For he hath stretched out his hand against God, and hath strengthened himself against the Almighty.

“Ver. 25, 26. For he hath stretched out his hand against God, and is strengthened against the Almighty; He runneth upon Him with erected neck, and he is armed with a stout neck. These things are more plainly understood of the head of the wicked himself, i.e. Antichrist, who, while lifting up his hand against God, is said to be 'strengthened,' in that for a little time he is permitted to be exalted; that in proportion as he is let to glory for a while, he may be punished the more pitilessly for everlasting; but seeing that all the wicked are his members, this, which he then in the end of the world shall do alone in a preeminent way, let us see how it is done now by each one of the wicked severally. Thus there are some who even if they do ever set themselves to do things in opposition to the judgment of Almighty God, disabled by the very impossibility of putting their will in execution, look to themselves, are made to turn themselves to Him Whom they were minded to despise, and they, who might have gone far from Him, if they had been able to execute what they were minded to do, are sometimes hereby saved, because they could not execute what they wickedly had the mind for; and hence being brought back to themselves, they see what condition they are of, and mourn that they had the mind to do things contrary to 'Truth.' And there are some who by the just judgment of God are suffered to execute with worse wickedness that which they wickedly desire to do in opposition to God. And whilst an evil disposition inflames, and power strengthens them, they are henceforth unable to attain to know themselves in their erring course, in proportion as in the affluence of their fortunes they are by power ever being drawn out of themselves. Concerning the bent of whose mind it is here said, For he stretcheth forth his hand against God, and is strengthened against the Almighty. For 'to stretch forth the hand against God,' is to persevere in evil doing, setting at nought the judgments of God. And because God is then more wroth, when He suffers that to be fulfilled, which thing ought not to have been conceived at all in thought, this wicked man is 'strengthened against the Almighty,' in that he is suffered to prosper in his wicked course of conduct, so that he should both do wicked things, and yet live in happiness, Of whom it is yet further added, He runneth upon Him with erected neck. To 'run against God with erected neck' is to commit with shamelessness such things as are displeasing to the Creator. Of whom it is rightly said, He ran, i.e, in doing evil, he had no let or hindrance from adversity. Concerning whom it is yet further added; And he is armed with a stout neck. 'A stout neck' is wealthy pride, as being buttressed up with overflowing stores, as it were with a quantity of flesh. And so the bad man with power 'is armed against God with a stout neck,' in that swollen with temporal good things he is set up as by a great bulk of flesh against the precepts of truth. For what is poverty but a sort of leanness, and what is the abundance of stores but the fatness of the present life? And so he lifts himself up 'with a stout neck against God,' who takes temporal abundance to serve the end of pride. For the powerful and wicked have this thing proper to them, that being engrossed with deceitful riches they neglect the true riches of God, and in proportion as they investigate the less what is true, they are the more lifted up by false acquisitions. For the care and concern of earthly things, because it engrosses, utterly blinds the sight.”

