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Selected Verse: Job 4:6 - King James
| Verse |
Translation |
Text |
| Job 4:6 |
King James |
Is not this thy fear, thy confidence, thy hope, and the uprightness of thy ways? |
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] |
| Is not this thy fear, thy confidence, &c.--Does thy fear, thy confidence, come to nothing? Does it come only to this, that thou faintest now? Rather, by transposition, "Is not thy fear (of God) thy hope? and the uprightness of thy ways thy confidence? If so, bethink thee, who ever perished being innocent?" [UMBREIT]. But Luk 13:2-3 shows that, though there is a retributive divine government even in this life, yet we cannot judge by the mere outward appearance. "One event is outwardly to the righteous and to the wicked" (Ecc 9:2); but yet we must take it on trust, that God deals righteously even now (Psa 37:25; Isa 33:16). Judge not by a part, but by the whole of a godly man's life, and by his end, even here (Jam 5:11). The one and the same outward event is altogether a different thing in its inward bearings on the godly and on the ungodly even here. Even prosperity, much more calamity, is a punishment to the wicked (Pro 1:32). Trials are chastisements for their good (to the righteous) (Psa 119:67, Psa 119:71, Psa 119:75). See Preface on the DESIGN of this book (see Introduction). |
| Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
Is not this thy fear, thy confidence? - There has been considerable variety in the interpretation of this verse. Dr. Good renders it,
Is thy piety then nothing? thy hope
Thy contidence? or the uprightness of thy ways?
Noyes renders it,
Is not thy fear of God thy hope,
And the uprightness of thy ways the confidence?
Rosenmuller translates it,
Is not in thy piety and integrity of life
Thy confidence and hope?
In the Vulgate it is translated, "Where is thy fear, thy fortitude, thy patience, and the integrity of thy ways?" In the Septuagint, "Is not thy fear founded on folly, and thy hope, and the evil of thy way?"
Castellio translates it,
Nimirum tanturn religionis, quantum expectationis;
Quantum spei, tanturn habebas integritatis morum;
And the idea according to his version is, that he had as much religion as was prompted by the hope of reward; that his piety and integrity were sustained only by his hope, and were not the result of principle; and that of course his religion was purely selfish. If this be the sense, it is designed to be a reproach, and accords with the charge in the question of Satan Job 1:9, "Doth Job fear God for naught?" Rosenmuller adopts the opinion of Ludovicus de Dieu, and explains it as meaning," You seemed to be a man fearing God, and a man of integrity, and you were led hence to cherish high hopes and expectations; but now you perceive that you were deceived. Your piety was not sincere and genuine, for the truly pious do not thus suffer. Remember therefore that no one perishes being innocent." Codurcus renders it, "All thy hope was placed in thy religion, and thy expectation in the rectitude of thy ways; consider now, who perishes being innocent?" The true sentiment of the passage has undoubtedly been expressed by Good, Noyes. and Codurcus. The Hebrew rendered thy fear יראתך yârê'tek means doubtless religious fear, veneration, or piety, and is a word synonymous with εὐλάβεια eulabeia, εὐσέβεια eusebeia, religion. The sentiment is, that his confidence or hope was placed in his religion - in his fear of God, his respect and veneration for him, and in reliance on the equity of his government. This had been his stay in times past; and this was the subject which was naturally brought before him then. Eliphaz asks whether he should not put his trust in that God still, and not reproach him as unequal and unjust in his administration.
The uprightness of thy ways - Hebrew, The perfection of thy ways. Note Job 1:1. The idea is, that his hope was founded on the integrity of his life, and on the belief that the upright would be rewarded. The passage may be rendered,
Is not thy confidence and thy expectation
Founded on thy religion,
And on the integrity of thy ways?
This is the general sentiment which Eliphaz proceeds to illustrate and apply. If this was a just principle, it was natural to ask whether the trials of Job did not prove that he had no well grounded reason for such confidence. |
| Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78] |
6 Is not thy piety thy confidence,
Thy Hope? And the uprightness of thy ways?
7 Think now: who ever perished, being innocent?!
And where have the righteous been cut off?!
8 As often as I saw, those who ploughed evil
And sowed sorrow, - they reaped the same.
9 By the breath of Eloah they perished,
By the breath of His anger they vanished away.
10 The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the shachal,
And the teeth of the young lions, are rooted out.
11 The lion wanders about for want of prey,
And the lioness' whelps are scattered.
