1
¶ Then Job answered and said, 2 I have heard many such things: miserable
comforters are ye all. 3 Shall vain
words have an end? or what emboldeneth thee that thou answerest? 4 I also could speak as ye do: if your soul
were in my soul’s stead, I could heap up words against you, and shake mine head
at you. 5 But I would strengthen you
with my mouth, and the moving of my lips should asswage your grief.
An important
fact about the way this Bible is written is the way it uses the words for
singular you; thee, thou, and thine, and the words for the plural you; you, ye,
and your. In other words when a Bible speaker is referring to thee he is
talking about an individual. When he is referring to you he is talking about a
group. This can change the meaning from what we who aren’t used to using thee
and thine think it is.
For instance;
Genesis 17:9
And God said unto Abraham, Thou
shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou,
and thy seed after thee in their generations. 10 This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee;
Every man child among you shall be
circumcised.
God tells
Abraham that he is to keep the covenant and also those of his descendants are
to do the same. Then God says that they all are to keep this covenant that is
between God and them, defined as Abraham’s seed after him. All of the male
children were to be circumcised. This distinction of singular and plural you
may not seem important but it changes the meaning of some important passages
from what we are taught by newer, less literal Bibles.
For instance;
Luke 22:31
And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: 32 But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith
fail not: and when thou art
converted, strengthen thy brethren.
In this passage
Jesus declares that Satan has requested the permission to attack the Apostles,
the two you’s of verse 31. But, Jesus has asked of the Father that Peter’s
faith be strengthened so that he can support the others. Still, though, Peter
will fail, as you will soon see if you read the rest of the narrative.
This use of
thee and you is a subtle difference but important in understanding. The King
James translators revived the practice of using thee and thou in this way as by
their time those words may only have indicated intimate speech as in
Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet when Juliet
says, “Romeo, Romeo wherefore art thou Romeo?” as she laments his being a Montague.
(Wherefore means why). (27)
So, here in
Job, chapter 16, Job says his friends are terrible at the job of comforting
someone and then accuses Eliphaz of vain words. He then says that he could
treat them all as they have treated him if the roles were reversed but that he
wouldn’t do to them what they are doing to him. He insists he would comfort
them.
Asswage means
to restrain or abate.
Genesis 8:1 ¶ And God remembered Noah, and every living thing,
and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass
over the earth, and the waters asswaged;
2 The fountains also of the deep and the
windows of heaven were stopped, and
the rain from heaven was restrained;
3 And the waters returned from off the
earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters
were abated.
See, the Bible
is not “rocket science” if you will just take the time to read it carefully
rather than just having someone spoon-feed bits and pieces to you. Learn to
feed yourself, Christian, on this amazing book that your Creator had His hand
in and wants to speak to you through. You’re looking rather gaunt and hungry
spiritually.
Job’s
declaration that he would not do to his friends what his friends have done to
him is a fundamental of Christianity. It goes against the idea of revenge and
paybacks that our culture teaches us from birth, particularly young men who
would feel dominated if they didn’t return evil for evil. There are no inferior
people, only inferior cultures. Cultures that accept cruelty, abuse, or
exploitation of women, children, or animals as okay behavior for a man are
inferior, for example. If your culture admires revenge then it is wicked and
you should take your mind out of it.
As Jesus said
on occasion;
Matthew 5:44
But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do
good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and
persecute you; 45 That ye may be the
children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on
the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
Matthew 7:12 ¶ Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that
men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the
prophets.
Luke 6: 27 ¶ But I say unto you which
hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, 28 Bless them that curse you, and pray for them
which despitefully use you. 29 And unto
him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that
taketh away thy cloke forbid not to take thy coat also. 30 Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of
him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again. 31 And as ye would that men should do to you, do
ye also to them likewise.
And Paul;
Romans 12:17
Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight
of all men. 18 If it be possible, as
much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. 19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but
rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will
repay, saith the Lord. 20 Therefore if thine
enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou
shalt heap coals of fire on his head. 21
Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.
Now, that’ll
keep a young man who thinks he’s “all that and a bag of chips,” out of church,
won’t it, probably many a young woman, as well? Job insists that he would not
do the hurt to his friends that they have done to him if the situation was
reversed. Can you honestly claim that when you are hurt by a brother or a
sister?
(27) William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, (1597, repr., Berkely, CA: Belmont Press, 2012), Kindle
edition, Act 2, Scene 2.
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