TRV
Translation
Complete Jewish Bible
"I sewed sackcloth together to cover my skin and laid my pride in the dust;
American Standard Version
I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin, And have laid my horn in the dust.
World English Bible Messianic
I have sewed sackcloth on my skin, and have thrust my horn in the dust.
Geneva Bible (1599)
I haue sowed a sackcloth vpon my skinne, and haue abased mine horne vnto the dust.
Young's Literal Translation
Sackcloth I have sewed on my skin, And have rolled in the dust my horn.
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In the KJVVerse 13,254 of 31,102
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Commentary on Job 16 verses 6–16
6 ¶ Though I speak, my grief is not asswaged: and though I forbear, what am I eased?
7 But now he hath made me weary: thou hast made desolate all my company.
8 And thou hast filled me with wrinkles, which is a witness against me: and my leanness rising up in me beareth witness to my face.
9 He teareth me in his wrath, who hateth me: he gnasheth upon me with his teeth; mine enemy sharpeneth his eyes upon me.
10 They have gaped upon me with their mouth; they have smitten me upon the cheek reproachfully; they have gathered themselves together against me.
11 God hath delivered me to the ungodly, and turned me over into the hands of the wicked.
12 I was at ease, but he hath broken me asunder: he hath also taken me by my neck, and shaken me to pieces, and set me up for his mark.
13 His archers compass me round about, he cleaveth my reins asunder, and doth not spare; he poureth out my gall upon the ground.
14 He breaketh me with breach upon breach, he runneth upon me like a giant.
15 I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin, and defiled my horn in the dust.
16 My face is foul with weeping, and on my eyelids is the shadow of death;
Job's complaint is here as bitter as any where in all his discourses, and he is at a stand whether to smother it or to give it vent. Sometimes the one and sometimes the other is a relief to the afflicted, according as the temper or the circumstances are; but Job found help by neither, Job 16:6. 1. Sometimes giving vent to grief gives ease; but, "Though I speak" (says Job), "my grief is not assuaged, my spirit is never the lighter for the pouring out of my complaint; nay, what I speak is so misconstrued as to be turned to the aggravation of my grief." 2. At other times keeping silence makes the trouble the easier and the sooner forgotten; but (says Job) though I forbear I am never the nearer; what am I eased? If he complained he was censured as passionate; if not, as sullen. If he maintained his integrity, that was his crime; if he made no answer to their accusations, his silence was taken for a confession of his guilt.
Here is a doleful representation of Job's grievances. O what reason have we to bless God that we are not making such complaints! He complains,
I. That his family was scattered (Job 16:7): "He hath made me weary, weary of speaking, weary of forbearing, weary of my friends, weary of life itself; my journey through the world proves so very uncomfortable that I am quite tired with it." This made it as tiresome as any thing, that all his company was made desolate, his children and servants being killed and the poor remains of his great household dispersed. The company of good people that used to meet at his house for religious worship, was now scattered, and he spent his sabbaths in silence and solitude. He had company indeed, but such as he would rather have been without, for they seemed to triumph in his desolation. If lovers and friends are put far from us, we must see and own God's hand in it, making our company desolate.
II. That his body was worn away with diseases and pains, so that he had become a perfect skeleton, nothing but skin and bones, Job 16:8. His face was furrowed, not with age, but sickness: Thou hast filled me with wrinkles. His flesh was wasted with the running of his sore boils, so that his leanness rose up in him, that is, his bones, that before were not seen, stuck out, Job 33:21. These are called witnesses against him, witnesses of God's displeasure against him, and such witnesses as his friends produced against him to prove him a wicked man. Or, "They are witnesses for me, that my complaint is not causeless," or "witnesses to me, that I am a dying man, and must be gone shortly."
III. That his enemy was a terror to him, threatened him, frightened him, looked sternly upon him, and gave all the indications of rage against him (Job 16:9): He tears me in his wrath. But who is this enemy? 1. Eliphaz, who showed himself very much exasperated against him, and perhaps had expressed himself with such marks of indignation as are here mentioned: at least, what he said tore Job's good name and thundered nothing but terror to him; his eyes were sharpened to spy out matter of reproach against Job, and very barbarously both he and the rest of them used him. Or, 2. Satan. He was his enemy that hated him, and perhaps, by the divine permission, terrified him with apparitions, as (some think) he terrified our Saviour, which put him into his agonies in the garden; and thus he aimed to make him curse God. It is not improbable that this is the enemy he means. Or, (3.) God himself. If we understand it of him, the expressions are indeed as rash as any he used. God hates none of his creatures; but Job's melancholy did thus represent to him the terrors of the Almighty: and nothing can be more grievous to a good man than to apprehend God to be his enemy. If the wrath of a king be as messengers of death, what is the wrath of the King of kings!
