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Text -- Job 2:7-13 (NET)

Strongs On/Off
Context
Job’s Integrity in Suffering
2:7 So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord, and he afflicted Job with a malignant ulcer from the sole of his feet to the top of his head. 2:8 Job took a shard of broken pottery to scrape himself with while he was sitting among the ashes. 2:9 Then his wife said to him, “Are you still holding firmly to your integrity? Curse God, and die!” 2:10 But he replied, “You’re talking like one of the godless women would do! Should we receive what is good from God, and not also receive what is evil?” In all this Job did not sin by what he said.
The Visit of Job’s Friends
2:11 When Job’s three friends heard about all this calamity that had happened to him, each of them came from his own country– Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They met together to come to show sympathy for him and to console him. 2:12 But when they gazed intently from a distance but did not recognize him, they began to weep loudly. Each of them tore his robes, and they threw dust into the air over their heads. 2:13 Then they sat down with him on the ground for seven days and seven nights, yet no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his pain was very great.
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Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics

Names, People and Places:
 · Bildad the Shuhite man who was a friend of Job
 · Eliphaz son of Esau,a man of Teman who was a friend of Job
 · Job a man whose story is told in the book of Job,a man from the land of Uz in Edom
 · Naamathite a resident of the town of Naamah
 · Satan a person, male (evil angelic),an angel that has rebelled against God
 · Shuhite a resident of the town of Shuah
 · Temanite resident(s) of the region of Teman
 · Zophar a Naamathite man who was a friend of Job


Dictionary Themes and Topics: Temptation | Temanite | Sympathy | Mourn | Job | Hannah | God | GRIEF; GRIEVE | Friendship | Faithfulness | Faith | FOOL; FOLLY | ELIPHAZ (2) | EARTH | Curse | Cloak | CROWN | Boil | BOIL (1) | Afflictions and Adversities | more
Table of Contents

Word/Phrase Notes
Wesley , JFB , Clarke , Defender , TSK

Word/Phrase Notes
Barnes , Poole , Haydock , Gill

Verse Notes / Footnotes
NET Notes , Geneva Bible

Verse Range Notes
TSK Synopsis , MHCC , Matthew Henry , Keil-Delitzsch , Constable , Guzik

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Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)

Wesley: Job 2:7 - -- Like those inflicted upon the Egyptians, which are expressed by the same word, and threatened to apostate Israelites, Deu 28:27, whereby he was made l...

Like those inflicted upon the Egyptians, which are expressed by the same word, and threatened to apostate Israelites, Deu 28:27, whereby he was made loathsome to himself, and to his nearest relations, and filled with consuming pains in his body, and no less torments and anguish in his mind.

Wesley: Job 2:8 - -- This he did not with soft linen clothes, either because he had not now a sufficient quantity of them; or because therein he must have had the help of ...

This he did not with soft linen clothes, either because he had not now a sufficient quantity of them; or because therein he must have had the help of others who abhorred to come near him. Nor with his own hands or fingers, which were also ulcerous, and so unfit for that use; but with potsherds, either because they were next at hand, and ready for his present use; or in token of his deep humiliation under God's hand, which made him decline all things that favoured of tenderness and delicacy. Heb. in dust or ashes, as mourners used to do. If God lay him among the ashes, there he will contentedly sit down. A low spirit becomes low circumstances, and will help to reconcile us to them.

Wesley: Job 2:9 - -- Whom Satan spared, to be a troubler and tempter to him. It is his policy, to send his temptations by the hands of those that are dear to us. We must t...

Whom Satan spared, to be a troubler and tempter to him. It is his policy, to send his temptations by the hands of those that are dear to us. We must therefore carefully watch, that we be not drawn to any evil, by them whom we love and value the most.

Wesley: Job 2:9 - -- I see thou art set upon blessing of God, thou blessest God for giving, and thou blessest God for taking away, and thou art still blessing God for thy ...

I see thou art set upon blessing of God, thou blessest God for giving, and thou blessest God for taking away, and thou art still blessing God for thy loathsome diseases, and he rewards thee accordingly, giving thee more and more of that kind of mercy for which thou blessest him. Go on therefore in thy generous course, and bless God, and die as a fool dieth.

Wesley: Job 2:10 - -- Shall we poor worms give laws to our supreme Lord, and oblige him never to afflict us? And shall not those great and manifold mercies, which from time...

Shall we poor worms give laws to our supreme Lord, and oblige him never to afflict us? And shall not those great and manifold mercies, which from time to time God hath given us, compensate these short afflictions? Ought we not to bless God for those mercies which we did not deserve; and contentedly bear those corrections which we do deserve. And if we receive so much good for the body, shall we not receive some good for our souls? That is, some affliction, whereby we may be made partakers of his holiness? Let murmuring therefore, as well as boasting, be forever excluded.

Wesley: Job 2:10 - -- By any reflections upon God, by any impatient or unbecoming expression.

By any reflections upon God, by any impatient or unbecoming expression.

Wesley: Job 2:11 - -- Who were persons eminent for birth and quality, for wisdom and knowledge, and for the profession of the true religion, being probably of the posterity...

Who were persons eminent for birth and quality, for wisdom and knowledge, and for the profession of the true religion, being probably of the posterity of Abraham, a - kin to Job, and living in the same country. Eliphaz descended from Teman, the grandson of Esau, Gen 36:11. Bildad probably from Shuah, Abraham's son by Keturah, Gen 25:2. Zophar is thought to be same with Zepho, (Gen 36:11.) a descendant from Esau. The preserving of so much wisdom and piety among those who were not children of the promise, was an happy presage of God's grace to the Gentiles, when the partition wall should be taken down.

Wesley: Job 2:13 - -- In the posture of mourners condoling with him.

In the posture of mourners condoling with him.

Wesley: Job 2:13 - -- Which was the usual time of mourning for the dead, and therefore proper both for Job's children, and for Job himself, who was in a manner dead, while ...

Which was the usual time of mourning for the dead, and therefore proper both for Job's children, and for Job himself, who was in a manner dead, while he lived: not that they continued in this posture so long together, which the necessities of nature could not bear; but they spent the greatest part of that time in sitting with him, and silent mourning over him.

Wesley: Job 2:13 - -- About his afflictions and the causes of them. The reason of this silence was the greatness of their grief for him, and their surprize and astonishment...

About his afflictions and the causes of them. The reason of this silence was the greatness of their grief for him, and their surprize and astonishment at his condition; because they thought it convenient to give him time to vent his own sorrows, and because as yet they knew not what to say to him: for though they had ever esteemed him to be a truly good man, and came with full purpose to comfort him, yet the prodigious greatness of his miseries, and that hand of God which they perceived in them, made them now question his sincerity, so that they could not comfort him as they had intended, and yet were loth to grieve him with reproofs.

JFB: Job 2:7 - -- Malignant boils; rather, as it is singular in the Hebrew, a "burning sore." Job was covered with one universal inflammation. The use of the potsherd [...

Malignant boils; rather, as it is singular in the Hebrew, a "burning sore." Job was covered with one universal inflammation. The use of the potsherd [Job 2:8] agrees with this view. It was that form of leprosy called black (to distinguish it from the white), or elephantiasis, because the feet swell like those of the elephant. The Arabic judham (Deu 28:35), where "sore botch" is rather the black burning boil (Isa 1:6).

JFB: Job 2:8 - -- Not a piece of a broken earthen vessel, but an instrument made for scratching (the root of the Hebrew word is "scratch"); the sore was too disgusting ...

Not a piece of a broken earthen vessel, but an instrument made for scratching (the root of the Hebrew word is "scratch"); the sore was too disgusting to touch. "To sit in the ashes" marks the deepest mourning (Jon 3:6); also humility, as if the mourner were nothing but dust and ashes; so Abraham (Gen 18:27).

JFB: Job 2:9 - -- Rather, "renounce" God. (See on Job 1:5) [UMBREIT]. However, it was usual among the heathens, when disappointed in their prayers accompanied with offe...

Rather, "renounce" God. (See on Job 1:5) [UMBREIT]. However, it was usual among the heathens, when disappointed in their prayers accompanied with offerings to their gods, to reproach and curse them.

JFB: Job 2:9 - -- That is, take thy farewell of God and so die. For no good is to be got out of religion, either here or hereafter; or, at least, not in this life [GILL...

That is, take thy farewell of God and so die. For no good is to be got out of religion, either here or hereafter; or, at least, not in this life [GILL]; Nothing makes the ungodly so angry as to see the godly under trial not angry.

JFB: Job 2:10 - -- Sin and folly are allied in Scripture (1Sa 25:25; 2Sa 13:13; Psa 14:1).

Sin and folly are allied in Scripture (1Sa 25:25; 2Sa 13:13; Psa 14:1).

JFB: Job 2:10 - -- Bear willingly (Lam 3:39).

Bear willingly (Lam 3:39).

JFB: Job 2:11 - -- The view of RAWLINSON that "the names of Job's three friends represent the Chaldean times, about 700 B.C.," cannot be accepted. Eliphaz is an Idumean ...

The view of RAWLINSON that "the names of Job's three friends represent the Chaldean times, about 700 B.C.," cannot be accepted. Eliphaz is an Idumean name, Esau's oldest son (Gen 36:4); and Teman, son of Eliphaz (Gen 36:15), called "duke." EUSEBIUS places Teman in Arabia-Petræa (but see on Job 6:19). Teman means "at the right hand"; and then the south, namely, part of Idumea; capital of Edom (Amo 1:12). Hebrew geographers faced the east, not the north as we do; hence with them "the right hand" was the south. Temanites were famed for wisdom (Jer 49:7). BARUCH mentions them as "authors of fables" (namely, proverbs embodying the results of observation), and "searchers out of understanding."

JFB: Job 2:11 - -- Shuah ("a pit"), son of Abraham and Keturah (Gen 25:2). PTOLEMY mentions the region Syccea, in Arabia-Deserta, east of Batanea.

Shuah ("a pit"), son of Abraham and Keturah (Gen 25:2). PTOLEMY mentions the region Syccea, in Arabia-Deserta, east of Batanea.

JFB: Job 2:11 - -- Not of the Naamans in Judah (Jos 15:41), which was too distant; but some region in Arabia-Deserta. FRETELIUS says there was a Naamath in Uz.

Not of the Naamans in Judah (Jos 15:41), which was too distant; but some region in Arabia-Deserta. FRETELIUS says there was a Naamath in Uz.

JFB: Job 2:12 - -- They threw ashes violently upwards, that they might fall on their heads and cover them--the deepest mourning (Jos 7:6; Act 22:23).

