And unto man he said
What follows; unto Adam, so some render it, as Mr. Broughton;
taking what is after delivered to be said to the first man;
either by suggesting it to his mind and conscience, and
inscribing it on his heart, where the law of God was written, and
by which he was directed to fear God and avoid evil; or by the
express command he gave him not to eat of the fruit of the tree
of knowledge; thereby instructing him to fear him, and abstain
from evil; which, had he done, would have been his highest
wisdom, and a proof of it, and of his understanding; but it seems
best to understand it in general of the sons of men, as the
Targum and others: this is the substance of what God says in his
works, which are done that men might fear him, and stand in awe
of him, ( Psalms
33:6-8 ) ( Ecclesiastes
3:14 ) ; and in his word, and by his prophets, and their
ministry in all ages; whereby it appears, that this is the whole
of men, to fear God and keep his commandments, ( Ecclesiastes 12:14 )
. Some render the words, "but unto men he said" F16;
though he knows his own wisdom, and the way and place of it, the
course it steers in Providence, and has seen, observed, and shown
it; has prepared, disposed, ordered, and searched it out, and
perfectly knows it, and the causes and reasons of it; yet he has
not thought fit to make these known clearly to men; who therefore
must be content they should be secrets to them, and attend to the
wisdom which is revealed, and is of the greatest importance and
consequence to them; namely, what follows,
behold, the fear of the Lord, that [is] wisdom;
by which is meant, not a fear of his wrath, and of eternal
damnation, but an affection for God with reverence of him; such
as is peculiar to children, a godly filial fear; and which is
consistent with strong faith, great joy, and true courage; is
opposite to pride and self-confidence, and takes in the whole
worship of God both external and internal: and it is called the
fear of the Lord, because he is the object and author of it; it
is not from nature, or in men naturally, but comes from the grace
of God, and is a gift of it; it is wrought in conversion, and is
increased by the discoveries of the love and goodness of and is
that wisdom which God makes his people know, in the hidden part;
no man is wise till he fears the Lord; and when that grace is put
into him, he begins to be wise, for this is the beginning of
wisdom, ( Proverbs 1:7
) ( 9:10
) ; and is a principal part of it, and very profitable to men,
both for this life, and for that to come; and therefore it is
their highest wisdom to be concerned for it: the heart of God is
towards them that fear him; his eye is upon them; his hand
communicates to them; his secret with them; he sets a guard of
angels about them; causes the sun of righteousness to arise on
them, and he has laid up much for them, for time and eternity:
and to depart from evil [is] understanding;
this is the fruit and effect of the fear of the Lord, through
which men have an hatred of sin, and an aversion to it, and are
careful not to commit it; through it they depart from evil, and
abstain from all appearance of it; see ( Proverbs
8:13 ) ( 16:6 ) ; and
it puts them upon a regard to God and his commandments, and to
all that is good, and which is an evidence and proof of a good
understanding, ( Psalms
111:10 ) . Now Job suggests by this, that his friends should
be solicitous about, and satisfied with, such wisdom and
understanding as this, and not pry into the secrets of
Providence, and the wisdom of that, which are not to be found
out; and so cease to charge him with being an hypocrite, and a
wicked man, because of the dealings of God with him, which were
not to be accounted for: and by this Job appears to be a good
man, and had an experience what he here expresses; that he was
one that feared God and eschewed evil, according to the testimony
given of him, ( Job 1:1 Job 1:8 ) ; and this he
gave proof of his former life and conversation; of which an
account is given in the following chapter.