His flesh is consumed away, that it cannot be seen; and his bones that were not seen stick out.
The verse pictures a man wasted by painful sickness until his flesh disappears from sight and his hidden bones jut out. It stands in Elihu's plea for Job to cease defending himself and to learn his own smallness beside the greatness of God. Such wasting is God's governed chastening when His speaking is unheeded, sent to open dull ears, to turn man from proud purpose, and to hold his soul back from the pit into the light of the living. Even when the sufferer loathes bread and draws near the grave, that same affliction opens the way through a messenger and a found ransom to pardon, to flesh made fresher than a child's, and to years restored. That the soul itself draws near the grave with the failing body shows the soul is mortal and goes down to the grave at death unless kept alive.
Setting and Plain Sense
His flesh is consumed away in severe affliction until it cannot be seen or can scarcely be seen, and his bones that were hidden or were not seen stick out and protrude. It is the wasting of a man chastened with pain upon his bed until he is weakened and almost dead. Such disciplinary wasting is not punishment for sin and does not prove that the sufferer is under displeasure. In this decline the soul draws near to the grave and life to the destroyers, so that the nearer the man comes to death the nearer his soul comes to the grave.
The verse stands in the instructive discourses of Elihu in Job 32 to 36. Those discourses are the third of the four parts of the book, alongside the prose prologue in chapters 1 and 2 and epilogue in chapter 42:7-17, the debate between Job and his three friends in chapters 4 to 31, and the speeches of the Lord out of the storm-cloud. The book of Job is the oldest book in the Bible and the oldest poetical book that has come down, of unknown authorship conjectured to have been written by Moses in Midian.
It belongs to Elihu's argument while Job is still defending himself as one who has committed no open sins against God and is earnest and anxious for God to manifest Himself to him. Elihu is trying to convince Job that he himself is not very great while God is everything, to which Job makes no answer. The verse is not about the re-arrangement of the stars; that teaching is found in Job 38:31-33.
Purpose of Corrective Affliction
The wasting is chastening with pain upon the bed and strong pain in the multitude of the bones, permitted and controlled by God when men do not perceive Him speaking by His Word and by visions and dreams. It comes not by accident or chance, but under His reign to open ears dull of hearing, to withdraw man from his proud purposes, to correct him that he may return to the path of right, and to preserve him from destruction. Its end is to bring back his soul from the pit to be enlightened with the light of the living.
God speaks once, yea twice, to withdraw man from his purpose and keep back his soul from the pit, but when man perceives it not through hearing He speaks through other nerves in more impressive bodily suffering. Fullness of bread and persistent indulgence in dainty meat dulled the nerves, so trouble became necessary for correction. The condition is sickness spiritual and physical at once, a corrective warning to turn from physical digressions that bring spiritual ruin.
The crisis stage wastes the body until flesh is consumed away so it cannot be seen and bones that were not seen stick out, with life abhorring bread and soul abhorring dainty meat and drawing near the grave and the destroyers. Yet the same kindness that gave roses, lilies, and pinks presses the bitter cup to beget new life. Through a messenger who shows God's uprightness comes gracious deliverance from the pit by a found ransom, with flesh made fresher than a child's and return to the days of youth, actually restoring the years consumed and erasing the trace of sin from the face.
Pain in this state is God's corrective warning and not an enemy to be hushed and stifled with phenacetin, acetanilid, and other coal-tar products, for all these things God works oftentimes with man. Such wasting afflictions are disciplinary, not punishment for sin. They do not prove that a person is under God's displeasure, for suffering may be permitted while God works out a purpose that ultimately brings comfort and hope to others. God allows suffering to teach a person more truth.
Mortal Soul Proved
The wasting of the flesh until it cannot be seen and the protruding of the bones that were hidden belong to a person weakened by affliction and chastened with pain upon the bed, almost dead. That bodily decline accompanies the drawing near of the soul to the grave and of the life to the destroyers. It shows that the soul is mortal and can die and go to the grave at death, rather than being an inherently immortal part separate from the body. It is therefore cited among the verses proving that the soul can die and go to the grave.
The nearer the afflicted man comes to death the nearer his soul comes to the grave. Had he died his soul would have gone into the grave. The soul thus goes into the grave when the body dies and stays out of the grave only by being kept alive.
