Job 40:10

unto Job out of the whirlwind, and said, 7 Gird up thy loins now like a man: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me. 8 Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous? 9 Hast thou an arm like God? or canst thou thunder with a voice like him? 10 Deck thyself now with majesty and excellency; and array thyself with glory and beauty. 11 Cast abroad the rage of thy wrath: and behold every one that is proud, and abase him. 12 Look on every one that is proud, and bring him low; and tread down the wicked in their place. 13 Hide them in the dust together; and bind their faces in secret. 14 Then will I also confess unto thee that thine own right hand can save thee. Job was greatly humbled for what God had already said, but not sufficiently; he was brought low, but not low enough; and therefore God here proceeds to reason with him in the same manner and to the same purport as before, v. 6. Observe, 1. Those who duly receive what they have heard from God, and profit by it, shall hear more from him. 2. Those who are truly convinced of sin, and penitent for it, yet have need to be more thoroughly convinced and to be made more deeply penitent.

40:6-14 Those who profit by what they have heard from God, shall hear more from him. And those who are truly convinced of sin, yet need to be more thoroughly convinced and more humbled. No doubt God, and he only, has power to humble and bring down proud men; he has wisdom to know when and how to do it, and it is not for us to teach him how to govern the world. Our own hands cannot save us by recommending us to God's grace, much less rescuing us from his justice; and therefore into his hand we must commit ourselves. The renewal of a believer proceeds in the same way of conviction, humbling, and watchfulness against remaining sin, as his first conversion. When convinced of many evils in our conduct, we still need convincing of many more.

Deck thyself now with majesty and excellency,.... With excellent majesty, as I am decked and clothed, Psalm 93:1 ; and array thyself with glory and beauty; appear in the most glorious and splendid manner thou canst, make the best figure thou art able, put on royal robes, and take thy seat and throne, and sit as a king or judge in state and pomp, and exert thyself to do the following things; or take my seat and throne as the judge of the whole earth, and try if thou canst govern the world better than I do; for these and the expressions following are said in an ironic manner.

Job 40:10-14 . Deck thyself with majesty, &c. — Seeing thou makest thyself equal, yea, superior to me, take to thyself thy great power, come and sit in my throne, and display thy divine perfections in the sight of the world. These and the following are ironical expressions, to make Job more sensible of his distance from, and subjection to God. Cast abroad the rage of thy wrath — Inflict heavy judgments on thy enemies, the Chaldeans, and Sabeans, and others who have injured or provoked thee. Behold every one that is proud, and abase him — Destroy him with an angry look, as I can do, and delight to do, with such persons. Tread down the wicked in their place — Either, 1st, Wherever they are; or, 2d, Where they are in their greatest strength and glory, and therefore are most secure and confident; or, 3d, Forthwith upon the spot, that the quickness and immediateness of the stroke may discover that it comes from a divine hand. Hide them in the dust together — Kill every one of them at one blow. Bind their faces — Condemn or destroy them. He alludes to the manner of covering the faces of condemned persons and of dead men. In secret — Either secretly, with a secret and invisible stroke, that it may appear to come from the hand of God, or in a secret place: that is, bury them in their graves. Then will I confess unto thee, &c. — That thou art my equal, and mayest venture to contend with me.

Verse 10. - Deck thyself now with majesty and excellency; and array thyself with glory and beauty . God is at all times "clothed with majesty and strength" ( Psalm 93:1 ), "with glory and beauty" ( Psalm 104:1 ). He "decks himself with light as with a garment" ( Psalm 104:2 ). Job is challenged to array himself similarly. Job 40:10

Seeing thou makest thyself equal, yea, superior to me in justice, and consequently in power and majesty, take to thyself thy great power, come and sit in my throne, and display thy divine perfections in the sight of the world. These and the following are ironical expressions, to make Job more sensible of his distance from and subjection to God.

Deck thyself now with majesty and excellency - That is, such as God has. Put on everything which you can, which would indicate rank, wealth, power, and see whether it could all be compared with the majesty of God; compare Psalm 104:1 , "O Lord my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honor and majesty."

10 Deck thyself then with pomp and dignity, And in glory and majesty clothe thyself! 11 Let the overflowings of thy wrath pour forth, And behold all pride, and abase it! 12 Behold all pride, bring it low, And cast down the evil-doers in their place; 13 Hide them in the dust together, Bind their faces in secret: 14 Then I also will praise thee, That thy right hand obtaineth thee help. He is for once to put on the robes of the King of kings (עדה, comp. עטח, to wrap round, Psalm 104:2), and send forth his wrath over pride and evil-doing, for their complete removal. הפיץ, effundere, diffundere, as Arab. afâda, vid., Job 37:11. עברות, or rather, according to the reading of Ben-Ascher, עברות ,rehcsA, in its prop. signif. oversteppings, i.e., overflowings. In connection with Job 40:11, one is directly reminded of the judgment on everything that is high and exalted in Isaiah 2, where beטמנם בּעפר also has its parallel (Isaiah 2:10). Not less, however, does Job 40:14 recall Isaiah 59:16; Isaiah 63:5 (comp. Psalm 98:1); Isaiah I and II have similar descriptions to the book of Job. The ἁπ. λεγ. הדך is Hebraeo-Arab.; hadaka signifies, like hadama, to tear, pull to the ground. In connection with תמוּן (from טמן; Aram., Arab., טמר), the lower world, including the grave, is thought of (comp. Arab. mat-murât, subterranean places); חבשׁ signifies, like Arab. ḥbs IV, to chain and to imprison.

Try it only for once - this is the collective thought - to act like Me in the execution of penal justice, I would praise thee. That he cannot do it, and yet venture with his short-sightedness and feebleness to charge God's rule with injustice, the following pictures of foreign animals are now further intended to make evident to him: -