Keil and Delitzsch Commentary - Job 33:13 - 33:13

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Keil and Delitzsch Commentary - Job 33:13 - 33:13


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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:

13 Why hast thou contended against Him,

That He answereth not concerning all His doings?

14 Yet no-in one way God speaketh,

And in two, only one perceiveth it not.

15 In the dream, in a vision of the night,

When deep sleep falleth upon men,

In slumberings upon the bed:

16 Then He openeth the ear of men,

And sealeth admonition for them,

17 That He may withdraw man from mischief,

And hide pride from man;

18 That He may keep back his soul from the pit,

And his life from the overthrow of the sword.

Knowing himself to be righteous, and still considering himself treated as an enemy by God, Job has frequently inquired of God, Why then does He treat him thus with enmity, Job 7:20, and why has He brought him into being to be the mark of His attack? Job 10:18. He has longed for God's answer to these questions; and because God has veiled Himself in silence, he has fallen into complain against Him, as a ruler who governs according to His own sovereign arbitrary will. This is what Elihu has before his mind in Job 33:13. רִיב (elsewhere in the book of Job with עִם or the acc. of the person with whom one contends) is here, as Jer 12:1 and freq., joined with אֶל and conjugated as a contracted Hiph. (רִיבֹותָ instead of רַבְתָּ, Ges. §73, 1); and עָנָה with the acc. signifies here: to answer anything (comp. Job 32:12; Job 40:2, and especially Job 9:3); the suff. does not refer back to אֱנֹושׁ of the preceding strophe (Hirz., Hahn), but to God. דְּבָרָיו are the things, i.e., facts and circumstances of His rule; all those things which are mysterious in it He answers not, i.e., He answers concerning nothing in this respect (comp. כל לא, Job 34:27), He gives no kind of account of them (Schnurr., Ges., and others). כִּי, Job 33:14, in the sense of imo, is attached to this negative thought, which has become a ground of contention for Job: yet no, God does really speak with men, although not as Job desires when challenged and in His own defence. Many expositors take בְאַחַת and בִּשְׁתַּיִם after lxx, Syr., and Jer., in the signification semel, secundo (thus also Hahn, Schlottm.); but semel is אַחַת, whereas באחת is nowhere equivalent to בפעם אחת, for in Num 10:4 it signifies with one, viz., trumpet; Pro 28:18, on one, viz., of the many ways; Jer 10:8, in one, i.e., in like folly (not: altogether, at once, which כְּאֶחָד, Syr. bachdo, signifies); then further on it is not twice, but two different modes or means of divine attestation, viz., dreams and sicknesses, that are spoken of; wherefore it is rightly translated by the Targ. una loquela, by Pagn. uno modo, by Vatabl., Merc., una via. The form of the declaration: by one - by two, is that of the so-called number-proverbs, like Job 5:19. In diverse ways or by different means God speaks to mortal man - he does not believe it, it is his own fault if he does perceive it. לֹא יְשׁוּרֶנָּה, which is correctly denoted as a separate clause by Rebia mugrasch, is neither with Schlottm. to be regarded as a circumstantial clause (without one's ... ), nor with Vatablus and Hahn as a conditional clause (if one does not attend to it), nor with Montanus and Piscator as a relative clause (to him who does not observe it), but with Tremellius as a co-ordinate second predicative clause without a particle (one might expect אַךְ): he (mortal man) or one observes it not (שׁוּר with neut. suff. exactly like Job 35:13).

Job 33:15-18

Elihu now describes the first mode in which God speaks to man: He Himself comes forward as a witness in man's sleep, He makes use of dreams or dream-like visions, which come upon one suddenly within the realm of nocturnal thought (vid., Psychol. S. 282f.), as a medium of revelation - a usual form of divine revelation, especially in the heathen world, to which positive revelation is wanting. The reading בְּחֶזְיֹון (Codd., lxx, Syr., Symm., Jer.), as also the accentuation of the בחלום with Mehupach Legarme, proceeds from the correct assumption, that vision of the night and dream are not coincident notions; moreover, the detailing Job 33:15, is formed according to Job 4:13. In this condition of deep or half sleep, revelat aurem hominum, a phrase used of the preparation of the ear for the purpose of hearing by the removal of hindrances, and, in general, of confidential communication, therefore: He opens the ear of men, and seals their admonition, i.e., the admonition that is wholesome and necessary for them. Elihu uses חָתַם בְּ here and Job 37:7 as חָתַם בְּעַד is used in Job 9:7 : to seal anything (to seal up), comp. Arab. ḥı̂m, σφραγίζειν, in the sense of infallible attestation and confirmation (Joh 6:27), especially (with Arab. b) of divine revelation or inspiration, distinct in meaning from Arab. chtm, σφραγίζειν, in the proper sense. Elihu means that by such dreams and visions, as rare overpowering facts not to be forgotten, God puts the seal upon the warning directed to them which, sent forth in any other way, would make no such impression. Most ancient versions (also Luther) translate as though it were יְחִתֵּם (lxx ἐξεφόβησεν αὐτούς). מֹסָר is a secondary form to מוּסָר, Job 36:10, which occurs only here. Next comes the fuller statement of the object of the admonition or warning delivered in such an impressive manner. According to the text before us, it is to be explained: in order that man may remove (put from himself) mischief from himself (Ges. §133, 3); but this inconvenient change of subject is avoided, if we supply a מ to the second, and read אדם ממעשׂה, as lxx ἀποστρέψαι ἄνθρωπον ἀπὸ ἀδικίας αὐτοῦ (which does not necessarily presuppose the reading ממעשׂהו), Targ. ab opere malo; Jer. not so good; ab his quae fecit. מַעֲשֶׂה signifies facinus, an evil deed, as 1Sa 20:19, and פֹּעַל, Job 36:9, evil-doing. The infin. constr. now passes into the v. fin., which would be very liable to misconstruction with different subjects: and in order that He (God) may conceal arrogance from man, i.e., altogether remove from him, unaccustom him to, render him weary of. the sin of pride (גֵּוָה from גָּוָה = גָּאָה, as Job 22:29, according to Ges., Ew., Olsh., for גְּאֵוָה = גַּאֲוָה). Here everything in thought and expression is peculiar. Also חַיָּה, Job 33:18 (as Job 33:22, Job 33:28), for חַיִּים rof ,)}82 (Job 33:30) does not occur elsewhere in the book of Job, and the phrase עָבַר בַּשֶּׁלַח here and Job 36:12 (comp. עָבַר בַּשַּׁחַת, Job 33:28) nowhere else in the Old Testament. שֶׁלַח (Arab. silâh, a weapon of offence, opp. metâ‛, a weapon of defence) is the engine for shooting, from שָׁלַח, emmittere, to shoot; and עבר בשׁלח is equivalent to נפל בעד השׁלח ot tnelaviuqe s, Joe 2:8, to pass away by (precipitate one's self into) the weapon for shooting. To deliver man from sin, viz., sins of carnal security and imaginary self-importance, and at the same time from an early death, whether natural or violent, this is the disciplinary design which God has in view in connection with this first mode of speaking to him; but there is also a second mode.