IV. That all about him were abusive to him, Job 16:10. They came upon him with open mouth to devour him, as if they would swallow him alive, so terrible were their threats and so scornful was their conduct to him. They offered him all the indignities they could invent, and even smote him on the cheek; and herein many were confederate. They gathered themselves together against him, even the abjects, Psa 35:15. Herein Job was a type of Christ, as many of the ancients make him: these very expressions are used in the predictions of his sufferings, Psa 22:13, They gaped upon me with their mouths; and (Mic 5:1), They shall smite the Judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek, which was literally fulfilled, Mat 26:67. How were those increased that troubled him!
V. That God, instead of delivering him out of their hands, as he hoped, delivered him into their hands (Job 16:11): He hath turned me over into the hands of the wicked. They could have had no power against him if it had not been given them from above. He therefore looks beyond them to God who gave them their commission, as David did when Shimei cursed him; but he thinks it strange, and almost thinks it hard, that those should have power against him who were God's enemies as much as his. God sometimes makes use of wicked men as his sword to one another (Psa 17:13) and his rod to his own children, Isa 10:5. Herein also Job was a type of Christ, who was delivered into wicked hands, to be crucified and slain, by the determinate counsel and fore-knowledge of God, Act 2:23.
VI. That God not only delivered him into the hands of the wicked, but took him into his own hands too, into which it is a fearful thing to fall (Job 16:12): "I was at ease in the comfortable enjoyment of the gifts of God's bounty, not fretting and uneasy, as some are in the midst of their prosperity, who thereby provoke God to strip them; yet he has broken me asunder, put me upon the rack of pain, and torn me limb from limb." God, in afflicting him, had seemed, 1. As if he were furious. Though fury is not in God, he thought it was, when he took him by the neck (as a strong man in a passion would take a child) and shook him to pieces, triumphing in the irresistible power he had to do what he would with him. 2. As if he were partial. "He has distinguished me from the rest of mankind by this hard usage of me: He has set me up for his mark, the butt at which he is pleased to let fly all his arrows: at me they are directed, and they come not by chance; against me they are levelled, as if I were the greatest sinner of all the men of the east or were singled out to be made an example." When God set him up for a mark his archers presently compassed him round. God has archers at command, who will be sure to hit the mark that he sets up. Whoever are our enemies, we must look upon them as God's archers, and see him directing the arrow. It is the Lord; let him do what seemeth him good. 3. As if he were cruel, and his wrath as relentless as his power was resistless. As if he contrived to touch him in the tenderest part, cleaving his reins asunder with acute pains; perhaps they were nephritic pains, those of the stone, which lie in the region of the kidneys. As if he had no mercy in reserve for him, he does not spare nor abate any thing of the extremity. And as if he aimed at nothing but his death, and his death in the midst of the most grievous tortures: He pours out my gall upon the ground, as when men have taken a wild beast, and killed it, they open it, and pour out the gall with a loathing of it. He thought his blood was poured out, as if it were not only not precious, but nauseous. 4. As if he were unreasonable and insatiable in his executions (Job 16:14): "He breaketh me with breach upon breach, follows me with one wound after another." So his troubles came at first; while one messenger of evil tidings was speaking another came: and so it was still; new boils were rising every day, so that he had no prospect of the end of his troubles. Thus he thought that God ran upon him like a giant, whom he could not possibly stand before or confront; as the giants of old ran down all their poor neighbours, and were too hard for them. Note, Even good men, when they are in great and extraordinary troubles, have much ado not to entertain hard thoughts of God.
