Estudo de Jó 4:19 – Comentado e Explicado

Senhor, disse-lhe a mulher, vejo que és profeta!…
Jó 4:19

Comentário de Albert Barnes

How much less – ( ?? ‘aph ). This particle has the general sense of addition, accession, especially of something more important;” yea more, besides, even.” Gesenius. The meaning here is, “how much more true is this of man!” He puts no confidence in his angels; he charges them with frailty; how much more strikingly true must this be of man! It is not merely, as our common translation would seem to imply, that he put much less confidence in man than in angels; it is, that all he had said must be more strikingly true of man, who dwelt in so frail and humble a habitation.

In them that dwell in houses of clay – In man. The phrase “houses of clay” refers to the body made of dust. The sense is, that man, from the fact that he dwells in such a tabernacle, is far inferior to the pure spirits that surround the throne of God, and much more liable to sin. The body is represented as a temporary tent, tabernacle, or dwelling for the soul. That dwelling is soon to be taken down, and its tenant, the soul, to be removed to other abodes. So Paul 2 Corinthians 5:1 speaks of the body as ?? e?p?´?e??? ??µ??? ?????´a t??? s??´???? he¯ epigeios he¯mo¯n oikia tou ske¯nous – “our earthly house of this tabernacle.” So Plato speaks of it as ????´??? s?????? ge¯inon ske¯nos – an earthly tent; and so Aristophanes (Av. 587), among other contemptuous expressions applied to people, calls them p?a´sµata p????? plasmata pe¯lou “vessels of clay.” The idea in the verse before us is beautiful, and as affecting as it is beautiful. A house of clay ( ??? cho^mer ) was little fitted to bear the extremes of heat and cold, of storm and sunshine, of rain, and frost, and snow, and would soon crumble and decay. It must be a frail and temporary dwelling. It could not endure the changes of the seasons and the lapse of years like a dwelling of granite or marble. So with our bodies. They can bear little. They are frail, infirm, and feeble. They are easily prostrated, and soon fall back to their native dust. How can they who dwelt in such edifices, be in any way compared with the Infinite and Eternal God?

Whose foundation is in the dust – A house to be firm and secure should be founded on a rock; see Matthew 7:25 . The figure is kept up here of comparing man with a house; and as a house that is built on the sand or the dust may be easily washed away (compare Matthew 7:26-27 ), and could not be confided in, so it was with man. He was like such a dwelling; and no more confidence could be reposed in him than in such a house.

Which are crushed – They are broken in pieces, trampled on, destroyed ( ??? da^ka^’ ), by the most insignificant objects.

Before the moth – See Isaiah 50:9 , note; Isaiah 51:8 , note. The word moth ( ??? ?a^sh ), Greek s?´? se¯s Vulgate, tinea, denotes properly an insect which flies by night, and particularly that which attaches itself to woolen cloth and consumes it. It is possible, however, that the word here denotes the moth-worm. This “moth-worm is one state of the creature. which first is inclosed in an egg, and thence issues in the form of a worm; after a time, it quits the form of a worm, to assume that of the complete state of the insect, or the moth.” Calmet. The comparison here, therefore, is not that of a moth flying against a house to overset it, nor of the moth consuming man as it does a garment, but it is that of a feeble worm that preys upon man and destroys him; and the idea is, that the most feeble of all objects may crush him. The following remarks from Niebuhr (Reisebeschreibung von Arabien, S. 133), will serve to illustrate this passage, and show that so feeble a thing as a worm may destroy human life. “There is in Yemen, in India, and on the coasts of the South Sea, a common sickness caused by the Guinea, or nerve-worm, known to European physicians by the name of vena Medinensis. It is supposed in Yemen that this worm is ingested from the bad water which the inhabitants of those countries are under a necessity of using. Many of the Arabians on this account take the precaution to strain the water which they drink. If anyone has by accident swallowed an egg of this worm, no trace of it is to be seen until it appears on the skin; and the first indication of it there, is the irritation which is caused. On our physician, a few days before his death, five of these worms made their appearance, although we had been more than five months absent from Arabia. On the island of Charedsch, I saw a French officer, whose name was Le Page, who after a long and arduous journey, which he had made on foot, from Pondicherry to Surat, through the heart of India, found the traces of such a worm in him, which he endeavored to extract from his body.

