- duces one of them among the symbols of a higher stage of
religion. In antithesis to the 'destroyers'[1] (ver. 22) he implies that God has thousands of angels (the 'mediator' is 'one among a thousand'), whose business it is to save sinners from destruction by leading them to repentance. Such is the [Greek: philanthrôpia], the friendliness to man, of the angelic world,[1] without which indeed, according to Elihu, the purpose of sickness would be unobserved and a fatal issue inevitable. To students of Christianity, however, it has a deeper interest, if the concluding words, 'I have found a ransom,' be a part of the Old Testament foundation of the doctrine of redemption through Christ. This, however, is questionable, and even its possibility is not recognised by the latest orthodox commentator.[2] In his second speech Elihu returns to the main question of Job's attitude towards God. He begins by imputing to Job language which he had never used, and which from its extreme irreverence Job would certainly have disowned (xxxiv. 5, 9), and maintains that God never acts unjustly, but rewards every man according to his deeds. There is nothing in his treatment of this theme which requires comment except its vagueness and generality, to which, were the speech an integral part of the poem, Job would certainly have taken exception.
The subject of the third speech is handled with more originality. Job had really complained that afflicted persons such as himself appealed to God in vain (xxiv. 12, xxx. 20). Elihu
- [Footnote: 14, Ezek. ix. 1, x. 7; also Jost, Gesch. des Judenthums, i. 304. For Assyria
see Records of the Past, i. 131-5: iv. 53-60 (the sinner was thought to be given up in displeasure by his God into the hands of the evil spirits). For Arabia see Korán, lxxix. 1, 2—
'By those (angels) who tear out (souls) with violence,
And by those who joyously release them:'
for the early Christian, Justin M. Dial. e. Tryph. 105, [Greek: ta auta aitômen tou theon, ton dyndmenon apostrepsai panta anaidê ponêrou angelon mê labesthai hemôn tês psychês]: and for the medieval, Dante, Inferno, xxvii. 112-123: Purgatorio, v. 103-108. Comp. below, Chap. X.]
