Psalms 42:4(v16)These things I remember, and pour out my soul within me, how I used to go with the crowd, and led them to God’s house, with the voice of…
Hosea 13:3(v15)Therefore they will be like the morning mist, and like the dew that passes away early, like the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out…
Job 6:4(v15)For the arrows of the Almighty are within me. My spirit drinks up their poison. The terrors of God set themselves in array against me.
Job 9:31(v19)yet you will plunge me in the ditch. My own clothes will abhor me.
Psalms 22:14(v16)I am poured out like water. All my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax. It is melted within me.
Show all 36 cross-references
Genesis 18:27(v19)Abraham answered, “See now, I have taken it on myself to speak to the Lord, although I am dust and ashes.
Job 2:7(v18)So Satan went out from the presence of Yahweh, and struck Job with painful sores from the sole of his foot to his head.
Job 3:24(v16)For my sighing comes before I eat. My groanings are poured out like water.
Job 7:4(v17)When I lie down, I say, ‘When will I arise, and the night be gone?’ I toss and turn until the dawning of the day.
Job 7:5(v18)My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust. My skin closes up, and breaks out afresh.
Job 19:20(v18)My bones stick to my skin and to my flesh. I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.
Job 31:23(v15)For calamity from God is a terror to me. Because of his majesty, I can do nothing.
Job 33:19-21(v17)He is chastened also with pain on his bed, with continual strife in his bones, so that his life abhors bread, and his soul dainty food. His…
Job 42:6(v19)Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”
Psalms 6:2-6(v17)Have mercy on me, Yahweh, for I am faint. Yahweh, heal me, for my bones are troubled. My soul is also in great anguish. But you, Yahweh—how…
Psalms 22:2(v17)My God, I cry in the daytime, but you don’t answer; in the night season, and am not silent.
Psalms 40:12(v16)For innumerable evils have surrounded me. My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to look up. They are more than the hairs…
Psalms 55:4-5(v15)My heart is severely pained within me. The terrors of death have fallen on me. Fearfulness and trembling have come on me. Horror has…
Psalms 69:14(v19)Deliver me out of the mire, and don’t let me sink. Let me be delivered from those who hate me, and out of the deep waters.
Psalms 88:15(v15)I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up. While I suffer your terrors, I am distracted.
Isaiah 38:13(v17)I waited patiently until morning. He breaks all my bones like a lion. From day even to night you will make an end of me.
Isaiah 44:22(v15)I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, your transgressions, and, as a cloud, your sins. Return to me, for I have redeemed you.
Isaiah 53:12(v16)Therefore I will give him a portion with the great. He will divide the plunder with the strong; because he poured out his soul to death and…
1 Samuel 1:15(v16)Hannah answered, “No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit. I have not been drinking wine or strong drink, but I poured out my soul…
Job 3:25(v15)For the thing which I fear comes on me, That which I am afraid of comes to me.
Job 7:9(v15)As the cloud is consumed and vanishes away, so he who goes down to Sheol will come up no more.
Job 7:14(v15)then you scare me with dreams, and terrify me through visions:
Job 9:27-28(v15)If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint, I will put off my sad face, and cheer up;’ I am afraid of all my sorrows, I know that you will not…
Job 10:16(v15)If my head is held high, you hunt me like a lion. Again you show yourself powerful to me.
Psalms 38:2-8(v17)For your arrows have pierced me, your hand presses hard on me. There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation, neither is…
Psalms 38:5(v18)My wounds are loathsome and corrupt because of my foolishness.
Psalms 69:1-2(v19)Save me, God, for the waters have come up to my neck! I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold. I have come into deep waters, where…
Isaiah 1:5-6(v18)Why should you be beaten more, that you revolt more and more? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot…
Jeremiah 38:6(v19)Then they took Jeremiah and threw him into the dungeon of Malchijah the king’s son, that was in the court of the guard. They let down…
Hosea 6:4(v15)“Ephraim, what shall I do to you? Judah, what shall I do to you? For your love is like a morning cloud, and like the dew that disappears…
Job 2:8(v19)He took for himself a potsherd to scrape himself with, and he sat among the ashes.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (19 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Geneva Bible translators1599 · Public DomainOn vv16, 17, 19My life faileth me, and I am as half…
My life faileth me, and I am as half dead.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp1656 · Public DomainOn vv15–19Job 30:15 Terrors are turned upon me: they pursue…
Job 30:15 Terrors are turned upon me: they pursue my soul as the wind: and my welfare passeth away as a cloud.
Ver. 15. Terrors are turned upon me] I am horribly afraid of thy judgments, as David expresseth it; and this was it that pointed and put a sting into all other sufferings; for a wounded conscience who can bear? If the shoulder be galled, the burden will be very tedious and irksome. Be not thou a terror unto me, Lord, saith Jeremiah, and then I care not much what else soever befalleth me. But why were these terrors so troublesome?
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They pursue my soul as the wind] Brentius rendereth it, They pursue my liberality, or, They take away from me all the cheerfulness and readiness of my mind; whereby heretofore I suffered so many calamities, and shrank not; for the joy of the Lord was my strength, and then nothing came amiss to me. Thou hast strengthened me with strength in my soul, Psa 138:3, and upheld me with thy noble spirit, Psa 51:12. The Chaldee hath it, kingly spirit, and it is the same word in the original that is here rendered, my soul; it is, my princess, or, my nobility, for so the soul is the more noble part, Animam meam nobilem et inclytam (Vat.). David calleth it his glory, Psa 16:9, and his darling, Psa 22:20. Some of the Jewish doctors make it the same with welfare, in the words following; but that is not likely.
And my welfare passeth away as a cloud] i.e. Totally, as before; irresistible like the wind. Job aboundeth with similitudes, which do notably illustrate. Terrorum vim simili a vento illustrat, et salutem a se abeuntem similitudine nubis (Merl.). He would say, I am utterly deprived of all means of avoiding this misery.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole1685 · Public DomainOn vv15–19Terrors, to wit, from God, who sets himself against…
Terrors, to wit, from God, who sets himself against me, and in some sort joins his forces with these miscreants.
Are turned upon me; are directed against me, to whom they seem not to belong, as being the portion of wicked men.
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My soul, Heb. my principal or excellent one, i.e. my soul, which is fitly so called, as being the chief part of man; as it is called a man’s glory, Gen 49:6, and his only one, Psa 22:20, and which is the proper seat and object of Divine terrors, as his body was of his outward pains and ulcers.
As the wind, i.e. speedily, vehemently, and irresistibly.
My welfare; all the happiness and comfort of any life.
As a cloud; which is quickly dissolved into rain, or dissipated by the sun, or driven away with the wind.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry1710 · Public DomainOn v15In this second part of Job's complaint, which is…
In this second part of Job's complaint, which is very bitter, and has a great many sorrowful accents in it, we may observe a great deal that he complains of and some little that he comforts himself with.
I. Here is much that he complains of.
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1. In general, it was a day of great affliction and sorrow. (1.) Affliction seized him, and surprised him. It seized him (Job 30:16): The days of affliction have taken hold upon me, have caught me (so some); they have arrested me, as the bailiff arrests the debtor, claps him on the back, and secures him. When trouble comes with commission it will take fast hold, and not lose its hold. It surprised him (Job 30:27): "The days of affliction prevented me," that is, "they came upon me without giving me any previous warning. I did not expect them, nor make any provision for such an evil day." Observe, He reckons his affliction by days, which will soon be numbered and finished, and are nothing to the ages of eternity, Co2 4:17. (2.) He was in great sorrow by reason of it. His bowels boiled with grief, and rested not, Job 30:27. The sense of his calamities was continually preying upon his spirits without any intermission. He went mourning from day to day, always sighing, always weeping; and such cloud was constantly upon his mind that he went, in effect, without the sun, Job 30:28. He had nothing that he could take any comfort in. He abandoned himself to perpetual sorrow, as one that, like Jacob, resolved to go to the grave mourning. He walked out of the sun (so some) in dark shady places, as melancholy people use to do. If he went into the congregation, to join with them in solemn worship, instead of standing up calmly to desire their prayers, he stood up and cried aloud, through pain of body, or anguish of mind, like one half distracted. If he appeared in public, to receive visits, when the fit came upon him he could not contain himself, nor preserve due decorum, but stood up and shrieked aloud. Thus he was a brother to dragons and owls (Job 30:29), both in choosing solitude and retirement, as they do (Isa 34:13), and in making a fearful hideous noise as they do; his inconsiderate complaints were fitly compared to their inarticulate ones.
