Job 10:1-22

5. He would ask the Almighty the reason for the change in his treatment of His creature. (Job 10:1-22)

TEXT 10:1-22

10 My soul is weary of my life;

I will give free coarse to my complaint;
I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.

2 I will say onto God, Do not condemn me;

Show me wherefore thou contendest with me.

3 Is it good onto thee that thou shouldest oppress,

That thou shouldest despise the work of thy hands,

And shine upon the counsel of the wicked?

4 Hast thou eyes of flesh?

Or seest thou as man seeth?

5 Are thy days as man seeth?

Or thy years as man's days,

6 That thou inquirest after mine iniquity,

And searchest after my sin,

7 Although thou knowest that I am not wicked,

And there is none that can deliver out of thy hand?

8 Thy hands have framed me and fashioned me

Together round about; yet thou dost destroy me.

9 Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast fashioned me as clay;

And wilt thou bring me into dust again?

10 Hast thou not poured me out as milk,

And curdled me like cheese?

11 Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh,

And knit me together with bones and sinews.

12 Thou hast granted me life and lovingkindness;

And thy visitation hath preserved my spirit.

13 Yet these things thou didst hide In thy heart;

I know that this is with thee:

14 If I sin, then thou markest me,

And thou wilt not acquit me from mine iniquity.

15 If I be wicked, woe unto me;

And if I be righteous, yet shall I not lift up my head;
Being filled with ignominy,
And looking upon mine affliction.

16 And if my heart exalt itself, thou huntest me as a lion;

And again thou showest thyself marvellous upon me.

17 Thou renewest thy witnesses against me,

And increasest thine indignation upon me:
Changes and warfare are with me.

18 Wherefore then hast thou brought me forth out of the womb?

I had given up the ghost, and no eye had seen me.

19 I should have been as though I had not been;

I should have been carried from the womb to the grave.

20 Are not my days few? cease then,

And let me alone, that I may take comfort a little,

21 Before I go whence I shall not return.

Even to the land of darkness and of the shadow of death;

22 The land dark as midnight,

The land of the shadow of death, without any order.

COMMENT 10:1-22

Now Job addresses himself to the real God. His three friends misunderstand his case. Job begins to theorize on the motives for his sufferingis God sadistic? Job 10:4; is He making a mistake? Job 10:5; is He jealous of men's pleasure and happiness? All restraint is removed.

Job 10:1My complaint is that my soul is sick of life. Job is conversing with himself. Does God have a secret motive for afflicting him?

Job 10:2Do not condemn me reveals that Job as well as his friends concluded from his suffering that God holds him guilty.

Job 10:3Dhorme translates Is it profitable to thee? Job here charges God with injustice. Can there be any justification for such a state of affairs? Because God made both the righteous and the unrighteous, Job requests to know why men are not treated with equity.[136]

[136] For the critical issues in this verse, see G. R. Driver, Die Welt des Orients, I, 1947-52, 411; and R. Bergmeier, Zeitschrift fur die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft, LXX1X, (pp. 229ff.)

Job 10:4Job's basic question is not does God have limitations, but can He really understand the human condition? The Hebrew Epistle declares that God not only is capable of identification with man but that His incarnation is proofsee also Philippians 2:5 ff; 1 Samuel 16:7.

Job 10:5Are God's days as limited as man'S; is that why He is quick to exact punishment, even before Job does evil?

Job 10:6He does not believe that God has found any sin in his life, even though He continually searches for it.

Job 10:7If God knows that Job is innocent, then why does He seek to extract a confession of guilt? He knows that no one can take Job from His hand. Why is He punishing Job, as though he is about to slip through His fingers?

Job 10:8-9You formed me with your hands; why are you destroying your own creation? The potter-clay parallel is found in Genesis 3:19; Psalms 90:3; Isaiah 45:9; Jeremiah 18:4 ff; and Romans 9:20.[137]

[137] See my essay, Theology of Promise and Universal History, in Grace Unlimited, esp. pp. 199ff.

Job 10:10-11The imagery alludes to the formation of the embryo in the womb. Semen poured like milk into the womb, is coagulated like cheese, and finally bones and muscles are formedPsalms 139:13-16 and Ecclesiastes 11:5.[138]

[138] Pope, Job, p. 80.

