Job 9:18

Job 9:18 He will not suffer me to take my breath, but filleth me with bitterness.

Ver. 18. He will not suffer me to take my breath] I am so far from a period, that I have no pause of my troubles. I cannot get any interspirias, or free breathing space. See Job 7:19. And in the former verse he had complained that God had stormed him. Interim per Pathos, saith Mercer; here he returns to his old practice of expostulating about the greatness of his grief, and spares not to hyperbolize. Beda and others understand this text to be a bodily distemper upon Job, which had made him short winded. And Lavater hath this good note here, Hoc cogitandum nobis est, &c. Let this text be thought upon when our spirits begin to sink; as also when by reason of the phthisic, {A wasting disease of the lungs; pulmonary consumption} or any other like disease, we feel a difficulty of breathing, and a straitening of our pectorals, or be otherwise compassed about with great sorrows.

But filleth me with bitterness] Heb. He satiateth me with bitternesses, i.e. with sore and sharp afflictions, which are in no way joyous, but grievous to the flesh, Heb 12:11. Job had his belly full of gall and wormwood; he had not only a draught or two, but a diet drink made for him of most bitter ingredients. Of this he complaineth heavily; what then will the wicked do, that must suck up the dregs of God’s cup, Psa 78:8, which hath eternity to the bottom?

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 9:18. He will not suffer me to take my breath — My pains and miseries are continual, and I have not so much as a breathing time free from them; but filleth me with bitterness — My afflictions are not only long and uninterrupted, but also exceeding sharp and violent, contrary to the common course of God’s providence. Houbigant’s version of this and the two preceding verses shows their connection admirably well, and, according to Bishop Lowth, gives us the true sense of the passage. “But, if I should call that he might answer me, I could not easily believe that he would hear my voice; since he hath broken me with a tempest, and inflicted many wounds upon me without cause; nor hath given me space to take my breath, so hath he filled me with bitterness.”

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

Verse 18. He will not suffer me to take my breath] I have no respite in my afflictions; I suffer continually in my body, and my mind is incessantly harassed.

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

(18) Take my breath.—The action being that of breathing again after complete exhaustion—recovering breath and the power to breathe, &c. “If I say I am perfect, it also shall prove me perverse by the very act of saying so; because for man to maintain his righteousness before God is at once to proclaim his iniquity. The finite cannot come into competition with the Infinite, nor measure itself therewith.”

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

18. will not suffer] Rather, would not suffer. And so, but fill.

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.

If I speak of strength, lo, he is strong,.... Or think of it, or betake myself to that, and propose to carry my point by mere force, as some men do by dint of power and authority they are possessed of; alas! there is nothing to be done this way; I am a poor, weak, feeble creature in body, mind, and estate; I am not able to contend with so powerful an antagonist on any account, in any way: God is strong, he is the "most strong" (w), as some render it; he is mighty, is the Almighty; the weakness of God is stronger than men; there is no disputing with God upon the foot of strength:

and if of judgment, who shall set me a time to plead? If I think and propose to put things upon the foot of justice, to have the cause between us issued in that way, I cannot expect to succeed by right, any more than by might; he is so strictly just and holy, that no righteousness and holiness of, mine can stand before him; he is God, and I a man, and therefore not fit to come together in judgment; and he a pure and holy Being, just and true, and without iniquity, and I a sinful polluted creature; and besides, there is none superior to him, that I can appeal unto, none that can appoint a place, or fix a time, for the hearing of the cause between us, or that can preside in judgment and determine the matter in controversy; nay, there is not one among the creatures that can be a daysman, an arbiter or umpire; yea not one that can be so much as employed as council, that can take the cause in hand, and plead it, and be a patron for me, and defender of me; so that, let me take what course I will, I am sure to be nonsuited and worsted, see Jer 49:19.

(w) "robustissimus est", V. L.

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

He will not suffer me to take my breath; - see the notes at Job 7:19.

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

My pains and miseries are continual, and I have not so much as a breathing time free from them. My afflictions are not only long and uninterrupted, but also exceeding sharp and violent, contrary to the common course of God’s providence.

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

18. Take my breath — So incessant is the sorrow with which God visits him. See Job_7:19.

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

He will not suffer me to take my breath. "He gives me no breathing-space," that is, "no time of relaxation or refreshment. My existence is one continual. misery.". (comp. Job_7:3-6, Job_7:13-19) But filleth me with bitterness; literally, with bitter things"or bitterness (Hebrew, rMm).

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

Breath - My pains are continual, and I have not so much as a breathing time free from them.

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

He Who would not let me He does not let me bring back my breath to myself.

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.