J O B. 



t<iat he is unjulliy opprelTecl ; tie intiiaates, tliat he is weak 

 in comiiarifon with God, that the contention is confequently 

 nneq«al, and that be his caufe ever fo righteous he cannot 

 hope to prevail. He cxpoflu'ates with God himfelf ftill 

 more vciicmcntly, and with gi-eater freedom, afHrming, that 

 I'e docs not difciimihatc charaftcrs, but eqiuil'.y afflids the 

 juft and the unjufl. The expoflulations of Job ierve only 

 to irritate ftill more the refenlmcnt of his pretended friends ; 

 they reproach him in feverer terms with pride, impiety, 

 paffion, and macjncfs : they repeat the fame arguments re- 

 Tpedting the juflice of Gxid, the puniflimcnt of the wicked, 

 and their certain deilructicn after a fl-.orc period of apparent 

 profperity. This fentiment they confidently pronounce to 

 be confirmed both by their experience and by that of their 

 fathers; and they malicioudy exaggerate the ungrateful 

 topic, by the moll fpleiidid imagery and the mod forcible 



When Job's three friesds have ceafed to difpute with 

 Job, " bocaufe he feemeth juft in his own eyes," that i^, 

 becaufe he has uniformly contcnde<!, that there was no 

 wickednefs in himfelf which could call down the heavy ven- 

 geance of God ; Ehhu comes forward jiifily offended with 

 both parties ; with Jcb, becaufe " lie jiiltilied himfelf in 

 preference to God," that is, becaufe he defended fo vehe- 

 mently the juflice of his own caiifc, that he fecmed in fome 

 meafure to arraign the juflice of God ; againft the three 

 friends, becaufe, " though they were unable to anfwer Job,- 

 they ceafed not to condemn him," ll'.at is, they coicluded 

 in their own minds that Job was impious and wicked, while, 

 ncverthelefs, they had nothing fpecific to object againll his 

 atiertions of liis own innocence, or upon which tliey might 

 fafelv ground their accufalion. 



The cor.ducl of Elihu evidently correfponds with this Hate 



lancua'^e. On the part of Job, the general fcope of the ar- of the controverfy : he profeffes, after a flight prefatory 



gumcnt is much the fame as before, but the expreffion is -■■' -' ' -'■ '^ --- -^-'- '■•- •-'-^■■'^^■-^ "--"■• 



conliderably heightened ; it confids of appeals to the Al- 

 mighty, aflevcrations of his own innocence, earneft expof- 

 lulations, complaints of the cruelty of his friends, melan- 

 choly rcfleiStions on tlie vanity of human life, and upon his 

 own fevere misfortunes, ending in grief and defperation : he 

 affirms, however, that he places his ultimate hope and con- 

 fidence in God ; and the more vehemently his adverfaries 

 urge, that the wicked only are objedls of the divine wrath, 

 and obnoxious to puniflimcnt, fo much the more refolutcly 

 does Job aflert their perpetual impunity, profperity, and 

 happincfs even to the end of their exillence. The iirll of 



his opponents, Eliphaz, incenfed by this alfertion, defccnds obduracy. He next rebukes Job, becaufe he had pro- 

 direftly to open crimination and contumely ; he accufes the nounccd himfelf upright, and affirmed that God had aiied 

 moll upright of men of the moll atrocious crimes, of injuf- inimically, if not u:ij'jftly towards him, wliich he proves to 

 tice, rapine, and oppreffion ; inveighs againft him as an im- be no lefs improper than indecent. In the third place, he 

 pious pretender to virtue and religion, and with a kind of objefts to Job, that from the miferics of the good, and the 

 larcaflic benevolence exhorts him to penitence. Vehemently profperity of the wicked, he has falfely and perverfely con 



mention of himfelf, to reafnn with Job, unbiaffed equally 

 by favour or refentnient. He therefore reproves Job from 

 his own mouth, becaufe he had attributed too much to him- 

 felf; becaufe he had affirmed himfelf to be altogether free 

 from guilt and depravity ; becaufe he had prefiimcd to con- 

 tend with God, and had not fcrupled to iniinuate that the 

 Deity was hoflilc to him. He aflerts, that it is not necef- 

 fary for God to explain and develope his counfels to men ; 

