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.
God H410 hath delivered H5462 me to the ungodly, H5760 and turned me over H3399 into the hands H3027 of the wicked. H7563 I was at ease, H7961 but he hath broken me asunder: H6565 he hath also taken H270 me by my neck, H6203 and shaken me to pieces, H6327 and set me up H6965 for his mark. H4307 His archers H7228 compass me round about, H5437 he cleaveth H6398 my reins H3629 asunder, H6398 and doth not spare; H2550 he poureth out H8210 my gall H4845 upon the ground. H776 He breaketh H6555 me with breach H6556 upon H6440 breach, H6556 he runneth H7323 upon me like a giant. H1368 I have sewed H8609 sackcloth H8242 upon my skin, H1539 and defiled H5953 my horn H7161 in the dust. H6083 My face H6440 is foul H2560 with weeping, H1065 and on my eyelids H6079 is the shadow of death; H6757
Know H3045 now H645 that God H433 hath overthrown H5791 me, and hath compassed H5362 me with his net. H4686 Behold, I cry out H6817 of wrong, H2555 but I am not heard: H6030 I cry aloud, H7768 but there is no judgment. H4941 He hath fenced up H1443 my way H734 that I cannot pass, H5674 and he hath set H7760 darkness H2822 in my paths. H5410 He hath stripped H6584 me of my glory, H3519 and taken H5493 the crown H5850 from my head. H7218 He hath destroyed H5422 me on every side, H5439 and I am gone: H3212 and mine hope H8615 hath he removed H5265 like a tree. H6086 He hath also kindled H2734 his wrath H639 against me, and he counteth H2803 me unto him as one of his enemies. H6862
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.