[Art] thou the first man [that] was born?
&c.] The first Adam, who was created in wisdom and knowledge, and had a large share of understanding in things natural, civil, and moral; knew much of God and his perfections, of the works of nature, and of the wisdom and power of God displayed in them; one instance of which is his giving names to the creatures; dost thou think thou art that selfsame individual person, the father of all mankind, who had such a stock and fund of knowledge, until, by seeking after more, and that unlawful, he lost much of what he had? dost thou imagine that thou hast lived ever since, and seen or known everything that was done in all ages from the beginning, and hast gathered a large share of knowledge from long experience, and by making strict observations on men and things in such a length of time? or, as the Targum,
``wast thou born with the first man, without father and mother?''and hast thou existed ever since? or, "wast thou born before Adam?" before the first man F26? Art thou the wisdom and son of God, who was before Abraham, before Adam, before any creature whatever, was in the beginning with God, and was God? What dost thou make thyself to be, Job? thou, a mere man, dost thou make thyself to be the eternal God? for to be before the first man, or to be the firstborn of every creature, or to be born before every creature, is expressive of eternity, as is the following phrase:
or wast thou made before the hills?
or existed before they did? as is said of the son of God, ( Proverbs 8:25 ) ; what is before the hills and mountains is eternal; the eternal God and his eternity are thus described, ( Psalms 90:2 ) .
The Brenton translation of the Septuagint is in the public domain.