Job Chapter 10 — Job’s Plea for Answers
Job continues his lament by questioning God's motives for his suffering and asking for a brief respite before he faces the darkness of death.
1“My soul is weary of my life.
2I will tell God, ‘Do not condemn me.
3Is it good to you that you should oppress,
4Do you have eyes of flesh?
5Are your days as the days of mortals,
6that you inquire after my iniquity,
7Although you know that I am not wicked,
8“ ‘Your hands have framed me and fashioned me altogether,
9Remember, I beg you, that you have fashioned me as clay.
10Haven’t you poured me out like milk,
11You have clothed me with skin and flesh,
12You have granted me life and loving kindness.
13Yet you hid these things in your heart.
14if I sin, then you mark me.
15If I am wicked, woe to me.
16If my head is held high, you hunt me like a lion.
17You renew your witnesses against me,
18“ ‘Why, then, have you brought me out of the womb?
19I should have been as though I had not been.
20Aren’t my days few?
21before I go where I will not return from,
22the land dark as midnight,
WEB Translation
Notable Verses
Job 10:8
“Your hands have framed me and fashioned me altogether, yet you destroy me.”
This verse highlights Job's struggle to reconcile God's role as a caring Creator with his current experience of suffering.
Job 10:12
“You have granted me life and loving kindness. Your visitation has preserved my spirit.”
Job acknowledges God's previous grace and care, making his current state even more perplexing to him.
Chapter Summary
In Job Chapter 10, Job speaks out in the bitterness of his soul, addressing God directly to demand an explanation for his suffering. He questions why God would oppress the work of His own hands while seemingly favoring the counsel of the wicked. Job reflects on his physical creation, acknowledging that God fashioned him with intricate care, like clay or woven flesh and bone. He expresses confusion over why a Creator who granted him life and loving-kindness would now hunt him like a lion and bring such hardship upon him. Feeling overwhelmed by the trials he perceives as God's witnesses against him, Job repeats his wish that he had never been born or had died at birth. He concludes by asking God to leave him alone for a short time so he can find a small measure of comfort before he departs for the land of shadow and deep darkness from which there is no return.
Frequently Asked Questions
Job asks God why He would take such care to create him only to seemingly target him for destruction. He questions if God sees things through limited human eyes or if there is a hidden purpose behind his perceived oppression.
Job uses metaphors of craftsmanship, such as being fashioned like clay and poured out like milk. He notes that God clothed him with skin and flesh and knit him together with bones and sinews, acknowledging God's intimate role in his physical existence.
Job requests that God turn away from him and let him alone for a short period. He desires a moment of comfort and peace before he passes into the land of darkness and the shadow of death.
Study Note
Job’s description of embryonic development in verses 10-11 uses vivid agricultural and textile metaphors common in ancient Near Eastern literature.
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