시편 11:2의 인용 해설

Now that his three companions have completed their respective theses on the question of the well-being of the wicked, Job comes forward and in this speech presents a general response to all they had said. In their submissions, they had fitted their arrows to the bowstring (Psalms 11:2) with him Job himself as the target, for in their eyes, he was a thoroughly wicked person. They saw the answer to the question of the prosperity of the wicked in the calamities that had befallen him, namely, that they [the wicked] have no future to look forward to (Proverbs 24:20); that just as Job’s prosperity had not endured, neither does that of any evil-doer. Answering them directly (Proverbs 24:26), Job points out that the question he had posed was a general one, concerning the whole of mankind, viz. why are there are so many prosperous evildoers amongst us? (Ch.21:4-6). But regarding this, their answers had got them nowhere (Nehemiah 4:1).

With the completion of two rounds, six [orations] in each round, (Leviticus 24:6) the first concerning the suffering of the righteous and the second the prosperity of the wicked; and after the wrangler Job had triumphed over all of them with his answers, his bows and his arrows (Genesis 48:22); Eliphaz now tries, for one last time, to fit his arrow to the bowstring (Psalms 11:2) in order to counter-attack at the gate (Isaiah 28:6) in a single speech that addresses both issues. In doing so, he devises a new approach, one with fine insight and knowledge (Psalms 119:66), according to which it is out of wisdom on God's part, and with particular intent, that the rewards of the righteous and the punishments of the wicked are not immediately disbursed in this world. This is done so as to ensure that the worship of God may be selfless, motivated neither by love of reward nor by fear of punishment.

Convinced of his own innocence and that has neither sinned nor transgressed, he deems these visitations to be both unjustified and unwarranted. Notwithstanding, he continues, and with integrity, (Job 2:9) to believe in true faith (Isaiah 25:1), that no injustice, lack of knowledge, power or will can be attributed to God, Blessed be He, whose Perfection is absolute. He is thus driven to conclude that this evil could not have ensued from God's Providence; that He does not oversee the deeds of individual persons, nor does He mete out their reward or punishment, their benefaction or their hurt. For He has delegated this task to the universal governance ordained during the six days of Creation—the governance of the Cosmos.⁵הנהגת המערכת - governance of the Cosmos. As Malbim uses the term, it encompasses both Natural Astrology, which determines the movement of celestial bodies, and Judicial Astrology which determines how these movements affect sublunar (terrestrial) life. Thus, God remains just and true (Deuteronomy 32:4) and no guilt is to be found in Him (Psalms 92:16; Ezekiel 28:15). For since a person's deeds, whether righteous or evil, are all determined and apportioned by the governance of the Cosmos, he has no freedom of action and deserves neither reward nor punishment for his acts of volition, just as mill-stones, turned by flowing water, are neither rewarded if they grind the corn nor punished if they crush the head of someone who comes too close. And so, Job sets forth to campaign, and stringing his arrows, he lets fly (Psalms 11:2), and employing powerful philosophical arguments, founded on pillars of inquiry and study, he attacks belief in Providence, in Divine reward and punishment, physical or spiritual, and in the existence of free-will.