In Job 4:6 all recent expositors take the last waw as waw apodosis: And thy hope, is not even this the integrity of thy way? According to our punctuation, there is no occasion for supposing such an application of the waw apodosis, which is an error in a clause consisting only of substantives, and is not supported by the examples, Job 15:17; Job 23:12; Sa2 22:41.
(Note: We will not, however, dispute the possibility, for at least in Arabic one can say, zı̂d f-hkı̂m Zeid, he is wise. Grammarians remark that Arab. zı̂d in this instance is like a hypothetical sentence: If any one asks, etc. Sa2 15:34 is similar.)
תקותך is the permutative of the ambiguous כסלתך, which, from כּסל, to be fat, signifies both the awkwardness of stupidity and the boldness of confidence. The addition of הוּא to מי, Job 4:7, like Job 13:19; Job 17:3, makes the question more earnest: quis tandem, like זה מי, quisnam (Ges. 122, 2). In Job 4:8, כּאשׁר is not comparative, but temporal, and yet so that it unites, as usual, what stands in close connection with, and follows directly upon, the preceding: When, so as, as often as I had seen those who planned and worked out evil (comp. Pro 22:8), I also saw that they reaped it. That the ungodly, and they alone, perish, is shown in Job 4:10. under the simile of the lions. The Hebrew, like the oriental languages in general, is rich in names for lions; the reason of which is, that the lion-tribe, although now become rarer in Asia, and of which only a solitary one is found here and there in the valley of the Nile, was more numerous in the early times, and spread over a wider area.
(Note: Vid., Schmarda, Geographische Verbreitung der Thiere, i. 210, where, among other things, we read: The lion in Asia is driven back at almost all points, and also in Africa has been greatly diminished; for hundreds of lions and panthers were used in the Roman amphitheatres, whilst at the present time it would be impossible to procure so large a number.)
שׁחל, which the old expositors often understood as the panther, is perhaps the maneless lion, which is still found on the lower Euphrates and Tigris. נתע = נתץ, Psa 58:7, evellere, elidere, by zeugma, applies to the voice also. All recent expositors translate Job 4:11 init. wrongly: the lion perishes. The participle אבד is a stereotype expression for wandering about viewless and helpless (Deu 26:5; Isa 27:13; Psa 119:176, and freq.). The part., otherwise remarkable here, has its origin in this usage of the language. The parallelism is like Psa 92:10. |
| Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65] |
| Thy fear - We now plainly see what was the nature of thy fear of God, thy confidence in him, the uprightness of thy ways, and thy hope in God's mercy. Thy present carriage discovers that it was but mere talk and appearance. |
| Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826 |
| Is not this thy fear - I think Coverdale hits the true meaning: Where is now thy feare of God, thy stedfastnesse, thy pacience, and the perfectnesse of thy life? If these be genuine, surely there is no cause for all this complaint, vexation, and despair. That this is the meaning, the next words show. |
75 I know, O LORD, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me.
71 It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.
67 Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word.
32 For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.
11 Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.
16 He shall dwell on high: his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.
25 I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.
2 All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.
2 And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things?
3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
1 There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.
9 Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?
10 But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of an unicorn: I shall be anointed with fresh oil.
176 I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek thy servant; for I do not forget thy commandments.
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the LORD in the holy mount at Jerusalem.
5 And thou shalt speak and say before the LORD thy God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there with a few, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous:
11 The old lion perisheth for lack of prey, and the stout lion's whelps are scattered abroad.
7 Let them melt away as waters which run continually: when he bendeth his bow to shoot his arrows, let them be as cut in pieces.
10 The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, and the teeth of the young lions, are broken.
8 He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity: and the rod of his anger shall fail.
8 Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.
3 Lay down now, put me in a surety with thee; who is he that will strike hands with me?
19 Who is he that will plead with me? for now, if I hold my tongue, I shall give up the ghost.
7 Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished, being innocent? or where were the righteous cut off?
34 But if thou return to the city, and say unto Absalom, I will be thy servant, O king; as I have been thy father's servant hitherto, so will I now also be thy servant: then mayest thou for me defeat the counsel of Ahithophel.
41 Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies, that I might destroy them that hate me.
12 Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.
17 I will shew thee, hear me; and that which I have seen I will declare;
6 Is not this thy fear, thy confidence, thy hope, and the uprightness of thy ways?