←Job 10→BSB

In This Chapter 44 terms

Key Terms

Be (Or Show Oneself) Just 6 Transgression 5 Considered Guilty 4 Kindness (Solidarity) 3 To Declare Guilty 2 Counsel 2 Sin 2 Guilt (State) 2 Knowledge 2 Pronounce Innocent 2 To Sin Sin (Act) Sin (Incur Guilt) Guilty (Responsible) Guilt (Consequence) Guiltiness Trespass (Sin) Sinful Sin (Offense) To Stand Guilty Sin (Guilty) Sin (Wrongdoing) Guilty Guilty Of Sin Previously Sin Against Intention (Evil) Be Kind Kindness (Benevolence) Kindness (Graciousness) Kindness (Affection) Acquit Justice (Right) Righteousness (Standard) Righteousness (Act) Just Put Right With Make Righteous Deserved Justify (Vindicate) Justify Justly Justice Righteousness (Quality)

Job’s Plea to God

1“I loathe my own life;I will express my complaintand speak in the bitterness of my soul.2I will say to God:Do not condemn me!Let me know why You prosecute me.3Does it please You to oppress me,to reject the work of Your handsand favor the schemes of the wicked?4Do You have eyes of flesh?Do You see as man sees?5Are Your days like those of a mortal,or Your years like those of a man,6that You should seek my iniquityand search out my sin—7though You know that I am not guilty,and there is no deliverance from Your hand?
ⓘ A series of images shows God's role in...

  • A series of images shows God's role in creating Job.

  • Your hands shaped me … You molded me like clay: This is how a "potter" makes a vessel (Isaiah 45:9; Jeremiah 18:1–12). Although the potter has complete control over the clay, Job still questioned God (Isaiah 45:9; Jeremiah 18:5–12; Romans 9:20–25).

  • return me to dust: This common theme in Job shows life's temporary nature (Job 4:19; 7:9–10, 21; 14:1–2, 10; see Genesis 3:19).

  • You not pour me out like milk, and curdle me like cheese: The Hebrew terms create a lively image of a new born baby still covered with vernix (a creamy substance).
8Your hands shaped me and altogether formed me.Would You now turn and destroy me?9Please remember that You molded me like clay.Would You now return me to dust?10Did You not pour me out like milk,and curdle me like cheese?11You clothed me with skin and flesh,and knit me together with bones and sinews.12You have granted me life and loving devotion,†and Your care has preserved my spirit.
13Yet You concealed these things in Your heart,and I know that this was in Your mind:14If I sinned, You would take note,and would not acquit me of my iniquity.15If I am guilty, woe to me!And even if I am righteous, I cannot lift my head.I am full of shameand aware of my affliction.16Should I hold my head high,You would hunt me like a lion,and again display Your power against me.17You produce new witnesses against meand multiply Your anger toward me.Hardships assault mein wave after wave.
18Why then did You bring me from the womb?Oh, that I had died, and no eye had seen me!19If only I had never come to be,but had been carried from the womb to the grave.
ⓘ Earlier, Job described "Sheol" as a somewhat peaceful...

Earlier, Job described "Sheol" as a somewhat peaceful place (3:13–19). Now, he calls it a land of darkness and gloom (see also 7:9–10; 14:7–22).
20Are my days not few?Withdraw from me, that I may have a little comfort,21before I go—never to return—to a land of darkness and gloom,22to a land of utter darkness,of deep shadow and disorder,where even the light is like darkness.”