 tliat he neverthelefs takes many occafions of adm.onifliing 

 them, not only by vilions and revelations, but even by the 

 vifitations of his Providence, by fending calamities and dif- 

 eafes upon them, to reprefs their arrogance and reform their 



affefted with this reproof. Job, in a ftill mere animated and 

 confident ftrain, appeals to the tribunal of All-feeing Juf- 

 tice ; and wifhes it were only permitted him to plead his 

 caufe in the prefcnce of God himfelf. He complains ftill 

 more intcmperately of the unequal treatm.cnt of Providence ; 

 extdts in his own integrity, and then more tenacioufly main- 

 tains his former opinion concerning the impunity of the 

 wicked. To this another of the triumvirate, Bildad, replies, 

 tjy a mafterly, though concife, difTertation on the majeily 

 and fanftity of the Divine Being, indireaiy rebuking the 

 prefiimption of Job, who has dared to queftion his decrees. 

 In reply to Bildad, Job demonttrates himfelf no lefs expert 

 ;it wielding the weapons of fatire and ridicule, than thofe of 

 reafon and argument ; and reverting to a more ferious tone, 

 he jdifplays the infinite power and wifdom of God more 

 copioafly, and more poetically than the former fpeaker. 

 Tke tlkd of the friends making no return, and the others 

 i-cmaining 



eluded that tliere was no advantage to be derived from the 

 pradlice of virtue. On the contrary he affirms, that when 

 the afili£lions of the juil continue, it is becaufe they do not 

 place a proper confidence in God, afii relief at his hands, 

 patient'y expeft it, nor demean themfelvcs before him wiik 

 becoming humihty and fubmifiion. This obfervation alone, 

 he adds very properly, is at once a fulficient reproof of the 

 contiiniacy of Job, and a full refutation of the iinjuft flif- 

 picions of his friends. LaiUy, he explains the purpofes of 

 the Deityin chaftening men, which are in general to prove 

 and to amend them, to reprefs their arrogance, to afford 

 him an opportunity of exemplifying his inftice upon the ob- 

 ftinate and rebellions, and of fnewing favour to the humble 

 and obedient. He fuppofes God to have adted in this m.ai;- 

 ncr towards Job ; on tiiat account he exhorts him to humble 

 himfelf before his righteous Judge, to beware of appearing 

 obftinate or contumacious in his fight, and of relapfing into 

 filent. Job at length opens the true fentiments of a repetition of his fin. He intreats him, from the contem- 



Iiis heart'conccrning the fate of the wicked ; he allows that 

 their profperity is unftable, and that they and tl.eir de- 

 fcendants (hall at lall experience on a fudden, that God is 

 the avenger of iniquity. In all this, however, he contends 

 that tlie divine coufifcis dn not admii of human invcliigaiion ; 

 but that the chief wifdom of man coufifts in the fear of God. 

 He beautifully defcants upon his former profperity; and 

 exhibits a ftriking contrafl between it and his prefent afflic- 

 tion and debafenient. LalUy, in anfwer to the crimination 

 of E'iphaz, and the implications of the others, he relates the 

 principal Ir.infaainns of his pall hie ; he afferts his integrity 

 as difplaycd in all the dutie.^ of life, and in the fii^«it of God 

 aad man ; and %ain appeals to the jultice and ommfcicnce 

 ©f God in uttellalicii of his veracity. 



plution of the divine power and majeily, to endeavour to re- 

 tain a proper reverence for the Almighty. To thefe fre- 

 quently intermitted and often repeated admonitions of Elihn, 

 Job makes no return. 



The fpecch of Elihu is followed by the addrefs of God 

 himfelf: at the clofe of which. Job humbly fubmits to the 

 will of Providence, acknowledges his own ignorance and 

 imbecility, and " repents in dull and afhes." 



On a due confidcralion of all thefe circumflances, the 

 principal objedt of the poem feems to be this third and laft 

 tri 4 of Job, from the injultice and unkindnefs of his ac. 

 cufing friends. The confequencc of which is, in the firft 

 place, the anger, indignation, and contumacy of Job, and 

 afterwards lus compofure,. fubraiffion, and jicnitence. 'I'tie 

 I Uefign 



