Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Job 10:12

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Job 10:12. Thou hast granted me life and favour — Thou hast brought me from my mother's womb; given me an actual existence among men; by thy favour or mercy thou hast provided me with the means of life; and thy visitation - thy continual providential care, has preserved me in life - has given me the air I breathe, and furnished me with those powers which enable me to respire it as an agent and preserver of life. It is by God's continued visitation or influence that the life of any man is preserved; in him we live, move, and have our being.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Job’s reply to Bildad (9:1-10:22)

While agreeing with Bildad that God is just, Job argues that ordinary people are still at a disadvantage. They cannot present their side of the case satisfactorily, because God always has the wisdom and power to frustrate them. He can ask a thousand questions that they cannot answer (9:1-4). He can do what he wishes in the heavens or on the earth (5-9). He can work miracles and no one can resist him (10-12). If God overthrows those with supernatural power such as the mythical monster Rahab, what chance does a mere human like Job have (13-14)?
Job knows he has not committed great sins, but he also knows that if he tried to argue his case before God he would still lose (15-16). He would surely say something wrong and so be proved guilty. God would crush him then as he crushes him now (17-20).
Although he is blameless, Job sees no purpose in living, since God destroys the innocent and the guilty alike. There seems to be no justice (21-24). Life may be short, but it is full of pain and suffering (25-28). He can see no purpose in trying to bear suffering gladly or act uprightly, because God still condemns him as a sinner (29-31). Job feels that because God is God and he is only a man, the battle is unequal. He wants an umpire, a mediator, someone to bridge the gap by bringing the two parties together and settling the case (32-33). By himself Job cannot plead his case satisfactorily, because he is overwhelmed by the suffering God has sent him (34-35).
In bitterness Job asks God why he makes the innocent suffer, yet at the same time blesses the wicked (10:1-3). Is he like an unjust judge who punishes a person even though he knows the person is innocent (4-7)? Did God create Job simply to destroy him (8-9)? Has he kept him alive merely to torment him (10-13)? It seems to Job that it makes no difference whether he is good or bad. God’s purpose seems to be to hunt him mercilessly and heap punishment upon him for even the smallest sins (14-17).
Job wishes he had never been born into a world of such injustice and suffering (18-19). He asks only for the briefest period of happiness before he dies and goes to the gloomy comfortless world of the dead (20-22).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

JOB CONTINUES TO PLEAD WITH GOD

Here indeed is the secret of spiritual excellence. Suffering, distressed, shamefully treated by his friends, Job nevertheless communed continually with the Lord in prayer.

"Thy hands have framed me and fashioned me Together round about; yet thou dost destroy me. Remember, I beseech thee that thou hast fashioned me as clay; And wilt thou bring me into dust again? Hast thou not poured me out as milk, And curdled me like cheese? Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, And knit me together with bones and sinews, Thou hast granted me life and lovingkindness; And thy visitations have preserved my spirit. Yet these things thou didst hide in thy heart; I know that this is with thee: If I sin, then thou markest me, And thou wilt not acquit me from mine iniquity. If I be wicked, woe unto me; And if I be righteous, yet shall I not lift up my head; Being filled with ignominy, And looking upon mine affliction. And if my head exalt itself, Thou huntest me as a lion; And again thou showest thyself marvelous upon me. Thou renewest thy witnesses against me, And increasest thine indignation upon me: Changes and warfare are with me."

"Thou hast fashioned me as dust" The Psalmist remembered these very words (Psalms 103:14), expressing the same thought that was here in the mind of Job. Job here also granted the right of God to bring him again into the dust.

"Thou hast granted me life… and lovingkindness… and preserved my spirit" What a beautiful example is this! When sorrows are multiplied and the terrors of life seem about to sweep us away, what a consolation derives from remembering those precious and wonderful things that God did for his in the days that have vanished.

"These things thou didst hide… I know this is from thee" Job here spoke of the terrible things that had come upon him; but he here showed himself willing to accept bad things as well as good from the hand of God.

"If I be righteous, yet shall I not lift up my head… being filled with ignominy" The very condition of Job was one of extreme shame; and he recognized that, even if his righteousness should be known, his pitiful condition would deny it in the eyes of men.

"Thou showest thyself marvelous upon me" Job here called attention to the superlative nature of the disasters that had come upon him. The complimnent he thus bestowed upon God should not be overlooked.

