Job 3:25
in Job 3For the thing I feared has overtaken me, and what I dreaded has befallen me.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For the thing which I fear cometh upon me, And that which I am afraid of cometh unto me.
KJV
For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.
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This verse in Job 3
Commentary
11 notes on this verseFor the thing that I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I am afraid of is come unto me. The righteous therefore lament and fear, and torment themselves with bitter lamentations, because they dread to be given over, and though they rejoice in their own correction, the correction itself disturbs their fearful spirits, lest the evil, which they are undergoing should not be the merciful stroke of discipline, but the righteous visitation of vengeance. And the Psalmist reflecting thereupon says with justice, Who knoweth the power of Thine anger?
This site's exposition
I sigh when food is put before me
on Job 3:24-26
The chapter closes on grief, sighing in place of appetite and groans. His "I have no rest, for trouble has come" answers the security the hedge of 1:10 had given him. The words "what I dreaded has befallen me" show a dread his God-fearing life carried before the trouble came.
This site's exposition
For the thing I feared has overtaken me
Barnes notes the Hebrew doubles the verb feared. Clarke and Wesley place the fear in years of ease, when he dreaded the death of his sons and loss of goods. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown place it within the trial, where each thing that overtook him made him dread the next.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Because bitterness of soul arises from unhappiness, after he speaks of the bitterness of his soul, he next speaks about his unhappiness saying, "For the thing that I fear comes upon me." Note here that the unhappiness of man which provokes bitterness seems to consist …
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
Feared - Even in the time of my prosperity, I was full of fears, considering the variety of God's providences, the changeableness of this vain world, God's justice, and the sinfulness of all mankind. And these fears of mine, were not in vain, but are justified by my present calamities.
It was Job's folly and weakness to curse his day. We must say of it, This was his infirmity; but good men have sometimes failed in the exercise of those graces which they have been most eminent for, that we may understand that when they are said to be perfect it is meant that they were upright, not that they were sinless.
He knew so much of the vanity of the world, and the troubles to which, of course, he was born, that he was not in safety, neither had he rest then. That which made his grief now the more grievous was that he was not conscious to himself of any great degree either of negligence or security in the day of his prosperity, which might provoke God thus to chastise him.
For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me,....
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
the thing which I . . . feared is come upon me--In the beginning of his trials, when he heard of the loss of one blessing, he feared the loss of another; and when he heard of the loss of that, he feared the loss of a third. that which I was afraid of is come unto me--namely, the ill opinion of his friends, as though he were a hypocrite on account of his trials.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
For the thing which I greatly reared - Literally, the fear that I feared; or, I feared a fear, as in the margin. While I was in prosperity I thought adversity might come, and I had a dread of it. I feared the loss of my family and my property; and both have occurred. I was not lifted up: I knew that what I possessed I had from Divine Providence, and that he who gave might take away. I am not stripped of my all as a punishment for my self-confidence.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
For the thing which I greatly feared - Margin, As in the Hebrew “I feared a fear, and it came upon me.” This verse, with the following, has received a considerable variety of exposition.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּ֤י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| פַ֣חַד | fachad | a fear | H6343 → | 49 times |
| פָּ֭חַדְתִּי | pachadti | I feared | H6342 → | 25 times |
| וַיֶּאֱתָיֵ֑נִי | vaiyeetayeni | and it came to me | H857 → | 21 times |
| וַאֲשֶׁ֥ר | vaasher | and [that] which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| יָ֝גֹ֗רְתִּי | yagoreti | I dreaded | H3025 → | |
| יָ֣בֹא | yavo' | it came | H935 → | 2568 times |
| לִֽי׃ | li | to me |
כִּ֤יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
פַ֣חַדa fear
fachadH6343 →49 times
פָּ֭חַדְתִּיI feared
pachadtiH6342 →25 times
וַיֶּאֱתָיֵ֑נִיand it came to me
vaiyeetayeniH857 →21 times
וַאֲשֶׁ֥רand [that] which
vaasherH834 →5497 times
יָ֝גֹ֗רְתִּיI dreaded
yagoretiH3025 →
יָ֣בֹאit came
yavo'H935 →2568 times
לִֽי׃to me
li
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 1:5And when the days of feasting were over, Job would send for his children to purify them, rising early in the morning to offer burnt offerings for all of them. For Job thought, “Perhaps…
it leads to
- Job 42:8
So now, take seven bulls and seven rams, go to My servant Job, and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. Then My servant Job will pray for you, for I will accept his prayer…
- Genesis 8:20
Then Noah built an altar to the LORD. And taking from every kind of clean animal and clean bird, he offered burnt offerings on the altar.
- 1 Samuel 16:5
“In peace,” he replied. “I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. Consecrate yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.
- Ephesians 6:18
Pray in the Spirit at all times, with every kind of prayer and petition. To this end, stay alert with all perseverance in your prayers for all the saints.
- Genesis 35:2–3
So Jacob told his household and all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods that are among you. Purify yourselves and change your garments.
- Job 42:8
Through
Job 31:23For calamity from God terrifies me, and His splendor I cannot overpower.
it leads to
- Job 13:11
Would His majesty not terrify you? Would the dread of Him not fall upon you?
- Psalms 119:120
My flesh trembles in awe of You; I stand in fear of Your judgments.
- Job 13:11
Through
Job 30:15Terrors are turned loose against me; they drive away my dignity as by the wind, and my prosperity has passed like a cloud.
it leads to
- Hosea 13:3
Therefore they will be like the morning mist, like the early dew that vanishes, like chaff blown from a threshing floor, like smoke through an open window.
- Hosea 13:3
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
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 V; 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; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.