Job 27:2

[As] God liveth,.... Which is an oath, as Jarchi observes, and is a form of one frequently used, see 2 Samuel 2:27; and is used by God himself, who, because he can swear by no greater, swears by

As God liveth, who hath taken away my judgment; and the Almighty, who hath vexed my soul; As God liveth - (1 Samuel 20:3). As God liveth - (1 Samuel 20:3).

He confirms the truth and sincerity of his expressions by an oath, because he found them very hard to believe all his professions. My judgment, or my right, or my cause, i.e. who, though he knows my integrity and piety towards him, yet doth not plead my cause against my friends, nor will admit me to plead my cause with him before them, as I have so oft and earnestly desired, nor doth deal with me according to those terms of grace and mercy wherewith he treateth other men and saints; but useth me with great rigour, and by his sovereign power punisheth me sorely, without discovering to me what singular cause I have given him to do so.

Job 27:2 [As] God liveth, [who] hath taken away my judgment; and the Almighty, [who] hath vexed my soul;Ver. 2. As God liveth, who hath taken away my judgment] Job well knew the nature and end of an oath, which is to put an end to all strife and controversy among men, Hebrews 6:16. For more authority’ s sake, therefore, to his ensuing discourse, by taking God as witness in a matter of so great moment, and that his friends might the better believe him, he doubteth not to begin his speech with a private oath (for a public is that which is taken before a magistrate, who upon just cause may exact it), which, so it be sparingly and warily used, is not unlawful, as appeareth by the example of Jacob and Laban, Boaz and Ruth, Jonathan and David, sc. to help the truth in necessity, and when the other party will not otherwise be satisfied. But what meaneth Job to say that the God, whom he so solemnly taketh to witness, had taken away his judgment? Can the righteous Judge do otherwise than right? Or doth not the plaintiff know that he is punished less than his iniquities deserved? Ezra 9:13. For answer Job was at present under a sore temptation, and being pressed out of measure above strength, he spake unadvisedly with his lips, and is afterwards barely told of it by Elihu, Job 34:5. The best faith, if long tried, may flag and hang the wing. Moses at Meribah, David at Gath, Elijah under the juniper, sufficiently show that every new man is two men; that the flesh soon lusteth against the spirit, and that the best may have their outbursts; yet so as that the seed of grace still abideth in them, and some way shows itself; Job here, for instance. He complaineth of God’ s severity, but stormeth not against him. He blustereth, but he blasphemeth not. He holdeth himself hardly dealt with by God; and yet while he so solemnly sweareth by him, he thereby acknowledgeth him a witness of his conscience, a patron of truth, a lover of right, an avenger of perjury, and, lastly, the author and arbiter of his life, which he resolveth rather to let go than his innocence: he can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth, 2 Corinthians 13:8. And the Almighty, who hath vexed my soul] Heb. Hath embittered. Job should have remembered that bitter portions bring sweet health, and that τοπικρονμικρον, the bitterness would soon be past; but he remembered only at present the affliction and the misery, the wormwood and the gall, Lamentations 3:19. "Now no affliction (but especially soul affliction) for the present seemeth joyous, but grievous; nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby," Hebrews 12:11. But patient Job wanted patience to wait for that. Adeo nihil est in nobis magni, quod non queat minui; such failings are found in the very best.

(2) As God liveth, who hath taken away my judgment.—Job’s faith leads him to see that, though there may be no explanation for his sufferings, yet they are laid upon him by God for purposes of His own, which are veiled from him.

Verse 2. Who hath taken away my judgment] Who has turned aside my cause, and has not permitted it to come to a hearing, where I might have justice done to me, but has abandoned me to the harsh and uncharitable judgment of my enemies? There appears to be a great want of reverence in these words of Job; he speaks with a degree of irritation, if not bitterness, which cannot be justified. No man should speak thus of his Maker.

2–6. Job with the solemnity of an oath by God declares that he speaks in sincerity when affirming his innocence. Till he die he will not admit his guilt; his conscience reproaches him for no part of his life. Job 27:2-4 read, 2. As God liveth who hath taken away my right, And the Almighty who hath made bitter my soul, 3. (For my life is yet whole in me, And the breath of God is in my nostrils), 4. My lips do not speak unjustly, Neither doth my tongue utter deceit.

As God liveth - A form of solemn adjuration, or an oath by the living God.

Section first — JOB’S RENEWED OF HIS IS UNDER THE OF AN OATH, Job 27:2-10. Hengstenberg and Hitzig divide the section into two strophes.a.