Job 25:3

Job 25:3 Is there any number of his armies? and upon whom doth not his light arise?

Ver. 3. Is there any number of his armies?] God is Lord of hosts; and, as the Rabbis well observe, he hath his upper forces and his lower forces, as his horse and foot, ready pressed. The upper are here chiefly meant, viz. the angels and stars, as appeareth by the context. An est numerus expeditorum? so Brentius rendereth it; Tremellius, turmariorum, of his troopers? they are innumerable, and yet no variance among them; this is admirable. The army of Nineveh was quiet, no failing out nor complaining in their hosts, therefore did their king march on, pass through, Nah 1:12. The Turks’ military discipline at this day is beyond that of all other nations in the world besides; yea, beyond that of the old Greeks or Romans. There is no quarrelling heard at any time among their many soldiers, no, nor any words at all. Perpetuum silentium tenent ut muti, saith Cuspinianus. There is perpetual silence kept, and most ready obedience yielded to the dumb signs and noddings of their officers. But all this is nothing to that in heaven. Of God’s hosts, together with their number, order, and obedience, see my treatise called The Righteous Man’s Recompense.

And upon whom doth not his light arise?] That is, his sun, that prince of planets, but servant of the saints (as his name importeth), whose "going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof," Psa 19:6. It is called, His light, because, as he made it, so he gathered into it, as into a vessel, that first light, which before was scattered here and there in the heavens. Some there are that understand this text of the light of God’s omniscience; others, of his beneficence. Quis est quem non superet luce bonitate sum? (Merlin) Who is it whom he overcometh not with the light of his goodness? Surely all the good that is in the creature is but a spark of his flame, a drop of his ocean.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Job 25:3. Is there any number of his armies? — Of his angels, and stars, and other creatures, all which are his hosts, wholly submitting themselves to his will, to be and to do whatever he pleases. And, therefore, how insolent and unreasonable a thing it is to quarrel with him, or resist his will! Upon whom doth not his light arise? — The light of the sun is communicated to all parts of the world. This is a faint resemblance of the cognizance and care which God takes of the whole creation. All are under the light of his knowledge: all partake of the light of his goodness: his pleasure is to show mercy: all the creatures live upon his bounty.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Who can hide him from his presence?

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

armies--angels and stars (Isa 40:26; Jer 33:22; Gen 15:5; "countless," Dan 7:10).

his light-- (Jam 1:17).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 3. Is there any number of his armies?] He has troops innumerable; he can serve himself of all his creatures; every thing may be a means of help or destruction, according to his Divine will. When he purposes to save, none can destroy; and when he is determined to destroy, none can save. It is vain to trust in his creatures against himself.

Upon whom doth not his light arise?] That is, his providence rules over all; he is universal Lord; he causes his sun to arise on the evil and the good, and sends his rain on the just and unjust.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(3) Is there any number of his armies?—He is also so glorious that He dispenses of His glory to His innumerable hosts of angels. Glorious as they are, they but reflect His glory; and what then must not that be? but if so, how utterly hopeless for man to think he can have any purity to compete with His, or that He will acknowledge to be such. Man also is by nature and birth unclean. (Comp. Psa_51:5.)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3. his armies] The words still amplify the idea of the “dominion” and omnipotence of God. The armies that obey Him are innumerable. The reference is probably to the phenomena of the heavens by night; comp. Isa_40:26, “He bringeth out their host by number, he calleth them all by their names; by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power, not one faileth.” There was a tendency in Oriental thought to identify the angels with the stars, or at least to regard the stars as animated.

his light arise] The reference is probably to the heavens or world by day; and the words express the pervading universality of God’s influence and rule. The sun as a body is not directly alluded to, for the word “arise” is not that which ordinarily expresses rising or coming above the horizon; the meaning is rather “on whom doth not his light shine?” By “his light” is not meant the nature of God as essential light; the meaning rather is that by His light which He sends forth God reaches all (Psa_19:6) and brings all under His sway, though there may be in “his light” a reference to the light of day as symbolizing what He is. It is out of the question to limit the words “upon whom” to the “armies” of the first clause, making the query of Bildad to mean, Which of the bright heavenly hosts does not His light outshine? or, Which of them does not shine with a light which falls on it from Him and reflect not its own but His light? The reference in the words “on whom” is not limited to the heavenly host, but is universal.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Is there any number of his armies?.... His armies in heaven, the heavenly host of angels, which are innumerable; there are more than twelve legions of them, thousand and ten thousand times ten thousand, employed in a military way, for the safety and preservation of the saints; see Gen 32:1; and the sun, moon, and stars, often called the host of heaven, the latter of which cannot be numbered, and which fought in their courses against Sisera, Jdg 5:20; and his armies on earth, all the inhabitants of it; yea, every creature, even the smallest insect in it, which are without number: thus, frogs, lice, flies, and locusts, were the armies of God, with which he fought against Pharaoh and the Egyptians, see Joe 2:11;

and upon whom doth not his light arise? either natural light, that grand luminary the sun, which rises on all, the evil and the good, nor is anything hid from the light and heat of it; or moral light, the light of nature, with which everyone that comes into the world is enlightened by him; or the light of providential goodness, which is unto all, and over all his creatures; the whole earth is full of it, and all the inhabitants have a share in it; nor is anything hid from his all piercing, all penetrating, all seeing eye, who is light itself, and dwells in light inaccessible, and from which light nothing can be hid.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Is there any number of his armies? - The armies of heaven; or the hosts of angelic beings, which are often represented as arranged or marshalled into armies; see the notes at Isa 1:9. The word which is used here is not the common one which is rendered “hosts,” (צבא tsâbâ'), but is גדוּד gedûd which means properly a troop, band, or army. It may here mean either the constellations often represented as the army which God marshals and commands, or it may mean the angels.