"Thou renewest thy witnesses against me" This appears to be a reference to Job's friends whose words certainly were, in a sense, witnesses against Job. In view of all this, Job again renewed his appeal for God to let him die.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Thy visitation hath preserved my spirit - Thy constant care; thy watchful providence; thy superintendence. The word rendered visitation (פקדה p^eqûddâh) means properly the mustering of an army, the care that is manifested in looking after those who are enlisted; and then denotes care, vigilance, providence, custody, watch. The idea is, that God had watched over him and preserved him, and that to his constant vigilance he owed the preservation of his life.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 10

Now Job goes on in the tenth chapter. He said,

My soul is weary of my life ( Job 10:1 );

He goes right back into his misery. He looks for the answer, but it isn't there; it isn't to be found. And so I return back to my weariness of life.

I will leave my complaint upon myself; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. I will say unto God, Do not condemn me; show me where you are contending with me. Is it good unto thee that you should oppress, that you should despise the work of your hands, and that you should shine upon the counsel of the wicked? Have you eyes of flesh? or do you see as a man sees? Are thy days as the days of a man? are your years as a man's days, that you inquire after my iniquity, and search after my sin? You know that I am not wicked; and there is none that can deliver out of your hand. Your hands have made me and fashioned me together round about; yet you are destroying me. Remember, I beseech thee, that you have made me as the clay; and wilt thou bring me into dust again? ( Job 10:1-9 )

So Job is pleading now his cause before God. "God, I don't know. Can You see as I see? Do You have ears? Do You, you know. You've made me, Lord. You've made me out of the dust. Now remember that." That, to me, is comforting that God does remember that. In the psalms we read that, "He knows our frame, that we are but dust" ( Psalms 103:14 ). Hey, you're not Superman. You're not Wonder Woman. You're dust. You're not the super saint that you'd like to be. And that you sometimes think you are. You're dust. You are made out of dust. And God remembers that. Thank You, Father, for remembering, because I sometimes forget. I think that I am more than I really am. I think that I can accomplish more than I really can. I think I've achieved more than I really have. And I begin to get a little self-confidence, a little prideful. And in His love He deflates me. And here I am all bummed out. Failed again. Messed things up. "Oh God, why did You allow this to happen to me? I'm so disappointed in myself. Stumbled once more. Failed again." And He says, "Oh, come on. You're nothing but dust to begin with. You forget that?" "Yep." "Well, I didn't." He knows your frame. He knows you're not made of steel. He knows you're made of dust. And so Job is reminding him and it is the truth. "Remember that You have made me like clay. Are You going to bring me to the dust again?"

Have you not poured me out as milk, and curdled me like cheese? ( Job 10:10 )

This, of course, is poetry, picturesque kind of speech. God has poured me out like milk, and curdled me like cheese.

You've clothed me with skin and flesh, and you've fenced me [about] ( Job 10:11 )

Can you see now your skeleton as a fence?

with bones and sinews. You have granted me life and favor, and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit. And these things hast thou hid in thine heart: and I know that this is with thee. If I sin, then you mark me, and you will not acquit me from mine iniquity. If I be wicked, woe unto me; and if I be righteous, yet will I not lift up my head. I am full of confusion; therefore look upon my affliction ( Job 10:11-15 );

God, I'm totally confused. I don't understand life. I don't understand the things that are happening to me. Oh God, just look upon my affliction tonight. Here I am, God, just filled with confusion.

I've sat where Job is sitting, many times, where I've just become totally confused with life. All of the intricate little intertwinings. Look upon my affliction, Lord.

For it increases. You hunt me as a fierce lion: and again you show yourself marvelous upon me. You renew your witnesses against me, and increase your indignation upon me; and changes and war are against me. Wherefore then hast thou brought me forth out of the womb? ( Job 10:16-18 )

Why, Lord, did You allow me to live from birth?

Oh that I had died, and no eye had ever seen me! I should have been as though I had not been; I should have been carried from the womb to the grave. Are not my days few? cease then, and let me alone, that I may take just a little comfort, Before I go from where I shall not return, even to the land of darkness and the shadow of death; A land of darkness, as darkness itself; and of the shadow of death, without any order, and where the light is as darkness ( Job 10:18-22 ).

God, just give me a little reprieve before I die. I'm so confused.

That's a sort of a dark place to leave you, but unfortunately, we don't get any light until we get to the thirty-eighth chapter. So hang on. Life in the raw, that's what it's all about. The basic gut-level issues of life. What is it really about? When you take away the props upon which we are constantly leaning, what's the real issue of life? We have it here in Job. It's not always pleasant. It's far from perfect. We do have basic needs. But God has met our needs through Jesus Christ. And for each cry that comes out from the heart of Job, in the New Testament through Jesus Christ, there's an answer. For God in Christ has provided for the basic needs of man and I'm so thankful.

"

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Job’s challenge to God ch. 10

This whole chapter, another prayer (cf. Job 7:7-21), is a cry to God for answers: "Let me know why . . ." (Job 10:2). God’s silence intensifies sufferings. Notice the legal setting again, especially in Job 10:2. Job again claimed to be not guilty (Job 10:7).