They threw ashes violently upwards, that they might fall on their heads and cover them--the deepest mourning (Jos 7:6; Act 22:23).

JFB: Job 2:13 - -- They did not remain in the same posture and without food, &c., all this time, but for most of this period daily and nightly. Sitting on the earth mark...

They did not remain in the same posture and without food, &c., all this time, but for most of this period daily and nightly. Sitting on the earth marked mourning (Lam 2:10). Seven days was the usual length of it (Gen 50:10; 1Sa 31:13). This silence may have been due to a rising suspicion of evil in Job; but chiefly because it is only ordinary griefs that find vent in language; extraordinary griefs are too great for utterance.

Clarke: Job 2:7 - -- Sore boils - בשחין רע bischin ra , "with an evil inflammation."What this diabolical disorder was, interpreters are not agreed. Some think it...

Sore boils - בשחין רע bischin ra , "with an evil inflammation."What this diabolical disorder was, interpreters are not agreed. Some think it was the leprosy, and this is the reason why he dwelt by himself, and had his habitation in an unclean place, without the city, (Septuagint, εξω της πωλεως ), or in the open air: and the reason why his friends beheld him afar off, Job 2:12, was because they knew that the disorder was infectious

His scraping himself with a potsherd indicates a disease accompanied with intolerable itching, one of the characteristics of the smallpox. Query, Was it not this disorder? And in order to save his life (for that he had in especial command) did not Satan himself direct him to the cool regimen, without which, humanly speaking, the disease must have proved fatal? In the elephantiasis and leprosy there is, properly speaking, no boil or detached inflammation, or swelling, but one uniform disordered state of the whole surface, so that the whole body is covered with loathsome scales, and the skin appears like that of the elephant, thick and wrinkled, from which appearance the disorder has its name. In the smallpox it is different; each pock or pustule is a separate inflammation, tending to suppuration; and during this process, the fever is in general very high, and the anguish and distress of the patient intolerable. When the suppuration is pretty far advanced, the itching is extreme; and the hands are often obliged to be confined to prevent the patient from literally tearing his own flesh.

Clarke: Job 2:9 - -- Then said his wife - To this verse the Septuagint adds the following words: "Much time having elapsed, his wife said unto him, How long dost thou st...

Then said his wife - To this verse the Septuagint adds the following words: "Much time having elapsed, his wife said unto him, How long dost thou stand steadfast, saying, ‘ Behold, I wait yet a little longer looking for the hope of my Salvation?’ Behold thy memorial is already blotted out from the earth, together with thy sons and thy daughters, the fruits of my pains and labors, for whom with anxiety I have labored in vain. Thyself also sittest in the rottenness of worms night and day, while I am a wanderer from place to place, and from house to house, waiting for the setting of the sun, that I may rest from my labors, and from the griefs which oppress me. Speak therefore some word against God, and die."We translate ברך אלהים ומת barech Elohim vamuth , Curse God, and die. The verb ברך barach is supposed to include in it the ideas of cursing and blessing; but it is not clear that it has the former meaning in any part of the sacred writings, though we sometimes translate it so. Here it seems to be a strong irony. Job was exceedingly afflicted, and apparently dying through sore disease; yet his soul was filled with gratitude to God. His wife, destitute of the salvation which her husband possessed, gave him this ironical reproof. Bless God, and die - What! bless him for his goodness, while he is destroying all that thou hast! bless him for his support, while he is casting thee down and destroying thee! Bless on, and die. The Targum says that Job’ s wife’ s name was Dinah, and that the words which she spake to him on this occasion were בריך מימרא דיי ומית berich meymera dayai umith . Bless the word of the Lord, and die.

Ovid has such an irony as I suppose this to have been: -

Quid vos sacra juvant? quid nunc Aegyptia prosunt
Sistra? -

Cum rapiant mala fata bonos, ignoscite fasso,
Sollicitor nullos esse putare deos

Vive plus, moriere pius; cole sacra, colentem
Mors gravis a templis in cava busta trahet

Amor. lib. iii., Eleg. ix. ver. 33

"In vain to gods (if gods there are) we pray

And needless victims prodigally pay

Worship their sleeping deities: yet deat

Scorns votaries, and stops the praying breath

To hallow’ d shrines intruding fate will come

And drag you from the altar to the tomb.

Stepney.

||&&$

Clarke: Job 2:10 - -- Thou speakest as one of the foolish - Thou speakest like an infidel; like one who has no knowledge of God, of religion, or of a future state. The Ta...

Thou speakest as one of the foolish - Thou speakest like an infidel; like one who has no knowledge of God, of religion, or of a future state. The Targum, who calls this woman Dinah, translates thus: "Thou speakest like one of those women who have wrought folly in the house of their father."This is in reference to an ancient rabbinical opinion, that Job lived in the days of the patriarch Jacob, whose daughter Dinah he had married

Clarke: Job 2:10 - -- Shall we receive good - This we have received in great abundance for many years

Shall we receive good - This we have received in great abundance for many years

Clarke: Job 2:10 - -- And shall we not receive evil? - Shall we murmur when He afflicts us for a day, who has given us health for so many years? Shall we blaspheme his na...

And shall we not receive evil? - Shall we murmur when He afflicts us for a day, who has given us health for so many years? Shall we blaspheme his name for momentary privations, who has given us such a long succession or enjoyments? His blessings are his own: he never gave them to us; they were only lent. We have had the long, the free, the unmerited use of them; and shall we be offended at the Owner, when he comes to reclaim his own property? This would be foolish, ungrateful, and wicked. So may every one reason who is suffering from adversity. But who, besides Job, reasons thus? Man is naturally discontented and ungrateful

Clarke: Job 2:10 - -- In all this did not Job sin with his lips - The Chaldee adds, But in his heart he thought words. He had surmisings of heart, though he let nothing e...

In all this did not Job sin with his lips - The Chaldee adds, But in his heart he thought words. He had surmisings of heart, though he let nothing escape from his lips.

Clarke: Job 2:11 - -- Job’ s three friends - The first was Eliphaz the Temanite; or, as the Septuagint has it, Ελιφαζ ὁ Θαιμανων βασιλευς, ...

Job’ s three friends - The first was Eliphaz the Temanite; or, as the Septuagint has it, Ελιφαζ ὁ Θαιμανων βασιλευς, Eliphaz the king on the Thaimanites. Eliphaz was one of the sons of Esau; and Teman, of Eliphaz, Gen 36:10, Gen 36:11. Teman was a city of Edom, Jer 49:7-20; Eze 25:13; Amo 1:11, Amo 1:12

Clarke: Job 2:11 - -- Bildad the Shuhite - Or, as the Septuagint, Βαλδαδ ὁ Συχεων τυραννος, Baldad, tyrant of the Suchites. Shuah was the son of A...

Bildad the Shuhite - Or, as the Septuagint, Βαλδαδ ὁ Συχεων τυραννος, Baldad, tyrant of the Suchites. Shuah was the son of Abraham by Keturah: and his posterity is reckoned among the Easterns. It is supposed he should be placed with his brother Midian, and his brother’ s sons Sheba and Dedan. See Gen 25:2, Gen 25:3. Dedan was a city of Edom, see Jer 49:8, and seems to have been situated in its southern boundary, as Teman was in its western. Eze 25:13

Clarke: Job 2:11 - -- Zophar the Naamathite - Or, according to the Septuagint, Σωφαρ Μιναιων Βασιλευς, Sophar king of the Minaites. He most probably ...

Zophar the Naamathite - Or, according to the Septuagint, Σωφαρ Μιναιων Βασιλευς, Sophar king of the Minaites. He most probably came from that Naamah, which was bordering upon the Edomites to the south and fell by lot to the tribe of Judah, Joshua 15:21-41. These circumstances, which have already been mentioned in the introduction, prove that Job must have dwelt in the land of Edom, and that all his friends dwelt in Arabia Petraea, or in the countries immediately adjacent. That some of those Eastern people were highly cultivated, we have at least indirect proof in the case of the Temanites, Jer 49:7 : Concerning Edom thus saith the Lord of hosts, Is wisdom no more in Teman? Is counsel perished from the prudent? Is their wisdom vanished? They are celebrated also in Baruch 3:22, 23. Speaking of wisdom he says: It hath not been heard of in Chanaan; neither hath it been seen in Theman. The Agarenes that seek wisdom upon earth, the merchants of Meran and of Theman, the expounders of fables, and searchers out of understanding, none of these have known the way of wisdom. It is evident enough from these quotations that the inhabitants of those districts were celebrated for their knowledge; and the sayings of Job’ s three friends are proofs that their reputation for wisdom stood on a very solid foundation.

Clarke: Job 2:12 - -- They rent every one his mantle - I have already had frequent occasions to point out and illustrate, by quotations from the ancients, the actions tha...

They rent every one his mantle - I have already had frequent occasions to point out and illustrate, by quotations from the ancients, the actions that were used in order to express profound grief; such as wrapping themselves in sackcloth, covering the face, strewing dust or ashes upon the head, sitting upon the bare ground, etc., etc.; significant actions which were in use among all nations.

Clarke: Job 2:13 - -- They sat down with him upon the ground seven days - They were astonished at the unprecedented change which had taken place in the circumstances of t...

They sat down with him upon the ground seven days - They were astonished at the unprecedented change which had taken place in the circumstances of this most eminent man; they could not reconcile his present situation with any thing they had met with in the history of Divine providence. The seven days mentioned here were the period appointed for mourning. The Israelites mourned for Jacob seven days, Gen 50:10. And the men of Jabesh mourned so long for the death of Saul, 1Sa 31:13; 1Ch 10:12. And Ezekiel sat on the ground with the captives at Chebar, and mourned with and for them seven days. Eze 3:15. The wise son of Sirach says, "Seven days do men mourn for him that is dead;"Sirach 22:12. So calamitous was the state of Job, that they considered him as a dead man: and went through the prescribed period of mourning for him

Clarke: Job 2:13 - -- They saw that his grief was very great - This is the reason why they did not speak to him: they believed him to be suffering for heavy crimes, and, ...

They saw that his grief was very great - This is the reason why they did not speak to him: they believed him to be suffering for heavy crimes, and, seeing him suffer so much, they were not willing to add to his distresses by invectives or reproach. Job himself first broke silence.

Defender: Job 2:9 - -- Satan had claimed he could make Job curse God (Job 1:11; Job 2:5), and now Job's own wife is used by Satan to urge him to do just that. Job had lost h...

