TRV
See on the biblical-era map
Study This Verse
Commentary on Job 13 verses 23–28
Here, I. Job enquires after his sins, and begs to have them discovered to him. He looks up to God, and asks him what was the number of them (How many are my iniquities?) and what were the particulars of them: Make me to know my transgressions, Job 13:23. His friends were ready enough to tell him how numerous and how heinous they were, Job 22:5. "But, Lord," says he, "let me know them from thee; for thy judgment is according to truth, theirs is not." This may be taken either, 1. As a passionate complaint of hard usage, that he was punished for his faults and yet was not told what his faults were. Or, 2. As a prudent appeal to God from the censures of his friends. He desired that all his sins might be brought to light, as knowing they would then appear not so many, nor so mighty, as his friends suspected him to be guilty of. Or, 3. As a pious request, to the same purport with that which Elihu directed him to, Job 34:32. That which I see not, teach thou me. Note, A true penitent is willing to know the worst of himself; and we should all desire to know what our transgressions are, that we may be particular in the confession of them and on our guard against them for the future.
II. He bitterly complains of God's withdrawings from him (Job 13:24): Wherefore hidest thou thy face? This must be meant of something more than his outward afflictions; for the loss of estate, children, health, might well consist with God's love; when that was all, he blessed the name of the Lord; but his soul was also sorely vexed, and that is it which he here laments. 1. That the favours of the Almighty were suspended. God hid his face as one strange to him, displeased with him, shy and regardless of him. 2. That the terrors of the Almighty were inflicted and impressed upon him. God held him for his enemy, shot his arrows at him (Job 6:4), and set him as a mark, Job 7:20. Note, The Holy Ghost sometimes denies his favours and discovers his terrors to the best and dearest of his saints and servants in this world. This case occurs, not only in the production, but sometimes in the progress of the divine life. Evidences for heaven are eclipsed, sensible communications interrupted, dread of divine wrath impressed, and the returns of comfort, for the present, despaired of, Psa 77:7-9; Psa 88:7, Psa 88:15, Psa 88:16. These are grievous burdens to a gracious soul, that values God's loving-kindness as better than life, Pro 18:14. A wounded spirit who can bear? Job, by asking here, Why hidest thou thy face? teaches us that, when at any time we are under the sense of God's withdrawings, we are concerned to enquire into the reason of them - what is the sin for which he corrects us and what the good he designs us. Job's sufferings were typical of the sufferings of Christ, from whom not only men hid their faces (Isa 53:3), but God hid his, witness the darkness which surrounded him on the cross when he cried out, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? If this were done to these green trees, what shall be done to the dry? They will for ever be forsaken.
III. He humbly pleads with God his own utter inability to stand before him (Job 13:25): "Wilt thou break a leaf, pursue the dry stubble? Lord, is it for thy honour to trample upon one that is down already, or to crush one that neither has nor pretends to any power to resist thee?" Note, We ought to have such an apprehension of the goodness and compassion of God as to believe that he will not break the bruised reed, Mat 12:20.
IV. He sadly complains of God's severe dealings with him. He owns it was for his sins that God thus contended with him, but thinks it hard,
1.That his former sins, long since committed, should now be remembered against him, and he should he reckoned with for the old scores (Job 13:26): Thou writest bitter things against me. Afflictions are bitter things. Writing them denotes deliberation and determination, written as a warrant for execution; it denotes also the continuance of his affliction, for that which is written remains, and, "Herein thou makest me to possess the iniquities of my youth," that is, "thou punishest me for them, and thereby puttest me in mind of them, and obligest me to renew my repentance for them." Note, (1.) God sometimes writes very bitter things against the best and dearest of his saints and servants, both in outward afflictions and inward disquiet; trouble in body and trouble in mind, that he may humble them, and prove them, and do them good in their latter end. (2.) That the sins of youth are often the smart of age both in respect of sorrow within (Jer 31:18, Jer 31:19) and suffering without, Job 20:11. Time does not wear out the guilt of sin. (3.) That when God writes bitter things against us his design therein is to make us possess our iniquities, to bring forgotten sins to mind, and so to bring us to remorse for them as to break us off from them. This is all the fruit, to take away our sin.
