29. I am become a brother to jackals, And a companion to ostriches." 30. My skin falls back from me, h

Job compares himself to those animals because of their cry, on which account they are mentioned in Micah i. 8. İs. xliii. 20. Vide Bochart in Hieroz. tom. iii. p. 233. Hence it is said of '

"describuntur ut Ignvnrixà Cŵa, quia cum capite erecto, et deductis faucibus, sursum aspirare sæpe visi sint, id ita accepisse putantur Hebraeorum antiquissimi, ac si ore in caelum obverso per suspiria, et gemitus ad Deum de sorte sua conquererentur, quodque omnibus odiosi, desertisque ac feralibus addicti locis, longam quidem, sed miseram vitam aegre traherent." Concerning ostriches i

יענה

:

vide Bochart, P. II. L. II. Ch. xiv. tom. ii. p.

811.824: "acrem et asperum esse struthionum clamorem, maxime circa auroram, ab iis non semel audivi, qui illas circumducunt." In the comparison of Job with jackals and ostriches it must be remembered that they live in solitudes, and may be taken as emblems of desolation.

The elephantiasis chiefly attacked the skin. Mark the const. praeg. as above in v. 17.

And my bones are consumed with fire. 31. My harp is turned to wailing, flute into sounds of mourning.i

And my

i In these words, which explain themselves, it must be remarked, that the instruments named were destined originally for purposes of mirth. Vide Is. xxx. 29, 32.

CHAPTER XXXI.

1. I made a covenant with mine eyes,

How should I then look upon

maid? a

K

2. Yet what divine reward comes on that ac-
count from above?

And what heritage from the almighty out
of heaven!

3. Does not destruction belong to sinners,

k Job continues, he might have expected a different fate, since he is conscious of so virtuous a life. He first adverts to his chastity, which watched over his eye. in refers to impure preme

The latter sense lies especially in

-refers to preme אֶתְבּוֹנֵן

בְּתוּלָה .hithpahel

ditated glances. hithpahel.

is connected with the idea

of purity, as regards contact with women, towards whom Job never cast unchaste looks. This declaration is important, in proof of the reality of his moral feelings and principles, and stands very properly at the head of the list of his titles to inno

cence.

And ruin to the doers of evil?1

4. Did he not behold my ways,

And count all my steps? m 5. Had I intercourse with lies,

Or did my foot hasten after deceit?"

6. O that he would weigh me in an even balance,

1 This sense presupposes the thought, " And yet destruction overtook me !" But even the omission of this thought, and the following quotation, produce great effect. misfortune, punishment, as

Si in the Koran, often occurs in this sense. Vide Sur. lxv. 8; xxxii. 43 ; lxvii. 18. In several Codd. the reading, is to be found not very much dif

fering in sense, for as in Arab. vita misera. Vide Schultens in loc.

m God himself must bear witness that I speak the truth.

n Continued asseveration of innocence. In the we most easily receive the verb

form

in for

the word.

to hasten. Yet vide Gesenius on

God would acknowledge mine innocence! 7. If my steps had ever deviated from the right path,

Or my heart had followed mine eyes,
And my hands had become defiled,

8. Then might I have sown and another eaten; P

Then what I planted might have been uprooted!

9. If my heart had let itself be seduced by a

woman,

And if I had lain in wait at my neigh

bour's door:

.macula מאוּם

In several Codd., of which our reading is only the Chald. version. Vide Dan. i. 4. and Gesenius in Lehrgeb. 152.

P Vide similar curses in Numbers xxvi. 16. Deut. xxviii. 30, and the opposite in Amos ix. 14.

Literally If my heart had opened itself (i. e. to seductive influence), I shall have been a

as the Proverbs name the inexperienced and easily seduced youth. Vide also Deut. xi. 16.

Vide Prov. ch. vii. for a description of the