“But Eliphaz the Temanite, answering, said. Having heard Job's words, Eliphaz does not respond to the depth of his statements but strives to reprove, in a slanderous manner, certain words spoken by Job, considering them according to the surface of the words themselves and not according to the depth of their meaning. And first indeed he reproves that which Job had said at the beginning of his speech, "and I too have a heart, just as you do, nor am I inferior to you," in which he indeed notes two things about him: first, empty glory, because he commends himself, and this is what he says: "will a wise man answer as though he were speaking into the wind?" — for one who composes words in order to catch glory seems to speak into the wind; second, wrath, because he had begun to speak reproachfully when he said "therefore you alone are men," etc., and therefore he adds "and fill his stomach with heat," that is, his mind with wrath? Then he reproves him for having said, "I desire to dispute with God," and again, "only do not do two things to me, and then I shall not be hidden from your face," etc., in which he notes him in many ways: first, of pride, because he contends against one greater than himself, and this is what he says: "you argue against him with words, who is not your equal"; second, of folly, because Eliphaz reckoned such a dispute harmful, whence he adds: "and you speak what is not expedient for you," namely, in disputing with God. And why it is not expedient to dispute with him, he shows by this: that a dispute of this kind seems to exclude two things that are very necessary, of which the first is the fear of God — for he who fears someone does not presume to contend with him, whence also Job had said above, "let not your strength terrify me," and therefore Eliphaz here adds, "as much as is in you, you have emptied fear," because, namely, you have striven to exclude the fear of God from yourself; the second is prayer to God — for it does not belong to the same man both to contend with someone and to entreat him, and therefore he adds, "and you have taken away," that is, removed, "prayers from before the Lord," contrary to what Eliphaz had said above, "wherefore I will entreat the Lord." Now Job had disputed with God not out of pride but out of confidence in the truth, but Eliphaz rashly judged that this proceeded from iniquity, whence he adds: "for your iniquity has taught your mouth"; and this appears from its effect, because you blaspheme, whence there follows: "and you imitate the tongue of blasphemers." For he who blasphemes is one who denies the justice of God, but he who disputes with God about his justice seems to imitate the tongue of a blasphemer: for to dispute about something seems to belong to one who doubts concerning it, and one who doubts is close to one who denies. Therefore Eliphaz, wishing to speak against Job's dispute, first says that Job spoke so manifestly ill that he needs no other reprover, but his own words indicate his malice, and this is what he says: "your own mouth will condemn you, and not I, and your own lips will answer you," as if to say: your words need no other to answer them, but they destroy themselves. He shows, however, in many ways that this dispute was not fitting: first, by a comparison of him to all creatures; for if any creature could contend with God, this would belong especially to the first and most excellent creature — which did not apply to Job, whence he says: "were you born the first man, and formed before all the hills," that is, that on this account it would belong to you, on behalf of the whole human race or of the whole of creation, to dispute with God? Second, by comparison to God: for he can fittingly dispute with someone about his deeds who knows the reason by which the one with whom he disputes operates, which indeed he can know in two ways — one, as learning it from him; the other, as judging the deeds of another by a superior wisdom; but neither applies to Job in the comparison of man to God, and this is what he says: "have you heard the counsel of God," as to the first, "and will his wisdom be inferior to you," as to the second, so that you could thus dispute with God? Third, by comparison to other men, to whom he does not appear more knowing, so that out of confidence in greater knowledge he might presume to dispute with God, whence he says: "what do you know," namely by faith or revelation, "that we do not know? What do you understand," by natural knowledge, "that we are ignorant of?" But because Job might boast of knowledge received from others, he adds: "and there are among us men both old," namely in dignity of knowledge and of life, "and ancient in time, much older than your fathers," that is, than your teachers from whom you received your knowledge, or, according to the letter, than your forebears; and by greater age he wishes greater wisdom to be understood, because through the experience of a long time someone is rendered wiser. Fourth, on the part of Job himself, he shows that his dispute with God was unfitting, and first indeed because it was harmful to him, explaining what he had said above, "you speak what is not expedient for you," whence he says: "is it a great thing that God should console you?" As if to say: it is easy for God to bring you back to a state of prosperity, since he himself wounds and heals, as he