Job 19
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Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
The worth of a poor upright man. Riches preserve friends. False witnesses. False friends. A king's wrath. The foolish son. The prudent wife. Slothfulness. Pity for the poor. The fear of the Lord. The spendthrift son. Obedience to parents.
Open source ↗JOB'S REPLY TO BILDAD. (Job 19:1-29) How long, &c.--retorting Bildad's words (Job 18:2). Admitting the punishment to be deserved, is it kind thus ever to be harping on this to the sufferer? And yet even this they have not yet proved.
Open source ↗Then Job answered and said. Having heard Bildad out, without giving him any interruption; and when he had finished his oration, he rose up in his own defence, and put in his answer as follows. Then Job answered and said. Having heard Bildad out, without giving him any interruption; and when he had finished his oration, he rose up in his own defence, and put in his answer as follows. Job 19:2 job 19:2 job 19:2 job 19:2How long will ye vex my soul,.... Which of all vexation is the worst; not only his bones were vexed, but his soul also, as David's was, Psa 6:2. His body was vexed with boils from head to feet; but now his soul was vexed by his friends, and which denotes extreme vexation, a man's being vexed to his very heart: there are many things vexations to men, especially to good men; they are not only vexed with pains of the body, as others, and with loss of worldly substance; but even all things here below, and the highest enjoyment of them, as wealth, wisdom, honours, and pleasures, are all vanity and vexation of spirit, as they were to Solomon; but more especially truly good men are vexed with the corruptions of their hearts, which are as pricks in their eyes and thorns in their sides, and with the temptations of Satan, which are also thorns in the flesh and fiery darts, and with the conversation of wicked men, as was the soul of righteous Lot, and with the bad principles and practices of professors of religion; and sometimes, as Job was, they are vexed by their own friends, who should be their comforters, but prove miserable ones, as his did, and even vexations, and continued so to the wearing him out almost; and so some render the words, "how long will ye weary my soul" (c)? with repeating their insinuations that he was a wicked and hypocritical man, and therefor…
Open source ↗1 Then began Job, and said: 2 How long will ye vex my soul, And crush me with your words? 3 These ten times have ye reproached me; Without being ashamed ye astound me. 4 And if I have really erred, My error rests with myself. 5 If ye will really magnify yourselves against me, And prove my reproach to me: 6 Know then that Eloah hath wronged me, And hath compassed me with His net. This controversy is torture to Job's spirit; enduring in himself unutterable agony, both bodily and spiritually, and in addition stretched upon the rack by the three friends with their united strength, he begins his answer with a well-justified quousque tandem. תּגיוּן (Norzi: תּוגיוּן) is fut. energicum from הוּגה (יגה), with the retention of the third radical., Ges. 75, rem. 16. And in וּתדכּאוּנני (Norzi: וּתדכּוּנני with quiescent Aleph) the suff. is attached to the n of the fut. energicum, Ges. 60, rem. 3; the connecting vowel is a, and the suff. is ani, without epenthesis, not anni or aneni, Ges. 58, 5. In Job 19:3 Job establishes his How long? Ten times is not to be taken strictly (Saad.), but it is a round number; ten, from being the number of the fingers on the human hand, is the number of human possibility, and from its position at the end of the row of numbers (in the decimal system) is the number of that which is perfected (vid., Genesis, S. 640f.); as not only the Sanskrit daan is traceable to the radical notion "to seize, embrace," but also the Semitic עשר is traceable to the radical notion "to bind, gather together" (cogn. קשׁר). They have already exhausted what is possible in reproaches, they have done their utmost. Renan, in accordance with the Hebr. expression, transl.: Voil (זה, as e.g., Gen 27:36) la dixime fois que vous m'insultez. The ἅπ. γεγρ. תּהכּרוּ is connected by th…
Open source ↗Job's friends had passed a very severe censure upon him as a wicked man because he was so grievously afflicted; now here he tells them how ill he took it to be so censured. Bildad had twice begun with a How long (Job 8:2, Job 18:2), and therefore Job, being now to answer him particularly, begins with a How long too, Job 19:2. What is not liked is commonly thought long; but Job had more reason to think those long who assaulted him than they had to think him long who only vindicated himself. Better cause may be shown for defending ourselves, if we have right on our side, than for offending our brethren, though we have right on our side. Now observe here, I. How he describes their unkindness to him and what account he gives of it. 1. They vexed his soul, and that is more grievous than the vexation of the bones, Psa 6:2, Psa 6:3. They were his friends; they came to comfort him, pretended to counsel him for the best; but with a great deal of gravity, and affectation of wisdom and piety, they set themselves to rob him of the only comfort he had now left him in a good God, a good conscience, and a good name; and this vexed him to his heart. 2. They broke him in pieces with words, and those were surely hard and very cruel words that would break a man to pieces: they grieved him, and so broke him; and therefore there will be a reckoning hereafter for all the hard speeches spoken against Christ and his people, Jde 1:15. 3. They reproached him, (Job 19:3), gave him a bad character and laid to his charge things that he knew not. To an ingenuous mind reproach is a cutting thing. 4. They made themselves strange to him, were shy of him now that he was in his troubles, and seemed as if they did not know him (Job 2:12), were not free with him as they used to be when he was in his prospe…
Open source ↗Original language
The Hebrew and Greek words behind this passage, with Strong's numbers — from openscriptures (CC BY-SA).