The verse pictures a man wasted by painful sickness until his flesh disappears from sight and his hidden bones jut out. It stands in Elihu's plea for Job to cease defending himself and to learn his own smallness beside the greatness of God. Such wasting is God's governed chastening when His speaking is unheeded, sent to open dull ears, to turn man from proud purpose, and to hold his soul back from the pit into the light of the living. Even when the sufferer loathes bread and draws near the grave, that same affliction opens the way through a messenger and a found ransom to pardon, to flesh made fresher than a child's, and to years restored. That the soul itself draws near the grave with the failing body shows the soul is mortal and goes down to the grave at death unless kept alive.
Setting and Plain Sense
His flesh is consumed away in severe affliction until it cannot be seen or can scarcely be seen, and his bones that were hidden or were not seen stick out and protrude. It is the wasting of a man chastened with pain upon his bed until he is weakened and almost dead. Such disciplinary wasting is not punishment for sin and does not prove that the sufferer is under displeasure. In this decline the soul draws near to the grave and life to the destroyers, so that the nearer the man comes to death the nearer his soul comes to the grave.
The verse stands in the instructive discourses of Elihu in Job 32 to 36. Those discourses are the third of the four parts of the book, alongside the prose prologue in chapters 1 and 2 and epilogue in chapter 42:7-17, the debate between Job and his three friends in chapters 4 to 31, and the speeches of the Lord out of the storm-cloud. The book of Job is the oldest book in the Bible and the oldest poetical book that has come down, of unknown authorship conjectured to have been written by Moses in Midian.
It belongs to Elihu's argument while Job is still defending himself as one who has committed no open sins against God and is earnest and anxious for God to manifest Himself to him. Elihu is trying to convince Job that he himself is not very great while God is everything, to which Job makes no answer. The verse is not about the re-arrangement of the stars; that teaching is found in Job 38:31-33.
Purpose of Corrective Affliction
The wasting is chastening with pain upon the bed and strong pain in the multitude of the bones, permitted and controlled by God when men do not perceive Him speaking by His Word and by visions and dreams. It comes not by accident or chance, but under His reign to open ears dull of hearing, to withdraw man from his proud purposes, to correct him that he may return to the path of right, and to preserve him from destruction. Its end is to bring back his soul from the pit to be enlightened with the light of the living.
God speaks once, yea twice, to withdraw man from his purpose and keep back his soul from the pit, but when man perceives it not through hearing He speaks through other nerves in more impressive bodily suffering. Fullness of bread and persistent indulgence in dainty meat dulled the nerves, so trouble became necessary for correction. The condition is sickness spiritual and physical at once, a corrective warning to turn from physical digressions that bring spiritual ruin.
The crisis stage wastes the body until flesh is consumed away so it cannot be seen and bones that were not seen stick out, with life abhorring bread and soul abhorring dainty meat and drawing near the grave and the destroyers. Yet the same kindness that gave roses, lilies, and pinks presses the bitter cup to beget new life. Through a messenger who shows God's uprightness comes gracious deliverance from the pit by a found ransom, with flesh made fresher than a child's and return to the days of youth, actually restoring the years consumed and erasing the trace of sin from the face.
Pain in this state is God's corrective warning and not an enemy to be hushed and stifled with phenacetin, acetanilid, and other coal-tar products, for all these things God works oftentimes with man. Such wasting afflictions are disciplinary, not punishment for sin. They do not prove that a person is under God's displeasure, for suffering may be permitted while God works out a purpose that ultimately brings comfort and hope to others. God allows suffering to teach a person more truth.
Mortal Soul Proved
The wasting of the flesh until it cannot be seen and the protruding of the bones that were hidden belong to a person weakened by affliction and chastened with pain upon the bed, almost dead. That bodily decline accompanies the drawing near of the soul to the grave and of the life to the destroyers. It shows that the soul is mortal and can die and go to the grave at death, rather than being an inherently immortal part separate from the body. It is therefore cited among the verses proving that the soul can die and go to the grave.
The nearer the afflicted man comes to death the nearer his soul comes to the grave. Had he died his soul would have gone into the grave. The soul thus goes into the grave when the body dies and stays out of the grave only by being kept alive.