Job 12:1; 14:1-22

12:1 Then Job answered: (Job 12:1, NRSV)

14:1 “A mortal, born of woman, few of days and full of trouble,

2 comes up like a flower and withers,

flees like a shadow and does not last.

3 Do you fix your eyes on such a one?

Do you bring me into judgment with you?

4 Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?

No one can.

5 Since their days are determined,

and the number of their months is known to you,

and you have appointed the bounds that they cannot pass,

6 look away from them, and desist,

that they may enjoy, like laborers, their days.

7 “For there is hope for a tree,

if it is cut down, that it will sprout again,

and that its shoots will not cease.

8 Though its root grows old in the earth,

and its stump dies in the ground,

9 yet at the scent of water it will bud

and put forth branches like a young plant.

10 But mortals die, and are laid low;

humans expire, and where are they?

11 As waters fail from a lake,

and a river wastes away and dries up,

12 so mortals lie down and do not rise again;

until the heavens are no more, they will not awake

or be roused out of their sleep.

13 O that you would hide me in Sheol,

that you would conceal me until your wrath is past,

that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me!

14 If mortals die, will they live again?

All the days of my service I would wait

until my release should come.

15 You would call, and I would answer you;

you would long for the work of your hands.

16 For then you would not number my steps,

you would not keep watch over my sin;

17 my transgression would be sealed up in a bag,

and you would cover over my iniquity.

18 “But the mountain falls and crumbles away,

and the rock is removed from its place;

19 the waters wear away the stones;

the torrents wash away the soil of the earth;

so you destroy the hope of mortals.

20 You prevail forever against them, and they pass away;

you change their countenance, and send them away.

21 Their children come to honor, and they do not know it;

they are brought low, and it goes unnoticed.

22 They feel only the pain of their own bodies,

and mourn only for themselves.” (Job 14:1-22, NRSV)

The following comments are repeated here from September 6, 2006 (Wednesday in the week of the Sunday closest to August 31, Year Two):

This reading, from the third part of Job’s response to Zophar (as noted earlier), continues with the part actually addressed to God himself (Job 13:20-14:22) Job speaks about human beings in general, though with his own situation clearly in mind (cf. 14:3b, 13, 15-17). He says that, “A mortal [Md!x!, ’ādām, ‘man’ AV/KJV] born of woman, few of days and full of trouble, / comes up like a flower and withers, / flees like a shadow and does not last” (Job 14:1-2). Leong Seow reminds us that “nothing is implied about the weakness or impurity of womanhood”; rather, “the expression born of woman is simply a synonym for any human being (see 15:14)” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., 2001, on Job 14:1). “Do you fix your eyes on such a one?” asks Job. “Do you bring me into judgment with you?” Job describes the human situation as week and powerless and questions God’s bringing him into judgment.

The question of verse 4 “presents the cardinal doctrine of total depravity,” according to Robert L. Alden (Job, The New American Commentary, vol. 11, 1993, p. 166 on Job 14:4). “We do not know whether Job was thinking back to Adam,” he adds; “but the fallenness of the race, inherited sin, and associated doctrines all relate to this simple verse.” But Marvin H. Pope has a different view:

This verse, if genuine, is out of place. Some scholars regard it as a marginal comment mistakenly introduced into the text. It is à propos of vs. 1 that from an unclean thing (woman) no clean thing can be expected. The second part of the line, with only two short words, literally ‘not one,’ is entirely too short. Targ. adds, ‘except God.’ Vulg. takes a similar line, ‘Is it not you alone?’, i.e. God. The various modern emendations are scarcely worthy of serious notice. It seems better to delete or bracket the verse. (Job, Anchor Bible, vol. 15, p. 101 on Job 14:4).

In his translation, Pope puts the verse in square brackets: “[O that a clean thing could come from an unclean; / None can]” (p. 99). James L. Crenshaw says:

Eliphaz’s low estimate of mortals seems to have found a parallel in Job’s ruminations about extracting something clean from an unclean thing. The ‘Sumerian parallel to Job, A Man and his God, states that no sinless person has been born of a woman. This expression has nothing to do with any supposed taint involving the birth canal; instead, it merely means ‘everyone’. (The Oxford Bible Commentary, 2001, p. 341 on Job 13:28-14:6).

