For he breaks me with a storm, and multiplies my wounds without cause.
Parallel Translations
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For he breaks me with a storm, and multiplies my wounds without cause.
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For he breaketh me with a tempest, and multiplieth my wounds without cause.
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He that would break me with a tempest, and multiply my wounds without cause;
Cross-references (20)
Passages linked to Job 9:17 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Job 16:14 He breaks me with breach on breach. He runs at me like a giant.
- Job 2:3 Yahweh said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? For there is no one like him in the earth, a blameless and an upright man, one who fears God, and turns away from evil. He still maintains his integrity, although you incited me against him, to ruin him without cause.”
- Job 34:6 Notwithstanding my right I am considered a liar. My wound is incurable, though I am without disobedience.’
- Job 1:14-19 that there came a messenger to Job, and said, “The oxen were plowing, and the donkeys feeding beside them, and the Sabeans attacked, and took them away. Yes, they have killed the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” While he was still speaking, there also came another, and said, “The fire of God has fallen from the sky, and has burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” While he was still speaking, there came also another, and said, “The Chaldeans made three bands, and swept down on the camels, and have taken them away, yes, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you.” While he was still speaking, there came also another, and said, “Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, and behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young men, and they are dead. I alone have escaped to tell you.”
- Job 2:7 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 2:13 So they sat down with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his grief was very great.
- Job 16:12 I was at ease, and he broke me apart. Yes, he has taken me by the neck, and dashed me to pieces. He has also set me up for his target.
- Job 16:17 Although there is no violence in my hands, and my prayer is pure.
- Job 30:22 You lift me up to the wind, and drive me with it. You dissolve me in the storm.
- Psalms 25:3 Yes, no one who waits for you will be shamed. They will be shamed who deal treacherously without cause.
- Psalms 29:5 Yahweh’s voice breaks the cedars. Yes, Yahweh breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.
- Psalms 42:7 Deep calls to deep at the noise of your waterfalls. All your waves and your billows have swept over me.
- Psalms 83:15 so pursue them with your tempest, and terrify them with your storm.
- Isaiah 28:17 I will make justice the measuring line, and righteousness the plumb line. The hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters will overflow the hiding place.
- Jeremiah 23:19 Behold, Yahweh’s storm, his wrath, has gone out. Yes, a whirling storm: It will burst on the head of the wicked.
- Ezekiel 13:13 “ ‘Therefore the Lord Yahweh says: “I will even tear it with a stormy wind in my wrath. There will be an overflowing shower in my anger, and great hailstones in wrath to consume it.
- Matthew 7:27 The rain came down, the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat on that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.”
- Matthew 12:20 He won’t break a bruised reed. He won’t quench a smoking flax, until he leads justice to victory.
- John 9:3 Jesus answered, “This man didn’t sin, nor did his parents; but, that the works of God might be revealed in him.
- John 15:25 But this happened so that the word may be fulfilled which was written in their law, ‘They hated me without a cause.’
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (14 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain I am not able to feel my sins so…
I am not able to feel my sins so great, as I feel the weight of his plagues; and this he speaketh to condemn his dullness, and to justify God.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Job 9:17 For he breaketh me with a tempest,…
Job 9:17 For he breaketh me with a tempest, and multiplieth my wounds without cause.
Ver. 17. For he breaketh me with a tempest] q.d. This is one thing also that maketh me think I am not heard, because I am not helped; but after my prayer I am in as bad a case as before and seem to have a repulse from God. Afflictions continued are no evidence that prayer is not heard; yet usually it is very inevident to an afflicted person that his prayer is heard. The Hebrew (and so the Vulgate) hath it, He will break me, that is, saith one, If I should plead before him as pure, although I might temporally, or for a time, be delivered, yet I should not finally escape destruction, although I should give him none other cause. Whereby we may see upon what danger of being torn in pieces by God’s judgments our justiciaries put themselves that will needs go to God in their own righteousness, as the proud Pharisee, Luk 18:11-12 The calamity of these merit mongers shall rise suddenly. Behold, a whirlwind, or a tempest of the Lord, goeth forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind; it shall fall grievously upon th e head of these wicked ones, Jer 23:19. This St Paul knew, and, therefore, did his utmost that he might be found in Christ (sc. when sought for by the justice of God), not having his "own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith," Php 3:9.
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And multiplieth my wounds without cause] i.e. Without any other cause than to try me, and prove my patience, which now Job began to perceive, as Philip gathereth; or, without any manifest cause, and perceivable by an afflicted man, so Aquinas senseth it. God hath not told me the reason of his chastenings; but, to increase my grief, he concealeth from me the cause of them; and yet he multiplieth still my sores and my sorrows. Or, without cause, that is, without any such cause as his friends alleged against him, viz. that he was a rank hypocrite.
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 This is the reason of his foregoing diffidence, that…
This is the reason of his foregoing diffidence, that even when God seemed to answer him in words, yet the course of his actions towards him was of a quite contrary nature and tendency.
With a tempest; as with a tempest, i.e. unexpectedly, violently, and irrecoverably.
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Without cause; not simply without any desert of his, or as if he had no sin in him, for he oft declares the contrary; but without any evident or special cause of such singular afflictions, i.e. any peculiar and extraordinary guilt, such as my friends charge me with.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain He will not suffer me to take my breath,....…
He will not suffer me to take my breath,.... Which some think refers to Job's disease, which was either an asthma, or a quinsy in his throat, which occasioned great difficulty in breathing: I should rather think the allusion is to the hot burning winds in those countries before mentioned, which sometimes blew so strongly as almost to take away a man's breath; so the above traveller (u) reports, that between Suez and Cairo (in Egypt) they had for a day's time and more so hot a wind, that they were forced to turn their backs to it, to take a little breath. The design of Job is to show, that his afflictions were continued, and were without any intervals; they were repeated so fast, and came so thick upon him, one after another, that he had no breathing time; the import of the phrase is the same with that in Job 7:19,
but filleth me with bitterness; to the full, to satiety, to loathing, as a man may be with a bitter potion, with wormwood drink, and water of gall, with bitter afflictions comparable to such, whereby Job's life was embittered to him, see Jer 9:15.
