Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Job 10:21

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Job 10:21. I shall not return — I shall not return again from the dust to have a dwelling among men.

To the land of darkness — Job 3:5. There are here a crowd of obscure and dislocated terms, admirably expressive of the obscurity and uncertainty of the subject. What do we know of the state of separate spirits? What do we know of the spiritual world? How do souls exist separate from their respective bodies? Of what are they capable and what is their employment? Who can answer these questions? Perhaps nothing can be said much better of the state than is here said, a land of obscurity, like darkness.

The shadow of death — A place where death rules, over which he projects his shadow, intercepting every light of every kind of life. Without any order, ולא סדרים velo sedarim, having no arrangements, no distinctions of inhabitants; the poor and the rich are there, the master and his slave, the king and the beggar, their bodies in equal corruption and disgrace, their souls distinguished only by their moral character. Stripped of their flesh, they stand in their naked simplicity before God in that place.

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'S APPEAL FOR GOD TO ALLOW HIM TO DIE

"Wherefore then hast thou brought me forth out of the womb? I had given up the ghost, and no eye had 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 comfort a little, Before I go whence I shall not return, Even to the land of darkness and the shadow of death; The land dark as midnight, The land of the shadow of death without any order, And where the light is as midnight."

"The Land of… the shadow of death" Here again we have an expression picked up and used in the Psalms (Psalms 23).

Some scholars understand Job's remarks here as coming very close to the category of blasphemy. For example, Franks wrote that, "He accuses God of having created him only to torment him… that he sees faults where they do not exist… torturing him to make him confess… having blessed and preserved him, while all the while secretly planning to torture him."Arthur S. Peake, A Commentary on the Bible (London: T. C. and E. C. Jack, Ltd., 1924), p. 354. We reject such comments. One may find many other similar comments in the writings of scholars regarding this chapter; but as we have noted above, there are marvelous evidences of faith and submission to God's will throughout the whole passage.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Before I go - from where “I shall not return.” To the grave, to the land of shades, to

“That undiscovered country, from whose bourne

No traveler returns.”

To the land of darkness - This passage is important as furnishing an illustration of what was early understood about the regions of the dead. The essential idea here is that it was a land of darkness, of total and absolute night. This idea Job presents in a great variety of forms and phrases. He amplifies it, and uses apparently all the epithets which he can command to represent the utter and entire darkness of the place. The place referred to is not the grave, but the region beyond, the abode of departed spirits, the Hades of the ancients; and the idea here is, that it is a place where not a clear ray of light ever shines. That this was a common opinion of the ancients in regard to the world of departed spirits, is well known. Virgil thus speaks of those gloomy regions:

Oii, quibusimperium est animarum, umbraeque silentes,

Et Chaos, et Phlegethon, loca nocte tacentia late,

Sit mihi fas audita loqui; slt numine vestro

Pandere res alta terra et caligine mersas.

Ibant obscuri sola sub nocte per umbram,

Perque domos Ditis vacuas, et inania regna:

Quale per incertam lunam sub luce maligna

Est iter in silvis: ubi coelum condidit umbra

Jupiter, et rebus nox abstulit atra colorem

Aeneid vi. 259ff

A similar view of Hades was held by the Greeks. Thus, Theognis, 1007:

Ὠς μάκαρ εὐδυίμων τε και ὄλβιος, ὅστις ἄπειρος

Ἄθλων, εἰς ἥ δου δῶμα μέλαν κατέβη.

Hōs makar eudaimōn te kai olbios, hostis apeiros

Athlōn eis h' dou dōma melan katebē.

There is nowhere to be found, however, a description which for intensity and emphasis of expression surpasses this of Job.

Shadow of death - See this phrase explained in the note at Job 3:5.

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

Before I go [whence] I shall not return,.... Before he went out of the world, the way of all flesh, to the grave, his long home, from whence there is no return to this world, and to the business and affairs of it; to a man's house, his family and his friends, to converse with them as before, there will be no return until the resurrection, which Job does not here deny, as some have thought; it was a doctrine he well understood, and strongly asserts in

Job 19:26; but this must be understood in the same sense as in Job 7:9;

[even] to the land of darkness, and the shadow of death; which describes not the state of the damned, as some Popish interpreters, carry it; for Job had no thought nor fear of such a state; but the grave, which is called "a land", or country, it being large and spacious, and full of inhabitants; a land of "darkness", a very dark one, where the body separated from the soul is deprived of all light; where the sun, moon, and stars, are never seen; nor is there the least crevice that light can enter in at, or be seen by those that dwell in those shades, which are "the shadow of death" itself; deadly shades, thick and gross ones, the darkest shades, where death itself is, or dead men are, destitute of light and life; where no pleasure, comfort, and conversation, can be had; and therefore a land in itself most undesirable.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      14 If I sin, then thou markest me, and thou wilt not acquit me from mine iniquity.   15 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 see thou mine affliction;   16 For it increaseth. Thou huntest me as a fierce lion: and again thou showest thyself marvellous upon me.   17 Thou renewest thy witnesses against me, and increasest thine indignation upon me; changes and war are against me.   18 Wherefore then hast thou brought me forth out of the womb? Oh that I had given up the ghost, 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 Are not my days few? cease then, and let me alone, that I may take comfort a little,   21 Before I go whence I shall not return, even to the land of darkness and the shadow of death;   22 A land of darkness, as darkness itself; and of the shadow of death, without any order, and where the light is as darkness.