Job 10:12By using imagery from the miracle of conception and birth, perhaps Job is affirming his belief in the providential order of God, before the suffering and pain befell him. This verse is of crucial importance for the understanding of Chapter s 910. It shows that, although Job wrestles with God, he is conscious of his absolute dependence upon him (Buttenweiser, Book of Job). The Hebrew text declares that God's grace and covenant love, i.e., life and hesed[139]Psalms 63:4 a, are gifts for which he could never be adequately grateful. Hesed means piety, mercy, love, grace, and expresses relationships within the context of covenant. Another Hebrew word, hen, expresses similar connotations with the exception of the covenant relationship. In this verse hesed conveys the marks of divine favor. God cares (literally visits) for Job. Care is also used in a negative sense of visit for punishmentHosea 9:7, but here it means a gracious visitation. Before Job's unbearable punishment came upon him, God graciously, providentially visited his life in constant watch-care.

[139] See Kittel article Dike; N. H. Snaith, The Distinctive Ideas in the Old Testament, 1944, pp. 95ff; see also his The Book of Job, 1968; and Nelson Glueck, Hesed in the Bible (Ktav Pub. House), an indispensable study.

Job 10:13Job's present condition has convinced him that God concealed His true attitude toward His servant Job. Job mournfully contrasts his life when he thought that God truly cared for him in his present state. God was all along preparing a victim for sacrifice.[140] God's calculated cruelty was part of His ultimate purpose.

[140] See Calvin's response in his Institutes, HI, 23, 7. He admits that Job's condition calls for a response of horror at God's dealings with man. See again Grace Unlimited for response to Calvin and his views of the Sovereignty of God, Providence of God, and the human condition.

Job 10:14God was watching every act and thought of Job and had already determined to deal cruelly with Job. The word translated mark (same as preserved in Job 10:12) means guard or protectively watch over. God's gracious (Hesed) watch has turned to hostility. God is no longer his protector; He is now his cruel accuserJob 7:18-20.

Job 10:15Does Job merit all this misfortune? He is sated with ignominy, guilt, shame, and miserybut why? Has God determined that Job suffer whether he is wicked or righteous? Job has no pride left; he cannot lift up his headJudges 8:28; Judges 11:15; Judges 22:26.[141] Job receives nothing from God but trouble and more trouble.

[141] For problems in this verse, see G. R. Driver, Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses. XXVI, 1950, 351; and R. de Vaux, Revue Biblique, XLVIII, 1939, 594.

Job 10:16If my pride (the sense of R. S. V. is best) causes me to lift up my head (Heb. he lifts himself up), God would immediately attack me as though I were unrighteous. God's wonders in creation are now contrasted with His wonders (A. V. marvelous) in torturing Job.

Job 10:17His bitterness now overflows in irony. God's witnesses against Job are his sufferings. God is ever bringing fresh attacks, hosts, warfaresabaagainst him. There is no relief; God is hounding him to his graveJob 7:1; Job 14:14.[142]

[142] For various solutions to critical problems present in this verse, see A. B. Ehrlich, Randglossen zur hebraischen Bibel, VI, 1913, 180ff, but esp. on this verse.

Job 10:18-19He now returns to his lament over being bornJob 3:1 ff. Note the emphatic lamah, why? This is the same word our Lord cried from the cross, quoting Psalms 22:1; Matthew 27:46. This haunting theme opened the discourse. But since not being born is not a live option for Job, he just suffers. Still we see the supreme value of life. In all his suffering, Job shows no sympathy with the idea of Schopenhauer and Camus, et. at, that the ultimate philosophical problem confronting man isWhy not commit suicide, if we live in a meaningless, amoral universe?

Job 10:20The Hebrew literally states that my days cease. In this verse as a whole, Job asks God to take His attention (watch-care) away from him, in order that he might find comfort. This verse and Job 10:21 a virtually quote Ps. 39:14 (or vice versa).

Job 10:21Job aspires to go into deep darknessJob 3:5; Psalms 23.

Job 10:22This verse contains an abundance of synonyms for darkness. In Sheol, light is but darkness. He is wearing his shroud of despair as he describes the miserable prospects of deathJob 7:21; Job 14:20 ff; Job 17:13 ff; Job 21:32 ff. Job vainly attempts to harmonize the God of his past and present experience. Chaos[143] (literally without order) reigns in Sheol as well as here. This presents bleak prospects indeed; even death will not help his situation. He is not prepared to pull his cloak about him and lie down to pleasant dreams, but to be or not to be that is still the question. Still No light but darkness visible.[144]

[143] God created order; man sinned and disordered the universeGenesis 1-3. Disorder reigns between: (1) Man and God; (2) Man and himself; (3) Man and others; and (4) Man and nature. These areas of disorder are in Job's life and ours. He is our contemporary. G. R. Driver, Vetus Testamentum, Supplement, III, 1955, 76ff.

[144] Milton, Paradise Lost, Book I, line 63.