VII. That he had divested himself of all his honour, and all his comfort, in compliance with the afflicting providences that surrounded him. Some can lessen their own troubles by concealing them, holding their heads as high and putting on as good a face as ever; but Job could not do so: he received the impressions of them, and, as one truly penitent and truly patient, he humbled himself under the mighty hand of God, Job 16:15, Job 16:16. 1. He now laid aside all his ornaments and soft clothing, consulted not either his ease or finery in his dress, but sewed sackcloth upon his skin; that clothing he thought good enough for such a defiled distempered body as he had. Silks upon sores, such sores, he thought, would be unsuitable; sackcloth would be more becoming. Those are fond indeed of gay clothing that will not be weaned from it by sickness and old age, and, as Job was (Job 16:8), by wrinkles and leanness. He not only put on sackcloth, but sewed it on, as one that resolved to continue his humiliation as long as the affliction continued. 2. He insisted not upon any points of honour, but humbled himself under humbling providences: He defiled his horn in the dust, and refused the respect that used to be paid to his dignity, power, and eminency. Note, When God brings down our condition, that should bring down our spirits. Better lay the horn in the dust than lift it up in contradiction to the designs of Providence and have it broken at last. Eliphaz had represented Job as high and haughty, and unhumbled under his affliction. "No," says Job, "I know better things; the dust is now the fittest place for me." 3. He banished mirth as utterly unseasonable, and set himself to sow in tears (Job 16:16): "My face is foul with weeping so constantly for my sins, for God's displeasure against me, and for my friends unkindness: this has brought a shadow of death upon my eyelids." He had not only wept away all his beauty, but almost wept his eyes out. In this also he was a type of Christ, who was a man of sorrows, and much in tears, and pronounced those blessed that mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Matthew Henry (1662–1714) — Commentary on the Whole Bible. This section covers verses 6–16. Public domain.
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Gregory the DialogistAD 604
22. What ought to be understood by ‘sackcloth and ashes,’ but penance; what by ‘the skin’ and ‘the flesh,’ but sin of the flesh? And so whereas there are persons who after the backsliding of the flesh are brought back to penance, it is as if ‘sackcloth were sewn upon the skin,’ and ‘the flesh covered with ashes;’ because the guilt of the flesh is ‘covered with ashes’ by penance, that it should not be seen for its avenging in the inquest of the strict Judge. But Holy Church, when she withdraws her weak members from sins, and conducts them to the remedy of penance, these she surely aids with her tears, that they may recover strength to receive the grace of their Maker, and in the strong she bewails what she has not done, which yet in her weak members she has as it were done herself.
Gregory the DialogistAD 604
20. In her weak members Holy Church is ‘broken with breach upon breach,’ when sin is added to sin, that transgression should be brought to a more dreadful pitch. Thus for him, whom avarice forces to robbery and robbery leads into deceit, so that the sin committed is further defended by falsehood, how else is it with this man, but that he is broken with breach upon breach? When too it is well said by the Prophet; Cursing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, adultery, have overflowed, and blood toucheth blood. [Hos. 4, 2] For by the title of ‘blood’ sin is used to be denoted; whence one who longs to be set free from sin exclaims in penitence, Deliver me from blood [sanguinibus]. [Ps. 51, 14] So ‘blood toucheth blood,’ when sin has heaped on sin; and whereas when breach is added to breach, the powers of our old enemy are the more terribly increased against us, it is rightly added;
He runneth upon me like a giant.
21. The enemy is easy to be resisted, if he is not consented to, whether in many backslidings, or in one for a continuance. But if the soul has been accustomed to submit to his persuasions, the oftener it subjects itself to him, it makes him the harder to itself to bear, so that it has not the power to struggle against him; in that our wicked adversary, ‘like a giant,’ fights against it, when it is vanquished by bad habit: yet very often Holy Church, even after sins have been committed, brings back the minds of the faithful to penitence, and cleanses away the sins of practice by the efficacy of a voluntary self-chastening.
Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.
