Job 10:15

World English Bible

Contextual Overview

¹⁴ If I sin, then you mark me. You will not acquit me from my iniquity. ¹⁵ If I am wicked, woe to me. If I am righteous, I still shall not lift up my head, Being filled with disgrace, And conscious of my affliction. ¹⁶ If my head is held high, you hunt me like a lion. Again you show yourself powerful to me. ¹⁷ You renew your witnesses against me, And increase your indignation on me. Changes and warfare are with me. ¹⁸ "'Why, then, have you brought me forth out of the womb? I wish I had given up the spirit, and no eye had seen me. ¹⁹ I should have been as though I had not been. I should have been carried from the womb to the grave. ²⁰ Aren't my days few? Cease then, Leave me alone, that I may find a little comfort, ²¹ Before I go where I shall not return from, To the land of darkness and of the shadow of death; ²² The land dark as midnight, Of the shadow of death, without any order, Where the light is as midnight.'"

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

If I be wicked: Job 10:7, Job 9:29, Job 27:7, Psalms 9:17, Isaiah 3:11, Isaiah 6:5, Malachi 3:18, Romans 2:8, Romans 2:9

righteous: Job 9:12, Job 9:15, Job 9:20, Job 9:21, Isaiah 64:5, Isaiah 64:6, Luke 17:10

I am full: Job 21:6, Job 23:15

see: Exodus 3:7, Psalms 25:18, Psalms 119:153, Lamentations 1:20, Lamentations 5:1-22

Reciprocal: Job 7:11 - the bitterness Job 10:1 - I will speak Job 11:15 - lift up Job 19:7 - I cry Job 33:10 - he findeth Job 35:3 - what advantage Psalms 13:2 - take Proverbs 18:14 - but Philippians 3:9 - not

Cross-References

Genesis 10:2
The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras.

Genesis 10:3
The sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah.

Genesis 10:8
Cush became the father of Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth.

Genesis 10:15
Canaan became the father of Sidon (his firstborn), Heth,

Genesis 10:18
the Arvadite, the Zemarite, and the Hamathite. Afterward the families of the Canaanites were spread abroad.

Genesis 10:20
These are the sons of Ham, after their families, after their languages, in their lands, in their nations.

Genesis 10:21
To Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, the elder brother of Japheth, to him also were children born.

Genesis 10:24
Arpachshad became the father of Shelah. Shelah became the father of Eber.

Genesis 23:3
Abraham rose up from before his dead, and spoke to the children of Heth, saying,

Genesis 49:13
"Zebulun will dwell at the haven of the sea. He will be for a haven of ships. His border will be on Sidon.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

If I be wicked, woe is me,.... In this world, and to all eternity; afflictions will abide me here, and everlasting wrath hereafter: these are the woes that belong to a wicked man; that is, a profane and abandoned sinner, that lives in sin, and gives up himself to all manner of wickedness; the Targum is,

"destruction to me from the great judgment;''

utter ruin is my portion, as it is of all wicked and unrighteous persons, Isaiah 3:11;

and [if] I be righteous, [yet] will I not lift up my head; live a holy life and conversation, be righteous in the sight of men, and behave so as not to know anything by himself, nor to be conscious of living in any known sin; yet he could not take any comfort from it, or have any pleasure in it, or speak peace to himself on account of it, or glory in it and make his boast of it; or lift up his head before God with boldness and confidence, who is so pure and holy, and his eyes so quick in discerning the sins of men: a good man derives his peace and comfort, not from his own righteousness, but from the righteousness of Christ, and puts his confidence in that only; he blushes, and is ashamed of his own; and cannot, nay, "dare not lift up his head", as Mr. Broughton, the Tigurine version, and others render it, through shame, being sensible that nothing of his own can stand before an holy God, or give him joy, peace, and pleasure there; the Targum adds, "before the ungodly"; but this a man may do before men, when he cannot before God:

