Behold, he putteth no trust in his saints; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight.
Ver. 15. Behold, he putteth no trust in his saints] Here he proceedeth to prove that which Job never denied; and Bildad also hath the same, Job 25:1,6 Lege eius verba, nam non male huc quadrant, saith Lavater; lay his words to these, and they will lend light to each other. See Trapp on " Job 4:18 " There they are called his servants, here his saints or holy ones; these were the old patriarchs, say the Septuagint, with whom God at some times was angry; and although he was a God that forgave them, yet took he vengeance of their inventions, Psalms 99:8. Others understand it to be the saints in heaven, or the holy angels.
And the heavens are not clean in his sight] Nor they of heaven be clean in his eyes, so Broughton rendereth it. The angels are called angels of heaven, Mat 24:36 Galatians 1:8; because made with and in the highest heavens, and appointed there to inhabit. Howbeit in the apostate angels, and in heaven, God's holy and pure eyes found uncleanness, and delivered them therefore into chains of darkness, 2 Peter 2:4. Again, to be clean in God's sight is another manner of matter than to be simply clean; like as to be just is one thing, and to be just before God another, Luke 1:6. Sordet in conspectu iudicis quod fulget in conceptu operantis. Some understand the text to be the visible heavens, the purest of all inanimate creatures; and therefore Chrysostom, speaking of those praying saints that prayed Peter out of prison, Acts 12:12,17, saith, that they were ipso coelo puriores afflictione facti, more pure than the heavens, yet are they not pure in the sight of God, but have their spots, which we count their beauty spots.