He teareth me in his wrath, who hateth me: he gnasheth upon me with his teeth; mine enemy sharpeneth his eyes upon me.
This is Job's own account of his suffering within his debate with his three friends about his afflictions. That debate spans chapters 4 through 31. It consists of three rounds of speeches by each participant. Its wording receives no separate explanation beyond that place.
Its words are best understood in the flow of the whole book rather than as isolated fragments. Reading Job from beginning to end reveals its force and beauty. Statements in Job are not necessarily true merely because they appear in the book. Job's friends generally spoke truths that they wrongly applied to his case.
This is Job's own account of his suffering within his debate with his three friends about his afflictions. That debate spans chapters 4 through 31. It consists of three rounds of speeches by each participant. Its wording receives no separate explanation beyond that place.
Its words are best understood in the flow of the whole book rather than as isolated fragments. Reading Job from beginning to end reveals its force and beauty. Statements in Job are not necessarily true merely because they appear in the book. Job's friends generally spoke truths that they wrongly applied to his case.