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SUMMARY
Job 16:15 profoundly articulates the patriarch's descent into utter degradation and despair, employing vivid imagery to convey his relentless physical torment, public humiliation, and the complete stripping away of his former dignity. This verse encapsulates Job's deep lament, expressing an inescapable sense of suffering and the public display of his profound brokenness, standing in stark contrast to his previously esteemed status and honor.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Job 16:15 is remarkably rich in literary devices that amplify Job's profound lament and the depth of his suffering. The most prominent is Metaphor, where "sackcloth upon my skin" serves as a powerful metaphor for his internalized, inescapable suffering, suggesting that his grief has become physically ingrained. Similarly, "defiled my horn in the dust" powerfully symbolizes the complete loss and desecration of his honor, strength, and social standing. Symbolism is also heavily employed throughout the verse, with "sackcloth" representing mourning, distress, and humiliation; the "horn" symbolizing power, dignity, and exaltation; and "dust" signifying lowliness, degradation, mortality, and the grave. The phrase "sewed sackcloth upon my skin" can also be interpreted as Hyperbole, an exaggeration that emphasizes the extreme and permanent nature of his affliction, suggesting a suffering so profound it has become an inseparable part of his very physical being. Furthermore, the verse creates a stark Contrast with Job's former state of prosperity, honor, and societal respect, making his current degradation all the more poignant and tragic for the reader.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Job 16:15 offers a profound theological statement on the nature of human suffering and the biblical right to lament before God. It challenges any simplistic theological framework that directly links suffering to personal sin, presenting the stark reality of unmerited pain and the deep anguish it can inflict on the righteous. Job's raw expression of humiliation and despair underscores the inherent vulnerability of human existence and the limitations of human wisdom in comprehending divine purposes. His cries validate the experience of profound grief and loss, demonstrating that it is permissible, even necessary, to voice one's deepest pain, confusion, and sense of injustice honestly to God, even when feeling abandoned or persecuted. This verse contributes to the book's larger argument that true faith is not contingent upon understanding God's ways or receiving immediate vindication, but upon a persistent, albeit painful, trust in His ultimate sovereignty and character, even amidst inexplicable trials.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Job's agonizing lament in Job 16:15 provides a powerful mirror for the universal human experience of suffering, offering profound insights for contemporary believers. It validates the reality of intense, debilitating grief, despair, and a sense of profound humiliation, even for those who walk righteously before God. This verse grants us permission to lament honestly and express the depth of our pain, confusion, and sense of injustice directly to God, without needing to sanitize or minimize our emotions. It also cultivates a deeper empathy for those around us who are experiencing profound personal loss, chronic illness, social degradation, or unmerited suffering. Understanding Job's extreme state of being challenges us to move beyond simplistic explanations for suffering and to offer compassionate presence, active listening, and tangible support rather than judgmental platitudes or theological clichés. Ultimately, Job's story, powerfully encapsulated in this verse, reminds us to cultivate a resilient faith that endures through the deepest valleys of life, trusting in God's ultimate plan and character, even when circumstances are inexplicable and excruciatingly painful.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Why does Job say he has "sewed sackcloth upon my skin" instead of just wearing it?
Answer: The phrase "sewed sackcloth upon my skin" emphasizes the extreme, internalized, and permanent nature of Job's suffering. While wearing sackcloth was a common sign of mourning or distress in ancient cultures, to "sew" it onto one's skin suggests that the coarse, uncomfortable fabric has become a literal, inescapable part of his very being. It signifies that his grief, physical torment, and profound humiliation are not merely external displays but have permeated his physical and emotional existence, making his suffering a constant and excruciating reality that he cannot shed. It is a powerful hyperbole that conveys the depth and pervasive permanence of his agony, indicating that his suffering has become his very identity.
What is the significance of "defiled my horn in the dust"?
Answer: This is a profoundly powerful metaphor for the complete and utter loss of Job's strength, honor, and dignity. In ancient cultures, the "horn" symbolized power, authority, prestige, and exaltation, often associated with kings, leaders, or strong individuals (e.g., Psalm 75:10). To "defile" it means to profane, pollute, or desecrate it, stripping it of its value and honor. To do so "in the dust" signifies being brought to the lowest possible state of humiliation, degradation, and public shame, akin to being buried, reduced to nothing, or utterly disgraced. It dramatically illustrates Job's fall from his once-exalted position to a state of complete public disgrace and personal worthlessness, a total collapse of his former status and self-respect.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Job's profound lament in Job 16:15, depicting his unmerited suffering and utter humiliation, finds its ultimate and redemptive fulfillment in the person and work of Jesus Christ. While Job's suffering was a consequence of a divine test, not his own sin, it powerfully foreshadows the experience of the sinless Son of God. Jesus, the true "horn of salvation" (Luke 1:69 for His people), willingly allowed Himself to be "defiled" and brought low, enduring unimaginable shame and degradation. He bore the ultimate "sackcloth" of humanity's sin and suffering, not merely upon His skin, but in His very being, as He became sin for us who knew no sin (2 Corinthians 5:21). The Son of God, who was in very nature God, "made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!" (Philippians 2:7-8). His "horn" was indeed "defiled in the dust" as He was mocked, scourged, and crucified, enduring the ultimate public humiliation and degradation. Yet, precisely through this profound descent and self-emptying, God "highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name" (Philippians 2:9). Christ's suffering, unlike Job's, was redemptive and substitutionary, transforming the "dust" of human sin and death into the ground of resurrection and eternal life, offering true hope, dignity, and ultimate vindication to all who believe in Him.