Job 6:9

Job 6:9 Even that it would please God to destroy me; that he would let loose his hand, and cut me off!

Ver. 9. That it would please God to destroy me] That is, to despatch me out of this world, and send me to a better. A dissolution would be far more acceptable to Job than that restitution which Eliphaz seemed to promise him, Job 5:24. It is as if Job should say, Take you the world among you, since you like it so well; I have more than enough of it; I am neither fond of life, nor afraid of death, but the clean contrary; I had rather die than dine, and crave no greater favour than to have more weight laid upon me that I may die out of hand. Feri, Domine, feri; nam a peccatis absolutus sum, as Luther once said, Strike, Lord, strike deep; for thou hast pardoned my sins, and wilt save my soul.

That he would let loose his hand] That now seemeth tied, or bound behind him. Manus ligari videtur quando parcit, saith Vatablus. God had chained up Satan, and strictly charged him not to take away Job’s life; but this is it that Job would fain have done. Mortality he would account no small mercy; he desired nothing more than to be dissolved, and to be with Christ; he might do it, because he knew that his Redeemer lived, &c. So might Simeon, because he had seen God’s salvation; and so might Paul, who had fought a good fight, and kept the faith. But how could Plato say, in the eighth of his laws, The communion of the soul with the body is not better than the dissolution, as I would say, if I were to speak in earnest? Kοινωνια ψυχη και αωματι διαλυσεως ουκ εστι κρειττων, ως εγω φαιην αν σπουδη λεγων. His master, Socrates, when to die, was nothing so confident; for he shut up his last speech with these words, as both Plato himself and Cicero tell us, Tempus est iam hinc abire, It is now high time for us to go hence; for me to die, and for you to live longer; and whether of these two is the better the gods immortal know; hominem quidem arbitror scire neminem, it is above the knowledge, I believe, of any man living. Thus he; but Job was better persuaded; otherwise he would have been better advised than thus earnestly to have desired death.

And cut me off!] Avide me absumat quasi ex morte mea ingens lucrum reportaturus (Pineda). Let him greedily cut me off (so the word signifieth), even as if he were to have some great gain, or get some rich booty by my blood.

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.

6:9 At one time, both Moses and Elijah wished that God would kill them (Num 11:15; 1 Kgs 19:4).

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

destroy--literally, "grind" or "crush" (Isa 3:15).

let loose his hand--God had put forth His hand only so far as to wound the surface of Job's flesh (Job 1:12; Job 2:6); he wishes that hand to be let loose, so as to wound deeply and vitally.

cut me off--metaphor from a weaver cutting off the web, when finished, from the thrum fastening it to the loom (Isa 38:12).

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. Let loose his hand] A metaphor taken from an archer drawing his arrow to the head, and then loosing his hold, that the arrow may fly to the mark. See on Job 6:4.

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

(9) Even that it would please God . . .—The sequence of thought in these verses is obscure and uncertain. The speaker may mean that, notwithstanding all that might befall him, his consolation would still be that he had never denied the words of the Holy One. The words “I would harden myself in sorrow” are the most doubtful, not occurring elsewhere in Scripture. Some render the two clauses, “I would exult, or rejoice, in pain that spareth not;” but “Let him not spare,” or “Though he spare not,” seems preferable. Others render, “Though I burn in sorrow.”

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Then should I yet have comfort,.... Either before death, and in the midst of all his pains and sorrows, being in view of it as near at hand, and sure and certain; could he but be assured of its near approach, he could exult in his afflictions; it would be an alleviation of his trouble, that he should be soon out of it; and he would sit and sing upon the brink of eternity, and say, "O death, where is thy sting! O grave, where is thy victory?" Co1 15:55; his sufferings being just at an end, and being comfortably persuaded of a happy future state, and a glorious resurrection, see Job 19:25; or after death, when destroyed and cut off by it; and he hereby signifies as if he expected no comfort on this side death and the grave; that is, no temporal comfort, his comforts were gone, his substance, his children, and health, and he had no hope of the restoration of them, Eliphaz had suggested; but he believed, that though he now had his evil things, as Lazarus since, yet after death should be comforted with the presence of God, in which is fulness of joy; with the discoveries of his love, as a broad river to swish in; with a glory that should be on him, and revealed in him, with which "the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared", Rom 8:18; and with the company of angels, and glorified saints, as well as be freed from all bodily disorders and pains, and death itself, from all sin, and sorrow, from Satan's temptations, divine desertions, doubts, and fears:

