And of darkness, where is the abode?
That thou shouldst take it to its bounds,
And that thou shouldst know the paths to its house?
CCLXXXVIII
Hast thou entered into the granaries of the snow,
Or hast thou seen the arsenals of the hail,
Which I have laid up for the time of trouble,
Against the day of battle and of war?
CCLXXXIX
By what way is the mist parted?
And the east wind scattered upon the earth?
Who hath divided its course for the rain-storm?
And its path for the lightning of thunder?
CCXC
Out of whose womb issued the ice?
And who gendered the hoar-frost of heaven?
The waters are as stone,
And the face of the deep condensed like clots together.
CCXCI
Canst thou bind the knots of the Pleiads,
Or loose the fetters of Orion?
Canst thou send lightnings that they may speed,
And say unto thee: Here we are?
CCXCII
Who in his wisdom can number the clouds,
Or who can pour out the bottles of heaven,
That the dust may thicken into mire,
And the clods cleave close together?
CCXCII
Canst thou hunt its prey for the lion,
Or sate the appetite of the young lions,
When they couch in their dens,
And abide in the covert to lie in wait?
CCXCIV
Who provideth his food for the raven,
When his young ones cry unto God?
It hovereth around nor groweth weary,
Seeking food for its nestlings.
CCXCV
Canst thou mark when the hinds do calve?
Canst thou number the months when they bring forth?
They cast out their burdens,
Their little ones grow up out of doors.
CCXCVI
Who hath sent out the wild ass free,
Whose dwelling I have made the wilderness,
Who scorneth the noise of the city,
Nor heedeth the driver's cry?
CCXCVII
Will the wild ox be willing to serve thee,
Or abide by thy grip?
Wilt thou trust him because his strength is great,
Or wilt thou leave thy labour to him?
CCXCVIII
Dost thou bestow might upon the horse?
Dost thou clothe his neck with a waving mane?
Dost thou make him to bound like a locust,
In the pride of his terrible snort?
CCXCIX
He paws in the vale and rejoices;
Goes with strength to encounter the weapons;
He mocks at fear, and is not dismayed,
And recoileth not from the sword.
CCC
The quiver clangs upon him,
The flashing lance and the javelin;
Furiously bounding, he swallows the ground,
And cannot be reined in at the trumpet-blast.
CCCI
When the clarion soundeth he crieth, "Aha!"
And sniffs the dust raised by the hosts from afar;
He dasheth into the thick of the fray,
Into the captains' shouting and the roar of battle.
CCCII
Doth the hawk fly by thy wisdom,
And spread her pinions towards the south?
She builds her nest on high, dwelling on the rock,
And abideth there, seeking prey.
CCCIII
Will the caviller still contend with the Almighty?
He that reproves God, let him answer!
Wilt thou even disannul my judgment?
Wilt thou condemn me that thou mayst be in the right?
CCCIV
If thou hast an arm like God,
If thou canst thunder with a voice like his,
Deck thyself now with majesty and grandeur
And array thyself in glory and splendour!
CCCV
Scatter abroad the rage of thy wrath,
And hurl down all that is exalted!
The haughty bring low by a glance,
And trample down the wicked in their place!
CCCVI
Hide them together in the dust,
And bind their faces in secret!
Then will I, too, confess unto thee
That thine own right hand can save thee!
CCCVII
JOB:
Behold I am vile, what shall I answer thee?
I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.
Once have I spoken, but I will do so no more,
Yea, twice, but I will proceed no further.
CCCVIII
I know that thou canst do everything,
And that nothing is beyond thy reach;
Hence I say: I have uttered that I understand not,
Things too wonderful for me, which I know not.
CCCIX
I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear,
But now mine eye hath beheld thee;
Therefore I resign and console myself,
Though in dust and ashes.
EPILOGUE
CHAP. XLII. A.V.]
7¶ _And if was so, that after the Lord had spoken these words unto Job,
the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee,
and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me_ the thing
that is_ right, as my servant Job_ hath.
8 _Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to
my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my
servant Job shall pray for you: for him will I accept: lest I deal with
you_ after your _folly, in that ye have not spoken of me_ the
thing which is _right, like my servant Job._
9 _So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the
Naamathite went, and did according as the Lord commanded them: the Lord
also accepted Job._
10 _And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his
friends: also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before._
11 _Then came there unto him all his brethren, and all his sisters, and
all they that had been of his acquaintance before, and did eat bread with
him in his house: and they bemoaned him, and comforted him over all the
evil that the Lord had brought upon him: every man also gave him a piece
of money, and every one an earring of gold._
12 _So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning:
for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a
thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses_.