Satan had claimed he could make Job curse God (Job 1:11; Job 2:5), and now Job's own wife is used by Satan to urge him to do just that. Job had lost his wealth, children, health, and respect in the community (Job 2:8), and finally even his wife. Yet "in all this did not Job sin with his lips" (Job 2:10)."

Defender: Job 2:11 - -- Job was a famous man, and the news concerning his calamity spread rapidly, reaching three nearby tribal kingdoms and, apparently, the three men who oc...

Job was a famous man, and the news concerning his calamity spread rapidly, reaching three nearby tribal kingdoms and, apparently, the three men who occupied positions similar to Job's in Uz. These three "friends" gathered as quickly as they could to learn what had happened and to "comfort" him.

Defender: Job 2:11 - -- Eliphaz, the chief spokesman of the three, was from Teman, an ancient city later prominent among the Edomites who eventually took over that whole regi...

Eliphaz, the chief spokesman of the three, was from Teman, an ancient city later prominent among the Edomites who eventually took over that whole region.

Defender: Job 2:11 - -- Bildad was from Shuhu, an Aramaean city south of Haran, on the middle Euphrates.

Bildad was from Shuhu, an Aramaean city south of Haran, on the middle Euphrates.

Defender: Job 2:11 - -- Zophar was from Naamah, a city believed to be in Arabia."

Zophar was from Naamah, a city believed to be in Arabia."

Defender: Job 2:13 - -- The scene defies imagination. Job had been living on the ash dump outside the city for a long time before his friends could arrive. He was no longer w...

The scene defies imagination. Job had been living on the ash dump outside the city for a long time before his friends could arrive. He was no longer welcome in the city in which he had formerly been chief citizen, so ugly and foul was his presence. His former friends and colleagues could not even recognize him (Job 2:12). The most Godly man in the world seemed now to be forsaken and repudiated by the God he had loved and served for many years, and he was grief-stricken to a degree probably no one else in the human family has ever experienced. He still trusted God, but Satan was far from finished with his experiment."

TSK: Job 2:7 - -- So went : 1Ki 22:22 sore boils : Shechin ra , supposed to be the Judham , or black leprosy, of the Arabs, termed Elephantiasis by the Greeks, fro...

So went : 1Ki 22:22

sore boils : Shechin ra , supposed to be the Judham , or black leprosy, of the Arabs, termed Elephantiasis by the Greeks, from its rendering the skin, like that of the elephant, scabrous, dark coloured, and furrowed all over with tubercles. This loathsome and most afflictive disease is accompanied with most intolerable itching. Job 30:17-19, Job 30:30; Exo 9:9-11; Deu 28:27, Deu 28:35; Rev 16:11

from the sole : Isa 1:6, Isa 3:17

TSK: Job 2:8 - -- took him : Job 19:14-17; Psa 38:5, Psa 38:7; Luk 16:20, Luk 16:21 he sat : Job 42:6; 2Sa 13:19; Isa 61:3; Eze 27:30; Jon 3:6; Mat 11:21

TSK: Job 2:9 - -- his wife : Gen 3:6, Gen 3:12; 1Ki 11:4 retain : Job 2:3, Job 21:14, Job 21:15; 2Ki 6:33; Mal 3:14 curse God : Job 2:5, Job 1:11

TSK: Job 2:10 - -- Thou speakest : Gen 3:17; 2Sa 19:22; Mat 16:23 as one : 2Sa 6:20, 2Sa 6:21, 2Sa 13:13, 2Sa 24:10; 2Ch 16:9; Pro 9:6, Pro 9:13; Mat 25:2 shall we recei...

TSK: Job 2:11 - -- friends : Job 6:14, Job 16:20, Job 19:19, Job 19:21, Job 42:7; Pro 17:17, Pro 18:24, Pro 27:10 Temanite : Job 6:19, Job 15:1; Gen 36:11, Gen 36:15; Je...

TSK: Job 2:12 - -- knew him : Job 19:14; Rth 1:19-21; Lam 4:7, Lam 4:8 their voice : Gen 27:34; Jdg 2:4; 1Sa 11:4, 1Sa 30:4; 2Sa 13:36; Est 4:1 they rent : Job 1:20 spri...

knew him : Job 19:14; Rth 1:19-21; Lam 4:7, Lam 4:8

their voice : Gen 27:34; Jdg 2:4; 1Sa 11:4, 1Sa 30:4; 2Sa 13:36; Est 4:1

they rent : Job 1:20

sprinkled dust upon : Neh 9:1; Lam 2:10; Eze 27:30; Rev 18:19

TSK: Job 2:13 - -- they sat : Ezr 9:3; Neh 1:4; Isa 3:26, Isa 47:1 seven days : Gen 1:5, Gen 1:8, Gen 50:10 none spake : Job 4:2; Psa 77:4

they sat : Ezr 9:3; Neh 1:4; Isa 3:26, Isa 47:1

seven days : Gen 1:5, Gen 1:8, Gen 50:10

none spake : Job 4:2; Psa 77:4

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Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)

Barnes: Job 2:7 - -- So went Satan forth - Job 1:12. And smote Job with sore boils - The English word boil denotes the well-known turnout upon the flesh, acco...

So went Satan forth - Job 1:12.

And smote Job with sore boils - The English word boil denotes the well-known turnout upon the flesh, accompanied with severe inflammation; a sore angry swelling. "Webster."The Hebrew word, however, is in the singular number שׁחין she chı̂yn , and should have been so rendered in our translation. Dr. Good renders it "a burning ulceration."The Vulgate translates it, "ulcere pessimo."The Septuagint, ἕλκει πονηρῶ helkei ponērō - "with a foul ulcer."The Hebrew word שׁחין she chı̂yn means a burning sore; an inflamed ulcer, a bile. "Gesenius."It is derived from שׁכן shâkan , an obsolete root, retained in Arabic, and meaning to be hot or inflamed. It is translated "bile"or "boil,"in Exo 9:9-11; Lev 13:18; 2Ki 20:7;: Isa 28:21, (see the notes on that place), Lev 13:19-20; Job 2:7; and "botch,"Deu 28:27, Deu 28:35. The word does not occur elsewhere in the Scriptures. In Deu 28:27, it means "the botch of Egypt,"some species of leprosy, undoubtedly, which prevailed there.

In regard to the disease of Job, we may learn some of its characteristics, not only from the usual meaning of the word, but from the circumstances mentioned in the book itself. It was such that he took a potsherd to scrape himself with, Job 2:8; such as to make his nights restless, and full of tossings to and fro and to clothe his flesh with clods of dust, and with worms, and to break his flesh, or to constitute a running sore or ulcer, Job 7:4-5; such as to make him bite his flesh for pain, Job 13:14, and to make him like a rotten thing, or a garment that is moth eaten, Job 13:28; such that his face was foul with weeping, Job 16:16, and such as to fill him with wrinkles, and to make his flesh lean, Job 16:8; such as to make his breath corrupt, Job 17:1, and his bones cleave to his skin, Job 19:20, Job 19:26; such as to pierce his bones with pain in the night, Job 30:17, and to make his skin black, and to burn up his bones with heat, Job 30:30.

It has been commonly supposed that the disease of Job was a species of black leprosy commonly called "elephantiasis,"which prevails much in Egypt. This disease received its name from ἐλέφας elefas , "an elephant,"from the swelling produced by it, causing a resemblance to that animal in the limbs; or because it rendered the skin like that of the elephant, scabtons and dark colored. It is called by the Arabs judhām (Dr. Good), and is said to produce in the countenance a grim, distorted, and "lion-like"set of features, and hence has been called by some "Leontiasis."It is known as the black leprosy, to distinguish it from a more common disorder called "white leprosy"- an affection which the Greeks call "Leuce,"or "whiteness."The disease of Job seems to have been a universal ulcer; producing an eruption over his entire person, and attended with violent pain, and constant restlessness. A universal bile or groups of biles ever the body would accord with the account of the disease in the various parts of the book. In the elephantiasis the skin is covered with incrustations like those of an elephant. It is a chronic and contagious disease, marked by a thickening of the legs, with a loss of hair and feeling, a swelling of the face, and a hoarse nasal voice. It affects the whole body; the bones as well as the skin are covered with spots and tumors, at first red, but afterward black. "Coxe, Ency. Webster."It should be added that the leprosy in all its forms was regarded as contagious, and of course involved the necessity of a separation from society; and all the circumstances attending this calamity were such as deeply to humble a man of the former rank and dignity of Job.

Barnes: Job 2:8 - -- And he took him a potsherd - The word used here חרשׁ chârâsh means a fragment of a broken vessel; see the notes at Isa 45:9. The ...

And he took him a potsherd - The word used here חרשׁ chârâsh means a fragment of a broken vessel; see the notes at Isa 45:9. The Septuagint renders it ὄστρακον ostrakon - "a shell."One object of taking this was to remove from his body the filth accumulated by the universal ulcer, compare Job 7:4-5; and another design probably was, to "indicate"the greatness of his calamity and sorrow. The ancients were accustomed to show their grief by significant external actions (compare the notes at Job 1:20), and nothing could more strongly denote the greatness of the calamity, than for a man of wealth, honor, and distinction, to sit down in the ashes, to take a piece of broken earthen-ware, and begin to scrape his body covered over with undressed and most painful sores. It does not appear that anything was done to heal him, or any kindness shown in taking care of his disease. It would seem that he was at once separated from his home, as a man whom none would venture to approach, and was doomed to endure his suffering without sympathy from others.

To scrape himself withal - The word used here גרד gârad has the sense of grating, scraping, sawing; or to scrape or rasp with an edged tool. The same word identically, as to letters, is used at present among the Arabs; meaning to rasp or scrape with any kind of tool. The idea here seems to be, that Job took the pieces of broken pottery that he found among the ashes to scrape himself with.

And he sat down among the ashes - On the expressions of grief among the ancients, see the notes at Job 1:20. The general ideas of mourning among the nations of antiquity seem to have been, to strip off all their ornaments; to put on the coarsest apparel, and to place themselves in the most humiliating positions. To sit on the ground (see the note at Isa 3:26), or on a heap of ashes, or a pile of cinders, was a common mode of expressing sorrow; see the note at Isa 58:5. To wear sackcloth to shave their heads and their beards and to abstain from pleasant food and from all cheerful society, and to utter loud and long exclamations or shrieks, was also a common mode of indicating grief. The Vulgate renders this " sedates in sterquilinio ,""sitting on a dunghill."The Septuagint, "and he took a shell to scrape off the ichor ( ἰχῶρα ichōra ) the "sanies,"or filth produced by a running ulcer, and sat upon the ashes "out of the city,""implying that his grief was so excessive that he left the city and his friends, and went out to weep alone.

