain the affliction which has befallen Job and has stripped him of his wealth, his family, and his health. The dialogue continues between Job and his friends as each presents his opinion on the reasons behind such troubles. The book of Job grapples with the question of why good people sometimes suffer. God promises that he will bless the faithful. Job agonizes over the apparent exceptions. The book concludes that ultimately the reason behind much suffering is known only to God.

Key verses: “As surely as God lives, who has denied me justice… as long as I have life within me, the breath of God in my nostrils, my lips will not speak wickedness, and my tongue will utter no deceit” (Job 27:2-4).

1. Affliction of Job: Job 1:1 – 2:13

a) Description of Job: Job 1:1-5 b) Affliction of Job: Job 1:6-2:10 c) Arrival of Job’s three friends: Job 2:11-13

2. Debates between Job and his three friends: Job 3:1-31:40

1. First cycle of debate: Job 3:1-14:22
2. Second cycle of debate: Job 15:1-21:34
3. Third cycle of debate: Job 22:1-31:40

3. The speeches of Elihu: Job 32:1-37:24

4. Restoration of Job: Job 38:1-42:17

1. God’s first challenge to Job: Job 38:1-40:2
2. Job’s response: Job 40:3-5
3. God’s second challenge to Job: Job 40:6-41:34
4. Job’s submission and restoration: Job 42:1-17

See Lesson, Job in brief

See Lesson, Job’s satan

See Lesson, Job, exhortation (GVG)

See Lesson, Job, typical of Israel

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Job 1:1

“The book of Job is one of the most remarkable, not only in the Bible, but in all of literature. As was said of Goliath’s sword, ‘There is none like it’, none in ancient or modern literature. Hence the difficulty of those who have labored to define the class of composition to which it belongs. It belongs to no class; it is a class by itself” (Kitto).

“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life” (Joh 9:3).

“The fact is, Job was not meant to know the explanation of his trials; and on this simple fact everything hangs. If Job had known, there would have been no place for faith… The Scriptures are as wise in their reservations as they are in their revelations” (JSB).

“El” and “Shaddai” are most often used in Book. God is seen as the strong one and the nourisher, with most emphasis on present rewards and punishments. But one of the main purposes of Book is to reveal Him as “Yahweh”, a God with a future plan involving salvation through tribulation (Tes 46:267).

Question: Is righteousness of value in itself?

Job was a literal historical figure: Eze 14:14,20; Jam 5:10,11.

Date of book: Approx 5 generations after Abraham: Job 2:11n.

UZ: (1) Firstborn of Nahor, brother of Abraham (Gen 22:20,21), or (2) son of Aram from Shem (Gen 10:23), or (3) a descendant of Seir (Gen 36:28). The land of Uz = Edom: being near Chaldea and Arabia and the wilderness (Job 1:15,17,19), and being the home of his friends (Job 2:11).

JOB: “Iyyob” = afflicted, persecuted (cp word for “enmity” in Gen 3:15). Or perhaps = “penitent one” = one who turns back to God.

BLAMELESS: “Perfect” (AV). Sig “complete” (cp Gen 25:7). “If anyone is never at fault in what he says [see vv 5,11,21], he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check” (Jam 3:2).

SHUNNED EVIL: Psa 45:7; Heb 1:9.

Job 1:3

A typical patriarchal description of wealth: cp Gen 12:16; 26:14.

THE PEOPLE OF THE EAST: Area including Edom, stretching as far as Euphrates (Gen 25:1-6; 29:1; Num 23:7; Jdg 6:3; Isa 11:14).

Job 1:4

Not necessarily a description of wickedness: cp v 5: “Perhaps”, but not certainly.

Job 1:5

HAVE THEM PURIFIED: Perhaps by washing and a change of garments: Gen 25:2; 1Sa 16:5.

Does this explain 1Co 7:14?

JOB… WOULD SACRIFICE: Being the head of the family, Job acted as a priest. (Proof of a patriarchal, not a Mosaic, age.) Job diligently offers sacrifice for himself and his children. Does his trust in these sacrifices, and his own righteous life, rather than God’s promises of mercy and forgiveness through the Abrahamic covenant, repr the same mistake of self-righteousness that Israel makes?

