Job 19 - Introduction

TODAY'S ENGLISH VERSION

1-2 Why do you keep tormenting me with words?

3 Time after time you insult me,

and show no shame for the way you abuse me.

4 Suppose I have done wrong. How does that hurt you?
5 You think you are better than I am,

and regard my trouble as proof of my guilt.

6 Can-'t you see it is God who has done this?

He has set a trap to catch me.

7 I protest his violence, but no one listens;

I call for justice, but there isn-'t any.

8 God has blocked the way, and I can-'t get through;

he has covered my path with darkness.

9 He has taken away all my wealth,

and destroyed my reputation.

10 He batters me from every side.

He uproots my hope

and leaves me to wither and die.

11 God is angry and rages against me;

and treats me like his worst enemy.

12 He sends his army to attack me;

they dig trenches and lay siege to my tent.

13 God has made my brothers forsake me;

I am a stranger to those who knew me;

14 my relatives and friends are gone.
15 Those who were guests in my house have forgotten me;

my housemaids treat me like a stranger and a foreigner.

16 When I call a servant he doesn-'t answer

even when I beg him to help me.

17 My wife can-'t stand the smell of my breath,

and my own brothers won-'t come near me.

18 Children despise me and laugh when they see me.
19 My closest friends look at me with disgust;

those I loved most have turned against me.

20 My skin hangs loose on my bones;

I have barely escaped with my life.

21 You are my friends! Take pity on me!

The hand of God has struck me down.

22 Why must you persecute me the way God does?

Haven-'t you tormented me enough?

23 How I wish someone would record what I am saying,

and write my words in a book!

24 Or with a chisel carve my words in stone,

and write them so they would last forever.

25 But I know there is someone in heaven

who will come at last to my defense.

26 Even after my skin is eaten by disease,

in this body I will see God.

27 I will see him with my own eyes,

and he will not be a stranger.
My courage failed because you men said,

28 How can we torment him?

You looked for some excuse to attack me.

29 But now, be afraid of the sword

the sword that brings God's wrath on sin,

so that you will know there is one who judges.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 19:1-29

378.

How does Job become our great paradigm of growth through suffering? Discuss.

379.

How does Job's new found faith express itself?

380.

The word vex in verse two is not strong enough. What should it be?

381.

Can we count ten times of reproach? How is the figure ten to be understood?

382.

Verse four is a very difficult verse to interpret. How are we to understand it?

383.

How easy it is to assume an air of superiority in the presence of weakness. What does this do for the weak? Cf. Job 19:5.

384.

How does verse six prove that verse four was not a confession of guilt?

385.

Job is constantly conscious of his own innocence. On what subject? Discuss.

386.

In what sense has God walled Job in?

387.

What was the crown of glory once worn by Job?

388.

Job uses two graphic metaphors in verse ten to describe his condition. What are they?

389.

In what sense was God Job's adversary?

390.

How are we to understand the phrase cast up their way against me?

391.

God's apparent hostility has produced human hostility. Why? Show the progression.

392.

If we believe a man is suffering because of his own sin, can we yet show him that we really care? Discuss.

393.

Job has lost the respect of his servants. Why? Cf. Job 19:15-16.

394.

Job's physical appearance is a real hindrance to social exchange. Discuss why.

395.

Who are the children in Job 19:17 b?

396.

In what way is estrangement or alienation a fundamental issue in our culture?

397.

Disrespect on the part of children calls for drastic measures. Discuss. Cf. 2 Kings 2:23.

398.

In your own words give the meaning of Job 19:20.

399.

Job's friends could have had pity for him even if they felt he was guilty. Is this what Job needed? Discuss.

400.

Show how Job 19:22 is appropriate to our age.