Barnes: Job 2:9 - -- Then said his wife unto him - Some remarkable additions are made by the ancient versions to this passage. The Chaldee renders it, "and "Dinah"(...

Then said his wife unto him - Some remarkable additions are made by the ancient versions to this passage. The Chaldee renders it, "and "Dinah"( דינה dı̂ynâh ), his wife, said to him."The author of that paraphrase seems to have supposed that Job lived in the time of Jacob, and had married his daughter Dinah; Gen 30:21. Drusius says, that this was the opinion of the Hebrews, and quotes a declaration from the Gemara to this effect: "Job lived in the days of Jacob, and was born when the children of Israel went down into Egypt; and when they departed thence he died. He lived therefore 210 years, as long as they were into Egypt."This is mere tradition, but it shows the ancient impression as to the time when Job lived. The Septuagint has introduced a remarkable passage here, of which the following is a translation. "After much time had elapsed, his wife said unto him, How long wilt thou persevere, saying, Behold, I will wait a little longer, cherishing the trope of my recovery? Behold, the memorial of thee has disappeared from the earth - those sons and daughters, the pangs and sorrows of my womb, for whom I toiled laboriously in vain. Even thou sittest among loathsome worms, passing the night in the open air, whilst I, a wanderer and a drudge, from place to place, and from house to house, watch the sun until his going down, that I may rest from the toils and sorrows that now oppress me. But speak some word toward the Lord ( τι ῥῆμα εἰς κύριον ti rēma eis kurion ) and die."

Whence this addition had its origin, it is impossible now to say. Dr. Good says it is found in Theodotion, in the Syriac, and the Arabic (in this he errs, for it is not in the Syriac and Arabic in Waltoh’ s Polyglott), and in the Latin of Ambrose. Dathe suggests that it was probably added by some person who thought it incredible that an angry woman could be content with saying so "little"as is ascribed in the Hebrew to the wife of Job. It may have been originally written by some one in the margin of his Bible by way of paraphrase, and the transcriber, seeing it there, may have supposed it was omitted accidentally from the text, and so inserted it in the place where it now stands. It is one of the many instances, at all events, which show that implicit confidence is not to be placed in the Septuagint. There is not the slightest evidence that this was ever in the Hebrew text. It is not wholly unnatural, and as an exercise of the fancy is not without ingenuity and plausibility, and yet the simple but abrupt statement in the Hebrew seems best to accord with nature. The evident distress of the wife of Job, according to the whole narrative, is not so much that she was subjected to trials, and that she was compelled to wander about without a home, as that Job should be so patient, and that he did not yield to the temptation.

Dost thou still retain thine integrity? - Notes Job 2:3. The question implies that, in her view, he ought not to be expected to mantles, patience and resignation in these circumstances. He had endured evils which showed that confidence ought not to be reposed in a God who would thus inflict them. This is all that we know of the wife of Job. Whether this was her general character, or whether "she"yielded to the temptation of Satan and cursed God, and thus heightened the sorrows of Job by her unexpected impropriety of conduct, is unknown. It is not conclusive evidence that her general character was bad; and it may be that the strength of her usual virtue and piety was overcome by accumulated calamities. She expressed, however, the feelings of corrupt human nature everywhere when sorely afflicted. The suggestion "will"cross the mind, often with almost irresistible force, that a God who thus afflicts his creatures is not worthy of confidence; and many a time a child of God is "tempted"to give vent to feelings of rebellion and complaining like this, and to renounce all his religion.

Curse God - See the notes at Job 1:11. The Hebrew word is the same. Dr. Good renders it, "And yet dost thou hold fast thine integrity, blessing God and dying?"Noyes translates it, "Renounce God, and die,"Rosenmuller and Umbreit, "Bid farewell to God, and die."Castellio renders it, "Give thanks to God and die."The response of Job, however Job 2:10, shows that he understood her as exciting him to reject, renounce, or curse God. The sense is, that she regarded him as unworthy of confidence, and submission as unreasonable, and she wished Job to express this and be relieved from his misery. Roberts supposes that this was a pagan sentiment, and says that nothing is more common than for the pagan, under certain circumstances, to curse their gods. "That the man who has made expensive offerings to his deity, in hope of gaining some great blessing, and who has been disappointed, will pour out all his imprecations on the god whose good offices have (as he believes) been prevented by some superior deity. A man in reduced circumstances says, ‘ Yes, yes, my god has lost his eyes; they are put out; he cannot look after my affairs.’ ‘ Yes, ‘ said an extremely rich devotee of the supreme god Siva, after he had lost his property, ‘ Shall I serve him any more? What, make offerings to him! No, no. He is the lowest of all gods? ‘ "

And die - Probably she regarded God as a stern and severe Being, and supposed that by indulging in blasphemy Job would provoke him to cut him off at once. She did not expect him to lay wicked hands on himself. She expected that God would at once interpose and destroy him. The sense is, that nothing but death was to be expected, and the sooner he provoked God to cut him off from the land of the living, the better.

Barnes: Job 2:10 - -- As one of the foolish women speaketh - The word here rendered "foolish" נבל nâbâl from נבל nâbêl , means properly stu...

As one of the foolish women speaketh - The word here rendered "foolish" נבל nâbâl from נבל nâbêl , means properly stupid or foolish, and then wicked, abandoned, impious - the idea of "sin"and "folly"being closely connected in the Scriptures, or sin being regarded as supreme folly; 1Sa 25:25; 2Sa 3:33; Psa 14:1; Psa 53:2. The Arabs still use the word with the same compass of signification. "Gesenius."The word is used here in the sense of "wicked;"and the idea is, that the sentiment which she uttered was impious, or was such as were on the lips of the wicked. Sanctius supposes that there is a reference here to Idumean females, who, like other women, reproached and cast away their gods, if they did not obtain what they asked when they prayed to them. Homer represents Achilles and Menelaus as reproaching the gods. Iliad i. 353, iii. 365. See Rosenmuller, Morgenland, "in loc."

What shall we receive good at the hand of God - Having received such abundant tokens of kindness from him, it was unreasonable to complain when they were taken away, and when he sent calamity in their stead.

And shall we not receive evil? - Shall we not expect it? Shall we not be willing to bear it when it comes? Shall we not have sufficient confidence in him to believe that his dealings are ordered in goodness and equity? Shall we at once lose all our confidence in our great Benefactor the moment he takes away our comforts, and visits us with pain? This is the true expression of piety. It submits to all the arrangements of God without a complaint. It receives blessings with gratitude; it is resigned when calamities are sent in their place. It esteems it as a mere favor to be permitted to breathe the air which God has made, to look upon the light of his sun, to tread upon his earth, to inhale the fragrance of his flowers, and to enjoy the society of the friends whom he gives; and when he takes one or all away, it feels that he has taken only what belongs to him, and withdraws a privilege to which we had no claim. In addition to that, true piety feels that all claim to any blessing, if it had ever existed, has been forfeited by sin. What right has a sinner to complain when God withdraws his favor, and subjects him to suffering? What claim has he on God, that should make it wrong for Him to visit him with calamity?

Wherefore doth a living man complain,

A man for the punishment of his sins?

Lam 3:39.

In all this did not Job sin with his lips - See the notes at Job 1:22. This remark is made here perhaps in contrast with what occurred afterward. He subsequently did give utterance to improper sentiments, and was rebuked accordingly, but thus far what he had expressed was in accordance with truth, and with the feelings of most elevated piety.

Barnes: Job 2:11 - -- Now when Job’ s three friends heard - It would seem from this that these men were his particular friends. They came every one from hi...

Now when Job’ s three friends heard - It would seem from this that these men were his particular friends.

They came every one from his own place - His residence. This was the result of agreement or appointment thus to meet together.

Eliphaz the Temanite - This was the most prominent of his friends. In the ensuing discussion he regularly takes the lead, advances the most important and impressive considerations, and is followed and sustained by the others. The Septuagint renders this Ελιφὰζ ὁ Θαιμαινῶν βασιλεὺς Elifaz ho Thaimainōn basileus - Eliphaz, the king of the Themanites. The Hebrew does not intimate that he held any office or rank. The word rendered "Temanite" תימני têymânı̂y is a patronymic from תמן têmân , meaning properly "at the right hand,"and then "the South."The Hebrew geographers are always represented as looking to the East, and not toward the North, as we do; and hence, with them, the right hand denotes the South. Teman or Theman was a son of Eliphaz, and grandson of Esau; see Gen 36:15, where he is spoken of as "duke"or prince אלוּף 'alûph a head of a family or tribe, a chieftain.

He is supposed to have lived on the east of Idumea. Eusebius places Thaeman in Arabia Petrara, five miles from Petra (see the notes at Isa 16:1), and says that there was a Roman garrison there. The Temanites were cclebrated for wisdom. "Is wisdom no more in Teman?"Jer 49:7. The country was distinguished also for producing men of strength: "And thy mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed;"Oba 1:9. That this country was a part of Idumea is apparent, not only from the fact that Teman was a descendant of Esau, who settled there, but from several places in the Scriptures. Thus, in Eze 25:13, it is said, "I will also stretch out mine hand upon Edom, and I will make it desolate from Toman, and they of Dedan shall fall by the sword."In Amo 1:12, Teman is mentioned as in the vicinity of Bozrah, at one time the capital of Idumea: "But I will send a fire upon Teman, which shall devour the palaces of Bozrah;"see the notes at Isa 21:14. The inhabitants of this country were distinguished in early times for wisdom, and particularly for that kind of wisdom which is expressed in close observation of men and manners, and the course of events, and which was expressed in proverbs. Thus, they are mentioned in the book of Baruch, 3:23: "The merchants of Meran and of Theman, the authors of fables, and searchers out of understanding," οἱ μυθολόγοι καὶ οἱ ἐκζητηταὶ τῆς συνέσεως hoi muthologoi kai hoi ekzētētai tēs suneseōs .

And Bildad the Shuhite - The second speaker uniformly in the following argument. The Septuagint renders this, "Bildad the sovereign of the Saucheans," Σαυχέων τύραννος Saucheōn turannos . Shuah שׁוּח shûach (meaning a pit) was the name of a son of Abraham, by Keturah, and also of an Arabian tribe, descended from him, Gen 25:2. "The country of the Shuhites,"says Gesenius, "was not improbably the same with the Σακκαία Sakkaia of Ptolemy, v. 15, eastward of Batanea."But the exact situation of the Shubites is unknown. It is difficult to determine the geography of the tribes of Arabia, as many of them are migratory and unsettled. It would seem that Bildad did not reside very far from Eliphaz, for they made an "agreement"to go and visit Job.

