[Here we continue a reprint of a small portion of Joseph Caryl’s study in Job.  Mr. Caryl wrote twelve volumes on the book of Job.  His study is a great example of how deep one can dig into the truths of the Bible.]   A Study by Joseph Caryl (1644) Job 1:20-22, pt. 1 - What Job Did, and What Job Said   20 Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, 21  And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither:  The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. 22  In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly. (KJV). These three verses contain the third division of the chapter, as we showed in the analysis of it. We have seen in the first, the character of Job in his prosperous estate, and the description of his prosperity. We have seen his afflictions in the causes, in the time, in the instruments, in the matter, and in the manner of inflicting them. In this third part we have the carriage of Job, how Job took it, how he behaved himself in this sad condition. And likewise, how God took it that Job did so behave himself. So then, we may note two things in the general out of these three verses: 1. We have the carriage of Job, his behavior. 2. We have the testimony of God concerning his carriage and behavior. The carriage and behavior of Job is laid down in verses 20 and 21. And concerning his carriage, the text gives us to consider: 1. What Job did. 2. What Job said. First, What he did, and that is in the 20 th  verse, and there we find mentioned five distinct actions of Job upon the receiving of the relation of his affliction: 1. He arose. 2. He rent his mantle. 3. He shaved his head. 4. He fell down upon the ground. 5. He worshipped. Second, What he said, and that is in the 21 st  verse: “And he said, ‘Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked,” etc… His sayings contain two strong and undeniable argumental propositions, and one clear conclusion, flowing naturally from them both, or from either of them; by which he acquits the Lord in his afflicting of him, and also supports and strengthens his own soul under those afflictions. The testimony of God concerning Job’s carriage is in the 22 nd  verse. The Lord comes in, as it were like an umpire to determine who got the day, which is resolved when he said, “In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.” These words expressly set the laurel of victory upon the head of Job. Satan undertook that Job (if touched) would curse God; now said God: Look upon him who was touched; see what he has done; examine all his actions that are past; observe what he has spoken; weigh every word that has come out of his mouth in the balance of truth and reason; and when you have done that, tell me whether he has yet cursed me. I pronounce, that in all he has done, in all he has said, Job has not charged God foolishly. That, in the general, is the sum of the context, and is the parts of it. Now in detail, to begin first with what Job did: his actions. “Then Job arose and rent his mantle…” “Then” – Job stood out the three former assaults unmovably, but when he received the fourth, then his bowels were moved, And then… “…Job arose…” – This was his first action. To arise is properly an act of one that sits. He is said to arise, who before did sit or lie. But yet, in Scripture, to arise is not always taken so strictly, and neither is it in this place. To arise in the language of the Scriptures notes two things. First, the speediness of doing something. When a man does a thing instantly or presently, he is said to arise to do it; to arise and do it, though he were standing or walking before. This is a Hebraism, He arose and rent his mantle, that is, He presently rent his mantle upon the hearing of these messages, especially the last. And so you have the word in diverse places, such as Judges 20:18: “The children of Israel arose and went to the house of the Lord”, that is, they went presently up to the house of the Lord. Also, in 2 Sam. 14:31: “Then Joab arose and went to Absalom.” The meaning is only this, that upon the receiving of that message, he went with speed; he made no delays. And then in Neh. 2:18, when Nehemiah exhorted them to the great work of building the house of the Lord, the people showing their willingness and readiness expressed it thus, “Let us rise up and build,” that is, let us build (as we say) out of hand, speedily. Secondly, to arise implies the courage, constancy and strength of those who undertake or go about a business, they arise and do it; they do it with spirit. So here, it may import as much concerning Job in his sufferings. He arose and rent his mantle, that is, though he heard all these sad relations, yet his spirit was not overwhelmed; he was not drowned in those sorrows; he did not sink down under them, but he arose, and rent his mantle, etc. It is as if he had raised himself up to wrestle with the temptation and the tempter, to wrestle with Satan himself. In this sense, the Lord is said to arise, as in Isa. 33:8-9, where there is that sad description of the land: “The earth mourneth and languisheth, Lebanon is ashamed…” etc. “Now will I rise, saith the Lord, now will I be exalted,” that is, now will I come and show myself with a mighty power for the deliverance of my people. I will be exalted and they shall rejoice. That prayer of the old Church, “Arise O Lord, and let thine enemies be scattered,” hath the same intent, desiring the Lord to go forth armed with strength for the help of his people and the subduing of their enemies. Thus Job arose, bound with a four-fold cord of affliction: he raised himself up like Samson, though in humility, yet with strength and courage. And so, it is opposed to the sinking of the spirit under troubles, as you know the spirit of Eli did, as in 1 Sam. 4:18. There was sad tidings brought to Eli concerning the death of his sons and the taking of the Ark. The text says, “As soon as he heard these things, he fell down backward”; he had no spirit, no strength left in him; he did not arise and rend his garment, but he sunk down and broke his neck. When Nabal heard of the danger that his churlish and inhospitable answer had almost drawn upon him, in 1 Sam. 25:37, “His heart died within him, and he became as a stone.”  