Job 10:21

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Job 10:14-22

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.... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 10:21

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... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 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 - See the notes on 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... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 10:1-22

Having answered Bildad, Job proceeds to pour out the bitterness of his soul in a pathetic complaint, which he addresses directly to God. There is not much that is novel in the long expostulation, which mainly goes over ground covered in Job 3:1-26 ; Job 6:1-30 ; Job 7:1-21 ; but some new grounds are alleged as pleas for mercy, if not for justice. These are In conclusion, Job begs for a little respite, a little time of comfort (verse 20), before he descends into the darkness of the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 10:1-22

Appeal to the justice, knowledge, and goodness of God. In his extremity of maddening pain and in his contempt of life, Job resolves to give full way once more to words (verse 1). And as they pour forth in full flood from the bottom of his heart, we perceive that he has in reality truer and juster thoughts about God than those expressed in the preceding chapter. He proceeds to appeal one by one to the highest perfection which can be associated with the Divine Name. I. APPEAL TO THE ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 10:18-22

Job to God: the progress of the third controversy: 3. An old complaint renewed. I. A GREAT MERCY DESPISED . Life. "Wherefore then hast thou brought me forth out of the womb?" (verse 18). Job here announces an important truth, that the extraction of an infant from the womb is practically God's work ( Psalms 22:9 ; Psalms 71:6 ), but likewise commits a sin in regarding as an evil fortune what, rightly pondered, should have been esteemed a valuable blessing. Life, as God bestows it,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 10:21

Before I go whence I shall not return (comp. Job 7:9 ; and see 2 Samuel 12:23 ). Even to the land of darkness and the shadow of death . Job's idea of the receptacle of the dead, while it has some analogies with the Egyptian under-world, and even more with the Greek and Roman conceptions of Hades or Orcus, was probably derived from Babylonia, or Chaldea, on which the land that he inhabited bordered ( Job 1:17 ). It was within the earth, consequently dark and sunless (compare the ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 10:21-22

The land of darkness. I. DEATH APPEARS TO LEAD TO A LAND OF DARKNESS . 1 . We cannot see what lies beyond. Science cannot penetrate this mystery of mysteries. At best she can but dimly surmise the existence of an "unseen universe." Philosophy may reason of the soul's immortality, but can throw no light into the tomb. The mind dashes itself in vain against the awful wall that separates it from the world beyond. One by one our most intimate friends leave us, and the dark... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 10:21

Before I go - from where “I shall not return.” To the grave, to the land of shades, to“That undiscovered country, from whose bourneNo 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... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Job 10:20-22

Job 10:20-22. Are not my days few? Cease then, &c. My life is short, and of itself hastens to an end; there is no need that thou shouldest grudge me some ease for so small a moment. Let me alone Or lay aside, or remove thy hand or anger from me. That I may take comfort a little Hebrews אבליגה , abligah, et recreabo me, I shall refresh, or strengthen myself: shall have some respite, some remission of my grief and pain, some consolation. Those that are not duly thankful for... read more

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