Job 19 explained: Abandoned, Yet Hoping for a Defender

Stop crushing me (vv. 1-6)

Job answers Bildad, who had just said wicked people get caught in their own traps, and says that even if he has made a mistake, it is his own burden and not proof of guilt. "Ten times" means over and over, and Job insists it is God, not his own wrongdoing, who has thrown a net around him.

Walled in by God (vv. 7-12)

Job cries out that he has been wronged, like someone calling for help in court, but no one answers. He pictures God blocking his road, taking his crown, pulling up his hope like a tree, and laying siege to his tent like an army.

Deserted by everyone (vv. 13-22)

Relatives, friends, servants, his wife and even children now avoid or mock him, a deep humiliation for an honored older man in his world. "The skin of my teeth" seems to be a saying for barely surviving, and when he asks his friends why they never get enough of his flesh, he likely means they are tearing him apart with words.

Words carved in stone (vv. 23-24)

Since no one will hear him now, Job wishes his words could be cut permanently into rock, perhaps with lead pressed into the letters, though the exact method is unclear. That way people in the future could judge his case fairly.

My redeemer lives (vv. 25-27)

A "redeemer" was a close relative whose duty was to defend family members and set wrongs right, and Job is sure such a defender lives, will stand up for him, and that he will see God with his own eyes. The Hebrew is hard, so scholars are unsure whether he means God or a heavenly witness, and whether before or after death; Christians have read it as pointing to Jesus and resurrection.

A warning to the friends (vv. 28-29)

If they keep hounding him and blaming the trouble on him, Job says they should fear judgment themselves. He turns their talk of punishment back on them.

Key verse: Job 19:25

Where Christians differ

Christians differ on whether Job's redeemer is God himself or a heavenly go-between, and on whether he hoped to be cleared in this life or after death, with many reading it as hope in resurrection and others as a cry for justice before he dies.

Something to think about

Have you ever wished that what you went through could be on record so that someone, someday, would see you fairly, and what was behind that wish?