Job 1:21

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Job 1:20-22

The devil had done all he desired leave to do against Job, to provoke him to curse God. He had touched all he had, touched it with a witness; he whom the rising sun saw the richest of all the men in the east was before night poor to a proverb. If his riches had been, as Satan insinuated, the only principle of his religion now that he had lost his riches he would certainly have lost his religion; but the account we have, in these verses, of his pious deportment under his affliction,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 1:21

And said, naked came I out of my mother's womb ,.... Either literally, where he was conceived and lay, and from whence he came into the world, though he afterwards wishes he never had, or had died as soon as he did, Job 3:10 , and so it is expressive of his birth, and the circumstance of it; or figuratively, his mother earth, from whence the first man sprang, and so all his posterity with him, being as he of the earth, earthly, see Ecclesiastes 12:7 , which sense is mentioned by Jarchi... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 1:21

Naked came I out of my mother's womb - I had no earthly possessions when I came into the world; I cannot have less going out of it. What I have the Lord gave: as it was his free gift, he has a right to resume it when he pleases; and I owe him gratitude for the time he has permitted me to enjoy this gift. Naked shall I return thither - Whither? Not to his mother's womb surely; nor does he call the earth his mother in this place. In the first clause of the verse he speaks without a... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 1:1-22

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 1:13-22

The first trial of the patriarch. I. THE PREPARATION FOR THE TRIAL . The patriarch at the height of his prosperity. The season pitched upon for making an assault upon the patriarch was a day of: 1 . Festive rejoicing ; when the patriarch's family were convened at a banquet of unusual magnificence, "eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house;" such a sumptuous entertainment doubtless as became the firstborn to provide. 2 . Busy industry ; when the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 1:13-22

The invasion of trouble, and its first effect on Job. The lessons on which we have been dwelling, and on which Job had doubtless deeply meditated in the leisure of his prosperous days, were now to receive the illustration of actual experience. A series of waves breaks in upon his peaceful home and heart, and, in the space of a few short hours, turns the smiling scene into utter desolation. We may notice in the story the following points: the calamities of Job, and their first effect upon his... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 1:20-22

The triumph of faith. The trial in its great severity has fallen upon Job. His oxen and asses have been rapaciously torn away from him by the Sabeans; many of his servants have been slain with the edge of the sword; the fire of God has consumed the sheep and the shepherds who took charge of them; the camels the Chaldeans have stolen, and slain the camel-keepers; the house of the eldest son, in which Job's sons and daughters were feasting, has been smitten by a great wind, and it has fallen,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 1:21

And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither . There is some difficulty in the word "thither," since no man returns to his mother's womb ( John 3:4 ), at death or otherwise. The expression must not be pressed. It arises out of the analogy, constantly felt and acknowledged, between "mother" earth and a man's actual mother (setup. Psalms 129:1-8 :15). The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away . Job is here represented as knowing God by his name... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 1:21-22

Job's resignation. We cannot but be struck with the magnificent calmness of Job after receiving the successive blows of unprecedented calamities. He is not stunned; he is not distracted. He possesses his soul in patience. With a singular dignity of bearing he is seen to be greater now in his calamity than ever he appeared when at the height of success. I. HOW JOB BEHAVED . 1 . He mourned . This was natural, reasonable, and right. He would have been less than mall if he had... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 1:21

And said, Naked came I out - That is, destitute of property, for so the connection demands; compare 1 Timothy 6:7; “For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.” A similar expression also occurs in Pliny, “Hominem natura tanturn nudism.” Nat. Hist. proem. L. vii. Job felt that he was stripped of all, and that he must leave the world as destitute as he entered it.My mother’s womb - The earth - the universal mother. That he refers to the earth is apparent,... read more

Group of Brands