Nay, she leaveth her eggs in the earth,

And warmeth them on the dust,

And forgetteth that the foot may crush them,
Or that the wild beast may break them.

She treateth her young ones hardly, as though they were not hers:

Her labour is in vain

For God hath deprived her of wisdom,

Neither hath he imparted to her understanding.
Yet when the archers come, she flieth away,
She scorneth the horse and his rider.]

Dost thou give strength unto the horse?

Dost thou clothe his neck with the mane? (?) Dost thou make him leap like a locust?

The glory of his snorting is terrible.

He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in his strength:
He goeth forth to meet the armed men.
He mocketh at fear, and is not affrighted;
Neither turneth he back from the sword.

The quiver rattleth upon him,

The spear and the javelin glitter.

He swalloweth the ground with tumult and rage,

He will not be kept back at the sound of the trumpet.

As often as the trumpets sound, he saith Ha, ha;
And he smelleth the battle afar off,

The thunder of the captains, and the shouting.

Doth the hawk fly by thy wisdom,

And stretch her wings toward the south? Doth the eagle mount up at thy command,

And make his nest on high?

He dwelleth and abideth on the crag,

Upon the point of the crag, and the strong place. From thence he seeketh his prey,

And his eyes behold afar off.

Even his young ones suck up blood :

And where the slain are, there is he.

Will the caviller contend with the Almighty?

He that reproveth God, let him reply!

Wilt thou even disannul my right?

JOB'S REPENTANCE

Wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous? Hast thou an arm like God?

Or canst thou thunder with thy voice like him? Deck thyself now with excellency and loftiness; And array thyself with honour and majesty. Send forth the floods of thy wrath:

And behold every one that is proud, and abase him. Look on every one that is proud, and bring him low; And tread down the wicked underneath thee.

Hide them in the dust together;

And bind up their faces in the secret place. Then will I also praise thee

That thine own right hand can save thee!

Then Job answered the Lord, and said,
Behold, I am too mean; what shall I answer thee?
I lay mine hand upon my mouth.
Once have I spoken; but I will not again;
Yea, twice; but I will do so no more.

I know that thou canst do everything.

And that no purpose is debarred from thee.
Therefore have I uttered that I understood not;
Things too wonderful for me, which I knew not;
I had heard of thee by the hearing of the ear:
But now mine eye hath beheld thee.

Wherefore I retract,

I repent in dust and ashes.

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The description of the horse is famous. In the Authorized Version the second line runs thus: Hast thou clothed his neck with thunder?' The Hebrew word is of doubtful signification: it may refer to the quivering of the horse's neck and the shaking of his mane, but the best scholars seem now to think that it means the mane itself. The original Hebrew after the words 'where the slain are, there is he,' continues thus :

And the Lord answered Job, and said,
Will the caviller contend with the Almighty?
He that reproveth God, let him reply!

Then Job answered the Lord, and said,
Behold, I am too mean; what shall I answer thee?
I lay my hand upon my mouth.

Once have I spoken; but I will not do so again;

Yea, twice; but I will do so no more.

Then the Lord answered Job out of the tempest, and said, Gird up now thy loins like a man;

I will demand of thee, answer thou me.

Wilt thou even disannul my right? &c.

Then after the words 'That thine own right hand can save thee,' there comes a long description of the crocodile and the hippopotamus, and then only follows the remainder of Job's reply, 'I know that thou canst do everything,' &c. It is, however, probable that the passages about the crocodile and hippopotamus are interpolations. They differ in style and character from the rest of God's speech. If they are interpolations, it is also very probable that when they were inserted, the reply of Job was split up into two parts in order that the description of these two great beasts should form a second separate speech from God. With Professor Bickell I think that in the original book God made but one speech and Job made only one reply, and I have therefore rearranged the text. The description of the crocodile and the hippopotamus follows here in a separate section.

§35. Hippopotamus and crocodile.-[Behold now the hippopotamus whom I have made as well as thee;

He eateth grass as an ox.

Lo now, his strength is in his loins,

And his force is in the muscles of his belly.

He stiffeneth his tail like a cedar:

The sinews of his loins are knit together.

His bones are pipes of brass;

His limbs are like bars of iron.

He is the chief of the ways of God:

Surely the mountains bring him forth food,
Where all the beasts of the field do play. (?)
He lieth under the lotus trees,

In the covert of the reed and fens.

The lotus trees cover him with their shadow;
The willows of the brook compass him about.
Behold, the stream sinketh, he trembleth not;
He hath no care, though it rush against his mouth.

TWO GREAT BEASTS

Canst thou draw out the crocodile with an hook?
Wilt thou press down his tongue with a line?
Canst thou put a rush-rope into his nose?
Or bore his jaw through with a spike?
Will he make many supplications unto thee?
Will he speak soft words unto thee?

Will he make a covenant with thee,

That thou mayest take him for a servant for ever? Wilt thou play with him as with a bird?

Or wilt thou bind him for thy maidens? Do the fisher folk traffic with him;

Do they part him among the merchants? Canst thou fill his skin with barbs,

Or his head with fish-spears?

Lay thine hand upon him,

Think of the battle; thou wilt do so no more! Behold, thy hope is vain;

Even at the sight of him thou art cast down! None is so fierce that dare stir him

up:

Who then is able to stand before me?

Who hath assailed me, and remained unharmed?
Whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine!

I will not be silent of his limbs,

Nor of his power and his comely proportion. (?)
Who hath uncovered the face of his garment?
Who will enter into his double jaw?

Who hath opened the doors of his face?
Around his teeth is terror.

His flanks are as rows of shields,

Shut up as with a seal of flint.

One is so near to another,

That no air can come between them.

They are joined one to another,

They stick together that they cannot be sundered.

His sneezing maketh light to shine,

And his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning.

Out of his mouth go torches,

And sparks of fire leap out.

Out of his nostrils goeth smoke,

As from a pot upon the fire.

His breath is lambent like glowing coals,

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And a flame goeth out of his mouth.
In his neck dwelleth strength,

And terror leapeth up before him.
The layers of his flesh cleave fast together:
It is firm upon him, it is not moved.
His heart is as hard as a stone;

Yea, hard as the nether millstone.

When he raiseth himself up, the mighty are afraid :
In their terror they are beside themselves. (?)
The sword of him that layeth at him cannot hold:
The spear, the dart, nor the javelin.

He esteemeth iron as straw,

And brass as rotten wood.
The arrow cannot make him flee:

Slingstones are turned with him into stubble.

Clubs are counted as stubble:

He laugheth at the whistling of the spear. Beneath him are sharpest potsherds;

He printeth a threshing-sledge upon the mire. He maketh the deep to boil like a pot:

He maketh the sea like a vessel of ointment.

After him his path shineth;

One would think the deep to be hoary.

Upon earth there is not his like,

Who is made without fear.

All that is high feareth him;

He is king over all the children of pride.]

§ 36. The last words. The prose epilogue which we are now to hear must be joined on immediately to the end of Job's confession (I repent in dust and ashes'). God had blamed Job for temerity and cavilling, but his more serious displeasure is reserved for the friends. In spite of Job's indictment of Providence, it is yet he and not the friends who have 'spoken of God the thing that is right.' Professor Budde is less correct in translating: Ye have not spoken uprightly towards me.' In either case the meaning is much the same. Job's vindication of his integrity was sincere and justifiable. As a punishment his afflictions would indeed have been unjust. By his censure of the friends God has made the supremely important pronouncement that whatever other object and intention Job's sufferings may have had, they were no punishment for committed sin. The friends in their attempted defence of God had put forward theories which were false and wrong. They