“What the patriarch did early in the morning, after the family festivities, it will be well for the believer to do for himself ere he rests tonight. Amid the cheerfulness of household gatherings it is easy to slide into sinful levities, and to forget our avowed character as Christians. It ought not to be so, but so it is, that our days of feasting are very seldom days of sanctified enjoyment, but too frequently degenerate into unhallowed mirth. There is a way of joy as pure and sanctifying as though one bathed in the rivers of Eden: holy gratitude should be quite as purifying an element as grief. Alas! for our poor hearts, that facts prove that the house of mourning is better than the house of feasting” (CHS).

EARLY IN THE MORNING: Early prayers and devotions: Abraham got up very early to stand before the Lord (Gen 19:27). Jacob woke up with the first light of the morning to worship God after having seen a vision of angels in the night (Gen 28:18). Moses went early to meet the Lord at Sinai (Exo 34:4). Joshua got an early start when he prepared to capture Jericho (Jos 6:12). Gideon made his way at dawn to examine the fleece he had placed on the ground to discern Yahweh’s will (Jdg 6:38). Job left his bed at an early hour to offer sacrifices to the Lord in behalf of his children (Job 1:5).

Job 1:6

Vv 6-12: Is Job’s righteousness a “commercial venture”?

ANGELS (mg: SONS OF GOD): “Benim Elohim”. A term used of men in Gen 6:4; Psa 29:1; 89:6,7; Joh 1:12; 1Jo 3:1; Eph 1:5.

TO PRESENT THEMSELVES BEFORE THE LORD: Not necessarily in heaven, but rather in presence of God’s representatives on earth: cp Deu 19:17; 2Ch 19:6.

SATAN: AV mg: “the adversary”. “Satan” is “everyman”, including, to some degree, the 3 friends, other men, and Job himself. (Cp the role of Bildad in Job 8:3-7.) “Satan” disappears when the 3 friends enter the story. Notice that “Satan” is not judged at the end, but the 3 friends are. See Lesson, Job’s satan.

Job 1:7

GOING BACK AND FORTH IN IT: The other instances of same description, going “to and fro”: 2Ch 16:9 (the eyes of the LORD = angels); Zec 1:10,11 (angels); Zec 4:10 (eyes of the LORD); Zec 6:7 (angels again).

Assuming Satan is a man, then this could mean: “I am a man of the world, a self-made man, a strong man, who has acquired wealth.” (By impl, “Job is an unworldly man, whose God has taken care of him.”) This is the voice of envy.

Job 1:8

HAVE YOU CONSIDERED MY SERVANT JOB?: “Consider and emulate the ways of this righteous man.”

Job 1:11

Would a man, faced with deprivation, consider it worth his while to continue the life of restraint?

Job 1:12

Not at any time is Job aware of the circumstances that bring on his various sufferings. God works in all things for good: Rom 8:28,35. God gives “Satan” the power: Job 42:11.

THEN SATAN WENT OUT FROM THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD: God’s presence, not in heaven: cp Jon 1:3; Gen 4:16.

Job 1:13

ONE DAY…AT THE OLDEST BROTHER’S HOUSE: The very time, at the end of a cycle of feasting (v 4), when Job was preparing to offer sacrifice for his children (v 5).

Job 1:14

Vv 14-21: “Alternative attacks of heaven and earth.”

Job 1:15

SABEANS: Prob Arabs (Job 6:19; Gen 10:28; 1Ki 10:1; Isa 60:6; Eze 27:22; Psa 72:10), from sw Arabia, from Persian Gulf to Idumea. They attacked from the south.

Job 1:16

THE FIRE OF GOD FELL FROM THE SKY: Lightning: 1Ki 18:38; 2Ki 1:12; Exo 9:23.

Job 1:20

TORE HIS ROBE: To say he was heart-broken: Joe 2:13; Gen 37:29,34; 44:13; 2Sa 13:31; 2Ki 18:37.

Bible robes: the long robe of pretension (Luk 20:46); the torn robe of sorrow (Job 1:20); the scarlet robe of mockery (Mat 27:28); the best robe of righteousness (Luk 15:22); and the white robe of the redeemed (Rev 7:9).

THEN HE FELL TO THE GROUND IN WORSHIP: Surrendering totally to God and His providence.

Job 1:21

“You can’t take it with you!”

I WILL DEPART (OR, WILL RETURN THERE): Return to his mother’s womb? That is, to “mother earth”: an allusion to Gen 2:7; 3:19 (cp Job 10:9; 34:15; Psa 139:15; 1Ti 6:7).

MAY THE NAME OF THE LORD BE PRAISED: The covenant-name of Yahweh, used by a non-Jew.