13 _He had also seven sons and three daughters_.
14 _And he called the name of the first, Jemima; and the name of the
second, Kezia; and the name of the third, Kerenhappuch_.
15 _And in all the land were no women found so fair as the daughters of
Job: and their father gave them inheritance among their brethren_.
16 _After this lived Job an hundred and forty years, and saw his sons,
and his sons' sons, even four generations_.
17 _So Job died, being old and full of days_.
Footnotes:
[196] _I.e._, the magicians by means of incantations.
[197] Allusion to the Satan's remark in the Prologue, chap. i. to: "Hast
not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all
that he hath on every side?"
[198] The strophe which follows in Prof. Bickell's text I consider a
later insertion, and have therefore struck it out. It runs thus:
"The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion,
And the teeth of the young lions are broken;
The old lion perisheth for lack of prey,
And the stout lion's whelps are scattered abroad."
[199] The prophetic vision which Eliphaz now describes is relied upon by
him as the sanction for his whole discourse. To his seeming, it is a
direct revelation from God.
[200] The sons of God, sons of the Elohim. _Cf._ Genesis vi. 4. There is
no analogy between these sons of God and the angels or saints of
Christianity. _Cf._ also Prof. Cheyne, "Job and Solomon," p. 81:
Baudissin, Studien, II.
[201] The human body is likened to a tent of which the tent-pole is the
breath of life; this gone, all that remains is the natural prey
of the elements.
[202] Calumny.
[203] Allusion to his sufferings at night from elephantiasis. This
terrible malady, which was first described by Rhazes, in the ninth
century, under the name _dâ-l-fîl_ ("disease of the elephant"), was
for a long time erroneously believed to be confined to Arabia. As a
matter of fact, it is found in an endemic state in all warm
countries, and sporadically even in Europe. In tropical and
sub-tropical lands it progresses with alarming rapidity. Every new
crisis is preceded by a shivering sensation and violent fever,
frequently accompanied with headache, delirium, and nervous and
gastric suffering. A violent attack of this kind may last seven or
eight days. The seat of the disease is generally the foot or the
reproductive organs. In the former case the foot swells to a
monstrous size, instep, toes and heel and ankle all merging in one
dense mass that reminds one of the foot of an elephant.
[204] Job feels that death is nigh.
[205] Allusion to an ocean myth. A watch had to be set upon the movements
of the monsters of the sea and the firmament.
[206] The irony of these words addressed by Job to Jehovah would be
deemed blasphemous in a poet like Byron or Shelley. As a matter of
fact, they constitute a parody of Psalm viii. 5. as Prof. Cheyne has
already pointed out ("Job and Solomon").
[207] The firmament, being a solid mass, has paths cut out along which
the stars move in their courses, just as there are channels made
for the clouds and rain.
[208] This entire speech is ironical.
[209] Allusion to a myth.
[210] In the light of my own conscience I am not an evil-doer.
[211] Ironical.
[212] _Lit_., the man of lips.
[213] Wisdom.
[214] _I.e_., God's wisdom enables him to discern the deceit of those who
appear just, and the punishment which he deals out to them makes the
result of his knowledge visible to the dullest comprehension.
[215] A name for God.
[216] The current versions of the Bible make Job say the contrary: "With
the ancient _is_ wisdom; and in length of days understanding" (Job
xii. 12, Authorised Version). _Cf. ante_, "Interpolations."
[217] _I.e_., Will ye persist in maintaining that God rewards the good
and punishes the wicked (as Zophar has just done, strophe xcvii.) in
spite of the fact that ye know it is untrue?
[218] _I.e_., not on grounds obvious to all, but because your own
particular lot is satisfactory.
[219] Compare this with the extraordinary verse in our Authorised
Version: "Thou settest a print upon the heels of my feet"! (Job
ii. 27).
[220] This is one of the very few passages in the Poem which throw light
upon the date of its composition.
[221] _I.e_., the object for which he bartered righteousness.
[222] Host of evils which has attacked me from all sides.
[223] Ironical.
[224] An allusion to the promises made by the friends on the part of God
that Job would, if he repented and asked for pardon, recover his
former prosperity.
[225] _Lit_., the pieces of his skin.
[226] Probably an allusion to elephantiasis.
