Job 19:9

Job 19:9 He hath stripped me of my glory, and taken the crown [from] my head.

Ver. 9. He hath stripped me of my glory] This is the second comparison, ab externo corporis cultu et habitu, saith Merlin; from the outward habiliments and habits of the body, Gen 37:23. Our King Richard II, when he was to be deposed, was brought forth gorgeously attired in his royal robes, with a crown upon his head, a sceptre in his hand, &c., but soon after despoiled of all, and unkinged. So it fared with poor Job, stripped and bereft of all that he formerly gloried in, and was respected for, as a man robbed hath all his clothes taken off, and is left naked. In him it appeared that mortality was but the stage of mutability, as one saith of our Henry VI, who of a most potent monarch was, when deposed, not the master of a molehill, nor owner of his own liberty (Daniel’s Hist.).

And hath taken the crown from off my head] Hence some infer that Job was a king, the same with Jobab, king of Edom, mentioned Gen 36:34. But this is uncertain, since crown is often in Scripture taken allegorically, for riches, authority, dignity, and other ornaments. These were taken from Job, yea, from off his head. See Lam 5:16. But he had a better crown, quae nec eripi nec surripi potuit, which could not be taken away; viz. that crown of twelve stars, or celestial graces, Rev 12:1, together with that crown of glory (the fruit of the former) that is "incorruptible and fadeth not away," 1Pe 1:4. Happy Job in such a crown; and that he was in the number of those few heads destined to such a diadem. David had (whatever Job had) a crown of pure gold set upon his head, Psal. xxi. 1; this was a great mercy to so mean a man, since beyond a crown the wishes of mortal man extend not. But David blesseth God for a better crown, Psa 103:4, "Who crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies." And how was this set on his head? "Who forgiveth all thy iniquities," &c., Psa 103:3. Neither can any take away this crown, because we are kept (Greek, φρουρουμενοι, guarded or garrisoned as in a tower of brass, or town of war, that is well fenced with walls and works, and so it is made impregnable) by the power of God through faith unto salvation, 1Pe 1:5.

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.

19:9 stripped me of my honor: See 12:17-19; 29:7-14, 20.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Meaning, his children, and whatsoever was dear unto him in this world.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

stripped . . . crown--image from a deposed king, deprived of his robes and crown; appropriate to Job, once an emir with all but royal dignity (Lam 5:16; Psa 89:39).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 9. He hath stripped me of my glory] I am reduced to such circumstances, that I have lost all my honour and respect.

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

9. Then came the consciousness of the meaning of his calamities—they were evidence that he was a transgressor. God took thus his crown of righteousness from his head, and stripped the glory of godliness from him, cf. ch. Job_29:14.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He hath destroyed me on every side,.... To be "troubled on every side" is much, as the apostles were, Co2 4:8; but to be destroyed on every side, and all around, is more, and denotes utter destruction; it may have respect to the rein of his substance and family, which were all demolished at once; his oxen and asses, which were on one side, his camels on other, his sheep on another, and his children on another, and all destroyed in one day, and perhaps in a few hours; and also to his body, which God had made, and had fashioned together round about; but now he had suffered it to be smitten with ulcers from the crown of his head to the sole of his feet; and this earthly tabernacle of his was demolishing on every side, and just falling down; for the allusion is either to the demolition of a building, or to the rooting up of a tree, and so continued in the next clause; comparing himself to a tree, that is dug about on all sides, and its roots laid bare, and these and all their fibres cut off, so that it is utterly destroyed from growing any more, but becomes dead; and this Job thought to be his case:

and I am gone; or am a dead man, just going out of the world, the way of all flesh; and because of the certainty of it, and of its being very quickly, in a few minutes, as it were, he speaks of it as if it already was: wherefore it follows,

and my hope he hath removed like a tree; not like a tree that is cut down to its roots, which remain in the ground, and may sprout out again, Job 14:7; nor like a tree that is taken up with its roots, and removed to another place, and planted in another soil, where it may grow as well or better; but like a tree cut off from its roots, or pulled up by the roots, and laid upon the ground, when there can be no hope of its ever growing again; and so the hope of Job was like that; not his hope of salvation, of the resurrection of the dead, and of eternal life, which was strong and firm, Job 13:15; nor can a good and well grounded hope be removed; not the grace of hope, which is an abiding one; nor the ground of hope, which is Christ and his righteousness, upon which hope, as an anchor, being cast, is sure and steadfast; nor the object of hope, eternal glory and happiness laid up in heaven: but this is to be interpreted of Job's hope of a restoration to outward happiness, which his friends would have had him entertain, in case of repentance and reformation; but Job, as he was not sensible of his need of the one, as his friends understood it, he had no hope of the other, see Job 6:11.

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

He hath stripped me of my glory - Everything which I had that contributed to my respectability and honor, he has taken away. My property, my health, my family, the esteem of my friend - all is gone.

And taken the crown from my head - The crown is an emblem of honor and dignity - and Job says that God had removed all that contributed to his - and Job says that God had removed all that contributed to his former dignity; compare Pro 4:9; Pro 17:6; Eze 16:12; Lam 5:16.

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

Of my glory, i.e. of my estate, and children, and authority, and all my comforts.

The crown, i.e. all my ornaments.

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

9. The crown — Though not a king, Job’s former state was truly regal.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He hath stripped me of my glory. The glory which he had in his prosperity; not exactly that of a king, but that of a great sheikh or emir of one who was on a par with the noblest of those about him. (see Job_1:3) And taken the crown from my head. Not an actual crown, which sheikhs do not wear, but a metaphor for dignity or honour.

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

Glory - Of my estate, children, authority, and all my comforts. Crown - All my power, and laid my honour in the dust.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.