FocusAccusation and protest intensify
Connection to the wholeThe argument sharpens as the friends connect suffering with wickedness and Job challenges their account of the wicked's fortunes.
interpretation Job 19:21
KJVHave pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends; for the hand of God hath touched me.
Read it in context
Job: My Redeemer Lives
Start reading at Job 19:1 (Job 19:1 to Job 19:29).
An editorial reading unit, not a claim that the surrounding context stops here. Book background below applies to the shared passage; individual verses may need more specific explanation.
The argument sharpens as the friends connect suffering with wickedness and Job challenges their account of the wicked's fortunes.
- 19:1 Then Job answered and said,
- 19:2 How long will ye vex my soul, and break me in pieces with words?
- 19:3 These ten times have ye reproached me: ye are not ashamed that ye make yourselves strange to me.
- 19:4 And be it indeed that I have erred, mine error remaineth with myself.
- 19:5 If indeed ye will magnify yourselves against me, and plead against me my reproach:
- 19:6 Know now that God hath overthrown me, and hath compassed me with his net.
- 19:7 Behold, I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard: I cry aloud, but there is no judgment.
- 19:8 He hath fenced up my way that I cannot pass, and he hath set darkness in my paths.
- 19:9 He hath stripped me of my glory, and taken the crown from my head.
- 19:10 He hath destroyed me on every side, and I am gone: and mine hope hath he removed like a tree.
- 19:11 He hath also kindled his wrath against me, and he counteth me unto him as one of his enemies.
- 19:12 His troops come together, and raise up their way against me, and encamp round about my tabernacle.
- 19:13 He hath put my brethren far from me, and mine acquaintance are verily estranged from me.
- 19:14 My kinsfolk have failed, and my familiar friends have forgotten me.
- 19:15 They that dwell in mine house, and my maids, count me for a stranger: I am an alien in their sight.
- 19:16 I called my servant, and he gave me no answer; I intreated him with my mouth.
- 19:17 My breath is strange to my wife, though I intreated for the children's sake of mine own body.
- 19:18 Yea, young children despised me; I arose, and they spake against me.
- 19:19 All my inward friends abhorred me: and they whom I loved are turned against me.
- 19:20 My bone cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh, and I am escaped with the skin of my teeth.
- 19:21 Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends; for the hand of God hath touched me.
- 19:22 Why do ye persecute me as God, and are not satisfied with my flesh?
- 19:23 Oh that my words were now written! oh that they were printed in a book!
- 19:24 That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever!
- 19:25 For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:
- 19:26 And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:
- 19:27 Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.
- 19:28 But ye should say, Why persecute we him, seeing the root of the matter is found in me?
- 19:29 Be ye afraid of the sword: for wrath bringeth the punishments of the sword, that ye may know there is a judgment.
Who
- Who wrote the book? The author is unknown. Moses is one ancient traditional proposal, but neither that proposal nor another named author can be established with confidence. Historical source: Babylonian Talmud, Bava Batra 14b–15a (record of Jewish attribution, not contemporary proof). book background
- Who was present or being addressed in this passage? In the surrounding chapter context (Job 19:1–19:29): Job answers his friends and speaks of his hope for vindication. stated in the text
- Who was the book written to? Readers within Israel's wisdom tradition, wrestling with innocent suffering, justice, and the limits of human judgment. No named individual or first community is identified. Biblical references: Job 28:28; Job 42:7. book background
What
- What is the topic of this reading unit? Job: My Redeemer Lives. Read Job 19:1 through Job 19:29 as a connected unit. interpretation
- How does it contribute to the book? The argument sharpens as the friends connect suffering with wickedness and Job challenges their account of the wicked's fortunes. interpretation
When
- When are the events or message set? The book supplies no royal date or exact historical year for Job's experiences. Proposed patriarchal-era settings are historical inferences, not a date explicitly stated by the narrative. book background
Where
- What is the book’s geographic setting? Job is introduced as a man in the land of Uz. The poetic speeches range through imagined and remembered scenes that should not all be treated as the speakers' physical locations. book background
- Where does the context start? This passage sits in Job: My Redeemer Lives (Job 19:1 to Job 19:29). Start reading at Job 19:1. An editorial reading unit, not a claim that the surrounding context stops here. Book background below applies to the shared passage; individual verses may need more specific explanation.