had said above, but your wicked words prevent this, by which you provoke the wrath of God against you all the more. Second, he shows that it was vain and proud, as if explaining what he had said above, "will a wise man answer as though he were speaking into the wind?" Whence he adds: "what does your heart lift you up," namely through pride, that you presume so far concerning your wisdom? And he shows the sign of pride, adding: "and, as if thinking great things, do you have astonished eyes?" For when someone considers certain great and wondrous things, he is brought into amazement, and from this it happens that he has astonished eyes. Third, he shows that his dispute was presumptuous and impious, explaining what he had said above, "you argue against him with words, who is not your equal," whence he adds: "why does your spirit swell against God, that you utter from your mouth words of this kind," namely by which you provoke God to a dispute? "What is man, that he should be spotless," etc. After Eliphaz had reproved Job for this, that he had provoked God to a dispute, which seemed to pertain to a presumption of wisdom, now he reproves him for a presumption of righteousness, because he had said, "if I am judged, I know that I shall be found just." This indeed Eliphaz attacks, first from the frailty of the human condition, through which man both with difficulty avoids sin, whence he says: "what is man, that he should be spotless?" And also with difficulty performs good, whence he adds: "and that he who is born of woman should appear just?" For, as it is said in Proverbs, "in abundant righteousness there is the greatest power," which does not seem to belong to one who has his origin from a weak thing. Second, he attacks the same point from a comparison with the higher creatures, whence he adds: "behold, among his holy ones," that is, the angels, "no one is unchangeable," namely by his own nature but only by the gift of divine grace, so that he could not be turned aside into sin; "and the heavens," which hold the highest place of purity among bodies, "are not clean in his sight," that is, in comparison to him, because they are material and corporeal and changeable. Third, he attacks the same point from Job's own condition, arguing as it were from the greater to the lesser: how much more abominable, through sin, and useless, through a defect of righteousness, is man, who drinks iniquity like water, that is, who commits iniquity for nothing and without any restraint; for he who drinks wine drinks with some restraint lest he become drunk, which is not observed in the drinking of water: in this, therefore, he notes of Job himself that he would easily incline to iniquity, just as someone easily and readily has it to drink water. "I will show you, hear me," etc. After Eliphaz had reproved Job for having provoked God to a dispute and for presuming upon his own righteousness, now he reproves him concerning the words that he had spoken in disputing, and especially those: "you think me your enemy"; "you show your power against a leaf that is carried off by the wind"; and "you have put me in the stocks," etc. And first he stirs up attention, saying, "I will show you," namely that which you were seeking from God, "hear me attentively"; but from whence he can show it, he makes clear by adding, "what I have seen," namely finding it out from his own understanding, "I will tell you"; and again he will not be ashamed to say what he has heard from others, bringing them forward as authorities, because "the wise confess and do not hide their fathers," namely those from whom they received wisdom — for it belongs to fools and the proud to ascribe to themselves what they have received from others. And why they are not to be hidden, he shows from their dignity when he adds, "to whom alone the land was given"; and this can indifferently and in the same sense be referred either to the wise or to the fathers of the wise, whom he wishes also to be understood as wise — for the land is said to be given to the wise alone because they are the lords of earthly goods, using them for their own good, whereas fools use them to their own harm, according to that word of Wisdom 14:11: "creatures were made a snare for the feet of the foolish." And again, to show their dignity, he adds, "and no stranger will pass through them," namely because those who are strangers to wisdom cannot be numbered in the company of the wise; or because the wise are not supplied by outsiders — for a stranger is said to pass through those who are conquered and subjected by some outsider. After, then, he had made his hearer attentive, he now strives to answer against the words of Job disputing, from which he understood two things: first, that Job lived in anguish and fear, as though God were persecuting him and laying snares for him, because he had said, "you think me your enemy" and "you have observed all my paths"; second, that he believed him to doubt concerning his own destruction, because he had said, "you write bitter things against me, and want to consume me for the sins of my youth": therefore he speaks first against the first point, and second against the second, at the place "he will dwell in desolate cities." He shows, then, first, from what root this suspicion arises in Job's heart: because from his impiety and will to harm, whence he says: "the wicked