Chap. 2. )t Expofition upon the Bookof J O B. Very. 9. or a malefaéior condemned, and ready to be carried to execution, yet perfiflingin his fin,or unlamenting thewicked fiefs which pro- cur'd that fentence.Her error,faith he,wasonly this,that fhe judg- ed him wicked, becaufh he was thus (mitten, and that he trailed upon his integrity,becaufe he held it fafl;whereas indeedJob look- ed for no good, but out of the hand ofFree-grace, and accounted his very Integrity but dung, to the Righteoufnefs andRedemption of the promifed Meffiab. But (with humble refpec to fo reverend an Author) there arc twoReafons ftrong againft this Expofition, in my apprehenfion, which Í thall propofe, and fiabrnit to the Readers judgment. The fill is this : It had beenquiteagainft Satans defign, that jobs wife fhould give her husband good counfel : For it had been fo far from beingan addition to Jobs affli6ion, that it had been a great abatement ofit to hear his wife fpeak fo holily, and admini- ftring fuch wholefomecounfel in the fubflánce of it, though mi- ftaken in the application of it tohim. And furely a heart fo corn- poled as Jobs was under all thefe preffures,wouldhave fhaped out fuch an Anfwer as this : My dear wife, I thank thee for thy care and counfel, thou haft a holy jealoufìe over me, that I am not in fuch a pofture offpirít as becomes a.dying man. Though there be an error in thy advice as applyed to me,yet I take it as an error of love;and thy reproof,thoughmifplaced,is veryacceptable andpre- cious unto me. But (whichmakes my fecond Reafon) He reproves her for it, and tells her plainly, thou fpeakefl as one of the fooiifh women fpeak,çth ; whereas if that had been the meaningof her .words,the fpal¿e as one of the wife women; like a wife woman indeed. It is an as ofwifdom and of love, both to fufpet ill of another,when that fufpition leads us only to advice him for his good. It is an ex- cellent thing when jealoufies are improved into faithful counfels. Surely then Jobhad never numbered her with the foolifh women, ifthat fpeech of hers had imported only anhumble preparation for his approaching death. In the fecondplace , Come who tranflate the words, Neff God anddye, do yet expound them as very finful counfel ; though the words found fair, yet the fente is made very foul. Thefe under- Rand them as an Irony, as if his wife,fcoffing and jeering her hus- band, had Paid ; -Doff thou 11111 retain thine integrity ? biefs God and dye ; thou shalt have enough of thine integrity , take thy fill 279
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