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Selected Verse: Job 4:17 - Strong Concordance
Verse |
Translation |
Text |
Job 4:17 |
Strong Concordance |
Shall mortal man [0582] be more just [06663] than God [0433]? shall a man [01397] be more pure [02891] than his maker [06213]? |
|
King James |
Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker? |
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] |
mortal man . . . a man--Two Hebrew words for "man" are used; the first implying his feebleness; the second his strength. Whether feeble or strong, man is not righteous before God.
more just than God . . . more pure than his maker--But this would be self-evident without an oracle. |
Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
Shall mortal man - Or, shall feeble man. The idea of "mortal" is not necessarily implied in the word used here, אנושׁ 'ĕnôsh. It means man; and is usually applied to the lower classes or ranks of people; see the notes at Isa 8:1. The common opinion in regard to this word is, that it is derived from אנשׁ 'ânash, to be sick, or ill at ease; and then desperate, or incurable - as of a disease or wound; Jer 15:18; Mic 1:9; Job 34:6. Gesenius (Lex) calls this derivation in question; but if it be the correct idea, then the word used here originally referred to man as feeble, and as liable to sickness and calamity. I see no reason to doubt that the common idea is correct, and that it refers to man as weak and feeble. The other word used here to denote man (גבר geber) is given to him on account of his strength. The two words, therefore, embrace man whether considered as feeble or strong - and the idea is, that none of the race could be more pure than God.
Be more just than God - Some expositors have supposed that the sense of this expression in the Hebrew is, "Can man be pure before God, or in the sight of God?" They allege that it could not have been made a question whether man could be more pure than God, or more just than his Maker. Such is the view presented of the passage by Rosenmuller, Good, Noyes, and Umbreit:
"Shall mortal man be just before God?
Shall man be pure before his Maker?"
In support of this view, and this use of the Hebrew preposition מ (m), Rosenmuller appeals to Jer 51:5; Num 32:29; Eze 34:18. This, however, is not wholly satisfactory. The more literal translation is that which occurs in the common version, and this accords with the Vulgate and the Chaldee. If so understood, it is designed to repress and reprove the pride of men, which arraigns the equity of the divine government, and which seems to be wiser and better than God. Thus, understood, it would be a pertinent reproof of Job, who in his complaint Job 3 had seemed to be wiser than God. He had impliedly charged him with injustice and lack of goodness. All people who complain against God, and who arraign the equity and goodness of the divine dispensations, claim to be wiser and better than he is. They would have ordered flyings more wisely, and in a better manner. They would have kept the world from the disorders and sins which actually exist, and would have made it pure and happy. How pertinent, therefore, was it to ask whether man could be more pure or just than his Maker! And how pertinent was the solemn question propounded in the hearing of Eliphaz by the celestial messenger - a question that seems to have been originally proposed in view of the complaints and murmurs of a self-confident race! |
Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78] |
17 Is a mortal just before Eloah,
Or a man pure before his Maker?
18 Behold, He trusteth not His servants!
And His angels He chargeth with imperfection.
19 How much more those who dwell in houses of clay,
They are crushed as though they were moths.
20 From morning until evening, - so are they broken in pieces:
Unobserved they perish for ever.
21 Is it not so: the cord of their tent in them is torn away,
So they die, and not in wisdom?
The question arises whether מן is comparative: prae Deo, on which Mercier with penetration remarks: justior sit oportet qui immerito affligitur quam qui immerito affligit; or causal: a Deo, h.e., ita ut a Deo justificetur. All modern expositors rightly decide on the latter. Hahn justly maintains that עם and בּעיני are found in a similar connection in other places; and Job 32:2 is perhaps not to be explained in any other way, at least that does not restrict the present passage. By the servants of God, none but the angels, mentioned in the following line of the verse, are intended. שׂים with בּ signifies imputare (Sa1 22:15); in Job 24:12 (comp. Job 1:22) we read תּפלה, absurditatem (which Hupf. wishes to restore even here), joined with the verb in this signification. The form תּהלה is certainly not to be taken as stultitia from the verb הלל; the half vowel, and still less the absence of the Dagesh, will not allow this. תּרן (Olsh. 213, c), itself uncertain in its etymology, presents no available analogy. The form points to a Lamedh-He verb, as תּרמה from רמה, so perhaps from הלה, Niph. נהלא, remotus, Mic 4:7 : being distant, being behind the perfect, difference; or even from הלה (Targ. הלא, Pa. הלּי) = לאה, weakness, want of strength.
