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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Job 19:8-22

Bildad had very disingenuously perverted Job's complaints by making them the description of the miserable condition of a wicked man; and yet he repeats them here, to move their pity, and to work upon their good nature, if they had any left in them. I. He complains of the tokens of God's displeasure which he was under, and which infused the wormwood and gall into the affliction and misery. How doleful are the accents of his complaints! ?He hath kindled his wrath against me, which flames and... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 19:17

My breath is strange to my wife ,.... Being corrupt and unsavoury, through some internal disorder; see Job 17:1 ; so that she could not bear to come nigh him, to do any kind deed for him; but if this was his case, and his natural breath was so foul, his friends would not have been able to have been so long in the same room with him, and carry on so long a conversation with him; rather therefore it may signify the words of his mouth, his speech along with his breath, which were very... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 19:17

Though I entreated for the children's sake of mine own body - This may imply no more than adjuring her by the tenderest ties, by their affectionate intercourse, and consequently by the children which had been the seals of their mutual affection, though these children were no more. But the mention of his children in this place may intimate that he had still some remaining; that there might have been young ones, who, not being of a proper age to attend the festival of their elder brothers and... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 19:1-21

An appeal for pity. Job is brought lower and lower By the words of those from whom he might have expected a true consolation. He at length declares they "vex" his "soul," and "break" him "in pieces with words" He appeals for freedom. He would be let atone, for, as he had sorrowfully said, "miserable comforters are ye all. " The great underlying teaching is the insufficiency of those views of human suffering which find its cause only in judgment upon wrong-doing. Job, the typical... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 19:1-22

Job to Bildad: 1. A reply, an appeal, a complaint. I. JOB 'S WRATHFUL REPLY TO HIS FRIENDS . Job accuses his three friends of: 1 . Irritating words. (Verse 2.) Their solemn addresses and eloquent descriptions were an exquisite torture, harder to endure than the miseries of elephantiasis. The cruel insinuations and unkind reproaches contained in their speeches crushed him more deeply and lacerated him more keenly than all the sharp strokes of evil fortune he had lately... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 19:1-29

Job begins his answer to Bildad's second speech by an expostulation against the unkindness of his friends, who break him in pieces, and torture him, with their reproaches (verses 1-5). He then once more, and more plainly than on any other occasion, recounts his woes. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 19:1-29

Unconquerable convictions. Job feels bitterly hurt by the speeches of Eliphaz and Bildad, and pleads, in face of their harsh constructions, for compassion in his unutterable sufferings. At the same time, he raises himself to bolder confidence in God's help than ever before. He expresses the definite hope that, if not on this side the grave, then on the other side, a justification awaits him by the personal appearance of God. I. INTRODUCTION : INDIGNANT CENSURE OF HIS FRIENDS ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 19:17

My breath is strange to my wife . The breath of a sufferer from elephantiasis has often a fetid odour which is extremely disagreeable. Job's wife, it would seem, held aloof from him on this account, so that he lost the tender offices which a wife is the fittest person to render. Though I intreated for the children's sake of mine own body. This translation is scarcely tenable, though no doubt it gives to the words used a most touching and pathetic sense. Translate, and I am loathsome to... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 19:17

My breath is strange to my wife - Schultens renders this, “my breath is loathsome to my wife,” and so also Noyes. Wemyss translates it, “my own wife turns aside from my breath.” Dr Good, “my breath is scattered away by my wife.” The literal meaning is, “my breath is “strange” (זרה zârâh) to my wife;” and the idea is, that there had been such a change in him from his disease, that his breath was not that which she had been accustomed to breathe without offence, and that she now turned away... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Job 19:17

Job 19:17 . My breath is strange to my wife, &c. I am become so loathsome that my wife will not come near me, though I have conjured her to do it, by the dear memory of our children, those common pledges of our mutual love. Houbigant translates the verse, My wife abhors even my breath: the children of my body fly far from my offensive smell: and he observes, that “we are nowhere told that all the children of Job perished, but only such as were feasting in their eldest brother’s... read more

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