Job 30:18

18 With a strong hand, God grabs my shirt. He grips me by the collar of my coat.

Job 30:18 Meaning and Commentary

Job 30:18

By the great force [of my disease] is my garment changed
Either the colour of it, through the purulent matter from his ulcers running down upon it, or penetrating through it; or by reason of it he was obliged to shift himself, and to have a change of raiment very frequently; or the supplement, "of my disease", may be left out, and the sense be, with great force, through main strength, and with much difficulty, his garment was changed, was got off from him, sticking so close to him, and another put on:

it bindeth me about as the collar of my coat;
his disease encompassed him about on all sides as the collar or edge of his coat encompassed his neck, and cleaved as close, and was as tight unto him as that, and threatened him perhaps with a suffocation or strangling; see ( Job 7:15 ) ; the allusion is to garments used in the eastern countries, which were only open at top and bottom; at the top there was a hole to put the head through when put on, and a binding about it, and a button to it, or some such thing, which kept it tight about the neck; see ( Exodus 28:32 ) .

Job 30:18 In-Context

16 “And now my life seeps away. Depression haunts my days.
17 At night my bones are filled with pain, which gnaws at me relentlessly.
18 With a strong hand, God grabs my shirt. He grips me by the collar of my coat.
19 He has thrown me into the mud. I’m nothing more than dust and ashes.
20 “I cry to you, O God, but you don’t answer. I stand before you, but you don’t even look.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. As in Greek version; Hebrew reads hand, my garment is disfigured.
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