Why doth thine heart carry thee away? and what do thy eyes wink at,
Ver. 12. Why doth thine heart carry thee away?] Violently transport thee; sc. beyond all bounds of reason and modesty, Quis te furor cordis exagitat? (Pineda.) There is another charge, and higher than the former, as if he had been emotae mentis, not well in his wits, but wild and wood, as they call it; or, at least, that his passions were so far too hard for his reason, as they did
Rectam de cardine tollere mentem,
We are in no small danger of our naughty hearts. It was no ill prayer of one, Lord, keep me from that naughty man myself, Domine, libera me a malo homine, meipso. Nor was it any ill counsel of another, who said, So take heed to thyself, that thou beware of thyself, Ita cave tibi ut caveas teipsum. Though there were no devil, yet our corrupt nature would act Satan's part against itself; it would have a supply of wickedness (as a serpent hath of poison) from itself, it hath a spring to feed it. Keep thy heart therefore with all custody, Proverbs 4:24; it will get away else, and carry thee away with it.
And what do thy eyes wink at?] Nictant, celeriter scilicet, et subtiliter. Possibly Job, through pain and anguish, might be made to wink while he was speaking to them, or they to him; and this they miscontrue as done in contempt. See Psalms 35:19. Or that he was plotting some mischief, Proverbs 10:10; Proverbs 16:30, or pretending to some extraordinary devotion, and therefore shutting his eyes, that he might be the more reserved to God. The Vulgate hath it, Why doth thine heart lift thee up? and as if thou wert thinking of some great things, why are thine eyes so set? it is for no goodness, sure.