yea, I would harden myself in sorrow; meaning either upon the first news of death's being near at hand, he would harden himself against all pains and pangs of death; when those should beset him around, and he should find trouble and sorrow through them, he would not regard them, but most cheerfully and patiently bear them, and most courageously go through them, not at all intimidated by them, or by death, and the most terrible agonies of it: or "though I should be hot, burn", or "be burnt in sorrow" or "pain" (o), as some render it; or parched with pain, as Mr. Broughton; though I should be still more and more inflamed with these burning ulcers upon me, or be dried up with a burning fever, or my body cast into a fire, and be scorched and burnt in the flames of it, I should not value it; I could bear the most excruciating pains, and sharpest torments, could I but be assured I should die. Some observe, that the word signifies to "leap" (p); and so the Septuagint render it; and then the sense is, that he should leap for joy, as men do when they are elevated at good news, or possess what is exceeding grateful to them, was it certain to him he should die quickly; and so the Targum interprets it of exultation. The word in the Arabic language, as a good judge (q) of it observes, is used of the prancing and pawing of a horse, which makes the ground to shake; he strikes with his foot, and which as done in the midst of a battle, mocking at fear, at the rattling quiver, and glittering spear and shield, is most beautifully described in Job 39:21 in like manner, Job suggests, he should rejoice in the view of death, and mock at the fear of it: or this may respect the happiness he should enjoy after death; for in the Syriac and Arabic versions the words are rendered, "and I shall be perfected in virtue"; and the word used has the signification of solidity, confirmation, stability, and perfection; and to this sense it is rendered by some (r), though to different purposes; and after this suffering state is over, the saints will be established, settled and perfected in all virtue, in knowledge, holiness, and happiness: therefore

let him not spare; laying on his blows thicker and heavier, till he has beaten me to pieces, and utterly destroyed me, a petition the reverse of David's, Psa 39:13; his desire is to have it done quickly and thoroughly, neither to spare him any longer, nor abate in measure, but strike him immediately, and that effectually, so as to dispatch him at once:

for I have not concealed the words of the Holy One; that is, of God, as some (t) supply it, whose name is holy, who is holy in his nature, and in all his works, and is eminently glorious in the perfection of his holiness; for though there are holy men and holy angels, there are none holy as the Lord: his "words" are the doctrines delivered out by him concerning Christ the promised seed, and salvation by him, which were spoken of by the mouth of all the prophets from the beginning of the world, of which Job had knowledge, Job 19:25; see Gen 3:15 Luk 1:70; and the duties of religion enjoined men in those early times; which Sephorno refers to the laws and commandments given to the sons of Noah; of which See Gill on Gen 9:4; Here everything is included, both with respect to doctrine and practice, then revealed unto the sons of men, all which Job had a special regard unto: he embraced, professed, and practised them; he did not hide them from himself, or shut his eyes to the evidence of them, and smother within him the light he had; nor did he conceal them from others, but communicated the knowledge of them among his neighbours, as far as he could reach; he was not ashamed to profess the true religion of God; he held fast, and did not deny the faith in the midst of a dark and Heathenish country, and he lived up to his profession and principles in his life and conversation: now having a testimony of a good conscience within him, that he, through the grace of God, had acted a sincere and upright part in the affair of religion, and having knowledge of a living Redeemer, and faith in him, and in his justifying righteousness, he was not afraid of death, come when it would, and in whatsoever shape: and whereas his friends had suggested that he was a hypocrite and a wicked man, his conscience bore witness to the contrary; and to let them know they were mistaken in him, he signifies, he was not afraid to die, yea, he desired it; he cared not how soon he left the world, and appeared before God, the Judge of all, since the truth of grace was in him, and the righteousness of Christ upon him, and he had not, through the course of his profession of religion, departed wickedly from his God, his truths and ordinances. Some (u) read this in connection with the first clause, putting the rest in a parenthesis: "this is yet my comfort (though or when I am burned or parched with pain, and he spares not), that I have not concealed the words of the Holy One".

