
Text -- Job 19:1-12 (NET)




Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics



collapse allCommentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)
Many times. A certain number for an uncertain.

Wesley: Job 19:3 - -- That you carry yourselves like strangers to me, and condemn me as if you had never known my integrity.
That you carry yourselves like strangers to me, and condemn me as if you had never known my integrity.

Wesley: Job 19:4 - -- If I have sinned, I myself suffer for my sins, and therefore deserve your pity rather than reproaches.
If I have sinned, I myself suffer for my sins, and therefore deserve your pity rather than reproaches.

Of my estate, children, authority, and all my comforts.

All my power, and laid my honour in the dust.

In all respects, my person, and family, and estate.

All my hopes of the present life, but not of the life to come.

Wesley: Job 19:10 - -- Which being once plucked up by the roots, never grows again. Hope in this life is a perishing thing. But the hope of good men, when it is cut off from...
Which being once plucked up by the roots, never grows again. Hope in this life is a perishing thing. But the hope of good men, when it is cut off from this world, is but removed like a tree, transplanted from this nursery to the garden of God.

My afflictions, which are God's soldiers marching under his conduct.
JFB: Job 19:2 - -- Retorting Bildad's words (Job 18:2). Admitting the punishment to be deserved, is it kind thus ever to be harping on this to the sufferer? And yet even...
Retorting Bildad's words (Job 18:2). Admitting the punishment to be deserved, is it kind thus ever to be harping on this to the sufferer? And yet even this they have not yet proved.

JFB: Job 19:3 - -- Rather, "stun me" [GESENIUS]. (See Margin for a different meaning [that is, "harden yourselves against me"]).
Rather, "stun me" [GESENIUS]. (See Margin for a different meaning [that is, "harden yourselves against me"]).

The Hebrew expresses unconscious error. Job was unconscious of wilful sin.

JFB: Job 19:4 - -- Literally, "passeth the night." An image from harboring an unpleasant guest for the night. I bear the consequences.
Literally, "passeth the night." An image from harboring an unpleasant guest for the night. I bear the consequences.

JFB: Job 19:5 - -- English Version makes this part of the protasis, "if" being understood, and the apodosis beginning at Job 19:6. Better with UMBREIT, If ye would becom...
English Version makes this part of the protasis, "if" being understood, and the apodosis beginning at Job 19:6. Better with UMBREIT, If ye would become great heroes against me in truth, ye must prove (evince) against me my guilt, or shame, which you assert. In the English Version "reproach" will mean Job's calamities, which they "pleaded" against him as a "reproach," or proof of guilt.

JFB: Job 19:6 - -- Alluding to Bildad's words (Job 18:8). Know, that it is not that I as a wicked man have been caught in my "own net"; it is God who has compassed me in...
Alluding to Bildad's words (Job 18:8). Know, that it is not that I as a wicked man have been caught in my "own net"; it is God who has compassed me in His--why, I know not.

JFB: Job 19:7 - -- God will not remove my calamities, and so vindicate my just cause; and my friends will not do justice to my past character.
God will not remove my calamities, and so vindicate my just cause; and my friends will not do justice to my past character.

JFB: Job 19:9 - -- Image from a deposed king, deprived of his robes and crown; appropriate to Job, once an emir with all but royal dignity (Lam 5:16; Psa 89:39).

JFB: Job 19:10 - -- "Shaken all round, so that I fall in the dust"; image from a tree uprooted by violent shaking from every side [UMBREIT]. The last clause accords with ...
"Shaken all round, so that I fall in the dust"; image from a tree uprooted by violent shaking from every side [UMBREIT]. The last clause accords with this (Jer 1:10)

JFB: Job 19:10 - -- As to this life (in opposition to Zophar, Job 11:18); not as to the world to come (Job 19:25; Job 14:15).
Clarke: Job 19:2 - -- How long will ye vex my soul - Every thing that was irritating, vexatious, and opprobrious, his friends had recourse to, in order to support their o...
How long will ye vex my soul - Every thing that was irritating, vexatious, and opprobrious, his friends had recourse to, in order to support their own system, and overwhelm him. Not one of them seems to have been touched with a feeling of tenderness towards him, nor does a kind expression drop at any time from their lips! They were called friends; but this term, in reference to them, must be taken in the sense of cold-blooded acquaintances. However, there are many in the world that go under the sacred name of friends, who, in times of difficulty, act a similar part. Job’ s friends have been, by the general consent of posterity, consigned to endless infamy. May all those who follow their steps be equally enrolled in the annals of bad fame!

Clarke: Job 19:3 - -- These ten times - The exact arithmetical number is not to be regarded; ten times being put for many times, as we have already seen. See particularly...
These ten times - The exact arithmetical number is not to be regarded; ten times being put for many times, as we have already seen. See particularly the note on Gen 31:7 (note)

Clarke: Job 19:3 - -- Ye make yourselves strange to me - When I was in affluence and prosperity, ye were my intimates, and appeared to rejoice in my happiness; but now ye...
Ye make yourselves strange to me - When I was in affluence and prosperity, ye were my intimates, and appeared to rejoice in my happiness; but now ye scarcely know me, or ye profess to consider me a wicked man because I am in adversity. Of this you had no suspicion when I was in prosperity! Circumstances change men’ s minds.

Clarke: Job 19:4 - -- And be it indeed that I have erred - Suppose indeed that I have been mistaken in any thing, that in the simplicity of my heart I have gone astray, a...
And be it indeed that I have erred - Suppose indeed that I have been mistaken in any thing, that in the simplicity of my heart I have gone astray, and that this matter remains with myself, (for most certainly there is no public stain on my life), you must grant that this error, whatsoever it is, has hurt no person except myself. Why then do ye treat me as a person whose life has been a general blot, and whose example must be a public curse?

Clarke: Job 19:6 - -- Know now that God hath overthrown me - The matter is between him and me, and he has not commissioned you to add reproaches to his chastisements
Know now that God hath overthrown me - The matter is between him and me, and he has not commissioned you to add reproaches to his chastisements

Clarke: Job 19:6 - -- And hath compassed me with his net - There may be an allusion here to the different modes of hunting which have been already referred to in the prec...
And hath compassed me with his net - There may be an allusion here to the different modes of hunting which have been already referred to in the preceding chapter. But if we take the whole verse together, and read the latter clause before the former, thus, "Know, therefore, that God hath encompassed me with his net, and overthrown me;"the allusion may be to an ancient mode of combat practiced among the ancient Persians, ancient Goths, and among the Romans. The custom among the Romans was this: "One of the combatants was armed with a sword and shield, the other with a trident and net. The net he endeavored to cast over the head of his adversary, in which, when he succeeded, the entangled person was soon pulled down by a noose that fastened round the neck, and then despatched. The person who carried the net and trident was called Retiarius, and the other who carried the sword and shield was termed Secutor, or the pursuer, because, when the Retiarius missed his throw, he was obliged to run about the ground till he got his net in order for a second throw, while the Secutor followed hard to prevent and despatch him."The Persians in old times used what was called (Persic) kumund, the noose. It was not a net, but a sort of running loop, which horsemen endeavored to cast over the heads of their enemies that they might pull them off their horses. That the Goths used a hoop net fastened to a pole, which they endeavored to throw over the heads of their foes, is attested by Olaus Magnus, Hist. de Gentibus Septentrionalibus, Rom. 1555, lib. xi., cap. 13, De diversis Modis praeliandi Finnorum. His words are, Quidam restibus instar retium ferinorum ductilibus sublimi jactatione utuntur: ubi enim cum hoste congressi sunt, injiciunt eos restes quasi laqueos in caput resistentis, ut equum aut hominem ad se trahant . "Some use elastic ropes, formed like hunting nets, which they throw aloft; and when they come in contact with the enemy, they throw these ropes over the head of their opponent, and by this means they can then drag either man or horse to themselves."At the head of the page he gives a wood-cut representing the net, and the manner of throwing it over the head of the enemy. To such a device Job might allude, God hath encompassed me with his Net, and overthrown me.

