J O B. 



•riffinals to then.", and that thePe laft are really the imitations. 

 It is cer-a-n, wl-.oever was the author of this book, that the 

 fty'c has a mixture of th? Ari'i-c. And thofe who have 

 made the happie'.l conjeflires for the folution of difficul ies 

 and the explication of oarticnlar pa'''a^es, have been more 

 indebted to the Arabic than to the Chaldep ; fo that the 

 langmire in which it wa« written mip;ht have b>?en fpoken in 

 Arsbia in the days of Job. And this is the more probable, 

 if the fons of Abraham by Keturah (from whom Job him- 

 fclf is funpoffd to be defcended) were thofe who peopled 

 this part oFthe world ; for then, without doubt, they carried 

 the language of Abraham along with them. 



Mr. Peters concur? in opinion with thofe who believe this 

 book to be the olded in the world ; that it was written, pro- 

 bably, by Job himfelf ; and that it contains, in the main, a 

 true hiftory. 



The eminently learned and ingenious critic, bifhop 

 Lowth, has devoted three lectures of his " Pr^leftiones, 

 &c." to the examination of the book of Job. The 

 fcene of this book is laid in Idumasa ; the hiftory of an in- 

 habitant of that country is the bafis of the narrative ; the 

 charafters who fpeak are Idumseans, or at leaft Arabians of 

 the adjacent country, all originally of the race of Abra- 

 ham. The language is pure Hebrew, although the author 

 appears to be an Idumcran ; for it is not improbable that 

 .all the pofterity of Abraham, Ifraehtes, Idumxans, and 

 Arabians, wliether of the fa-nily of Kettirah or Ifhmacl, 

 fpoke for a coniid-rable time one common language. Our 

 learned author, difcarding the feiitiments of thofe who afcribe 

 this book to l^Iihu, proceeds to examine the claims of 

 Mofes, to whom it has been more generally afcribed. This 

 hypothefis he reprefents 36 very futile, fince it is impolTible 

 to trace, throughout the whole book, the flighted allufion 

 to the manners, cufto-ns, ceremonies, or hiftory of the 

 Ifr-ielites. The ftyle of Job appears, alfo, to be materially 

 different from the poetical ftyle of Mofes ; being much more 

 compacV, concife, or condenfed, more accurate in the poeti- 

 cal conformation of the fentcnces. He therefore avows 

 himfelf inclined to favo ir the opinion of thofe, who fuppofe 

 Job himfelf, or fome contemporary, to be the author of this 

 poem, which is tiie moft ancient of all the facred books, as 

 is manifeft from ihe fubjeil, tlie language, the general cha- 

 racter, and even from the obfcuvity of the work. The 

 ftyle of the poem favours fo much of the antique, that in 

 the judgment of the learned prelate, whoever would fuppofe 

 it wrilti n after the Baby'oniih captivity would fall little 

 ftiort of the error of Hardouin, who afcribed the golden 

 verfes ' of Virgil, Horace, Sec. to the " iron age" of 

 monkilh pedantry and ignorance. 



As to the time in which Job lived, the length of his life 

 evinces. that he was before Mofes, and probably contem- 

 porary with the patriarchs. That he hved at a period prior 

 to the promulgation of the law is very probable, from the 

 nature of the facrifice which he inftitutcs, conformably to 

 the command of God, namely, feven oxen and fcven rams ; 

 a refpecl being paid in thefe countries, and at that period, 

 to that numb'T, from the traditional accounts which were 

 ftill prefervcd among them of the feven days of creation. 

