Thoughts of Grace

Lenten rose

Good afternoon,

Then said his wife unto him,
Dost thou still retain thine integrity?
curse God, and die.
But he said unto her,
Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh.
What? shall we receive good at the hand of God,
and shall we not receive evil?
In all this did not Job sin with his lips.
Job 2:9-10

Then said his wife – To this verse the Septuagint adds the following words:
“Much time having elapsed, his wife said unto him,
How long dost thou stand steadfast, saying,
‘Behold, I wait yet a little longer looking
for the hope of my Salvation?’
Behold thy memorial is already blotted out from the earth,
together with thy sons and thy daughters,
the fruits of my pains and labors,
for whom with anxiety I have labored in vain.
Thyself also sittest in the rottenness of worms night and day,
while I am a wanderer from place to place,
and from house to house,
waiting for the setting of the sun,
that I may rest from my labors,
and from the griefs which oppress me.
Speak therefore some word against God, and die.”

(From such  heavy grief came those words.)

Here it seems to be a strong irony.
Job was exceedingly afflicted,
and apparently dying through sore disease;
yet his soul was filled with gratitude to God.
His wife, destitute of the salvation which her husband possessed,
gave him this ironical reproof.
Bless God, and die –
What! bless him for his goodness,
while he is destroying all that thou hast!
bless him for his support,
while he is casting thee down and destroying thee!
Bless on, and die.

Thou speakest as one of the foolish –
Thou speakest like an infidel;
like one who has no knowledge of God, of religion, or of a future state.

Shall we receive good –
This we have received in great abundance for many years:

And shall we not receive evil? –
Shall we murmur when He afflicts us for a day,
who has given us health for so many years?
Shall we blaspheme his name for momentary privations,
who has given us such a long succession or enjoyments?
His blessings are his own:
he never gave them to us;
they were only lent.
We have had the long, the free, the unmerited use of them;
and shall we be offended at the Owner,
when he comes to reclaim his own property?
This would be foolish, ungrateful, and wicked.
So may every one reason who is suffering from adversity.
But who, besides Job, reasons thus?
Man is naturally discontented and ungrateful.

In all this did not Job sin with his lips –
The Chaldee adds, But in his heart he thought words.
He had surmisings of heart, though he let nothing escape from his lips.
Clarke’s Commentary