Clarke: Job 19:7 - -- I cry out of wrong - I complain of violence and of injustice; but no one comes to my help.
I cry out of wrong - I complain of violence and of injustice; but no one comes to my help.

Clarke: Job 19:8 - -- He hath fenced up my way - This may allude to the mode of hunting the elephant, described at the conclusion of the preceding chapter; or to the oper...
He hath fenced up my way - This may allude to the mode of hunting the elephant, described at the conclusion of the preceding chapter; or to the operations of an invading army. See under Job 19:11 (note).

Clarke: Job 19:9 - -- He hath stripped me of my glory - I am reduced to such circumstances, that I have lost all my honor and respect.
He hath stripped me of my glory - I am reduced to such circumstances, that I have lost all my honor and respect.

Clarke: Job 19:10 - -- Mine hope hath he removed like a tree - There is no more hope of my restoration to affluence, authority, and respect, than there is that a tree shal...
Mine hope hath he removed like a tree - There is no more hope of my restoration to affluence, authority, and respect, than there is that a tree shall grow and flourish, whose roots are extracted from the earth. I am pulled up by the roots, withered, and gone.

Clarke: Job 19:11 - -- And he counteth me unto him as one of his enemies - From the seventh to the thirteenth verse there seems to be an allusion to a hostile invasion, ba...
And he counteth me unto him as one of his enemies - From the seventh to the thirteenth verse there seems to be an allusion to a hostile invasion, battles, sieges, etc
1. A neighboring chief, without provocation, invades his neighbor’ s territories, and none of his friends will come to his help. "I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard,"Job 19:7
2. The foe has seized on all the passes, and he is hemmed up. "He hath fenced up my way that I cannot pass,"Job 19:8
3. He has surprised and carried by assault the regal city, seized and possessed the treasures. "He hath stripped me of my glory, and taken the crown from my head,"Job 19:9
4. All his armies are routed in the field, and his strong places carried. "He hath destroyed me on every side,"Job 19:10
5. The enemy proceeds to the greatest length of outrage, wasting every thing with fire and sword. "He hath kindled his wrath against me, and treateth me like one of his adversaries, Job 19:11
6. He is cooped up in a small camp with the wrecks of his army; and in this he is closely besieged by all the power of his foes, who encompass the place, and raise forts against it. "His troops come together, and raise up their way against me, and encamp round about my tabernacle.
7. Not receiving any assistance from friends or neighbors, he abandons all hope of being able to keep the field, escapes with the utmost difficulty, and is despised and neglected by his friends and domestics because he has been unfortunate. "I am escaped with the skin of my teeth,"Job 19:20. "My kinsfolk have failed-all my intimate friends abhorred me,"Job 19:14-19.
TSK: Job 19:2 - -- How long : Job 8:2, Job 18:2; Psa 13:1; Rev 6:10
vex : Job 27:2; Jdg 16:16; Psa 6:2, Psa 6:3, Psa 42:10; 2Pe 2:7, 2Pe 2:8
break me : Psa 55:21, Psa 59...

TSK: Job 19:3 - -- ten times : Gen 31:7; Lev 26:26; Num 14:22; Neh 4:12; Dan 1:20
ye reproached : Job 4:6-11, Job 5:3, Job 5:4, Job 8:4-6, Job 11:3, Job 11:14, Job 15:4-...

TSK: Job 19:4 - -- I have erred : Job 11:3-6
mine : 2Sa 24:17; Pro 9:12; Eze 18:4; 2Co 5:10; Gal 6:5

TSK: Job 19:5 - -- magnify : Psa 35:26, Psa 38:16, Psa 41:11, Psa 55:12; Mic 7:8; Zep 2:10; Zec 12:7
plead : 1Sa 1:6; Neh 1:3; Isa 4:1; Luk 1:25, Luk 13:2-4; Joh 9:2, Jo...

TSK: Job 19:6 - -- God : Job 7:20, Job 16:11-14; Psa 44:9-14, Psa 66:10-12
compassed : Job 18:8-10; Lam 1:12, Lam 1:13; Eze 12:13, Eze 32:3; Hos 7:12
God : Job 7:20, Job 16:11-14; Psa 44:9-14, Psa 66:10-12
compassed : Job 18:8-10; Lam 1:12, Lam 1:13; Eze 12:13, Eze 32:3; Hos 7:12

TSK: Job 19:7 - -- I cry : Job 10:3, Job 10:15-17, Job 16:17-19, Job 21:27; Psa 22:2; Jer 20:8; Lam 3:8; Hab 1:2, Hab 1:3
wrong : or, violence
no judgment : Job 9:32, Jo...
I cry : Job 10:3, Job 10:15-17, Job 16:17-19, Job 21:27; Psa 22:2; Jer 20:8; Lam 3:8; Hab 1:2, Hab 1:3
wrong : or, violence
no judgment : Job 9:32, Job 13:15-23, Job 16:21, Job 23:3-7, Job 31:35, Job 31:36, Job 34:5, Job 40:8

TSK: Job 19:8 - -- fenced : Job 3:23; Psa 88:8; Lam 3:7, Lam 3:9; Hos 2:6
set : Jos 24:7; Pro 4:19; Isa 50:10; Jer 13:16, Jer 23:12; Joh 8:12

TSK: Job 19:9 - -- stripped : Job 29:7-14, Job 29:20, Job 29:21, Job 30:1; Psa 49:16, Psa 49:17, Psa 89:44; Isa 61:6; Hos 9:11

TSK: Job 19:10 - -- destroyed : Job 1:13-19, Job 2:7; Psa 88:13-18; Lam 2:5, Lam 2:6; 2Co 4:8, 2Co 4:9
I am gone : Job 17:11; Psa 102:11
mine hope : Job 6:11, Job 8:13-18...
destroyed : Job 1:13-19, Job 2:7; Psa 88:13-18; Lam 2:5, Lam 2:6; 2Co 4:8, 2Co 4:9
I am gone : Job 17:11; Psa 102:11
mine hope : Job 6:11, Job 8:13-18, Job 17:15, Job 24:20; Psa 37:35, Psa 37:36

TSK: Job 19:11 - -- kindled : Deu 32:22; Psa 89:46, Psa 90:7
he counteth : Job 13:24, Job 16:9, Job 33:10; Lam 2:5

collapse allCommentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)
Barnes: Job 19:2 - -- How long will ye vex my soul? - Perhaps designing to reply to the taunting speech of Bildad; Job 18:2. "He"had asked "how long it would be ere ...
How long will ye vex my soul? - Perhaps designing to reply to the taunting speech of Bildad; Job 18:2. "He"had asked "how long it would be ere Job would make an end of empty talk?""Job"asks, in reply, "how long"they would torture and afflict his soul? Or whether there was on hope that this would ever come to an end!
And break me in pieces - Crush me, or bruise me - like breaking any thing in a mortar, or breaking rocks by repeated blows of the hammer. "Noyes."He says they had crushed him, as if by repeated blows.

