Job 19:14

Job 19:14 My kinsfolk have failed, and my familiar friends have forgotten me.

Ver. 14. My kinsfolk have failed] scil. In courtesy, as Ruth’s kinsman did. Job had many kinsfolk, but few friends; and this was a great grief to him, as it was afterwards also to David, Psa 31:11; Psa 38:11; Psa 69:8; to Heman, Psa 88:8; and to Paul, 2Ti 4:16.

And my familiar friends] They whom I favoured, saith Broughton, according to Psa 11:7.

Have forgotten me] Out of sight out of mind. A thing forgotten is as if it had never been. All Job’s courtesies were cast away upon these summer birds, who had well nigh forgotten there was ever such a man in the world as Job.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Job_19:14

My kinsfolk have failed.

Fickleness of friends

What is sweeter than a well-tuned lute, and what is more delightful than a faithful friend, who can cheer us in sorrow with wise and affectionate discourse? Nothing, however, is sooner untuned than a lute, and nothing is more fickle than a friend. The tone of the one changes with the weather, that of the other with fortune. With a clear sky, and a bright sun, and a gentle breeze, you will have friends in plenty; but let fortune frown, and the firmament be overcast, and then your friends will prove like the strings of the lute, of which you will tighten ten before you will find one that will bear the tension, or keep the pitch. (Gotthold.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Job 19:14. My kinsfolk — Whom nature inclined to love and befriend me; have failed — To perform the offices of humanity which they owed me: and my familiar friends — To whom I was united by a stronger bond than that of nature; have forgotten me — Have neglected and disregarded me as much as if they had quite forgotten the friendship there was between us.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 14. My kinsfolk have failed] Literally, departed: they have all left my house, now there is no more hope of gain.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

They that dwell in mine house,.... Not his neighbours, as the Septuagint; for though they dwelt near his house, they did not dwell in it; nor inmates and sojourners, lodgers with him, to whom he let out apartments in his house; this cannot be supposed to have been his case, who was the greatest man in all the east; nor even tenants, that hired houses and lands of him; for the phrase is not applicable to them; it designs such who were inhabitants in his house. Job amidst all his calamities had an house to dwell in; it is a tradition mentioned by Jerom (c), that Job's house was in Carnea, a large village in his time, in a corner of Batanea, beyond the floods of Jordan; and he had people dwelling with him in it, who are distinct from his wife, children, and servants after mentioned; and are either "strangers" (d) as the word sometimes signifies, he had taken into his house in a way of hospitality, and had given them lodging, and food, and raiment, as the light of nature and law of God required, Deu 10:18; or else proselytes, of whom this word (e) is sometimes used, whom he had been the instrument of converting from idolatry, superstition, and profaneness, and of gaining them over to the true religion; and whom he had taken into his house, to instruct them more and more in the ways of God, such as were the trained servants in Abraham's family: these, says he,

and my maids, count me for a stranger; both the one and the other, the strangers he took out of the streets, and the travellers he opened his doors unto, and entertained in a very generous and hospitable manner; the proselytes he had made, and with whom he had taken so much pains, and to whom he had shown so much kindness and goodness, and been the means of saving their souls from death; and his maidens he had hired into his house, to do the business of it, and who ought to have been obedient and respectful to him, and whose cause he had not despised, but had treated them with great humanity and concern; the Targum wrongly renders the word, "my concubines"; yet these one and another looked upon him with an air of the utmost indifference, not as if he was the master of the house, but a stranger in it, as one that did not belong unto it, and they had scarce ever seen with their eyes before; which was very ungrateful, and disrespectful to the last degree; and if they reckoned him a stranger to God, to his grace, to true religion and godliness, this was worse still; and especially in the proselytes of his house, who owed their conversion, their light and knowledge in divine things, to him as an instrument:

I am an alien in their sight; as a foreigner, one of another kingdom and nation, of a different habit, speech, religion, and manners; they stared at him as if they had never seen him before, as some strange object to be looked at, an uncommon spectacle, that had something in him or about him unusual and frightful; at least contemptible and to be disdained, and not to be spoke to and familiarly conversed with, but to be shunned and despised.

(c) De loc. Heb. fol. 89. M. (d) "peregrini", Schmidt, Schultens. (e) Apud Rabbinos, passim.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

My kinsfolk have failed - My neighbors (קרובי qârôbāy), those who were near to me. It may refer to “nearness” of affinity, friendship, or residence. The essential idea is that of “nearness” - whether by blood, affection, or vicinity. In Psa 38:11, it denotes near friends.

And my familiar friends - Those who knew me - מידעי myudā‛ay. The allusion is to those who were “intimately” acquainted with him, or who were his bosom friends.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

My kinsfolk have failed, to wit, to perform the offices of humanity and friendship which they owe to me.

Have forgotten me, i.e. neglect and disregard me as much as if they had quite forgotten me.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

My kinsfolk have failed, and my familiar friends have forgotten me. (see Psa_41:9)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.