For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit: the terrors of God do set themselves in array against me. Job 16:13 For examine, I beseech thee, the past age;
Yea, gird thyself to the study of its forefathers;
Shall not they instruct thee, counsel thee,
And swell forth the sayings of their wisdom?
He shall not behold the branches of the river,
Brooks of honey and butter -
When my path flowed with butter,
And the rock poured out for me rivers of oil.
Though his face be enveloped with fatness,
And heaped up with fatness on his loins.
The arrows of the Almighty are within me;
Their poison drinketh up my spirit:
The terrors of God set themselves in array against me;
His arrows fly around me;
He pierceth my reins without mercy. Deuteronomy 32:7
Job 6:4The arrows of the Almighty - There is an evident reference here to wounds inflicted by poisoned arrows; and to the burning fever occasioned by such wounds, producing such an intense parching thirst as to dry up all the moisture in the system, stop all the salivary ducts, thicken and inflame the blood, induce putrescency, and terminate in raging mania, producing the most terrifying images, from which the patient is relieved only by death. This is strongly expressed in the fine figure: The Poison Drinketh Up my Spirit; the Terrors of God Set Themselves in Array against me. That calamities are represented among the Eastern writers as the arrows of the Almighty, we have abundant proofs. In reference to this, I shall adduce that fine saying attributed to Aaly, the son-in-law of Mohammed in the Toozuki Teemour; which I have spoken of elsewhere. "It was once demanded of the fourth califf (Aaly), 'If the canopy of heaven were a bow; and if the earth were the cord thereof; and if calamities were the arrows; if mankind were the mark for those arrows; and if Almighty God, the tremendous and glorious, were the unerring Archer; to whom could the sons of Adam flee for protection?' The califf answered, 'The sons of Adam must flee unto the Lord.'" This fine image Job keeps in view in the eighth and ninth verses, wishing that the unerring marksman may let fly these arrows, let loose his hand, to destroy and cut him off.