Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Job 19:13
He hath put my brethren far from me, and mine acquaintance are verily estranged from me.
13 14. First, his relations outside his own immediate circle and his acquaintances stood aloof from him.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
13 19. The estrangement and abhorrence of men.
Job’s complaint now is even more touching than before: God not only afflicted him with trouble but removed far from him all human sympathy. And there is something more breaking to the heart in the turning away of men from us than in the severest sufferings. It crushes us quite. We steel ourselves against it for a time and rise to it in bitterness and resentment, but gradually it breaks us and we are crushed at last. And this seems the way whether men frown on us with justice or no. And there came on Job when he contemplated his complete casting off by men, by his friends and his household and even by the little children, a complete break-down, and he cries, Pity me, O ye my friends ( Job 19:21). This alienation of men was universal:
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
He hath put my brethren – This is a new source of afflication that he had not adverted to before, that God had caused all his children to be estranged from him – a calamity which he regarded as the crown of all his woes. The word rendered my brethren ( ‘achay) means means properly my brothers – but whether he means literally his brothers, or whether he designs it to be taken in a figuratie sense as denoting his intimate friends, or those of the same rank in life or calling, it is impossible now to determine.
And mine acquaintance – My friends – on whom I relied in time of calamity.
And verily estranged – They have forgotten me, and treat me as a stranger. What an accurate description is this of what often occurs! In prosperity a man will be surrounded by friends; but as soon as his prosperity is stripped away, and he is overwhelmed with calamity, they withdraw, and leave him to suffer alone. Proud of his acquaintance before, they now pass him by as a stranger, or treat him with cold civility, and when he needs their friendship, they are gone.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
My brethren, i.e. my kindred and friends, who might and should have supported and comforted me in my distress.
Far from me; either,
1. In place; because they feared or disdained, or at least neglected, to visit or succour me. Or,
2. In their affections, which are far from me, when their bodies are present with me, as I find in you. But this also I ascribe to God; he hath alienated your hearts from me.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
13. brethrennearest kinsmen,as distinguished from “acquaintance.” So “kinsfolk”and “familiar friends” (Job19:14) correspond in parallelism. The Arabic proverb is, “Thebrother, that is, the true friend, is only known in time of need.”
estrangedliterally,”turn away with disgust.” Job again unconsciously useslanguage prefiguring the desertion of Jesus Christ (Job 16:10;Luk 23:49; Psa 38:11).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
He hath put my brethren far from me,…. As it is one part of business in war to cut off all communication between the enemy and their confederates and auxiliaries, and to hinder them of all the help and assistance from them they can; so Job here represents God dealing with him as with an enemy, and therefore keeps at a distance from him all such from whom he might expect comfort and succour, as particularly his brethren; by whom may be meant such who in a natural relation are strictly and properly brethren; for such Job had, as appears from
Job 42:11; who afterwards paid him a visit, and showed brotherly love to him; but for the present the affliction that God laid upon him had such an influence on theft, as to cause them to stand aloof off, and not come near him, and show any regard unto him; and as this was the effect of the afflicting hand of God, Job ascribes it to him, and which added to his affliction; see Ps 69:8;
and mine acquaintance are verily estranged from me; such as knew him in the time of his prosperity, and frequently visited him, and conversed with him, and he with them; but now, things having taken a different turn in his outward circumstances, they carried it strange to him, as if they had never been acquainted with him: “si fueris felix”, &c.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
3. And despised by all people, including his kindred (Job. 19:13-19)
TEXT 19:1319
13 He hath put my brethren far from me,
And mine acquaintance are wholly estranged from me.
14 My kinsfolk have failed,
And my familiar friends have forgotten me.
15 They that dwell in my house, and my maids, count me for a stranger:
I am an alien in their sight.
16 I call unto my servant, and he giveth me no answer,
Though I entreat him with my mouth.
17 My breath is strange to my wife,
And my supplication to the children of mine own mother.
