JFB commentary on Job 9:8

William Schaffner
William Schaffner Member Posts: 8
edited November 2024 in English Forum

in this commentary it makes a reference to Egyptian hieroglyphic's for an impossibility is a man walking on waves.  They did not footnote this.  How can I confirm this reference they made?

Comments

  • Don Awalt
    Don Awalt Member Posts: 3,556 ✭✭✭

    Welcome to the forums William!

    I am skeptical of this. I do see a couple of commentaries state this without citation, that could easily be one reading the sentence in another commentary. I found nothing else in my library about it, and I have a number of ancient Egyptian cultural books, if that's meaningful lol. I did the all-purpose Google search and found nothing.

    Also - did you know Google has a hieroglyphics translator? I tried it - came up with nothing for impossible or impossibility.

    https://artsandculture.google.com/experiment/fabricius/gwHX41Sm0N7-Dw 

    Maybe someone else can do a better job sleuthing than I!

  • DMB
    DMB Member Posts: 14,654 ✭✭✭✭✭

    There is one, but it has no apparent relation to Job 9:8.  The Job ref sounds more like stomping on Yam.

    https://ref.ly/logosres/aegylit3?ref=Page.p+16&off=665 (Ancient Egypt Lit. vol 3)

    If I kept (11) my mouth clean of doing harm,

    He increased their members among the attendants.

    If I [walked] on the water of my lord,

    He protected them more than the chest in the tomb."

    -----

    A foot note to the 'walking':

    "To “walk on (or, be on) someone’s water” means to be loyal and devoted"

    "If myth is ideology in narrative form, then scholarship is myth with footnotes." B. Lincolm 1999.

  • Roy
    Roy Member Posts: 965 ✭✭

    You made me curious. I went looking and found this...https://sacred-texts.com/egy/hh/hh060.htm#fn_85 

    This does not mean that the web site is correct, just what I found.

  • Morgan
    Morgan Member Posts: 527 ✭✭✭

    Searching my library for hieroglyph WITHIN 5 WORDS impossible gave me a few hits but none of them had citations. Also, they were all from the 1800's. If there was any merit to it I would expect modern scholarship to have picked up on it at least some.

  • Roy
    Roy Member Posts: 965 ✭✭

    A little more...

    [quote]

    D. THE STEPPING ON THE SEA We are told that “The Egyptians, in their hieroglyphics, were wont to represent an impossibility by painting the figure of a man with his feet walking upon the sea” (R. Tuck).

    John G. Butler, Peter: The Illustrious Disciple, vol. Number Eight, Bible Biography Series (Clinton, IA: LBC Publications, 1993), 68.



    and from the "Qotation Sources section of the same resource...


    [quote]


    Tuck, R. The Pulpit Commentary (Vol. 15).*



    The * means that the person is either a contributor to the book or is quoted in the book.

     

    Edit:

    Found the quote but still no citation.


    [quote]


    I. St. peter attempted an impossibility. There is nothing that men regard as so impossible as “walking on the sea.” Men can walk on the narrowest ledges of the loftiest cliffs, or on the thinnest ropes, but not on the water. The Egyptians, in their hieroglyphics, were wont to represent an impossibility by painting the figure of a man with his feet walking upon the sea. St. Peter saw this impossibility overcome by his Master. A sudden thought seized him. He should like to do what his Master did. It was a child’s wish; but it showed love and trust. He spoke it out. The Master said “Come,” and he tried to do the impossible. A nobler man than those who never had such thoughts, and never made such attempts



    H. D. M. Spence-Jones, ed., St. Matthew, vol. 2, The Pulpit Commentary (London; New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company, 1909), 93.




  • William Schaffner
    William Schaffner Member Posts: 8

    Don, thank you for the help.  I to checked Google and found nothing that would help with this.

    Thanx for the effort.  did no know Google had a hieroglyphic translator.  Good for future knowledge.

    Bill

  • Dr. Charles A. Wootten
    Dr. Charles A. Wootten Member Posts: 53 ✭✭

    As usual, I am late to the party. However, I did find this interesting enough to see what was in my Logos library:

    • John Flavel, The Whole Works of the Reverend John Flavel (London; Edinburgh; Dublin: W. Baynes and Son; Waugh and Innes; M. Keene, 1820), 265.
    • William Newcome, An Attempt toward Revising Our English Translation of the Greek Scriptures, or the New Covenant of Jesus Christ: And toward Illustrating the Sense by Philological and Explanatory Notes (Dublin; London: John Exshaw; J. Johnson, 1796), 78.
    • Thomas Robinson, Job, The Preacher’s Complete Homiletic Commentary (New York; London; Toronto: Funk & Wagnalls Company, 1892), 60.
    • Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997), 317. ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN 1871.
    • H. D. M. Spence-Jones, ed., St. Matthew, vol. 2 of The Pulpit Commentary (London; New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company, 1909), 87.
    • Heneage Elsley, Annotations on the Four Gospels, and the Acts of the Apostles: Compiled and Abridged for the Use of Students, Fifth Edition. (London: C. & J. Rivington, 1824), 254.
    •  A. R. Fausset, A Commentary, Critical, Experimental, and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments: Job–Isaiah (London; Glasgow: William Collins, Sons, & Company, Limited, n.d.), 22. ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN 1871.
    • John J. Owen, Commentary on Matthew and Mark (New York: Leavitt & Allen, 1864), 184.
    • John Gill, An Exposition of the Old Testament, vol. 3 of The Baptist Commentary Series (London: Mathews and Leigh, 1810), 261.

    Interestingly most are English or Anglican and most are 19th century scholars or pastors. One wonders whether either they knew something that has dropped off the grid for some unknowable reason. Perhaps someone will find the answer to this mystery. [:D]

    God bless

    {charley}

     

     

    Logos Max on HP Elite Tower 600 G9 x64 Desktop PC 32 GB Windows 11.


  • William Schaffner
    William Schaffner Member Posts: 8

    Roy, thank you for your response,  information was helpful and also a good reminder to pay attention to what we read and ask questions when something is unclear or uncertain.  Thanx again.

    Bill

  • William Schaffner
    William Schaffner Member Posts: 8

    Pastor Wooten,

    thank you for the list of references.  I will be looking at a couple of them.  i think it is possible that they did know something but didn't explain the source.  Have had several good responses and continuing to see what i can find.  I think Titus 3:9 might be my best answer.

    Bill

  • William Schaffner
    William Schaffner Member Posts: 8

    Morgan, i think you are right.  perhaps best if i follow advice of Paul found in Titus 3:9 (first part)

    Bill

  • William Schaffner
    William Schaffner Member Posts: 8

    Morgan, i think you are right.  perhaps best if i follow advice of Paul found in Titus 3:9 (first part)

    Bill