2. The terror and trouble that seized his soul were the sorest part of his calamity, Job 30:15, Job 30:16. (1.) If he looked forward, he saw every thing frightful before him: if he endeavoured to shake off his terrors, they turned furiously upon him: if he endeavoured to escape from them, they pursued his soul as swiftly and violently as the wind. He complained, at first, of the terrors of God setting themselves in array against him, Job 6:4. And still, which way soever he looked, they turned upon him; which way soever he fled, they pursued him. My soul (Heb., my principal one, my princess); the soul is the principal part of the man; it is our glory; it is every way more excellent than the body, and therefore that which pursues the soul, and threatens that, should be most dreaded. (2.) If he looked back, he saw all the good he had formerly enjoyed removed from him, and nothing left him but the bitter remembrance of it: My welfare and prosperity pass away, as suddenly, swiftly, and irrecoverably, as a cloud. (3.) If he looked within, he found his spirit quite sunk and unable to bear his infirmity, not only wounded, but poured out upon him, Job 30:16. He was not only weak as water, but, in his own apprehension, lost as water spilt upon the ground. Compare Psa 22:14, My heart is melted like wax.
3. His bodily diseases were very grievous; for, (1.) He was full of pain, piercing pain, pain that went to the bone, to all his bones, Job 30:17. It was a sword in his bones, which pierced him in the night season, when he should have been refreshed with sleep. His nerves were affected with strong convulsions; his sinews took no rest. By reason of his pain, he could take no rest, but sleep departed from his eyes. His bones were burnt with heat, Job 30:30. He was in a constant fever, which dried up the radical moisture and even consumed the marrow in his bones. See how frail our bodies are, which carry in themselves the seeds of our own disease and death. (2.) He was full of sores. Some that are pained in their bones, yet sleep in a whole skin, but, Satan's commission against Job extending both to his bone and to his flesh, he spared neither. His skin was black upon him, Job 30:30. The blood settled, and the sores suppurated and by degrees scabbed over, which made his skin look black. Even his garment had its colour changed with the continual running of his boils, and the soft clothing he used to wear had now grown so stiff that all his garments were like his collar, Job 30:18. It would be noisome to describe what a condition poor Job was in for want of clean linen and good attendance, and what filthy rags all his clothes were. Some think that, among other diseases, Job was ill of a quinsy or swelling in his throat, and that it was this which bound him about like a stiff collar. Thus was he cast into the mire (Job 30:19), compared to mire (so some); his body looked more like a heap of dirt than any thing else. Let none be proud of their clothing nor proud of their cleanness; they know not but some disease or other may change their garments, and even throw them into the mire, and make them noisome both to themselves and others. Instead of sweet smell, there shall be a stench, Isa 3:24. We are but dust and ashes at the best, and our bodies are vile bodies; but we are apt to forget it, till God, by some sore disease, makes us sensibly to feel and own what we are. "I have become already like that dust and ashes into which I must shortly be resolved: wherever I go I carry my grave about with me."
4. That which afflicted him most of all was that God seemed to be his enemy and to fight against him. It was he that cast him into the mire (Job 30:19), and seemed to trample on him when he had him there. This cut him to the heart more than any thing else, (1.) That God did not appear for him. He addressed himself to him, but gained no grant - appealed to him, but gained no sentence; he was very importunate in his applications, but in vain (Job 30:20): "I cry unto thee, as one in earnest, I stand up, and cry, as one waiting for an answer, but thou hearest not, thou regardest not, for any thing I can perceive." If our most fervent prayers bring not in speedy and sensible returns, we must not think it strange. Though the seed of Jacob did never seek in vain, yet they have often thought that they did and that God has not only been deaf, but angry, at the prayers of his people, Psa 80:4. (2.) That God did appear against him. That which he here says of God is one of the worst words that ever Job spoke (Job 30:21): Thou hast become cruel to me. Far be it from the God of mercy and grace that he should be cruel to any (his compassions fail not), but especially that he should be so to his own children. Job was unjust and ungrateful when he said so of him: but harbouring hard thoughts of God was the sin which did, at this time, most easily beset him. Here, [1.] He thought God fought against him and stirred up his whole strength to ruin him: With thy strong hand thou opposest thyself, or art an adversary against me. He had better thoughts of God (Job 23:6) when he concluded he would not plead against him with his great power. God has an absolute sovereignty and an irresistible strength, but he never uses either the one or the other for the crushing or oppressing of any. [2.] He thought he insulted over him (Job 30:22): Thou lifted me up to the wind, as a feather or the chaff which the wind plays with; so unequal a match did Job think himself for Omnipotence, and so unable was he to help himself when he was made to ride, not in triumph, but in terror, upon the wings of the wind, and the judgments of God did even dissolve his substance, as a cloud is dissolved and dispersed by the wind. Man's substance, take him in his best estate, is nothing before the power of God; it is soon dissolved.
5. He expected no other now than that God, by these troubles, would shortly make an end of him: "If I be made to ride upon the wind, I can count upon no other than to break my neck shortly;" and he speaks as if God had no other design upon him than that in all his dealings with him: "I know that thou wilt bring me, with so much the more terror, to death, though I might have been brought thither without all this ado, for it is the house appointed for all living," Job 30:23. The grave is a house, a narrow, dark, cold, ill-furnished house, but it will be our residence, where we shall rest and be safe. It is our long home, our own home; for it is our mother's lap, and in it we are gathered to our fathers. It is a house appointed for us by him that has appointed us the bounds of all our habitations. It is appointed for all the living. It is the common receptacle, where rich and poor meet; it is appointed for the general rendezvous. We must all be brought thither shortly. It is God that brings us to it, for the keys of death and the grave are in his hand, and we may all know that, sooner or later, he will bring us thither. It would be well for us if we would duly consider it. The living know that they shall die; let us, each of us, know it with application.