The context here does not describe “uncleanness” such as that which comes from contact with impurities (Lev. 11-15), nor in the sense of sinful actions, but rather, the limitations within which human beings find themselves. “Since their days are determined, / and the number of their months is known to you, / and you have appointed the bounds that they cannot pass” (v. 5), so Job tells God to “look away from them, and desist,” that is look away from such human beings as himself, “that they may enjoy, like laborers, their days” (v. 6).

As he continues, Job describes the way plant life continues. “For there is hope for a tree, / if it is cut down, that it will sprout again, / and that its shoots will not cease” (v. 7). The root may grow old and its stump may die (v. 8), “yet at the scent of water it will bud / and put forth branches like a young plant” (v. 9). But human beings are not like that, for they “die, and are laid low; humans expire, and where are they?” (v. 10). According to Seow, “Job contests the traditional analogy between the regenerative power of plants and human beings (cf. Ps. 1:3; 92:12-15; Jer. 17:7-8)” (op. cit., on vv. 7-10). Unlike the plants, says Crenshaw, “mortals lie down and do not rise again; / until the heavens are no more, they will not awake / or be roused out of their sleep” (v. 12). At this point, of course, Job is expressing his feelings, based on his experience. As he continues, “Job fantasizes about a kindly deity who would hide him in Sheol until his anger waned, a God who really longed for the work of his hands and who would not monitor his actions in search of transgressions” (op. cit., on Job 14:7-17, with particular reference to v. 13). The next verse raises a question about resurrection. “If mortals [rb@G@, gever, cf. Md!x!, ’ādām, v. 1] die, will they live again?” (v. 14a NRSV; ‘If a man die, shall he live again?’ AV/KJV). According to Pope, “There is no explicit [Hebrew] element representing the idea ‘again,’ but it is implicit in the situation” (op. cit., p. 102 on v. 14a). Alden quotes [F.] Anderson, who “argues that vv. 14-17 serve as the high point of Job’s speech and reaffirm his faith expressed in 13:15,” but adds,

The question of v. 14 is one question in the book where the answer is not certain. It is not a rhetorical question but really sounds as if Job were asking for information. Will people rise from the dead? Though it goes contrary to much of what Job said before and after, at this point he appeared to believe. Even trying to divest ourselves of the additional revelation of the New Testament, which Job did not have, it still sounds like Job affirmed a hope in the resurrection (see 19:27 and comments there). (op. cit., p. 168 on Job 14:14)

According to Crenshaw, “In Job’s view, death is final. Not everyone in ancient Israel shared his opinion, and gradually a belief in an afterlife emerged (cf. Isa. 26:19 (collective Israel), Dan. 12:2, and Ps. 73:23-28)” (loc. cit.), but he at least raises the question here. John C. L. Gibson puts it this way:

The words [i.e. the question of v. 14a] demand, and are given by Job, the answer no; and his startling vision of a day in Sheol, when God will finally drop all charges against him, quickly evaporates in the very strong ‘but’ of verse 18. Even the seemingly permanent features of the natural world fall victim to decay. . . . In the same way God erodes the hopes of all mankind. He is far too strong for it and must always have his own way. (Job, The Daily Study Bible, vol. 12, pp. 123-124 on Job 14:7-22)

Though noting this despair, Gibson adds, “It is a relief to know that the author of the book does not leave Job in this desolate mood. And indeed, here and there, he has already dropped the markers which hint at the way by which Job will, in the end, make his peace with God. For now, at least, Job continues to expressed despair. “You [God] prevail forever against them [human beings], and they pass away; / you change their countenance, and send them away” (v. 20). They are not present to notice when “their children come to honor” (v. 21), but “they feel only the pain of their own bodies, / and mourn only for themselves” (v. 22).

Acts 12:18-25

18 When morning came, there was no small commotion among the soldiers over what had become of Peter. 19 When Herod had searched for him and could not find him, he examined the guards and ordered them to be put to death. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there.

The Death of Herod

20 Now Herod was angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon. So they came to him in a body; and after winning over Blastus, the king’s chamberlain, they asked for a reconciliation, because their country depended on the king’s country for food. 21 On an appointed day Herod put on his royal robes, took his seat on the platform, and delivered a public address to them. 22 The people kept shouting, “The voice of a god, and not of a mortal!” 23 And immediately, because he had not given the glory to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.

