Page:03.BCOT.KD.HistoricalBooks.B.vol.3.LaterProphets.djvu/1171



Verses 22-25
Job 12:22-25 22 He discovereth deep things out of darkness, And bringeth out to light the shadow of death; 23 He giveth prosperity to nations and then destroyeth them, Increase of territory to nations and then carrieth them away; 24 He taketh away the understanding of the chief people of the land, And maketh them to wander in a trackless wilderness; 25 They grope in darkness without light, He maketh them to stagger like a drunken man. The meaning of Job 12:22 in this connection can only be, that there is nothing so finely spun out that God cannot make it visible. All secret plans of the wicked, all secret sins, and the deeds of the evil-doer though veiled in deep darkness, He bringeth before the tribunal of the world. The form of writing given by the Masora is עמוּקות with koph raphatum, consequently plur. from עמוּק, like ערוּמים, עצוּמים from ערוּם, עצוּם, not from עמק. The lxx translates משגיא πλανῶν, as it is also explained in several Midrash-passages, but only by a few Jewish expositors (Jachja, Alschech) by מטעה. The word, however, is not משׁגּיא, but משׂגּיא with ש sinistrum, after which in Midrash Esther it is explained by מגדיל; and Hirzel correctly interprets it of upward growth (Jerome after the Targ. unsuitably, multiplicat), and שׁטח, on the other hand, of growth in extent. The latter word is falsely explained by the Targ. in the sense of expandere rete, and Abenezra also falsely explains: He scatters nations, and brings them to their original peace. The verb שׁטח is here connected with ל, as הפתּה (Gen 9:27); both signify to