“We are the products of an alien world, only living through God’s long-suffering, and if, by adoption, we become children, and are subjected to chastisement, it is only through God withholding for a while some of His good gifts. A fair consideration of the elementary truths we have learned will bring us to the attitude of Job. ‘The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be his name.’ The chastening is grievous, we are made sorrowful by it; but our apprehension of the truth should make us ‘sorry after a godly manner.’ The trouble with the grumblers is that they accept all blessings as a matter of course, and comparing the best they can imagine of life with the limitations of their experience, think that they have in some way been wronged. Whatever happens, they have no ground for complaint, unless it was wronging them to give them a personality at all” (ConCon 126,127).

“No one other than Jesus has gone through the same sort of trials as Job. In one day nearly all of Job’s life crumbled around him. His riches, his friends, and his children were all taken from him in an instant. All he had left were four messengers, his wife and his health. Far from being the greatest man in the east, he became, in one day, the least.

“But what is incredible about Job is not that he had so much trouble in one day, but the way he reacted to it. We read that ‘he got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said, “Naked I came from my mothers womb, and naked I shall depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised”.’

“Many others having just one or two of those trials would have given up all hope, killed themselves or had a breakdown. But not Job! He worshipped and praised the LORD. He did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.

“How do you react to trials? Do you get depressed, antisocial, angry, violent, hyperactive or do you pray to God, worship and praise Him? I believe Job stood up to his trials because God was the centre of his life. Although everything else was taken from him, God was still there. Make God the centre of your life and when there are trials you will be able to stand like Job” (RP).

Job 1:22

Note continual emphasis on sinning with the tongue: vv 5,11,21; 2:5,9,10; Jam 3:2-13; 5:10-13. Job is the “perfect man” of Jam 3:2.

Job 2:2

“Satan’s” attitude is unchanged from Job 1:7.

Job 2:3

THOUGH YOU INCITED ME AGAINST HIM: To this agree the words of Job himself: “God’s hand has touched me” (Job 19:21; 42:11).

Job 2:4

“Job will suffer the loss of family and possessions, but will desire above all else, and will do anything necessary, to save his own skin.”

SKIN: That which is nearest and most precious, ie one’s life: Job 7:5; 10:11; 18:13; 19:20,26; 30:30; 41:7; cp Mic 3:2,3.

Job 2:6

In the life of a righteous man (as in the life of Jesus), God must answer the question of “Satan”: He must discover (1) if a man really has faith, and (2) why he chooses to serve God. (It may not be so much that GOD needs to know, as that the “satans” of life need to be shown, and the man himself needs to find out.)

Job 2:7

PAINFUL SORES: “Shechim” = boils of leprosy: Lev 13:1-20,23. “Botch of Egypt”: Deu 28:27,35; Exo 9:9,11. Hezekiah was afflicted with such (Isa 38:21; 2Ki 20:7), as was the Lazarus of Christ’s parable (Luk 16:21).

Prob elephantiasis, characterized by black, corrugated skin and swollen limbs. It attacks limbs first, then spreads to rest of the body (though Job is smitten all at once). Symptoms: excruciating itch (Job 2:8), disfigurements (Job 2:12), internal ulcers, causing loathsome smell and breath (Job 19:17,20). The sores breed worms (Job 7:5), alternately closing and opening. Characterized by, alternately, bloating and emaciation (Job 16:18), high fever, horrible dreams (Job 7:14), unearthly terrors (Job 3:25), sensation of choking (Job 7:15), incessant pain (Job 12:1-4). The disease was incurable, but allowed for long years of suffering before death (EMS 9).

“Job has now lost his wealth (Job 1:14-17), his family (Job 1:18,19), and his health (Job 2:7). Three massive hits, all of which arrive within an unnaturally short period of time. Three amazing calamities that are just so dreadful, so painful and so extensive in their damage, that Job is instantly crippled by them. He is given no time to recover between each one, so his reaction is spontaneous…

“What a remarkable parallel with Christ, in every particular. How appropriate that his adversaries attacked three specific aspects of his life — wealth, family and health: (a) ‘You have no money,’ said the Pharisees, ‘therefore you are nothing.’ ‘But here is a coin for the taxes,’ he replied, ‘and my real treasure is in heaven, where yours should be also.’ (b) ‘You have no father,’ said the Pharisees, ‘therefore you are nobody.’ ‘But my Father is God,’ he replied, ‘and my brothers and sisters are those who keep His commandments.’ (c) ‘You are mortal,’ said the Pharisees, ‘and therefore you can be killed.’ ‘But I lay down my own life so that I might take it up again,’ he replied, ‘and I will give new life to all those who die with me’ ” (David Burke).