6. There were two things that aggravated his trouble, and made it the less tolerable: - (1.) That it was a very great disappointment to his expectation (Job 30:26): "When I looked for good, for more good, or at least for the continuance of what I had, then evil came" - such uncertain things are all our worldly enjoyments, and such a folly is it to feed ourselves with great expectations from them. Those that wait for light from the sparks of their creature comforts will be wretchedly disappointed and will make their bed in the darkness. (2.) That is was a very great change in his condition (Job 30:31): "My harp is not only laid by, and hung upon the willow-trees, but it is turned to mourning, and my organ into the voice of those that weep." Job, in his prosperity, had taken the timbrel and harp, and rejoiced at the sound of the organ, Job 21:12. Notwithstanding his gravity and grace, he had found time to be cheerful; but now his tune was altered. Let those therefore that rejoice be as though they rejoiced not, for they know not how soon their laughter will be turned into mourning and their joy into heaviness. Thus we see how much Job complains of; but,
II. Here is something in the midst of all with which he comforts himself, and it is but a little. 1. He foresees, with comfort, that death will be the period of all his calamities (Job 30:24): Though God now, with a strong hand, opposed himself against him, "yet," says he, "he will not stretch out his hand to the grave." The hand of God's wrath would bring him to death, but would not follow him beyond death; his soul would be safe and happy in the world of spirits, his body safe and easy in the dust. Though men cry in his destruction (though, when they are dying, there is a great deal of agony and out-cry, many a sigh, and groan, and complaint), yet in the grave they feel nothing, they fear nothing, but all is quiet there. "Though in hell, which is called destruction, they cry, yet not in the grave; and, being delivered from the second death, the first to me will be an effectual relief." Therefore he wished he might be hidden in the grave, Job 14:13. 2. He reflects with comfort upon the concern he always had for the calamities of others when he was himself at ease (Job 30:25): Did not I weep for him that was in trouble? Some think he herein complains of God, thinking it very hard that he who had shown mercy to others should not himself find mercy. I would rather take it as a quieting consideration to himself; his conscience witnessed for him that he had always sympathized with persons in misery and done what he could to help them, and therefore he had reason to expect that, at length, both God and his friends would pity him. Those who mourn with them that mourn will bear their own sorrows the better when it comes to their turn to drink of the bitter cup. Did not my soul burn for the poor? so some read it, comparing it with that of St. Paul, Co2 11:29, Who is offended, and I burn not? As those who have been unmerciful and hard-hearted to others may expect to hear of it from their own consciences, when they are themselves in trouble, so those who have considered the poor and succoured them shall have the remembrance thereof to make their bed easy in their sickness, Psa 41:1, Psa 41:3.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill1763 · Public DomainOn vv15–19Terrors are turned upon me,.... Not the terrors of…
Terrors are turned upon me,.... Not the terrors of a guilty conscience, for Job had a clear one, and held fast his integrity; nor the terrors of a cursing and condemning law, for he knew he was justified by his living Redeemer, and his sins forgiven for his sake; nor the terrors of death, for that he had made familiar to him, and greatly desired it; nor the terrors of a future judgment, for there was nothing he was more solicitous for than to appear before the judgment seat of God, and take his trial there; but the afflictions that were upon him from the hand of God that was turned on him, who now hid his face from him, and withheld the influences of his grace and layout, and appeared as an enemy, and as a cruel one to him; the reason of all which he knew not, and this threw him into consternation of mind, and filled him with terror. Some (s) read the words
"my glory is turned into terrors;''
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instead of being in the honour and glory, prosperity and happiness, he had been in, he was now possessed of terrors and distresses of various kinds: others render the words, "he is turned against me, as terrors", or "into terrors", or "with them" (t); God cannot be turned or changed in his nature, in his will, counsel, purposes, and decrees, nor in his love and affection to his people; but he may turn in the outward dispensations of his providence according to his unchangeable will, as from evil to good, Jon 3:9; so from doing good to evil, Isa 63:10; this is complained of by the church, Lam 3:3; and deprecated by Jeremiah, Jer 17:17; or there is "a turn, terrors are upon me"; there was a very visible turn in Job's affairs in many respects, in his health, substance, and family, and particularly in this; while he was in his office as a civil magistrate, and in all the glory of it, he was a terror to evil doers; and young men, when he appeared, hid themselves for fear of him; but now those impudently rise up against him, and are terrors to him: or there is an "overthrow" (u), an overturning of things, as of his civil and temporal affairs, so of his spiritual ones; instead of that peace, serenity, and tranquillity of mind he had enjoyed; now nothing but terror and distress of mind on account of his afflictions and troubles:
they pursue my soul as the wind; terrors one after another; they pursued him closely, with great swiftness, and with a force irresistible, like the wind; they pursued his soul, his life, and threatened the taking away of it: the word for soul is not the usual word for it; it signifies "my principal one", as in the margin, as the soul is the principal part of man, the immortal breath of God, the inhabitant in the tenement of the body, the jewel in the cabinet, immaterial and immortal, and of more worth than the whole world; or "my princely one", being of a princely original, is from God, the Father of spirits, of a noble extract: Mr. Broughton renders it my "nobility", having princely rule and government in the body; that using the members of the body as its instruments; and especially it may be said to have such rule, when grace is implanted in it, as a ruling governing principle; and the Targum is, my principality or government: it may be rendered, "my free" (w), liberal, ingenuous, and munificent one: Job had such a generous and beneficent soul; but now all means of exercising generosity and liberality were cut off from him; and particularly he had find a free ingenuous one, as he was actuated by the free spirit of God, Psa 51:12, where this word is used; but now terrors pursuing him, a spirit of bondage unto fear was brought upon him: some (x) consider it as an apostrophe to God, "thou pursues, my soul, O God", &c. but rather the meaning is, a distress or affliction pursued it, or everyone of the above terrors:
and my welfare passeth away as a cloud; or "my salvation" (y); not spiritual and eternal salvation, that was firm and stable, being fixed by the unalterable decree of God, secured in the covenant of grace, and engaged for to be wrought out by his living. Redeemer, and of which he had an application by the Spirit of God, and was possessed of the blessings of it; and though the joys and comforts of it, and views of interest in it, may go off for a while, yet Job seems to have had a strong faith of interest in it, and a lively and well grounded hope of its being his, Job 13:15; but his temporal salvation, health, and happiness, were gone suddenly, swiftly, utterly, entirely, totally, as a cloud dissolved into rain, or dissipated by the rays of the sun, or driven away with the wind, so as to be seen no more; nor had he any hope of its being restored to him: some understand this, as Sephorno, of the salvation with which he had saved others; but it was no more in the power of his hands, and the remembrance of it was gone from those who shared in it; see Hos 6:4.
(s) So some in Bar Tzemach in loc. (t) "conversus est contra me, sicut terrores", Schmidt; "in meros terrores, vel cum terroribus", Michaelis. (u) "Eversio", Schultens. (w) "principalem meam", Mercerus; "meam principem", Vatablus, Piscator; "meam spontaneam", Pagninus, Montanus, Michaelis; "meam ultroneam", Drusius; "generosum meam spiritum", Schultens. (x) Schmidt. (y) "salus mea", Pagninus, Montanus, &c.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley1765 · Public DomainOn v15Terrors - If he endeavoured to shake them off,…
Terrors - If he endeavoured to shake them off, they turned furiously upon him: if he endeavoured to out run them, they pursued his soul, as swiftly and violently as the wind.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke1810 · Public DomainOn vv15, 18Verse 15. Terrors are turned upon me] Defence is…
Verse 15. Terrors are turned upon me] Defence is no longer useful; they have beat down my walls.
They pursue my soul as the wind] I seek safety in flight, my strong holds being no longer tenable; but they pursue me so swiftly, that it is impossible for me to escape. They follow me like a whirlwind; and as fast as that drives away the clouds before it, so is my prosperity destroyed. The word נדבתי nedibathi, which we translate my soul, signifies properly my nobility, my excellence: they endeavour to destroy both my reputation and my property.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson1811 · Public DomainOn vv15, 16, 18Job 30:15. Terrors are turned upon me — Many…
Job 30:15. Terrors are turned upon me — Many terrible things from God, who sets himself against me, and in some sort joins his forces with these miscreants, are directed against me, to whom they seem not to belong, as being the portion of wicked men. They pursue my soul — Hebrew, נדבתי, nedibathi, my principal, or excellent one; that is, my soul, which is properly so called, as being the chief part of man, and which was the proper seat and object of divine terrors, as his body was of his outward pains and ulcers; as the wind — That is, speedily, vehemently, and irresistibly; and my welfare — All the happiness and comfort of my life; passeth away as a cloud — Which is quickly dissolved into rain, or dissipated by the sun, or driven away with the wind.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes1834 · Public DomainOn vv15–19Terrors are turned upon me - As if they…
Terrors are turned upon me - As if they were all turned upon him, or made to converge toward him. Everything suited to produce terror seemed to have a direction given it toward him. Umbreit, and some others, however, suppose that God is here referred to, and that the meaning is,” God is turned against me terrors drive as a storm against me.” The Hebrew will bear either construction; but it is more emphatic and impressive to suppose it means that everything adapted to produce terror seemed to be turned against him.
They pursue my soul as the wind - Margin, my principal one. The word “they” here, refers to the terrors. In the original text, the word תרדף tirâdaph agrees with בלהה ballâhâh, terrors understood, for this word is often used as a collective noun, and with a singular verb, or it may agree with אהת כל - “each one of the terrors persecutes me.” There is more difficulty about the word rendered “soul” in the text, and “principal one” in the margin - נדיבה nedı̂ybâh. It properly means willingness, voluntariness, spontaneity; then a free-will offering, a voluntary sacrifice; then largeness, abundance. Rosenmuller renders it, “My vigor.” Noyes, “My prosperity,” and so Coverdale. Jerome, “My desire,” and the Septuagint, “My hope passes away as the wind.” Schultens translates it, “They persecute my generous spirit as the wind.” It seems probable that the word refers to a generous, noble nature; to a large and liberal soul, evincing its magnanimity in acts of generosity and hospitality; and the idea seems to be, that his enemies rushed against that generous nature like a tempest. They wholly disregarded it, and a nature most generous and noble was exposed to the fury of the storm.
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And my welfare - Hebrew my salvation; or my safety.