24 But the word of God continued to advance and gain adherents. 25 Then after completing their mission Barnabas and Saul returned to Jerusalem and brought with them John, whose other name was Mark. (Acts 12:18-25, NRSV)

On July 18, 2007 (Wednesday in the week of the Sunday closest to July 13, Year One), comments were repeated from September 6, 2006 (Wednesday in the week of the Sunday closest to August 31, Year Two), when comments were repeated from July 13, 2005 (Wednesday of the week of the Eighth Sunday after Pentecost, Year One); they are repeated again here with some editing and supplement.

In yesterday’s reading, we saw how Peter, delivered from Herod’s prison by an angel, surprised the church by showing up at the place where they were praying for his release. Herod Agrippa I, was not “amazed” in the way the believers were (Acts 12:16) at Peter’s escape (v. 18); but rather, he was exceedingly frustrated and took his anger out on the guards. “When Herod had searched for him [Peter] and could not find him, he examined the guards and ordered them to be put to death” (v. 19a). And Herod, apparently concluding that it was pointless to persecute Christians–or at least backs off in retreat, as “he went down from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there” (v. 19b). Caesarea, which, according to Mary K. Milne, was “added . . . to the Roman province of Syria” in 63 B.C., given “to Cleopatra VII” by Mark Antony, but then to Herod the Great by Octavian, later known as Augustus, in 30 B.C., “was the capital of Roman government in Palestine for over six hundred years” (Harper’s Bible Dictionary, 1985, s.v. Caesarea). Herod Agrippa, “or as he styled himself later, Julius Agrippa,” was educated in Rome and became friends with Caius (Caligula) and Claudius, who allowed him to rule Palestine (A.D. 41-44), which he did “with a pious, scrupulous, and apparently sincere adherence to the Jewish law that brought him the warm praise of the Pharisees” (Francisco O. Garcia-Treto, Harper’s Bible Dictionary, 1985, s.v. Agrippa I). His brief reign is an interruption of the succession of Prefects (e.g. Pilate) and Procurators (e.g. Felix, Acts 23:26-24:27 and Festus, 24:27-26:32) that governed Judea after the disastrous rule of Archelaus (son of Herod the Great, 4 B.C.-A.D. 6).

Upon his return, Agrippa had to deal with what he regarded as another serious problem. “Now Herod was angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon. So they came to him in a body; and after winning over Blastus, the king’s chamberlain, they asked for a reconciliation, because their country depended on the king’s country for food” (v. 20). One might wonder why, after Christians in Antioch of Syria provided famine relief for believers in Judea (11:27-30), people of Phoenicia would hope to get food from Judea, but Agrippa must have been able to control that. In any event, the famine (11:28) is usually dated later (A.D. 46 or 47), after Agrippa’s death (A.D. 44). Agrippa treats his “reconciliation” with these “people of Tyre and Sidon,” his “customers,” as it were, as an auspicious occasion. “On an appointed day Herod put on his royal robes, took his seat on the platform, and delivered a public address to them” (v. 21). And the Phoenicians, who saw him as their benefactor, responded in kind, as they “kept shouting, ‘The voice of a god, and not of a mortal!’ ” (v. 22). Luke tells this story as though he regards it as blasphemous. “And immediately,” he says, “because he [Herod Agrippa] had not given the glory to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died” (v. 23. Josephus’ account of this event includes the following:

On the second day of which shows he put on a garment made wholly of silver, and of a contexture truly wonderful, and came into the theater early in the morning; at which time the silver of his garment being illuminated by the fresh reflection of the sun's rays upon it, shone out after a surprising manner, and was so resplendent as to spread a horror over those that looked intently upon him; and presently his flatterers cried out, one from one place, and another from another, (though not for his good,) that he was a god; and they added, "Be thou merciful to us; for although we have hitherto reverenced thee only as a man, yet shall we henceforth own thee as superior to mortal nature." Upon this the king did neither rebuke them, nor reject their impious flattery. But as he presently afterward looked up, he saw an owl (22) sitting on a certain rope over his head, and immediately understood that this bird was the messenger of ill tidings, as it had once been the messenger of good tidings to him; and fell into the deepest sorrow. A severe pain also arose in his belly, and began in a most violent manner. (Josephus, Antiquities, 19, chap. 8, at http://www.godrules.net/library/flavius/flaviusb19c8.htm, accessed again Sept. 2, 2008; you may need to copy and paste the URL).

