Job 31:26

If I beheld the sun when it shined,.... Some take this to be a reason why Job did not make gold his hope and confidence, because all sublunary and earthly enjoyments must be uncertain, fading, and

If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness; If I looked unto the Sun (as an object of worship), because he shined; or to the Moon, because she walked (moved majestically), etc.

If I beheld; not simply, nor only with admiration; (for it is a glorious work of God, which we ought to contemplate and admire;) but for the end here following, or so as to ascribe to it the honour peculiar to God. The sun, Heb. the light, to wit, the sun, as appears by the opposition of the moon following, which is called the light here, and ,8, by way of eminency, because it is the great light, and the fountain of light to this visible world. And this is understood either, 1. Of Job’ s worldly glory or prosperity, which is oft compared to light in Scripture, as the contrary is to darkness. And so the sense of these and the following words is, If I reflected upon my wealth and glory with pride, and admiration, and satisfaction. But this he had now mentioned in plain and proper terms, , and therefore it is not likely that he should now repeat the same thing in dark and metaphorical expressions. And although this be a great sin before God, yet this is not one of those sins which fall under the cognizance of human judges, as it here follows, . Or rather, 2. Of the sun in the firmament; and so this place speaks of the idolatrous; worship of the host of heaven, and especially of the sun and moon, the most eminent and glorious of that number, which was the most ancient kind of idolatry, and was most frequent in the Eastern countries, in one of which Job lived. When it shined, i.e. in its full strength and glory; for then it did most affect men’ s eyes and hearts with admiration at its beauty and benefits, and so move them to adore it. Or, when it began to shine, (the complete verb being used of the beginning of it, as he reigned is oft put for he began to reign,) i.e. at its first rising, which was a special and the chief time for its adoration. Walking in brightness; when it shines most clearly; or when it is at the full, for then especially did the idolaters worship it.

Job 31:26 If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking [in] brightness;Ver. 26. If I beheld the sun when it shined] viz. To adore it, as the Persians did, and other heathens. The Egyptians had their Heliopolis, or city of the sun; and the Canaanites their Timnath heres, Judges 2:9 Joshua 24:30, that is, the figure of the sun; so called from the idolatry there committed, in worshipping the sun (though I know there is another reason given). The Persians consecrated a horse to the sun, as the swiftest to the swiftest; and the idolatrous Israelites had their horses of the sun, which Josiah took away. It is not amiss to behold the sun, moon, and stars in their pomp and lustre. It is sweet, saith Solomon, Ecclesiastes 11:7. Comfortable, saith David, Psalms 97:11, and useful in many respects; to mind us of our present beauty and safety, Revelation 12:1 Psalms 84:11, and of our future felicity and glory, Matthew 13:46 Daniel 12:3; but above all, of Christ, that Sun of righteousness, Star of Jacob, &c. But this we must do, not to worship them, as they of old did the queen of heaven (and this is thought to be the ancientest idolatry in the world), nor to swear by them, as Matthew 5:34, but to see and worship the Maker of them; which because the blind Ethnics did not, they were damned, Romans 1:19. Oh, then, what will become of us, who see much more of God by so clear a light in that molten looking glass, Job 37:18. Or the moon walking in brightness] Heb. Bright or precious; that is, enlightened with the precious light of the sun, as when she is at full, and shineth like the finest gold; and was therefore idolized by the heathens, under the names of Phebe, Diana, &c. Of this idolatry Job here purgeth himself; as he had done before of that other of covetousness.

(26) If I beheld the sun.—It is remarkable that the kind of idolatry repudiated by Job is that only of sun and moon worship. He seems to have been ignorant of the more material and degraded kinds.

Verse 26. If I beheld the sun when it shined] In this verse Job clears himself of that idolatrous worship which was the most ancient and most consistent with reason of any species of idolatry; viz., Sabaeism, the worship of the heavenly bodies; particularly the sun and moon, Jupiter and Venus, the two latter being the morning and evening stars, and the most resplendent of all the heavenly bodies, the sun and moon excepted. "Job," says Calmet, "points out three things here: "1. The worship of the sun and moon; much used in his time, and very anciently used in every part of the East; and in all probability that from which idolatry took its rise. "2. The custom of adoring the sun at its rising, and the moon at her change; a superstition which is mentioned in Ezekiel 8:16, and in every part of profane antiquity. "3. The custom of kissing the hand; the form of adoration, and token of sovereign respect." Adoration, or the religious act of kissing the hand, comes to us from the Latin; ad, to, and os, oris, the mouth. The hand lifted to the mouth, and there saluted by the lips.

24–34. Repudiation of another class of secret sins, that would have dishonoured him: (1) secret joy in the possession of wealth—that love of gain which is idolatry (Colossians 3:5), Job 31:24-25; (2) a momentary impulse to salute the rising sun or the moon in her splendour and thus be false to the true spiritual God on high, Job 31:26-28; (3) secret joy of heart at the misfortune of his enemy, Job 31:29-30; (4) narrowness of soul and niggardliness, Job 31:31-32; and finally, hypocrisy, Job 31:33-34.

If I beheld the sun when it shined - Margin, light. The Hebrew word (אור 'ôr) properly means light, but that it here means the sun is manifest from the connection, since the moon occurs in the parallel member of the sentence.

26. The sun… the moon — Traces of the worship of these bodies are found in the most ancient heathen religions. 2 Kings 17:16; 2 Kings 21:3; Psalms 19.