"It is a remarkable fact, apparently unobserved by commentators, but very revealing of Job’s mind, that in none of his petitions does he make the obvious request for his sickness to be cured. As if everything will be all right when he is well again! That would not answer the question which is more urgent than every other concern: ’Why?’" [Note: Andersen, p. 152.]

Job marveled that God would expend such care on him from the womb to the tomb only to destroy him (Job 10:8-17; cf. Job 10:11 with Psalms 139:13). Again Job expressed a desire to die (Job 10:18-22; cf. ch. 3; Job 6:8-9). He evidently had little revelation concerning life after death. For him death opened the door to a land of shadows, gloom, and darkness (Job 10:21-22), but he welcomed it as better than life as he was experiencing it. Each of Job’s speeches so far concluded with some reference to death and gloom (Job 3:21-22; Job 7:21; Job 10:21-22). He was a broken man.

"If we are tempted to criticize [Job], we should ever remember that in the whole Book God lays no charge against His child. Terrible things were these which Job uttered about God, but at least they were honest." [Note: Morgan, p. 206.]

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Thou hast granted me life and favour,.... Or "lives" q; natural life; both in the womb, where and when he was quickened, and at his birth, when he was brought into the world, and began to live in it; the rational soul may be intended, by which he lived; which, when created and infused into man, and united to his body, he becomes a living man; it is the presence of that which causes life, and the absence or removal of that which causes death; and this is a "grant" or gift from God, who gives to all his creatures life and breath, and all things; see Job 33:4; and is a "favour" also; a mercy, the chief of mercies; it is more than meat; yea, all a man has he will give for his life: besides this, Job had a spiritual life, a principle of it implanted in him; God had quickened him when dead in trespasses and sins; the spirit of life from Christ had entered into him, and he was become a living spiritual man: this likewise was a "grant" from God, a free grace gift of his; it is he that gives the living water, and gives it freely, or it would not be grace; for it is a "favour" which flows from the free grace and good will of God; it is owing to the great love wherewith he loves men that he quickens them; his time is a time of love, and so of life; and eternal life is the consequent of this, and is inseparably connected with it; and Job had an interest in it, a right unto it, and a meetness for it; he bad knowledge of it, faith in it, and hope of enjoying it, and knew that after death he should live this life; see Job 19:26; and this is a gift of God through Christ, owing to his good pleasure, the fruit of his favour and loving kindness: though by "favour" may be meant something distinct from life; either the care of him in the womb, and the taking of him out from thence, which are sometimes observed as singular mercies and favours; see Psalms 22:9; or the beauty and comeliness of his body, such as was on Moses, David, and others; see Proverbs 31:30; or rather it intends in general all the temporal blessings of life, food and raiment, every thing necessary for the comfort and support of life; and which are all mercies and favours, and what men are undeserving of; and especially spiritual blessings, or the blessings of grace; and the word here used is often used for grace and mercy, and may signify the several graces of the Spirit bestowed in regeneration, as faith, hope, love, c. which are all the gifts of God, and the effects of his favour and good will as also the blessings of, justifying, pardoning, and adopting grace; all which Job was favoured with, as well as with supplies of grace from time to time, and the fresh discoveries of the favour and loving kindness of God to him, which is better than life:

and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit; kept him alive, in a natural sense, while in the womb, as Jarchi, where he was in a wonderful manner nourished; and when he came out from thence, exposed to many difficulties and dangers, and during his helpless and infant state, and amidst a variety of troubles throughout the whole of his life hitherto; and which was owing to God's visitation of him in a way of mercy every morning; and which was no other than his providence or daily care of him, and concern for him; and so Mr. Broughton renders it "thy providence" r, and so some others: likewise he preserved his soul or spirit in a spiritual sense, in Christ Jesus, in whose bands he put him; he hid his life in him, and bound it up in the bundle of life with him; he kept him by his power as in a garrison, and preserved him safe to his kingdom and glory; and this is to be ascribed to his visitation of him in a way of grace, through the redemption of Christ, and the effectual calling of the blessed Spirit, and the constant supplies of grace vouchsafed from time to time: the Targum is, "thy remembrance": for it is owing to God's remembrance of his people that he visits them, either in providence or grace; and when he visits them with his providence, or with his gracious presence and protection, it is plain he remembers them: now since God had favoured him with such blessings of nature, providence, and grace, he reasons with him about his present circumstances; that, after all this, surely he would not destroy him and cut him off; at least he knew not how well to reconcile past favours with such hard and severe usage as he thought he met with from him.

q חיים "vitas", Montanus, Bolducius. r פקדתך "providentia tua", Tigurine version, Munster, Michaelis.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      8 Thine hands have made me and fashioned me together round about; yet thou dost destroy me.   9 Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as the clay; and wilt thou bring me into dust again?   10 Hast thou not poured me out as milk, and curdled me like cheese?   11 Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, and hast fenced me with bones and sinews.   12 Thou hast granted me life and favour, and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit.   13 And these things hast thou hid in thine heart: I know that this is with thee.

