Job 16:9

"You have shriveled me up. This is a witness against me. My leanness rises up against me. It testifies to my face."

Key Reflection

In Job 16:9, the prophet expresses profound physical and emotional suffering through vivid imagery. He states that his tormentors have not only caused him bodily harm ("shriveled me up"), but this suffering has become a visible witness against him. The leanness or emaciation resulting from his trials stands as evidence of his affliction, confronting him face-to-face with the harsh reality of his predicament. This verse encapsulates both the physical and spiritual anguish Job endures, highlighting how his condition serves as a testament to his ordeal in the eyes of those who witness it.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

He teareth me in his wrath -The language here is all taken from the ferocity of wild beasts; and the idea is, that his enemy had come upon him as a lion seizes upon its prey. Rosenmuller, Reiske, and some others suppose that this refers to God. Cocceius refers it to Satan. Schultens, Dr. Good, and some others, to Eliphaz, as the leading man among his adversaries. I have no doubt that this is the true reference. The connection seems to demand this; and we ought not to suppose that Job would charge this upon God, unless there is the clearest evidence. The whole passage is a description of the manner in which Job supposed his friends had come upon him.

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