Job's Lament, Isolation, and Declaration of Hope
Job 19:1-29
Job.19.1 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויען: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- איוב: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- ויאמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Job 6:1 (structural): A similar speech-introduction where Job answers his friends—same dialogic formula marking a turn in the debate.
- Job 7:1 (structural): Begins a new address by Job lamenting his condition; parallels the introductory formula that launches Job’s reply.
- Job 10:1 (thematic): Job directly addresses God in a lament; though the context differs, it parallels the tone and function of Job’s spoken response.
- Job 21:1 (structural): A later speech-introduction ('again Job answered') signaling another cycle of response to his friends—structurally parallel to Job 19:1.
Alternative generated candidates
- Then Job answered and said:
- Then Job answered and said:
Job.19.2 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- עד: PREP
- אנה: ADV,interrog
- תוגיון: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- נפשי: NOUN,f,sg,abs+1cs
- ותדכאונני: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- במלים: PREP+NOUN,f,pl,abs
Parallels
- Job 7:11 (verbal): Both verses voice the sufferer’s protest about inner anguish; Job 7:11 speaks of complaining 'in the bitterness of my soul,' echoing Job 19:2’s complaint of the tormented soul.
- Job 16:4 (thematic): Job here accuses his friends of cruel speech and imagines he could answer them similarly—both passages focus on friends' words as an assault on the sufferer.
- Proverbs 12:18 (verbal): Proverbs likens reckless words to sword thrusts; this verbal weapon imagery parallels Job’s description of being 'crushed' or harmed by words.
- Psalm 64:3–4 (thematic): This psalm depicts enemies sharpening their tongues like swords and plotting harm with speech, thematically parallel to Job’s experience of being wounded and tormented by others’ words.
- Jeremiah 20:8 (thematic): Jeremiah complains of constant whispering and the torment of speech that haunts him—a prophetic parallel to Job’s sense of being worn down and oppressed by relentless words.
Alternative generated candidates
- How long will you torment my soul and crush me with words?
- How long will you torment my soul and crush me with words?
Job.19.3 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- זה: PRON,dem,m,sg
- עשר: NUM,card,m,sg,cons
- פעמים: NOUN,m,du,abs
- תכלימוני: VERB,pi'el,impf,2,m,pl,obj:1,sg
- לא: PART_NEG
- תבשו: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,pl
- תהכרו: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,pl
- לי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
Parallels
- Psalm 22:7 (thematic): Speaks of being mocked and scorned by others—parallel to Job’s complaint that he has been reproached and put to shame by his friends.
- Job 16:4-5 (verbal): Earlier in Job’s speeches he responds to his friends’ words as injurious and shameful; both passages emphasize verbal attacks and the speaker’s humiliation.
- Job 30:1-10 (thematic): Describes being scorned and derided by others (including younger men) and suffering public shame—develops the same theme of repeated reproach and humiliation.
- Psalm 69:19 (verbal): The psalmist pleads that God knows his reproach and shame; the language of reproach/shame echoes Job’s charge that he has been reproached many times.
- Jeremiah 20:10 (thematic): The prophet reports people whispering and denouncing him—parallel to the social hostility and repeated reproach that Job laments.
Alternative generated candidates
- You have put me to shame ten times; you are not ashamed to humiliate me.
- For ten times you have reproached me; will you not be ashamed to insult me?
Job.19.4 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ואף: CONJ+ADV
- אמנם: PART
- שגיתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,m,sg
- אתי: PRON,1,sg
- תלין: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- משוגתי: NOUN,f,sg,abs
Parallels
- Psalm 38:5 (verbal): Links physical suffering to the speaker’s own 'foolishness' or folly—verbal/thematic overlap with the image of madness/folly clinging to the sufferer.
- Psalm 22:6-8 (thematic): Both portray the speaker as scorned, mocked, and desolate while undergoing intense affliction—an analogous motif of social derision amid suffering.
- Isaiah 53:4-5 (thematic): The motif of an afflicted, suffering figure who bears pain (despite innocence) parallels Job’s protest against undeserved suffering.
- Job 16:19-21 (verbal): An intra-book parallel: Job earlier appeals to a heavenly witness/advocate and insists on vindication—closely related language and argument within Job’s speeches.
Alternative generated candidates
- Even if I have erred, you lay my error upon me.
- And even if I have erred, my error remains with me.
Job.19.5 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- אם: CONJ
- אמנם: PART
- עלי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
- תגדילו: VERB,hiph,impf,2,m,pl
- ותוכיחו: CONJ+VERB,hiph,impf,2,m,pl
- עלי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
- חרפתי: NOUN,f,sg,abs,poss:1,sg
Parallels
- Job 30:10 (thematic): Job describes younger men and bystanders mocking and reproaching him—parallel situation of others exalting themselves and reproving Job (shared theme of derision and reproach).
