Job 16:9 Commentary and Bible Study

Comparing God’s dealings with him as similar to the ferocity of a wild animal towards its prey, Job gives free reign to his complaint. Like a lion that gets hold of its quarry and tears its living flesh, so the Lord shows a cruel disdain for Job’s suffering and goes on tormenting him without mercy. He stands there before Job threatening him with worse to come and showing his animosity towards his servant, as a lion gnashes its teeth in preparation for a strike. As a wild best fixes its gaze on its victim and sharpens its senses to anticipate every possible move to escape and to prevent it. However, unlike a wild animal which is driven by raw instinct, it appears to Job that God does this with malice, hatred and deliberate cruelty. It seems to Job that the God in whom he trusted has become his adversary. Though he longed to hold onto the goodness of God and at other times asserted it (), the contradiction in what was happening to him was too much for him to cope with. He therefore expresses himself in this way to show God the extent of his inner turmoil, at the same time not wanting to believe that the things that he says are true. Surely God will explain himself and put Job out of his misery.Barnes regards these words as referring to Eliphaz, not to God, but if so, what of the other two comforters? Job has already used the third person of God in verse 7 and then switched to the second person. It is perfectly reasonable that he should revert to the third person singular again and be understood to speak of God. It would be completely unnatural for him to switch to speaking of Eliphaz in this verse when he continues to use only singular pronouns and to expect the reader to work out that the subject has changed solely on the basis of the increased violence of the language, and to reason that Job would never say such things of God. Job has already used such language of God in Job 10:16, and will continue the metaphor in 16:12.Again, we must ask, In speaking in this way about the Lord, was Job mistaken? Was it not Satan rather than the Lord who was responsible for Job’s torments? It would certainly be right to attribute all the malice and hatred in what was happening as coming from Satan. He truly intended to do Job harm and to destroy his faith. He would dearly like to have gnashed on Job as a lion and taken his life if permitted, but God did not allow him this liberty. And yet though the malice was Satan’s, God was still reigning over all creation and Job was right to see this trial as coming ultimately from God. His mistake was to fail to see that what Satan intended for evil, God could use for good, and that all the evil intent of Satan could be turned to Job’s profit by the Lord.