אִיּוֹב (ʼÎyôwb, H347) — Ijob, the patriarch famous for his patience עָנָה (ʻânâh, H6030) — properly, to eye or (generally) to heed, i.e. pay attention; by implication, to respond;… אָמַר (ʼâmar, H559) — to say (used with great latitude)
Open source ↗יָגָה (yâgâh, H3013) — to grieve נֶפֶשׁ (nephesh, H5315) — properly, a breathing creature, i.e. animal of (abstractly) vitality; used very widely in… דָּכָא (dâkâʼ, H1792) — to crumble; transitively, to bruise (literally or figuratively) מִלָּה (millâh, H4405) — a word; collectively, a discourse; figuratively, a topic
Open source ↗עֶשֶׂר (ʻeser, H6235) — ten (as an accumulation to the extent of the digits) פַּעַם (paʻam, H6471) — a stroke, literally or figuratively (in various applications, as follow) כָּלַם (kâlam, H3637) — properly, to wound; but only figuratively, to taunt or insult בּוּשׁ (bûwsh, H954) — properly, to pale, i.e. by implication to be ashamed; also (by implication) to be… הָכַר (hâkar, H1970) — to injure
Open source ↗אׇמְנָם (ʼomnâm, H551) — verily שָׁגָה (shâgâh, H7686) — to stray (causatively, mislead), usually (figuratively) to mistake, especially (morally)… מְשׁוּגָה (mᵉshûwgâh, H4879) — mistake לוּן (lûwn, H3885) — to stop (usually over night); by implication, to stay permanently; hence (in a bad sense)…
Open source ↗אׇמְנָם (ʼomnâm, H551) — verily גָּדַל (gâdal, H1431) — to be (causatively make) large (in various senses, as in body, mind, estate or honor,… יָכַח (yâkach, H3198) — to be right (i.e. correct); reciprocal, to argue; causatively, to decide, justify or… חֶרְפָּה (cherpâh, H2781) — contumely, disgrace, the pudenda
Open source ↗יָדַע (yâdaʻ, H3045) — to know (properly, to ascertain by seeing); used in a great variety of senses,… אֵפוֹ (ʼêphôw, H645) — strictly a demonstrative particle, here; but used of time, now or then אֱלוֹהַּ (ʼĕlôwahh, H433) — a deity or the Deity עָוַת (ʻâvath, H5791) — to wrest נָקַף (nâqaph, H5362) — to strike with more or less violence (beat, fell, corrode); by implication (of attack) to… מָצוּד (mâtsûwd, H4686) — a net, or (abstractly) capture; also a fastness
Open source ↗צָעַק (tsâʻaq, H6817) — to shriek; (by implication) to proclaim (an assembly) חָמָס (châmâç, H2555) — violence; by implication, wrong; by meton. unjust gain עָנָה (ʻânâh, H6030) — properly, to eye or (generally) to heed, i.e. pay attention; by implication, to respond;… שָׁוַע (shâvaʻ, H7768) — properly, to be free; but used only causatively and reflexively, to halloo (for help,… מִשְׁפָּט (mishpâṭ, H4941) — properly, a verdict (favorable or unfavorable) pronounced judicially, especially a…
Open source ↗גָּדַר (gâdar, H1443) — to wall in or around אֹרַח (ʼôrach, H734) — a well-trodden road (literally or figuratively); also a caravan עָבַר (ʻâbar, H5674) — to cross over; used very widely of any transition (literal or figurative; transitive,… שׂוּם (sûwm, H7760) — to put (used in a great variety of applications, literal, figurative, inferentially, and… חֹשֶׁךְ (chôshek, H2822) — the dark; hence (literally) darkness; figuratively, misery, destruction, death,… נָתִיב (nâthîyb, H5410) — a (beaten) track