- Psalm 22:7-8 (thematic): The psalmist is taunted and mocked by enemies ('he trusted in the LORD; let him deliver him'), echoing the theme of being reproached and derided by others.
- Psalm 69:9 (verbal): Speaks of 'the reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me' — close verbal and thematic resonance with the idea of reproach falling upon the sufferer.
- Isaiah 53:3 (thematic): The Suffering Servant is 'despised and rejected' and bears shame and reproach, paralleling Job's experience of being magnified, reproved, and shamed by others.
Alternative generated candidates
- If you indeed exalt yourselves against me and reprove me for my disgrace—
- Yet you grow bold against me and reproach me for my disgrace.
Job.19.6 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- דעו: VERB,qal,imp,2,pl
- אפו: NOUN,m,sg,abs,suff3ms
- כי: CONJ
- אלוה: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- עותני: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg+PRON:1,sg
- ומצודו: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON:3,m,sg
- עלי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
- הקיף: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Lamentations 3:1,7 (thematic): Speaker laments being singled out by God's hand and describes being hedged/encircled so that escape is impossible—closely parallels Job's complaint that God has wronged him and 'surrounded' or 'closed' him in.
- Jonah 2:3-6 (verbal): Jonah depicts the waters and the depths 'closing round about' him—uses the same imagery of being surrounded/compassed (closed in) by overwhelming forces, similar to Job's 'God has closed his net about me.'
- Psalm 18:4-6 (thematic): The psalmist speaks of sorrows and floods compassing him and death encircling him—a lament of being beset and surrounded by peril akin to Job's sense of divine encirclement and persecution.
- Psalm 9:15 (verbal): Uses net/trap imagery (a net capturing the nations) — parallels Job's use of מצוד ('net' or snare) to describe how God has enclosed or ensnared him, highlighting the motif of entrapment.
Alternative generated candidates
- know then that God's hand has afflicted me, and his net has encompassed me.
- Know then that God has wronged me; his hand has beset me and encircled me.
Job.19.7 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- הן: PART
- אצעק: VERB,qal,impf,1,c,sg
- חמס: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ולא: CONJ
- אענה: VERB,qal,impf,1,_,sg
- אשוע: VERB,qal,impf,1,sg
- ואין: CONJ+PART,exist
- משפט: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Habakkuk 1:2 (verbal): Very close verbal parallel — the prophet cries 'How long... shall I cry, and you will not hear? Or cry violence and you will not save?' echoing Job's cry for help and lack of response.
- Job 30:20 (verbal): Within Job itself: 'I cry out to you, and you do not answer' repeats the motif of shouting for help and receiving no reply.
- Lamentations 3:8 (allusion): Lament's speaker says that when he cries or shouts for help God 'shuts out' his prayer — a close thematic/allusive parallel to crying for violence/justice with no answer.
- Psalm 10:1 (thematic): Both express the theme of divine hiddenness in suffering: 'Why, O LORD, do you stand far away? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?'
- Psalm 22:1 (thematic): The psalmist's cry 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?' shares the motif of desperate appeal and the sense of abandonment expressed in Job 19:7.
Alternative generated candidates
- I cry out, "Violence!" and there is no answer; I cry for help, and there is no vindication.
- For I cry, "Violence!" and there is no answer; I call for help, and there is no justice.
Job.19.8 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ארחי: NOUN,m,sg,abs,1cs
- גדר: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ולא: CONJ
- אעבור: VERB,qal,impf,1,_,sg
- ועל: CONJ+PREP
- נתיבותי: NOUN,f,pl,suff
- חשך: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- ישים: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Lamentations 3:7 (verbal): Uses nearly identical imagery of being walled/hedged in so one cannot pass—echoes Job’s complaint that God has fenced his way and blocked his path.
- Isaiah 59:9-10 (thematic): Speaks of walking in darkness and groping for a wall like the blind, paralleling Job’s image of paths darkened and access obstructed.
- Psalm 88:6 (thematic): Describes being laid in the depths and in darkness, reflecting the theme of divine abandonment and life lived under darkness on one’s path.
- Proverbs 4:19 (thematic): Compares a life-path to deep darkness where one stumbles—resonates with Job’s assertion that darkness has been placed on his ways.
Alternative generated candidates
- He has hedged up my ways so that I cannot pass; he has darkened my paths.
- He has fenced my ways so that I cannot pass; he has placed darkness upon my paths.