As a cloud - As a cloud vanishes and wholly disappears.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Nothing. Hebrew, "terror." (Haydock) --- Desire. Hebrew, "princess," reason. (Calmet) --- Protestants, "soul." Septuagint, "my hope has flown away like wind." (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown1871 · Public DomainOn vv15–19soul--rather, "my dignity" [UMBREIT].
they--terrors.
soul--rather, "my dignity" [UMBREIT].
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welfare--prosperity.
cloud-- (Job 7:9; Isa 44:22).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon1874 · Public DomainOn vv15–1915. My soul — Literally, My honour. Gen_49:6. In…
15. My soul — Literally, My honour. Gen_49:6. In recognition of the soul as the nobler part of man.
As a cloud — Arabian writers frequently compare hopes and promises that are not fulfilled to a cloud full of promise, speedily dispersed by the wind.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges1878 · Public DomainOn vv15–1915. Terrors are turned against me,
15. Terrors are turned against me,
They chase away my honour like the wind;
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And my welfare is passed away as a cloud.
He is assailed by terrors. The words “like the wind” mean, like as the wind chases away (the chaff, &c.). On the figure of the dissolving cloud comp. Job_7:9. The expression “terrors” indicates that, though Job is here speaking of his injurious treatment at the hands of this rabble, it is not merely the external ignominy that fills his mind; it is the deeper moral problem which such abasement raises. Such expressions, however, have suggested to several writers that what Job describes in Job_30:11-15 is not the outrageous insults of the base-born outcasts referred to in Job_30:1-10, but his afflictions, under the figure of an assailing army sent against him from God, comp. ch. Job_16:12-14, Job_19:12. The passage is difficult, but upon the whole this view is less natural.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers1878 · Public DomainOn vv15, 18, 19(15) They pursue—i.e., “the terrors chase or pursue
(15) They pursue—i.e., “the terrors chase or pursue
my honour:” i.e., my soul; or it may be, “Thou (i.e., God) chasest.”
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary1880 · Public DomainOn vv15–19Terrors are turned upon me Job seems to pass…
Terrors are turned upon me Job seems to pass here from his human persecutors to his internal sufferings of mind and body. "Terrors" take hold upon him. He experiences in his sleep horrible dreams and visions, (Job_7:14) and even in his waking hours he is haunted by fears. The terrors of God do set themselves in array against him". (Job_6:4) God seems to him as One that watches, and "tries him every moment", (see Job_7:18) seeking occasion against him, and never leaving him an instant"s peace. (Job_7:19) These terrors, he says, pursue my soul as the wind; literally, pursue mine honour, or my dignity. They flutter the calm composure that befits a godly man, disturb it, shake it, and for a time at any rate, cause terrors and shrinkings of soul. Under these circumstances, my welfare passeth away as a cloud. It is not only my happiness, but my real welfare, that is gone. Body and soul are equally in suffering the one shaken with fears and disturbed with doubts and apprehensions; the other smitten with a sore disease, so that there is no soundness in it.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator1887 · Public DomainOn v16The days of affliction have taken hold upon me.
Job_30:16-20
The days of affliction have taken hold upon me.
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Physical pain
In these verses the patriarch sketches his great corporeal sufferings, his physical anguish. Probably mans capability of bodily suffering is greater than that of any other animal existence. His nerves are more tender, his organisation is more exquisite and complicated.
I. It tends to stimulate intellectual research. Pain, says a modern author, has been the means of our increasing our knowledge, our skill, and our comforts. Look to the discoveries made in science--in botany, in chemistry, in anatomy: what a knowledge have we gained of the structures and uses of plants, while we were seeking some herb to soothe pain or cure disease! What a knowledge have we gained of drugs, and salts, and earths, useful for agriculture, or for the fine arts, while we have been seeking only to find an ointment or a medicine! We have sought a draught to allay the burning thirst of a fever, and we have found a dozen delicious beverages to drink for our pleasure or relief. We studied anatomy to find out the seat of disease, and how to attack it, and we found what we did not seek--a thousand wonderful works of God, a thousand most curious contrivances, most admirable delights! We found a model for the ribs of a ship; we found the pattern of a telescope in the eye; we found joints and straps, strutting and valves, which have been copied into the workshop of the mechanic and the study of the philosopher. Yes, we may thank our liability to pain for this--for if pain had not existed, who can tell whether these things would have been so soon, if at all discovered.
II. It tends to heighten mans estimate of Divine goodness. The physical sufferings of men, however aggravated and extensive, are not the law of human life, but the exception. They are but a few discordant notes in the general harmony of his existence, a few stormy days and nights in his voyage through life. We appreciate the dawning of the morning, because we have struggled fiercely with difficulties in the night. We appreciate the full flow of health because we have felt the torture of disease. Inasmuch, therefore, as human suffering, which is an exception in the general life of mankind, helps to heighten our estimate of Gods goodness to our race, it is anything but an unmitigated evil. Nay, it is a blessing in disguise.
III. It tends to improve our spiritual nature. Physical sufferings have led many a man to a train of spiritual reflections that have resulted in the moral salvation of the soul. As by the chisel the sculptor brings beauty out of the marble block; as by the pruning knife the gardener brings rich clusters from the vine; as by the bitter drug the physician brings health to his patient; as by the fire the refiner brings pure gold out of the rough ore--so by suffering the great Father brings spiritual life, beauty, and perfection into the soul. Affliction, says quaint old Adams, is a winged chariot, that mounts up the soul toward heaven. (Homilist.)
The use of afflictions
As opposite colours in a picture contribute to the beauty of the scenery or figures portrayed on the canvas by the artist, so God makes contrary things to promote His glory, and equally develop grace and character in us. There could be no vocal or musical harmony if all the voices and sounds were exactly alike in a concert. There is no real beauty in a painting that has no shades blending with the bright sunlight. As a foil is adapted to make the lustre of a diamond more conspicuous to the eye of the observer, so the contrary things and afflictions of this life God will use to make His love more illustrious and convey His grace with more agreeable sensations to our souls. (R. Venting.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann1924 · Public DomainOn v16The Unspeakable Misery and Disappointment with which Job Battled
The Unspeakable Misery and Disappointment with which Job Battled
v. 16. And now my soul is poured out upon me, dissolved in suffering and anguish; the days of affliction have taken hold upon me, he was in the strong clutches of suffering and found himself unable to shake them off.
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v. 17. My bones are pierced in me in the night season, the restless night itself, which increases the pains of every affliction, pierces his bones from his body; and my sinews take no rest, literally, "my gnawers, not do they sleep," a reference either to the gnawing pains throughout his body or to the maggots in his ulcers.
v. 18. By the great force of my disease is my garment changed, by God’s fearful power his clothes lost all their semblance, hanging about his shrunken form loose and flapping, more like a sack than a dress; it bindeth me about as the collar of my coat, it no longer stands off properly, but clings to him like a tight-fitting shirt collar.
v. 19. He hath cast me into the mire, as an evidence of His great contempt, and I am become like dust and ashes, both on account of the appearance of his skin and the dirt which he had strewn upon himself.
v. 20. I cry unto Thee, and Thou dost not hear me, God acted as though He paid no attention to Job’s pleading; I stand up, and Thou regardest me not, looking at him fixedly, indeed, but in the absent-minded manner which made Him lose the import of Job’s complaint.
v. 21. Thou art become cruel to me, the Lord changing His nature into that of a cruel tormentor; with Thy strong hand Thou opposest Thyself against me, making war upon him.
v. 22. Thou liftest me up to the wind, making him a plaything of the storm; Thou causest me to ride upon it and dissolvest my substance, rending him apart by the fierceness of the tempest.
v. 23. For I know that Thou wilt bring me to death, or, "back from the dust of death," and to the house appointed for all living, where the living assemble, a confident cry in the midst of hopelessness, looking forward to the resurrection of the dead.
v. 24. Howbeit, he will not stretch out his hand to the grave, though they cry in his destruction, literally, "But is it not in falling one stretches out his hand, in destruction raises a call for help?" Such actions are the expression of man’s natural, instinctive impulse to save his life if threatened by death, and therefore no one should blame Job for his cry for help.