Barnes: Job 19:3 - -- These ten times - Many times; the word "ten"being used as we often say, "ten a dozen"or "twenty,"to denote many; see Gen 31:7, "And your father...
These ten times - Many times; the word "ten"being used as we often say, "ten a dozen"or "twenty,"to denote many; see Gen 31:7, "And your father hath changed my wages "ten times."Lev 26:26, "and when I have broken your staff of bread, "ten women"shall bake your bread, in one oven;"compare Num 14:22; Neh 4:6.
You are not ashamed that you make yourselves strange to me - Margin, "harden yourselves strange to me."Margin, "harden yourselves against me."Gesenius, and after him Noyes, renders this, "Shameless ye stun me."Wemyss, "Are ye not ashamed to treat me thus cruelly? The word used here (

Barnes: Job 19:4 - -- And be it indeed that I have erred - Admitting that I have erred, it is my own concern. You have a right to reproach and revile me in this mann...
And be it indeed that I have erred - Admitting that I have erred, it is my own concern. You have a right to reproach and revile me in this manner.
Mine error abideth with myself - I must abide the consequences of the error."The design of this seems to be to reprove what he regarded as an improper and meddlesome interference with his concerns. Or it may be an expression of a willingness to bear all the consequences himself. He was willing to meet all the fair results of his own conduct.

Barnes: Job 19:5 - -- If, indeed, ye will magnify yourselves against me - This is connected with the next verse. The sense is, "all these calamities came from God. H...
If, indeed, ye will magnify yourselves against me - This is connected with the next verse. The sense is, "all these calamities came from God. He has brought them upon me in a sudden and mysterious manner. In these circumstances you ought to have pity upon me; Job 19:21. Instead of magnifying yourselves against me, setting yourselves up as censors and judges, overwhelming me with reproaches and filling my mind with pain and anguish, you ought to show to me the sympathy of a friend."The phrase, "magnify yourselves,"refers to the fact that they had assumed a tone of superiority and an authoritative manner, instead of showing the compassion due to a friend in affliction.
And plead against me my reproach - My calamities as a cause of reproach. You urge them as a proof of the displeasure of God, and you join in reproaching me as a hypocrite. Instead of this, you should have shown compassion to me as a man whom God had greatly afflicted.

Barnes: Job 19:6 - -- Know now that God - Understand the case; and in order that they might, he goes into an extended description of the calamities which God had bro...
Know now that God - Understand the case; and in order that they might, he goes into an extended description of the calamities which God had brought upon him. He wished them to be "fully"apprised of all that he had suffered at the hand of God.
Hath overthrown me - The word used here (
And hath compassed me with his net - Has sprung his net upon me as a hunter does, and I am caught. Perhaps there may be an allusion here to what Bildad said in Job 18:8 ff, that the wicked would be taken in his own snares. Instead of that, Job says that "God"had sprung the snare upon him - for reasons which he could not understand, but in such a manner as should move the compassion of his friends.

Barnes: Job 19:7 - -- Behold, I cry out of wrong - Margin, or "violence."The Hebrew word ( חמס châmâs ) means properly violence. The violence referred to...
Behold, I cry out of wrong - Margin, or "violence."The Hebrew word (
No judgment - No justice. The meaning is, that he could obtain justice from no one God would not interpose to remove the calamities which he had brought upon him, and his friends would do no justice to his motives and character.

Barnes: Job 19:8 - -- He hath fenced up my way - This figure is taken from a traveler, whose way is obstructed by trees, rocks, or fences, so that he cannot get alon...
He hath fenced up my way - This figure is taken from a traveler, whose way is obstructed by trees, rocks, or fences, so that he cannot get along, and Job says it was so with him. He was traveling along in a peaceful manner on the journey of life, and all at once obstructions were put in his path, so that he could not go farther. This does not refer, particularly, to his spiritual condition, if it does at all. It is descriptive of the obstruction of his plans, rather than of spiritual darkness or distress.
And he hath set darkness in my paths - So that I cannot see - as if all around the traveler should become suddenly dark, so that he could not discern his way. The "language"here would well express the spiritual darkness which the friends of God sometimes experience, though it is by no means certain that Job referred to that. All the dealings of God are to them mysterious, and there is no light in the soul - and they are ready to sink down in despair.

Barnes: Job 19:9 - -- He hath stripped me of my glory - Everything which I had that contributed to my respectability and honor, he has taken away. My property, my he...
He hath stripped me of my glory - Everything which I had that contributed to my respectability and honor, he has taken away. My property, my health, my family, the esteem of my friend - all is gone.
And taken the crown from my head - The crown is an emblem of honor and dignity - and Job says that God had removed all that contributed to his - and Job says that God had removed all that contributed to his former dignity; compare Pro 4:9; Pro 17:6; Eze 16:12; Lam 5:16.

Barnes: Job 19:10 - -- He hath destroyed me on every side - He has left me nothing. The word which is used here is that which is commonly applied to which is used her...
He hath destroyed me on every side - He has left me nothing. The word which is used here is that which is commonly applied to which is used here is that which is commonly applied to destroying cities, towns, and houses. "Rosenmuller."
And I am gone - That is, I am near death. I cannot recover myself.
And mine hope hath he removed like a tree - A tree, which is plucked up by the roots, and which does not grow again. That is, his hopes of life and happiness, of an honored old age, and of a continuance of his prosperity, had been wholly destroyed. This does not refer to his "religious"hope - as the word hope is often used now - but to his desire of future comfort and prosperity in this life. It does not appear but that his religious hope, arising from confidence in God, remainned unaffected.

Barnes: Job 19:11 - -- He hath also kindled his wrath - He is angry. Wrath in the Scriptures is usually represented as burning or inflamed - because like fire it dest...
He hath also kindled his wrath - He is angry. Wrath in the Scriptures is usually represented as burning or inflamed - because like fire it destroys everything before it.
And he counteth me unto him as one of his enemies - He treats me as he would an enemy. The same complaint he elsewhere makes; see Job 13:24; perhaps also in Job 16:9. We are not to understand Job here as admitting that "he"was an enemy of God. He constantly maintained that he was not, but he was constrained to admit that God "treated him"as if he were his enemy, and he could not account for it. "On this ground,"therefore, he now maintains that his friends ought to show him compassion, instead of trying to prove that he "was"an enemy of God; they ought to pity a man who was so strangely and mysteriously afflicted, instead of increasing his sorrows by endeavoring to demonstrate that he was a man of eminent wickedness.