Job.19.9 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- כבודי: NOUN,m,sg,abs,poss:1cs
- מעלי: PREP+PRON,3,m,sg
- הפשיט: VERB,hiph,perf,3,m,sg
- ויסר: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- עטרת: NOUN,f,sg,cons
- ראשי: NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,1,sg
Parallels
- Psalm 89:39 (verbal): Speaks of God defiling or casting down the king's crown—very similar imagery of honor stripped and crown laid in the dust.
- Lamentations 5:16 (verbal): Explicitly declares that 'the crown has fallen from our head,' echoing Job's language of lost honor and removed crown.
- Ezekiel 21:26 (verbal): Commands removal of the turban and crown—uses the same bodily/coronal imagery of taking off a crown as symbolic of lost rule or honor.
- 1 Samuel 15:28 (thematic): Samuel tells Saul that the LORD has torn the kingdom from him—thematic parallel of divinely effected removal of status, honor, or kingship.
Alternative generated candidates
- He strips honor from me and removes the crown from my head.
- He has stripped me of my honor and removed the crown from my head.
Job.19.10 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- יתצני: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- סביב: ADV
- ואלך: CONJ+PREP+PRON,2,m,sg
- ויסע: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- כעץ: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- תקותי: NOUN,f,sg,abs+1s
Parallels
- Psalm 22:12-18 (verbal): Imagery of being beset by enemies and their gnashing (compassed by bulls/dogs; pierced hands/feet) parallels Job’s sense of being surrounded and mauled by adversaries.
- Job 16:13-14 (thematic): Earlier complaint in Job of being hemmed in, attacked and driven from his place; internal parallel in the book’s portrayal of persecution and isolation.
- Psalm 1:3 (structural): Contrasts the blessed person ‘like a tree planted by streams’ with Job’s experience of being driven away/uprooted—uses tree imagery to highlight reversal of fortune.
- Isaiah 53:3 (thematic): The Suffering Servant’s portrayal as despised, acquainted with grief and rejected by men echoes Job’s experience of abandonment and derision.
Alternative generated candidates
- They beset me round about, and I go; my hope is cut off like a tree.
- He has broken me on every side; I go away, and my hope he has uprooted like a tree.
Job.19.11 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויחר: VERB,qal,imf,3,m,sg
- עלי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
- אפו: NOUN,m,sg,abs,suff3ms
- ויחשבני: VERB,qal,wayy,3,m,sg+PRON,1,sg
- לו: PRON,3,m,sg
- כצריו: PREP_COMP+NOUN,m,pl,abs+PRON,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Isaiah 63:10 (verbal): Isaiah says the people 'rebelled and turned him to be their enemy,' paralleling Job's complaint that God's anger is kindled and that he is counted as an enemy.
- Psalm 88:7 (thematic): The psalmist laments that God's wrath lies heavy upon him—echoing Job's sense of being the object of divine anger.
- Lamentations 3:1 (thematic): Jeremiah speaks of seeing 'affliction by the rod of his wrath,' a thematic parallel to Job's experience of personal punishment and divine hostility.
- Exodus 32:10 (thematic): In the aftermath of the golden calf God declares his wrath will burn against the people—similar language of God's anger kindled against those he judges, as in Job's lament.
Alternative generated candidates
- His anger burns against me; he regards me as his adversary.
- His anger burns against me, and he counts me as his enemy.
Job.19.12 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- יחד: ADV
- יבאו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- גדודיו: NOUN,m,sg,suff-3ms
- ויסלו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- עלי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
- דרכם: NOUN,f,sg,abs+3,m,pl
- ויחנו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- סביב: ADV
- לאהלי: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,suff-1sg
Parallels
- Psalm 22:12-13 (verbal): Uses similar imagery of being surrounded by hostile forces—'Many bulls have compassed me; strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round'—a close verbal/thematic parallel to encampment around the sufferer.
- Psalm 3:6 (verbal): Speaks of enemies 'set themselves against me round about,' echoing the language of being encompassed by hostile crowds.
- Psalm 27:3 (thematic): Imagery of an army encamping against the individual—'Though an host should encamp against me'—parallels the motif of siege and surrounding threat in Job 19:12.
- Psalm 38:11 (thematic): Describes friends and companions standing aloof from the sufferer, resonating with Job's complementary complaint that his friends are set far from him after encampment and hostility.
Alternative generated candidates
- His troops come together; they advance against me and encamp around my tents.
- His troops come together and cut off my way; they encamp around my tents.