[227] The personification of death.
[228] Either "the sons of the womb which has borne me," as in iii. 10, or
else "my own children," the poet forgetting that in the prologue
they are described as having been killed.
[229] _I.e_., when it is too late.
[230] Zophar discerns perfect moral order in the world.
[231] God.
[232] _I.e_., by man.
[233] _I.e_., be silent.
[234] Job's ideal of a happy death was identical with that of Julius
Caesar--the most sudden and least foreseen.
[235] Literally, "his."
[236] _I.e_., after his death.
[237] _I.e._, God.
[238] Ironical.
[239] If there be a God who rules the world, punishes evil, and rewards
good, how comes it that we descry no signs of such just retribution?
[240] About seven strophes in the same quasi-impious strain,
characterising the real reign of Jehovah upon earth as
distinguished from the optimistic delineations of Job's friends,
are lost. The verses that have taken their place in our
manuscripts are portions of a different work, which has no
relation whatever to our poem. They are not even in the same
metre as Job, but contain strophes of three lines only.
[241] Conjecture of Professor Bickell; these two lines are not found in
the MSS.
[242] I will judge ye out of your own mouths. Ye maintained, all of you,
that the principles on which the world is governed are absolutely
unintelligible. How then can ye reason as if the moral order were
based upon retribution, and from my sufferings infer my sins?
[243] The miner who descends into the abyss of the earth, and carries a
lamp.
[244] Wisdom is here identified with God, of whom we know nothing and
have only vaguely heard from those who knew less, i.e., former
generations, for whom Job has scant respect.
[245] To mete out justice.
[246] Two strophes are wanting here, in which Job presumably says that
this great change of fortune is not the result of his conduct.
The LXX offers nothing here in lieu of the lost verses; but the
Massoretic text has the strophes which occur in the Authorised
Version (xxxi. 1-4), and which would seem to have been
substituted for the original verses. The present Hebrew text is
useless here. If the four Massoretic verses which it offers had
stood in the original, so important are they that they would
never have been omitted by the Greek translators, who evidently
did not possess them in their texts. They remind one to some
extent of certain passages of the Sermon on the Mount, and are
manifestly of late origin.
[247] _I.e._, my servant.
[248] The concourse of people and partisans at the gate where justice was
administered.
[249] _I.e._, I never adored them as gods.
[250] Of the nobles.
[251] This is the passage become famous in the imaginary form: "That mine
adversary had written a book!" (xxxi. 35).
[252] Daylight is hostile to criminals, and the manner in which it
operates is here compared to a tossing of them off the outspread
carpet of the earth.
[253] On a carpet, to which the earth is still compared.
* * * * *
THE SPEAKER
TRANSLATION OF THE RESTORED TEXT
* * * * *
THE SPEAKER
PART I
I. THESIS: _Vanity of the so-called Absolute Joys of Living._
I 1.[254] The words of the Speaker, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
2. Vanity of vanities, saith the Speaker, vanity of vanities: all is
vanity.
3. What profit hath man of all his toil wherewith he wearies himself
under the sun?
4. One generation passeth away and another cometh; the earth alone
abideth for ever.
5. The sun riseth and the sun goeth down and panting hasteneth back to
his place where he rose.
6. The wind sweepeth towards the south and veereth round to the north,
whirling about everlastingly; and back to his circuits returneth the
wind.
7. All rivers flow into the sea; yet the sea is not full; whence the
rivers take their source, thither they return again.
8. The all is in a never-ceasing whirl,
No man can utter it in words;
Rest is not vouchsafed to the eye from seeing,
Nor unto the ear from hearing.[255]
9. The thing that hath been is the same that shall be, and what befell is
the same that shall come to pass, and there is no new thing under the
sun. 10. If aught there be whereof one would say, "Lo, this is new!"--it
was erstwhile in the eternities that were before us.[256]
11. There is no memory of those that were; neither shall there be any
remembrance of them that are to come, among their posterity.
12. I, the Speaker, was king over Israel in Jerusalem, 13. and I set my
heart to seek out and probe with wisdom all things that are done under
heaven. 14. I surveyed all the works that are wrought under the sun, and
behold all was vanity and the grasping of wind.
15. That which is crooked cannot be straight,
Nor can loss be reckoned as gain.
16_a_. I communed with my heart, saying: Lo, I have gathered great
and ever-increasing wisdom, more than all that were before me in
Jerusalem. 17. Then I set my heart to learn wisdom and understanding.
