Job 36:8
in Job 36And if men are bound with chains, caught in cords of affliction,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And if they be bound in fetters, And be taken in the cords of affliction;
KJV
And if they be bound in fetters, and be holden in cords of affliction;
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This verse in Job 36
Commentary
8 notes on this verseAnd if they shall be in chains, and bound with the cords of poverty, He will shew them their works, and their wickednesses, because they have been violent. The chains of bondage, are the very detention of their present pilgrimage. Paul had seen, that he was bound by these chains, when he was saying, I have a desire to be dissolved, and to be with Christ. [Phil. 1, 23] He perceived that he was bound with the cords of poverty, when, beholding the true riches, he entreated them also for his disciples.
This site's exposition
God is mighty, but He despises no one
on Job 36:5-12
After “He opens their ears to correction” the obedient “end their days in prosperity”. Barnes calls this a chastening theory, correction meant to be heard, set against the friends' retribution. Delitzsch notes one pattern covering the righteous of verse 7 and men “bound with chains” in verse 8.
This site's exposition
caught in cords of affliction
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown answer both sides here. The friends took affliction as proof of hypocrisy, and Job took it as proof that God disregards the righteous. God binds them with chains to tell them their deeds.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Third, he manifests it because even if they are punished for their sins, he has mercy on them if they wish to do penance, and so he says, "and if the kings were in chains," placed in prison, "and were bound with the bonds of …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And if they be bound in fetters,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
And if they be bound in fetters - That is, if the righteous are thrown into prison, and are subjected to oppressions and trials, or if they are chained down, as it were, on a bed of pain, or crushed by heavy calamities, the eye of God is still upon them. Their sufferings should not be regarded either as proof that they are hypocrites, or that God is regardless of them, and is indifferent whether people are good or evil.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
If they be afflicted, it is no proof that they are hypocrites, as the friends maintain, or that God disregards them, and is indifferent whether men are good or bad, as Job asserts: God is thereby "disciplining them," and "showing them their sins," and if they bow in a right spirit under God's visiting hand, the greatest blessings ensue.
And if they be bound in fetters - These are means which God uses, not of punishment, but of correction.
The words behind it
6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאִם־ | veim- | and if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| אֲסוּרִ֥ים | ʾasurim | [they are] bound | H631 → | 72 times |
| בַּזִּקִּ֑ים | bazikim | in <the> fetters | H2131 → | |
| יִ֝לָּכְד֗וּן | yilakhedun | they are caught ! | H3920 → | 121 times |
| בְּחַבְלֵי־ | bechavlei- | in cords of | H2256 → | 62 times |
| עֹֽנִי׃ | ʾoni | affliction | H6040 → | 36 times |
וְאִם־and if
veim-H518 →1069 times
אֲסוּרִ֥ים[they are] bound
ʾasurimH631 →72 times
בַּזִּקִּ֑יםin <the> fetters
bazikimH2131 →
יִ֝לָּכְד֗וּןthey are caught !
yilakhedunH3920 →121 times
בְּחַבְלֵי־in cords of
bechavlei-H2256 →62 times
עֹֽנִי׃affliction
ʾoniH6040 →36 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
Psalms 107:10Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, prisoners in affliction and chains,
it leads to
- Luke 1:79
to shine on those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”
- Micah 7:8
Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will arise; though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light.
- Matthew 4:16
the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned.”
- Luke 1:79
Through
Psalms 116:3The ropes of death entangled me; the anguish of Sheol overcame me; I was confronted by trouble and sorrow.
it leads to
- Psalms 18:4–6
The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of chaos overwhelmed me.
- Psalms 38:6
I am bent and brought low; all day long I go about mourning.
- Psalms 88:6–7
You have laid me in the lowest Pit, in the darkest of the depths.
- Psalms 32:3–4
When I kept silent, my bones became brittle from my groaning all day long.
- Luke 22:44
And in His anguish, He prayed more earnestly, and His sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground.
- Psalms 18:4–6
About Job
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Job; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Job; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XXVI; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.