When all that Job had was dead and gone, his heart lived; yea he was of a raised spirit, not only when he arose, but when he fell upon the ground: for then he worshipped, and worship is the lifting up of the soul to God: In the worship of God while the body is upon the knee, the mind is, or ought to be, upon the wing.  “…and rent his mantle…” – This is the second act. Renting of garments is very often spoken of in Scripture, and we find it especially in these two cases. In case of extreme sorrow, and in case of extreme indignation. In case of extreme sorrow, and that of two kinds, either in the sorrows of afflictions, or in the sorrows repentance; in both these we find renting the garments. For the sorrows of outward affliction, so we read frequently of renting garments: When Jacob heard of the death of Joseph, when his sons brought him home the bloody coat, saying (but falsely), that surely their brother was torn with wild beasts; he presently rent his garment. And when the relation of the death of Saul was brought to David’s care, to express his sorrow, He took hold of his clothes and rent them, and likewise all the men that were with him; and so again afterward at the funeral of Abner, David rent his clothes and gave order to all the people that were with him to do the like. In great funerals or fatal mournings, it was usual among the Hebrews to rent their garments. This also was a frequent custom among the heathen, as the poet describes a mourner in his mixed lamentations for private and public losses; he went with his garments torn, being astonished at the death of his wife and the ruin of the city. Many such instances there are amongst their ancient historians. Secondly, it was used in token of repentance, when sorrows for sin broke forth and multiplied, as in Josh. 7:6. When Joshua humbled himself upon the defeat, flight and slaughter of the Israelites before Ai, it is said, he rent his clothes and fell to the earth. This renting was of their garments in respect of the outward affliction, but withal in token of repentance, for Joshua and the people humbled themselves with fasting. So, when the book of the Law was read to Josiah, and he saw how far they had departed from the rule and word of God, it is said, He rent his clothes, and he was afraid, he humbled himself and his heart was tender before God. But it may be objected that in Joel 2:13, when we are exhorted to rent the heart, we are stopped from renting the garment: Rent your hearts and not your garments, in the case of repentance. For answer to that I say, the “not”: there is not an absolute prohibition of renting the garment; it is not so much a negation, as a direction. Rent your hearts and not your garments, that is, Rent your hearts rather than your garments, or Rent your hearts more than your garments, or be sure that you rent your hearts whatsoever you do with your garments. Negations do not always quite deny a thing. For instance, in 2 Cor. 3:6, the Apostle, treating of the pre-eminence of the Gospel in the new dispensation, said, “Who hath made us able ministers, not of the letter, but of the Spirit.” “Not”  there does not deny, as if the ministers of Christ did not speak and publish the letter of the word; for the letter of the word is the vessel wherein the Spirit is contained, and unless we speak the letter to the ear, the Spirit cannot in an ordinary way come into the heart; therefore understand the Apostles meaning thus, he hath made us able ministers, not of the letter but of the Spirit, that is, he has made us ministers rather of the spirit than of the letter, or more of the spirit than of the letter, because of the promise of the plentiful effusion of the Spirit, after the ascension of Christ. A further instance we have in that speech of God, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice. That is, rather mercy than sacrifice. Sacrifice is not rejected, but mercy is preferred. So, Rent your hearts and not your garments, that is, rather rent your hearts than your garments. For otherwise you find that not only it was lawful (as in the former places) in times of repentance and sorrow to rend the garments, but they are taxed because they did not repent and rend their garments. The not renting the garment is charged as a conviction of an un-rent heart. When the roll of curses that Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah was read before Jehoiakim and courtiers, the king cut the roll with a pen-knife and cast it into the fire, their impenitence is thus described: “Yet they were not afraid, nor rent their garments, neither the King nor any of his servants that heard all those words” (Jer. 36:24); as if it had been said, this was a time that called them aloud to rend their garments, to humble themselves and repent before the Lord, when they heard such words as these (clothed with their own sin and God’s wrath) read unto them, but they did it not; yet they were not afraid, neither did they rend their garments. So