1 My soul H5315 is weary H5354 of my life; H2416 I will leave H5800 my complaint H7879 upon myself; I will speak H1696 in the bitterness H4751 of my soul. H5315
2 I will say H559 unto God, H433 Do not condemn H7561 me; shew H3045 me wherefore thou contendest H7378 with me.
3 Is it good H2895 unto thee that thou shouldest oppress, H6231 that thou shouldest despise H3988 the work H3018 of thine hands, H3709 and shine H3313 upon the counsel H6098 of the wicked? H7563
4 Hast thou eyes H5869 of flesh? H1320 or seest H7200 thou as man H582 seeth? H7200
5 Are thy days H3117 as the days H3117 of man? H582 are thy years H8141 as man's H1397 days, H3117
6 That thou enquirest H1245 after mine iniquity, H5771 and searchest H1875 after my sin? H2403
7 Thou knowest H1847 that I am not wicked; H7561 and there is none that can deliver H5337 out of thine hand. H3027
8 Thine hands H3027 have made H6087 me and fashioned H6213 me together H3162 round about; H5439 yet thou dost destroy H1104 me.
9 Remember, H2142 I beseech thee, that thou hast made H6213 me as the clay; H2563 and wilt thou bring H7725 me into dust H6083 again? H7725
10 Hast thou not poured me out H5413 as milk, H2461 and curdled H7087 me like cheese? H1385
11 Thou hast clothed H3847 me with skin H5785 and flesh, H1320 and hast fenced H7753 me with bones H6106 and sinews. H1517
12 Thou hast granted H6213 me life H2416 and favour, H2617 and thy visitation H6486 hath preserved H8104 my spirit. H7307
13 And these things hast thou hid H6845 in thine heart: H3824 I know H3045 that this is with thee.
14 If I sin, H2398 then thou markest H8104 me, and thou wilt not acquit H5352 me from mine iniquity. H5771
15 If I be wicked, H7561 woe H480 unto me; and if I be righteous, H6663 yet will I not lift up H5375 my head. H7218 I am full H7649 of confusion; H7036 therefore see H7202 H7200 thou mine affliction; H6040
16 For it increaseth. H1342 Thou huntest H6679 me as a fierce lion: H7826 and again H7725 thou shewest thyself marvellous H6381 upon me.
17 Thou renewest H2318 thy witnesses H5707 against me, and increasest H7235 thine indignation H3708 upon me; H5978 changes H2487 and war H6635 are against me.
18 Wherefore then hast thou brought me forth H3318 out of the womb? H7358 Oh that I had given up the ghost, H1478 and no eye H5869 had seen H7200 me!
19 I should have been as though I had not been; I should have been carried H2986 from the womb H990 to the grave. H6913
20 Are not my days H3117 few? H4592 cease H2308 H2308 then, and let me alone, H7896 H7896 that I may take comfort H1082 a little, H4592
21 Before I go H3212 whence I shall not return, H7725 even to the land H776 of darkness H2822 and the shadow of death; H6757
22 A land H776 of darkness, H5890 as darkness H652 itself; and of the shadow of death, H6757 without any order, H5468 and where the light H3313 is as darkness. H652
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Job 10
Commentary on Job 10 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 10
Job 10:1-22. Job's Reply to Bildad Continued.
1. leave my complaint upon myself—rather, "I will give loose to my complaint" (Job 7:11).
2. show me, &c.—Do not, by virtue of Thy mere sovereignty, treat me as guilty without showing me the reasons.
3. Job is unwilling to think God can have pleasure in using His power to "oppress" the weak, and to treat man, the work of His own hands, as of no value (Job 10:8; Ps 138:8).
shine upon—favor with prosperity (Ps 50:2).
4-6. Dost Thou see as feebly as man? that is, with the same uncharitable eye, as, for instance, Job's friends? Is Thy time as short? Impossible! Yet one might think, from the rapid succession of Thy strokes, that Thou hadst no time to spare in overwhelming me.
7. "Although Thou (the Omniscient) knowest," &c. (connected with Job 10:6), "Thou searchest after my sin."
and … that none that can deliver out of thine hand—Therefore Thou hast no need to deal with me with the rapid violence which man would use (see Job 10:6).
8. Made—with pains; implying a work of difficulty and art; applying to God language applicable only to man.
together round about—implying that the human body is a complete unity, the parts of which on all sides will bear the closest scrutiny.
9. clay—Job 10:10 proves that the reference here is, not so much to the perishable nature of the materials, as to their wonderful fashioning by the divine potter.
10. In the organization of the body from its rude commencements, the original liquid gradually assumes a more solid consistency, like milk curdling into cheese (Ps 139:15, 16). Science reveals that the chyle circulated by the lacteal vessels is the supply to every organ.
11. fenced—or "inlaid" (Ps 139:15); "curiously wrought" [Umbreit]. In the fœtus the skin appears first, then the flesh, then the harder parts.
12. visitation—Thy watchful Providence.
spirit—breath.
13. is with thee—was Thy purpose. All God's dealings with Job in his creation, preservation, and present afflictions were part of His secret counsel (Ps 139:16; Ac 15:18; Ec 3:11).
14, 15. Job is perplexed because God "marks" every sin of his with such ceaseless rigor. Whether "wicked" (godless and a hypocrite) or "righteous" (comparatively sincere), God condemns and punishes alike.
15. lift up my head—in conscious innocence (Ps 3:3).
see thou—rather, "and seeing I see (I too well see) mine affliction," (which seems to prove me guilty) [Umbreit].
16. increaseth—rather, "(if) I lift up (my head) Thou wouldest hunt me," &c. [Umbreit].
and again—as if a lion should not kill his prey at once, but come back and torture it again.
17. witnesses—His accumulated trials were like a succession of witnesses brought up in proof of his guilt, to wear out the accused.
changes and war—rather, "(thou settest in array) against me host after host" (literally, "changes and a host," that is, a succession of hosts); namely, his afflictions, and then reproach upon reproach from his friends.
20. But, since I was destined from my birth to these ills, at least give me a little breathing time during the few days left me (Job 9:34; 13:21; Ps 39:13).
22. The ideas of order and light, disorder and darkness, harmonize (Ge 1:2). Three Hebrew words are used for darkness; in Job 10:21 (1) the common word "darkness"; here (2) "a land of gloom" (from a Hebrew root, "to cover up"); (3) as "thick darkness" or blackness (from a root, expressing sunset). "Where the light thereof is like blackness." Its only sunshine is thick darkness. A bold figure of poetry. Job in a better frame has brighter thoughts of the unseen world. But his views at best wanted the definite clearness of the Christian's. Compare with his words here Re 21:23; 22:5; 2Ti 1:10.