Job 2:12

12 When they looked from a distance, they could [barely] recognize him. They wept aloud,^[a] and each man tore his robe and threw dust into the air and on his head.^[b]

Job 2:12 Meaning and Commentary

Job 2:12

And when they lifted up their eyes afar off
Either when at some distance from Job's house, and he being without in the open air, as some think; or as they entered his house, he being at the further part of the room, or in another further on, which they could see into:

and knew him not;
at first sight; until they came nearer to him, his garments being rent, and his head shaved, and his body covered all over with boils; so that he was so deformed and disfigured that they could not know him at first, and could scarcely believe him to be the same person:

they lifted up their voice and wept:
they wept and cried aloud, being greatly affected with the sight of him, and their hearts sympathizing with him under his afflictions, being his cordial friends, and of that disposition, to weep with those that weep:

and they rent everyone his mantle,
or "cloak"; in token of mourning, as Job had done before, (See Gill on Job 1:20);

and sprinkled dust upon their heads towards heaven;
that is, they took up handfuls of dust from off the ground, and threw it up in the air over their heads, which fell upon them and covered them; which was another rite or ceremony used by mourners, as Jarchi observes, and showed the vehemence of their affections and passions, and the confusion they were in at seeing their friend in such a miserable condition; see ( Joshua 7:6 ) ( Ezekiel 27:30 ) ( Lamentations 2:10 ) .

Job 2:12 In-Context

10 "You speak as a foolish woman speaks," he told her. "Should we accept only good from God and not adversity?" Throughout all this Job did not sin in what he said.

11 Now when Job's three friends-Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite-heard about all this adversity that had happened to him, each of them came from his home. They met together to go and offer sympathy and comfort to him.

12 When they looked from a distance, they could [barely] recognize him. They wept aloud, and each man tore his robe and threw dust into the air and on his head.

13 Then they sat on the ground with him seven days and nights, but no one spoke a word to him because they saw that his suffering was very intense.

Footnotes

• [a]. Jdg 21:2; Ru 1:9,14; 2 Sm 13:36
• [b]. Jos 7:6; Lm 2:10; Ezk 27:30