And Zophar the Naamathite - An inhabitant of Naamah, whose situation is unknown. The Septuagint renders this, "Zophar, king of the Minaians - Μιναίων βασιλεύς Minaiōn basileus . A place by the name of Naamah is mentioned in Jos 15:41, as in the limits of the tribe of Judah. But this was a considerable distance from the residence of Job, and it is not probable that Zophar was far from that region. Conjecture is useless as to the place where he lived. The Editor of the Pictorial Bible, however, supposes that Zophar was from the town in Judah mentioned in Jos 15:41. He observes that this town is "mentioned in a list of the uttermost cities of Judah’ s lot, ‘ toward the coast of Edom southward; ‘ it is further among that portion of those towns that lay ‘ in the valley’ Jos 15:33, wbich valley is the same that contained Joktheel Jos 15:38, which is supposed to have been Petra. Naamah was probably, therefore, in or near the Ghor or valley which extends from the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Akaba. - These considerations,"he adds, "seem to establish the conclusion that the scene of this book is laid in the land of Edom."In the first part of this verse, a remarkable addition occurs in the Chaldee paraphrase. - It is as follows: "And the three friends of Job heard of all the evil which had come upon him, and when they saw the trees of his gardens (Chaldean, "Paradise" פרדסיהון ) that they were dried up, and the bread of his support that it was turned into living flesh ( לבסרא אתהפך סעודתחון ולחם חיא ), and the wine of his drink turned into blood ( אתהפך משתיחון וחמר לדמא )."

Here is evidently the doctrine of "transubstantiation,"the change of bread into flesh, and of wine into blood, and bears the marks of having been interpolated by some friend of the papacy. But when or by whom it was done is unknown. It is a most stupid forgery. The evident intention of it was to sustain the doctrine of transubstantiation, by the plea that it was found far back in the times of Job, and that it could not be regarded, therefore, as an absurdity. To what extent it has ever been used by the advocates of that doctrine, I have no means of ascertaining. Its interpolation here is a pretty sure proof of the conviction of the author of it that the doctrine is not found in any fair interpretation of the Bible.

For they had made an appointment together - They had agreed to go together, and they evidently set out on the journey together. The Chaldee - or someone who has interpolated a passage in the Chaldee - has introduced a circumstance in regard to the design of their coming, which savors also of the Papacy. It is as follows: "They came each one from his place, and for the merit of this they were freed from the place destined to them in Gehenna,"a passage evidently intended to defend the doctrine of "purgatory,"by the authority of the ancient Chaldee Paraphrase.

To come to mourn with him, and to comfort him - To show the appropriate sympathy of friends in a time of special calamity. They did not come with an intention to reproach him, or to charge him with being a hypocrite.

Barnes: Job 2:12 - -- And when they lifted up their eyes afar off - " When they saw him at the distance at which they could formerly recognize him without difficulty,...

And when they lifted up their eyes afar off - " When they saw him at the distance at which they could formerly recognize him without difficulty, disease had so altered his appearance that at first sight they knew him not"- Noyes.

They lifted up their voice - This is a common expression in the Scriptures, to denote grief; Gen 27:38; Gen 29:11; Jdg 2:4; Rth 1:9; 1Sa 24:16, " et soepe al ."We learn to suppress the expressions of grief. The ancients gave vent to their sorrows aloud. - They even hired persons to aid them in their lamentations; and it became a professional business of women to devote themselves to the office of making an outcry on occasions of mourning. The same thing prevails in the East at present. Friends sit around the grave of the dead, or go there at different times, and give a long and doleful shriek or howl, as expressive of their grief.

And they rent every one his mantle - See the notes at Job 1:20.

And sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven - Another expression of sorrow; compare Lam 2:10; Neh 9:1; 1Sa 4:12; Jos 7:6; Eze 27:30. Thc indications of grief here referred to, were such as were common in ancient times. They resemble, in a remarkable manner, the mode in which Achilles gave utterance to his sorrow, when informed of the death of Patroclus. Iliad xviii. 21-27.

A sudden horror shot through all the chief,

And wrapp’ d his senses in the cloud of grief;

Cast on the ground, with furious hands he spread

The scorching ashes o’ er his graceful head,

His purple garments, and his golden hairs,

Those he deforms with dust, and these he tears:

On the hard soil his groaning breast he threw,

And roll’ d and grovell’ d as to earth he grew.

Pope

Thus far the feelings of the three friends were entirely kind, and all that they did was expressive of sympathy for the sufferer.

Barnes: Job 2:13 - -- So they sat down with him upon the ground; - see Job 1:20, note; Job 2:8, note; compare Ezr 9:3, "I rent my garment and my mantle, and plucked ...

So they sat down with him upon the ground; - see Job 1:20, note; Job 2:8, note; compare Ezr 9:3, "I rent my garment and my mantle, and plucked off the hair of my head, and my beard, and sat down astonished."

Seven days and seven nights - Seven days was the usual time of mourning among the Orientals. Thus, they made public lamentation for Jacob seven days, Gen 50:10. Thus, on the death of Saul, they fasted seven days, 1Sa 31:13. So the author of the book of Ecclesiasticus says,"Seven days do men mourn for him that is dead;"Eccles. 22:12. It cannot be supposed that they remained in the same place and posture for seven days and nights, but that they mourned with him during that time in the usual way. An instance of grief remarkably similar to this, continuing through a period of six days, is ascribed by Euripides to Orestes:

Ἐντεῦθεν ἀγρίᾳ ξυντακεὶς νόσῳ νοσεῖ

Τλήμων Ὀρέστης; ο δὲ πεσὼν ἐν δεμνίοις

Κεῖται.

Ἓκτου δὲ δὴ τόδ ἦμαρ, κ. τ. λ.

Enteuthen agriacuntakeis nosō nosei

Tlēmōn Orestēs ; ho de pesōn en demniois

Keitai .

Hekton de dē tod́ ēmar , etc .

"‘ Tis hence Orestes, agonized with griefs

And sore disease, lies on his restless bed

Delirious.

Now six morns have winged their flight,

Since by his hands his parent massacred

Burnt on the pile in expiatory flames.

Stubborn the while he keeps a rigid fast,

Nor bathes, nor dresses; but beneath his robes

He skulks, and if he steals a pause from rage,

‘ Tis but to feel his weight of wo and weep."

And none spake a word to him - - That is, on the subject of his grief. They came to condole with him, but they had now nothing to say. They saw that his affliction was much greater than they had anticipated.

For they saw that his grief was very great - This is given as a reason why they were silent. But "how"this produced silence, or why his great grief was a cause of their silence, is not intimated. Perhaps one or all of the following considerations may have led to it.

(1) They were amazed at the extent of his sufferings. Amazement is often expressed by silence. We look upon that which is out of the usual course of events without being able to express anything. We are "struck dumb"with wonder.

(2) The effect of great calamity is often to prevent utterance. Nothing is more natural or common than profound silence when we go to the house of mourning. "It is the lesser cares only that speak; the greater ones find not language."Curae leves loquuntur, ingentes stupent.

(3) They might not have known what to say. They had come to sympathize with him, and to offer consolation. But their anticipated topics of consolation may have been seen to be inappropriate. The calamity was greater than they had before witnessed. The loss of property and children; the deep humiliation of a man who had been one of the most distinguished of the land; the severity of his bodily sufferings, and his changed and haggard appearance, constituted so great a calamity, that the usual topics of conversation did not meet the case. What "they"had to say, was the result of careful observation on the usual course or events, and it is by no means improbable that they had never before witnessed sorrows so keen, and that they now saw that their maxims would by no means furnish consolation for "such"a case.

(4) They seem to have been very early thrown into doubt in regard to the real character of Job. They had regarded him as a pious man, and had come to him under that impression. But his great afflictions seem soon to have shaken their confidence in his piety, and to have led them to ask themselves whether so great a sufferer "could"be the friend of God. Their subsequent reasonings show that it was with them a settled opinion that the righteous would be prospered, and that very great calamities were proof of great criminality in the sight of God. It was not inconsistent with this belief to suppose that the righteous might be slightly afflicted, but when they saw "such"sorrows, they supposed they were altogether beyond what God could send upon his friends; and with this doubt on their minds, and this change in their views, they knew not what to say. How "could"they console him when it was their settled belief that great sufferings were proof of great guilt? They could say nothing which would not seem to be a departure from this, unless they assumed that he had been a hypocrite, and should administer reproof and rebuke for his sins.

(5) In this state of things, to administer "rebuke"would seem to be cruel. It would aggravate the sorrows which already were more than he could bear. They did, therefore, what the friends of the afflicted are often compelled to do in regard to specific sufferings; they kept silence. As they could not comfort him, they would not aggravate his grief. All they could have said would probably have been unmeaning generalities which would not meet his case, or would have been sententious maxims which would imply that he was a sinner and a hypocrite; and they were therefore dumb, until the bitter complaint of Job himself Job 3 gave them an opportunity to state the train of thought which had passed through their minds during this protracted silence. How often do similar cases occur now - cases where consolation seems almost impossible, and where any truths which might be urged, except the most abstract and unmeaning generalities, would tend only to aggravate the sorrows of the afflicted! When calamity comes upon a person as the result of his sins; when property is taken away which has been gained in an unlawful manner; when a friend dies, leaving no evidence that he was prepared; when it is impossible to speak of that friend without recalling the memory of his irreligious, prayerless, or dissolute life, how difficult is it to administer consolation! How often is the Christian friend constrained to close his lips in silence, or utter only "torturing"general truths that can give no consolation, or refer to facts which will tend only to open the wound in the heart deeper! To be silent at such times is all that can be done; or to commend the sufferer in humble prayer to God, an expedient which seems not to have been resorted to either by Job or his friends, It is remarkable that Job is not represented as calling upon God for support, and it is as remarkable that his friends during these seven days of silent grief did not commend the case of their much afflicted friend to the Father of mercies. Had "Job"prayed, he might have been kept from much of the improper feeling to which he gave vent in the following chapter; had "they"prayed, they might have obtained much more just views of the government of God than they had hitherto possessed.

Poole: Job 2:7 - -- Like those inflicted upon the Egyptians, which are expressed by the same word, and threatened to apostate Israelites, Deu 28:27 , whereby he was mad...

Like those inflicted upon the Egyptians, which are expressed by the same word, and threatened to apostate Israelites, Deu 28:27 , whereby he was made loathsome to himself and to his nearest relations, Deu 19:13,19 , and a visible monument of Divine displeasure, and filled with tiring and consuming pains in his body, and no less torment and anguish in his mind.

