Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/3_500_e.lzh/3_521.TXT

Text File | 1995-01-23 | 6KB | 122 lines

\*Ver. 11. \\Then came there unto him all his brethren, and all his\\
\\sisters\\, &c.] Which may be taken not in a
strict sense, but in a larger sense for all that were related
to him; the same with his kinsfolks, \\#Job 19:14\\;
\*\\and all they that had been of his acquaintance before\\;
that knew him, visited him, conversed with him, and
kept up a friendly correspondence with him; the
circle of his acquaintance must have been large, for
wealth makes many friends: now these had been shy
of him, and kept at a distance from him, during the
time of his affliction and distress; see \\#Job 19:13,14,19\\;
but hearing he was in the favour of God, and the
cause was given on his side, and against his friends,
and his affairs began to take a more favourable turn,
they came to him again, and paid him a friendly visit,
even all of them;
\*\\and did eat bread with him in his
house\\: expressing their joy for his recovery, and renewing
their friendship with him: this was done
either at their own expense or at Job's, for he might
not be so poor at the worst as he is by most represented;
for he had still an house of his own, and furniture
in it, and servants to wait upon him, as appears
from \\#Job 19:15,16\\; nor do we read of any thing being
taken out of his house from him; he might still have
gold and silver, and so could entertain his friends: and
being a man of an excellent spirit received them kindly,
without upbraiding them with their unkindness in deserting
him when afflicted;
\*\\and they bemoaned him\\;
shook their heads at him, pitying his case, that is,
which he had been in; for this they might do, though
things were now better with him, and might express
themselves in such manner as this,
\*"Poor man, what
"hast thou endured? what hast thou gone through
"by diseases of body, loss of substance, and vexation
"from friends?"\*
\*and besides, though things began to
mend with him, he was not come at once to the pitch
of happiness he arrived unto; so that there might be
still room for bemoaning, he being comparatively
in poor circumstances to what he was before;
\*\\and comforted him over all the evil that the Lord had brought
upon\\ \\him\\; the evil of afflictions, of body  and estate;
which, though by means of Satan and wicked men,
was according to the will of God, and might be said
to be brought on him and done to him by the Lord,
\\#Am 3:6\\; and they congratulated him upon his deliverance
from them;
\*\\every man also gave him a piece of money\\,
or a %lamb%; which some understand in
a proper sense, as being what might serve towards
making up his loss of sheep, and increasing his stock
of them; but others with us take it for a piece of
money, in which sense it is used in \\#Ge 33:19
Jos 24:32\\, compared with \\#Ac 7:16\\; which
might have the figure of a lamb impressed upon it; as
we formerly had a piece of money called an angel,
having the image of one stamped on it; and it was
usual with the ancients both to barter with cattle
instead of money before the coining of it, and when it
was coined to impress upon it the figure of cattle;
hence the Latin word %pecunia%, for money, is from
%pecus%, cattle {r}; this piece of money in Africa is the
same with the Jewish %meah% {s}, which weighed sixteen
barley corns; the value of a penny;
\*\\and every one earring of gold\\; or a jewel set in gold; such
used to wear in Arabia, as appears from, \\#Jud 8:24\\;
however Job could turn them into money, and increase
his stock of cattle thereby. Though, perhaps,
these presents were made him, not so much to enrich
him, but as tokens of renewing their friendship with
him; it being then usual in the eastern countries, as
it is to this day, that whenever they pay visits, even
to the greatest personages, they always carry presents
with them; see \\#1Sa 9:7\\.

\*Ver. 12. \\So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his\\
\\beginning\\, &c.] Which verified the
words of Bildad, \\#Job 8:6,7\\; though they were spoken
by him only by way of supposition. All blessings are
of the Lord, temporal and spiritual; and sometimes
the last days of a good man are his best, as to temporal
things, as were David's, and here Job's; though this
is not always the case: however, if their last clays are
but the best in spiritual things, that is enough: if they
have more faith, hope, love, patience, humility, and
self-denial, and resignation of will to the will of God;
are more holy, humble, spiritually and heavenly
minded; have more light and knowledge in divine
things; have more peace and joy, and are more fruitful
in every good work, and more useful; and often
they are in their very last moments most cheerful and
comfortable: the best wine is reserved till last;
\*\\for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a\\
\\thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses\\:
just double the number of each of what he had before, \\#Job 1:3\\.

\*Ver. 13. \\He had also seven sons, and three daughters\\.]
The same number of children, and of the same
sort lie had before, \\#Job 1:2\\; and according to Nachman
the very same he had before, which the additional
letter in the word %seven% is with him the notification
of; so that the doubting of what he had before,
\\#Job 42:10\\; respects only his substance, and particularly his
cattle; though the Targum says he had fourteen sons,
and so Jarchi {t}; others think these may be said to be
double to Job in their good qualities, external and internal,
in their dispositions, virtues, and graces; and
others, inasmuch as his former children were not lost,
but lived with God, and would live for ever, they
might now be said to be double; and so they consider
this as a proof of the immortality of the soul, and of
the resurrection of the body; but these senses are not
to be trusted to; whether these children were by a former
wife or another is uncertain.

{r} Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 18. c. 3. & l. 33. c. 3. Alex. ab. Alex. Genial.
Dier. l. 4. c. 15.
{s} T Bab. Roshhashanah, fol. 26. 1.
{t} Vid. Balmes. Gram. Strat. 26.