Job16chapter 16

Job 16:12

“I was at ease - I was in a state of happiness and security. The word used here (שׁלו shâlêv) means sometimes to be “at ease” in an improper sense; that is, to be in a state of “carnal security,” or living unconcerned in sin (Eze 23:42; compare Pro 1:32); but here it is used in the sense of comfort. He had everything desirable around him. But he hath broken me asunder - He has crushed me. He hath also taken, me by my neck - Perhaps as an animal does his prey.”

Job 16:13

“His archers compass me round about,.... Satan and his principalities and powers casting their fiery darts at him; or rather, his friends shooting their arrows, even bitter words, reproaches, and calumnies; or the various diseases of his body, his boils and ulcers, which were so many arrows shot into him, in every part of him all around, and gave him exquisite pain and anguish; besides the arrows of the Almighty, or that painful sensation he had of the wrath of God.”

Job 16:13

“His archers - He does not come alone to shoot at me; he has employed a company of bowmen, who also direct “their” arrows against me. The word used here רב rab means properly “much, large,” great; and is applied to that which is powerful or mighty. It is nowhere else used in the sense of “archers,” and might be rendered “his many;” that is, his bands, hosts, or armies. But as all the ancient versions render it “arrows,” or “archers,” probably that sense is to be retained.”

Job 16:14

“He breaketh me with breach upon breach,.... Upon his substance, his family, and the health of his body, which came thick and fast, one after another; referring to the report of those things brought by one messenger upon the back of another, see Eze 7:26; he runneth upon me like a giant; with great fury and fierceness, with great strength and courage, with great speed and swiftness, causing great terror and distress; he not being able to resist him, any more than a dwarf a giant, and no more, nor so much, a match for him; see Isa 42:13.”

Job 16:14

“He breaketh me - He crushes me. With breach upon breach - He renews and repeats the attack, and thus completely overwhelms me. One blow follows another in such quick succession, that he does not give me time to recover. He runneth upon me like a giant - With great and irresistible force - as some strong and mighty warrior whom his adversary cannot resist. The Hebrew is גבור gı̂bbôr - “a mighty one.” Septuagint, “The mighty - δυνάμενοι dunamenoi - run upon me.” Vulgate, “gigas” - a giant.”

Job 16:15

“I have sewed sackcloth - I have put on the badges of humiliation and grief; see the notes at Isa 3:24. This was the usual emblem of mourning. In order more deeply to express it, or to make it a “permanent” memorial of sorrow, it would seem that it was “sewed” around the body - as we “sew” crape on the hat. And defiled my horn in the dust - The word rendered “defiled” (from עלל ‛âlal) has, according to Gesenius, the notion of “repetition,” derived from the use of the Arabic word.”

Job 16:15

“I have not only put on sackcloth, but sewed it on, as being resolved to continue my humiliation, as long as my affliction continues. Defiled my horn - I have willingly parted with all my wealth, and power, and glory (as the horn often signifies in scripture,) and been content to lie in the dust.”

Job 16:16

“My face is foul with weeping - Wemyss, “swelled.” Noyes, “red.” Good, “tarnished.” Luther, “ist geschwollen” - is swelled. So Jerome. The Septuagint, strangely enough, ἡ γαστήρ μον συνκέκαυται, κ. τ. λ. hē gastēr mou sunkekautai, etc. “my belly is burned with weeping.” The Hebrew word (חמר châmar) means to boil up, to ferment, to foam. Hence, it means to be red, and the word is often used in this sense in Arabic - from the idea of becoming heated or inflamed.”

Job 16:16

“In this also he was a type of Christ, who was a man of sorrows, and much in tears, and pronounced those blessed that mourn, for they shall be comforted. Job's Comfort in Conscious Integrity. 17 Not for any injustice in mine hands: also my prayer is pure.”

Job 16:17

“Ver. 17. I have suffered this without the wickedness of mine hand, whilst I made pure prayers to God. He suffered without the wickedness of His hand; Who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth, and yet endured the pain of the Cross for our redemption. Who only above all others 'made pure prayers to God,' in that even in the very anguish of His Passion He prayed in behalf of His persecutors, saying, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

Job 16:18

“O earth, cover not thou my blood - This is evidently an allusion to the murder of Abel, and the verse has been understood in two different ways: 1. Job here calls for justice against his destroyers. His blood is his life, which he considers as taken away by violence, and therefore calls for vengeance. Let my blood cry against my murderers, as the blood of Abel cried against Cain.”

Job 16:19

“Ver. 19. Also, now, behold my witness is in heaven, and my heart's associate is on high. For when the Son was brought to His downfall on earth, there was a witness to Him in heaven. Since the Father is the witness of the Son; concerning Whom He Himself saith in the Gospel, And the Father Himself, Which hath sent Me, hath borne witness of Me. Who is also rightly called 'mine heart's associate,' in that with one will, and with one counsel, the Father acts always in union with the Son.”

Job 16:19

“My witness is in heaven - That is, I can appeal to God for my sincerity. He is my witness; and he will bear record for me. This is an evidence of returning confidence in God - to which Job always returns even after the most passionate and irreverent expressions. Such is his real trust in God, that though he is betrayed at times into expressions of impatience and irreverence, yet he is sure to return to calmer views, and to show that he has true confidence in the Most High.”

Job 16:19

“Also now--Even now, when I am so greatly misunderstood on earth, God in heaven is sensible of my innocence. record--Hebrew, "in the high places"; Hebrew, "my witness." Amidst all his impatience, Job still trusts in God.”

Job 16:20

“My friends scorn me - Margin “are my scorners.” That is, his friends had him in derision and mocked him, and he could only appeal with tears to God. Mine eye poureth out tears unto God - Despised and mocked by his friends, he made his appeal to one who he knew would regard him with compassion. This shows that the heart of Job was substantially right.”

Job 16:20

“Hebrew, "are my scorners"; more forcibly, "my mockers--my friends!" A heart-cutting paradox [UMBREIT]. God alone remains to whom he can look for attestation of his innocence; plaintively with tearful eye, he supplicates for this.”

Job 16:21

“Oh that one might plead for a man - A more correct rendering of this would be, “Oh that it might be for a man to contend with God;” that is, in a judicial controversy. It is the expression of an earnest desire to carry his cause at once before God, and to be permitted to argue it there. This desire Job had often expressed; see Job 13:3, note; Job 13:18-22, notes. On the grammatical construction of the passage, see Rosenmuller. As a man pleadeth for his neighbour - Hebrew “the son of man;” that is, the offspring of man.”

Job 16:21

“The language of this wish is like that in Isa. l. 7, 8 , I know that I shall not be ashamed, for he is near that justifies me. Some give a gospel sense of this verse, and the original will very well bear it; and he will plead (that is, there is one that will plead) for man with God, even the Son of man for his friend, or neighbour.”

Job 16:22

“When a few years are come - I prefer Mr. Good’s version: - “But the years numbered to me are come. And I must go the way whence I shall not return.” Job could not, in his present circumstances, expect a few years of longer life; from his own conviction he was expecting death every hour. The next verse, the first of the following chapter, should come in here: My breath is corrupt, etc. - He felt himself as in the arms of death: he saw the grave as already digged which was to receive his dead body.”