11 Chap. I. An Expofition upon the Book of j O B. Verc. I° By accidentals, fo he is defcribed by the place where he dwelt There was a man in the land of t}z. 2. By his name, whofe name was Job. The eifentials are four qualifications, which were effential to him, not as a rational man, but as a holy man. And that man was t. Perfell. 2. Vpright. 3. One thatfearedGod. 4. E fchewedevil. As they who write the Acts or Stories of great men,ufually give us fome defcription of their perfons before they letdown theirun- dertakingsor atchievemerits(as you fee in the t Sam. 17.4,5,6,7. how the great Gyant Goliah is defcribed) fo here the Holy Ghoft by the Pen-manofthis Book,being to record a glorious combate, a combatenot withBeth and blood alone, but with principalities and Powers, a wrefiling with mighty and thong temptations ;. fitft gives us (if we may fo fpeak) the Profopography of this divine Hero's fóul, the lineaments and abilities of his fpirit. This was the height, and this the flature of the Combitant, fuch were his limbs, and fuch his Weapons, there he dwelt, and this was,his name. There was a man in the landof Uz, whofenamewas Job. There was That refers us either to the truth ofthe Story, or to the time ofthe Story. Such a man there was , that's certain. Such aman therewas, but the time when is uncertain. It re- fers us to the time only indefinitely. There was fuch a man, but when, is not exactly andprecifely let down. The Scripture (we know) doth often keep an exact, account of years ( the Scripture is the guide and key of all Chronology) and fometimes it leaves things in general for the time,and onlyfaith thus much, . fuch a thing was,or fuch a perfon was.. So here. Yet force have undertaken to define (what the Spirit ofGod hath left at large) R,,.223ó from theprecife time wherein Job lived ; and tell us in what year of the Creation; the world thefe things were done. But I detiire not to be fo accu- 574years al- rate unlels the rule were fo too. Only thus much we may fafely ter the flood; fa ,that job lived between the times of Abraham and Mofes, 2$2.years afy - ter .Abraham. and nearer 1Llnfes then Abraham; and for that I conceive there is Bgtdgc. intoc. grouted fuffrcient. There are thefe two Ipecial Reafons, why it thould;
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