18 Even young children despise me;
If I arise, they speak against me.
19 All my familiar friends abhor me,
And they whom I loved are turned against me.
COMMENT 19:1319
Job. 19:13Gods apparent hostility produces human hostility. Isolation and loneliness are radically contrasted with the sequence of relationships which develop from less to more intimate: (1) My brethrenJob. 19:13 a; (2) men of my familyJob. 19:17 b; (3) my intimate friendsJob. 19:19. All of the intimate[207] relationships necessary for life have been ripped apart. Total estrangement is Jobs pitiful lot.[208]
[207] See cultural crises which are visible in our institutions; see interrelationship and Systems Analysis, Sears and Feldman, The Seven Ages of Man (Los Altos, Calif.: Wm. Kaufman, 1973 ed.); and Anderson and Carter, Human Behavior in Social Environment (Chicago: Aldine Pub. Co., 1974). Note the developments in contemporary interpersonal psychological studies such as Ericson, Maslov, Sullivan, et al and their analysis of hierarchy of needs, levels of needs. Man is gregarious by nature. Men are not born into a nation or universe but a family unit. See my Newness on the Earth, chp. 7, Christians come of age in a world come of age, pp. 113125, for look at the biblical-maturity model.
[208] Estrangement or alienation is a fundamental issue in our culture. Since Hegel and Marx, the Christian view of alienation has been under severe attack. Both Existentialism and Neo-Marxism challenge the biblical data. See R. Schacht, Alienation (Doubleday Anchor, 1971) for basic survey; Marxism and Alienation, ed. by H. Aptheker (New York: Humanities Press); and for the neo-Marxism of Bangkok Conference of WCC, 1973. For critique, see my The Word of God for a Broken World (Lincoln, IL: LCC Press, 1977).
Job. 19:14Job has a right to expect his most intimate friends to stand by him in his great hours of darknessPs. 88:19. In his most desperate hours, he is abandoned by all those with whom he has had intimate interpersonal relations. To whom can he turn? Who cares?
Job. 19:15Even the sojourners of his house rejected him. He even lost the respect of his maidservants and obedience of slaves; this is the depth of humiliation. Job has experienced a totally broken existence, from alienation to humiliation.
Job. 19:16He has sunk so low that even his personal servant ignores him. This is the bitterest form of humiliation and proof of the incredible depth into which he has fallenPsa. 123:2. His social status has been obliterated; even the slaves will not respond when he personally calls them.
Job. 19:17Jobs skin is ravaged with eruptions and itchingJob. 2:7-8; Job. 2:12; Job. 7:5; Job. 7:14; Job. 16:16; Job. 19:20; Job. 30:17; Job. 30:30. Now halitosis is added to his other symptoms. His physical appearance is appalling, and has contributed to his social ostracization. The second line in the A. V. does not represent the Hebrew text which literally says the sons of my womb. This cannot refer to Jobs children, as they are already dead. Since there is no mention of concubines, it probably does not refer to their children. The best meaning in this context is Jobs mothers wombJob. 3:10. Womb is used for body in Mic. 6:7 and Ps. 82:11. The phrase would ordinarily mean Jobs children, but this is all but precluded by the present context.
Job. 19:18Even the children show disrespect for Job, as he rises and attempts to walk. Such disrespect calls for drastic punishment2Ki. 2:23. Perhaps the second line means that even little children turn their backs on Job, rather than speak against him.[209]
[209] For this suggestion, see I. Eitan, Jewish Quarterly Review, 192324, pp. 38ff.