Barnes: Job 19:12 - -- His troops - The calamities which he had sent, and which are here represented as "armies"or "soldiers"to accomplish his work. It is not probabl...
His troops - The calamities which he had sent, and which are here represented as "armies"or "soldiers"to accomplish his work. It is not probable that he refers here to the bands of the Chaldeans and the Sabeans, that had robbed him of his property, but to the calamities that had come upon him, "as if"they were bands of robbers.
And raise up their way - As and army that is about to lay siege to a city, or that is marching to attack it, casts up a way of access to it, and thus obtains every facility to take it; see Isa 40:3, note; Isa 57:14, note.
And encamp round about my tabernacle - In the manner of an army besieging a city. Often an army is encamped in this manner for months or even years, in order to reduce the city by famine.
My tabernacle - My tent; my dwelling.
Poole: Job 19:2 - -- With mere empty words, void of sense or argument; with your impertinent and unedifying discourses, and bitter reproaches, as it followeth.
With mere empty words, void of sense or argument; with your impertinent and unedifying discourses, and bitter reproaches, as it followeth.

Poole: Job 19:3 - -- These ten times i.e. many times. A certain number for an uncertain. So this phrase is oft used, as Gen 31:7 Num 14:22 , &c.
That ye make yourselves ...
These ten times i.e. many times. A certain number for an uncertain. So this phrase is oft used, as Gen 31:7 Num 14:22 , &c.
That ye make yourselves strange to me that you carry yourselves like strangers to me, and are not concerned nor affected with my calamities, and condemn me as if you had never known my former piety and integrity.

Poole: Job 19:4 - -- If my opinion in this point be faulty and erroneous, as you pretend it is. Or, if I have sinned, (for sin is oft called error in Scripture,) and am ...
If my opinion in this point be faulty and erroneous, as you pretend it is. Or, if I have sinned, (for sin is oft called error in Scripture,) and am therefore punished.
Mine error remaineth with myself either,
1. It is likely to continue, I see no cause from your reasons to change my judgment. Or,
2. I suffer deeply for my sins, and therefore deserve your pity and help, rather than your reproaches, whereby you add affliction to the afflicted.

Poole: Job 19:5 - -- Magnify yourselves against me i.e. use lofty, and imperious, and contemptuous speeches against me; or seek praise and honour from others, by your con...
Magnify yourselves against me i.e. use lofty, and imperious, and contemptuous speeches against me; or seek praise and honour from others, by your conquering or outreasoning of me.
My reproach either,
1. Your reproaches of me; if your reproachful and censorious speeches must pass for solid arguments. Or,
2. My wickedness, which, if true, were just matter of reproach, and the cause of all my miseries. Or,
3. My contemptible and calamitous condition, for which you reproach and condemn me as a hypocrite and wicked man.

Poole: Job 19:6 - -- Know now consider what I am now saying.
Hath overthrown me hath grievously afflicted me in all kinds; therefore it ill becomes you to aggravate my ...
Know now consider what I am now saying.
Hath overthrown me hath grievously afflicted me in all kinds; therefore it ill becomes you to aggravate my miseries; and if my passions, hereby raised, have broken forth into some extravagant and unmeet expressions, I might expect your pity and favourable construction, and not such severe censures and reproaches. Heb. God hath perverted me , i.e. either my state or condition, as was now said, or my right and cause. He oppresseth me with power, and will not give me a fair hearing, as it follows, Job 19:7 . He giveth me very hard measure, and dealeth worse with me than I might in reason and justice expect from so wise and good a God. This is a harsh reflection upon God; but such passages have sometimes come from good men, when under sore afflictions and temptations, which was Job’ s case.
With his net i.e. with afflictions on every side, so that I cannot escape, nor get any freedom to come to him and plead with him, as I desire.

Poole: Job 19:7 - -- I cry out to wit, unto God by prayer or appeal.
Of wrong that I am oppressed, either,
1. By my friends; or rather,
2. By God, who deals with me a...
I cry out to wit, unto God by prayer or appeal.
Of wrong that I am oppressed, either,
1. By my friends; or rather,
2. By God, who deals with me according to his sovereign power and exact and rigorous justice, and not with that equity and benignity which he showeth to the generality of men, and hath promised to good men, such as he knoweth me to be.
There is no judgment: God will not hear my cause, nor pass sentence; which I might reasonably expect from him; but he quite neglects me, and hath utterly forsaken me, and left me in the hands of the devil and wicked men. See the like complaints of other good men in the like case of desertion, Psa 13:2 22:2 88:15 Lam 3:8 Hab 1:2 .

Poole: Job 19:8 - -- That I cannot pass i.e. so that I know not what to say or do, and can see no means nor possibility of getting out of my troubles.
He hath set darkne...
That I cannot pass i.e. so that I know not what to say or do, and can see no means nor possibility of getting out of my troubles.
He hath set darkness in my paths so that I cannot discern my way, or what course I should take.

Poole: Job 19:9 - -- Of my glory i.e. of my estate, and children, and authority, and all my comforts.
The crown i.e. all my ornaments.
Of my glory i.e. of my estate, and children, and authority, and all my comforts.
The crown i.e. all my ornaments.

Poole: Job 19:10 - -- On every side i.e. in all respects, and to all intents and purposes; my person, and family, and estate.
I am gone i.e. I am a lost and dead man. G...
On every side i.e. in all respects, and to all intents and purposes; my person, and family, and estate.
I am gone i.e. I am a lost and dead man. Going is oft put for dying , as Gen 15:2 Psa 39:13 .
Mine hope i.e. all my hopes of the present life, as he oft expresseth it; but not of the life to come, as appears from Job 13:15,16 19:25 , &c.
Like a tree which being once plucked up by the roots, never groweth again.

Poole: Job 19:11 - -- He hath stirred up his wrath against me of his own accord, without any provocation of mine, human infirmity excepted.
He counteth me unto him as on...
He hath stirred up his wrath against me of his own accord, without any provocation of mine, human infirmity excepted.
He counteth me unto him as one of his enemies i.e. he useth me as sharply as if I were an inveterate enemy of God and of all goodness, though he knoweth I am and have ever been a hearty lover and servant of him.

Poole: Job 19:12 - -- His troops i.e. my afflictions, which are but God’ s instruments and soldiers marching under his conduct.
Raise up their way either,
1. Cast ...
His troops i.e. my afflictions, which are but God’ s instruments and soldiers marching under his conduct.
Raise up their way either,
1. Cast a bank or trench round about me, as an army doth when they go to besiege a place. Or rather,
2. Make a causeway or raised path, as pioneers usually do in low and waterish grounds for the march of an army. God removes all impediments out of the way, and lays me open to all manner of mischief.
Haydock: Job 19:1 - -- Teeth. I am like a skeleton, so strangely emaciated, and my flesh corrupted: even my bones are not entire. (Haydock) ---
Hebrew, "I have escaped w...
Teeth. I am like a skeleton, so strangely emaciated, and my flesh corrupted: even my bones are not entire. (Haydock) ---
Hebrew, "I have escaped with the skin of my teeth." Only my gums are left. My bones cut the skin. Symmachus, "I tore my skin with my teeth."