And upon whom doth not his light arise? - This is designed evidently to show the majesty and glory of God. It refers probably to the light of the sun, as the light which he creates and commands. The idea is, that it pervades all things; that, as controlled by him, it penetrates all places, and flows over all worlds. The image is a striking and sublime one, and nothing is better fitted to show the majesty and glory of God.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Soldiers. The works of the whole creation, particularly the stars and angels. (Menochius)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Of his armies; of the angels, and stars, and other creatures, all which are his hosts, wholly submitting themselves to his will, to be and do what God would have them; and therefore how insolent and unreasonable a thing is it for thee to quarrel with him! He spoke before of God’s making peace, and here he mentions the armies by which he keeps it.

Upon whom doth no his light arise? either,

1. Properly, his sun, which riseth upon all, Mat 5:45. Or rather,

2. Metaphorically, all that is in men, which is or may be called light; the light of life, by which men subsist, and are kept out of the state of the dead, called a land of darkness, Job 10:22; the light of reason and understanding, called. God’s candle, Pro 20:27, by which thou, O Job, art capable of arguing with God and with us; and all that peace, and prosperity, and comfort which thou ever didst enjoy, which oft comes under the name of light, as Est 8:15,16; Psa 97:11; Psa 112:4; which being here called light, is, to continue the metaphor, most fitly said to arise upon men: all this is from God, and therefore is wholly at his disposal; he freely gave it all, and he may justly take it away, as thou thyself didst truly observe and confess, Job 1:21, and consequently thou hast no reason to reproach God for disposing of his own as he pleaseth. Thou hast lost nothing which was thine own, and having no propriety, there is no foundation for any judicial contest with God.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

3. Armies — The idea is not so much of hostile array as of harmony, gradation, discipline, and subjection. The writer to the Hebrews speaks (Heb_12:22) of “myriads, the festal host of angels.” (Alford.)

Bildad rises higher, and asks, “Is there number to his armies?”

His light — All light emanates from God, whether it be that which rises upon the evil and the good alike (Mat_5:45), or the glory of God that lightens the heavenly world. (Rev_21:23.) Delitzsch and Ewald take the sense to be that of excellence: over whom (that is, over which of those beings of light) does it not rise, leaving them behind and exceeding them in brightness.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Is there any number of his armies? (comp. Psa_68:17, "The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels;" and Dan_7:10, "Thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him;" see also 2Ki_6:16, 17 Mat_26:53 Heb_12:22 Rev_9:16) The number of the angels at any given time must be a definite one. But as there is nothing to limit the further exercise of creative power in this direction, the possible number is indefinite. And upon whom doth not his light arise? Upon what being among all the countless thousands whom he hath created, or will create, does not the brightness of his effulgence shine in such sort that they are illumined by him, and themselves shine with a mere reflected splendour?

The innumerable armies of God.

I THEIR VAST NUMBERS. We can see no limit to the physical universe. The starry hemisphere dazzles us with its multitudinous splendour, but the telescope greatly increases our idea of its vastness, resolving fleecy mist into galaxies of worlds, and discovering distant suns invisible to the naked eye; and photography carries the process much further, and peoples the interstellar spaces of the telescope with hosts of still more remote stars. It is not reasonable to suppose that all these worlds are destitute of life, that our little planet is the solitary home of living creatures in a terrific desert of dead worlds. But if the material world be peopled, this may be but a small part of the universe. There may be other realms of existence unseen by the eye of sense; there may be material worlds that do not contain properties that can be detected by any of our five senses, although they are perceptible to the different senses of different orders of beings; and there may be creatures of God existing in regions that are not material, spirits that do not require what we understand by bodies. The revelation of Scripture gives us glimpses of inhabitants of other worlds than ours. It is reasonable to think that the great God rules over hosts of such beings.

II THEIR ORDERLY ARRAY. They are armies, not mobs. As the physical universe is regulated by law and maintained in order, it is most probable that the same is true of the unseen universe. All that is revealed about God"s heavenly hosts shows them to us in obedience to God"s will. It is a human figure of speech that represents them as constituting armies. Milton"s poetry, added to the visions of the Apocalypse, have impressed our imaginations with military conceptions of the angelic hosts. But we do not know what tasks may be laid upon those armies of God in subduing the evil of the universe. We may be sure that the vulgar thirst for glory, the pride of brute strength, and the cruel rage of bloodshed that characterize our hideous wars, cannot be found among the hosts of heaven. Therefore the military idea of the angels needs to be received with caution. We are directed rather to the higher warlike qualities, e.g. discipline and obedience joined to courage and strength.

III THEIR DIVINE LIGHT. They all have their light from God. On what earthly multitudes does the sun rise every day l Yet there is light for all. But an infinitesimal proportion of the sunlight and heat is received by our world; by far the greater quantity of it is scattered through realms of space. God"s light of love reaches all his creatures. There are no remote and dark regions of the universe that lie beyond his care. As there seems to be no end to the radiation of light when this is not hindered by obstructing objects, so no limit can be discovered to the radiation of God"s love. Though the hosts of beings are innumerable, there is a share of God"s goodness for each. "Its streams the whole creation reach, So plenteous is the store; Enough for all, enough for each, Enough for evermore. W.F.A.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Armies - Of the angels, and stars, and other creatures, all which are his hosts. Light - The light of the sun is communicated to all parts of the world. This is a faint resemblance, of the cognisance and care which God takes of the whole creation. All are under the light of his knowledge: all partake of the light of his goodness: his pleasure is to shew mercy: all the creatures live upon his bounty.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.