(Note: Schnurrer compares the Arabic wahila, which signifies to be relaxed, forgetful, to err, to neglect. Ewald, considering the ת as radical, compares the Arabic dll, to err, and tâl, med. wau, to be dizzy, unconscious; but neither from והל nor from תּהל can the substantival form be sustained.)
Both significations will do, for it is not meant that the good spirits positively sin, as if sin were a natural necessary consequence of their creatureship and finite existence, but that even the holiness of the good spirits is never equal to the absolute holiness of God, and that this deficiency is still greater in spirit-corporeal man, who has earthiness as the basis of his original nature. At the same time, it is presupposed that the distance between God and created earth is disproportionately greater than between God and created spirit, since matter is destined to be exalted to the nature of the spirit, but also brings the spirit into the danger of being degraded to its own level.
Job 4:19
אף signifies, like כּי אף, quanto minus, or quanto magis, according as a negative or positive sentence precedes: since Job 4:18 is positive, we translate it here quanto magis, as Sa2 16:11. Men are called dwellers in clay houses: the house of clay is their φθαρτὸν σῶμα, as being taken de limo terrae (Job 33:6; comp. Wis. 9:15); it is a fragile habitation, formed of inferior materials, and destined to destruction. The explanation which follows - those whose יסוד, i.e., foundation of existence, is in dust - shows still more clearly that the poet has Gen 2:7; Gen 3:19, in his mind. It crushes them (subject, everything that operates destructively on the life of man) לפני־עשׁ, i.e., not: sooner than the moth is crushed (Hahn), or more rapidly than a moth destroys (Oehler, Fries), or even appointed to the moth for destruction (Schlottm.); but לפני signifies, as Job 3:24 (cf. Sa1 1:16), ad instar: as easily as a moth is crushed. They last only from morning until evening: they are broken in pieces (הכּת, from כּתת, for הוּכת); they are therefore as ephemerae. They perish for ever, without any one taking it to heart (suppl. על־לב, Isa 42:25; Isa 57:1), or directing the heart towards it, animum advertit (suppl. לב, Job 1:8).
In Job 4:21 the soul is compared to the cord of a tent, which stretches out and holds up the body as a tent, like Ecc 12:6, with a silver cord, which holds the lamp hanging from the covering of the tent. Olshausen is inclined to read יתדם, their tent-pole, instead of יתרם, and at any rate thinks the accompanying בּם superfluous and awkward. But (1) the comparison used here of the soul, and of the life sustained by it, corresponds to its comparison elsewhere with a thread or weft, of which death is the cutting through or loosing (Job 6:9; Job 27:8; Isa 38:12); (12) בּם is neither superfluous nor awkward, since it is intended to say, that their duration of life falls in all at once like a tent when that which in them (בם) corresponds to the cord of a tent (i.e., the נפשׁ) is drawn away from it. The relation of the members of the sentence in Job 4:21 is just the same as in Job 4:2 : Will they not die when it is torn away, etc. They then die off in lack of wisdom, i.e., without having acted in accordance with the perishableness of their nature and their distance from God; therefore, rightly considered: unprepared and suddenly, comp. Job 36:12; Pro 5:23. Oehler, correctly: without having been made wiser by the afflictions of God. The utterance of the Spirit, the compass of which is unmistakeably manifest by the strophic division, ends here. Eliphaz now, with reference to it, turns to Job. |
Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65] |
More just - Pretend more strictly to observe the laws of justice? Shall (enosh) mortal, miserable man (so the word signifies) be thus insolent? Nay, shall geber, the strongest and most eminent man, stand in competition with God? Those that find fault with the directions of the Divine law, the dispensations of the Divine grace, or the disposal of the Divine providence, do make themselves more just and pure than God: who being their maker, is their Lord and owner: and the author of all the justice and purity that is in man. |
Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826 |
Shall mortal man - אנוש enosh; Greek βροτος poor, weak, dying man.