Job 2:8

ASHES: “Epher” = animal dung. Accumulated in dung hill, used for fuel.

Job 2:9

“Satan” is mentioned no more from this point forward, having served his purpose of introducing the problem of Job.

CURSE GOD AND DIE: Superstitious idea that if one get God angry enough, then He will slay him — thus ending his suffering.

Job 2:10

GOOD… AND NOT TROUBLE?: Both good and “evil” have their origin in God: Isa 45:7; Amo 3:6.

IN ALL THIS, JOB DID NOT SIN IN WHAT HE SAID: “It is almost an instant reaction to any kind of suffering — especially pain — to unthinkingly utter some sort of curse. As an engineer I hear it in the workshop all the time when things go wrong. That seems to be the moment to automatically blaspheme or swear. I think James said it well when he said that no man can tame his tongue. It is a very small part of the body, but very unruly with it!

“Job, however, was a different story. He appears to have been in full control of his tongue even though his sufferings were so intense. He had lost his family, friends and possessions and now his body was covered with painful boils from head to foot. Instead of turning from God, he worshipped; instead of cursing, he praised. He said, ‘Shall we accept good from God and not trouble?’

“Job appears to have had complete control over his whole thoughts and word during his entire horrible ordeal. Job’s heart was right with God.

“Jesus said, ‘Out of the overflow of his (a man’s) heart his mouth speaks.’ Our mouths show what is in our hearts and sometimes that may surprise us. Let us get our hearts right with God so that we can be more like Job. If we can do that, then in all our trials and sufferings we will not sin in what we say” (RP).

Job 2:11

ELIPHAZ THE TEMANITE: Teman is related to Edom (Gen 36:4,11; 1Ch 1:35,36,53; Jer 49:7,20; Eze 25:13; Amo 1:12; Oba 1:9; Hab 3:3). The Temanites were noted for their “wisdom” (1Ki 4:30).

BILDAD THE SHUHITE: Prob of Shuah, the youngest son of Abraham by Keturah (Gen 25:2).

ZOPHAR: Poss the Zepho or Zephi, the grandson of Esau (Gen 36:11; 1Ch 1:36).

THE NAAMATHITE: Uncertain derivation. Prob an area east of Jordan River.

THEY SET OUT FROM THEIR HOMES AND MET TOGETHER: Since these 3 lived great distances from each other and great distances from Job, there must have passed a considerable period of suffering for Job.

Job 2:12

“His appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness” (Isa 52:14).

Job 3:1

JOB OPENED HIS MOUTH: Breaking a week’s silence (Job 2:13).

Job 3:4

CARE ABOUT IT: Or, “inquire after it” (RV mg).

Job 3:5

“May it be a day of eclipse.”

Job 3:6

“Let it be a day set apart completely.”

Job 3:7

“Let it be a barren day, with no joy of new life.”

Job 3:8

THOSE WHO ARE READY TO ROUSE LEVIATHAN: Job wishes that the mythological “Leviathan” or such a creature of chaos could be summoned by the mourners to swallow up that day. Job, in a cursing mood, employs the most vivid and forceful proverbial language available to call for the obliteration of that day. The figure then is of an awakened monster of chaos who could swallow that day. According to some mythological notions, such swallowing of the sun and moon brought about an eclipse! Of course, since Job believed in One God only, and rejected the current superstitious and idolatrous concepts of the sun (Job 31:26-28), it may be safely assumed that he is merely using a common figure of speech — not endorsing belief in such a false god!

LEVIATHAN: Poss reference to “eclipses” — great creatures that blot out the sun (v 5). [AV has “their mourning” in place of “Leviathan”.] Elsewhere, sig a mythological 7-headed sea god, with poss connections with Babylon and Egypt: see Lesson, Leviathan.

Job 3:12

KNEES TO RECEIVE ME: By which the father acknowledged his paternity: Gen 50:2; Isa 66:2.

Job 3:20

WHY IS LIGHT GIVEN TO THOSE IN MISERY, AND LIFE TO THE BITTER OF SOUL?: “Why must I live even now?”

Job 3:23

“Why must I continue living when I have lost the meaning of life?”

Job 3:24

Sighing/groans = Job’s food/drink.

Job 3:25

A nervous tension, imagining all sorts of fears.