Job 18:4
in Job 18You who tear yourself in anger—should the earth be forsaken on your account, or the rocks be moved from their place?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thou that tearest thyself in thine anger, Shall the earth be forsaken for thee? Or shall the rock be removed out of its place?
KJV
He teareth himself in his anger: shall the earth be forsaken for thee? and shall the rock be removed out of his place?
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This verse in Job 18
Commentary
10 notes on this verseHe teareth himself in his anger - Literally, Rending his own soul in his anger; as if he had said, Thou art a madman: thy fury has such a sway over thee that thou eatest thy own flesh. While thou treatest us as beasts, we see thee to be a furious maniac, destroying thy own life. Shall the earth be forsaken for thee? - To say the least, afflictions are the common lot of men. Must God work a miracle in providence, in order to exempt thee from the operation of natural causes?
This site's exposition
Then Bildad the Shuhite replied
on Job 18:1-4
Bildad opens irritated, "How long until you end these speeches". In "You who tear yourself in anger" the tearing Job used of God at 16:9 turns on Job. The question "should the earth be forsaken on your account" accuses him of asking the world to bend for him.
This site's exposition
You who tear yourself in anger
Henry calls anger a sin that is its own punishment, and Barnes and Clarke hear Bildad call Job a madman. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, after Umbreit, read the question as whether the earth must be forsaken and the rocks moved so that Job goes unpunished. Bildad assumes Job's guilt.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Bildad speaks these words because Job did not refrain from complaining by saying that he wanted to die. What sort of consolation is this? How could he have disheartened him in another way? He said, in fact, that the "stretches under heaven would be desolate," or did he mention his death as if it brought a great contribution to this life that is common to us? Actually Bildad says the opposite: a man is nothing and deserves no mention. Why do you say that? Then he also foolishly and haphazardly accuses the impious, in order to support his present argument. They cannot put the blame on [Job] for any evil action. But notice their perversity; by saying that great misfortunes will befall the impious, they mention those afflictions suffered by Job, naming his miseries in their words, as if they wanted to show that they alluded to him. Notice and observe that their remarks about others are addressed to him.
The Medieval Church2 voices
Why dost thou ruin thy soul in thy fury? Heretics esteem whether a strong feeling for the rule of right, or the spiritual grace of holy preaching, not as good weight of virtue, but as the madness of fury. By which same fury they believe that 'the souls of the faithful are ruined,' in that they imagine that the life of the Church is destroyed by the very same means whereby they see she is made to kindle against themselves. It goes on; Shall the earth be forsaken for thee?
Consequently he finds fault him about anger because he had said, "Anger misted over my vision." (17:7) He had taken this in the wrong way believing that it was the sort of anger that had taken away from him the light of wisdom, not listening …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Note, Anger is a sin that is its own punishment. Fretful passionate people tear and torment themselves. He teareth his soul (so the word is); every sin wounds the soul, tears that, wrongs that ( Prov. viii.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
He teareth himself in his anger,....