man is proud all his days," that is, he is lifted up against God and to the harm of men. Now by "his days" he means not the days of his life but the days of his power or prosperity; but because the will to harm is in man from himself, while the power is from God, he cannot know for how long a time the power to fulfill his impious will is given to him, whence there is added: "and the number of the years of his tyranny is uncertain." And from this uncertainty follow suspicion and fear, which he consequently describes, saying: "the sound of terror is always in his ears," because, namely, at any rumor whatsoever he fears that something is being prepared against him, trusting in no one, as it were, on account of which he adds: "and when there is peace, he suspects ambushes," that is, when no one is contriving anything against him, he nevertheless dreads everyone on account of his own impious will, by which he would be ready to harm everyone. Now when someone fears certain of his enemies, he can hope for deliverance, even if he succumbs for a time, through the help of friends; but he who trusts in no one but fears everyone cannot hope that he will be relieved after being oppressed, and therefore he adds: "he does not believe that he can return from darkness to light," that is, from a state of adversity to a state of prosperity, "looking about on every side for the sword," that is, seeing enemies threatening him from every direction; and he says this particularly on account of the fact that Job had said, "I am to be consumed like rottenness, and like a garment that is eaten by a moth," by which Eliphaz understood Job to despair of his own deliverance. Now it sometimes happens that some tyrant, even though he fears all outsiders, nevertheless has some intimates and household members with whom he associates in security; but when his malice is overflowing, he fears even his own household members with whom he lives, whence there follows: "when he has moved to seek bread, he knows that the day of darkness is ready at hand," that is, the day of death, as if to say: he suspects ambushes not only in outward acts, in which he must necessarily associate with outsiders, but also in domestic acts, in eating and drinking and the like, believing that death is being prepared for him by his own household. And since he thus fears concerning everyone, he does not rest but always contrives something against those he fears, and thus the occasion of his fear grows, whence he adds: "tribulation will terrify him," namely, threatening him from others, "and anguish will surround him," namely, through fear of heart from every side, "as a king who is preparing for battle" — for a king who is preparing for battle is thus straitened by the fear of losing, and yet he still strives to destroy his enemies. By what merit, however, the wicked man and tyrant comes into such misery of fear, he shows, adding: "for he has stretched out his hand against God," by acting against God, "and has strengthened himself against the Almighty," that is, he has used the power given to him against God. And how he has acted against God, he shows, adding: "he ran against him with outstretched neck," that is, by being proud — for it is especially through pride that man resists God, to whom he ought to be subjected through humility, according to that word of Ecclesiasticus 10:14: "the beginning of man's pride is to apostatize from God"; and just as he who loves God is said to run in his way on account of the readiness of his will to serve him, so also the proud man is said to run against God on account of the presumption of his spirit. Now pride is accustomed to arise from an abundance of temporal things, and therefore there follows: "and he is armed with a fat neck," namely, by being proud against God — for fatness is caused by an abundance of humors, whence it signifies an abundance of temporal things. Now just as humility is the beginning of wisdom, so also pride is an impediment to wisdom, whence there follows: "fatness has covered his face" — for by the covering of the face is designated an impediment to knowledge. Nor is the opulence which is the cause of pride found only in him, but it is also derived to those beside him, whence there follows: "and fat hangs down from his sides." By all of which he intends to signify that Job fell from opulence into pride, through which he raised himself up against God and exercised tyranny over men, and therefore came into this suspicion, that he suspected God to be his adversary and one laying snares for him. "He will dwell in desolate cities," etc. After Eliphaz has shown the anguishes of fear which the wicked man suffers even while existing in a state of prosperity, he now speaks of the bitternesses by which, cast down into adversity, he is consumed, on account of the fact that Job had said, "you write bitter things against me, and want to consume me for the sins of my youth." Among the other bitternesses he sets down first that he is made a fugitive; now it is the custom of fugitives to seek hidden and uninhabited places, and therefore he says: "he will dwell in desolate cities and in deserted houses, which have been reduced to heaps" — for places of this kind are accustomed to be the shelters of fugitives. As the second, that he is despoiled of his riches, whence he says: "he will not be enriched," namely so