Job 15:17 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

I will shew thee, hear me, &c.— I will shew thee, hear me, for this I have seen; I will declare also (Job 15:18.) what the wise men recounted; for they concealed not the tradition of their fathers. Heath and Houbigant. Eliphaz, says Bp. Warburton, speaking of the wonderful works of God, declares how he came to the knowledge of them, I will shew thee, Job 15:17-18. The very way which Moses directs to preserve the memory of the miraculous works of God. "It is so," replies Mr. Peters; "and the very way that all the ancient history, and all the ancient wisdom, from the beginning of the world, was transmitted to posterity." The Bishop adds, "And who are these wise men? They are so particularly marked out, as not to be mistaken; unto whom the earth was given, and no stranger passed among them, Job 15:19 a circumstance applying to no people whatsoever, but the Israelites settled in Canaan." But, is Eliphaz here speaking of a nation or people? says Mr. Peters in return: no; he only speaks of wise men: and this could never be meant of the Israelites in general, whom the learned writer himself now and then represents as a gross sort of people. I shall not perplex the reader or myself with the various conjectures of expositors, in order to shew who are meant by these wise men; they are so particularly marked out, as the learned writer above mentioned observes, that one would think they could not easily be mistaken; and yet none of the commentators, who have come within my reach, seem to have been aware, that the characters here laid down so distinctly, can belong to none so properly as to Noah and his sons, from whom, in reality, the ancient traditions were delivered down: and it is evident, from the scripture history, that the earth was divided among these; that they were all of one family, and no stranger passed among them. See Peters, p. 32.