Job 13:28

28 “So man wastes away like something rotten, like a garment eaten by moths.

Job 13:28 in Other Translations

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

28 Man wastes away like a rotten thing, like a garment that is moth-eaten.

28 I waste away like rotting wood, like a moth-eaten coat.

28 "Like something rotten, human life fast decomposes, like a moth-eaten shirt or a mildewed blouse.

28 Though I am like a rotten thing that consumeth, Like a garment that is moth-eaten.

28 I am like worn-out wineskins, like moth-eaten clothes.

28 Man wears out like something rotten, like a moth-eaten garment.

28 "People waste away like something that is rotten. They are like clothes that are eaten by moths.

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 ) .

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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 you write down bitter things against me and make me reap the sins of my youth.

27 You fasten my feet in shackles; you keep close watch on all my paths by putting marks on the soles of my feet.

28 “So man wastes away like something rotten, like a garment eaten by moths.

Cross References

• 1. Psalms 102:26; Mark 2:21
• 2. S Deuteronomy 28:35; Psalms 39:11; Isaiah 50:9; Isaiah 51:8; Hosea 5:12; James 5:2