Job 13:28

28 And he, as a rotten thing, consumeth, as a garment that is moth eaten.

Job 13:28 Meaning and Commentary

Job 13:28

And he as a rotten thing consumeth
This by some Jewish writers F26 is referred to and connected with the driven leaf and dry stubble Job compares himself to, ( Job 13:25 ) ; and so the sense is, that his body, which, for its frailty and weakness, is compared to such things, is like any rotten thing, a rotten tree, as Ben Melech; or any thing else that is rotten, that is consuming and wasting away, as Job's body was, being clothed with worms and clods of dust:

as a garment that is moth eaten;
a woollen garment, which gathers dust, out of which motifs arise; for dust, in wool and woollen garments produces moths, as Aristotle F1 and Pliny F2 observe; and a garment eaten by them, slowly, gradually, and insensibly, yet certainly, decays, falls to pieces, becomes useless, and not to be recovered; such was Job's body, labouring under the diseases it did, and was every day more and more decaying, crumbling into dust, and just ready to drop into the grave; so that there was no need, and it might seem cruel, to lay greater and heavier afflictions on it: some interpreters make this "he" to be God himself who sometimes is as rottenness and a moth to men, in their persons, families, and estates; see ( Hosea 5:12 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F26 R. Levi, Ben Gersom, & Bar Tzemach.
F1 Hist. Animal. l. 5. c. 32.
F2 Nat. Hist. l. 11. c. 35.

Job 13:28 In-Context

26 For thou writest bitter things against me, and makest me to possess the iniquities of my youth.
27 Thou puttest my feet also in the stocks, and lookest narrowly unto all my paths; thou settest a print upon the heels of my feet.
28 And he, as a rotten thing, consumeth, as a garment that is moth eaten.
The King James Version is in the public domain.