From the sole of his foot unto his crown in all the outward parts of his body. His tongue he spared, that it might be capable of venting those blasphemies against God which he expected and desired.

Poole: Job 2:8 - -- He took him a potsherd partly to allay the itch which his ulcers caused; and partly to squeeze out or take away that purulent matter which was under ...

He took him a potsherd partly to allay the itch which his ulcers caused; and partly to squeeze out or take away that purulent matter which was under them, or flowed from them, and was the great cause of his torment. And this he did not with soft linen cloths, either because he had not now a sufficient quantity of them for so much use, or because therein he must have had the help of others, who abhorred to come near him, Job 19:13-15 ; nor with his own hands or fingers, which were also ulcerous, and so unfit for that use; and besides he loathed to touch himself: but with potsherds, either because they were next at hand, and ready for his present use; or in token of his repentance and deep humiliation under God’ s heavy hand, which made him decline all things which favoured of tenderness and delicacy.

Among the ashes Heb. in dust or ashes , as mourners used to do; of which see Job 42:6 Jon 3:6 Mat 11:21 .

Poole: Job 2:9 - -- The devil spared his wife with cruel intent to be the instrument of his temptations, and the aggravation of Job’ s misery, by unnatural unkin...

The devil spared his wife with cruel intent to be the instrument of his temptations, and the aggravation of Job’ s misery, by unnatural unkindness to him, which is declared Job 19:17 , and elsewhere.

Dost thou still retain thine integrity? art thou yet so weak to persist in the practice of piety, when it is not only unprofitable to thee, but the chief occasion of all these thy insupportable miseries, and when God himself not only forsakes and leaves thee in this helpless and hopeless condition, but is turned to be thy greatest enemy?

Curse God, and die seeing thy blessing of God availeth thee so little, it is time to change thy note, Curse God, and die, i.e. reproach him to his face, and tell him of his injustice and unkindness to thee, and that he loves his enemies, and hates his friends; and that will provoke him to take away thy life, and so end thy torments. Or, Curse God, though though die for it. But although this word sometimes signifies cursing , as Job 1:11 1Ki 21:10 , yet most properly and generally it signifies blessing ; and so it may very well be understood here as a sarcastical or ironical expression, such as there are many in Scripture, as Ecc 11:9 Lam 4:21 , and in all authors. And so the sense may be this, Bless God, and die ; i.e. I see thou art set upon blessing of God; thou blessest God for giving, and thou blessest God for taking away, and thou art still blessing of God for thy loathsome and tormenting diseases, and he rewards thee accordingly, giving thee more and more of that kind of mercy for which thou blessest and praisest him. Go on therefore in this thy pious and generous course, and die as a fool dieth, and carry this reputation to thy grave, that thou hadst not common sense in thee to discern between good and evil, between thy friends and thy foes. Or rather, Awake out of this stupidity and lethargy, and give over this absurd and unreasonable practice; and as God gives thee no help nor comfort, let him lose thy praises and service. And this being her sense, it is not strange he reproveth her so sharply for it. And yet it seems hard to think that Job’ s wife should arrive at that height of impudence and impiety, as in plain terms to bid him curse God.

Poole: Job 2:10 - -- As one of the foolish women i.e. like a rash, and inconsiderate, and weak person that dost not understand nor mind what thou sayest. Or, like a wicke...

As one of the foolish women i.e. like a rash, and inconsiderate, and weak person that dost not understand nor mind what thou sayest. Or, like a wicked and most profane person; for such are frequently called fools in Scripture, as Psa 14:1 74:18 , and everywhere in the Proverbs.

Shall we poor worms give laws to our supreme Lord and Governor, and oblige him always to bless and favour us, and never to afflict us? And shall not those great, and manifold, and long-continued mercies, which from time to time God hath freely and graciously given us, compensate for these short afflictions? Ought we not to bless God for those mercies which we did not deserve, and contentedly to bear those corrections which we deserve and need, and (if it be not our own fault) may get much good by.

In all this did not Job sin with his lips by any reflections upon God, by any impatient or unbecoming expressions.

Poole: Job 2:11 - -- They were persons then eminent for birth and quality, for wisdom and knowledge, and for the profession of the true religion, being probably of the p...

They were persons then eminent for birth and quality, for wisdom and knowledge, and for the profession of the true religion, being probably of the posterity of Abraham, and akin to Job, and living in the same country with him.

Poole: Job 2:12 - -- Afar off to wit, at some convenient distance from him; whom they found sitting upon the ground, either in the open air, or within his own house. Kne...

Afar off to wit, at some convenient distance from him; whom they found sitting upon the ground, either in the open air, or within his own house.

Knew him not his countenance being so fearfully changed and disfigured by his boils.

Sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven either upon the upper part of their heads, which look towards heaven; or cast it up into the air, so as it should fall upon their heads, as they did Act 22:23 . See Jos 6:6 Neh 9:1 Lam 2:10 .

Poole: Job 2:13 - -- Sat down with him upon the ground in the posture of mourners condoling with him. Seven days and seven nights was the usual time of mourning for the...

Sat down with him upon the ground in the posture of mourners condoling with him.

Seven days and seven nights was the usual time of mourning for the dead, Gen 1:10 1Sa 31:13 , and therefore proper both for Job’ s children, who were dead, and for Job himself, who was in a manner dead whilst he lived. But we must not fancy that they continued in this place and posture so long together, which no laws of religion or civility required of them, and the necessities of nature could not bear; but only that they spent a great or the greatest part of that time in sitting with him, and silent mourning over him. And so such general expressions are frequently understood, as Luk 2:37 24:53 Act 20:31 .

None spake a word to him either,

1. About any thing. Or rather,

2. About his afflictions, and the causes of them. The reason of this silence was, partly the greatness of their grief for him, and their surprise and astonishment at his condition; partly, because they thought it convenient to give him some further time to vent his own sorrows; and partly, because as yet they knew not what to say to him: for though they had ever esteemed him to be a truly wise and godly man, and came with full purpose to comfort him; yet the prodigious greatness of his miseries, and that hand and displeasure of God which they manifestly perceived in them, made them at a stand, and to question Job’ s sincerity; so that they could not comfort him as they had intended, and yet were loth to grieve him with those convictions and reproofs which they thought he greatly needed. And here they stuck till Job gave them occasion to speak their minds.

Haydock: Job 2:7 - -- Ulcer; the leprosy: and even with that species which is called the venereal disease, which may be contracted without any crime. Job was afflicted wi...

Ulcer; the leprosy: and even with that species which is called the venereal disease, which may be contracted without any crime. Job was afflicted with a complication of the most painful and disgraceful disorders. (Pineda) (Calmet)

Haydock: Job 2:8 - -- Potsherd. His nails were worn, and poverty had left him nothing else. --- Dunghill. Hebrew, "ashes." (Haydock) --- St. Chrysostom represents th...

Potsherd. His nails were worn, and poverty had left him nothing else. ---

Dunghill. Hebrew, "ashes." (Haydock) ---

St. Chrysostom represents this place as visited by pilgrims, instructive and more brilliant than any throne. (Hom. 5. ad Pop. Ant.) -- Septuagint add, "upon the dung, without the city: and after a long time had elapsed, his wife also said to him, How long wilt thou wait, saying: Lo, I will still tarry a little while, expecting the hope of my salvation? For behold thy memory is perished from the land, thy sons and daughters, the pains and labours of my womb, whom I brought forth in labour and sorrow, to no purpose. But thou sittest in the open air, the night long, amid the corruption of worms, while I wander like a slave, seeking for one place and house after another, in expectation of the sun setting, that my labours may cease, and the sorrows which now surround and hold me fast. But speak thou some word to (or against) the Lord, and die." (Haydock) ---

This addition has been omitted in the Complutensian edition, to make it like the Vulgate, (Calmet) though it is found in all the Greek copies (Nobilius) and fathers, and also in several Latin Bibles. It seems, however, to be only a gloss of some transcriber. The devil had not destroyed this wife, as she would prove one of his most powerful auxiliaries. (Calmet)

Haydock: Job 2:9 - -- Bless. She speaks with cruel irony. (Calmet) --- Curse God, that he may take away (St. Basil) thy miserable life; or, after taking this revenge on...

Bless. She speaks with cruel irony. (Calmet) ---

Curse God, that he may take away (St. Basil) thy miserable life; or, after taking this revenge on such unjust treatment, put an end to thy own existence. Beza and Amama excuse this woman, though condemned by Job. They pretend that she only meant to insinuate, like the rest of his friends, that he must be guilty of some grievous crime, which she urges him to confess, giving glory to God, before it be too late. (Haydock)

Haydock: Job 2:10 - -- Foolish. The same word often means impious, (chap. i. 22.) and ignorant, (Haydock) or "delirous." (Aquila) (Psalm xiii. 1.) --- Lips. The Jews...

Foolish. The same word often means impious, (chap. i. 22.) and ignorant, (Haydock) or "delirous." (Aquila) (Psalm xiii. 1.) ---

Lips. The Jews assert, without reason, that he was guilty in his heart. (Calmet)

Haydock: Job 2:12 - -- Heaven. This denoted mourning or indignation, Josue vii. 6., and Acts xxii. 23.

Heaven. This denoted mourning or indignation, Josue vii. 6., and Acts xxii. 23.

Haydock: Job 2:13 - -- Seven days, &c. They sat with him for a good part of the day, and of the night, during seven days: and spoke nothing all that time that could give h...

Seven days, &c. They sat with him for a good part of the day, and of the night, during seven days: and spoke nothing all that time that could give him any uneasiness. (Challoner) (Menochius) (Olympiad.) ---

They mourned for him as if he had been dead. Their mutual grief was too great for utterance. But the text seems to intimate that they remained with Job, all this time. (Scultet.) (Calmet) ---

Their design in coming was really to afford him consolation; but being under a mistake, respecting the conduct of Providence towards mankind, (Calmet) they erred involuntarily, (Tirinus) and by attempting to prove their assertions, as if none but criminals could be so grievously afflicted, they eventually insulted the holy man, Tobias ii. 15. ---

They argued on the principle, "that under a just God no one is miserable, unless he have deserved it;" not reflecting that god sometimes puts his best servants to the trial, that their merit and glory may increase. Notwithstanding their piety and learning, they became therefore the devil's most powerful agents unawares: (Calmet) and though they were not properly heretics, as they acquiesced when better informed, they were a figure of them, by drawing from many undeniable truths false inferences, and by a parade of learning, and of new things. (St. Gregory, Mor. iii. 24., and v. 18.) ---

They also judged rashly of Job's secret behaviour. (Worthington)

Gill: Job 2:7 - -- So went Satan forth from the presence of the Lord,.... With leave and license, with power and authority, as the Targum; having got his commission enla...