He believed that be had swallowed it when drinking the waters of Mahratta. The worm is not dangerous, if it can be drawn from the body without being broken. The Orientals are accustomed, as soon as the worm makes its appearance through the skin, to wind it up on a piece of straw, or of dry wood. It is finer than a thread, and is from two to three feet in length. The winding up of the worm frequently occupies a week; and no further inconvenience is experienced, than the care which is requisite not to break it. If, however, it is broken, it draws itself back into the body, and then becomes dangerous. Lameness, gangrene, or the loss of life itself is the result.” See the notes at Isaiah referred to above. The comparison of man with a worm, or an insect, on account of his feebleness and shortness of life, is common in the sacred writings, and in the Classics. The following passage from Pindar, quoted by Schultens, hints at the same idea:

?p?µe???, t? d? t??; t? d ? ?? t??;

S???? ??a? ?????p??.

ou tis Skias onar anthro¯poi of a day! Epameroi ti de ti ti d’ is skias onar anthropoi of a day! O que é alguém? O que ele não é? Os homens são o sonho de uma sombra! – A idéia na passagem diante de nós é que as pessoas são extremamente frágeis e que nessas criaturas nenhuma confiança pode ser depositada. Como uma criatura assim deveria presumir denunciar a sabedoria e a eqüidade das relações divinas? Como ele pode ser mais justo ou sábio que Deus?

Comentário de Thomas Coke

Jó 4:19 . Quanto menos neles, etc. – Quanto mais neles. Heath. A expressão, habitada em casas de barro, é usada com grande propriedade para transmitir a idéia da fragilidade da natureza humana: cujo fundamento está no pó, é uma expressão poética para denotar a formação do homem a partir do pó da terra. Existem várias opiniões sobre a próxima cláusula; que são esmagados diante da mariposa, ? os? lipni osh, como ou depois da maneira da mariposa. “Eu mantenho essa interpretação”, diz Hervey, “tanto quanto ela é mais adequada ao meu objetivo, e como é frequentada por alguns comentaristas eminentes, especialmente os célebres Schultens; embora eu não possa deixar de dar preferência à opinião de um amigo judicioso, que tornaria a passagem mais literalmente diante da mariposa; fazendo-a representar uma criatura tão frágil que até uma mariposa que voa contra ela pode rasgá-la em pedaços: que, além de sua correspondência mais exata com a exata A importância do hebraico nos apresenta uma imagem muito mais refinada da imbecilidade mais extrema; pois certamente implica um grau muito maior de fraqueza, a ser esmagado pela vibração fraca da criatura mais fraca, do que apenas ser esmagado tão facilmente quanto aquele criatura, pela mão do homem. A versão francesa é muito expressiva e bonita; a la recontre d’un vermisseau. “

Comentário de Adam Clarke

Quanto menos – com a Vulgata, quanto mais? Se os anjos podem ser instáveis, como o homem pode arrogar estabilidade para si mesmo, que habita em um tabernáculo terrestre, e que logo deve voltar ao pó? Esmagado diante da mariposa? O menor acidente muitas vezes destrói. “Uma mosca, uma pedra de uva ou um cabelo podem matar.” Grandes homens caíram por tudo isso. Essa é a idéia geral do texto e é inútil procurar significados.

Comentário de John Wesley

Quanto menos naqueles que habitam em casas de barro, cujo fundamento está no pó, que são esmagadas diante da mariposa?

Como … O sentido é, que estranha presunção é então para um homem tolo e mortal tornar-se mais justo do que Deus.

Neles – que, embora tenham espíritos imortais, ainda assim esses espíritos habitam em corpos mortais, que são grandes tamancos, encargos e armadilhas para eles. Essas são chamadas casas (porque são os receptáculos da alma e os lugares de sua morada estabelecida) e casas de barro, porque foram feitas de barro ou terra, e para observar sua grande fragilidade e mutabilidade; enquanto os anjos são espíritos livres, não confinados a essas carcaças, e habitam em mansões celestes, gloriosas e eternas.

De quem – cujo fundamento, não menos que o resto do edifício, está no pó; teve seu original e deve retornar a ele. Permanecemos sobre o pó: alguns têm um monte mais alto de pó do que outros. Mas ainda é a terra que nos mantém em pé, e em breve nos engolirá.

Antes – mais cedo que uma mariposa é esmagada, o que é facilmente feito com um toque suave do dedo. Ou, na cara de uma mariposa. Nenhuma criatura é tão desprezível, mas uma vez ou outra, pode ter o corpo do homem em seu poder.