      Here we have,

      I. Job's passionate complaints. On this harsh and unpleasant string he harps much, in which, though he cannot be justified, he may be excused. He complained not for nothing, as the murmuring Israelites, but had cause to complain. If we think it looks ill in him, let it be a warning to us to keep our temper better.

      1. He complains of the strictness of God's judgment and the rigour of his proceedings against him, and is ready to call it summum jus--justice bordering on severity. That he took all advantages against him: "If I sin, then thou markest me,Job 10:14; Job 10:14. (1.) If I do but take one false step, misplace a word, or cast a look awry, I shall be sure to hear of it. Conscience, thy deputy, will be sure to upbraid me with it, and to tell me that this gripe, this twitch of pain, is to punish me for that." If God should thus mark iniquities, we should be undone; but we must acknowledge the contrary, that, though we sin, God does not deal in extremity with us. (2.) That he prosecuted those advantages to the utmost: Thou wilt not acquit me from my iniquity. While his troubles he could not take the comfort of his pardon, nor hear that voice of joy and gladness; so hard is it to see love in God's heart when we see frowns in his face and a rod in his hand. (3.) That, whatever was his character, his case at present was very uncomfortable, Job 10:15; Job 10:15. [1.] If he be wicked, he is certainly undone in the other world: If I be wicked, woe to me. Note, A sinful state is a woeful state. This we should each of us believe, as Job here, with application to ourselves: "If I be wicked, though prosperous and living in pleasure, yet woe to me." Some especially have reason to dread double woes if they be wicked. "I that have knowledge, that have made a great profession of religion, that have been so often under strong convictions, and have made so many fair promises--I that was born of such good parents, blessed with a good education, that have lived in good families, and long enjoyed the means of grace--if I be wicked, woe, and a thousand woes, to me." [2.] If he be righteous, yet he dares not lift up his head, dares not answer as before, Job 9:15; Job 9:15. He is so oppressed and overwhelmed with his troubles that he cannot look up with any comfort or confidence. Without were fightings, within were fears; so that, between both, he was full of confusion, not only confusion of face for the disgrace he was brought down to and the censures of his friends, but confusion of spirit; his mind was in a constant hurry, and he was almost distracted, Psalms 88:15.

      2. He complains of the severity of the execution. God (he thought) did not only punish him for every failure, but punish him in a high degree, Job 10:16; Job 10:17. His affliction was, (1.) Grievous, very grievous, marvellous, exceedingly marvellous. God hunted him as a lion, as a fierce lion hunts and runs down his prey. God was not only strange to him, but showed himself marvellous upon him, by bringing him into uncommon troubles and so making him prodigy, a wonder unto many. All wondered that God would inflict and that Job could bear so much. That which made his afflictions most grievous was that he felt God's indignation in them; it was this that made them taste so bitter and lie so heavy. They were God's witnesses against him, tokens of his displeasure; this made the sores of his body wounds in his spirit. (2.) It was growing, still growing worse and worse. This he insists much upon; when he hoped the tide would turn, and begin to ebb, still it flowed higher and higher. His affliction increased, and God's indignation in the affliction. He found himself no better, no way better. These witnesses were renewed against him, that, if one did not reach to convict him, another might. Changes and war were against him. If there was any change with him, it was not for the better; still he was kept in a state of war. As long as we are here in this world we must expect that the clouds will return after the rain, and perhaps the sorest and sharpest trials may be reserved for the last. God was at war with him, and it was a great change. He did not use to be so, which aggravated the trouble and made it truly marvellous. God usually shows himself kind to his people; if at any time he shows himself otherwise, it is his strange work, his strange act, and he does in it show himself marvellous.