Be more just than God? - Or, האנוש מאלוה יצדק haenosh meeloah yitsdak; shall poor, weak, sinful man be justified before God?
Shall a man - גבר gaber, shall even the strong and mighty man, be pure before his Maker? Is any man, considered merely in and of himself, either holy in his conduct, or pure in his heart? No. He must be justified by the mercy of God, through an atoning sacrifice; he must be sanctified by the Holy Spirit of God, and thus made a partaker of the Divine nature. Then he is justified before God, and pure in the sight of his Maker: and this is a work which God himself alone can do; so the work is not man's work, but God's. It is false to infer, from the words of this spectre, (whether it came from heaven or hell, we know not, for its communication shows and rankles a wound, without providing a cure), that no man can be justified, and that no man can be purified, when God both justifies the ungodly, and sanctifies the unholy. The meaning can be no more than this: no man can make an atonement for his own sins, nor purify his own heart. Hence all boasting is for ever excluded. Of this Eliphaz believed Job to be guilty, as he appeared to talk of his righteousness and purity, as if they had been his own acquisition. |
18 Seemeth it a small thing [04592] unto you to have eaten up [07462] the good [02896] pasture [04829], but ye must tread down [07429] with your feet [07272] the residue [03499] of your pastures [04829]? and to have drunk [08354] of the deep [04950] waters [04325], but ye must foul [07515] the residue [03498] with your feet [07272]?
29 And Moses [04872] said [0559] unto them, If the children [01121] of Gad [01410] and the children [01121] of Reuben [07205] will pass with you over [05674] Jordan [03383], every man armed [02502] to battle [04421], before [06440] the LORD [03068], and the land [0776] shall be subdued [03533] before [06440] you; then ye shall give [05414] them the land [0776] of Gilead [01568] for a possession [0272]:
5 For Israel [03478] hath not been forsaken [0488], nor Judah [03063] of his God [0430], of the LORD [03068] of hosts [06635]; though their land [0776] was filled [04390] with sin [0817] against the Holy One [06918] of Israel [03478].
6 Should I lie [03576] against my right [04941]? my wound [02671] is incurable [0605] without transgression [06588].
9 For her wound [04347] is incurable [0605]; for it is come [0935] unto Judah [03063]; he is come [05060] unto the gate [08179] of my people [05971], even to Jerusalem [03389].
18 Why is my pain [03511] perpetual [05331], and my wound [04347] incurable [0605], which refuseth [03985] to be healed [07495]? wilt thou be altogether unto me as a liar [0391], and as waters [04325] that fail [0539]?
1 Moreover the LORD [03068] said [0559] unto me, Take [03947] thee a great [01419] roll [01549], and write [03789] in it with a man's [0582] pen [02747] concerning Mahershalalhashbaz [04122].
23 He shall die [04191] without instruction [04148]; and in the greatness [07230] of his folly [0200] he shall go astray [07686].
12 But if they obey [08085] not, they shall perish [05674] by the sword [07973], and they shall die [01478] without knowledge [01847].
2 If we assay [05254] to commune [01697] with thee, wilt thou be grieved [03811]? but who can [03201] withhold [06113] himself from speaking [04405]?
21 Doth not their excellency [03499] which is in them go away [05265]? they die [04191], even without wisdom [02451].
12 Mine age [01755] is departed [05265], and is removed [01540] from me as a shepherd's [07473] tent [0168]: I have cut off [07088] like a weaver [0707] my life [02416]: he will cut me off [01214] with pining sickness [01803]: from day [03117] even to night [03915] wilt thou make an end [07999] of me.
8 For what is the hope [08615] of the hypocrite [02611], though he hath gained [01214], when God [0433] taketh away [07953] his soul [05315]?
9 Even that it would please [02974] God [0433] to destroy [01792] me; that he would let loose [05425] his hand [03027], and cut me off [01214] !