as to acquire riches anew, "nor will his substance persist," so that he could retain riches previously acquired. As the third he sets down the impossibility of recovering, saying: "nor will he put his root into the earth" — for a tree, if it is uprooted and planted again, grows strong again if it puts its root into the earth, but if it cannot put its root into the earth, it cannot grow strong again. And as if explaining this, he adds: "he will not depart from the darkness," that is, from the state of adversity; and he assigns the reason for not returning to the light, adding: "the flame will dry up his branches" — for if a tree is uprooted, while the branches remain green there still remains hope of restoration, because they can be grafted in or planted, but if the branches are burned, no hope of recovery remains any further; now the branches of a man are his sons and other conjoined persons through whom a man sometimes rises again from a state of adversity, but Job's sons had been killed and his household had perished; and he himself was oppressed by infirmity, which he hints at, adding: "and he will be taken away by the breath of his own mouth," that is, by the pride of his own words, so that he could in no way hope for recovery, not even from God, whom he has offended by the pride of his words, whence he adds: "let him not believe, vainly deceived by error, that he is to be redeemed at any price," that is, that he is to be freed from tribulation by any help. As the fourth bitterness he sets down the shortening of life, whence he adds: "before his days are fulfilled he will perish," that is, he will die before the time of his life is completed, "and his hands will wither," that is, his sons and kinsmen will fail. And he adds an example, saying: "his cluster of grapes will be harmed, like a vine, in its first blossom" — which harm is indeed accustomed to happen from cold, whence it signifies external persecution; "and like an olive tree casting off its flower," which is accustomed to happen from some interior cause, whence it signifies the merit of the adversity on the part of the one who suffers it. Whence, concerning this merit, he adds: "for the congregation of the hypocrite is barren," that is, those things which are gathered together by the hypocrite are rendered fruitless, "and fire will devour the tabernacles of those who gladly receive gifts" — for it sometimes happens, by divine judgment, that things which have been ill acquired are easily consumed; and he says this, noting Job for rapacity and hypocrisy, as though adversity had befallen him on account of sins of this kind. And he adds a third sin, namely deceitfulness, whence there follows: "he has conceived sorrow," that is, he devised beforehand in his heart how he might inflict sorrow upon another; and the offspring of this conception indeed is the harm unjustly inflicted, whence there follows: "and has brought forth iniquity." He subsequently adds the manner in which he accomplishes this, saying: "and his womb prepares deceits" — for it belongs to hypocrites to inflict harm on others not openly but deceitfully; and by "womb" is understood the heart, in which spiritual conceptions occur, just as bodily conceptions occur in the womb.”

“He runneth upon him, even on his neck,.... As a fierce and furious enemy runs upon another with great wrath and fury; as the he goat in Daniel's vision ran upon the ram, in the fury of his power, that is, Alexander upon Darius; which instance Bar Tzemach refers to; and as an adversary, who throws down his weapons, and goes in to closer quarters, and takes his antagonist by the throat, or round the neck, in order to throw him down to the ground; in such a bold and insolent manner does the wicked man encounter with God; he makes up to him, and flies in his face, and most audaciously attacks him: or he runs upon him "with his neck" (y); with a stretched out neck, in the most haughty manner, with a neck like an iron sinew, and with a brow like brass: upon the thick bosses of his bucklers; alluding to shields, embossed in the middle, where they are thicker than in the other parts, and used to have a spike of iron set in the middle; so that it was daring and dangerous to run upon them: these may design the perfections of God, denied by the wicked man; or his providential dispensations, despised by him; or his purposes and decrees ridiculed, replied unto, and disputed; or the flaming sword of justice, and the curses of a righteous law, in defiance of which wicked men go on in sin: or "with the bosses of his bucklers" (z); with all his family, as Schmidt; or employing all his wealth and riches, his power and authority, against God, and the interest of religion in the world. Some understand this of God, meeting the wicked man, stretching out his hand, and strengthening himself against him, as if he, God, ran upon the wicked man, and upon his neck, and took him by it, and shook him; as in Job 16:12; and upon the thick bosses of his buckler, his bones and nerves, as Mr. Broughton; or on his power and wealth, which are not able to secure him from the vengeance of the Almighty; but the former sense seems best. (y) "erecto collo", V. L. Piscator; "duro collo", Drusius, Michaelis; "cum cervice", Cocceius, Schmidt, Schultens. (z) "cum erassitie umbonum clypeorum suorum", Cocceius; so Schmidt, Michaelis, Schultens.”

