Job 19:18
in Job 19Even little boys scorn me; when I appear, they deride me.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Even young children despise me; If I arise, they speak against me.
KJV
Yea, young children despised me; I arose, and they spake against me.
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This verse in Job 19
Commentary
9 notes on this verseThe foolish too despised me. The wise falling away from faith in the truth, there is an addition rightly made concerning 'fools' as well; in that when the Pharisees and the Lawyers despised the Lord, the rabble of the people too followed the example of their incredulousness, which herein, that it saw Him a man, slighted the announcements of the Redeemer of the world.
This site's exposition
repulsive to my wife
on Job 19:17-19
The readings on "my own family" divide, whether the Hebrew means his dead children or the sons of his mother. Barnes and Gill set out both. The three friends before him are inside the sentence about those who have "turned against me", the charge of verse 2 restated as grief.
This site's exposition
Even little boys scorn me
Barnes notes that the Hebrew word for little boys can also mean the wicked, as in Job 16:11. Reverence for age was a chief duty in the East, as Jamieson, Fausset and Brown observe. Even little boys scorn Job now.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
So, after he said he was despised by those inside and outside his household, he shows next that he has been despised both by the foolish and the wise. But foolish men characteristically despise those whom they see in misery, because they think only earthly …
"When I rise, they speak against me." Like a target, Job says, I rise before them, and they will spit upon me all the words of abuse that they want to say.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
A certain number for an uncertain. Strange - That you carry yourselves like strangers to me, and condemn me as if you had never known my integrity. Erred - If I have sinned, I myself suffer for my sins, and therefore deserve your pity rather than reproaches.
Yea, young children despised me,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Yea, young children - Margin, or “the wicked.” This difference between the text and the margin arises from the ambiguity of the original word - עוילים ‛ăvı̂ylı̂ym. The word עויל ‛ăvı̂yl (whence our word “evil”) means sometimes the wicked, or the ungodly, as in Job 16:11. It may also mean a child, or suckling, (from עוּל ‛ûl - to give milk, to suckle, 1Sa 7:7-10; Gen 22:13: Ps. 77:71; Isa 40:11; compare Isa 49:15; Isa 65:20,) and is doubtless used in this sense here.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
young children--So the Hebrew means (Job 21:11). Reverence for age is a chief duty in the East. The word means "wicked" (Job 16:11).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
to the children of my body To those who I raised in my house as though they were my own children.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 7 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| גַּם־ | gam- | also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| עֲ֭וִילִים | ʾavilim | young boys | H5759 → | |
| מָ֣אֲסוּ | maasu | they reject | H3988 → | 76 times |
| בִ֑י | vi | <in> me | ||
| אָ֝ק֗וּמָה | ʾakumah | I arise | H6965 → | 628 times |
| וַיְדַבְּרוּ־ | vaydaberu- | and they spoke | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| בִֽי׃ | vi | against me |
גַּם־also
gam-H1571 →769 times
עֲ֭וִילִיםyoung boys
ʾavilimH5759 →
מָ֣אֲסוּthey reject
maasuH3988 →76 times
בִ֑י<in> me
vi
אָ֝ק֗וּמָהI arise
ʾakumahH6965 →628 times
וַיְדַבְּרוּ־and they spoke
vaydaberu-H1696 →1141 times
בִֽי׃against me
vi
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
2 Kings 2:23From there, Elisha went up to Bethel, and as he was walking up the road, a group of boys came out of the city and jeered at him, chanting, “Go up, you baldhead! Go…
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 36:16
But they mocked the messengers of God, despising His words and scoffing at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD against His people was stirred up beyond remedy.
- Job 30:1
“But now they mock me, men younger than I am, whose fathers I would have refused to entrust with my sheep dogs.
- Genesis 21:9
But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking her son,
- 2 Chronicles 36:16
Through
Job 30:1“But now they mock me, men younger than I am, whose fathers I would have refused to entrust with my sheep dogs.
it leads to
- Job 12:4
I am a laughingstock to my friends, though I called on God, and He answered. The righteous and upright man is a laughingstock.
- Psalms 35:15–16
But when I stumbled, they assembled in glee; they gathered together against me. Assailants I did not know slandered me without ceasing.
- Psalms 69:12
Those who sit at the gate mock me, and I am the song of drunkards.
- Luke 23:35
The people stood watching, and the rulers sneered at Him, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.”
- Job 12:4
Through
Job 30:12The rabble arises at my right; they lay snares for my feet and build siege ramps against me.
it leads to
- Job 19:12
His troops advance together; they construct a ramp against me and encamp around my tent.
- Job 19:12
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies4
About Job
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Job; 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; Ishodad of Merv, COMMENTARY ON JOB 19:18; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.