6 Or ever [03808] the silver [03701] cord [02256] be loosed [07576] [07368], or the golden [02091] bowl [01543] be broken [07533], or the pitcher [03537] be broken [07665] at the fountain [04002], or the wheel [01534] broken [07533] at the cistern [0953].
21 Doth not their excellency [03499] which is in them go away [05265]? they die [04191], even without wisdom [02451].
8 And the LORD [03068] said [0559] unto Satan [07854], Hast thou considered [07760] [03820] my servant [05650] Job [0347], that there is none like him in the earth [0776], a perfect [08535] and an upright [03477] man [0376], one that feareth [03373] God [0430], and escheweth [05493] evil [07451]?
1 The righteous [06662] perisheth [06], and no man [0376] layeth [07760] it to heart [03820]: and merciful [02617] men [0582] are taken away [0622], none considering [0995] that the righteous [06662] is taken away [0622] from [06440] the evil [07451] to come.
25 Therefore he hath poured [08210] upon him the fury [02534] of his anger [0639], and the strength [05807] of battle [04421]: and it hath set him on fire [03857] round about [05439], yet he knew [03045] not; and it burned [01197] him, yet he laid [07760] it not to heart [03820].
16 Count [05414] not thine handmaid [0519] for [06440] a daughter [01323] of Belial [01100]: for out of the abundance [07230] of my complaint [07879] and grief [03708] have I spoken [01696] hitherto.
24 For my sighing [0585] cometh [0935] before [06440] I eat [03899], and my roarings [07581] are poured out [05413] like the waters [04325].
19 In the sweat [02188] of thy face [0639] shalt thou eat [0398] bread [03899], till [05704] thou return [07725] unto the ground [0127]; for out of it wast thou taken [03947]: for dust [06083] thou [0859] art, and unto dust [06083] shalt thou return [07725].
7 And the LORD [03068] God [0430] formed [03335] man [0120] of the dust [06083] of [04480] the ground [0127], and breathed [05301] into his nostrils [0639] the breath [05397] of life [02416]; and man [0120] became a living [02416] soul [05315].
6 Behold, I am according to thy wish [06310] in God's [0410] stead: I also am formed [07169] out of the clay [02563].
11 And David [01732] said [0559] to Abishai [052], and to all his servants [05650], Behold, my son [01121], which came forth [03318] of my bowels [04578], seeketh [01245] my life [05315]: how much more now may this Benjamite [01145] do it? let him alone [03240], and let him curse [07043]; for the LORD [03068] hath bidden [0559] him.
18 Behold, he put no trust [0539] in his servants [05650]; and his angels [04397] he charged [07760] with folly [08417]:
19 How much less [0637] in them that dwell [07931] in houses [01004] of clay [02563], whose foundation [03247] is in the dust [06083], which are crushed [01792] before [06440] the moth [06211]?
7 And I will make [07760] her that halted [06760] a remnant [07611], and her that was cast far off [01972] a strong [06099] nation [01471]: and the LORD [03068] shall reign [04427] over them in mount [02022] Zion [06726] from henceforth, even for [05704] ever [05769].
22 In all this Job [0347] sinned [02398] not, nor charged [05414] God [0430] foolishly [08604].
12 Men [04962] groan [05008] from out of the city [05892], and the soul [05315] of the wounded [02491] crieth out [07768]: yet God [0433] layeth [07760] not folly [08604] to them.
15 Did I then [03117] begin [02490] to enquire [07592] of God [0430] for him? be it far from me [02486]: let not the king [04428] impute [07760] any thing [01697] unto his servant [05650], nor to all the house [01004] of my father [01]: for thy servant [05650] knew [03045] nothing [01697] of all this, less [06996] or more [01419].
2 Then was kindled [02734] the wrath [0639] of Elihu [0453] the son [01121] of Barachel [01292] the Buzite [0940], of the kindred [04940] of Ram [07410]: against Job [0347] was his wrath [0639] kindled [02734], because he justified [06663] himself [05315] rather than God [0430].