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Selected Verse: Job 36:16 - King James
| Verse |
Translation |
Text |
| Job 36:16 |
King James |
Even so would he have removed thee out of the strait into a broad place, where there is no straitness; and that which should be set on thy table should be full of fatness. |
Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse
| A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882] |
Rather, "He will lead forth thee also out of the jaws of a strait" (Psa 18:19; Psa 118:5).
broad place--expresses the liberty, and the well-supplied "table" the abundance of the prosperous (Psa 23:5; Isa 25:6). |
| Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
Even so would he have removed thee - That is, if you had been patient and resigned, and if you had gone to him with a broken heart. Having stated the "principles" in regard to affliction which he held to be indisputable, and having affirmed that God was ever ready to relieve the sufferer if he would apply to him with a proper spirit, it was natural to infer from this that the reason why Job "continued" to suffer was, that he did not manifest a proper spirit in his trials. Had he done this, Elihu says, the hand of God would have been long since withdrawn, and his afflictions would have been removed.
Out of the strait into a broad place - From the narrow, pent up way, where it is impossible to move, into a wide and open path. Afflictions are compared with a narrow path, in which it is impossible to get. along; prosperity with a broad and open road in which there are no obstructions; compare Psa 18:19; Psa 31:8. "And that which should be set on thy table." Margin, "the rest of thy table." The Hebrew word (נחת nachath - from נוח nûach, "to rest," and in the Hiphil to set down, to cause to rest) means properly a "letting," or "settling down;" and then that which is set down - as e. g. food on a table. This is the idea here. that the food which would be set on his table would be rich and abundant; that is, he would be restored to prosperity, if he envinced a penitent spirit in his trials, and confessed his sins to God. The same image of piety occurs in Psa 23:5, "Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies." |
| Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78] |
16 And He even bringeth thee out of the jaws of distress
To a broad place, whose ground hath no straitness,
And the adorning of thy table shall be full of fatness.
17 Yet thou art become full of the judging of the evil-doer:
Judging and judgment lay hold on one another!
18 For let not anger indeed entice thee to scorning,
And let not the greatness of the ransom mislead thee.
With Job 36:16 Elihu passes over to the application to Job of what he said in the preceding strophe. Since it is usual to place אף (like גּם and אך) at the beginning of the sentence, although not belonging to the member of the sentence which immediately follows, ואף הסיתך for והסית אף אתך cannot be remarkable. The praet. הסיתך is not promissory, but Elihu says with what design God has decreed the present suffering for Job. הסית מן is like Ch2 18:31 : out of distress (צר for צר by Rebia magnum), which has him in its jaws, and threatens to swallow him, God brings him away to great prosperity; a thought which Elihu expresses in the imagery of the Psalms of a broad place and a bountiful table (comp. e.g., Psa 4:2; Psa 23:5). רחב is locative, and לא־מוּצק תּחתּיה is either a relative clause: whose beneath (ground) is not straitened, no-straitness (in which case מוּצק would not be constr. from the n. hophal. מוּצק, Isa.Isa 9:1, but absol. after the form מחנק, Job 7:15, Ew. 160, c, Anm. 4), Saad. Arab. lâ ḍı̂q fı̂ mûḍ‛hâ (cujus in loco non angustiae); or it is virtually an adj.: without (לא = בּלא, as Job 34:24), comp. on Job 12:24) straitness of what is beneath them, eorum quae sub se habet (comp. on Job 28:5). רחב is fem., like רחוב, Dan 9:25. A special clause takes the place of the locative, Job 36:16 : and the settling or spreading, i.e., the provision (from נוּח, to come down gradually, to seat one's self) of thy table shall be full of fatness. מלא (whether it be adj. or verb) is treated by attraction, according to the gender of the governed noun; and it is unnecessary, with Rosenm. and others, to derive נחת from נחת (Aram. for ירד).
