"Their worth, and bids recording time proclaim "Their titled offspring and imperial name. "He proceeds to establish the justice of God by facts in the courfe of Providence. It " is proper to carry along with us Elihu's idea of divine juftice, Chap. xxxiv. 2. "For the work of a man fhall he render unto him, and cause every man to find ac cording to his ways.-THE WICKED are in this book, perfons whofe character is "in general bad, but particularly oppreffors. THE POOR mean not merely indigent perfons, but all who are injured, and withal innocent and friendlefs. To preferve "the life of the wicked is to protect and profper the wicked and injurious: and to give right to the poor is to redress the wrongs of the innocent and humble.-The fuf"ferings of religious and virtuous men are apt to raise in our minds hard thoughts of "the providence of God. Job had discovered fentiments of that nature. When "therefore we behold men of excellent piety and moral worth remarkably delivered "from their afflictions, drawn out of their obfcure condition, and advanced to high "and illustrious stations; fuch inftances ought, in all reason to be confidered as proofs of God's rendering unto man according to his work. Elihu, I fuppofe, " refers to fome known examples of such strange revolution in Arabia, or in Egypt, "or in fome other neighbouring country." SCOTT. VER. XXIX. XXX. ALSO CAN ANY UNDERSTAND THE SPREADINGS OF THE CLOUDS, OR THE NOISE OF THE TABERNACLE? BEHOLD, HE SPREADETH HIS LIGHT UPON IT, AND COVERETH THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. "THESE two verfes are a lofty defcription of a ftorm of thunder and lightning: "the great author of nature is reprefented fitting in a pavilion of clouds. The "clouds burst, the lightning flashes, the thunder roars, and tempeftuous winds turn "up the fea from its bottom. Ipfe pater, media nimborum in nocte, corufca The father of the gods his glory shrouds, GEORG. I. 328, &c. DRYDEN. The noise of his tabernacle.-By his tabernacle are meant the clouds. Pfalm xviii. 2. "He maketh darkness his fecret place: his pavilion round about him, were dark "waters, and thick clouds of the fkier. See the following verfes. At the bright"nefs, &c. THE NOISE is well rendered by Crinfoz-the claps of thunder.". VOL. III. Hhh SCOTT.. VERSE VER. XXXII. XXXIII. WITH CLOUDS HE COVERETH THE LIGHT; AND COMMANDETH IT NOT TO SHINE, BY THE CLOUD THAT COMETH BETWIXT. THE NOISE THEREOF SHEWETH CONCERNING IT, THE CATTLE ALSO CONCERNING THE VAPOUR. THERE are fome commentators affert, that these two laft verfes are not only the darkest, and most obscure portions of the whole book of Job, but of the whole bible, or book of God in general. There are others, however, who fee but very little obfcurity in them, and affert, that they are nothing more than a repetition of the circumftance of rain juft before mentioned, and the natural effects of it; and that the inference which Elihu would draw from the 32d verfe, is, that God can do whatever he pleaseth either in the heavens or the earth; and that all mankind, for that reason, ought to repofe their whole truft and confidence in that Almighty power. And from the 33d verfe, that God by various figns and prognoftications, vouchfafes to give us warning of an approaching change in the course of nature; and if so, much more does he give his people warning and notice of the revolutions which he proposes to bring about in the several states and kingdoms of the world. "God holds a flaming dart with both his hands, "And deep mouth'd thunder fpeaks his wrath aloud. "The divine being is reprefented here in the attitude of vengeance, holding a "thunderbolt with both his hands, and aiming it at the appointed mark, the obfti"nately, wicked. I fancy the author of the Wisdom of Solomon, chap. v. 17, 21. "had this paffage in view: he fhall take to himself his jealoufy for compleat armour, "and make the creature his weapon for the revenge of his enemies. Then fhall the"right aiming thunderbolts go abroad, and from the clouds, as from a well-drawn "bow, fhall they fly to the mark.-Thofe appearances in nature which carry terror "in them, and are calamitous to mankind, were ever thought, by Pagans as well as "worshippers of the true God, to be figns of divine wrath. "But Jove averse the signs of wrath display'd, "And shot red lightning thro' the gloomy fhade : POPE'S HOMER's Iliad, Book VII. 573, &c. Gr. ver. 478,9. "The fource of these apprehenfions, with regard to thunder, was perhaps a tradition, "that the first thunder heard by man was immediately after his difobedience. They heard heard the voice of the Lord God going in the garden, Genefis iii. 8. The know "ledge of this fact was tranfmitted, it is probable, by the fons of Noah to their pofte rity. The voice of the Lord is thunder, Job xxxvii. 2. 