“25 Because he stretched out his hand against God, And was insolent towards the Almighty; 26 He assailed Him with a stiff neck, With the thick bosses of his shield; 27 Because he covered his face with his fatness, And addeth fat to his loins, 28 And inhabited desolated cities, Houses which should not be inhabited, Which were appointed to be ruins. 29 He shall not be rich, and his substance shall not continue And their substance boweth not to the ground. 30 He escapeth not darkness; The flame withereth his shoots; And he perisheth in the breath of His mouth. This strophe has periodic members: Job 15:25-28 an antecedent clause with a double beginning (כּי־נטה because he has stretched out, כּי־כסּה because he has covered; whereas ירוּץ may be taken as more independent, but under the government of the כי that stands at the commencement of the sentence); Job 15:29, Job 15:30, is the conclusion. Two chief sins are mentioned as the cause of the final destiny that comes upon the evil-doer: (1) his arrogant opposition to God, and (2) his contentment on the ruins of another's prosperity. The first of these sins is described Job 15:25-27. The fut. consec. is once used instead of the perf., and the simple fut. is twice used with the signification of an imperf. (as Job 4:3 and freq.). The Hithpa. התגּבּר signifies here to maintain a heroic bearing, to play the hero; התעשּׁר to make one's self rich, to play the part of a rich man, Pro 13:7. And בּצוּאר expresses the special prominence of the neck in his assailing God אל רוּץ, as Dan 8:6, comp. על, Job 16:14); it is equivalent to erecto collo (Vulg.), and in meaning equivalent to ὕβρει (lxx). Also in Psa 75:6, בצואר (with Munach, which there represents a distinctive) (Note: Vid., Dachselt's Biblia Accentuata, p. 816.)) is absolute, in the sense of stiff-necked or hard-headed; for the parallels, as Psa 31:19; Psa 94:4, and especially the primary passage, Sa1 2:3, show that עתק is to be taken as an accusative of the object. The proud defiance with which he challengingly assails God, and renders himself insensible to the dispensations of God, which might bring him to a right way of thinking, is symbolized by the additional clause: with the thickness (עבי cognate form to עבי) of the bosses of his shields. גּב is the back (Arab. dhr) or boss (umbo) of the shield; the plurality of shields has reference to the diversified means by which he hardens himself. Job 15:27, similarly to Psa 73:4-7, pictures this impregnable carnal security against all unrest and pain, to which, on account of his own sinfulness and the distress of others, the nobler-minded man is so sensitive: he has covered his face with his fat, so that by the accumulation of fat, for which he anxiously labours, it becomes a gross material lump of flesh, devoid of mind and soul, and made fat, i.e., added fat, caused it to accumulate, upon his loins (כּסל for כּסליו); עשׂה (which has nothing to do with Arab. gšâ, to cover) is used as in Job 14:9, and in the phrase corpus facere (in Justin), in the sense of producing outwardly something from within. פּימה reminds one of πιμ-ελή (as Aquila and Symmachus translate here), o-pim-us, and of the Sanscrit piai, to be fat (whence adj. pı̂van, pı̂vara, πιαρός, part. pı̂na, subst. according to Roth pı̂vas); the Arabic renders it probable that it is a contraction of פּאימה (Olsh. 171, b). The Jewish expositors explain it according to the misunderstood פּים, Sa1 13:21, of the furrows or wrinkles which are formed in flabby flesh, as if the ah were paragogic. Job 15:28 describes the second capital sin of the evil-doer. The desolated cities that he dwells in are not cities that he himself has laid waste; Job 15:28 distinctly refers to a divinely appointed punishment, for התעתּדוּ does not signify: which they (evil-doers) have made ruins (Hahn), which is neither probable from the change of number, nor accords with the meaning of the verb, which signifies "to appoint to something in the future." Hirzel, by referring to the law, Deu 13:13-18 (comp. Kg1 16:34), which forbids the rebuilding of such cities as are laid under the curse, explains it to a certain extent more correctly. But such a play upon the requirements of the Mosaic law is in itself not probable in the book of Job, and here, as Lwenthal rightly remarks, is the less indicated, since it is not the dwelling in such cities that is forbidden, but only the rebuilding of them, so far as they had been destroyed; here, however, the reference is only to dwelling, not to rebuilding. The expression must therefore be understood more generally