Haydock: Job 19:3 - -- Ten times; very often. ---
Oppress me. Hebrew word occurs no where else, and is variously translated. It may signify, "to dig a pit for me," chap...
Ten times; very often. ---
Oppress me. Hebrew word occurs no where else, and is variously translated. It may signify, "to dig a pit for me," chap vi. 27., and Psalm vi. 6. Job repeats nearly what he had said before, only with greater vehemence. He admits that Providence treats him in an unusual manner. Yet he still retains an assured hope, and arraigns his adversaries before the divine tribunal. (Calmet) ---
Yet he rather hesitates; (ver. 4, 6.) and this species of ignorance is the folly of which he, at last, accuses himself, chap. xlii. 3. It was no real fault, chap. xlii. 8. (Haydock)

Haydock: Job 19:4 - -- With me. I alone am answerable for it. But I am no wiser for your remarks. If I have sinned, have I not been sufficiently punished? (Calmet) ---
...
With me. I alone am answerable for it. But I am no wiser for your remarks. If I have sinned, have I not been sufficiently punished? (Calmet) ---
Septuagint, "Yea, truly, I was under a mistake; and the mistake still remains with me, to have spoken a word which was not becoming. But my speeches are erroneous and importunate." He talks thus ironically. (Haydock)

Haydock: Job 19:5 - -- Reproaches, which I endure, as if they were a sure proof of your assertion. (Haydock) -- I must therefore refute you. (Calmet)
Reproaches, which I endure, as if they were a sure proof of your assertion. (Haydock) -- I must therefore refute you. (Calmet)

Haydock: Job 19:6 - -- With an equal judgment. St. Gregory explains these words thus: Job being a just man, and truly considering his own life, thought that his affliction...
With an equal judgment. St. Gregory explains these words thus: Job being a just man, and truly considering his own life, thought that his affliction was greater than his sins deserved; and in that respect, that the punishment was not equal, yet it was just, as coming from God, who give a crown of justice to those who suffer for righteousness' sake, and proves the just with tribulations, as gold is tried by fire. (Challoner) ---
He knew that God would surely give a just reward, 2 Timothy iv. (St. Gregory xiv. 16.) (Worthington) ---
The friends of Job had too contracted a notion of Providence, supposing that the virtuous could not be afflicted. Job allowed that the ordinary rules were not here observed. Hebrew, "the Lord hath perverted or overthrown me." (Calmet) ---
This gave him no small uneasiness. If the thing had been as plain as it appears now to us, he might have refuted all with a bare denial. (Houbigant)

Hear. Jeremias makes the same complaint, Lamentations iii. 8. (Calmet)

Haydock: Job 19:12 - -- Troops: ( latrones ) "free-booters," (Haydock) or "soldiers." (Sanctius) ---
Those nations made a practice of plundering one another's territories,...
Troops: ( latrones ) "free-booters," (Haydock) or "soldiers." (Sanctius) ---
Those nations made a practice of plundering one another's territories, without any declaration of war. Mercury and Autolychus are praised for thefts of this description. (Odys. xix.) See Judges xi. 3. Septuagint, "his temptations (Calmet; or militia; Greek: peirateria ) came rushing together upon me; lying down (Haydock) in ambush, (Calmet) they surrounded my paths." (Haydock)
Gill: Job 19:1 - -- Then Job answered and said. Having heard Bildad out, without giving him any interruption; and when he had finished his oration, he rose up in his own ...
Then Job answered and said. Having heard Bildad out, without giving him any interruption; and when he had finished his oration, he rose up in his own defence, and put in his answer as follows.

Gill: Job 19:2 - -- How long will ye vex my soul,.... Which of all vexation is the worst; not only his bones were vexed, but his soul also, as David's was, Psa 6:2. His b...
How long will ye vex my soul,.... Which of all vexation is the worst; not only his bones were vexed, but his soul also, as David's was, Psa 6:2. His body was vexed with boils from head to feet; but now his soul was vexed by his friends, and which denotes extreme vexation, a man's being vexed to his very heart: there are many things vexations to men, especially to good men; they are not only vexed with pains of the body, as others, and with loss of worldly substance; but even all things here below, and the highest enjoyment of them, as wealth, wisdom, honours, and pleasures, are all vanity and vexation of spirit, as they were to Solomon; but more especially truly good men are vexed with the corruptions of their hearts, which are as pricks in their eyes and thorns in their sides, and with the temptations of Satan, which are also thorns in the flesh and fiery darts, and with the conversation of wicked men, as was the soul of righteous Lot, and with the bad principles and practices of professors of religion; and sometimes, as Job was, they are vexed by their own friends, who should be their comforters, but prove miserable ones, as his did, and even vexations, and continued so to the wearing him out almost; and so some render the words, "how long will ye weary my soul" c? with repeating their insinuations that he was a wicked and hypocritical man, and therefore was afflicted of God in the manner he was; and which, knowing his own innocency, extremely vexed him:
and break me in pieces with words? not his body, but his spirit; which was broken, not by the word of God, which is like an hammer that breaks the rocky heart in pieces; for such a breaking is in mercy, and not an affliction to be complained of; and such as are thus broken are healed again, and bound up by the same hand that breaks; who has great, regard to broken spirits and contrite hearts; looks to them, and dwells with them, in order to revive and comfort them: but by the words of men; Job was smitten with the tongues of men; as Jeremiah was, and was beaten and bruised by them, as anything is beaten and bruised by a pestle in a mortar, as the word d signifies, and is sometimes rendered, Isa 53:5; these must be not soft but hard words, not gentle reproofs, which being given and taken in love, will not break the head, but calumnies and reproaches falsely cast, and with great severity, and frequently, which break the heart. See Psa 69:20.