then, renting of the garment was used as a ceremony of repentance, as a shadow of godly sorrow. It had nothing in itself to move God, only it testified the greatness of their grief, that their hearts did rend as their garments were rent. Further, renting of the garment was used in case of extreme indignation. Indignation is anger and sorrow boiled up to the height. It is as it were the extract and spirit of them both. And it is stirred especially when the ear of a man is filled with a voice of blasphemy that Rabshakeh had belched out against God, when he heard how he had reproached the living God, in saying, Who is the God of Jerusalem that he should deliver it out of my hand? (see Isa. 36:13ff). The text says that Hezekiah rent his clothes with indignation; that report filled him with a mixture of grief and anger; he was grieved that the holy name of God was blasphemed, he was angry with the blasphemer: these caused holy indignation, and this the renting of his garments. Thus also when Paul and Barnabas had restored the cripple at Lystra, the superstitious Lystrians would have done sacrifice to them as gods; which when the Apostles Paul and Barnabas heard of, and saw the preparations (oxen and garlands brought to the gates) for that abominable idolatry, they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people saying, Sirs, why do you these things? We also are men of like passions with you (see Acts 14:13ff). They rent their clothes with indignation, being grieved and vexed to see men so besotted, and God so dishonored. This act of Job in the text, renting his garments, may refer to either of these, it may refer to all these. If it be demanded, why did Job rend his garments? I answer, first, he rent his garments for the greatness of that sorrow that was upon him in regard of his outward affliction. Secondly, he rent his garments to testify his deep humiliation under the hand of God, with repentance for all his sins. Thirdly, he rent his garments, being filled with indignation at those blasphemies which Satan suggested to him. This latter I clear thus: you know it was the main design, the very plot of Satan to provoke Job to blaspheme God, as he said, “Touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face ” (Job 1:11). He promised this to himself and did undertake with God to bring Job to that height of impatience. If so, then there is no question, but as these messengers of sorrow came to him, so Satan came with them and pointed every message with this or the like poisonous suggestion. Now see what a master you serve; blaspheme God; why shouldn’t you make scruple of thinking, or of speaking evil of him, who has powered out all these evils upon thee. Never stand so much upon his honor, who stands so little upon your comfort. It is no question but Satan provoked Job in some such manner. He was not wise to promote his own ends, unless he did ply him with temptations to blasphemy. Now Job, being most sensible of these temptations, it being to him (as afterwards to holy David, see Ps. 42:10) as a sword in his bowels, while the enemy said to him, where is not thy God, he arises with indignation and soul-abhorrence to these injections, rending his garments, etc. That for the second act. The third follows… “…and shaved his head…” – Shaving of the head was used sometimes to express sorrow, sometimes to express bondage, and I find it used in Scripture in opposition to both these, in times of joy and liberty. First, shaving of the head was used as a note of sorrow. In Isa. 15:2, the Lord speaking by his prophet of the great affliction that should come upon the Jews, said, “On all their heads shall be baldness, and every beard cut off”; that is, they shall mourn, that’s the meaning of it. And in Isa. 22:12, “In that day did the Lord God of Hosts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness”; that is, to shaving of themselves or cutting off their hair; the meaning of it in joining baldness and mourning was only this, to show that there should be extreme sorrow and mourning in the land. The Lord calleth to mourning and baldness, that is, to an exceeding great mourning, such as those mournings used to be when they shaved their heads. And the prophet puts in this as an aggravation of their sin, that if, when the Lord called for such a mourning as was joined with baldness and shaving the head, that then there was joy and gladness, slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine. See this more clear, in Jer. 7:29, when the prophet foreshows the great affliction of Jerusalem, he thus bespeaks them, “Cut off thine hair O Jerusalem and cast it away, and take up a lamentation.” To add one instance more, in Micah 1:16. In case of their sore affliction, the prophet said, “Make thee bald and cut thy hair for thy delicate children, enlarge thy baldness as the eagle.” The meaning of all is, mourn bitterly, or mourn greatly for thy delicate children; thy delicate and sweet children they are destroyed; mourn greatly for them; enlarge thy baldness as the eagle. As the eagle, because the eagle (as naturalists observe), casts her feathers, and her head is many times quite bald. Therefore, it is said here, enlarge thy baldness as the eagle, that is, be exceeding bald; cut off all thy hair in that great mourning. We may illustrate this by a contrary rule given by this prophet Jeremiah, and likewise by Ezekiel, when mourning was forbidden. In Jer. 16:6, he speaks of some that should die and have none to mourn for them. He says, “They shall not lament for them, nor make themselves bald for them.” Also, in Ezek. 24:17, “Make