Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Job 6:12
[Is] my strength the strength of stones? or [is] my flesh of brass?
12. Unless his strength were that of stones or his flesh brass he could not hold out against the exhausting afflictions which he has to bear, or recover from them.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Is my strength the strength of stones? – That is, like a rampart or fortification made of stones, or like a craggy rock that can endure assaults made upon it. A rock will bear the beatings of the tempest, and resist the floods, but how can frail man do it? The idea of Job is, that he had no strength to bear up against these accumulated trials; that he was afraid that he should be left to sink under them, and to complain of God; and that his friends were not to wonder if his strength gave way, and he uttered the language of complaint.
Or is my flesh of brass? – Margin, brazen. The comparison used here is not uncommon. So Cicero, Aca. Qu. iv. 31, says, Non enim est e saxo sculptus, ant e robore dolatus homo; habet corpus, habet animum; movetur mente, movetur sensibus: – for man is not chiselled out of the rock, nor cut from a tree; he has a body, he has a soul; he is actuated by mind, he is swayed by senses. So Theocritus, in his description of Amycus, Idyll. xxii. 47:
,
.
Stethea d’ esfairoto peloria kai platu noton,
Sarki sidareie sfurelakos hoia kolossos.
Round as to his vast breast and broad back, and with iron flesh, he is as if a colossus formed with a hammer – So in Homer the expression frequently occurs – sidereion etor – an iron heart – to denote courage. And so, according to Schultens, it has come to be a proverb, , ouk apo druos, ouk apo petres – not from a tree, not from a rock. The meaning of Job is plain. He had flesh like others. His muscles, and nerves, and sinews, could not bear a constant force applied to them, as if they were made of brass or iron. They must give way; and he apprehended that he would sink under these sorrows, and be left to use language that might dishonor God. At all events, he felt that these great sorrows justified the strong expressions which he had already employed.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 12. Is my strength the strength of stones?] I am neither a rock, nor is my flesh brass, that I can endure all these calamities. This is a proverbial saying, and exists in all countries. Cicero says, Non enim est e saxo sculptus, aut e ROBORE dolatus HOMO; habet corpus, habet animum; movetur mente, movetur sensibus. “For man is not chiselled out of the rock, nor hewn out of the oak; he has a body, and he has a soul; the one is actuated by intellect, the other by the senses.” Quaest. Acad. iv. 31. So Homer, where he represents Apollo urging the Trojans to attack the Greeks: –
‘ ,
‘
‘, , ‘
, ,
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ILLIAD, lib. iv., ver. 507.
But Phoebus now from Ilion’s towering height
Shines forth reveal’d, and animates the fight.
Trojans, be bold, and force to force oppose;
Your foaming steeds urge headlong on the foes!
Nor are their bodies ROCKS, nor ribb’d with STEEL;
Your weapons enter, and your strokes they feel.
POPE.
These are almost the same expressions as those in Job.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
I am not made of stone or brass, but of flesh and blood, as others are; and therefore I am utterly unable to endure these miseries longer, and can neither hope for nor desire any continuance of my life, or restoration of my former happiness, but only wish for that death which is the common refuge of all miserable persons, as I said, Job 3:17,18.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
12. Disease had so attacked himthat his strength would need to be hard as a stone, and his fleshlike brass, not to sink under it. But he has only flesh, like othermen. It must, therefore, give way; so that the hope of restorationsuggested by Eliphaz is vain (see on Job5:11).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
[Is] my strength the strength of stones?…. Is it like such especially which are foundation and corner stones that support a building? or like a stone pillar, that will bear a prodigious weight? no, it is not:
or [is] my flesh of brass? is it made of brass? or is it like to brass for hardness, or for sustaining any weight laid on it? it is not; and, therefore, it cannot bear up under the ponderous load of afflictions on it, but must sink and fail; it is but flesh and blood, and that flesh like grass, weak and feeble; and, therefore, death is better than life laden with such an insupportable burden.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
12. Is my flesh of brass That is, invulnerable? Brass is used sometimes as the symbol of incorrigible pride and wanton immorality, and sometimes as an emblem of durability and strength. (Eadie.) The ancients possessed some secret for hardening brass (more properly copper) so as to make it firm like iron. “For man,” says Cicero, “is not sculptured out of the rock, nor hewn out of the oak-tree: he has body, he has mind; he is moved by mind, he is actuated by senses.” Acad. Quest., 4:31.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Job 6:12 [Is] my strength the strength of stones? or [is] my flesh of brass?
Ver. 12. Is my strength the strength of stones? or is my flesh of brass? ] Is it made of marble, or of the hardest metal? as it is said of one in Homer, that he was , of brazen bowels, and of Julius Scaliger, that he had a golden soul in an iron body; he was a very iron sides: but so was not Job; he had neither a body of brass, nor sinews of iron, to stand out against so many storms, and bear so many batteries; he felt what he endured, and could not long endure what he felt. As for the damned in hell, they are by the power of God upheld for ever, that they may suffer his fierce wrath for ever; which else they could never do. And as for those desperate assassins, Baltasar Gerardus, the Burgundian, who slew the Prince of Orange, A. D. 1584, and Ravilliac ( Ferale illud prodigium, as one calleth him, that hideous hell hound), who slew Henry IV of France in the midst of his preparations, and endured thereupon most exquisite torments; this they did out of stupidity of sense, not solidity of faith; and from a reckless desperation, not a confident resolution.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
of brass: Heb. brasen, Job 40:18, Job 41:24
Reciprocal: Exo 38:2 – brass
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Job 6:12. Is my strength the strength of stones? I am not made of stone or brass, but of flesh and blood, as others are; therefore I am not able to endure these miseries longer, and can neither desire nor hope for the continuance of my life. Bishop Patricks paraphrase on this verse is, God hath not made me insensible; and therefore do not wonder that I desire to be released from these very sharp pains.