Gill: Job 19:3 - -- These ten times have ye reproached me,.... Referring not to ten sections or paragraphs, in which they had done it, as Jarchi; or to the five speeches ...
These ten times have ye reproached me,.... Referring not to ten sections or paragraphs, in which they had done it, as Jarchi; or to the five speeches his friends, in which their reproaches were doubled; or to Job's words, and their answer, as Saadiah; for it does not denote an exact number of their reproaches, which Job was not so careful to count; but it signifies that he had been many times reproached by them; so Aben Ezra, and in which sense the phrase is often used, see Gen 31:7; it is the lot of good men in all ages to be reproached by carnal and profane sinners, on account of religion, and for righteousness' sake, as Christians are for the sake of Christ and his Gospel; and which Moses esteemed greater riches than all the treasures of Egypt; but to be reproached by friends, and that as an hypocrite and a wicked man, as Job was, must be very cutting; and this being often repeated, as it was an aggravation of the sin of his friends, so likewise of his affliction and patience:
ye are not ashamed, so that ye make yourselves strange to me; they looked shy at him; would not be free and friendly with him, but carried it strange to him, and seemed to have their affections alienated from him. There should not be a strangeness in good men one to another, since they are not aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, to the grace of God, and communion with him; since they are fellow citizens, and of the household of God; belong to the same city, share in the same privileges, are of the same family, children of the same father, and brethren one of another, members of the same body, heirs of the same grace and glory, and are to dwell together in heaven to all eternity; wherefore they should not make themselves strange to each other, but should speak often, kindly, and affectionately, one to another, and freely converse together about spiritual things; should pray with one another, and build up each other on their most holy faith, and by love serve one another, and do all good offices mutually that lie in their power, and bear one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law Christ: but, instead of this, Job's friends would scarcely look at him, much less speak one kind word to him; yea, they "hardened themselves against" him, as some e render the word; had no compassion on him or pity for him in his distressed circumstances, which their relation to him obliged unto, and was due unto him on the score of friendship; nay, they "mocked" at him, which is the sense of the word, according to Ben Gersom f; and of this he had complained before, Job 12:4; and with some g it has the signification of impudence and audaciousness, from the sense of the word in the Arabic language, see Isa 3:9; as if they behaved towards him in a very impudent manner: or, though they "knew" him, as the Targum paraphrases it, yet they were "not ashamed" to reproach him; though they knew that he was a man that feared God; they knew his character and conversation before his all afflictions came on, and yet traduced him as an hypocrite and a wicked man. Whatever is sinful, men should be ashamed of, and will be sooner or later; not to be ashamed thereof is an argument of great hardness and impenitence; and among other things it becomes saints to be ashamed of their making themselves strange to one another. Some render it interrogatively h, "are ye not ashamed?" &c. you may well be ashamed, if you are not; this is put in order to make them ashamed.

Gill: Job 19:4 - -- And be it indeed that I have erred,.... Which is a concession for argument's sake, but not an acknowledgment that he had erred; though it is possible...
And be it indeed that I have erred,.... Which is a concession for argument's sake, but not an acknowledgment that he had erred; though it is possible he might have erred, and it is certain he did in some things, though not in that respect with which he was charged; "humanum est errare", all men are subject to mistakes, good men may err; they may err in judgment, or from the truth in some respect, and be carried away for a while and to some degree with the error the wicked, though they shall be turned from it again; they may err in practice, and wander from the way of God's commandments; and indeed their strayings and aberrations of this sort are so many, that David says, "who can understand his errors?" Psa 19:12; and they may err in words, or make a mistake in speech; but then no man should be made an offender for a word for he must be a perfect man that is free from mistakes of this kind: now Job argues that supposing this to be his case in any of the above instances; yet, says he,
mine error remaineth with myself; I only am chargeable with it, and answerable for it; it is nothing to you, and why should you trouble yourselves about it? it will not be imputed to you, nor will you suffer on account of it; or, admitting I have imbibed an error, I do not publish it abroad; I keep it to myself; it lies and lodges in my own breast, and nobody is the worse for it: or "let it remain", or "lodge with me" k; Why should my mistakes be published abroad, and all the world be made acquainted with them? or else this expresses his resolution to abide by what his friends called an error; and then the so is, if this is an error which I have asserted, that God afflicts both good and bad men, and that afflictions are no argument of a man's being an hypocrite and a wicked man, I am determined to continue in it; I will not give it up, I will hold it fast; it shall remain with me as a principle never to be departed from; or it may be rather his meaning is, that this notion he had imbibed would remain with him, and was likely to do so, for anything they had said, or could say to the contrary.

Gill: Job 19:5 - -- If indeed ye will magnify yourselves against me,.... Look and talk big, set up themselves for great folk, and resolve to run him down; open their mou...
If indeed ye will magnify yourselves against me,.... Look and talk big, set up themselves for great folk, and resolve to run him down; open their mouths wide against him and speak great swelling words in a blustering manner; or magnify what they called an error in him, and set it out in the worst light they could:
and plead against me my reproach; his affliction which he was reproached with, and was pleaded against him as an argument of his being a wicked man; if therefore they were determined to go on after this manner, and insist on this kind of proof, then he would have them take what follows.

Gill: Job 19:6 - -- Know now that God hath overthrown me,.... He would have them take notice that all his afflictions were from the hand of God; and therefore should take...
Know now that God hath overthrown me,.... He would have them take notice that all his afflictions were from the hand of God; and therefore should take care to what they imputed any acts of his, whose ways are unsearchable, and the reasons of them not to be found out; and therefore, if a wrong construction should be put upon them, which may be easily done by weak sighted men, it must be displeasing to him. Job had all along from the first ascribed his afflictions to God, and he still continued to do so; he saw his hand in them all; whoever were the instruments, it was God that had overthrown him, or cast him down from an high to a very low estate; that had taken away his substance, his children, and his wealth: or "hath perverted me" l; not that God had made him perverse, or was the cause or occasion of any perverseness in him, either in his words or in his actions, or had perverted his cause, and the judgment of it; Job could readily answer to those questions of Bildad, "doth God pervert judgment? or doth the Almighty pervert justice?" and say, no, he doth not; but he is to be understood in the same sense as the church is, when she says, see Lam 3:9; "he hath made my path crooked"; where the same word is used as here; and both she and Job mean that God had brought them into cross, crooked, and afflictive dispensations:
and hath compassed me with his net; and which also designs affliction, which is God's net, which he has made, ordained, and makes use of; which he lays for his people, and takes them in, and draws them to himself, and prevents them committing sin, and causes to issue in their good; see Lam 1:13.

Gill: Job 19:7 - -- Behold, I cry out of wrong,.... Or of "violence" m, or injury done him by the Sabeans and Chaldeans upon his substance, and by Satan upon his health; ...
Behold, I cry out of wrong,.... Or of "violence" m, or injury done him by the Sabeans and Chaldeans upon his substance, and by Satan upon his health; this he cried out and complained of in prayer to God, and of it as it were in open court, as a violation of justice, and as being dealt very unjustly with:
but I am not heard; his prayer was not heard; he could get no relief, nor any redress of his grievances, nor any knowledge of the reasons of his being thus used; see Hab 1:2;
I cry aloud, but there is no judgment; notwithstanding his vehement and importunate requests; and which were repeated time after time, that there might be a hearing of his cause; that it might be searched into and tried, that his innocence might be cleared, and justice done him, and vengeance taken on those that wronged him; but he could not obtain it; there was no time appointed for judgment, no court of judicature set, nor any to judge. Now seeing this was the case, that the hand of God was in all his afflictions; that he had complained to him of the injury done him; and that he had most earnestly desired his cause might be heard, and the reasons given why he was thus used, but could get no answer to all this; therefore it became them to be cautious and careful of what they said concerning the dealings of God with him, and to what account they placed them; of which he gives a particular enumeration in the following verses.