Job.19.13 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- אחי: NOUN,m,pl,suff
- מעלי: PREP+PRON,3,m,sg
- הרחיק: VERB,hiph,perf,3,m,sg
- וידעי: VERB,qal,imperf,3,m,pl
- אך: PART
- זרו: VERB,qal,perf,3,pl
- ממני: PREP,suff,1,m,sg
Parallels
- Psalm 38:11 (verbal): Both texts portray friends and kinsmen standing aloof in time of trouble—'my lovers and my friends stand aloof' echoes Job's report that his relatives and close friends have distanced themselves.
- Psalm 31:11 (thematic): Describes social abandonment and fear of acquaintances—'those who see me in the street flee from me' parallels Job's claim that kin and acquaintances have turned away.
- Psalm 88:8-9 (verbal): Speaks of beloved ones and companions abandoning the sufferer and leaving him in darkness—language and theme closely parallel Job's complaint of being forsaken by relatives and friends.
- Isaiah 53:3 (thematic): The Suffering Servant is 'despised and rejected' and 'men hide their faces'—themewise similar to Job's experience of social rejection and isolation by kin and friends.
Alternative generated candidates
- My brothers have grown distant from me; my acquaintances stand far off.
- My kinsmen have withdrawn from me; my intimate friends are utterly estranged from me.
Job.19.14 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- חדלו: VERB,qal,perf,3,pl
- קרובי: NOUN,m,pl,abs,1s
- ומידעי: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs,poss1s
- שכחוני: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl,obj1s
Parallels
- Job 19:13–15 (structural): Immediate context—verses before and after continue the same thought: relatives and acquaintances have become estranged, deserted, and even hostile toward Job.
- Psalm 31:11 (verbal): Speaks of being deserted and forgotten by neighbors and acquaintances ('my friends and companions'), echoing Job’s cry of abandonment.
- Psalm 38:11 (thematic): Describes friends and neighbors keeping their distance in the psalmist’s suffering—similar motif of social isolation and abandonment.
- Isaiah 49:14 (thematic): Zion’s lament that the Lord has forsaken and forgotten her parallels Job’s sense of being forgotten and left by those close to him.
Alternative generated candidates
- My close kin have failed me, and those who knew me have forgotten me.
- Those close to me have ceased; my acquaintances have forgotten me.
Job.19.15 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- גרי: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ביתי: NOUN,m,sg,abs+1cs
- ואמהתי: CONJ+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- לזר: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- תחשבני: VERB,qal,imprf,2,ms
- נכרי: ADJ,m,sg
- הייתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,sg
- בעיניהם: PREP+NOUN,f,pl,poss-3,m,pl
Parallels
- Psalm 31:11 (thematic): The psalmist laments that neighbors and acquaintances flee and treat him as an object of dread—paralleling Job's sense that relatives and household regard him as a stranger.
- Psalm 88:8-9 (thematic): Speaks of lovers, friends, and nearest kin standing far off in the midst of the speaker's suffering, closely mirroring Job's abandonment by family and servants.
- Psalm 41:9 (thematic): Declares that a close companion who shared bread has risen against the speaker—an image of intimate betrayal and alienation akin to Job being regarded as a foreigner in his own home.
- John 13:18 (quotation): Jesus cites Psalm 41:9 about betrayal by a close friend (Judas); the New Testament quotation echoes the biblical motif of intimate treachery and desertion found in Job.
- 2 Timothy 4:16 (thematic): Paul reports that at his first defense no one stood by him and all deserted him—an early Christian echo of the same experience of friends and kin abandoning the sufferer.
Alternative generated candidates
- My servants count me a stranger; I am an alien in their sight.
- My household guests and my maidservant count me a stranger; I am a foreigner in their sight.
Job.19.16 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- לעבדי: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs,poss:1
- קראתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,_,sg
- ולא: CONJ
- יענה: VERB,qal,imperfect,3,m,sg
- במו: PREP+PRON,3,m,sg
- פי: NOUN,m,sg,construct
- אתחנן: VERB,hitp,impf,1,m,sg
- לו: PRON,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Psalm 22:2 (verbal): A direct lament: the speaker cries to God by day and night but receives no answer—parallels the motif of calling and not being answered.
- Isaiah 50:2 (verbal): Uses nearly identical language—'I called, and there was no one to answer; I called, and there was no one to respond'—a close verbal parallel about unanswered appeals.
- Lamentations 3:8 (thematic): Speaks of calling and crying for help only to have prayers shut out; shares the theme of entreaty met with silence or rejection.
- Job 30:20 (thematic): Within Job itself—another explicit complaint that God does not answer the sufferer’s cries—reiterates the same experience of unanswered pleading.
Alternative generated candidates
- I called my servant and he would not answer; I entreated him with my mouth.
- I called to my servant, and he gave no answer; I entreated him with my mouth.