2.That his present mistakes and miscarriages should be so strictly taken notice of, and so severely animadverted upon (Job 13:27): "Thou puttest my feet also in the stocks, not only to afflict me and expose me to shame, not only to keep me from escaping the strokes of thy wrath, but that thou mayest critically remark all my motions and look narrowly to all my paths, to correct me for every false step, nay, for but a look awry or a word misapplied; nay, thou settest a print upon the heels of my feet, scorest down every thing I do amiss, to reckon for it; or no sooner have I trodden wrong, though ever so little, than immediately I smart for it; the punishment treads upon the very heels of the sin. Guilt, both of the oldest and of the freshest date, is put together to make up the cause of my calamity." Now, (1.) It was not true that God did thus seek advantages against him. He is not thus extreme to mark what we do amiss; if he were, there were no abiding for us, Psa 130:3. But he is so far from this that he deals not with us according to the desert, no, not of our manifest sins, which are not found by secret search, Jer 2:34. This therefore was the language of Job's melancholy; his sober thoughts never represented God thus as a hard Master. (2.) But we should keep such a strict and jealous eye as this upon ourselves and our own steps, both for the discovery of sin past and the prevention of it for the future. It is good for us all to ponder the path of our feet.
V. He finds himself wasting away apace under the heavy hand of God, Job 13:28. He (that is, man) as a rotten thing, the principle of whose putrefaction is in itself, consumes, even like a moth-eaten garment, which becomes continually worse and worse. Or, He (that is, God) like rottenness, and like a moth, consumes me. Compare this with Hos 5:12, I will be unto Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of Judah as rottenness; and see Psa 39:11. Note, Man, at the best, wears fast; but, under God's rebukes especially, he is soon gone. While there is so little soundness in the soul, no marvel there is so little soundness in the flesh, Psa 38:3.
Why, Job says, do you not act clearly? Why do you not say, See, this is the reason why I punish you? It is no small consolation for those who are chastised to know the reason for their punishment. That is why Job says, “Make me know my transgressions,” but God will not let him know.
61. For seeing that every thing we speak passes away, but what we write remains, God is said not to ‘speak,’ but to ‘write bitter things,’ in that His scourges upon us last for long. For it was said once to man, when he sinned, Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return? And Angels many times appearing gave commandments to men. Moses, the lawgiver, restrained sins by severe means. The Only-Begotten Son of the Most High Father, Himself came to redeem us, He swallowed up death by dying, He announced that everlasting life to us, which He exhibited in Himself; yet that sentence which was given in Paradise concerning the death of our flesh remains unaltered from the very first beginning of the human race up to the end of the world. For what man is he that liveth, and shall not see death? which the Psalmist considering well saith again, Thou, even Thou, art to be feared: and who may stand in Thy sight when once Thou art angry? Who being ‘once angry,’ when man sinned in Paradise, fixed the sentence of the mortality of our flesh, which now even to the very last may never be changed a whit. Therefore let him say, Thou writest bitter things against me. Hence it is further added;
And wouldest waste me with the iniquities of my youth.
62. Observe, that whereas the holy man finds not that he has ever sinned in his manhood [juventute], he dreads the sins of his youth [adolescentiae]. Now it is necessary to know, that as in the body, so are there advances of age in the mind also. Thus the first age of man is infancy, when, though he lives in innocence, he cannot speak [h] the innocence which is in him; and then follows boyhood, in which he has henceforth the power of speaking what he wishes; to which youth succeeds, which we know is the first age in active life, which is followed by manhood, i.e. that which is suited to hardihood; and afterwards old age, which from mere time even is now fellow to maturity of mind. Therefore, as we have called the first age fit for good actions ‘youth,’ and as the righteous when they are far advanced in perfect maturity of mind, sometimes recall to recollection the beginning of their deeds, and blame themselves for their first commencement in an equal degree as they have advanced deeper in gravity of mind, because they find that they were once void of discretion, in proportion as they afterwards more thoroughly attain possession of the stronghold of discretion, it is rightly that now, in the words of the holy man, the sins of his youth are dreaded. But if this is to be held after the bare letter, we ought from this consideration to infer how grievous the sins of grown men and the aged are, if the just so greatly fear even that which they did wrong in the years of weakness.