Open source ↗פָּשַׁט (pâshaṭ, H6584) — to spread out (i.e. deploy in hostile array); by analogy, to strip (i.e. unclothe,… כָּבוֹד (kâbôwd, H3519) — properly, weight, but only figuratively in a good sense, splendor or copiousness סוּר (çûwr, H5493) — to turn off (literal or figurative) עֲטָרָה (ʻăṭârâh, H5850) — a crown רֹאשׁ (rôʼsh, H7218) — the head (as most easily shaken), whether literal or figurative (in many applications, of…
Open source ↗נָתַץ (nâthats, H5422) — to tear down סָבִיב (çâbîyb, H5439) — (as noun) a circle, neighbour, or environs; but chiefly (as adverb, with or without… יָלַךְ (yâlak, H3212) — to walk (literally or figuratively); causatively, to carry (in various senses) תִּקְוָה (tiqvâh, H8615) — literally a cord (as an attachment); figuratively, expectancy נָסַע (nâçaʻ, H5265) — properly, to pull up, especially the tent-pins, i.e. start on ajourney עֵץ (ʻêts, H6086) — a tree (from its firmness); hence, wood (plural sticks)
Open source ↗חָרָה (chârâh, H2734) — to glow or grow warm; figuratively (usually) to blaze up, of anger, zeal, jealousy אַף (ʼaph, H639) — properly, the nose or nostril; hence, the face, and occasionally a person; also (from the… חָשַׁב (châshab, H2803) — properly, to plait or interpenetrate, i.e. (literally) to weave or (generally) to… צַר (tsar, H6862) — narrow; (as a noun) a tight place (usually figuratively, i.e. trouble); also a pebble ;…
Open source ↗גְּדוּד (gᵉdûwd, H1416) — a crowd (especially of soldiers) בּוֹא (bôwʼ, H935) — to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) יַחַד (yachad, H3162) — properly, a unit, i.e. (adverb) unitedly סָלַל (çâlal, H5549) — to mound up (especially a turnpike); figurative, to exalt; reflexively, to oppose (as by… דֶּרֶךְ (derek, H1870) — a road (as trodden); figuratively, a course of life or mode of action, often adverb חָנָה (chânâh, H2583) — properly, to incline; by implication, to decline (of the slanting rays of evening);… סָבִיב (çâbîyb, H5439) — (as noun) a circle, neighbour, or environs; but chiefly (as adverb, with or without… אֹהֶל (ʼôhel, H168) — a tent (as clearly conspicuous from a distance)
Open source ↗רָחַק (râchaq, H7368) — to widen (in any direction), i.e. (intransitively) recede or (transitively) remove… אָח (ʼâch, H251) — a brother (used in the widest sense of literal relationship and metaphorical affinity or… יָדַע (yâdaʻ, H3045) — to know (properly, to ascertain by seeing); used in a great variety of senses,… זוּר (zûwr, H2114) — to turn aside (especially for lodging); hence to be aforeigner, strange, profane;…
Open source ↗קָרוֹב (qârôwb, H7138) — near (in place, kindred or time) חָדַל (châdal, H2308) — properly, to be flabby, i.e. (by implication) desist; (figuratively) be lacking or idle יָדַע (yâdaʻ, H3045) — to know (properly, to ascertain by seeing); used in a great variety of senses,… שָׁכַח (shâkach, H7911) — to mislay, i.e. to be oblivious of, from want of memory or attention
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