16_b_. And my heart discerned much wisdom and knowledge, 17. madness
and folly. I realised that this also is but a grasping of wind. 18. For
In much wisdom is much grief;
Who increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow.
II.1. I said in my heart: Go to, now, I will try mirth
and taste pleasure! But behold, this too was
vanity.
2. Unto laughter I said: It is mad.
Unto mirth: What cometh of it?
PROOFS OF THE VANITY OF POSSESSION AND ENJOYMENT
_(a) Because Enjoyment is Marred by Possession_
II. 3. I cast about me, how I might confer pleasure upon my body--my
reason continuing to guide with wisdom the while--and how I might take to
folly till I should discern what is good for the sons of men that they
should do under heaven during the brief days of their existence. 4. I
undertook huge works, I builded me houses, cultivated vineyards, 5. laid
out gardens and orchards wherein I planted trees with all kinds of
fruits; 6. I dug out reservoirs of water wherewith to water the
tree-bearing wood. 7. I got me men slaves and female slaves and had
servants born in my house; I likewise owned horned and small cattle,
above all that were in Jerusalem before me. 8. I also piled up silver and
gold, the treasures of kings and provinces, I got me men singers and
women singers, and the delight of the sons of men, wife and wives. 9.
And I waxed great and increased more than all that had been before me in
Jerusalem; also my wisdom abode with me. 10. And what thing so ever mine
eyes coveted, I kept not from them. I withheld not my heart from any joy;
but my heart took pleasure in all my labour, for this only was my portion
of all my toil.
II. Then I turned to all my works that my hands had wrought and to the
worry wherewith I had wearied myself, and behold, all was vanity and a
grasping of wind; and there is no profit under the sun.
V.10. Whoso loveth silver shall not have joy of silver;[257]
And he who sets his heart on riches reaps nought therefrom.
This too is vanity.
11. When goods increase, they also are multiplied that devour them, and
what profit hath the owner thereof save the gazing thereon with his eyes?
12. Sweet is the sleep of the toiler; but his wealth suffered not the
rich man to slumber.[258]
_(b) Because Possession is at best but Fleeting_
V. 13. There is a sore evil which I have witnessed under the sun; riches
hoarded up by the owner thereof to his own undoing.[259] [For such an one
treasures them, spending thereby all his days in worry, vexation, grief,
and carking care without gladdening his soul;] 14. then the riches perish
by evil mishap, and if that man have begotten a son, there is nothing in
his hand.
16_a_. But this likewise is a sore evil: exactly as he came, even so
shall he go; 15. naked, as he issued from his mother's womb, must he
depart again, nor for all his labour shall he carry away aught that might
go with him in his hand. 16_b_. What profit hath he then for having
toiled for the wind, 17. and likewise passed all his days in darkness,
mourning and much grief, suffering and wrath?
_(c) Because the Capacity for Pleasure is hedged round with
Conditions_
V. 18. Behold what I have found to be good and beautiful: that a man eat,
drink and make merry amid all his labour whereat he striveth under the
sun during the brief days of his life which God hath allotted to him; for
such is his portion. 19. But that God should enable every man on whom he
has bestowed riches and treasures, to enjoy these, and taking his share,
to have pleasure in his labour, this is itself a gift of God.[260] 20.
For then he shall not ponder overmuch on the days of his life, since God
approveth the joy of his heart.
VI. 1. But there is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it
weighs heavy upon men: 2. that God bestows upon one riches, wealth and
honour, grudging him nought for which his soul yearns, yet permitteth him
not to taste thereof, but a stranger enjoyeth it. This is vanity and a
sore evil. 3. If such an one should beget even a hundred sons and live
many years, but his soul could not revel in bliss then I say, an untimely
birth is better off than he. 4. For it came into nothingness, and
departed in gloom and its name is shrouded in darkness; 3. not even a
sepulchre fell to its lot; 5. moreover, it had not gazed upon, nor known
the sun; this latter hath more rest than the former. 6. Yea, though one
lived a thousand years twice told, yet had not tasted happiness, must not
all wander into one place?[261]
7. All man's toil is for his mouth;
And yet the soul[262]
gets not its fill.