      In these verses we may observe,

      I. How Job eyes God as his Creator and preserver, and describes his dependence upon him as the author and upholder of his being. This is one of the first things we are all concerned to know and consider.

      1. That God made us, he, and not our parents, who were only the instruments of his power and providence in our production. He made us, and not we ourselves. His hands have made and fashioned these bodies of ours and every part of them (Job 10:8; Job 10:8), and they are fearfully and wonderfully made. The soul also, which animates the body, is his gift. Job takes notice of both here. (1.) The body is made as the clay (Job 10:9; Job 10:9), cast into shape, into this shape, as the clay is formed into a vessel, according to the skill and will of the potter. We are earthen vessels, mean in our original, and soon broken in pieces, made as the clay. Let not therefore the thing formed say unto him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? We must not be proud of our bodies, because the matter is from the earth, yet not dishonour our bodies, because the mould and shape are from the divine wisdom. The formation of human bodies in the womb is described by an elegant similitude (Job 10:10; Job 10:10, Thou hast poured me out like milk, which is coagulated into cheese), and by an induction of some particulars, Job 10:11; Job 10:11. Though we come into the world naked, yet the body is itself both clothed and armed. The skin and flesh are its clothing; the bones and sinews are its armour, not offensive, but defensive. The vital parts, the heart and lungs, are thus clothed, not to be seen--thus fenced, not to be hurt. The admirable structure of human bodies is an illustrious instance of the wisdom, power, and goodness of the Creator. What a pity is it that these bodies should be instruments of unrighteousness which are capable of being temples of the Holy Ghost! (2.) The soul is the life, the soul is the man, and this is the gift of God: Thou hast granted me life, breathed into me the breath of life, without which the body would be but a worthless carcase. God is the Father of spirits: he made us living souls, and endued us with the power of reason; he gave us life and favour, and life is a favour--a great favour, more than meat, more than raiment--a distinguishing favour, a favour that puts us into a capacity of receiving other favours. Now Job was in a better mind than he was when he quarrelled with life as a burden, and asked, Why died I not from the womb? Or by life and favour may be meant life and all the comforts of life, referring to his former prosperity. Time was when he walked in the light of the divine favour, and thought, as David, that through that favour his mountain stood strong.

      2. That God maintains us. Having lighted the lamp of life, he does not leave it to burn upon its own stock, but continually supplies it with fresh oil: "Thy visitation has preserved my spirit, kept me alive, protected me from the adversaries of life, the death we are in the midst of and the dangers we are continually exposed to, and blessed me with all the necessary supports of life and the daily supplies it needs and craves."

      II. How he pleads this with God, and what use he makes of it. He reminds God of it (Job 10:9; Job 10:9): Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me. What then? Why, 1. "Thou hast made me, and therefore thou hast a perfect knowledge of me (Psalms 139:1-13), and needest not to examine me by scourging, nor to put me upon the rack for the discovery of what is within me." 2. "Thou hast made me, as the clay, by an act of sovereignty; and wilt thou by a like act of sovereignty unmake me again? If so, I must submit." 3. "Wilt thou destroy the work of thy own hands?" It is a plea the saints have often used in prayer, We are the clay and thou our potter,Isaiah 64:8. Thy hands have made me and fashioned me,Psalms 119:73. So here, Thou madest me; and wilt thou destroy me (Job 10:8; Job 10:8), wilt thou bring me into dust again?Job 10:9; Job 10:9. "Wilt thou not pity me? Wilt thou not spare and help me, and stand by the work of thy own hands?Psalms 138:8. Thou madest me, and knowest my strength; wilt thou then suffer me to be pressed above measure? Was I made to be made miserable? Was I preserved only to be reserved for these calamities?" If we plead this with ourselves as an inducement to duty, "God made me and maintains me, and therefore I will serve him and submit to him," we may plead it with God as an argument for mercy: Thou hast made me, new--make me; I am thine, save me. Job knew not how to reconcile God's former favours and his present frowns, but concludes (Job 10:13; Job 10:13), "These things hast thou hidden in thy heart. Both are according to the counsel of thy own will, and therefore undoubtedly consistent, however they seem." When God thus strangely changes his way, though we cannot account for it, we are bound to believe there are good reasons for it hidden in his heart, which will be manifested shortly. It is not with us, or in our reach, to assign the cause, but I know that this is with thee. Known unto God are all his works.