Bible Commentary - Job 19

In this chapter, Job replies to Bildad, once again decrying the persecution he feels from both God and his friends.

This chapter seems to shift between several related ideas.  In various places, Job speaks about his friends’ betrayal, the anger and violence of God directed against him, abandonment from his friends and relatives, and for a brief and remarkable moment, Job’s continued faith and trust in God.

In verses 1-4, Job accuses his friends of “tormenting” and “insulting” him (v. 2, 3).  This is typical of Job’s earlier responses to his friends as well.

In verses 6-12, Job turns his attention to God, whom he accuses of “wronging me” (v. 6).  He goes on to describe the various ways that God has broken down his life, between closing off his “paths” (i.e. future), stripping his honor and uprooting his hope.  This is one of the more direct accusations of God we have seen in this book so far, but it’s thematically consistent with Job’s overall attitude throughout.

Verses 13-19 focuses on the betrayal of Job’s household and relatives.  This is perhaps a veiled rebuke of his three friends, but it’s also more generally directed against his friends and relatives as a whole, who we can imagine are much less interested in the company of the poor, diseased Job than they were the wealthy, healthy Job.

In verses 21-22, Job turns his attention back to his friends, pleading for them to play the role of the friend and give him comfort rather than continue the attack that he perceives coming from God.  Verses 28-29 continue the theme by presenting his friends as coordinated attackers, planning and searching for ways to heap some new trauma in Job’s already-difficult life.

Verses 25-27 are possibly the strangest part of the chapter.  Every other part of this chapter has a consistent theme: Job’s friends are against him, God is against him, and his family and relatives are against him.  After insisting that God is “wronging” him and arranging troops to surround Job’s tent like a hostile army (v. 12), Job now says that God is his redeemer, who will in the end bring Job into his presence.  It’s incredible, much like the assertion that “though he slay me, I will trust him” of Job 13:15.  We see in the midst of Job’s suffering and even accusing God of wrongdoing, somehow Job maintains some kind of spark or some kind of essential faith that God is with him and will bring him through to a better place, even if it’s on the other side of death.

This basic contradiction lies at the heart of Job.  On the one hand, the accusations seem to flow from Job’s inner grief and emotional response to suffering.  On the other hand, the proclamations of faith persist even in the midst of grief.  Even with Job’s hope itself “uprooted like a tree”, Job somehow continues to find a hope beyond all rational sense.  This would be so much easier to understand if God wasn’t on Job’s list of persecutors.  If Job were saying, “my friends are family are against me but I know that you are always for me, God”, then that is pretty simple to interpret and a powerful message.

But he doesn’t.  Job says, “God, even you are against me and rallying your troops to destroy my life, but I know that you are my redeemer and you will bring me into your presence.”  I hardly even know what to do with that, because it casts God in the role of the bad guy and the hero simultaneously.  I can only imagine there is some unshakable core in Job’s soul that insists God is the redeemer, and God is good.  No matter what tragedy is filling his life, that foundational belief in the goodness of God emerges again and again, even when it doesn’t make sense or contradicts other things Job was saying only a little while ago.

Of course, Job’s friends pay no attention to those statements, and they are thoroughly antagonized by Job’s repeated claims of persecution.

In the next chapter, Zophar takes his second turn to rebuke Job.