In Job 36:17, דּין is intended of Job's negative judgment concerning God and His dealings (comp. Psa 76:9, where it signifies a judicial decision, and Pro 22:10, where it signifies a wrangling refusal of a fair decision). Job 36:17 is not a conditional clause (Hahn), in which case the praet. hypothet. would have a prominent position, but an adversative predicative clause: but (nevertheless) thou art full of the judging of the evil-doer (evil judging); after which, just as ἀσυνδέτως as Job 36:14, the sad issue in which this judging after the manner of evil-doers results is expressed: such judging and judgment border closely upon one another. Rd., Dietr., and Schlottm. have wrongly reproduced this idea, discerned by Ges., when they translate: judgment and sentence (guilt and punishment) shall seize thee. יתמכוּ, prehendunt scil. se (Ebr.: put forth the hand), is used like the Aram. סמך, to draw nearer, fasten together (Rabb. סמוּך, near at hand), Arab. tamâsaka (from Arab. msk = סמך, as e.g., hanash = נחשׁ). In Job 36:18 we leave the signification thick milk or cream (חמה = חמאה, as Job 29:6) to those who persuade themselves that cream can be metaphorically equivalent to superfluity (Ew., Hirz., Vaih., Hlgst.). Renan's translation: N'espre pas dtourner la colre de Dieu par une amende, we also leave as a simple puzzle to its discoverer, who, with this one exception, is destitute of thoughts proper to the book of Job. In general, the thought, "do not imagine by riches, by a great ransom, to be able to satisfy the claims of God," is altogether out of place here. Moreover, חמה, which, as e.g., דּאגה, Pro 12:25 (Ew. 174, g), is construed as masc., cannot be understood of God's wrath, since the poet by הסית will not at one time have ascribed to God a well-meant incitation, at another an enticement in malam partem. That which allures is Job's own חמה, and that not the excitement of his affliction (Hahn), but of his passion; comp. אף, Job 36:13. שׂפק is, however, to be explained according to Job 34:37, comp. Job 27:23 (clapping of hands = derision); and כּפר signifies reconciliation or expiation, as Job 33:24. Elihu admonishes Job not to allow himself to be drawn by the heat of passion into derision, or to deride; nor to be allured from the right way by the ransom which is required of him as the price of restoration to happiness, viz., humble submission to the divine chastisement, as though this ransom were exceeding great. The connection is clear: an adverse verdict (דּין) and condemnation (משׁפּט) are closely connected; for (כּי) hastiness of temper, let it not (פּן( ton ti ) lead thee astray ... thou wouldst not escape the judgment of God! |
| Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65] |
| He would - If thou hadst opened thine ear to God's counsels. Into - A state of ease and freedom. |
| Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826 |
| Even so would he have removed thee - If thou hadst turned to, obeyed, and served him, thy present state would have been widely different from what it is. |
6 And in this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
5 I called upon the LORD in distress: the LORD answered me, and set me in a large place.
19 He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
8 And hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy: thou hast set my feet in a large room.
19 He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me.
24 Then he is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom.
23 Men shall clap their hands at him, and shall hiss him out of his place.
37 For he addeth rebellion unto his sin, he clappeth his hands among us, and multiplieth his words against God.
13 But the hypocrites in heart heap up wrath: they cry not when he bindeth them.
25 Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: but a good word maketh it glad.
6 When I washed my steps with butter, and the rock poured me out rivers of oil;
18 Because there is wrath, beware lest he take thee away with his stroke: then a great ransom cannot deliver thee.
14 They die in youth, and their life is among the unclean.
17 But thou hast fulfilled the judgment of the wicked: judgment and justice take hold on thee.
10 Cast out the scorner, and contention shall go out; yea, strife and reproach shall cease.
9 When God arose to judgment, to save all the meek of the earth. Selah.
17 But thou hast fulfilled the judgment of the wicked: judgment and justice take hold on thee.
16 Even so would he have removed thee out of the strait into a broad place, where there is no straitness; and that which should be set on thy table should be full of fatness.
25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
5 As for the earth, out of it cometh bread: and under it is turned up as it were fire.
24 He taketh away the heart of the chief of the people of the earth, and causeth them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way.
24 He shall break in pieces mighty men without number, and set others in their stead.
15 So that my soul chooseth strangling, and death rather than my life.
1 Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
2 O ye sons of men, how long will ye turn my glory into shame? how long will ye love vanity, and seek after leasing? Selah.
31 And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, It is the king of Israel. Therefore they compassed about him to fight: but Jehoshaphat cried out, and the LORD helped him; and God moved them to depart from him.
16 Even so would he have removed thee out of the strait into a broad place, where there is no straitness; and that which should be set on thy table should be full of fatness.