INTRODUCTION.

THE poem, which it is the design of this volume to illustrate, is, in many respects, the most remarkable production of any age or country. Though its antiquity is at least equal to that of the most ancient monuments of Grécian genius, it has for its subject, not the sanguinary exploits of half-civilized heroes, and the fierce contentions of rival deities, but the providence of the one true God, and the duty of man. Its language is the natural effusion of a soul, full of the sublimest conceptions of the Author of nature, and his glorious works, and of true sympathy with all that is great, and amiable, and affecting in the character and condition of man. The imagination of the author seems to have ranged freely through every part of the universe, and to have enriched itself from almost every department of nature and of art. Whether he attempt to describe the residence of Him, who maintaineth peace in his high places,' or 'the land of darkness and the shadow of death; the passions and pursuits of man, or the nature and features of the animal creation; the phenomena of the air and the heavens, or the dark operations of the miner; he is ever familiar with his subject, and seems to tell us of what his eyes have seen, and his ears have heard.

What is most remarkable in a poem of so high antiquity, is the skill with which all the delineations of the heart, and all the descriptions of nature, are made subservient to the illustration of one important moral subject. He has not merely given a succession of isolated pictures, but a complete and regular poem, distinguished by unity of design, and judicious arrangement.

It has been a much debated question, whether the Book of Job should be considered as an epic, or a dramatic composition. But as it contains no action, no variety of characters, and no scenes, but on

?

ly long discourses and proverbial maxims, having reference to a moral question, it may more properly be regarded as a didactic poem upon the ways of providence. Its main design is, not to celebrate the character and fortunes of Job, but, by means of his example, to illustrate an important truth, and enforce an important duty. The leading design of the poem is to establish the truth, that CHARACTER IS NOT TO BE Inferred frOM EXTERNAL CONDITION; and to enforce the duty of SUBMISSION TO THE WILL OF GOD.

The providence of God in regard to the distribution of good and evil in this world, has been a perplexing subject to the minds of men in every age. It must have been peculiarly embarrassing, before life and immortality were brought to light by the gospel.' It may have been for the purpose of correcting prevalent errors on the subject, that the author of this poem endeavours to show, that, in the distribution of good and evil, God is influenced by reasons, which man can neither discover, nor comprehend, and not solely by the merit or demerit of his creatures; that the righteous are often afflicted, and the wicked prospered; but that this course of providence is perfectly consistent with wisdom, justice, and goodness in the Deity, though man is unable to discern the reasons of it; that man is an incompetent judge of the divine dispensations; and that it is his duty, instead of rashly daring to penetrate, or to censure, the counsels of his Creator, to submit to his will, to reverence his character, and to obey his laws.

To accomplish this design, the poet takes an extreme case. He introduces to the reader an inhabitant of Idumea, equally distinguished by his piety, and his prosperity. He was pronounced by the Searcher of hearts' an upright and good man;' and he was surrounded by a happy family, and was the most wealthy of all the inhabitants of the East.'

If holiness of character could, in any case, be a security against calamity, then must Job's prosperity have been lasting. Who ever had greater reason for expecting continued prosperity, the favour of men, and the smiles of providence? But when he looked for good, evil came.' A single day produces a complete reverse in, his condition, and reduces him from the height of prosperity to the lowest depths of misery. He is stripped of his possessions. Of his herds, and his servants, some are driven away by robbers, and some are destroyed by lightning. His children, a numerous

family, for whom he had never forgotten to offer to God a morning sacrifice, are buried under the ruins of their houses, which a hurricane levels with the ground; and, finally he is afflicted, in his own person, with a most loathsome and dangerous disease.

Thus the best man in the world has become the most miserable man in the world.

In this situation he is visited by three of his friends, who, not being acquainted with what had occurred in heaven (Ch. iii.) in ́ ́1⁄2 I S regard to his sufferings, are naturally led to reflect on the cause of them. A vehement complaint, extorted from him by the severity of his afflictions, gives them occasion to express their minds. They are represented as entertaining the opinion, that misery implies guilt; and hence, instead of bringing him comfort and consolation, they accuse him of having merited his misfortunes by secret wickedness; and exhort him to repentance, as if he were a great sinner, suffering the just punishment of his crimes.

Job repels their insinuations with indignation, and firmly maintains his innocence. He knows not why he suffers. He complains of severe treatment, and asserts that God afflicts equally the righteous and the wicked. His friends are astonished at his expressions, and undertake to vindicate the conduct of the Deity towards him. They repeat with greater asperity their charges of wickedness and impiety, and even go so far as to accuse him of particular crimes. But the more they press their accusations, the more confident is he in his assertions of his innocence. He appeals to God, as the witness of his sincerity; denies the constancy, and even frequency of his judgments upon wicked men; and boldly asks an opportunity of pleading his cause with his Creator, confident that he should be acquitted before any righteous tribunal.

When both parties had become exasperated by the controversy, instead of being convinced, a new speaker is introduced, as a sort of umpire between them. He agrees with Job that misery is not to be regarded as a punishment of past wickedness, and rebukes his friends for condemning him without proof. But he censures Job also for too great confidence in his innocence, and for arrogant and irreverent language to the Deity.

b

At length the Supreme Being himself is represented as speaking from the midst of a tempest, and deciding the controversy in favour of Job. In the first place, however, he reproves him for his complaints, and convinces him of his inability to judge of the divine counsels, and thus brings him to penitence and submission. He then declares, that he, and not his friends, had spoken that which was right in relation to the question in dispute; calls him repeatedly his servant; appoints him to make intercession for his friends; and, as a compensation for his sufferings, restores him to prosperity, two-fold greater than that, which he had before enjoyed.

But the Supreme Being does not explain to Job the cause of his afflictions. It was sufficient condescension in the governour of the world to undertake to convince him of his inability to judge of the divine counsels. The reader is made acquainted with it, however, in the introductory chapters. The poet there unveils to him the heavenly world, and lets him know, that the afflictions of Job were appointed as a temporary trial of his virtue, in order to vindicate the judgment of Jehovah concerning him, and to prove against all gainsayers the disinterestedness of his piety.

Such being the general design of the poem, it is of very little importance, whether we regard Job as a real, or a fictitious character. Truth may be illustrated, and duty enforced, by parable as well as by historical fact. If, however, we regard some of the circumstances of the life and fortunes of Job as having no historical foundation, but rather as invented for the promotion of the main design of the poem, there appears to be no good reason for the supposition, that no such person as Job ever existed, and that the poem has no foundation in fact. It would, in this case, be unlike almost every ancient poem, with which we are acquainted. There can be little doubt, moreover, notwithstanding the ingenious explanation of Michaelis, that Ezekiel (xiv. 20.) and James (v. 11.) regarded him as a real person.

On the other hand, it is altogether probable, that the language and sentiments of the different disputants are drawn from the poet's own resources; and that the leading opinions only are founded in history. For who can believe that a man, brought to the verge of the grave by a distressing disease, could have expressed his thoughts and feelings extemporaneously in measured poetry,