Job 23:8-12 | Clarke | STEP | Verse 8 Behold, I go forward - These two verses paint in vivid colors the distress and anxiety of a soul in search of the favor of God. No means are left untried, no place unexplored, in order to find the object of his research. This is a true description of the conduct of a genuine penitent.

‏ Job 23:8-12

Verse 8

Behold, I go forward - These two verses paint in vivid colors the distress and anxiety of a soul in search of the favor of God. No means are left untried, no place unexplored, in order to find the object of his research. This is a true description of the conduct of a genuine penitent. Verse 9

On the left hand, where he doth work - In these two verses Job mentions the four cardinal points of the heavens: the East, by the word קדם kedem, which signifies before; the West, by אחור achor, which signifies after, or the back part; the North, by שמאל semol, which signifies the left; and the South, by ימין yamin, which signifies the right. Such is the situation of the world to a man who faces the east; see Gen 13:9, Gen 13:11; Gen 28:14. And from this it appears that the Hebrews, Idumeans, and Arabs had the same ideas of these points of the heavens. It is worthy of remark that Job says, He hideth himself on the right hand, (the south), that I cannot see him: for in fact, the southern point of heaven is not visible in Idumea, where Job was. Hence it comes that when he spake before, Job 9:9, of the constellations of the antarctic pole, he terms them the hidden chambers of the south; i.e., those compartments of the celestial concave that never appeared above the horizon in that place - See Calmet.

Mr. Good translates these verses as follows: -

Behold! I go forward, and he is not there;

And backward, but I cannot perceive him.

On the left hand I feel for him, but trace him not:

He enshroudeth the right hand, and I cannot see him.

The simple rendering of Coverdale is nervous and correct: -

For though I go before, I fynde hym not:

Yf I come behynde, I can get no knowledge of him:

Yf I go on the left syde to pondre his workes,

I cannot atteyne unto them:

Agayne, yf I go on the right syde, he hydeth himself,

That I cannot se him. Verse 10

But he knoweth the way that I take - He approves of my conduct; my ways please him. He tries me: but, like gold, I shall lose nothing in the fire; I shall come forth more pure and luminous. If that which is reputed to be gold is exposed to the action of a strong fire, if it be genuine, it will lose nothing of its quality, nor of its weight. If it went into the fire gold, it will come out gold; the strongest fire will neither alter nor destroy it. So Job: he went into this furnace of affliction an innocent, righteous man; he came out the same. His character lost nothing of its value, nothing of its lustre. Verse 11

My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept - I have carefully marked his providential dealings; and in his way - his pure and undefiled religion - have I walked. I have not only been generally but particularly religious: I have attended carefully to the weightier matters of the law, and have not forgotten its slightest injunctions.

Coverdale is curious: - Nevertheles my fete kepe his path, his hye strete have I holden, and not gone out of it. The hye strete is highway, the causeway, or raised road; formed, as they anciently were, by stones in the manner of pavement. It has its name from the Latin strata, paved, via being understood: via lapidibus strata, "a way paved with stones:" hence street, a raised road or pavement either in town or country. And hence the four grand Roman or British roads which intersected this kingdom: viz. Watling street, Icknild or Ricknild street, Ermin street, and Fosse street. Some say these streets or roads were made by Bellinus, a British king. Fosse street began in Cornwall, passed through Devonshire, Somersetshire, and along by Titbury upon Toteswould, beside Coventry, unto Leicester; and thence by the wide plains to Newark and to Lincoln, where it ends. Watling street begins at Dover, passes through the middle of Kent, over the Thames by London, running near Westminster, and thence to St. Alban's, Dunstable, Stratford, Towcester, Weden, Lilbourn, Atherston, Wreaken by Severn, Worcester, Stratton, through Wales unto Cardigan, and on to the Irish sea. Ermin, or Erminage street, running from St. David's in Wales, to Southampton. Ricknild, or Icknild street, running by Worcester, Wycomb, Birmingham, Lichfield, Derby, Chesterfield, and by York, into Tynemouth. See Camden, Holinshed, and Minshieu. Verse 12

The commandment of his lips - The written law that proceeded from his own mouth.

I have esteemed the words of his mouth - Mr. Good has given a better version of the original: In my bosom have I stored up the words of his mouth. The Asiatics carry every thing precious or valuable in their bosom, their handkerchiefs, jewels, purses, etc. Job, therefore, intimates that the words of God's mouth were to him a most precious treasure.