v. 25. Did not I weep for him that was in trouble? Was not my soul grieved for the poor? He who showed true sympathy with the poor and miserable in their afflictions would surely not be denied this show of the instinct of self-preservation, this plea for help!
v. 26. When I looked for good, then evil came unto me, this being another reason why his craving for help should go unchallenged; and when I waited for light, there came darkness, he had nothing but misfortune to contend with.
v. 27. My bowels boiled and rested not, on account of the intense heat of the fever which was devouring him and the torments of his anxiety; the days of affliction prevented me, flinging themselves in his way, encountering him with all fierceness.
v. 28. I went mourning without the sun, blackened, not by the heat of the sun, but as a consequence of his illness; I stood up, and I cried in the congregation, complaining aloud on account of the pain of his sufferings.
v. 29. I am a brother to dragons, to the jackals of the desert in appearance, and a companion to owls, to the ostriches of the wilderness.
v. 30. My skin is black upon me, having become blackened with his sickness, it peeled off his flesh, and my bones are burned with heat, drying up with the heat of his disease.
v. 31. My harp also, the lyre, or zither, or lute, as an instrument used upon joyful occasions, is turned to mourning and my organ, the pipe also being an instrument of joy, into the voice of them that weep. All the festive and joyous music, so expressive of Job’s former prosperity, was hushed, and only the tones of sadness and deepest lamentation remained. He had reached a point of degradation and suffering unequaled in the history of the human race.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0On vv16, 18Now my life is pouring out from within me
Now my life is pouring out from within me
Job speaks as if his life were a liquid and his body were a container. He feels he is about to die. AT: "Now I am dying" (See: Metaphor)
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many days of suffering have laid hold on me
Job speaks of his continuous suffering as if the days of suffering have grabbed hold of him. AT: "I suffer many days, and the suffering does not end" (See: Personification)
my bones in me are pierced
Job speaks of the pain in his bones as if his bones were being pierced. AT: "my bones ache terribly" or "I have sharp pain in my bones" (See: Metaphor)
the pains that gnaw at me take no rest
Job speaks of his constant pain as if it were alive and biting him and refuses to rest. AT: "the pains that cause me to suffer do not stop" or "I am in constant pain" (See: Personification)
GEBible — Godless Engineer's Bible App
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv16, 17, 19 My life faileth me, and I am as half…
My life faileth me, and I am as half dead.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv15–19 Job 30:15 Terrors are turned upon me: they pursue…
Job 30:15 Terrors are turned upon me: they pursue my soul as the wind: and my welfare passeth away as a cloud.
Ver. 15. Terrors are turned upon me] I am horribly afraid of thy judgments, as David expresseth it; and this was it that pointed and put a sting into all other sufferings; for a wounded conscience who can bear? If the shoulder be galled, the burden will be very tedious and irksome. Be not thou a terror unto me, Lord, saith Jeremiah, and then I care not much what else soever befalleth me. But why were these terrors so troublesome?
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They pursue my soul as the wind] Brentius rendereth it, They pursue my liberality, or, They take away from me all the cheerfulness and readiness of my mind; whereby heretofore I suffered so many calamities, and shrank not; for the joy of the Lord was my strength, and then nothing came amiss to me. Thou hast strengthened me with strength in my soul, Psa 138:3, and upheld me with thy noble spirit, Psa 51:12. The Chaldee hath it, kingly spirit, and it is the same word in the original that is here rendered, my soul; it is, my princess, or, my nobility, for so the soul is the more noble part, Animam meam nobilem et inclytam (Vat.). David calleth it his glory, Psa 16:9, and his darling, Psa 22:20. Some of the Jewish doctors make it the same with welfare, in the words following; but that is not likely.
And my welfare passeth away as a cloud] i.e. Totally, as before; irresistible like the wind. Job aboundeth with similitudes, which do notably illustrate. Terrorum vim simili a vento illustrat, et salutem a se abeuntem similitudine nubis (Merl.). He would say, I am utterly deprived of all means of avoiding this misery.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv15–19 Terrors, to wit, from God, who sets himself against…
Terrors, to wit, from God, who sets himself against me, and in some sort joins his forces with these miscreants.
Are turned upon me; are directed against me, to whom they seem not to belong, as being the portion of wicked men.
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My soul, Heb. my principal or excellent one, i.e. my soul, which is fitly so called, as being the chief part of man; as it is called a man’s glory, Gen 49:6, and his only one, Psa 22:20, and which is the proper seat and object of Divine terrors, as his body was of his outward pains and ulcers.
As the wind, i.e. speedily, vehemently, and irresistibly.
My welfare; all the happiness and comfort of any life.
As a cloud; which is quickly dissolved into rain, or dissipated by the sun, or driven away with the wind.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v15 In this second part of Job's complaint, which is…
In this second part of Job's complaint, which is very bitter, and has a great many sorrowful accents in it, we may observe a great deal that he complains of and some little that he comforts himself with.
I. Here is much that he complains of.
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1. In general, it was a day of great affliction and sorrow. (1.) Affliction seized him, and surprised him. It seized him (Job 30:16): The days of affliction have taken hold upon me, have caught me (so some); they have arrested me, as the bailiff arrests the debtor, claps him on the back, and secures him. When trouble comes with commission it will take fast hold, and not lose its hold. It surprised him (Job 30:27): "The days of affliction prevented me," that is, "they came upon me without giving me any previous warning. I did not expect them, nor make any provision for such an evil day." Observe, He reckons his affliction by days, which will soon be numbered and finished, and are nothing to the ages of eternity, Co2 4:17. (2.) He was in great sorrow by reason of it. His bowels boiled with grief, and rested not, Job 30:27. The sense of his calamities was continually preying upon his spirits without any intermission. He went mourning from day to day, always sighing, always weeping; and such cloud was constantly upon his mind that he went, in effect, without the sun, Job 30:28. He had nothing that he could take any comfort in. He abandoned himself to perpetual sorrow, as one that, like Jacob, resolved to go to the grave mourning. He walked out of the sun (so some) in dark shady places, as melancholy people use to do. If he went into the congregation, to join with them in solemn worship, instead of standing up calmly to desire their prayers, he stood up and cried aloud, through pain of body, or anguish of mind, like one half distracted. If he appeared in public, to receive visits, when the fit came upon him he could not contain himself, nor preserve due decorum, but stood up and shrieked aloud. Thus he was a brother to dragons and owls (Job 30:29), both in choosing solitude and retirement, as they do (Isa 34:13), and in making a fearful hideous noise as they do; his inconsiderate complaints were fitly compared to their inarticulate ones.
2. The terror and trouble that seized his soul were the sorest part of his calamity, Job 30:15, Job 30:16. (1.) If he looked forward, he saw every thing frightful before him: if he endeavoured to shake off his terrors, they turned furiously upon him: if he endeavoured to escape from them, they pursued his soul as swiftly and violently as the wind. He complained, at first, of the terrors of God setting themselves in array against him, Job 6:4. And still, which way soever he looked, they turned upon him; which way soever he fled, they pursued him. My soul (Heb., my principal one, my princess); the soul is the principal part of the man; it is our glory; it is every way more excellent than the body, and therefore that which pursues the soul, and threatens that, should be most dreaded. (2.) If he looked back, he saw all the good he had formerly enjoyed removed from him, and nothing left him but the bitter remembrance of it: My welfare and prosperity pass away, as suddenly, swiftly, and irrecoverably, as a cloud. (3.) If he looked within, he found his spirit quite sunk and unable to bear his infirmity, not only wounded, but poured out upon him, Job 30:16. He was not only weak as water, but, in his own apprehension, lost as water spilt upon the ground. Compare Psa 22:14, My heart is melted like wax.