(o) "calefaciam", Pagninus, Bolducius; "flagrem", Vatablus; "exaestuo", Junius & Tremellius; "urar", Drusius, Mercerus; so Gersom, Kimchi, Peritsol, & Ben Melech. (p) Sept. "saltarem prae gaudio"; so some in Munster. (q) "Et pede terram quatium cum exultatione", Schultens. (r) "Consolidescam", Montanus; "corroboror", Beza; so Aben Ezra. (t) Vatablus, Tigurine version, Michaelis. (u) So Vatablus, Mercerus, Codurcus, Cocceius.

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

Even that it would please God to destroy me - To put me to death, and to release me from my sorrows; compare Job 3:20-21. The word rendered “destroy” here (דכא dâkâ') means properly to break in pieces, to crush, to trample under foot, to make small by bruising. Here the sense is, that Job wished that God would crush him, so as to take his life. The Septuagint renders it “wound” - τρωσάτω trōsatō. The Chaldee renders it, “Let God, who has begun to make me poor, loose his hand and make me rich.”

That he would let loose his hand - Job here represents the hand of God as bound or confined. He wishes that that fettered hand were released, and were so free in its inflictions that he might be permitted to die.

And cut me off - This expression, says Gesenius (Lexicon on the word בצע betsa‛), is a metaphor derived from a weaver, who, when his web is finished, cuts it off from the thrum by which it is fastened to the loom; see the notes at Isa 38:12. The sense is, that Job wished that God would wholly finish his work, and that as he had begun to destroy him he would complete it.

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

Off, and release me from this state of misery and danger. (Haydock) --- He is ready to die cheerfully, if it be God’s will. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "May the Lord, who has begun, wound me, but not take me away finally. Yea, let my city, over which I have exulted, be my grave. I will not spare, for I have not belied a word of my holy God." (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

To destroy me; to end my days and calamities together. That he would let loose his hand; which is now as it were bound up or restrained from giving me that deadly blow which I desire. Oh that he would restrain himself and his hand no longer, but let it fall upon me with all its might, so as to

cut me off as it follows.

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

9. Please God to destroy me — With God is the determination of life and death. The command, “Thou shalt not kill,” includes self-destruction. In all his sufferings Job never intimates a thought of taking his own life. The old Hebrew mind would have spurned the effeminacy that expresses itself in the “Morals of Seneca;” — that mind was strong to bear the ills of life so long as it pleased God. In the entire Old Testament there is no trace of suicide apart from war, unless the case of Ahithophel be an exception.

And cut me off — Allusion is here made to the weaver, who, when the web is woven, cuts off the thread from the thrum which fastens the web to the loom. Compare Isa_38:12.

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

Even that it would please God to destroy me; or, to crush me (Revised Version) break me in pieces" (Lee). That he would let loose his hand; or, put forth his hand stretch it out against me threateningly." And cut me off. "Cut me off bit by bit" (Lee); comp. Isa_38:12, where the same word is used of a weaver, who cuts the threads of his loom one by one, until the whole is liberated and comes away.

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

Destroy - To end my days and calamities together.

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

desire and may He want.

and crush me [This is] an expression of death.

enlarge his hand May He enlarge His hand with His plague like (Exod. 9:3), “Behold God’s hand is.”

and finish me off Heb. ויבצעני, and finish me off, as in (Lam. 2:17), “He has carried out (בצע) His word,” and (Zech. 4:9), “and his hands shall finish it (תבצענה).”

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.