How
- How does this book connect with Jesus Christ? James refers to Job's endurance and the Lord's compassion. Connections between Job's suffering and Christ may be considered as comparisons; Job's speeches should not all be treated as direct predictions of Jesus. See Job 1:1, James 5:11, Hebrews 4:15. interpretation
- How should this book guide our response? Do not assume that a sufferer's losses prove a hidden sin. Listen carefully, distinguish the speakers, and read their claims alongside the LORD's concluding rebuke of the friends. interpretation
Cited: Job 19:1, Job 19:29, Job 1:1, James 5:11, Hebrews 4:15
Who wrote it, and how we know
Uncertain; among the oldest books of Scripture
Not known
What Scripture saysThe book does not name its author.
Early traditionJewish tradition (Baba Bathra 14b) suggested Moses, but ancient opinion varied widely.
What is debatedThe author is unknown and the date is uncertain. The setting appears patriarchal, but the book could have been written far later.
Related passages
- have pity Job 6:14 Rom 12:15 1 Cor 12:26 Heb 13:3
- the hand Job 1:11 Job 2:5,10 Job 6:4 Ps 38:2
Cross references from CrossReferences-org (CC BY 4.0).
Macro-Structure
See how this passage fits the chapter and the book.
Macro-Structure of Job 19
Job contains narrative, lament, and extended disputation. The speakers must be identified before treating an assertion as the book's teaching: the LORD explicitly rebukes Job's friends near the end. Neither the author nor an exact historical date is stated. Local headings and stanza divisions are editorial reading aids adapted from public-domain BSB headings; verse boundaries and Scripture links use the KJV. Connections describe the surrounding book movement.
Suggested literary divisions. Headings summarize the passage; they are not part of the biblical text.
Macro-Structure of Job
Job contains narrative, lament, and extended disputation. The speakers must be identified before treating an assertion as the book's teaching: the LORD explicitly rebukes Job's friends near the end. Neither the author nor an exact historical date is stated.
Job's losses and the friends' arrival
Job 1:1–2:13FocusSuffering and the opening test
Connection to the wholeThe narrative establishes Job's losses and integrity before the speeches begin, giving readers information the disputing friends do not possess.
interpretation The lament and first exchange
Job 3:1–14:22FocusSuffering questioned and explained
Connection to the wholeJob's lament leads into the first cycle of speeches, in which the friends' explanations are challenged by Job's experience.
interpretation FocusAccusation and protest intensify
Connection to the wholeThe argument sharpens as the friends connect suffering with wickedness and Job challenges their account of the wicked's fortunes.
interpretation The final exchange and Job's defense
Job 22:1–31:40FocusWisdom and the demand for an answer
Connection to the wholeThe later speeches, poem on wisdom, and Job's final defense bring the dispute to the point of his appeal for an answer.
interpretation Elihu speaks
Job 32:1–37:24FocusClaims about God's justice and instruction
Connection to the wholeA new speaker responds to Job and the friends before the LORD's speeches begin; his speech must be distinguished from the divine answer.
interpretation The LORD answers
Job 38:1–41:34FocusCreation and the limits of human knowledge
Connection to the wholeThe LORD questions Job concerning the created order, confronting the limits of his knowledge and his attempt to contend with God.
interpretation Job's response and the conclusion
Job 42:1–17FocusRepentance, rebuke, and restoration
Connection to the wholeJob responds, the friends are rebuked, and the narrative closes with intercession and restoration without turning every speech into endorsed doctrine.
interpretation Suggested literary divisions. Headings summarize the passage; they are not part of the biblical text.