 The poem, is founded in fact, as far as concern » the general 

 fubjecl of the narratire : though the whole dialogue, and 

 probably fome other parts, have partaken largely of the em- 

 bellifhments of poetry : but this has not by any means ■-■>;- 

 tended fo far as to convert the whole into an allegory. The 

 exordium and conclufion, indeed, are diftinct from the poem 

 iiielf, and ftand in the place of an argument or illuftration ; 

 but our author conceives, that they are coefval with tlio 

 poetical part, aud the work of the fame author, becaufo 

 Vui.. XIX. 



they are indifpenfibly necefTary to the unravelling of the 

 plot, which is not developed in the body of the pccm. Mi- 

 chaelis, who copfiders the fubjcft of the poem as altogether 

 fabulous, ar.d who appr^'hends that, it is more inftructive as 

 a fable than it poflibly could be if it were a true iiillory, 

 cannot but regard the exordium, in which Satan appears as 

 the accufer of Job, rather in the light of a fable than of a 

 true narrative. It is furely incredible that fuch a converfa- 

 tion ever took place between the Almighty and Satan, who 

 is fuppofed to return w ith ne'Uis from the terrellrial regions. 

 There are, it is true, fays the learned prelate, phrafes ex- 

 tant in the exordium, in which iome critics have pretended 

 to difcover the hand of a later writer ; but he is not con- 

 vmced by the arguments which they produce. The prin- 

 cipal objeft he'd forth to our contemplation in this pro- 

 duction is the example of a good man, eminent for his piety, 

 and of approved integrity, fuddenly precipitated from tiic 

 very fummit of profperity into the loweft depths of mifery 

 and ruin : who having been firft bereaved of his wealth, hii 

 poiTefuons, and his children, is afterwards afflicted with t!:j 

 moft excruciating anguifli of a loathfome difeafe, which en- 

 tirely covers his body. He faftains all, ho\vever, with the 

 milde!t fubmifiion, and the moft complete refignation to the 

 will of Providence. " In all this," fays the hillorian, " Job 

 finned not, nor charged God fooliftily." And after the 

 ferond trial, " In all this did not Job fin with his lips.' 

 The author of the hiftory remarks upon this circumftancc a 

 fecond time, in order to excite the obfervation of the reader, 

 and to render him more attentive to what follows, which 

 properly conftitutes the true fubject of the poem : namely, 

 the conduct of Job with refpett to his reverence for the Al- 

 mighty, and the changes which accumulating mifery might 

 produce in his temper and behaviour. Accordingly we find 

 that another ftill more exquilite trial" of his patience yet 

 awaits him, and which indeed, as the writer feems to inti- 

 mate, he fcarcely appears to have fiftained with equal firm- 

 nefs, namely, the unjuft fuf;:icions, the bitter reproaches, 

 and the violent altercations of his friends, v.ho had vifited 

 him on the pretence of affording confolation. Here com- 

 mences the plot or aftion of the poem : for when, after a 

 long iilence of all parties, the grief of Job breaks forth into 

 pafTionate exclamations, and a vehement execration on the 

 day of his birth ; the minds of his friends are fuddenly exaf- 

 perated, their intentions are changed, and thi ir confolation, 

 if indeed they originally intended any, is converted into con- 

 tumely and reproaches. The firil of thefe three fingular 

 comforters reproves his impatience ; calls in queftion his in- 

 tegrity, by indircdly infinuating .that God does not inflift. 

 fuch punithments upon the righteous ; and finally adrao- 

 niflies him, that the chaftifement .of G9d is not to be defpifed. 

 The next of them, not Icfs intemperale in his reproofs, takes 

 it for granted, that the children of Job had only. »eceivcd 

 the reward due to their offences ; and with regard to him- 

 felf, intimates, that if he be innocent, and will apply with 

 proper humility to the divine mercy, he may be reftored. 

 The third upbraids him with arrogance, with vanity, and 

 even with falfehood, bccaufe he has prefumed to defend him- 

 felf againft the unjuft accufafions of his companions; and 

 exhorts him to a founder mod« ofccafoning and a more holy 

 life. They all, with a manifeft, though indircft allufion to 

 Job, difeourfe veiy copioufly concerning the divine judg- 

 ments which are always openly difplaycd againft ih.e wicked, 

 and of the certain deflruction of hypocritical pretenders to 

 virtue and religion. In reply to this, Job enumerates his 

 fufTcring^ and complains bitterly of the inhumanity of his 

 friends, and of the levcrity which he has experienced from 

 the hand of God ; he calls to wituefs both God and man, 

 T t that 