For what is a human being but a leaf who fell in paradise from the tree? What but a leaf is he who is caught by the wind of temptation and lifted up by the gusts of his passions? For the human mind is agitated as it were by as many gusts as it undergoes temptations. Thus very often anger agitates it; when anger is gone, empty mirth follows. It is driven by the goading of lust. The fever of avarice causes the mind to stretch itself far and wide to compass the things that belong to the earth. Sometimes pride lifts it up, and sometimes excessive fear sinks it lower than the dust. Therefore, perceiving that he is lifted and carried by so many gusts of temptation, a human is compared well with a “leaf.” … For seeing that everything we speak passes away but what we write remains, God is said not to “speak” but to “write bitter things,” in that his scourges upon us last for long. For it was once said to man when he sinned, “Dust you are, and into dust you shall return.” And angels many times appearing gave commandments to people. Moses, the lawgiver, restrained sins by severe means. The only begotten Son of the most high Father himself came to redeem us. He swallowed up death by dying. He announced that everlasting life to us that he exhibited in himself. Yet that sentence that was given in paradise concerning the death of our flesh remains unaltered from the very beginning of the human race up to the end of the world.
Continue studying Job 13:26 across the web’s major study libraries — every link below opens this exact verse, chapter, or book on the destination site.
Read & Compare
BibleGatewayThis verse in more than 200 translations and 70 languages.
Bible.comThe YouVersion reader — hundreds of translations, reading plans, and highlights.
ESV.orgCrossway's official English Standard Version reader.
NET BibleThe NET translation with 60,000+ translators' notes on every rendering decision.
STEP BibleTyndale House's free study tool — original text, vocabulary, and scholarly resources.
BibliaLogos Bible Software's free web reader.
USCCBThe New American Bible (Revised Edition) with the U.S. bishops' study notes.
Commentaries
BibleHub CommentariesDozens of classic commentaries on this verse, gathered on one page.
StudyLightMore than 100 commentary sets — the largest collection on the web.
BibleRefPlain-English commentary on what this verse means, verse by verse.
Enduring WordDavid Guzik's free commentary on this chapter, widely used by Bible teachers.
Bible Study ToolsVerse commentary alongside Greek and Hebrew study aids.
Original Language & Research
- BibleHub InterlinearThe verse word by word — original language, transliteration, and English.
- BibleHub LexiconEvery word's original-language definition and Strong's entry.
Blue Letter BibleDeep-study tools — Strong's numbers, concordance, and word studies.
SefariaThe Hebrew text with Rashi and centuries of Jewish commentary.
Sermons, Hymns & Audio
TrulyRandomVerse is not affiliated with these sites and doesn’t control their content. They’re linked because they’re genuinely useful.
SUMMARY
Job 13:26 encapsulates Job's profound anguish and desperate plea to God, whom he perceives as his adversary. In this verse, Job laments that God is not only inscribing harsh and painful decrees against him but is also making him bear the full, crushing weight of sins committed in his youth. This cry reveals Job's struggle to reconcile his understanding of a just God with the overwhelming and seemingly unmerited suffering he endures, believing his current afflictions are a disproportionate punishment for past transgressions.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Job 13:26 employs several powerful literary devices to convey Job's profound despair and his perception of God's actions. Personification is evident as Job attributes the human action of "writing" to God, depicting Him as a meticulous scribe or judge recording an indictment. This reinforces the idea of a formal, deliberate condemnation. Metaphor is used in the phrase "bitter things," where the abstract concept of harsh judgments or decrees is equated with something physically bitter or poisonous, emphasizing their painful and destructive nature. The verse also contains elements of hyperbole, as Job's language reflects an exaggerated sense of divine persecution, common in intense lament. He feels his suffering is not just severe, but a direct, targeted, and disproportionate punishment. This raw, emotional expression of his plight is characteristic of a lament, a common biblical genre for expressing grief and complaint to God.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Job 13:26 encapsulates the core theological struggle of the book of Job: the problem of suffering and the nature of divine justice. Job's lament reflects a common human tendency to connect suffering directly to sin, yet the book ultimately challenges this simplistic retribution theology. While sin does bring consequences, not all suffering is punitive, and God's ways are often beyond human comprehension, as articulated in Isaiah 55:8-9. This verse also highlights the profound burden of guilt from past sins, a universal human experience. However, the broader biblical narrative, especially the New Covenant, offers a profound contrast to Job's fear, revealing a God who, through Christ, offers complete forgiveness and remembrance of sins no more, liberating believers from the fear of past transgressions being "dug up" for future punishment.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Job's raw lament in Job 13:26 resonates deeply with the human experience of inexplicable suffering and the haunting burden of past mistakes. It reminds us that authentic faith does not require us to suppress our pain or questions; rather, it invites us to bring our deepest doubts and accusations honestly before God, knowing He can handle our lament. While Job feared God was meticulously recording and punishing his youthful indiscretions, the Gospel reveals a God who, in Christ, has dealt decisively with sin and offers profound grace. This verse challenges us to examine our own assumptions about suffering and divine justice, encouraging us to trust God's character even when His ways are inscrutable and His purposes hidden. It also prompts us to find comfort in the New Covenant promise that our sins, especially those of our youth, are remembered no more when we are in Christ, freeing us from the fear of being made to "possess" their bitter consequences.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Why does Job accuse God of "writing bitter things" against him?