thus, that the powerful man settles down carelessly and indolently, without any fear of the judgments of God or respect for the manifestations of His judicial authority, in places in which the marks of a just divine retribution are still visible, and which are appointed to be perpetual monuments of the execution of divine judgments. (Note: For the elucidation of this interpretation of the passage, Consul Wetzstein has contributed the following: "As one who yields to inordinate passion is without sympathy cast from human society because he is called muqtal rabbuh, 'one who is beaten in the conflict against his God' (since he has sinned against the holy command of chastity), and as no one ventures to pronounce the name of Satan because God has cursed him (Gen 3:14), without adding 'alh el-la'ne, 'God's curse upon him!' so a man may not presume to inhabit places which God has appointed to desolation. Such villages and cities, which, according to tradition, have perished and been frequently overthrown (maqlbe, muqlbe, munqualibe) by the visitation of divine judgment, are not uncommon on the borders of the desert. They are places, it is said, where the primary commandments of the religion of Abraham (Dn Ibrhim) have been impiously transgressed. Thus the city of Babylon will never be colonized by a Semitic tribe, because they hold the belief that it has been destroyed on account of Nimrod's apostasy from God, and his hostility to His favoured one, Abraham. The tradition which has even been transferred by the tribes of Arabia Petraea into Islamism of the desolation of the city of Higr (or Medin Slih) on account of disobedience to God, prevents any one from dwelling in that remarkable city, which consists of thousands of dwellings cut in the rock, some of which are richly ornamented; without looking round, and muttering prayers, the desert ranger hurries through, even as does the great procession of pilgrims to Mekka, from fear of incurring the punishment of God by the slightest delay in the accursed city. The destruction of Sodom, brought about by the violation of the right of hospitality (Gen 19:5, comp. Job 31:32), is to be mentioned here, for this legend certainly belongs originally to the 'Din Ibrhm' rather than to the Mosaic. At the source of the Rakkd (the largest river of the Golan region) there are a number of erect and remarkably perforated jasper formations, which are called 'the bridal procession' (el-frida). This bridal procession was turned to stone, because a woman of the party cleaned her child that had made itself dirty with a bread-cake (qurss). Near it is its village (Ufne), which in spite of repeated attempts is no more to be inhabited. It remains forsaken, as an eternal witness that ingratitude (kufrn en-ni'ma), especially towards God, does not remain unpunished.) Only by this rendering is the form of expression of the elliptical clause לא־ישׁבוּ למו explained. Hirz. refers למו to בּתּים: in which they do not dwell; but ל ישׁב does not signify: to dwell in a place, but: to settle down in a place; Schlottm. refers למו to the inhabitants: therein they dwell not themselves, i.e., where no one dwelt; but the אשׁר which would be required in this case as acc. localis could not be omitted. One might more readily, with Hahn, explain: those to whom they belong do not inhabit them; but it is linguistically impossible for למו to stand alone as the expression of this subject (the possessors). The most natural, and also an admissible explanation, is, that yshbw refers to the houses, and that למו, which can be used not only of persons, but also of things, is dat. ethicus. The meaning, however, is not: which are uninhabited, which would not be expressed as future, but rather by אין בהם יושׁב or similarly, but: which shall not inhabit, i.e., shall not be inhabited to them (ישׁב to dwell = to have inhabitants, as Isa 13:10; Jer 50:13, Jer 50:39, and freq.), or, as we should express it, which ought to remain uninhabited. Job 15:29 begins the conclusion: (because he has acted thus) he shall not be rich (with a personal subject as Hos 12:9, and יעשּׁר to be written with a sharpened שׁ, like יעצר above, Job 12:15), and his substance shall not endure (קוּם, to take place, Isa 7:7; to endure, Sa1 13:14; and hold fast, Job 41:18), and מנלם shall not incline itself to the earth. The interpretation of the older expositors, non extendet se in terra, is impossible - that must be בּארץ eb tsum taht - elbi ינּטה; whereas Kal is commonly used in the intransitive sense to bow down, bend one's self or incline (Ges. 53, 2). But