3. His bodily diseases were very grievous; for, (1.) He was full of pain, piercing pain, pain that went to the bone, to all his bones, Job 30:17. It was a sword in his bones, which pierced him in the night season, when he should have been refreshed with sleep. His nerves were affected with strong convulsions; his sinews took no rest. By reason of his pain, he could take no rest, but sleep departed from his eyes. His bones were burnt with heat, Job 30:30. He was in a constant fever, which dried up the radical moisture and even consumed the marrow in his bones. See how frail our bodies are, which carry in themselves the seeds of our own disease and death. (2.) He was full of sores. Some that are pained in their bones, yet sleep in a whole skin, but, Satan's commission against Job extending both to his bone and to his flesh, he spared neither. His skin was black upon him, Job 30:30. The blood settled, and the sores suppurated and by degrees scabbed over, which made his skin look black. Even his garment had its colour changed with the continual running of his boils, and the soft clothing he used to wear had now grown so stiff that all his garments were like his collar, Job 30:18. It would be noisome to describe what a condition poor Job was in for want of clean linen and good attendance, and what filthy rags all his clothes were. Some think that, among other diseases, Job was ill of a quinsy or swelling in his throat, and that it was this which bound him about like a stiff collar. Thus was he cast into the mire (Job 30:19), compared to mire (so some); his body looked more like a heap of dirt than any thing else. Let none be proud of their clothing nor proud of their cleanness; they know not but some disease or other may change their garments, and even throw them into the mire, and make them noisome both to themselves and others. Instead of sweet smell, there shall be a stench, Isa 3:24. We are but dust and ashes at the best, and our bodies are vile bodies; but we are apt to forget it, till God, by some sore disease, makes us sensibly to feel and own what we are. "I have become already like that dust and ashes into which I must shortly be resolved: wherever I go I carry my grave about with me."
4. That which afflicted him most of all was that God seemed to be his enemy and to fight against him. It was he that cast him into the mire (Job 30:19), and seemed to trample on him when he had him there. This cut him to the heart more than any thing else, (1.) That God did not appear for him. He addressed himself to him, but gained no grant - appealed to him, but gained no sentence; he was very importunate in his applications, but in vain (Job 30:20): "I cry unto thee, as one in earnest, I stand up, and cry, as one waiting for an answer, but thou hearest not, thou regardest not, for any thing I can perceive." If our most fervent prayers bring not in speedy and sensible returns, we must not think it strange. Though the seed of Jacob did never seek in vain, yet they have often thought that they did and that God has not only been deaf, but angry, at the prayers of his people, Psa 80:4. (2.) That God did appear against him. That which he here says of God is one of the worst words that ever Job spoke (Job 30:21): Thou hast become cruel to me. Far be it from the God of mercy and grace that he should be cruel to any (his compassions fail not), but especially that he should be so to his own children. Job was unjust and ungrateful when he said so of him: but harbouring hard thoughts of God was the sin which did, at this time, most easily beset him. Here, [1.] He thought God fought against him and stirred up his whole strength to ruin him: With thy strong hand thou opposest thyself, or art an adversary against me. He had better thoughts of God (Job 23:6) when he concluded he would not plead against him with his great power. God has an absolute sovereignty and an irresistible strength, but he never uses either the one or the other for the crushing or oppressing of any. [2.] He thought he insulted over him (Job 30:22): Thou lifted me up to the wind, as a feather or the chaff which the wind plays with; so unequal a match did Job think himself for Omnipotence, and so unable was he to help himself when he was made to ride, not in triumph, but in terror, upon the wings of the wind, and the judgments of God did even dissolve his substance, as a cloud is dissolved and dispersed by the wind. Man's substance, take him in his best estate, is nothing before the power of God; it is soon dissolved.
5. He expected no other now than that God, by these troubles, would shortly make an end of him: "If I be made to ride upon the wind, I can count upon no other than to break my neck shortly;" and he speaks as if God had no other design upon him than that in all his dealings with him: "I know that thou wilt bring me, with so much the more terror, to death, though I might have been brought thither without all this ado, for it is the house appointed for all living," Job 30:23. The grave is a house, a narrow, dark, cold, ill-furnished house, but it will be our residence, where we shall rest and be safe. It is our long home, our own home; for it is our mother's lap, and in it we are gathered to our fathers. It is a house appointed for us by him that has appointed us the bounds of all our habitations. It is appointed for all the living. It is the common receptacle, where rich and poor meet; it is appointed for the general rendezvous. We must all be brought thither shortly. It is God that brings us to it, for the keys of death and the grave are in his hand, and we may all know that, sooner or later, he will bring us thither. It would be well for us if we would duly consider it. The living know that they shall die; let us, each of us, know it with application.
6. There were two things that aggravated his trouble, and made it the less tolerable: - (1.) That it was a very great disappointment to his expectation (Job 30:26): "When I looked for good, for more good, or at least for the continuance of what I had, then evil came" - such uncertain things are all our worldly enjoyments, and such a folly is it to feed ourselves with great expectations from them. Those that wait for light from the sparks of their creature comforts will be wretchedly disappointed and will make their bed in the darkness. (2.) That is was a very great change in his condition (Job 30:31): "My harp is not only laid by, and hung upon the willow-trees, but it is turned to mourning, and my organ into the voice of those that weep." Job, in his prosperity, had taken the timbrel and harp, and rejoiced at the sound of the organ, Job 21:12. Notwithstanding his gravity and grace, he had found time to be cheerful; but now his tune was altered. Let those therefore that rejoice be as though they rejoiced not, for they know not how soon their laughter will be turned into mourning and their joy into heaviness. Thus we see how much Job complains of; but,
II. Here is something in the midst of all with which he comforts himself, and it is but a little. 1. He foresees, with comfort, that death will be the period of all his calamities (Job 30:24): Though God now, with a strong hand, opposed himself against him, "yet," says he, "he will not stretch out his hand to the grave." The hand of God's wrath would bring him to death, but would not follow him beyond death; his soul would be safe and happy in the world of spirits, his body safe and easy in the dust. Though men cry in his destruction (though, when they are dying, there is a great deal of agony and out-cry, many a sigh, and groan, and complaint), yet in the grave they feel nothing, they fear nothing, but all is quiet there. "Though in hell, which is called destruction, they cry, yet not in the grave; and, being delivered from the second death, the first to me will be an effectual relief." Therefore he wished he might be hidden in the grave, Job 14:13. 2. He reflects with comfort upon the concern he always had for the calamities of others when he was himself at ease (Job 30:25): Did not I weep for him that was in trouble? Some think he herein complains of God, thinking it very hard that he who had shown mercy to others should not himself find mercy. I would rather take it as a quieting consideration to himself; his conscience witnessed for him that he had always sympathized with persons in misery and done what he could to help them, and therefore he had reason to expect that, at length, both God and his friends would pity him. Those who mourn with them that mourn will bear their own sorrows the better when it comes to their turn to drink of the bitter cup. Did not my soul burn for the poor? so some read it, comparing it with that of St. Paul, Co2 11:29, Who is offended, and I burn not? As those who have been unmerciful and hard-hearted to others may expect to hear of it from their own consciences, when they are themselves in trouble, so those who have considered the poor and succoured them shall have the remembrance thereof to make their bed easy in their sickness, Psa 41:1, Psa 41:3.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv15–19 Terrors are turned upon me,.... Not the terrors of…
Terrors are turned upon me,.... Not the terrors of a guilty conscience, for Job had a clear one, and held fast his integrity; nor the terrors of a cursing and condemning law, for he knew he was justified by his living Redeemer, and his sins forgiven for his sake; nor the terrors of death, for that he had made familiar to him, and greatly desired it; nor the terrors of a future judgment, for there was nothing he was more solicitous for than to appear before the judgment seat of God, and take his trial there; but the afflictions that were upon him from the hand of God that was turned on him, who now hid his face from him, and withheld the influences of his grace and layout, and appeared as an enemy, and as a cruel one to him; the reason of all which he knew not, and this threw him into consternation of mind, and filled him with terror. Some (s) read the words
"my glory is turned into terrors;''
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instead of being in the honour and glory, prosperity and happiness, he had been in, he was now possessed of terrors and distresses of various kinds: others render the words, "he is turned against me, as terrors", or "into terrors", or "with them" (t); God cannot be turned or changed in his nature, in his will, counsel, purposes, and decrees, nor in his love and affection to his people; but he may turn in the outward dispensations of his providence according to his unchangeable will, as from evil to good, Jon 3:9; so from doing good to evil, Isa 63:10; this is complained of by the church, Lam 3:3; and deprecated by Jeremiah, Jer 17:17; or there is "a turn, terrors are upon me"; there was a very visible turn in Job's affairs in many respects, in his health, substance, and family, and particularly in this; while he was in his office as a civil magistrate, and in all the glory of it, he was a terror to evil doers; and young men, when he appeared, hid themselves for fear of him; but now those impudently rise up against him, and are terrors to him: or there is an "overthrow" (u), an overturning of things, as of his civil and temporal affairs, so of his spiritual ones; instead of that peace, serenity, and tranquillity of mind he had enjoyed; now nothing but terror and distress of mind on account of his afflictions and troubles:
they pursue my soul as the wind; terrors one after another; they pursued him closely, with great swiftness, and with a force irresistible, like the wind; they pursued his soul, his life, and threatened the taking away of it: the word for soul is not the usual word for it; it signifies "my principal one", as in the margin, as the soul is the principal part of man, the immortal breath of God, the inhabitant in the tenement of the body, the jewel in the cabinet, immaterial and immortal, and of more worth than the whole world; or "my princely one", being of a princely original, is from God, the Father of spirits, of a noble extract: Mr. Broughton renders it my "nobility", having princely rule and government in the body; that using the members of the body as its instruments; and especially it may be said to have such rule, when grace is implanted in it, as a ruling governing principle; and the Targum is, my principality or government: it may be rendered, "my free" (w), liberal, ingenuous, and munificent one: Job had such a generous and beneficent soul; but now all means of exercising generosity and liberality were cut off from him; and particularly he had find a free ingenuous one, as he was actuated by the free spirit of God, Psa 51:12, where this word is used; but now terrors pursuing him, a spirit of bondage unto fear was brought upon him: some (x) consider it as an apostrophe to God, "thou pursues, my soul, O God", &c. but rather the meaning is, a distress or affliction pursued it, or everyone of the above terrors:
and my welfare passeth away as a cloud; or "my salvation" (y); not spiritual and eternal salvation, that was firm and stable, being fixed by the unalterable decree of God, secured in the covenant of grace, and engaged for to be wrought out by his living. Redeemer, and of which he had an application by the Spirit of God, and was possessed of the blessings of it; and though the joys and comforts of it, and views of interest in it, may go off for a while, yet Job seems to have had a strong faith of interest in it, and a lively and well grounded hope of its being his, Job 13:15; but his temporal salvation, health, and happiness, were gone suddenly, swiftly, utterly, entirely, totally, as a cloud dissolved into rain, or dissipated by the rays of the sun, or driven away with the wind, so as to be seen no more; nor had he any hope of its being restored to him: some understand this, as Sephorno, of the salvation with which he had saved others; but it was no more in the power of his hands, and the remembrance of it was gone from those who shared in it; see Hos 6:4.