Christopher R. Matthews comments as follows: “Josephus (Ant. 19.343-353) gives a somewhat parallel account in which Herod is stricken by a fatal disease after flatterers addressed him as a god and dies after five days” (NOAB, 3^rd. ed., 2001, on Acts 12:20-23).

Luke notes that “the word of God continued to advance and gain adherents” (Acts. 12:24) and returns to the story of Paul and Barnabas’ mission to bring famine relief to Jerusalem (v. 25; cf. 11:27-30). There is an odd little variation in the manuscripts of verse 25. The NRSV seems to have it wrong: “Then after completing their mission, Barnabas and Saul returned to Jerusalem and brought with them John, whose other name was Mark” (Acts 12:25 NRSV, cf. text note a “Other ancient authorities read from . . .”; cf. “from Jerusalem” NIV). But several of the older and better manuscripts have “to Jerusalem,” where others have “from Jerusalem” or “to Antioch” or both. It’s clearly an example to which textual critics would the rule that the more difficult reading is to be preferred if, upon reflection, it does make sense. But the editors of the United Bible Societies’ Greek New Testament, rated their choice of “to Jerusalem” (eijV  jIerousalhvm, eis Ierousalem) at level “D”(“there is a very high degree of doubt concerning the reading that is selected for the text” in the 3^rd ed., 1975), but later changed it to “C” (indicating “that the Committee had difficulty in deciding which variant to place in the text,” 4^th rev. ed., 1993). In any case, chapter 13 describes the commissioning of Barnabas and Saul for missionary work, and the beginning of Paul’s “First Missionary Journey.”

John 8:47-59

47 Whoever is from God hears the words of God. The reason you do not hear them is that you are not from God.”

48 The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” 49 Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon; but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. 50 Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is one who seeks it and he is the judge. 51 Very truly, I tell you, whoever keeps my word will never see death.” 52 The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, and so did the prophets; yet you say, ‘Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.’ 53 Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets also died. Who do you claim to be?” 54 Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, he of whom you say, ‘He is our God,’ 55 though you do not know him. But I know him; if I would say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him and I keep his word. 56 Your ancestor Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day; he saw it and was glad.” 57 Then the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” 58 Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.” 59 So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple. (John 8:47-59, NRSV)

On September 2, 2007 (the Sunday closest to August 31, Year One), comments from March 17, 2007 (Saturday in the week of the Third Sunday of Lent, Year One), comments were used with some revision and adaptation from comments of March 5, 2005 (Saturday in the week of the Third Sunday of Lent), from August 28, 2005 (the Sunday closest to August 31, Year One), from February 11, 2006 (Saturday in the week of the Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany, Year Two), from September 6, 2006 (Wednesday in the week of the Sunday closest to August 31, Year Two), and from July 18, 2007 (Wednesday in the week of the Sunday closest to July 13, Year One). The revised comments are repeated here:

Earlier in John, chapter 8, the conversation heats up considerably, to the point where Jesus says to his opponents, the “Jews” (i.e. Jewish leaders), “You are from your father the devil, and you choose to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him” (Jn. 8:44a, b). Jesus has said that his claims have the testimony of two witnesses (v. 17; cf. Deut. 19:15). He continues here claiming that he tells “the truth,” but they “do not believe” him (v. 45). In the verse that closes yesterday’s reading and begins today’s, Jesus says, “Whoever is from God hears the words of God. The reason you do not hear them is that you are not from God” (v. 47).

In a certain sense, the controversial debates--rather, the heated exchange of claims and accusations--come to a head in this passage. Or should I say “to an attempted stoning”? (One might wonder why such stones were lying around in the temple, but perhaps it’s not important, since Jesus escaped, Jn. 8:59). The decision to kill Jesus was reported earlier (7:1), but the conversation becomes openly hostile at this point. The Jews claim to be right. “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” (8:48, 52; cf. 7:19). According to Obery M. Hendricks, “the Jews turn to insult and calumny; unable to deny the miracles of Jesus, they attribute them to a demon (cf. Mk. 3:20-30)” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., 2001, on Jn. 8:48). But Jesus counters with denial: “I do not have a demon; but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me” (v. 49). According to John Marsh, “the charge was readily at hand, for the Samaritans disputed the Jews’ claims to exclusive privilege as Abraham’s descendants. So Jesus’ attack upon the Jews could easily be ascribed as the mad work of a Samaritan. . . . Jesus does not take up the Samaritan charge . . . but he does reply to the charge of demon possession” (Saint John, Westminster Pelican Commentaries, 1968, p. 368, on Jn. 8:48-59). Marsh points out that “the charge of possession is known to the synoptic writers as well” (ibid.). Here in John Jesus defends himself. “Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is one who seeks it and he is the judge. Very truly, I tell you, whoever keeps my word will never see death” (vv. 50-51). According to Marsh,