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
He says bitterly "for thee." Wert thou not punished as thou art, and as thou art unwilling to bear, the eternal order of the universe would be disturbed and the earth become desolate through unavenged wickedness [UMBREIT]. Bildad takes it for granted Job is a great sinner (Job 8:3-6;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
He teareth himself - More correctly, “thou that tearest thyself in anger!” It is not an affirmation about Job, but it is a direct address to him. The meaning is, that he was in the paryoxysms of a violent rage; he acted like a madman. Shall the earth be forsaken for thee? - A reproof of his pride and arrogance. “Shall everything be made to give way for you? Are you the only man in the world and of so much importance, that the earth is to be made vacant for you to dwell in? Are the interests of all others to be sacrificed for you, and is everything else to give place for you? Are all the laws of God’s government to be made to yield rather than that you should be punished?” Similar modes of expression to denote the insignificance of anyone who is proud and arrogant, are still used among the Arabs. “Since Muhammed died, the Imams govern.” “The world will not suffer loss on your account.” “The world is not dependent on anyone man.” T. Hunt, in Lowth’s Lectures on Hebrew Poetry. Rosenmuller’s Morgenland, in lec. And shall the rock be removed out of his place? - “Shall the most firm and immutable things give way for your special accommodation? Shall the most important and settled principles of the divine administration be made to bend on your account?” These were not the principles and feelings of Job; and great injustice was done to him by this supposition. He was disposed to be submissive in the main to the divine arrangement. But this will describe the feelings of many a man of pride, who supposes that the divine arrangements should be made to bend for his special accommodation, and that the great, eternal principles of justice and right should give way rather than that he should be dealt with as common sinners are, and rather than that he should be cast into hell. Such people wish a special place of salvation for themselves. […]
The words behind it
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| טֹֽרֵ֥ף | toref | O [one who] tears | H2963 → | |
| נַפְשׁ֗וֹ | nafsho | self his | H5315 → | 754 times |
| בְּאַ֫פּ֥וֹ | beapo | in anger his | H639 → | 276 times |
| הַ֭לְמַעַנְךָ | halmaankha | ¿ for sake your | H4616 → | 272 times |
| תֵּעָ֣זַב | teazav | may it be abandoned | H5800 → | 215 times |
| אָ֑רֶץ | ʾaretz | [the] earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
| וְיֶעְתַּק־ | veye'tak- | so it may move? | H6275 → | 9 times |
| צ֝֗וּר | tzur | a rock | H6697 → | 78 times |
| מִמְּקֹמֽוֹ׃ | mimekomo | from place its | H4725 → | 401 times |
טֹֽרֵ֥ףO [one who] tears
torefH2963 →
נַפְשׁ֗וֹself his
nafshoH5315 →754 times
בְּאַ֫פּ֥וֹin anger his
beapoH639 →276 times
הַ֭לְמַעַנְךָ¿ for sake your
halmaankhaH4616 →272 times
תֵּעָ֣זַבmay it be abandoned
teazavH5800 →215 times
אָ֑רֶץ[the] earth
ʾaretzH776 →2504 times
וְיֶעְתַּק־so it may move?
veye'tak-H6275 →9 times
צ֝֗וּרa rock
tzurH6697 →78 times
מִמְּקֹמֽוֹ׃from place its
mimekomoH4725 →401 times
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
Job 14:18But as a mountain erodes and crumbles and a rock is dislodged from its place,
it leads to
- Revelation 6:14
The sky receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved from its place.
- Revelation 6:14
Through
Job 40:8Would you really annul My justice? Would you condemn Me to justify yourself?
it leads to
- Romans 3:4
Certainly not! Let God be true and every man a liar. As it is written: “So that You may be proved right when You speak and victorious when You judge.”
- Romans 3:4
Through
Job 5:2For resentment kills a fool, and envy slays the simple.
it leads to
- Ecclesiastes 7:9
Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger settles in the lap of a fool.
- Ecclesiastes 7:9
Through
Job 16:9His anger has torn me and opposed me; He gnashes His teeth at me. My adversary pierces me with His eyes.
it leads to
- Lamentations 2:16
All your enemies open their mouths against you. They hiss and gnash their teeth, saying, “We have swallowed her up. This is the day for which we have waited. We have lived to see…
- Job 13:24
Why do You hide Your face and consider me as Your enemy?
- Psalms 35:16
Like godless jesters at a feast, they gnashed their teeth at me.
- Hosea 6:1
Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us to pieces, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bind up our wounds.
- Lamentations 2:16
Through
Job 13:14Why do I put myself at risk and take my life in my own hands?
it leads to
- Judges 12:3
When I saw that you would not save me, I risked my life and crossed over to the Ammonites, and the LORD delivered them into my hand. Why then have you come today to…
- Judges 12:3
About Job
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; 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 XIV; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, COMMENTARY ON JOB 18:4B-C; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.