(s) So some in Bar Tzemach in loc. (t) "conversus est contra me, sicut terrores", Schmidt; "in meros terrores, vel cum terroribus", Michaelis. (u) "Eversio", Schultens. (w) "principalem meam", Mercerus; "meam principem", Vatablus, Piscator; "meam spontaneam", Pagninus, Montanus, Michaelis; "meam ultroneam", Drusius; "generosum meam spiritum", Schultens. (x) Schmidt. (y) "salus mea", Pagninus, Montanus, &c.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On v15 Terrors - If he endeavoured to shake them off,…
Terrors - If he endeavoured to shake them off, they turned furiously upon him: if he endeavoured to out run them, they pursued his soul, as swiftly and violently as the wind.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv15, 18 Verse 15. Terrors are turned upon me] Defence is…
Verse 15. Terrors are turned upon me] Defence is no longer useful; they have beat down my walls.
They pursue my soul as the wind] I seek safety in flight, my strong holds being no longer tenable; but they pursue me so swiftly, that it is impossible for me to escape. They follow me like a whirlwind; and as fast as that drives away the clouds before it, so is my prosperity destroyed. The word נדבתי nedibathi, which we translate my soul, signifies properly my nobility, my excellence: they endeavour to destroy both my reputation and my property.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv15, 16, 18 Job 30:15. Terrors are turned upon me — Many…
Job 30:15. Terrors are turned upon me — Many terrible things from God, who sets himself against me, and in some sort joins his forces with these miscreants, are directed against me, to whom they seem not to belong, as being the portion of wicked men. They pursue my soul — Hebrew, נדבתי, nedibathi, my principal, or excellent one; that is, my soul, which is properly so called, as being the chief part of man, and which was the proper seat and object of divine terrors, as his body was of his outward pains and ulcers; as the wind — That is, speedily, vehemently, and irresistibly; and my welfare — All the happiness and comfort of my life; passeth away as a cloud — Which is quickly dissolved into rain, or dissipated by the sun, or driven away with the wind.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv15–19 Terrors are turned upon me - As if they…
Terrors are turned upon me - As if they were all turned upon him, or made to converge toward him. Everything suited to produce terror seemed to have a direction given it toward him. Umbreit, and some others, however, suppose that God is here referred to, and that the meaning is,” God is turned against me terrors drive as a storm against me.” The Hebrew will bear either construction; but it is more emphatic and impressive to suppose it means that everything adapted to produce terror seemed to be turned against him.
They pursue my soul as the wind - Margin, my principal one. The word “they” here, refers to the terrors. In the original text, the word תרדף tirâdaph agrees with בלהה ballâhâh, terrors understood, for this word is often used as a collective noun, and with a singular verb, or it may agree with אהת כל - “each one of the terrors persecutes me.” There is more difficulty about the word rendered “soul” in the text, and “principal one” in the margin - נדיבה nedı̂ybâh. It properly means willingness, voluntariness, spontaneity; then a free-will offering, a voluntary sacrifice; then largeness, abundance. Rosenmuller renders it, “My vigor.” Noyes, “My prosperity,” and so Coverdale. Jerome, “My desire,” and the Septuagint, “My hope passes away as the wind.” Schultens translates it, “They persecute my generous spirit as the wind.” It seems probable that the word refers to a generous, noble nature; to a large and liberal soul, evincing its magnanimity in acts of generosity and hospitality; and the idea seems to be, that his enemies rushed against that generous nature like a tempest. They wholly disregarded it, and a nature most generous and noble was exposed to the fury of the storm.
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And my welfare - Hebrew my salvation; or my safety.
As a cloud - As a cloud vanishes and wholly disappears.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv15–19 Nothing. Hebrew, "terror." (Haydock) --- Desire. Hebrew, "princess," reason.…
Nothing. Hebrew, "terror." (Haydock) --- Desire. Hebrew, "princess," reason. (Calmet) --- Protestants, "soul." Septuagint, "my hope has flown away like wind." (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv15–19 soul--rather, "my dignity" [UMBREIT].
they--terrors.
soul--rather, "my dignity" [UMBREIT].
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welfare--prosperity.
cloud-- (Job 7:9; Isa 44:22).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv15–19 15. My soul — Literally, My honour. Gen_49:6. In…
15. My soul — Literally, My honour. Gen_49:6. In recognition of the soul as the nobler part of man.
As a cloud — Arabian writers frequently compare hopes and promises that are not fulfilled to a cloud full of promise, speedily dispersed by the wind.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv15–19 15. Terrors are turned against me,
15. Terrors are turned against me,
They chase away my honour like the wind;
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And my welfare is passed away as a cloud.
He is assailed by terrors. The words “like the wind” mean, like as the wind chases away (the chaff, &c.). On the figure of the dissolving cloud comp. Job_7:9. The expression “terrors” indicates that, though Job is here speaking of his injurious treatment at the hands of this rabble, it is not merely the external ignominy that fills his mind; it is the deeper moral problem which such abasement raises. Such expressions, however, have suggested to several writers that what Job describes in Job_30:11-15 is not the outrageous insults of the base-born outcasts referred to in Job_30:1-10, but his afflictions, under the figure of an assailing army sent against him from God, comp. ch. Job_16:12-14, Job_19:12. The passage is difficult, but upon the whole this view is less natural.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv15, 18, 19 (15) They pursue—i.e., “the terrors chase or pursue
(15) They pursue—i.e., “the terrors chase or pursue
my honour:” i.e., my soul; or it may be, “Thou (i.e., God) chasest.”
