Job 9:28

"If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint, I will put off my sad face, and cheer up,’"

Key Reflection

In the context of Job 9:28, Job is expressing his frustration with God's relentless trials and his own suffering. The original audience would understand that Job was contemplating a momentary escape from his pain by suppressing his complaints and forcing himself to smile—only to realize this was futile. This reflects the deep emotional turmoil Job experiences as he grapples with why such calamities befall him, despite his righteousness.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

I am afraid of all my sorrows -My fears return. I dread the continuance of my griefs, and cannot close my eye to them. Thou wilt not hold me innocent -God will not remove my sorrows so as to furnish the evidence that I am innocent. My sufferings continue, and with them continue all the evidence on which my friends rely that I am a guilty man. In such a state of things, how can I be otherwise than sad? He was held to be guilty; he was suffering in such a way as to afford them the proof that he was so, and how could he be cheerful?

More from Job 9

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