what is the meaning of the subject מנלם? We may put out of consideration those interpretations that condemn themselves: לם מן, ex iis (Targ.), or לם מן, quod iis, what belongs to them (Saad.), or מלּם, their word (Syr. and Gecatilia), and such substitutions as σκιάν (צלם or צללם) of the lxx, and radicem of Jerome (which seems only to be a guess). Certainly that which throws most light on the signification of the word is כּנּלתך (for כּהנלתך with Dag. dirimens, as Job 17:2), which occurs in Isa 33:1. The oldest Jewish lexicographers take this הנלה (parall. התם .ll) as a synonym of כּלּה in the signification, to bring to an end; on the other hand, Ges., Knobel, and others, consider כּכלּתך to be the original reading, because the meaning perficere is not furnished for נלה from the Arab. nâl, and because נל, standing thus together, is in Arabic an incompatible root combination (Olsh. 9, 4). This union of consonants certainly does not occur in any Semitic root, but the Arab. nâla (the long a of which can in the inflection become a short changeable bowel) furnishes sufficient protection for this one exception; and the meaning consequi, which belongs to the Arab. nâla, fut. janı̂lu, is perfectly suited to Isa 33:1 : if thou hast fully attained (Hiph. as intensive of the transitive Kal, like הזעיק, הקנה) to plundering. If, however, the verb נלה is established, there is no need for any conjecture in the passage before us, especially since the improvement nearest at hand, מכלם (Hupf. מגּלה), produces a sentence (non figet in terra caulam) which could not be flatter and tamer; whereas the thought that is gained by Olshausen's more sensible conjecture, מגּלם (their sickle does not sink to the earth, is not pressed down by the richness of the produce of the field), goes to the other extreme. (Note: Carey proposes to take מנלם = נמלם, their cutting, layer for planting; but the verb-group מלל, מול, נמל (vid., supra, p. 224) is not favourable to the supposition of a substantive נמל in this signification, according to the usual application of the language.) Juda b. Karisch (Kureisch) has explained the word correctly by Arab. mnâlhm: that which they have offered (from nâla, janûlu) or attained (nâla, janı̂lu), i.e., their possession (Note: Freytag has erroneously placed the infinitives nail and manl under Arab. nl med. Wau, instead of under Arab. nl me. Je, where he only repeats nail, and erroneously gives manl the signification donum, citing in support of it a passage from Fkihat al-chulaf, where 'azz al-manl (a figure borrowed from places difficult of access, and rendered strong and impregnable by nature or art) signifies "one who was hard to get at" (i.e., whose position of power is made secure). The true connection is this: Arab. nl med. Wau signifies originally to extend, reach, to hand anything to any one with outstretched arm or hand, the correlatum Arab. nl med. Je: to attain, i.e., first to touch or reach anything with outstretched arm or hand, and then really to grasp and take it, gen. adipisci, consequi, assequi, impetrare, with the ordinary infinitives nail and manl. Therefore manl (from Arab. nl med. Je) signifies primarily as abstract, attainment; it may then, however, like nail and the infinitives generally, pass over to the concrete signification: what one attains to, or what one has attained, gotten, although I can give no special example in support of it. - Fl.) (not: their perfection, as it is chiefly explained by the Jewish expositors, according to נלה = כלה). When the poet says, "their prosperity inclines not to the ground," he denies to it the likeness to a field of corn, which from the weight of the ears bows itself towards the ground, or to a tree, whose richly laden branches bend to the ground. We may be satisfied with this explanation (Hirz., Ew., Stickel, and most others): מנלם from מנלה (with which Kimchi compares מכרם, Num 20:19, which however is derived not from מכרה, but from מכר), similar in meaning to the post-biblical ממון, μαμωνᾶς; the suff., according to the same change of number as in Job 15:35; Job 20:23, and freq., refers to רשׁעים. In Job 15:30, also, a figure taken from a plant is interwoven with what is said of the person of the ungodly: the flame withers up his tender branch without its bearing fruit, and he himself does not escape darkness, but rather perishes by the breath of His mouth, i.e., God's mouth (Job 4:9, not of his own, after Isa 33:11). The repetition of יסוּר ("he escapes not," as Pro 13:14; "he must yield to," as Kg1 15:14, and freq.) is an impressive play upon words.”