Job 16:14
in Job 16He breaks me with wound upon wound; He rushes me like a mighty warrior.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
He breaketh me with breach upon breach; He runneth upon me like a giant.
KJV
He breaketh me with breach upon breach, he runneth upon me like a giant.
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This verse in Job 16
Commentary
9 notes on this verseHe 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.
This site's exposition
I was at ease, but He shattered me
on Job 16:12-14
Job's settled life becomes a target: "He seized me by the neck and crushed me" and "He has set me up as His target". Henry notes that Job never doubts God's power here, only His purpose, though Job will call Him his witness at 16:19.
This site's exposition
He breaks me with wound upon wound
Gill and Henry connect each wound to the first chapter, where one messenger came on the heels of another. Barnes explains that each blow breaks Job before he can recover. The mighty warrior is God Himself.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistMorals on the Book of Job, Book XIII · Written before 604.
proposed
Ver. 14. He hath broken me with breach upon breach. [ALLEGORICAL INTERPRETATION] In her weak members Holy Church is 'broken with breach upon breach,' when sin is added to sin, that transgression should be brought to a more dreadful pitch. Thus for him, whom avarice forces to robbery and robbery leads into deceit, so that the sin committed is further defended by falsehood, how else is it with this man, but that he is broken with breach upon breach?
Third, he shows the great number of blows which he has suffered in his own person, and so he then says, "he cut me down," in my own person, "with wound," i.e. with a very grave ulcer, "upon wound," coupled with the deaths of his …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
): " He breaketh me with breach upon breach, follows me with one wound after another." So his troubles came at first; while one messenger of evil tidings was speaking another came: and so it was still; new boils were rising every day, so that he had no prospect of the end of his troubles.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
Those who are free in passing such censures must expect to have them retorted; it is easy, it is endless: but cui bono?--what good does it do? It will stir up men's passions, but will never convince their judgments, nor set truth in a clear light.
He still holds fast his integrity, concerning which he appeals to God's righteous judgment from the unrighteous censures of his friends,
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
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.
The words behind it
8 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יִפְרְצֵ֣נִי | yifretzeni | he breaks through me | H6555 → | 49 times |
| פֶ֭רֶץ | feretz | a breach | H6556 → | 19 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| פְּנֵי־ | penei- | [the] face of | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| פָ֑רֶץ | faretz | a breach | H6556 → | 19 times |
| יָרֻ֖ץ | yarutz | he runs | H7323 → | 103 times |
| עָלַ֣י | ʾalai | on me | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כְּגִבּֽוֹר׃ | kegibor | like a warrior | H1368 → |
יִפְרְצֵ֣נִיhe breaks through me
yifretzeniH6555 →49 times
פֶ֭רֶץa breach
feretzH6556 →19 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
פְּנֵי־[the] face of
penei-H6440 →2123 times
פָ֑רֶץa breach
faretzH6556 →19 times
יָרֻ֖ץhe runs
yarutzH7323 →103 times
עָלַ֣יon me
ʾalaiH5921 →5755 times
כְּגִבּֽוֹר׃like a warrior
kegiborH1368 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 42:7Deep calls to deep in the roar of Your waterfalls; all Your breakers and waves have rolled over me.
it leads to
- Jonah 2:3
For You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the current swirled about me; all Your breakers and waves swept over me.
- Psalms 69:14–15
Rescue me from the mire and do not let me sink; deliver me from my foes and out of the deep waters.
- Psalms 88:7
Your wrath weighs heavily upon me; all Your waves have submerged me. Selah
- Lamentations 3:53–55
They dropped me alive into a pit and cast stones upon me.
- Job 1:14–19
a messenger came and reported to Job: “While the oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing nearby,
- Jonah 2:3
Through
Joel 2:7They charge like mighty men; they scale the walls like men of war. Each one marches in formation, not swerving from the course.
it leads to
- Proverbs 30:27
the locusts have no king, yet they all advance in formation;
- Proverbs 30:27
Through
Judges 15:8And he struck them ruthlessly with a great slaughter, and then went down and stayed in the cave at the rock of Etam.
it leads to
- Isaiah 25:10
For the hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain. But Moab will be trampled in his place as straw is trodden into the dung pile.
- Isaiah 25:10
Through
Job 9:17For He would crush me with a tempest and multiply my wounds without cause.
it leads to
- Job 2:3
Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one on earth like him, a man who is blameless and upright, who fears God and shuns evil.…
- Job 2:3
About Job
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XIII; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.