Job.19.17 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- רוחי: NOUN,f,sg,abs+1cs
- זרה: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- לאשתי: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs,1cs
- וחנתי: CONJ+NOUN,f,sg,abs,1cs
- לבני: PREP
- בטני: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,poss1s
Parallels
- Psalm 69:8 (verbal): Uses almost identical language of becoming a stranger/alien to one's kin — expresses familial estrangement like Job's complaint.
- Psalm 38:11 (verbal): Speaks of friends and kinsmen standing aloof from the sufferer, paralleling Job's report that his wife and children have turned away.
- Psalm 27:10 (thematic): Portrays the theme of parental/familial forsaking ('when my father and mother forsake me') and contrasts human abandonment with divine care — thematically related to Job's isolation.
- Isaiah 49:15 (thematic): Addresses the fear of being forgotten or abandoned by close kin (mother), but emphasizes God's unfailing remembrance — a thematic counterpoint to Job's familial alienation.
- Lamentations 1:2 (thematic): Describes abandonment and lack of comfort from those once close ('no one to comfort her'), echoing the sorrow of being estranged from family in Job 19:17.
Alternative generated candidates
- My breath is hateful to my wife; I am loathsome to the children of my womb.
- My breath is offensive to my wife, and I am loathsome to my own children.
Job.19.18 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- גם: ADV
- עוילים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- מאסו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- בי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
- אקומה: VERB,qal,impf,1,sg
- וידברו: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,pl
- בי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
Parallels
- Psalm 22:7-8 (verbal): Describes being mocked and derided by onlookers—'All who see me mock me'—echoing Job's complaint of being scorned and made an object of ridicule.
- Psalm 31:11 (verbal): Speaks of being a reproach and disgrace among people ('I am a reproach among all my enemies'), paralleling Job's sense of public contempt and shame.
- Isaiah 53:3 (thematic): The Suffering Servant is 'despised and rejected'—a thematic parallel to Job's experience of being scorned and made a byword.
- Matthew 27:39-44 (allusion): The crowd's taunts of Jesus ('He saved others; Himself he cannot save') reflect the same motif of public mockery and derision found in Job.
Alternative generated candidates
- Even the young scorn me; when I rise they speak against me.
- Even young men scorn me; when I rise they mock me.
Job.19.19 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- תעבוני: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,pl
- כל: DET
- מתי: ADV,int
- סודי: ADJ,m,sg
- וזה: CONJ+PRON,dem,m,sg,abs
- אהבתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,_,sg
- נהפכו: VERB,niphal,perf,3,pl
- בי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
Parallels
- Psalm 41:9 (verbal): A close companion whom the speaker trusted becomes a betrayer — language of a trusted friend turning against the sufferer echoes Job’s lament.
- Psalm 55:12-14 (thematic): Complaint about betrayal by an equal and intimate companion who once shared friendship and counsel, paralleling Job’s sense of treachery by those he loved.
- Lamentations 1:2 (thematic): Image of abandonment and friends dealing treacherously, reflecting the theme of loved ones turning away from the afflicted.
- 2 Samuel 15:6 (thematic): Absalom ‘steals the hearts’ of the people and turns them against David — a narrative instance of intimates and supporters turning hostile, thematically close to Job’s experience.
- Matthew 26:47-50 (thematic): The betrayal of Jesus by a close associate (Judas) who identifies him with a kiss — a New Testament parallel of intimate friendship becoming active betrayal.
Alternative generated candidates
- All my intimate friends detest me; those whom I loved have turned against me.
- All my intimate friends detest me; those I loved have turned against me.
Job.19.20 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- בעורי: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs,poss:1
- ובבשרי: CONJ+PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs,poss:1
- דבקה: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- עצמי: PRON,1,ms,sg
- ואתמלטה: CONJ+VERB,hitpael,perf,3,f,sg
- בעור: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- שני: NUM,m,pl,construct
Parallels
- Psalm 38:3-4 (verbal): Both verses use the language of flesh and bones (Hebrew בְּשָׂרִי / עַצְמוֹתַי) to describe bodily affliction—no soundness in the flesh and the wasting or clinging of bones to flesh.
- Psalm 22:14 (thematic): Imagery of extreme physical collapse—bones and body in distress—parallels Job’s description of skin and flesh clinging as a motif of physical and existential suffering.
- Isaiah 1:6 (thematic): Isaiah’s catalogue of bodily corruption (“no soundness from head to foot”) echoes the motif of the body ruined or clinging to life found in Job 19:20.
- Job 30:20-21 (structural): Within the same speech-cycle of Job’s laments, these verses continue the theme of abandonment and bodily affliction—reinforcing the book’s recurring lament formula linking physical suffering and divine silence.