[I am] full of confusion; being in such a dilemma; let him be what he would, he was sure to have affliction, sorrow, and distress, so that he knew not what to say or do; or "reproach" z, which he was loaded with by his friends, and was occasioned by his afflictions, they judging from thence that he was a wicked man, and justly punished for his sins; the word used signifies a burning heat, such as a than feels in his breast, and which flushes in his face, when he is filled with anger or with shame:

therefore see thou mine affliction; not with his eye of omniscience, that he knew he did, but with an eye of pity and compassion, and deliver him from it; or, "I am full with seeing mine affliction", as Jarchi; or, "[I am one] that sees affliction" a; that has an experience of it; sees it all around me, and nothing else, Lamentations 3:1; am a "spectator" b of it, as some render it; but not a mere spectator, but one that has a sensible feeling of it: some take this and the former clause both to be an address to God, and render them, "be satisfied with confusion, and behold my affliction", as Broughton and others c; let the present calamity and confusion I am in be sufficient; let no more be laid upon me; be content with what has been done, and pity me, and do not lay thine hand heavier upon me, and add to my afflictions, as he thought he did, by what follows.

z קלוז "contumeliis", Tigurine version; "ignominia", Pagninus, Montanus, Beza, Vatablus, Mercerus, Piscator, Michaelis. a וראה עניי "et videns afflictionem", Beza, Vatablus, Mercerus, Piscator. b "Et spectator adflictionis meae", Schultens. c "Satiare ignominia", Junius & Tremellius.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

If I be wicked, woe unto me - The meaning of this in this connection is, “I am full of perplexity and sorrow. Whether I am wicked or righteous, I find no comfort. Whatever is my character, my efforts to be happy are unavailing, and my mind is full of anguish. Woe follows if I have been guilty of sin; and if I am not a sinful man, I am equally incapable of enjoyment. In every way I am doomed to wretchedness.” And if I be righteous, yet will I not lift up my head. That is, with confidence and cheerfulness. The meaning is, that though he was conscious that he was not a hypocrite, yet he did not know what to do. God treated him as if he were wicked, and his friends regarded him as such, and he was overwhelmed with the perplexities of his situation. He could not lift up his head with confidence, though he was certain that he was not a sinner in the sense in which they charged him with being such; and yet since he was treated by God in a manner so similar to the mode in which the wicked are treated, he felt ashamed and confounded. Who has not felt the same thing? Who has not experienced a sense of shame and mortification at being sick, - a proof of guilt, and an expression of the hatred of God against sin? Who has not felt humbled that he must die, as the most vile of the race must die, and that his body must become the “prey of corruption” and “the banquet of worms,” as a demonstration of guilt? Such humiliation Job experienced. He was treated as if he were the vilest of sinners. He endured from God sufferings such as they endure. He was so regarded by his friends. He felt humbled and mortified that he was brought into this situation, and was ashamed that he could not meet the arguments of his friends.

I am full of confusion - Shame, ignominy, distress, and perplexity. On every side there was embarrassment, and he knew not what to do. His friends regarded him as vile, and he could not but admit that he was so treated by God.

Therefore see thou mine affliction - The word rendered here “see” (ראה râ'âh) in the imperative, Rosenmuller, Gesenius, and others suppose should be regarded as in the infinitive absolute, the finite verb being understood; “seeing I see my affliction,” that is, I certainly see it. So the Chaldee and the Syriac render it, and this agrees better with the connection of the passage. “I see the depth of my affliction. I cannot hide it from myself. I see, and must admit, that God treats me as if I were a sinner, and I am greatly perplexed and embarrassed by that fact. My mind is in confusion, and I know not what to say.”

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Job 10:15. If I be wicked — I must meet with that punishment that is due to the workers of iniquity.

If I be righteous — I am only in the state which my duty to my Creator requires me to be in; and I cannot therefore suppose that on this account I can deserve any thing by way of favour from the justice of my Maker.

I am full of confusion — I am confounded at my state and circumstances. I know that thou art merciful, and dost not afflict willingly the children of men; I know I have not wickedly departed from thee; and yet I am treated by thee as if I were an apostate from every good. I am therefore full of confusion. See thou to my affliction; and bring me out of it in such a way as shall at once prove my innocence, the righteousness of thy ways, and the mercy of thy nature.