Job 9:17

17 For in a whirlwind he shall all-break me, and he shall multiply my wounds, yea, without cause. (For he shall all-break me with a whirlwind, and he shall multiply my wounds, yea, for no reason.)

Job 9:17 Meaning and Commentary

Job 9:17

For he breaketh me with a tempest
Which rises suddenly, comes powerfully, and carries all before it irresistibly; hereby signifying the nature of his present sore afflictions, which came upon him at once, pressed him down, and utterly destroyed him, against which there was no standing: perhaps he may have some reference to the storm of wind that blew down the house, by which his children were destroyed. Schultens renders it, "a burning tempest" F19, such as is common in the eastern countries, which Thevenot F20 often makes mention of; which kills a man at once, and his flesh becomes as black as a coal, and comes off of his bones, and is plucked off by the hand that would lift him up; with which a man is broken to pieces indeed, to which Job may allude:

and multiplieth my wounds without cause;
referring, it may be, to the many boils and ulcers upon his body; though it may also respect the multiplicity of ways in which he had wounded or afflicted him, in his person, in his family, and in his substance, and which he says was done "without cause"; not without a cause or reason in God, who does nothing without one, though it may not be known to men; particularly in afflicting men, it is not without cause or reason; it he punishes men, it is for sin; if he rebukes and chastises his people, it is for their transgressions; to bring them to a sense of them, to humble them for them, to bring them off from them, or to prevent them, or purge them away, and to try their graces, wean them from the world, and fit them for himself: but Job's afflictions were without any such cause intimated by his friends; it was not hypocrisy, nor any notorious sin or sins he had been guilty of, and secretly lived and indulged himself in, as they imagined. Job here suggests his innocence, which he always insisted upon, and refers his afflictions to the sovereign will of God, and to some hidden cause in his own breast, unknown to himself and others: however, so long as he dealt with him after this manner, he could not believe his prayers were heard by him.


FOOTNOTES:

F19 (hrevb) "in turbine ardenti", Schultens.
F20 Travels, par. 2. B. 1. c. 12. p. 54. B. 3. c. 5. p. 135.

Job 9:17 In-Context

15 Which also (I) shall not answer to him, though I have anything just; but I shall beseech my judge to spare me. (Which even though I am just, I shall not answer him; but I shall still beseech my judge to spare me.)
16 And (even) when he hath heard me inwardly calling him, I believe not, that he hath heard my voice.
17 For in a whirlwind he shall all-break me, and he shall multiply my wounds, yea, without cause. (For he shall all-break me with a whirlwind, and he shall multiply my wounds, yea, for no reason.)
18 He granteth not, that my spirit have rest (He granteth not, that I catch my breath), and he filleth me with bitternesses.
19 If strength is sought, he is most strong; and if equity of doom is sought, no man dare yield witnessing for me (and if justice is sought, no one shall dare give testimony for me).
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.