      3. He complains of his life, and that ever he was born to all this trouble and misery (Job 10:18; Job 10:19): "If this was designed for my lot, why was I brought out of the womb, and not smothered there, or stifled in the birth?" This was the language of his passion, and it was a relapse into the same sin he fell into before. He had just now called life a favour (Job 10:12; Job 10:12), yet now he calls it a burden, and quarrels with God for giving it, or rather laying it upon him. Mr. Caryl gives this a good turn in favour of Job. "We may charitably suppose," says he, "that what troubled Job was that he was in a condition of life which (as he conceived) hindered the main end of his life, which was the glorifying of God. His harp was hung on the willow-trees, and he was quite out of tune for praising God. Nay, he feared lest his troubles should reflect dishonour upon God and give occasion to his enemies to blaspheme; and therefore he wishes, O that I had given up the ghost! A godly man reckons that he lives to no purpose if he do not live to the praise and glory of God." If that was his meaning, it was grounded on a mistake; for we may glorify the Lord in the fires. But this use we may make of it, not to be over-fond of life, since the case has been such sometimes, even with wise and good men, that they have complained of it. Why should we dread giving up the ghost, or covet to be seen of men, since the time may come when we may be ready to wish we had given up the ghost and no eye had seen us? Why should we inordinately lament the death of our children in their infancy, that are as if they had not been, and are carried from the womb to the grave, when perhaps we ourselves may sometimes wish it had been our own lot?

      II. Job's humble requests. He prays, 1. That God would see his affliction (Job 10:15; Job 10:15), take cognizance of his case, and take it into his compassionate consideration. Thus David prays (Psalms 25:18), Look upon my affliction and my pain. Thus we should, in our troubles, refer ourselves to God, and may comfort ourselves with this, that he knows our souls in adversity. 2. That God would grant him some ease. If he could not prevail for the removal of his trouble, yet might he not have some intermission? "Lord, let me not be always upon the rack, always in extremity: O let me alone, that I may take comfort a little!Job 10:20; Job 10:20. Grant me some respite, some breathing-time, some little enjoyment of myself." This he would reckon a great favour. Those that are not duly thankful for constant ease should think how welcome one hour's ease would be if they were in constant pain. Two things he pleads:-- (1.) That life and its light were very short: "Are not my days few?Job 10:20; Job 10:20. Yes, certainly they are, very few. Lord, let them not be all miserable, all in the extremity of misery. I have but a little time to live; let me have some comfort of life while it does last." This plea fastens on the goodness of God's nature, the consideration of which is very comfortable to an afflicted spirit. And, if we would use this as a plea with God for mercy ("Are not my days few? Lord, pity me"), we should use it as a plea with ourselves, to quicken us to duty: "Are not my days few? Then it concerns me to redeem time, to improve opportunities, what my hand finds to do to do it with all my might, that I may be ready for the days of eternity, which shall be many." (2.) That death and its darkness were very near and would be very long (Job 10:21; Job 10:22): "Lord, give me some ease before I die," that is, "lest I die of my pain." Thus David pleads (Psalms 13:3), "Lest I sleep the sleep of death, and then it will be too late to expect relief; for wilt thou show wonders to the dead?" Psalms 88:10. "Let me have a little comfort before I die, that I may take leave of this world calmly, and not in such confusion as I am now in." Thus earnest should we be for grace, and thus we should plead, "Lord, renew me in the inward man; Lord, sanctify me before I die, for otherwise it will never be done." See how he speaks here of the state of the dead. [1.] It is a fixed state, whence we shall not return ever again to live such a life as we now live, Job 7:10; Job 7:10. At death we must bid a final farewell to this world. The body must then be laid where it will lie long, and the soul adjudged to that state in which it must be for ever. That had need be well done which is to be done but once, and done for eternity. [2.] It is a very melancholy state; so it appears to us. Holy souls, at death, remove to a land of light, where there is no death; but their bodies they leave to a land of darkness and the shadow of death. He heaps up expressions here of the same import to show that he has as dreadful apprehensions of death and the grave as other men naturally have, so that it was only the extreme misery he was in that made him wish for it. Come and let us look a little into the grave, and we shall find, First, That there is no order there: it is without any order, perpetual night, and no succession of day. All there lie on the same level, and there is no distinction between prince and peasant, but the servant is there free from his master,Job 3:19; Job 3:19. No order is observed in bringing people to the grave, not the eldest first, not the richest, not the poorest, and yet every one in his own order, the order appointed by the God of life. Secondly, That there is no light there. In the grave there is thick darkness, darkness that cannot be felt indeed, yet cannot but be feared by those that enjoy the light of life. In the grave there is no knowledge, no comfort, no joy, no praising God, no working out our salvation, and therefore no light. Job was so much ashamed that others should see his sores, and so much afraid to see them himself, that the darkness of the grave, which would hide them and huddle them up, would upon that account be welcome to him. Darkness comes upon us; and therefore let us walk and work while we have the light with us. The grave being a land of darkness, it is well we are carried thither with our eyes closed, and then it is all one. The grave is a land of darkness to man; our friends that have gone thither we reckon removed into darkness, Psalms 88:18. But that it is not so to God will appear by this, that the dust of the bodies of the saints, though scattered, though mingled with other dust, will none of it be lost, for God's eye is upon every grain of it and it shall be forth-coming in the great day.