Job 23:16

16 God makes my heart sink! God Almighty gives me the shudders!

Job 23:16 Meaning and Commentary

Job 23:16

For God maketh my heart soft
Not tender as Josiah's was, ( 2 Kings 22:19 ) , or as the heart of every penitent is, when God makes it humble and contrite by his spirit and grace, or takes away the stony heart, and gives an heart of flesh; though Job had such an heart, and God made it so; but he means a weak, feeble, fearful heart, pressed and broken with afflictions, that could not endure and bear up under the mighty hand of God; but became as water, and melted like wax in the midst of him, and was ready to faint, and sink, and die away:

and the Almighty troubleth me;
by afflicting him; afflictions cause trouble, and these are of God; or he "astonishes" F1, amazes me, throws me into the utmost consternation, the reason of which follows.


FOOTNOTES:

F1 (ynlyhbh) "me attonitum reddidit", Vatablus; "consternavit me", Drusius, Mercerus, Cocceius, Michaelis; "externavit me", Schultens.

Job 23:16 In-Context

14 He'll complete in detail what he's decided about me, and whatever else he determines to do
15 Is it any wonder that I dread meeting him? Whenever I think about it, I get scared all over again.
16 God makes my heart sink! God Almighty gives me the shudders!
17 I'm completely in the dark, I can't see my hand in front of my face.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.