no mourning for the dead.” What follows? “Bind the tire of thine head upon thee,” when they should keep on their hair, their tire, that was an argument that there was no mourning. Further we find, that the cutting off the hair, the shaving of the head, was a sign of bondage and reproach. When David sent messengers to Hanun, Samuel records, that Hanun took the messengers and shaved off the one half of their beards, and cut off their garments in the middle (see 2 Sam. 10:4), and the men were exceedingly ashamed. Now, the shame was not only because their beards were half cut off, for if that had been all, they might quickly have cut off the other half and have delivered themselves from the shame; for they were at liberty: but it is therefore said that the men were greatly ashamed, because amongst them it was a mark of shame and slavery to be shaven. Hereupon, David gives order that they should tarry at Jericho, till their beards were grown; it was a dishonor to be shaved. And it is noted in Plutarch concerning Demosthenes, that when he had a mind to sit close at his study and would not go abroad, or be interrupted by visits of friends at home, that he would have himself, that so he might be ashamed to go forth or see anybody, but be constrained to keep to his book for two or three months together till his hair was grown again. The bondage and reproach that Nebuchadnezzar brought upon Tyrus is thus described, Every head was made bald (see Ezek. 29:18). And Aristotle observes that the hair was a token of liberty. Thus the shaving of the head in Job might be a sign both of his sorrow and great reproach that was come upon him, being one now that was ready to be mocked and made the scorn and by- word of the world, as we see afterward he was, during this affliction. Yet, it is considerable from Scripture example, that the cutting off the hair, and shaving of the head had not always either of these significations hitherto discussed, but did vary according to the diversity of places and of times. In the book of Genesis, we read that cutting and shaving of the hair, was a token of joy and liberty both together. When Joseph was delivered out of prison, it is said, that he shaved himself and came to Pharaoh (see Gen. 41:14). And it is noted concerning Mephibosheth, as a matter of his sorrow for David’s absence, that he let his hair grow. He trimmed not his beard, being much troubled at the king’s absence (see 2 Sam. 19:24). I confess neither of these instances come home enough to the point: both of these neglecting the care and culture of their bodies in their troubles, now being delivered, prepare themselves by shaving and trimming the hair for the presence of those kings. But it is in some nations, shaving has been a mark of honor. All the Roman emperors were shaved, till Nero. And it was an ancient proverb, Thou art a slave for thou wearest locks or long hair. There is an objection that may be made concerning this act of Job (because afterward it is said, that in all this Job sinned not), whether or not Job might shave his head without sin. For you have an express rule to the contrary, in Lev. 19:27, “You shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard.” And so you have it again in Deut. 14:1, their heads for the dead; namely by shaving or cutting off the hair. How is it therefore here that Job shaved himself for the death of his children, and in regard of those great troubles that were upon him? I answer briefly for that. First, Job lived (as we have cleared when we spoke of the book in general) before that Law was given, which did prohibit the cutting of the hair in that manner. Secondly, it appears in those places, where those laws are set down, that the Lord did forbid only conformity to the heathens. They must not shave or cut themselves, as the heathen did, who cut their heads round like half globe (as it is observed concerning them), and were wont to dedicate their locks to their idol-gods. It was vain fashion and gross superstition that were forbidden in that law of Moses. Thirdly, though the Jews were forbidden to shave their heads, as mourning for the death of their friends, yet (in the judgment of learned Junius), the shaving of their heads was not only permitted, but commanded in case of mourning for sin, or in times of solemn repentance and humiliation. He instances in two places before mentioned. First, the prophet Isaiah reproving the unseasonable mirth and desperate security of the Jews in a time of public trouble and treading down, tells them, In that day did the Lord God of Hosts call to weeping and to mourning, and so baldness, and to girding with sackcloth (Isa. 22:12). Secondly, there is council given answerable to that reproof by the prophet Micah, in Micah 1:16: “Make thee bald, and pole thee for thy delicate children, enlarge thy baldness as the eagle, for they are gone into captivity from thee.” We will observe something from these two actions, the renting of his garments and the shaving of his head. These refer to the expression of his sorrow for those losses in estate and the death of his children. As the other two actions, his falling upon the ground and worshipping refer to the expression of that homage and honor that he tendered up to God in the midst of these sorrows. From those two acts of sorrow learn we, First, that when the hand of God is upon us, it becomes us to be sensible of it, and to be humbled under it. Job, hearing these sad relations, did not stand stoutly, as if nothing had touched him, but to show that sorrow did even rent his heart, he rent his garments; to show that his affliction