Alternative generated candidates
- My bones cling to my skin and to my flesh; I escape by the skin of my teeth.
- My bones cling to my skin and to my flesh; I have escaped with the skin of my teeth.
Job.19.21 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- חנני: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- חנני: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- אתם: PRON,2,m,pl
- רעי: NOUN,m,pl,cons
- כי: CONJ
- יד: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אלוה: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- נגעה: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- בי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
Parallels
- Job 16:2 (verbal): Job directly addresses his friends as failed comforters—'Miserable comforters are ye all'—echoing the appeal to his friends to show pity in 19:21.
- Psalm 69:20 (thematic): The psalmist laments being without pity or comforters ('I looked for some to take pity on me, but there was none'), paralleling Job's plea to his friends for compassion.
- Lamentations 3:1-2 (thematic): Describes personal suffering as the result of God's action ('He hath led me, and brought me into darkness'), corresponding to Job's claim that the hand of God has touched him.
- 1 Samuel 5:6 (verbal): Speaks of divine affliction with similar language ('the hand of the LORD was heavy upon them'), paralleling Job's phrase that God's hand has touched him.
Alternative generated candidates
- Have pity on me, have pity on me, O my friends, for the hand of God has touched me.
- Have pity on me, have pity on me, O my friends; for the hand of God has touched me.
Job.19.22 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- למה: ADV
- תרדפני: VERB,qal,impf,2,f,sg
- כמו: PREP
- אל: NEG
- ומבשרי: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לא: PART_NEG
- תשבעו: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,pl
Parallels
- Job 16:2 (verbal): Job accuses his friends of offering cruel speeches ('miserable comforters'), paralleling 19:22's charge that they persecute him like God — both criticize the friends' hostile treatment.
- Job 16:10 (thematic): Job depicts himself as being torn and afflicted by a divine-like attack ('He has torn me in his wrath'), echoing 19:22's image of being pursued or treated as if by God.
- Psalm 22:7-8 (thematic): The psalmist complains of being mocked and scorned ('All who see me mock me... they shake their heads'), resonating with Job's complaint that his friends persecute him and show no shame at his suffering.
- Psalm 35:15 (thematic): David describes enemies rejoicing and gloating over his misfortune ('...they gnashed at me with the teeth'), comparable to Job's depiction of friends pursuing and taking no shame in his afflicted flesh.
Alternative generated candidates
- Why do you pursue me as God does, and are not satisfied with my flesh?
- Why do you persecute me as the Almighty, and are not satisfied with my flesh?
Job.19.23 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- מי: PRON,interr,sg
- יתן: VERB,qal,imperf,3,m,sg
- אפו: NOUN,m,sg,abs,suff3ms
- ויכתבון: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- מלי: NOUN,f,pl,abs+1cs
- מי: PRON,interr,sg
- יתן: VERB,qal,imperf,3,m,sg
- בספר: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ויחקו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
Parallels
- Habakkuk 2:2 (verbal): God tells Habakkuk to 'write the vision and make it plain'—a close verbal parallel to Job's longing that his words be written and preserved.
- Jeremiah 30:2 (quotation): 'Write all the words that I have spoken to you in a book' echoes the idea of inscribing words in a book for posterity, similar to Job's wish.
- Isaiah 30:8 (allusion): 'Go, write it before them on a tablet, and note it on a scroll' uses the same imagery of recording words on a tablet/scroll for future remembrance.
- Psalm 102:18 (thematic): 'Let this be written for a future generation...' shares Job's concern that his words be preserved so future generations will know and remember.
- Deuteronomy 31:19 (structural): Moses is instructed to 'write this song for yourselves' so that future generations remember—parallel in purpose and form to Job's desire to have his words recorded.
Alternative generated candidates
- Oh that my words were written down! Oh that they were inscribed in a book!
- Oh that my words were written! Oh that they were inscribed in a book!
Job.19.24 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- בעט: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ברזל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ועפרת: CONJ+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- לעד: ADV
- בצור: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יחצבון: VERB,qal,impf,3,pl
Parallels
- Habakkuk 2:2 (verbal): “Write the vision... on tablets” — close verbal parallel: a direct command to write/inscribe a message on a durable medium so it endures.
- Isaiah 30:8 (verbal): “Write it before them on a tablet, and inscribe it in a book... forever” — similar vocabulary (write/inscribe/forever) and the intent to record something permanently.
- Exodus 32:16 (structural): “The writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables” — the image of writing engraved in stone/tablets parallels Job’s metaphor of cutting words into rock for permanence.
- Jeremiah 30:2 (allusion): “Thus saith the LORD... Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book” — the prophetic command to set words down in a book echoes Job’s call to fix his words in writing.