Gill: Job 19:8 - -- He hath fenced up my way that I cannot pass,.... A metaphor taken from travellers, who not only meet with obstacles and obstructions in their way, whi...
He hath fenced up my way that I cannot pass,.... A metaphor taken from travellers, who not only meet with obstacles and obstructions in their way, which make it difficult; but sometimes with such enclosures and fences, that they are at a full stop, and cannot pass on, and know not what course to steer: the people of God are not inhabitants of this world, but pilgrims, strangers, and sojourners in it, and travellers through it; they are bound for another country, and are travelling to it; and though their way for far most part is indeed troublesome, but generally passable, or made so; yet sometimes not only is their way hedged up with afflictions, and they hedged about with them, that they cannot easily get out, and get through and pass on; and it is with much difficulty, and with being much scratched and torn, they do brush through; but they also at other times find God has built up a wall against them, and enclosed them with hewn stones, and so fenced up their way that they cannot pass on; such difficulties present as seem insurmountable, and they are at a standstill, and know not what way to take; which was now Job's case, see Lam 3:5; and this may not only respect the way of his walk in this world, but his way to God, either to the throne of his grace, or the tribunal of his justice: the way to God, as on a throne of grace, is only through Christ, the living way; which, though more clearly revealed under the Gospel dispensation, and therefore called a new way, yet was known under the former dispensation, and made use of; in which saints may have access to God with boldness and confidence: but sometimes this way seems by unbelief to be fenced up, though it is always open; and especially when God hides his face, and is not to be seen, nor is it known where to find him, and how to come up to his seat; and which also was Job's case, Job 23:3; and whereas he was very desirous of having his cause heard and tried at the tribunal of God, his way was so shut up, that he could not obtain what he so much desired, and knew not therefore how to proceed, and what course to take:
and he hath set darkness in my paths; and was like a traveller in a very dark night, that cannot see his way, and knows not what step to take next; so good men, though they walk not in the ways of darkness, in a moral sense, as unregenerate men do; yet even while they are walking in the good ways of truth and holiness, and while they are passing through this world, God sometimes withdraws the light of his countenance from them, so that they walk in darkness, and have no light, which is very uncomfortable walking; and when God may be said to put darkness into their paths, he not granting them the light of grace and comfort they have sometimes enjoyed; and so it is with them when under such dark dispensations of Providence, as that they cannot see the end of God in leading them in such ways; and then their case is such as it now was Job's; that they cannot see any way of getting out of it; as the Israelites at the Red sea, and Paul and the mariners when in a storm, and all hope of being saved was gone.

Gill: Job 19:9 - -- He hath stripped me of my glory,.... The metaphor of a traveller may be still continued, who falling among thieves is stripped of his clothes, to whic...
He hath stripped me of my glory,.... The metaphor of a traveller may be still continued, who falling among thieves is stripped of his clothes, to which the allusion may be: Job was not stripped of his glory in a spiritual sense, not of the glorious robe of Christ's righteousness, nor of the graces of the Spirit, which makes saints all glorious within; but in a civil sense, and is to be understood not merely of his rich apparel, or of his robe, which he might wear as a civil magistrate, as an ensign of honour, and which made him look glorious; but either of his wealth, riches, and substance, which are a man's glory, and which he too often and too much glories in, though Job might not; see Psa 49:16; or of his children, Hos 9:11, Est 5:11; and indeed of everything that made him look magnificent among men; as an abundance of this world's good, a numerous family, fine clothes, sumptuous living, and a stately palace; all which Job might have had, but was now stripped of all by one means or another; and whoever were the instruments, he ascribes it all to God, as being according to his sovereign will and pleasure; and these things are very properly and significantly expressed by clothes a man is stripped of, because they are outward things, as garments are, adorn and make externally glorious, as they do, and of which a man may be as soon and as easily deprived as to be stripped of his clothes by one or more of superior power to him:
and taken the crown from my head: meaning much the same as before, either his wealth and riches, which are the crown of a wise man, Pro 14:24; or his children, which are the crown of old then, Pro 17:6; or everything that gave him honour, reputation, and esteem with men; all was taken away from him, and his honour laid in the dust. Some from hence have wrongly concluded that Job was a king, and wore a royal diadem, of which he was now deprived, mistaking him for Jobab, a king of Edom, Gen 36:33; but he had and wore a better diadem, and which he did not lose, but held fast, even his righteousness, justice, and integrity, Job 29:14; and much less could the crown of life, righteousness, and glory, to which he was entitled, be taken from him.

Gill: Job 19:10 - -- He hath destroyed me on every side,.... To be "troubled on every side" is much, as the apostles were, 2Co 4:8; but to be destroyed on every side, and ...
He hath destroyed me on every side,.... To be "troubled on every side" is much, as the apostles were, 2Co 4:8; but to be destroyed on every side, and all around, is more, and denotes utter destruction; it may have respect to the rein of his substance and family, which were all demolished at once; his oxen and asses, which were on one side, his camels on other, his sheep on another, and his children on another, and all destroyed in one day, and perhaps in a few hours; and also to his body, which God had made, and had fashioned together round about; but now he had suffered it to be smitten with ulcers from the crown of his head to the sole of his feet; and this earthly tabernacle of his was demolishing on every side, and just falling down; for the allusion is either to the demolition of a building, or to the rooting up of a tree, and so continued in the next clause; comparing himself to a tree, that is dug about on all sides, and its roots laid bare, and these and all their fibres cut off, so that it is utterly destroyed from growing any more, but becomes dead; and this Job thought to be his case:
and I am gone; or am a dead man, just going out of the world, the way of all flesh; and because of the certainty of it, and of its being very quickly, in a few minutes, as it were, he speaks of it as if it already was: wherefore it follows,
and my hope he hath removed like a tree; not like a tree that is cut down to its roots, which remain in the ground, and may sprout out again, Job 14:7; nor like a tree that is taken up with its roots, and removed to another place, and planted in another soil, where it may grow as well or better; but like a tree cut off from its roots, or pulled up by the roots, and laid upon the ground, when there can be no hope of its ever growing again; and so the hope of Job was like that; not his hope of salvation, of the resurrection of the dead, and of eternal life, which was strong and firm, Job 13:15; nor can a good and well grounded hope be removed; not the grace of hope, which is an abiding one; nor the ground of hope, which is Christ and his righteousness, upon which hope, as an anchor, being cast, is sure and steadfast; nor the object of hope, eternal glory and happiness laid up in heaven: but this is to be interpreted of Job's hope of a restoration to outward happiness, which his friends would have had him entertain, in case of repentance and reformation; but Job, as he was not sensible of his need of the one, as his friends understood it, he had no hope of the other, see Job 6:11.

Gill: Job 19:11 - -- He hath also kindled his wrath against me,.... In this and some following verses the metaphor is taken from a state of warfare, in which enemies are e...
He hath also kindled his wrath against me,.... In this and some following verses the metaphor is taken from a state of warfare, in which enemies are engaged in an hostile way, Job 19:12; in which way Job apprehended God was come forth against him; he imagined that the wrath of God, which is comparable to fire for its force and fury, was kindled against him; that it began to appear, and was bursting out in a flame upon him, and all around him, to consume him; he thought his afflictions were in wrath, which is often the mistaken apprehension of good men, see Psa 38:1; and that the terrors of it were set in battle array against him, Job 6:4;
and he counted me unto him as one of his enemies; all men are by nature enemies to God, yea, enmity itself, and so are his own people while unregenerate, until the enmity of their hearts is slain, and they are reconciled to God by his spirit and grace; but as Job was truly a gracious man, and possessed of the fruits of the spirit, he must among the rest of his graces have the love of God in his heart; and he was sensible and conscious to himself that he was no enemy to God, and could appeal to him, as the searcher of hearts, that he knew he loved him; nay, he could not believe that God reckoned him his enemy, when he had given such a testimony of him, and of his fear of him, that there was none like him; and when Job so strongly trusted in him for salvation, and believed he should enjoy him for ever: but his sense is, that God treated him, by afflicting him in the manner he did, as if he was one of his enemies; had he really been one, he could not have used him, he thought, more roughly and severely; so that, judging according to the outward appearance of things, it might be concluded, as it seems it was by his friends, that he was a wicked man, an hypocrite, an enemy to God and godliness; but whereas Job thought that God dealt with him as with an enemy, he was mistaken; since when God afflicts his people, he deals with them as with sons, Heb 12:7.

