Job 10

Chapter 10 of the Book of Job is the latter part of Job's reply to Bildad's first speech (chapter 8). The reply begins in Job 9. In chapter 9, Job laments that he has no way to contend with God; in this chapter, he addresses God directly. In the following chapter, Job 11, Zophar responds.

Structure

• Verses 1–2: Weary of his life, Job says he will give free rein to his complaint. He asks God not to condemn him and to show him why He contends with him.
• Verses 3–7: Job asks whether it is good for God to oppress the work of His own hands and to shine upon the counsel of the wicked. He also asks whether God sees as a man sees, or whether His days are as short as a mortal's, so that He must search out Job's iniquity. He then declares that God knows he is not wicked.
• Verses 8–12: Job recalls how God formed him. God fashioned his body as one molds clay, formed him as milk is curdled, clothed him with skin and flesh, and knit him together with bones and sinews. He granted him life and favor and watched over him ("thy visitation").
• Verses 13–17: Job says that God had nonetheless purposed from the beginning to treat him this way. If he sins, he is not acquitted; even if he is righteous, he cannot lift up his head. He protests that God hunts him like a lion and brings fresh witnesses against him in turn, attacking him like an army.
• Verses 18–22: Job asks why God brought him forth from the womb. Since his remaining days are few, he asks God to leave him alone for a while so that he may find some peace. He asks for this before he goes to the land from which he will not return, the land of darkness and the shadow of death.

Key Verses

• Job 10:8: "Thine hands have made me and fashioned me together round about; yet thou dost destroy me." The tension between God as Creator and the suffering Job now endures is the central question of the entire chapter.
• Job 10:12: "Thou hast granted me life and favour, and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit." Even amid his complaint, Job confesses God's care for him.
• Job 10:21: "Before I go whence I shall not return, even to the land of darkness and the shadow of death." The verse illustrates how the Book of Job portrays the state after death.

People and Places

• Job: A righteous man of the land of Uz who pleads with God in the midst of great suffering.
• Job's three friends: They are not addressed directly in this chapter, but the chapter belongs to Job's reply to Bildad.
• The land of no return: The dark place to which the dead go. It is commonly understood to be connected with the Old Testament concept of Sheol.

Points for Reflection

• Interpreters differ over Job's vehement protests. Some read them as an expression of faith that laments honestly before God, citing Job 42:7–10, where God says that Job spoke what was right. Others point to God's rebuke of Job in chapter 38 and conclude that Job's words went too far.
• Verses 8–12 are often cited, together with Psalm 139:15–16, as evidence that God forms life even in the womb. They are also used in discussions of abortion and the church. The image of milk in verse 10 is understood as a poetic expression of how the ancients pictured the formation of the unborn child.
• In verse 4 Job asks, "Hast thou eyes of flesh? or seest thou as man seeth?"—a question directed to a God who does not personally share the human condition. Some Christian interpreters read this question alongside Job's longing for a mediator in chapter 9 (Job 9:32–33), linking it to the Incarnation and to the High Priest who is touched with the feeling of our infirmities (Hebrews 4:14–16).