Answer: Job's accusation stems from his perception that God is actively inflicting extreme suffering upon him, which he interprets as a formal, deliberate, and harsh judgment. In his profound agony, Job sees God not as a benevolent comforter but as a meticulous prosecutor, meticulously inscribing a decree of bitter punishment against him. This language reflects the intensity of his physical and emotional pain, which feels like a direct, targeted assault from God, rather than a random misfortune or a test. He believes God is holding him accountable for past sins in a way that is disproportionate to his current righteousness, leading him to question God's justice and mercy in his specific situation, as he does throughout Job 13.
Does God punish people for "iniquities of their youth" later in life in the way Job feared?
Answer: While the Old Testament, particularly within the framework of the Mosaic Covenant, often linked sin to consequences (e.g., Deuteronomy 28), the book of Job itself challenges the simplistic, mechanistic view that all suffering is a direct punishment for specific sins. The New Testament profoundly clarifies God's character and His dealings with sin. Through Christ's atoning sacrifice, believers are declared righteous, and their sins, including those of their youth, are forgiven and "remembered no more" (Hebrews 8:12). While natural consequences for past actions can occur, God does not "dredge up" forgiven sins to inflict new, disproportionate suffering on His redeemed children. Instead, He offers grace, healing, and restoration, as illustrated in passages like Romans 8:1.
Is it acceptable for believers to question or lament to God with such raw honesty, even accusation, as Job did?
Answer: Yes, the book of Job, along with many Psalms of lament (e.g., Psalm 22 and Psalm 44), affirms that honest lament and even questioning God are permissible and can be a vital part of a genuine faith relationship. Job's integrity is highlighted precisely because he continues to address God directly, even in his accusations, rather than turning away in despair or bitterness. God can handle our deepest doubts, frustrations, and pain. These laments often express a profound desire for God's justice and presence, even when His actions are inscrutable. It demonstrates a trust that God is real, present, and capable of hearing and responding to our deepest cries, ultimately leading to a deeper understanding and renewed faith, as seen in Job's eventual restoration in Job 42.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Job's lament in Job 13:26 finds its ultimate resolution and profound fulfillment in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Job feared that God was "writing bitter things" against him and forcing him to "possess the iniquities of his youth." Yet, in Christ, God Himself took on the bitter cup of judgment and possessed the full weight of humanity's iniquities—not just those of youth, but all sin. Jesus, who "knew no sin, became sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:21). On the cross, Christ perfectly fulfilled the demands of divine justice, enduring the ultimate "bitter thing" (Matthew 26:39) and bearing the full consequences of our rebellion (Isaiah 53:5-6). Through His sacrifice, the "handwriting of ordinances that was against us" was canceled and nailed to the cross (Colossians 2:14). Therefore, for those in Christ, the fear of God dredging up forgotten sins is replaced by the glorious promise of the New Covenant: "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more" (Hebrews 8:12). Job's cry for a just God who would not punish disproportionately is answered in the Lamb of God, who bore all our punishment so that we might receive eternal grace and freedom from condemnation, ushering us into a new covenant of mercy and peace (Romans 5:1).