4. Pfalm xxix. 3. &c." SCOTT. "I can make no fenfe of our Bible tranflation of these verses 32, 33" fays Mr. Scott. -This is by no means a fruitless observation, for the learned and ingenious writer has evidently cleared the text by giving us another version which we have quoted in the foregoing remark. As OUR BOOK afpires not to the confequence of a critical work, we know not where to refer our readers better than to Mr. Scott for information, or to make amends for our numberlefs deficiences; and we very fincerely admit that the paffages we have selected are not the most valuable or even the most ornamental parts of that gentleman's performance, which we will venture to recommend as an excellent tranflation of the whole book of Job in English verfe: abounding, moreover, with such a variety of useful and pleafing notes as plainly demonftrate that the author has ftudied this portion of facred writ with uncommon taste and critical exactnefs. Not only the fkilful in languages, but the mere English reader will meet with much delight as well as improvement in the perufal of this poetical verfion and commentary. I have not the honour of knowing Mr. Scott perfonally; but his book I had the good fortune to meet with at the very time this mifcellany was going to prefs; had I received it fooner, I should certainly have availed myself of his judgment, in the correcting fuch paffages of my paraphrase as required more knowledge of the original than I have attained. However, as I deem the tranflation of the Bible ufed in our churches to be an honeft and faithful tranflation, I have, not only in this attempt, but throughout the whole of my works, confided in that verfion, occafionally confulting the Septuagint and Greek Teftament, ELIHU, HAVING EXPATIATED, IN THE FORMER CHAPTER, ON GOD'S OMNIPOTENCE IN GENERAL, IN THIS PROCEEDS TO SPEAK IN PARTICULAR OF THAT STUPENDOUS DISPLAY OF HIS POWER, CONSPICUOUS IN HIS THUNDER AND LIGHTNING, HAIL, RAIN AND SNOW, AND IN DIVERS OTHER SURPRISING WORKS OF NATURE. HERE HE REPRESENTS TO JOB, THAT THESE ARE INSTRUMENTS IN GOD'S HANDS, EITHER FOR THE REFORMATION, OR PUNISHMENT OF MANKIND; AND EXHORTS HIM TO MEDITATE SERIOUSLY THEREUPON, TO CONFESS HIS OWN WEAKNESS AND IGNORANCE WITH ALL DUE HUMILITY, AS BECOMES HIM, AND REVERE GOD'S JUDG Hhha ་་ JUDGMENTS; SINCE HE WHO ATTEMPTS TO ACCOUNT FOR HIS DISPENSATIONS, IS VERY ARROGANT AND PRESUMPTUOUS. WHE WHEN the clouds roll along the skies, and are impregnated with thunder, the awful noife makes me fhudder with "fear and with amazement: and if you will but attend to that "tremendous found which is now breaking over our heads; I "doubt not but you will be ftruck with equal terror and con"fufion; fince the bare murmurs thereof are fo dreadful, that they "may with propriety be termed the voice of the Almighty, which "makes the atheist himself tremble, and ftand in awe of the very Being he denies. This tremendous noise, which shakes the very ❝arches of the heavens, makes its progress through the whole "region of the air; and is accompanied with his forky lightning, "which darts its flafhes to the remoteft corners of the world: "then the fearful thunder, which is more replete with horror than "the hideous roarings of the hungry lion, ftrikes the ear, and "gradually increases, till it defcends through the air in impetuous "torrents of hail-ftones, or big drops of rain. big drops of rain. And he that "throws his thunder out with such surprising force produces such "other effects, as confound the wifeft of men, and make them 'ingenuously confess, that their reafon as well as their philofophy " is perfectly out-done. 66 "He moulds the fnow, and blanches it in the air; he covers "the earth with its fleeces; he orders and directs the rain either "to defcend from the clouds in foft, refreshing fhowers, or else "to pour down in fuch vaft fpouts of water, as interrupt at once "the rural labours of the husbandman, and make them fenfible, "that it is God who governs the seasons here below. "These stormy seasons drive the beasts themselves from the wide "defert, and oblige them to fly for fhelter to their dens. The " winds "winds that blow from the fouth are high and turbulent; whilst "those that proceed from the northern region are cold, and purify "the air: by these gelid blasts, he binds up the waters in fuch chrystal fetters, that they cannot flow. The Lord of nature some"times dispenses his evening mists in dew, and fometimes paints "his beauteous rainbow in the heavens. These meteors take their "courfe, as well as thofe before mentioned, under his direction, "and execute his divine will upon the face of the whole carth. "Sometimes, in order to destroy a finful nation, he employs fuch vapours as arm the air with corruption; diffuse their forces over "the whole land, and produce either dearth, plague, or fome other general calamity: but if, on the other hand, the Almighty is pleased to bless a righteous people, then he causes his fruitful "dews to defcend upon the earth, and fends them healthful seasons "to make them happy. "Give due attention, O Job, to all these things; and reflect no "more on God's providence ; but adore his counfels; admire his handy-works, and revere his power. Can you declare what or"ders he will please to give for the motion of the meteors? Can you, by all the judgment you are mafter of, determine when he "will draw his beauteous rainbow in the fky? Can you prefume "to fay how, or by what means the pondrous clouds hang ballanc"ed in the air? Can you reveal fuch fecrets as thefe, which are "the wondrous works of infinite wisdom? Can you difcover from "whence the heat arifes, with which we are fometimes almost "melted, though ever fo thinly cloathed? Can you tell us why the. "fouthern breezes fhould create a calm upon the waters, when "furious ftorms and whirlwinds arife from the very fame quarter "But proceed, O Job, and raise your thoughts to nobler, and re "moter objects: was you ever in council with the Almighty, "when he defigned the model of the heavens? Did you ever afford "him the least aid or affistance in the formation of them, which: น " are |