And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.
Ver. 21. And said] He lay not on the ground dumb as a stone, as it is said of Nabal, 1 Samuel 25:37, and feigned of Niobe. He rageth not as Xerxes did, when he beat the sea, by way of revenge; neither vexeth himself without measure, as Achilles, at the death of his friend Patroclus. He curseth not God to his face (as Satan, that old liar, said he would do), nor so much as the Sabeans and Chaldees, or the devil, the chief engineer of his present sufferings; but, "rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing instant in prayer," Romans 12:12, he said, in the words of truth and soberness,
Naked came I out of my mother's womb] Hence the proverb, Nudus tanquam ex matre, not having a rag to my back, but stark naked, as ever I was born. Hither I came a pitiful, poor, destitute, shiftless, and forlorn creature, not having a cross to bless myself with, as they say; much less sheep and oxen, children and servants, &c.; howbeit God provided for me then; and as he took me out of the womb, so he made me to hope when I was upon my mother's breasts, Psalms 22:9,10. I was cast upon him from the womb, &c. And shall I now cast away my confidence, which hath so great recompense of reward? No, though he hath stripped me stark naked, and left me with as little as he first found me, yet I will trust in him. It is he that maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up again, 1 Samuel 2:7. The will of the Lord be done. Here I am, let the Lord do with me that which is right in his own eyes, 2 Samuel 15:26. He is Lord paramount, the true proprietary and owner of all; I have been only his steward, his tenant at will.
Iamque meos dedo Domino tibi iure penates:
Tu mihi ius dederas, posse vocare Meos.
And naked shall I return thither ] sc. To the womb of my Magna Parens, Great mother, the earth, Magna parens terra est The great mother is the earth, (Ovid.), fitly called a mother, because, as thence we came in Adam, so there hence shall we be born again, as it were, at the resurrection; called, therefore, the regeneration, Matthew 19:28, for so some read the words there, Ye which have followed me, shall in the regeneration (when the Son of man shall sit in his glory) sit upon twelve thrones, &c. See Psalms 2:7 Acts 13:33. This Plato hammered at in his παλιγγεννεσια, or great Revolution. To the grave, therefore, that womb of the earth, that congregation house of all living, as Job elsewhere calleth it, Job 30:23, shall I return, saith he, implying that our life is nothing but a coming and a returning, Repatriasse erit hoc, saith Bernard, concerning death. It is but a coming and a going, saith a divine, it is but a flood and an ebb, and then we are carried into the ocean of eternity. I read of one who, being asked what life was? made an answer answerless; for he presently turned his back, and went his way. The truth is, we fetch here but a turn, and God saith, Return again, Psalms 90:3. To live is but to lie a dying; the earth receiveth us like a kind mother into her entrails; when we have a while trodden her underfoot, we haste to our long home, Ecclesiastes 12:5; Heb. to our old home, sc. to the dust, from whence at first we were taken. Tremellius rendereth it, in domum saeculi, to the house of our generation, where we and all our contemporaries shall meet. Cajetan, in domum mundi, the house which the world provided for us; and to this house (much in Job's mind, and, therefore, he here saith, thither), this house of the grave, as the Chaldee paraphraseth, men must return naked. "As he came forth of his mother's womb, naked shall he return to go as he came," saith Solomon, "and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand," Ecclesiastes 5:15. Death, as a porter, stands at the gate, and strips men of all their worldly wealth, leaving them ne obolum quidem unde naulum solvant.
Haud ullas portabis opes Acherontis ad undas,
Nudus ab inferna stulte vehere rate (Propert.).
Some have had great store of gold and silver buried with them, but to small purpose more than to proclaim their own folly. Some wiser than some: if I must leave all the rest, yet this I will take with me, said a silly fellow, when, giving up the ghost, he clapped a twenty shillings piece of gold into his mouth. Athenaeus telleth of one, that at the hour of his death devoured many pieces of gold, and sewed the rest in his coat, commanding that they should be all buried with him. Hermocrates being loth that any man should enjoy his goods after him, made himself, by will, heir of his own goods. These muck worms, like those ten men, Jeremiah 41:8 , having treasures in the field, of wheat, barley, oil, &c., are full loth to part with them; and having much cattle, as those Reubenites and Gadites, Numbers 32:5 , they would fain live still on this side Jordan; having made their gold their god, they cannot think of parting with it; they would, if possible, carry the world with them out of the world. But what saith the apostle? We brought nothing with us into this world, and it is certain (see how he assevereth and assureth it, as if some rich wretches made question of it) we can carry nothing out, nothing but a winding sheet, 1 Timothy 6:7 ; as Sultan Saladin's shirt, which he commanded to be hung up at his burial; a bare priest going before the bier and proclaiming, Saladin, the mighty monarch of the East, is gone, and taketh no more with him than what you here see. And to the same sense the poet speaking of Hannibal, saith,
- modo quem fortuna fovendo
Congestis opibus donisque refersit opimis,
Nudum tartarca portarit navita cymba (Sil. Ital.).