- Deuteronomy 17:18 (thematic): “He shall write him a copy of this law in a book” — legal/royal injunction to produce a permanent written record, reflecting the broader ancient practice of inscribing authoritative texts for posterity.
Alternative generated candidates
- With an iron stylus and with lead—forever—engraved in the rock.
- That with an iron pen and with lead they were engraved for ever in the rock!
Job.19.25 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ואני: PRON,1,sg
- ידעתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,?,sg
- גאלי: NOUN,m,sg+1s
- חי: ADJ,m,sg
- ואחרון: CONJ+ADJ,m,sg
- על: PREP
- עפר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יקום: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Psalm 16:10 (allusion): Both express confidence that God will not abandon the righteous to Sheol; Psalm 16 is later read as a messianic/ resurrection assurance, echoing Job’s assurance that his Redeemer lives.
- Isaiah 53:10-11 (thematic): The servant’s suffering is followed by divine vindication and seeing the results of redemption—paralleling Job’s expectation that his Redeemer will stand and vindicate him.
- Daniel 12:2 (thematic): An explicit oracle of resurrection—‘many who sleep in the dust shall awake’—which parallels Job’s conviction that he will rise from the earth in the last day.
- John 11:25 (thematic): Jesus’ self-declaration ‘I am the resurrection and the life’ resonates with Job’s trust in a living Redeemer who effects resurrection and life.
- 1 Corinthians 15:20-22 (thematic): Paul’s proclamation of Christ as the firstfruits of the resurrection and the future resurrection of believers echoes Job’s hope that the Redeemer lives and will stand at the last.
Alternative generated candidates
- For I know that my Redeemer lives, and that at last he will stand upon the earth.
- But I know that my Redeemer lives, and that at the last he will stand upon the earth.
Job.19.26 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ואחר: CONJ
- עורי: VERB,qal,imp,2,f,sg
- נקפו: VERB,qal,perf,3,pl
- זאת: DEM,f,sg
- ומבשרי: CONJ+PREP+NOUN,m,sg,suff
- אחזה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- אלוה: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Psalm 17:15 (verbal): Both speak of awakening and beholding God's face—'when I awake I shall be satisfied, beholding your likeness,' echoing Job's confident sight of God after awakening/resurrection.
- Isaiah 26:19 (thematic): Promises of the dead living again—'your dead shall live'—resonates with Job's hope that after his body is destroyed he will nevertheless see God.
- Daniel 12:2 (thematic): Describes a future awakening of many from the dust of the earth to life and reward, paralleling Job's expectation of post‑mortem vindication and vision of God.
- 1 Corinthians 13:12 (thematic): 'For now we see in a mirror dimly, then face to face'—echoes Job's hope of a definitive, direct seeing of God (contrast between present obscurity and future vision).
- 1 John 3:2 (verbal): 'We shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is' closely parallels Job's assurance that he will see God in his (renewed) flesh.
Alternative generated candidates
- And though after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet from my flesh I shall see God;
- And after my skin has been thus stripped away, yet in my flesh I shall see God;
Job.19.27 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- אשר: PRON,rel
- אני: PRON,1,sg
- אחזה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- לי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
- ועיני: NOUN,f,pl,cons
- ראו: VERB,qal,impv,2,pl
- ולא: CONJ
- זר: ADJ,m,sg,abs
- כלו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- כליתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,sg
- בחקי: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,poss1
Parallels
- Job 42:5 (verbal): Direct verbal and thematic parallel — both speak of moving from hearing about God to personally seeing Him with the eyes (’my eye has seen you’).
- Genesis 32:30 (allusion): Jacob’s claim to have ‘seen God face to face’ echoes Job’s confident assertion that he himself will see God; both express personal, eye-witness encounter with the divine.
- Exodus 33:11 (structural): Like Job’s statement of a direct sight of God, Exodus describes Moses speaking with God ‘face to face,’ framing the theme of intimate, personal vision/communion with God.
- Psalm 17:15 (thematic): Both verses express the hope/confidence of beholding God’s face: ‘I shall behold your face’ (Hebrew worship/eschatological vision) parallels Job’s expectation to see God.
- 1 John 3:2 (thematic): New Testament eschatological fulfillment of the same hope: believers will ‘see him as he is,’ resonating with Job’s forward-looking assurance of personally seeing God.
Alternative generated candidates
- whom I myself shall see—my eyes shall behold him, and not another; my innermost being yearns within me.
- whom I myself shall behold; my eyes shall see him, and not another—my heart faints within me.