III. 9. What profit hath the toiler from that whereat he labours? 12. I
perceived that for him there is no good other than to eat, drink, and
make merry in his life; 13. but even this same that any one may eat,
drink, and enjoy himself during all his toil, is for him a gift of
God.[263]
PROOFS OF THE VANITY OF KNOWLEDGE
(a) _Because of its Limitation_
III. 10. I considered the working of the world which God gave unto man as
a subject of meditation. 11. Unto their perception he made over the
universe and likewise all eternity; yet so that they are unable to
discern the work that he worketh from the beginning unto the end.[264]
(6) _From its Depressing Effects as Applied to the Order of the
World_
III. 14. I discovered that whatever God doeth is for ever; nothing can be
superadded to it, neither can aught be taken away; and God hath so
contrived it that man must fear him.
15. What came into being had been already long before, and what will be
was long ago; and God quickeneth the past.
(c) _Because of its Depressing Effects as Applied to Human Life and
Conduct_
III. 16. Moreover, I saw, under the sun, in the place of equity iniquity,
and in lieu of justice crime. 18. I said in mine heart: It is for men's
sake that God should try them and show that they are beasts, they unto
themselves. 19. For men are an accident, and the beasts are an accident,
and the same accident befalleth them all: as these die even so die those,
and the selfsame breath have they all, nor is there any pre-eminence of
man above beast;[265] for all is nothingness. 20. All drift into one
place; all sprang from the dust, and all turn to dust again. 21. Who
knoweth whether the breath of man riseth upwards or whether the breath of
the beast sinketh downwards to the earth?
22. And I perceived that other good there is none, save only that man
should enjoy himself in his work; for that is his portion. For who can
show him what shall become of him after his death?
IV. I. And again I saw all the oppressive deeds that are wrought under
the sun; and behold the downtrodden weep, and none comforteth them; and
they endure violence from their tyrants, and none consoleth them. 2. Then
I appraised the dead who died long since, as happier than the quick who
are yet alive; 3. but luckier than both, him who is still unborn, who
hath not yet witnessed the evil doings under the sun.
4. And I saw that all striving and all painstaking in the working of men
is but the jealousy of one with another; this too is vanity and the
grasping of wind. 5. True,
The fool foldeth his hands,
And eateth up his own flesh.
6. And yet better is a handful of quietness than both fists filled with
drudgery and the grasping of wind.
7. And again I beheld a vain thing under the sun: 8. one who toileth
restlessly without enjoying his riches. For whom do I wear myself out and
bereave my soul of pleasure? This too is vanity and irksome drudgery.
II. 12. For what manner of man will he be who shall come after me? 18.
Then I loathed all my toil, wherewith I had wearied myself under the sun,
in order that I should leave it to one who shall come after me. 19. And
who knoweth whether he be a wise man or a fool? Yet shall he have sway
over all the fruits of my labour which I have gained by toil and wisdom
under the sun; this likewise is vanity. 20. And I turned away to let my
heart abandon itself to despair because of the pains wherewith I laboured
under the sun. 21. For here is a man who hath performed his work with
wisdom, knowledge and painstaking, and to one who hath not laboured
thereat he must leave it, as his portion. This also is vanity and a sore
evil.
22. For what hath man of all his striving and of the worry of his heart
wherewith he labours under the sun? 23. For all his days are sorrows and
his work grief; yea, even at night his heart taketh no rest; this too is
vanity.
24. There is no good for man, save that he should eat and drink and make
glad his soul in his labour. Yet I saw that even this lieth in the hand
of God.[266] 25. For who can eat and who can enjoy except through him?
26. For on the man who findeth favour in his sight he bestoweth wisdom,
knowledge, and joy; but to him who is not pleasing in his sight[267] he
giveth drudgery, to gather and to heap up in order to make it over to him
in whom he is well pleased. This also is vanity and a grasping of wind.
PROOFS OF THE VANITY OF WISDOM IN ITS RELIGIOUS AND MORAL ASPECTS[268]
_(a) Because in the Chances of Life and Death the Just are Nowise
Favoured_
II. 12_a_. Then I turned to behold wisdom, madness and folly, 13.
and I saw that wisdom excelleth folly as much as light surpasseth
darkness:
14. The wise man hath eyes in his head;
But the fool walketh in obscurity.
But I perceived that the same fate overtaketh them all. 15. Then I said
in mine heart: As it happeneth to the fool, so shall it happen also unto
me; and why then have I been so very wise? Whereupon I said in my heart
that this too is vanity. 16. For there is no more remembrance of the wise
man than of the fool for ever; because in the days to come all shall have
been long since forgotten, and how the wise man perisheth like the fool!