Gill: Job 19:12 - -- His troops come together,.... Afflictions which are many, and of which it may be said, as was at the birth of God, who had his name from the word here...
His troops come together,.... Afflictions which are many, and of which it may be said, as was at the birth of God, who had his name from the word here used, "a troop cometh": Gen 30:11; and these sometimes come together, or follow so quick one upon another, that there is scarce any interval between them, as did Job's afflictions; and they are God's hosts, his troops, his soldiers, which are at his command; and he says to them, as the centurion did to his, to the one, Go, and he goes, and to another, Come, and it comes:
and raise up their way against me; as an army, when it comes against a place, throws up a bank to raise their artillery upon, that they may play it to greater advantage; or make a broad causeway, for the soldiers to march abreast against it; or an high cast up way, as the word y signifies, over a ditch or dirty place in a hollow, that they may the better pass over: some read it, "they raise up their way upon me" z; he opposing and standing in the way was crushed down by them, and trampled upon, and over whom they passed as on an highway, and in a beaten path; see Isa 51:23; but most render it, "against me"; for Job looked upon all his afflictions, as Jacob did Gen 42:36, to be against him, to militate against him, and threaten him with ruin, when they were all working for him, even for his good:
and encamp round about my tabernacle: as an army round about a city when besieging it. Job may have respect to the tabernacle of his body, as that is sometimes so called, 2Co 5:1; and to the diseases of it; which being a complication, might be said to encamp about him, or surround him on all sides.

expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes
NET Notes -> Job 19:1; Job 19:2; Job 19:2; Job 19:2; Job 19:3; Job 19:3; Job 19:3; Job 19:4; Job 19:4; Job 19:4; Job 19:5; Job 19:5; Job 19:5; Job 19:6; Job 19:6; Job 19:6; Job 19:6; Job 19:7; Job 19:7; Job 19:7; Job 19:7; Job 19:8; Job 19:8; Job 19:9; Job 19:10; Job 19:10; Job 19:10; Job 19:10; Job 19:10; Job 19:11; Job 19:11; Job 19:12; Job 19:12
NET Notes: Job 19:1 Job is completely stunned by Bildad’s speech, and feels totally deserted by God and his friends. Yet from his despair a new hope emerges with a ...


NET Notes: Job 19:3 The second half of the verse uses two verbs, the one dependent on the other. It could be translated “you are not ashamed to attack me” (se...


NET Notes: Job 19:5 Job’s friends have been using his shame, his humiliation in all his sufferings, as proof against him in their case.



NET Notes: Job 19:8 Some commentators take the word to be חָשַׁךְ (hasak), related to an Arabic word for “thorn hedge.R...

NET Notes: Job 19:9 The images here are fairly common in the Bible. God has stripped away Job’s honorable reputation. The crown is the metaphor for the esteem and d...

NET Notes: Job 19:10 Heb “like a tree.” The words “one uproots” are supplied in the translation for clarity.

NET Notes: Job 19:11 This second half of the verse is a little difficult. The Hebrew has “and he reckons me for him like his adversaries.” Most would change th...

NET Notes: Job 19:12 Heb “they throw up their way against me.” The verb סָלַל (salal) means “to build a siege ramp” o...
Geneva Bible: Job 19:3 These ( a ) ten times have ye reproached me: ye are not ashamed [that] ye make yourselves strange to me.
( a ) That is, many times, as in (Neh 4:12)....

Geneva Bible: Job 19:4 And be it indeed [that] I have erred, mine error ( b ) remaineth with myself.
( b ) That is, I myself will be punished for it, or you have not yet co...

Geneva Bible: Job 19:6 Know now that God hath ( c ) overthrown me, and hath compassed me with his net.
( c ) He breaks out again into his passions and declares still that h...

Geneva Bible: Job 19:8 He hath fenced up my way that I cannot ( d ) pass, and he hath set darkness in my paths.
( d ) Meaning, out of his afflictions.

Geneva Bible: Job 19:9 He hath stripped me of my glory, and taken the ( e ) crown [from] my head.
( e ) Meaning, his children, and whatever was dear to him in this world.

Geneva Bible: Job 19:10 He hath destroyed me on every side, and I am gone: and mine hope hath he removed like ( f ) a tree.
( f ) Which is plucked up, and has no more hope t...

Geneva Bible: Job 19:12 His ( g ) troops come together, and raise up their way against me, and encamp round about my tabernacle.
( g ) His manifold afflictions.

expand allCommentary -- Verse Range Notes
TSK Synopsis -> Job 19:1-29
TSK Synopsis: Job 19:1-29 - --1 Job, complaining of his friends' cruelty, shews there is misery enough in him to feed their cruelty.21 He craves pity.23 He believes the resurrectio...
MHCC -> Job 19:1-7; Job 19:8-22
MHCC: Job 19:1-7 - --Job's friends blamed him as a wicked man, because he was so afflicted; here he describes their unkindness, showing that what they condemned was capabl...

MHCC: Job 19:8-22 - --How doleful are Job's complaints! What is the fire of hell but the wrath of God! Seared consciences will feel it hereafter, but do not fear it now: en...
Matthew Henry -> Job 19:1-7; Job 19:8-22
Matthew Henry: Job 19:1-7 - -- Job's friends had passed a very severe censure upon him as a wicked man because he was so grievously afflicted; now here he tells them how ill he to...

Matthew Henry: Job 19:8-22 - -- Bildad had very disingenuously perverted Job's complaints by making them the description of the miserable condition of a wicked man; and yet he repe...
Keil-Delitzsch: Job 19:1-6 - --
1 Then began Job, and said:
2 How long will ye vex my soul,
And crush me with your words?
3 These ten times have ye reproached me;
Without being...

Keil-Delitzsch: Job 19:7-11 - --
7 Behold I cry violence, and I am not heard;
I cry for help, and there is no justice.
8 My way He hath fenced round, that I cannot pass over,
And...

Keil-Delitzsch: Job 19:12-15 - --
12 His troops came together,
And threw up their way against me,
And encamped round about my tent.
13 My brethren hath He removed far from me,
An...
Constable: Job 15:1--21:34 - --C. The Second Cycle of Speeches between Job and His Three Friends chs. 15-21
In the second cycle of spee...

Constable: Job 19:1-29 - --4. Job's second reply to Bildad ch. 19
This speech is one of the more important ones in the book...

Constable: Job 19:1-6 - --The hostility of Job's accusers 19:1-6
Job began this reply to Bildad as Bildad had begu...