The Lord gave ] It is his blessing upon the diligent hand, that maketh rich, Proverbs 10:22 , as without that all pains and policies are but arena sine calce, sand without lime, they will not hold together. Not only every perfect (that is, spiritual blessings in heavenly things), but every good gift, that is, temporal blessings in creature comforts, come from above, from the Father of lights, James 1:17, as pledges of his love to those that are his, and as an earnest of better things hereafter, Psa 23:5-6 Gen 27:28 God give thee the dew of heaven, saith Isaac to Jacob. Esau likewise hath the like, but not with a God give thee; he profanely sacrificed to his own net, not having God in all his thoughts. He said with that Assyrian, Isaiah 10:13, By the strength of my hand have I done this: my power and the might of my hand hath gotten me all this wealth, &c., Deuteronomy 8:10,11. Is not this great Babel that I have built? &c. Job uttereth no such bubbles of words; he arrogateth nothing to himself, but ascribeth all to God, whom the heathens also acknowledge Dωπηρα εαων, The giver of all good (Hom.).
And the Lord hath fallen away] As well he might, for though I had the possession, yet he hath the property; neither can he possibly do me wrong, since he is Lord of all, and may dispose of me and mine as he pleaseth. Jerome teacheth his friend Julian to say, Tulisti liberos quos ipse dederas: non contristor quod recepisti, ago gratias quod dedisti, Thou hast taken away the children which thou hadst given me. I grieve not that thou hast taken them, but give thee thanks for giving them. Julian, that vile apostate, said at his death, I gladly render up my life to Nature requiring it; as a thankful and faithful debtor, Vitam reposcenti naturae tanquam debitor bonae fidei redditurus exulto (Ammian. 1. 25). This was, sure, but a copy of his countenance, and merely for a name. And what shall we think of Quintus Fabius Maximus? who, when he heard that his mother and wife, whom he loved dearly, were slain by the fall of a house, and that his younger son, a brave hopeful young man, died the same time in Umbria, he never changed his countenance (though his friends lamented the loss with many tears), but went on with the business of the commonwealth, as if no such calamity had befallen him: was this patience or stupidity, whether? Patience is a fruit of the Spirit, Galatians 5:22, so that Aquinas needed not to have questioned, whether a man can have patience sine auxilio gratiae, without the help of God's grace. A natural man may, for sinister ends, bite in his pain, as Marius did, when his leg was cut off by the surgeon; he may conceal his grief, as Mithridates did for a time; but all the while he was in a kind of fever (Epialis the physicians call it) wherein men be cold without, but hot as fire within. And the like we may judge of Philip II, king of Spain, who is said to have borne the loss of his invincible Armada that had been three years a rigging, with much patience, giving, and commanding to be given all over Spain, thanks to God and the saints, that it was no more grievous. This was but a feigned and a forced patience; it was rather pertinacy than patience, it was an obstinate stiffness of mind, &c. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and what was the ground of it? he beheld God in all, the Lord hath taken away, saith he: not a word of the Chaldean and Sabean plunderers, not a tittle against the devil who had employed them; and why? Job easily discerned God's arrows in Satan's hand, and God's hand on the arms of those that had robbed him, and wronged him; hence Taceo, Fero, Spero, I am silent, I endure, I hope. was his motto. It is the Lord, said Eli, when threatened with the loss of all. I was dumb, saith David, because it was thy doing, 1Sa 3:18 Psalms 39:9. So was Jacob for the same reason, in the rape of Dinah, his only daughter, afterwards married to Job, say the Jewish doctors, Genesis 34:5. So was Aaron in the untimely end of his untowardly children, Leviticus 10:3. So was Mauricius, the good emperor, when he saw his wife and children slain before his eyes by the traitor Phocas. And so was, lastly, that noble lord of Plessis, who when he had lost his only son (a gentleman of marvellous great hope) in the Low Countries, and shortly after, his lady died of that grief, he took up those words of David, I was silent, and said no word, because thou, Lord, hadst done it.
Blessed be the name of the Lord] As well for taking away as for giving. This was a rare bird that would thus sing in winter. It is easy to swim in a warm bath, and every bird can sing in a warm sunshine; but to bless God heartily when afflicted most heavily, this, this is the breathing of an excellent spirit. In everything to give thanks, O quam hoc non est omnium! O then is this not all things! In this theme of blessing God for afflictions, also Basil spendeth all his sermon which he entitleth, Giving of thanks in all things. Christianorum propria virtus est, Courage is peculiar to Christians, saith Jerome, it is a virtue proper to true Christians, heartily, and not hollowly, to give God thanks for crosses, for it proceeds from the joy of faith, and some taste of God's fatherly care of us in our corrections. If good things befall thee, bless God, and they shall be increased; if evil things, bless God, and they shall be removed, saith Austin; of whom also it is reported, that he had always in his mouth Deo gratias, Thanks be to God, for whatsoever befalleth us; Si bona dederit Deus, gratias agito, et augebuntur, &c. If God gives good things I will be thankful, and if he increases … &c The prophet, Psalms 89:38,52, lamentably complaineth of the Church's miseries, and yet concludeth, Blessed be the Lord for evermore; and this he doth, not formally and slightly, but earnestly, and with much affection. Lo, this is the guise of those that be gracious. But how blank (think we) was the devil, when, hoping to hear Job blaspheme God, he heareth him blessing God's name in this sort, The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away: blessed be the name of the Lord! The Greek and Latin translations insert here another sentence that is not found in the Hebrew verity; viz. even as it pleaseth the Lord, so come things to pass, ως τω κυριω εδοξεν, ουτω εγενετο (Sept.). Our late common prayer book also hath the same words in the form for burial of the dead.