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(u) Travels. par. 1. B. 2. c. 34. p. 177.
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 Breaketh - Unexpectedly, violently, and irrecoverably. Cause - Not…
Breaketh - Unexpectedly, violently, and irrecoverably. Cause - Not simply without any desert of his, but without any special cause of such singular afflictions; and peculiar and extraordinary guilt, such as his friends charged him with.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 17. He breaketh me with a tempest] The…
Verse 17. He breaketh me with a tempest] The Targum, Syriac, and Arabic have this sense: He powerfully smites even every hair of my head and multiplies my wounds without cause. That is, There is no reason known to myself, or to any man, why I should be thus most oppressively afflicted. It is, therefore, cruel, and inconsequent to assert that I suffer for my crimes.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Job 9:17. For he breaketh me with a tempest…
Job 9:17. For he breaketh me with a tempest — As with a tempest; that is, unexpectedly, violently, and irrecoverably. This is the reason of his forementioned diffidence, that even when God seemed to answer his supplication in words, yet the course of his actions toward him was of a quite contrary nature and tendency. And multiplieth my wounds without cause — He does not mean, simply without any desert of his, as if he had been free from all sin, and perfectly innocent and holy, the contrary to which he oft declares; but without any special cause of such singular afflictions; without any peculiar and extraordinary guilt, such as his friends charged him with.
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 For he breaketh me - He is overwhelming me…
For he breaketh me - He is overwhelming me with a tempest; that is, with the storms of wrath. He shows me no mercy. The idea seems to be, that God acted toward him not as a judge determining matters by rule of law, but as a sovereign - determining them by his own will. If it were a matter of law; if he could come before him as a judge, and maintain his cause there; if the case could be fairly adjudicated whether he deserved the calamities that came upon him, he would be willing to enter into such a trial. But where the matter was determined solely by will, and God acted as a sovereign, doing as he pleased, and giving no account of his matters to anyone, then it would be useless to argue the cause. He would not know what to expect, or understand the principles on which an adjudication would be made. It is true that God acts as a sovereign, but he does not act without reference to law. He dispenses his favors and his judgments as he pleases, but he violates none of the rules of right. The error of Job was the common error which people commit, that if God acts as a sovereign, he must of course act regardless of law, and that it is vain to plead with him or try to please him. But sovereignty is not necessarily inconsistent with respect for law; and He who presides with the most absolute power over the universe, is He who is most directed by the rule of right. In Him sovereignty and law coincide; and to come to Him as a sovereign, is to come with the assurance that supreme rectitude will be done.
And multiplieth my wounds without cause - That is, without sufficient reason. This is in accordance with the views which Job had repeatedly expressed. The main ground of his complaint was, that his sufferings were disproportionate to his faults.
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 Without cause. That is, without my knowing the cause;…
Without cause. That is, without my knowing the cause; or without any crime of mine. (Challoner) --- To argue from my afflictions, that I am a criminal, is unjust, chap. ii. 3. "Notions mistaken, reasonings ill apply’d,
And sophisms that conclude on either side." (Pope, Pleasures, &c.)
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).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain Strophe b — In the ravings of his despair,…
Strophe b — In the ravings of his despair, (see Job_6:3,) Job declares his sufferings to be a tangible proof that God may be almighty but not just, Job_9:17-20.
17. Breaketh me — שׁו, same as in Gen_3:15, bruise; the word also signifies “rub in pieces” — destroy. “He who would crush me in a tempest, and multiply my wounds without cause, will not suffer me to take my breath, but would surfeit me with bitterness.”
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 17. he breaketh] Rather, he would break. Similarly, and…
17. he breaketh] Rather, he would break. Similarly, and multiply. The word translated break may mean to seize and swallow up, that is, to sweep away, cf. ch. Job_30:22.
17–21. These verses describe what would ensue in the supposed case that God had actually responded to Job’s citation. He would not listen to Job’s plea but would crush him with His infinite power. The words do not describe what Job actually suffers at present or has suffered, but what he would have to endure then, though the colours of the terrible picture are drawn from his actual sufferings.
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 (17) He breaketh me . . .—This is one…
(17) He breaketh me . . .—This is one of the three passages in which this word is found, the other two being Gen_3:15, “It shall bruise,” &c., and Psa_139:11, “If I say the darkness shall cover me.”
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 For he breaketh me with a tempest. God" that…
For he breaketh me with a tempest. God" that is, "would not be likely patiently to hear my justification, and calmly to weigh it, when he is already overwhelming me with his wrath, breaking and crushing me (Gen_3:15, where the same word pWv is used) with a very storm of calamity." The sentiment can scarcely be justified, since it breathes something of a contumacious spirit. But this only shows that Job was not yet" made perfect through sufferings". (Heb_2:10) And multiplieth my wounds without cause. A further assertion, not of absolute sinlessness, but of comparative innocence of the belief that he had done nothing to deserve such a terrible punishment as he is suffering. (comp. Job_6:24, Job_6:29)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 9:17 with a storm: Perhaps the words translated “with…
9:17 with a storm: Perhaps the words translated “with a storm” (bis’arah) are a double entendre with besa‘arah (“for a hair”; i.e., “for the littlest thing”), which would parallel without cause.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.