Job. 19:19Literally the first line says men of my intimate group or his bosom friendsGen. 49:6; Jer. 6:11; Jer. 15:17; Jer. 23:18; Psa. 25:14; Psa. 55:15have turned against me.[210]
[210] T. Penar, Biblica, 1967, pp. 293ff, for this last clause.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(13) He hath put my brethren far from me.The Psalmist has apparently copied this in Psa. 88:8. The sense of human desertion is hardly less terrible than that of being forsaken by God, and this has been added to him. It is not easy to read these sad complaints of Job without seeing how fitly they apply to the sorrows of the Man of sorrows. Those who, with the present writer, believe in the overruling presence of the Holy Ghost will adore His wisdom in this fitness; but at all events it shows how completely Christ entered into the very heart of human suffering, in that the deepest expressions of suffering inevitably remind us of Him, whether those expressions are met with in the Book of Job, in the Psalms of David, or in the Lamentations of Jeremiah.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Second strophe God’s treatment of Job has resulted in the alienation of his friends of every grade, so that the menials of his house now treat him with contempt, Job 19:13-20.
13. My brethren Umbreit cites an Arabic proverb, “The brother that is, the true friend is only known in time of need.” Job specifies six different phases of friendship, or classes of friends, whom his sufferings had alienated: in general, his brethren, (Job 6:15😉 his “knowers,” “confidants,” (acquaintance;) his kinsmen. “near ones,” (Psa 38:11🙂 “those familiarly known,” (familiar friends,) Job 19:14; sojourners in his house, (Job 19:15😉 and finally, bosom friends. (inward friends,) Job 19:19.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Job 19:13 He hath put my brethren far from me, and mine acquaintance are verily estranged from me.
Ver. 13. He hath put my brethren far from me ] In their affections at least. Some stuck to him, but for a mischief, for they proved miserable comforters, as did likewise Peter to our Saviour, who fled not with the rest of the disciples, but better he had for any good he did him. “A brother is born for adversity,” saith Solomon, Pro 17:17 ; and although at other times there may be some unkindness, fratrum concordia rara est, Harmonious amoung brothers is rare. yet in affliction and extremity good nature will work, and good blood will not belie itself. But Job’s brethren proved unkind, and grew out of kind; they got farthest from him when his enemies had besieged him. And all this befell him, not without the Lord. He hath put my brethren far from me; this was no small aggravation of the affliction, that God withdrew or withheld that assistance and influence that should have enlarged and united the hearts of his brethren unto him. See Psa 105:25 .
And mine acquaintance are verily estranged from me
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Note the Alternation in Job 19:13-14.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Job 19:13-22
Job 19:13-22
IN HIS LAMENTATION; JOB APPEALED TO HIS FRIENDS
“He hath put my brethren far from me,
And mine acquaintance is wholly estranged from me.
My kinsfolk have failed,
And my familiar friends have forgotten me.
They that dwell in my house, and my maids count me as a stranger:
I am an alien in their sight.
I call unto my servant, and he giveth me no answer,
Though I entreat him with my mouth.
My breath is strange to my wife,
And my supplication to the children of my own mother.
Even young children despise me;
If I arise, they speak against me.
All my familiar friends abhor me,
And they whom I loved are turned against me.
My bone cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh,
And I am escaped with the skin of my teeth.
Have pity on me, have pity upon me, O ye, my friends;
For the hand of God hath touched me.
Why do ye persecute me as God,
And are not satisfied with my flesh?”
“He hath put my brethren far from me” (Job 19:13). “Yes, Job had actual brothers (Job 6:15) who forsook him and dealt deceitfully with him in the days of his adversity. But in the days when his prosperity returned they ate bread with him (Job 42:11).” In this particular we find another likeness of the Great Antitype whose brethren believed him not (Joh 6:5).
“I call unto my servant, and he giveth me no answer” (Job 19:16). This was astounding insolence indeed; and in view of the times in which this occurred, it was almost incredibly insulting. Satan really went all-out in his vain efforts to break Job’s spirit. “Job’s humiliation here was already complete when the slave was `entreated,’ rather than `commanded.'”