Job.19.28 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- כי: CONJ
- תאמרו: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,pl
- מה: PRON,int
- נרדף: VERB,niphal,perf,3,m,sg
- לו: PRON,3,m,sg
- ושרש: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,cs
- דבר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- נמצא: VERB,nip,perf,3,m,sg
- בי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
Parallels
- Job 19:25 (structural): Immediately adjacent verse in the same speech: Job contrasts his friends’ taunting with his confident claim of a living Redeemer and future vindication.
- Job 21:7–9 (verbal): Job elsewhere responds to similar taunting about the wicked’s prosperity and the point or profit of suffering; echoes the opponents’ rhetorical questioning of justice and gain.
- Psalm 35:11–14 (thematic): The psalmist describes false witnesses and malicious accusers who persecute a righteous sufferer—paralleling the friends’ hostile questioning and persecution of Job.
- Psalm 73:12–13 (thematic): A reflection on the apparent advantage of the wicked and the baffling question of what benefit comes from righteousness—similar in tone to the sarcastic ‘what profit…?’ addressed to Job.
- Jeremiah 12:1 (allusion): The prophet’s lament—‘Righteous are you, O LORD… why does the way of the wicked prosper?’—resonates with the inquiry into the profit or result of pursuing righteousness amid suffering, as in Job 19:28.
Alternative generated candidates
- You will say, "How shall we pursue him? What is the source of the matter in me?"
- For you will say, "How shall we pursue him? The root of the matter is found in me."
Job.19.29 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- גורו: VERB,qal,impv,2,m,pl
- לכם: PREP,2,m,pl
- מפני: PREP
- חרב: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- כי: CONJ
- חמה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- עונות: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- חרב: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- למען: PREP
- תדעון: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,pl
- שדון: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Psalm 7:12-13 (verbal): Speaks of God sharpening his sword and arming himself against the unrepentant—parallel imagery of the sword prepared as divine punishment for sin.
- Deuteronomy 32:41 (verbal): God declares he will sharpen his flashing sword and take hold of judgment—similar language of the sword as the instrument of God's retributive justice.
- Jeremiah 15:2 (verbal): Contains the phrase “such as are for the sword, to the sword,” echoing the motif of people being given over to the sword as fate or divine sentence.
- Ezekiel 21:3-4 (thematic): Announces a sword drawn for slaughter because of the people's iniquity—the sword is presented as a consequence of sin, resonating with Job’s warning about the sword and judgment.
- Isaiah 10:5-6 (thematic): Portrays Assyria as God’s instrument, a ‘rod of my anger’ sent by the LORD to punish nations—connects the idea of the sword (or foreign power) functioning as God’s punitive tool for sin.
Alternative generated candidates
- Be afraid for yourselves of the sword; for wrath begets the sword, that you may know there is judgment.
- Be afraid for yourselves of the sword; for wrath brings the sword's vengeance, that you may know there is judgment.
Then Job answered and said:
How long will you torment my soul and crush me with words?
You have put me to shame ten times; you show no shame in reproaching me.
Even if I have erred, my error remains with me.
Would you exalt yourselves against me and reproach me for my disgrace?
Know then that his anger is toward me; the Almighty has wronged me, and his host has beset me.
I cry out for help, 'Violence!' but there is no answer; I cry for rescue, yet there is no justice.
He has fenced up my way so that I cannot pass; he has cast darkness upon my paths.
He has stripped me of my honor and removed the crown from my head.
He has beset me on every side; I go about in ruin; he uproots my hope like a tree.
His wrath burns against me; he counts me as his adversary.
Together his companies advance and mark out their course against me; they encamp around my tents.
My brothers have gone far from me; my kinsmen are estranged.
Those close to me have failed, and my acquaintances have forgotten me.
The inhabitants of my house and my servants regard me as a stranger; I am an alien in their sight.
I called to my servant, but he gave no answer; I entreated him with my mouth.
My breath is loathsome to my wife; I am repulsive to the children of my own body.
Even the young men despise me; when I rise they speak against me.
All who once held me dear now abhor me; my love has turned to loathing.
My bone clings to my skin and to my flesh; I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth.
Have pity on me, have pity on me, O my friends, for the hand of God has touched me.
Why do you pursue me as God, and are you never satisfied with my flesh?
O that my words were written! O that they were inscribed in a book!
With an iron stylus and with lead they would be engraved forever upon the rock.
For I know that my Redeemer lives; and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin is thus destroyed, yet from my flesh I shall see God;
whom I myself shall behold—my eyes shall see him, and not another. My inmost being is consumed within me.
For you will say, 'How shall we pursue him? Where is the root of the matter found?'
Be afraid for yourselves because of the sword; for the wrath of the sword is a punishment, that you may learn there is judgment.