Job 7:11
in Job 7Therefore I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Therefore I will not refrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
KJV
Therefore I will not refrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
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This verse in Job 7
Commentary
10 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Therefore, as such is my hard lot, I will at least have the melancholy satisfaction of venting my sorrow in words. The Hebrew opening words, "Therefore I, at all events," express self-elevation [UMBREIT].
This site's exposition
Therefore I will not restrain my mouth
on Job 7:11-12
Job announces: "I will complain in the bitterness of my soul". His question reads God's attention as a guard set on a dangerous thing. The reader can see what Job cannot, that a watch has in fact been set on him through the wager of chapters 1 and 2.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church3 voices
After Job showed that the consolation of Eliphaz promising earthly prosperity was inconsistent by arguments, he now shows the same thing by deducing arguments of unfittingness, because if he should rely on that consolation which had been given to him from the hope of earthly …
"Am I the sea, or the dragon?" That is, you have imposed a limit that the sea must not trespass, so that it might not submerge the earth. You did the same with the dragon, that it might not go out and destroy all that …
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistMorals on the Book of Job, Book VIII · Written before 604.
proposed
Therefore also I will not refrain my mouth. For that man 'refrains his mouth,' that is ashamed to confess the evil he has done. For to put the mouth to labour is to employ it in the confession of sin done, but the righteous man doth 'not refrain his mouth,' in that forestalling the wrath of the searching Judge, he falls wroth upon himself in words of self-confession. Hence the Psalmist saith, Let us come before His Presence with confession.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Therefore - Since my life is so vain and short, and when once lost, without all hopes of recovery. I will plead with God for pity before I die; I will not smother my anguish within my breast, but will ease myself by pouring out my complaints.
Therefore I will not refrain my mouth,....
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
When we have but a few breaths to draw we should spend them in the holy gracious breathings of faith and prayer, not in the noisome noxious breathings of sin and corruption.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Therefore I will not refrain - All is hopeless; I will therefore indulge myself in complaining.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Therefore I will not refrain my mouth - The idea in this verse is, “such is my distress at the prospect of dying, that I cannot but express it. The idea of going away from all my comforts, and of being committed to the grave, to revisit the earth no more, is so painful that I cannot but give vent to my feelings.”
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Neither will I restrain my mouth Since You do not desist from me, neither will I restrain my speech from complaining about Your ways.
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. 5 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
11 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 |
| אֲנִי֮ | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| לֹ֤א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| אֶחֱשָׂ֫ךְ | ʾechesakh | I will restrain | H2820 → | 28 times |
| פִּ֥י | pi | mouth my | H6310 → | 498 times |
| אֲֽ֭דַבְּרָה | ʾadaberah | I will speak | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| בְּצַ֣ר | betzar | in [the] distress of | H6862 → | 109 times |
| רוּחִ֑י | ruchi | spirit my | H7307 → | 378 times |
| אָ֝שִׂ֗יחָה | ʾasichah | I will complain | H7878 → | |
| בְּמַ֣ר | bemar | in [the] bitterness of | H4751 → | 37 times |
| נַפְשִֽׁי׃ | nafshi | soul my | H5315 → | 754 times |
גַּם־also
gam-H1571 →769 times
אֲנִי֮I
ʾaniH589 →874 times
לֹ֤אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
אֶחֱשָׂ֫ךְI will restrain
ʾechesakhH2820 →28 times
פִּ֥יmouth my
piH6310 →498 times
אֲֽ֭דַבְּרָהI will speak
ʾadaberahH1696 →1141 times
בְּצַ֣רin [the] distress of
betzarH6862 →109 times
רוּחִ֑יspirit my
ruchiH7307 →378 times
אָ֝שִׂ֗יחָהI will complain
ʾasichahH7878 →
בְּמַ֣רin [the] bitterness of
bemarH4751 →37 times
נַפְשִֽׁי׃soul my
nafshiH5315 →754 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
Isaiah 38:17Surely for my own welfare I had such great anguish; but Your love has delivered me from the pit of oblivion, for You have cast all my sins behind Your back.
it leads to
- Isaiah 43:25
I, yes I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake and remembers your sins no more.
- Micah 7:18–19
Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance—who does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in loving devotion?
- Jonah 2:6
To the roots of the mountains I descended; the earth beneath me barred me in forever! But You raised my life from the pit, O LORD my God!
- Isaiah 43:25
Through
1 Samuel 1:10In her bitter distress, Hannah prayed to the LORD and wept with many tears.
it leads to
- Job 10:1
“I loathe my own life; I will express my complaint and speak in the bitterness of my soul.
- Luke 22:44
And in His anguish, He prayed more earnestly, and His sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground.
- Psalms 91:15
When he calls out to Me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him and honor him.
- Hebrews 5:7
During the days of Jesus’ earthly life, He offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the One who could save Him from death, and He was heard because of His…
- Job 10:1
Through
Psalms 40:9I proclaim righteousness in the great assembly; behold, I do not seal my lips, as You, O LORD, do know.
it leads to
- Psalms 22:25
My praise for You resounds in the great assembly; I will fulfill my vows before those who fear You.
- Psalms 22:25
Where this verse is studied
On this page
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 (1832-1869); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Job; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book VIII; Ishodad of Merv, COMMENTARY ON JOB 7:12; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; 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.