“Have pity upon me; have pity upon me, O ye my friends” (Job 19:21). Where are there any sadder words than these? These cruel, heartless, bigoted, hypocrites, arrogant in their conceited confidence that they `knew all the answers,’ proceeded to judge Job, as if they were God Himself. No wonder Christ said, “Judge not, that ye be not judged with the same condemnation” (Mat 7:1).
“Why do ye persecute me as God” (Job 19:22). This does not mean that Job accused God of persecuting him. He protests his friend’s persecution of him, as if they were God, assuming to know that which only God could know, and condemning Job upon this presumed superknowledge they pretended to have.
E.M. Zerr:
Job 19:13. Brethren must refer to Job’s fellow citizens and more distant relatives. His immediate family had been entirely destroyed by the disasters of Ch. 1.
Job 19:14. Kinsfolk could refer to Job’s immediate family since they had all been taken from him. Friends is not in the original and the sentence means that the folk who had formerly observed him now overlooked him. Forgotten is from an original word that means to be “inattentive.” It therefore does not mean they actually had a lapse of memory about him, but that they felt above noticing him due to his lowly condition.
Job 19:15. We recall that Job’s fleshand-blood relatives had been taken from him by violence, but he still had a sort of home with professed servants. But all of these, too, had come to be “above” him and treated him as a stranger.
Job 19:16. A servant in the olden times usually responded very promptly to the call of his master. Job’s servant not only failed to do his bidding but did not so much as answer him. And all this notwithstanding the fact that his afflicted master begged for service. The most ordinary sense of sympathy should have moved even a superior to give Job some assistance, much more a servant whose duty was to do so.
Job 19:17. We recall the attitude that Job’s wife had shown toward him in the beginning of his afflictions (Job 2:9) we here see some more of that attitude. She treated him as if he were a stranger on account of his objectionable appearance. Children’s sake would have to be in the sense of the sake of their memory, for they had all been destroyed.
Job 19:18. Young children. The first italicized word is not in the original. The second is from a word with a wide range of meaning, and the expression means that the offspring of the citizens treated Job with disrespect.
Job 19:19. This verse means that the most intimate associates whom Job had had turned against him and spurned his love.
Job 19:20. There is a familiar expression used in reference to a person who has become very lean which is that such a one “is nothing but skin and bones.” That is what Job meant by the first part of this verse. Skin of my teeth is a highly figurative statement, that Job had barely escaped total destruction.
Job 19:21-22. Job has denied all through the discussions that God was afflicting him for the purpose of punishment. However, he did believe that God was doing It for some purpose not revealed, and he begged his friends to pity him instead of making his sufferings worse by falsely accusing him.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
put my brethren: Psa 31:11, Psa 38:11, Psa 69:8, Psa 69:20, Psa 88:8, Psa 88:18, Mat 26:56, 2Ti 4:16
estranged: Job 6:21-23
Reciprocal: Job 18:20 – were affrighted Job 30:1 – they that are Job 30:10 – flee far Job 42:11 – all his brethren Psa 54:3 – strangers Psa 142:4 – but there was Pro 14:20 – poor Pro 19:4 – the poor Lam 1:2 – all her friends Lam 1:19 – for Mat 10:36 – General Mat 26:31 – and the Mar 14:50 – General Luk 23:49 – acquaintance
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Job 19:13. He hath put my brethren far from me, &c. I looked for some support and comfort from my kindred and friends, but they were so astonished at the number and dreadfulness of my calamities that they fled from me as a man accursed of God: and as for my neighbours, who formerly much courted my acquaintance: they keep aloof from me, as if they had never known me. As we must see the hand of God in all the injuries we receive from our enemies, so likewise in all the slights and unkindnesses we receive from our friends.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The hostility of Job’s other acquaintances 19:13-22
In describing the people Job referred to in this section, he started with those farthest from him and moved to those closest to him, and from Job’s equals to his inferiors socially. Job may have meant by "the skin of my teeth" (Job 19:20 b)-"narrowly"-or that his teeth had fallen out and only his gums remained. Having found no comfort in other people, Job next turned back to God.