when Mark tells how the scribes from Jerusalem charged Jesus with casting out demons by the prince of demons, Jesus makes a twofold retort: first, he points out the inherent absurdity of an accusation that makes Satan fight against himself. Second, and more profoundly, he says that men’s blasphemies are not irredeemable, save that against the Holy Spirit–and by that he means that to call the spirit by which he casts out demons by the name of the prince of demons, to call good evil and light darkness, is in fact to exclude oneself from the possibility of cure. So it is here in John. What Jesus does, in his acts as in his teaching, is to honour his Father. The reaction of the Jews is to fail to give him; the honour which they ought to give him as the messenger, the Son of God. (ibid., pp. 368-369)

The response of the Jews is severe. “Now we know that you have a demon,” they say. “Abraham died, and so did the prophets; yet you say, ‘Whoever keeps my word will never taste death’ ” (v. 52). And they continue to press the point with their question, “Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets also died. Who do you claim to be?” (v. 53). Reluctant to glorify himself, apparently, Jesus cannot deny his relationship to the Father. “ “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, he of whom you say, ‘He is our God,’ though you do not know him. But I know him; if I would say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him and I keep his word” (vv. 54-55). According to Marsh, “for all the grandeur of Israel’s history and religion as a traffic of knowledge between God and his people, the Jews have not really know him. But Jesus has known him, and cannot in any circumstances deny his knowledge” (ibid., p. 370). Jesus says, “your ancestor Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day; he saw it and was glad” (v. 56). According to Hendricks, “Refusal to believe severs them [i.e., the Jews] from Abraham (see v. 39), who rejoiced (Gen. 17:17) in the hope of the coming of the messiah (see Heb. 11:17). God revealed the end-times to Abraham (see 2 Esd. 2:14)” (op. cit., on v. 56). The Jews challenge Jesus’ claim that Abraham “rejoiced that he would see my day” (v. 56). “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” (v. 57). The only perspective they will admit is that Jesus is a mere human being, not the lovgoV (logos, “Word”) who “in the beginning . . . was with God, and . . . was God” (1:1), not “the Word [who] became flesh and lived among us” (1:14).

And so we come to the decisive issue. “Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, before Abraham was, I am’ ” (v. 58). The words, “I am” (ejgw; eijmiv, ego eimi) are found in the Septuagint version of Exodus 3:14, in God’s answer to Moses question, “[If] they ask me, ‘what is his [the God of your ancestors who sent you, his] name?’ what shall I say to them?” (Ex. 3:13):  jEgwv eijmi oJ w[n, Ego eimi ho ōn (Hebrew, hy@h4x@ rw@x3 hy@h4x@, ’ehyeh ’asher ’ehyeh), “I AM WHO I AM.” Moses is to tell the people, “I AM (hy@h4x@, ’ehyeh / oJ w[n, ho ōn) has sent me to you” (v. 14). Verse 15 relates this to “the LORD,” which, “when spelled with capital letters stands for the divine name YHWH, which is here connected with the verb hy!h! (hāyāh), “to be” (NRSV note b on Exod. 3:15). The word hy@h4x@ (’ehyeh) is a first person form of the verb hy!h! (hāyāh), meaning “I am,” or “I will be” (cf. the NRSV note a on v. 14, “Or I AM WHAT I AM or I WILL BE WHAT I WILL BE). It is without question that Jesus here applies the divine name given to Moses at the Burning Bush to himself. It’s no wonder, given their unbelief, they tried to stone him (Jn. 8:59). In their next encounter with Jesus, after the healing of the blind man (Jn., chap. 9), Jesus points out that they–the Pharisees–are the blind ones:

Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, “Surely we are not blind, are we?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.” (Jn. 9:40-41)

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

deanworden@comcast.net