touched his spirit, he saved his head. There are two extremes that we are carefully to avoid in times of affliction, and the Apostle cautions all the sons of God against them both in one verse: “My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou are rebuked of him” (Heb. 12:5). Those are the two extremes, despising and fainting, when God does correct. He would not have us despise his chastening, to say: I do not regard this; let God take all if he will; if my estate must go, let it go; if my children die, let them die. This is a despising of the chastening of the Lord, and God cannot bear it, that we should bear it thus lightly. There is another extreme, that is, fainting. If when goods are taken away, the heart be taken away, and when children die, then the spirit of the parent dies too. This is fainting. Take heed of these two extremes. Job walks in the middle, in the golden mean between them both. He does not carelessly despise, neither does he unbelievingly faint: he rises up and he rents his garments. He would have it known that he fainted not under the stroke, and he would have it known, that he felt the stroke; he was not like a stock or a stone; he would not carry it with a stoical apathy, but with Christian fortitude and magnanimity. Senseless ones are taxed, as in Jer. 5:3: “Thou hast stricken them, and they have not grieved.” Such are compared by Solomon to him that lies down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lies upon the top of a mast, secure and careless in the greatest dangers. “They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me and I felt it not” (Prov. 23:34-35). The prophet Hosea reproves the like: “Strangers have devoured his strength and he knoweth it not, yea gray hairs are here and there upon him and he knoweth it not” (Hos. 7:9). That is, he is in an afflicted, in a declining condition, and yet he lays it not to heart. A man may out of the greatness of his spirit (but not out of the carelessness of his spirit) say as Luther once did, when things went very ill, If the world will go thus, let it go thus. Otherwise, it is a most unbecoming temper to be stricken of God, and not to tremble, at least to take it to heart. When God afflicts us, then we should afflict ourselves and be humbled; when God’s hand is upon us, our hands (in this sense) should be upon ourselves. We must bear our cross upon our backs, we must not make a fire of it to warm our hands. Indeed, the Apostle exhorts to rejoice in tribulation, and it is an excellent thing to rejoice in tribulation, but we must not sleight, much less make a sport of tribulation. Rejoicing arises from a holy satisfaction that the soul has in the dealings of God with us. But sleighting arises from an unholy contempt, or at the best, from a stupid insensibleness of God’s dealings with us. The former has in it the height of wickedness, and the latter has not the least degree of goodness. It is no virtue to bear what we do not feel. Secondly, observe, that in times of affliction we may express our sorrows by outward gestures, by sorrowful gestures. Job was not only sorrowful, but he acts sorrowful; he puts himself into mourning postures; he rents his garments; he shaves his head; down he falls upon the ground. It is no hypocrisy to appear what we are; it is hypocrisy to appear what we are not. We use to say, he mourns truly that mourns without a garment, but if a man mourn in truth, a mourning garment is comely. To mourn in our clothes and laugh in ourselves, is both sinful and base. Now Job mourned indeed; the shaving his head and renting his garment was but to keep an outward correspondence with what he was within. Therefore, take heed of censuring those who in great sorrows use sorrowful gestures, striking upon their breasts, tearing their hair or the like. Only let all take heed of excessive and immoderate mourning; mourn not like Rachel, who would receive no comfort; mourn not like the heathen, who have no hope. To be above passions will be our happiness in heaven; to rectify passions is much of our happiness on earth. To be without natural affections is to fall below a man: to steer and manage them is one of the heights of a Christian. Thirdly, we showed that this renting of his garments might have reference to his repentance, whence note: That when God affects us with sufferings, we ought to affect ourselves to humble our souls for sin. Smarting times are good repenting times, and worldly sorrow should get the company of godly sorrow. If we mingle some tears for sin, and for our unkindness to Christ, with the tears of sorrow, then they will refresh us. We get by losses and repair the breaches of our spiritual estates; no question but Job at this time fell a searching of his heart and a trying of his ways, renewing his repentance and assuring of his peace with God. When afflictions cause us to return thus into our own breasts, they have then a sweet influence, a blessed operation upon us. Lastly, observe, that thoughts of blasphemy against God should be cast off and rejected with the highest indignation.  Job rent his garments, when Satan solicits Job to rent the name of God with reproach and cursings. Thoughts dishonoring God must needs be vexing to every good heart. Nothing touches a godly man, like that which touches God. So much for those two acts, he rent his garments and he shaved his head. This article is taken from:  Caryl, Joseph.  An Exposition with Practical Observations upon the Book of Job. London: G. Miller, 1644.  A PDF file of this book can be downloaded, free of charge, at http://www.ClassicChristianLibrary.com