Verse 12
12. Remembrances Memorable sayings.
Like unto ashes Are maxims of ashes. In the East, ashes are regarded as of no value, fit only to be trodden under foot, (Malachi 4:3,) hence an image of worthlessness, Genesis 18:27. Bodies Strongholds. The original is נב , gab, a back, the boss of a shield, thence a bulwark, etc. “Bulwarks of clay” were easily demolished. In those days the tower of stone was the symbol of strength. The “old saws” of the friends were “proverbs of ashes,” their glittering bulwarks, “bulwarks of mud;” a strict parallelism of thought. In this contemptuous setting of their “remembrances,” zikronim, in similitudes of ashes and mud, there is a keen verbal thrust at the stately “Remember, I pray thee,” of Eliphaz. ( Zekorna, Job 4:7.) Compare chap. Job 8:8.
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