So went Satan forth from the presence of the Lord,.... With leave and license, with power and authority, as the Targum; having got his commission enlarged, on a fresh grant, to do more mischief to Job, he departed directly and immediately, being eager to put in execution what he had a permission to do; See Gill on Job 1:12,

and smote Job with sore boils, from the sole of his foot unto his crown: with hot and burning ulcers, such as were inflicted on the Egyptians in the plague of the boils and blains, called the botch of Egypt, see Exo 9:10; it is in the original text "with a bad boil", or "the worst" a; it was as it were but one boil; they stood so thick and close together, that they were as one, reaching from head to foot, and spreading all over his body, so that there was no part free; he was full of sores; as Lazarus, and to him may be applied what is said in a figurative sense of the Jews, Isa 1:6; and this boil or boils were of the worst sort, and most hot and angry, and gave the most exquisite pain, and what Job was "smitten" with at once; they did not rise up in pimples and pustules at the first, and gradually gathered and came to an head, but he was at once covered with burning ulcers at their height, and with running sores; this was done by Satan, through divine permission; who, when he has leave, can inflict diseases on the bodies of men, as he did in the days of Christ on earth, see Mat 17:15; some Jewish writers, as R. Simeon, say, that the devil heated the air, and thereby caused inflammation in Job's blood, which broke out in boils; but then this would have affected others besides him: many are the conjectures of learned men b about this disease of Job's, some taking it to be the leprosy c, others the scurvy, others an erysipelas, &c. Bolducius reckons up no less than fourteen diseases that are attributed to him, collected from his own words, Job 7:5; a late learned writer d thinks it was the smallpox.

Gill: Job 2:8 - -- And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal,.... His mouth was shut, his lips were silent, not one murmuring and repining word came from him, ...

And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal,.... His mouth was shut, his lips were silent, not one murmuring and repining word came from him, amidst all this anguish and misery he must be in; much less anything that looked like cursing God and blaspheming him, as some are said to do, because of their pains and their sores, Rev 16:11; but Job bore his with the utmost patience; he took a piece of a broken pot, which perhaps lay in the ashes among which he sat, and scraped himself with it; either as some think to allay the itching, or rather to remove the purulent matter that ran from his boils; which he used instead of linen rags to wipe them with, having no surgeon to come near him, to mollify his ulcers with ointment, to supple them with oil, and lay healing plasters upon them; there were none to do any of these things for him; his maids and his servants, and even his wife, stood at some distance from him; the smell of him might be so nauseous, that it was intolerable, he was obliged to do what was done himself, which is here mentioned; though it seems something strange and unnatural, considering his case; Schmidt thinks that this scraping was done by him as a rite and ceremony used by mourners in those times and countries, and which Job would not omit though his body was full of sores:

and he sat down among the ashes; which was often done in cases of mourning and humiliation, see Jon 3:6; and which Job did to humble himself under the mighty hand of God upon him; whether these ashes were outside or inside the house is not certain; some think they were outside, and that he had no house to dwell in, nor bed to lie on, nor couch to sit upon, and therefore was obliged to do as he did; but the contrary is evident from Job 7:13; others say, that his disease being the leprosy, he was obliged to sit alone and outside; but it is not certain that that was his disease; and besides, the law concerning lepers did not as yet exist; and had it, it would not have been binding on Job, who was not of the Israelitish nation: the vulgar notion that Job sat upon a dunghill outside the city has no other foundation than the Septuagint version of this passage, which is a wrong one; for his sitting in ashes, there might be a reason in nature, and it might be chosen on account of his disease; for ashes are a drier, and an abstersive of ulcers, and Galen f says they are used in fresh wounds to stop the flow of the blood.

Gill: Job 2:9 - -- Then said his wife to him,.... The Jews g, who affect to know everything, say, that Job's wife was Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, as the Targum, but th...

Then said his wife to him,.... The Jews g, who affect to know everything, say, that Job's wife was Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, as the Targum, but this is not very likely; however, we may observe that polygamy had not obtained in these early times; Job had but one wife, and very probably she is the same that after all this bore him ten children more; since we never read of her death, nor of his having any other wife, and might be a good woman for anything that appears to the contrary; and Job himself seems to intimate the same, though she was in the dark about this providence, and under a sore temptation on that account; and therefore says to her husband:

dost thou still retain thine integrity? not as blaming him for insisting and leaning on his integrity, and justifying, and not humbling himself before God, when he should rather confess his sins and prepare for death; for this is contrary to the sense of the phrase used, Job 2:3; where Job is applauded by the Lord himself for holding fast his integrity; nor will Job's answer comport with this sense of her words; nor did she speak as wondering that he should still retain it among so many sore temptations and afflictions; though indeed persevering grace is a marvellous thing; but then he would never have blamed her for such an expression: nor said she this as upbraiding and reproaching him for his religion and continuance in it, and mocking at him, and despising him on that account, as Michal did David; but as suggesting to him there was nothing in religion, and advising him to throw up the profession of it; for he might easily see, by his own case and circumstances, that God had no more regard to good men than to bad men, and therefore it was in vain to serve him; the temptation she laboured under was the same with that good man's, Asaph, Psa 73:11,

curse God, and die: which is usually interpreted, curse God and then destroy thyself; or utter some such blasphemous words, as will either provoke him to destroy thee, or will make thee liable to be taken notice of by the civil magistrate and put to death for it; or do this in revenge for his hand upon thee, and then die; or, though thou diest; but these are all too harsh and wicked to be said by one that had been trained up in a religious manner, and had been so many years the consort of so holy and good a man: the words may be rendered, "bless God and die" h; and may be understood either sarcastically, go on blessing God till thou diest; if thou hast not had enough of it, take thy fill of it, and see what will be the issue of it; nothing but death; wilt thou still continue "blessing God and dying?" so some i render the words, referring to what he had said in Job 1:21; or else really and sincerely, as advising him to humble himself before God, confess his sins, and "pray" k unto him that he would take him out of this world, and free him from all his pains and sorrow; or rather the sense is, "bless God": take thy farewell of him l; bid adieu to him and all religion, and so die; for there is no good to be hoped for on the score of that, here or hereafter; or at least not in this life: and so it amounts to much the same as before; and this sense is confirmed by Job's answer, which follows.

Gill: Job 2:10 - -- But he said unto her, thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh,.... The wicked and profane women of that age; he does not say she was one of...

But he said unto her, thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh,.... The wicked and profane women of that age; he does not say she was one of them, but spake like them; which intimates that she was a good woman, and had always been thought to be so; but now spake not like herself, and one of her profession, but like carnal persons: Sanctius thinks Job refers to the Idumean women, who, like other Heathens, when their god did not please them, or they could not obtain of them what they desired, would reproach them, and cast them away from there, throw them into the fire, or into the water, as the Persians are said to do; and so Job's wife, because of the present afflictive providence, was for casting off God and all religion; in this she spake and acted like those wicked people later observed, Job 21:14; and like those carnal professors among the Jews in later times, Mal 3:14; this was talking foolishly, and Job's wife spake after this foolish manner, which he resented:

what? this he said as being angry with her, and having indignation at what she said; and therefore, in this quick, short, and abrupt manner, reproves her for her folly:

shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? as all good things temporal and spiritual, the blessings of Providence; and all natural, though not moral evil things, even all afflictions which seem, or are thought to be evil, come from the mouth of God, and are according to his purpose, counsel, and will; so they are all dispensed by the hand of God, and should be kindly, cheerfully, readily, and willingly received, the one as well as the other; see Lam 3:38. Job suggests that he and his wife had received many good things from the Lord, many temporal good things, as appears from Job 1:2; they had their beings in him, and from him; they had been preserved in them by him; they had had an habitation to dwell in, and still had; God had given them food and raiment, wherewith it became them to be content; they had had a comfortable family of children until this time, and much health of body, Job till now, and his wife still, for ought appears; of their former happy circumstances, see Job 29:1; and besides these outward mercies, they had received God as their covenant God, their portion, shield, and exceeding great reward; they had received Christ as their living Redeemer; they had received the Spirit, and his grace, the root of the matter was in them; they had received justifying, pardoning, and adopting: grace, and a right unto and meetness for eternal life, which all good men receive of God; and therefore such must expect to receive evil things, or to partake of afflictions, since God has appointed these for them, and has told them of them, that they shall befall them; and beside they are for their profit and advantage; and the consideration of the good things that have been received, and are now enjoyed, as well as what they have reason to believe they shall enjoy in heaven to all eternity, should make them ready and willing to bear evil things quietly and patiently; see Heb 11:26; so Achilles in Homer m represents Jove as having two vessels full of gifts, one of good things, the other of evil, and sometimes he takes and gives the one, and sometimes the other:

in all this did not Job sin with his lips; not in what he said to his wife, it was all right and good; nor under the whole of his affliction hitherto, he had not uttered one impatient, murmuring, and repining word at the hand of God; the tongue, though an unruly member, and under such providences apt to speak unadvisedly, was bridled and restrained by Job from uttering anything indecent and unbecoming: the Targum, and many of the Jewish writers, observe that he sinned in his heart, but not with his lips; but this is not to be concluded from what is here said; though it is possible there might be some risings of corruptions in his heart, which, by the grace of God that prevailed in him, were kept under and restrained from breaking out.

Gill: Job 2:11 - -- Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him,.... Of the loss of his substance, servants, and children, and of his own h...

Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him,.... Of the loss of his substance, servants, and children, and of his own health; the news of which soon spread in the adjacent countries, Job being a person of great note, and his calamity so very extraordinary and uncommon: who these three friends were is after observed; they living at some distance from him, held a correspondence with him, and he with them, being good men; and now act the friendly part in paying him a visit under such circumstances; Pro 17:17;

they came everyone from his own place; from the country, city, town, or habitations where they lived; whether they walked or rode is not said, their names are as follow:

Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite; the first of these, Eliphaz, was either from Teman, a city in Edom, on the borders of Arabia Deserta, as the Targum; or a descendant of Teman, a grandson of Esau; not Eliphaz the son of Esau, Gen 36:11 as the Targum on that place says; for he was the father of Teman, from whom this Eliphaz sprang: the second, Bildad, was a descendant from Shuah, a son of Abraham, by Keturah, Gen 25:2; whose posterity with geographers are called Sauchites, Sauchaeans, Sacceans, and settled in Arabia Deserta, from whence Bildad came: the third, Zophar the Naamathite, who he was, and why so called, is not certain; there is nothing but conjectures concerning him; it is most probable that he lived in Arabia Deserta, or on the borders of it, near to Job's country and that of his other two friends n; there was a Naamath in the land of Uz, which was Job's country according to Fretelius o: the Septuagint version calls Eliphaz the king of the Temanites, and Bildad the tyrannus, or governor, of the Sauchaens, and Zophar king of the Minaeans p:

for they had made an appointment together; upon hearing of Job's trouble, they got together, and fixed upon a time and place to meet together and proceed on in their journey to Job's house:

to come to mourn with him, and to comfort him; the first word signifies to "move to him" q not as Sephorno explains it, to go with him from place to place, that he might not lay hands on himself; but rather, as the Latin interpreter of the Targum, to move their heads at him; as persons, to show their concern for, and sympathy with, the afflicted, shake their heads at them: the meaning is, that they came to condole his misfortunes, and to speak a word of comfort to him under them; and no doubt but they came with a real and sincere intent to do this, though they proved miserable comforters of him; Job 16:2.

Gill: Job 2:12 - -- And when they lifted up their eyes afar off,.... Either when at some distance from Job's house, and he being without in the open air, as some think; o...

And when they lifted up their eyes afar off,.... Either when at some distance from Job's house, and he being without in the open air, as some think; or as they entered his house, he being at the further part of the room, or in another further on, which they could see into:

and knew him not; at first sight; until they came nearer to him, his garments being rent, and his head shaved, and his body covered all over with boils; so that he was so deformed and disfigured that they could not know him at first, and could scarcely believe him to be the same person:

they lifted up their voice and wept: they wept and cried aloud, being greatly affected with the sight of him, and their hearts sympathizing with him under his afflictions, being his cordial friends, and of that disposition, to weep with those that weep:

and they rent everyone his mantle, or "cloak"; in token of mourning, as Job had done before; see Gill on Job 1:20,

and sprinkled dust upon their heads towards heaven; that is, they took up handfuls of dust from off the ground, and threw it up in the air over their heads, which fell upon them and covered them; which was another rite or ceremony used by mourners, as Jarchi observes, and showed the vehemence of their affections and passions, and the confusion they were in at seeing their friend in such a miserable condition; see Jos 7:6.

Gill: Job 2:13 - -- So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights,.... Which was the usual time of mourning, Gen 50:10; not that they were in this...

So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights,.... Which was the usual time of mourning, Gen 50:10; not that they were in this posture all this time, without sleeping, eating, or drinking, and other necessaries of life; but they came and sat with him every day and night for seven days and nights running, and sat the far greater part of them with him, conforming themselves to him and sympathizing with him:

and none spake a word unto him; concerning his affliction and the cause of it, and what they thought about it; partly through the loss they were at concerning it, hesitating in their minds, and having some suspicion of evil in Job; and partly through the grief of their own hearts, and the vehemence of their passions, but chiefly because of the case and circumstances Job was in, as follows:

for they saw that his grief was very great; and they knew not well what comfort to administer, and were fearful lest they should add grief to grief; or they saw that his "grief increased exceedingly" r; his boils, during these seven days, grew sorer and sorer, and his pain became more intolerable, that there was no speaking to him until he was a little at ease, and more composed and capable of attending to what might be said; they waited a proper opportunity, and which they quickly had, by what Job said in the following chapter: this account is given of his three friends in this place, because the greater part of the book that follows is taken up in giving an account of a dispute which passed between him and them, occasioned by what he delivered in the next chapter.

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Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Job 2:7 Heb “crown.”

NET Notes: Job 2:8 Among the ashes. It is likely that the “ashes” refers to the place outside the city where the rubbish was collected and burnt, i.e., the a...

NET Notes: Job 2:9 The imperative with the conjunction in this expression serves to express the certainty that will follow as the result or consequence of the previous i...

NET Notes: Job 2:10 Heb “sin with his lips,” an idiom meaning he did not sin by what he said.

NET Notes: Job 2:11 The second infinitive is from נָחָם (nakham, “to comfort, console” in the Piel). This word may be derived fr...

NET Notes: Job 2:12 Heb “they tossed dust skyward over their heads.”

NET Notes: Job 2:13 The three friends went into a more severe form of mourning, one that is usually reserved for a death. E. Dhorme says it is a display of grief in its m...

Geneva Bible: Job 2:7 So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore ( h ) boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown. ( h ) This sore was ...

Geneva Bible: Job 2:8 And he took him a ( i ) potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes. ( i ) As destitute of all other help and means and wonder...

Geneva Bible: Job 2:9 Then said his ( k ) wife unto him, Dost thou ( l ) still retain thine integrity? ( m ) curse God, and die. ( k ) Satan uses the same instrument again...

Geneva Bible: Job 2:10 But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not ( n ) recei...

Geneva Bible: Job 2:11 Now when Job's three ( p ) friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him, they came every one from his own place; Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bi...

Geneva Bible: Job 2:12 And when they lifted up their eyes afar off, and knew him not, they lifted up their voice, and wept; and they rent every one his mantle, and sprinkled...

Geneva Bible: Job 2:13 So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spake a word unto him: for they saw that [his] grief was very ( r ) gr...

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Commentary -- Verse Range Notes

TSK Synopsis: Job 2:1-13 - --1 Satan appearing again before God, obtains further leave to tempt Job.7 He smites him with sore boils.9 Job reproves his wife, who moved him to curse...

MHCC: Job 2:7-10 - --The devil tempts his own children, and draws them to sin, and afterwards torments, when he has brought them to ruin; but this child of God he tormente...

MHCC: Job 2:11-13 - --The friends of Job seem noted for their rank, as well as for wisdom and piety. Much of the comfort of this life lies in friendship with the prudent an...

Matthew Henry: Job 2:7-10 - -- The devil, having got leave to tear and worry poor Job, presently fell to work with him, as a tormentor first and then as a tempter. His own childre...

Matthew Henry: Job 2:11-13 - -- We have here an account of the kind visit which Job's three friends paid him in his affliction. The news of his extraordinary troubles spread into a...

Keil-Delitzsch: Job 2:7-8 - -- The Working Out of the Commission: 7, 8 Then Satan went forth from the presence of Jehovah, and smote Job with sore boils, from the sole of his foo...

Keil-Delitzsch: Job 2:9 - -- First Job's Wife (who is only mentioned in one other passage (Job 19:17), where Job complains that his breath is offensive to her) Comes to Him: 9 ...

Keil-Delitzsch: Job 2:10 - -- 10 But he said to her, As one of the ungodly would speak, thou speakest. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not also receive evil? The an...

Keil-Delitzsch: Job 2:11 - -- After the sixth temptation there comes a seventh; and now the real conflict begins, through which the hero of the book passes, not indeed without si...

Keil-Delitzsch: Job 2:12 - -- Their Arrival: 12 And when they lifted up their eyes afar off, and knew him not, they lifted up their voice, and wept; and they rent every one his ...

Keil-Delitzsch: Job 2:13 - -- Their Silence: 13 And they sat with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights; and none spake a word unto him: for they saw that his pain was...

Constable: Job 1:1--2:13 - --I. PROLOGUE chs. 1--2 The writer composed the prologue and epilogue of this book in prose narrative and the main...

Constable: Job 1:6--2:11 - --B. Job's Calamities 1:6-2:10 God permitted Satan to test Job twice.23 The first test touched his possess...

Constable: Job 2:1-10 - --2. The second test 2:1-10 Satan again claimed that Job served God only because God had made it a...

Constable: Job 2:11-13 - --C. Job's Comforters 2:11-13 Really four men came to visit Job, though the writer did not mention Elihu's...

Guzik: Job 2:1-13 - --Job 2 - Job's Health Is Destroyed A. The second act of the heavenly scene. 1. (1-3) God boasts again over His servant Job. Again there was a day w...

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Introduction / Outline

JFB: Job (Book Introduction) JOB A REAL PERSON.--It has been supposed by some that the book of Job is an allegory, not a real narrative, on account of the artificial character of ...

JFB: Job (Outline) THE HOLINESS OF JOB, HIS WEALTH, &c. (Job 1:1-5) SATAN, APPEARING BEFORE GOD, FALSELY ACCUSES JOB. (Job 1:6-12) SATAN FURTHER TEMPTS JOB. (Job 2:1-8)...

TSK: Job (Book Introduction) A large aquatic animal, perhaps the extinct dinosaur, plesiosaurus, the exact meaning is unknown. Some think this to be a crocodile but from the desc...

TSK: Job 2 (Chapter Introduction) Overview Job 2:1, Satan appearing again before God, obtains further leave to tempt Job; Job 2:7, He smites him with sore boils; Job 2:9, Job repro...

Poole: Job 2 (Chapter Introduction) CHAPTER 2 Satan’ s second appearance before God: Job’ s character continuing the same, condemneth Satan, Job 2:1-3 . Satan judgeth him no...

MHCC: Job (Book Introduction) This book is so called from Job, whose prosperity, afflictions, and restoration, are here recorded. He lived soon after Abraham, or perhaps before tha...

MHCC: Job 2 (Chapter Introduction) (Job 2:1-6) Satan obtains leave to try Job. (Job 2:7-10) Job's sufferings. (Job 2:11-13) His friends come to comfort him.

Matthew Henry: Job (Book Introduction) An Exposition, with Practical Observations, of The Book of Job This book of Job stands by itself, is not connected with any other, and is therefore to...

Matthew Henry: Job 2 (Chapter Introduction) We left Job honourably acquitted upon a fair trial between God and Satan concerning him. Satan had leave to touch, to touch and take, all he had, a...

Constable: Job (Book Introduction) Introduction Title This book, like many others in the Old Testament, got its name from...

Constable: Job (Outline) Outline I. Prologue chs. 1-2 A. Job's character 1:1-5 B. Job's calamitie...

Constable: Job Job Bibliography Andersen, Francis I. Job. Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries series. Leicester, Eng. and Downe...

Haydock: Job (Book Introduction) THE BOOK OF JOB. INTRODUCTION. This Book takes its name from the holy man, of whom it treats; who, according to the more probable opinion, was ...

Gill: Job (Book Introduction) INTRODUCTION TO JOB This book, in the Hebrew copies, generally goes by this name, from Job, who is however the subject, if not the writer of it. In...

Gill: Job 2 (Chapter Introduction) INTRODUCTION TO JOB 2 This chapter gives an account of a second trial of Job's constancy and integrity, the time and occasion of it, Job 2:1; the m...

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