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv15–19 Terrors are turned upon me Job seems to pass…
Terrors are turned upon me Job seems to pass here from his human persecutors to his internal sufferings of mind and body. "Terrors" take hold upon him. He experiences in his sleep horrible dreams and visions, (Job_7:14) and even in his waking hours he is haunted by fears. The terrors of God do set themselves in array against him". (Job_6:4) God seems to him as One that watches, and "tries him every moment", (see Job_7:18) seeking occasion against him, and never leaving him an instant"s peace. (Job_7:19) These terrors, he says, pursue my soul as the wind; literally, pursue mine honour, or my dignity. They flutter the calm composure that befits a godly man, disturb it, shake it, and for a time at any rate, cause terrors and shrinkings of soul. Under these circumstances, my welfare passeth away as a cloud. It is not only my happiness, but my real welfare, that is gone. Body and soul are equally in suffering the one shaken with fears and disturbed with doubts and apprehensions; the other smitten with a sore disease, so that there is no soundness in it.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v16 The days of affliction have taken hold upon me.
Job_30:16-20
The days of affliction have taken hold upon me.
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Physical pain
In these verses the patriarch sketches his great corporeal sufferings, his physical anguish. Probably mans capability of bodily suffering is greater than that of any other animal existence. His nerves are more tender, his organisation is more exquisite and complicated.
I. It tends to stimulate intellectual research. Pain, says a modern author, has been the means of our increasing our knowledge, our skill, and our comforts. Look to the discoveries made in science--in botany, in chemistry, in anatomy: what a knowledge have we gained of the structures and uses of plants, while we were seeking some herb to soothe pain or cure disease! What a knowledge have we gained of drugs, and salts, and earths, useful for agriculture, or for the fine arts, while we have been seeking only to find an ointment or a medicine! We have sought a draught to allay the burning thirst of a fever, and we have found a dozen delicious beverages to drink for our pleasure or relief. We studied anatomy to find out the seat of disease, and how to attack it, and we found what we did not seek--a thousand wonderful works of God, a thousand most curious contrivances, most admirable delights! We found a model for the ribs of a ship; we found the pattern of a telescope in the eye; we found joints and straps, strutting and valves, which have been copied into the workshop of the mechanic and the study of the philosopher. Yes, we may thank our liability to pain for this--for if pain had not existed, who can tell whether these things would have been so soon, if at all discovered.
II. It tends to heighten mans estimate of Divine goodness. The physical sufferings of men, however aggravated and extensive, are not the law of human life, but the exception. They are but a few discordant notes in the general harmony of his existence, a few stormy days and nights in his voyage through life. We appreciate the dawning of the morning, because we have struggled fiercely with difficulties in the night. We appreciate the full flow of health because we have felt the torture of disease. Inasmuch, therefore, as human suffering, which is an exception in the general life of mankind, helps to heighten our estimate of Gods goodness to our race, it is anything but an unmitigated evil. Nay, it is a blessing in disguise.
III. It tends to improve our spiritual nature. Physical sufferings have led many a man to a train of spiritual reflections that have resulted in the moral salvation of the soul. As by the chisel the sculptor brings beauty out of the marble block; as by the pruning knife the gardener brings rich clusters from the vine; as by the bitter drug the physician brings health to his patient; as by the fire the refiner brings pure gold out of the rough ore--so by suffering the great Father brings spiritual life, beauty, and perfection into the soul. Affliction, says quaint old Adams, is a winged chariot, that mounts up the soul toward heaven. (Homilist.)
The use of afflictions
As opposite colours in a picture contribute to the beauty of the scenery or figures portrayed on the canvas by the artist, so God makes contrary things to promote His glory, and equally develop grace and character in us. There could be no vocal or musical harmony if all the voices and sounds were exactly alike in a concert. There is no real beauty in a painting that has no shades blending with the bright sunlight. As a foil is adapted to make the lustre of a diamond more conspicuous to the eye of the observer, so the contrary things and afflictions of this life God will use to make His love more illustrious and convey His grace with more agreeable sensations to our souls. (R. Venting.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v16 The Unspeakable Misery and Disappointment with which Job Battled
The Unspeakable Misery and Disappointment with which Job Battled
v. 16. And now my soul is poured out upon me, dissolved in suffering and anguish; the days of affliction have taken hold upon me, he was in the strong clutches of suffering and found himself unable to shake them off.
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v. 17. My bones are pierced in me in the night season, the restless night itself, which increases the pains of every affliction, pierces his bones from his body; and my sinews take no rest, literally, "my gnawers, not do they sleep," a reference either to the gnawing pains throughout his body or to the maggots in his ulcers.
v. 18. By the great force of my disease is my garment changed, by God’s fearful power his clothes lost all their semblance, hanging about his shrunken form loose and flapping, more like a sack than a dress; it bindeth me about as the collar of my coat, it no longer stands off properly, but clings to him like a tight-fitting shirt collar.
v. 19. He hath cast me into the mire, as an evidence of His great contempt, and I am become like dust and ashes, both on account of the appearance of his skin and the dirt which he had strewn upon himself.
v. 20. I cry unto Thee, and Thou dost not hear me, God acted as though He paid no attention to Job’s pleading; I stand up, and Thou regardest me not, looking at him fixedly, indeed, but in the absent-minded manner which made Him lose the import of Job’s complaint.
v. 21. Thou art become cruel to me, the Lord changing His nature into that of a cruel tormentor; with Thy strong hand Thou opposest Thyself against me, making war upon him.
v. 22. Thou liftest me up to the wind, making him a plaything of the storm; Thou causest me to ride upon it and dissolvest my substance, rending him apart by the fierceness of the tempest.
v. 23. For I know that Thou wilt bring me to death, or, "back from the dust of death," and to the house appointed for all living, where the living assemble, a confident cry in the midst of hopelessness, looking forward to the resurrection of the dead.
v. 24. Howbeit, he will not stretch out his hand to the grave, though they cry in his destruction, literally, "But is it not in falling one stretches out his hand, in destruction raises a call for help?" Such actions are the expression of man’s natural, instinctive impulse to save his life if threatened by death, and therefore no one should blame Job for his cry for help.
v. 25. Did not I weep for him that was in trouble? Was not my soul grieved for the poor? He who showed true sympathy with the poor and miserable in their afflictions would surely not be denied this show of the instinct of self-preservation, this plea for help!
v. 26. When I looked for good, then evil came unto me, this being another reason why his craving for help should go unchallenged; and when I waited for light, there came darkness, he had nothing but misfortune to contend with.
v. 27. My bowels boiled and rested not, on account of the intense heat of the fever which was devouring him and the torments of his anxiety; the days of affliction prevented me, flinging themselves in his way, encountering him with all fierceness.
v. 28. I went mourning without the sun, blackened, not by the heat of the sun, but as a consequence of his illness; I stood up, and I cried in the congregation, complaining aloud on account of the pain of his sufferings.
v. 29. I am a brother to dragons, to the jackals of the desert in appearance, and a companion to owls, to the ostriches of the wilderness.
v. 30. My skin is black upon me, having become blackened with his sickness, it peeled off his flesh, and my bones are burned with heat, drying up with the heat of his disease.
v. 31. My harp also, the lyre, or zither, or lute, as an instrument used upon joyful occasions, is turned to mourning and my organ, the pipe also being an instrument of joy, into the voice of them that weep. All the festive and joyous music, so expressive of Job’s former prosperity, was hushed, and only the tones of sadness and deepest lamentation remained. He had reached a point of degradation and suffering unequaled in the history of the human race.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv16, 18 Now my life is pouring out from within me
Now my life is pouring out from within me
Job speaks as if his life were a liquid and his body were a container. He feels he is about to die. AT: "Now I am dying" (See: Metaphor)
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many days of suffering have laid hold on me
Job speaks of his continuous suffering as if the days of suffering have grabbed hold of him. AT: "I suffer many days, and the suffering does not end" (See: Personification)
my bones in me are pierced
Job speaks of the pain in his bones as if his bones were being pierced. AT: "my bones ache terribly" or "I have sharp pain in my bones" (See: Metaphor)
the pains that gnaw at me take no rest
Job speaks of his constant pain as if it were alive and biting him and refuses to rest. AT: "the pains that cause me to suffer do not stop" or "I am in constant pain" (See: Personification)
translationWords
life
suffer
rest
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv15, 18, 19 30:15 terror: See also 6:4; 7:14; cp. Ps 88:15.
30:15 terror: See also 6:4; 7:14; cp. Ps 88:15.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.