FocusSuffering questioned and explained
Connection to the wholeJob's lament leads into the first cycle of speeches, in which the friends' explanations are challenged by Job's experience.
interpretation Job 10:2
KJVI will say unto God, Do not condemn me; shew me wherefore thou contendest with me.
Read it in context
Job’s Plea to God
Start reading at Job 10:1 (Job 10:1 to Job 10:22).
An editorial reading unit, not a claim that the surrounding context stops here. Book background below applies to the shared passage; individual verses may need more specific explanation.
Job's lament leads into the first cycle of speeches, in which the friends' explanations are challenged by Job's experience.
- 10:1 My soul is weary of my life; I will leave my complaint upon myself; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
- 10:2 I will say unto God, Do not condemn me; shew me wherefore thou contendest with me.
- 10:3 Is it good unto thee that thou shouldest oppress, that thou shouldest despise the work of thine hands, and shine upon the counsel of the wicked?
- 10:4 Hast thou eyes of flesh? or seest thou as man seeth?
- 10:5 Are thy days as the days of man? are thy years as man's days,
- 10:6 That thou enquirest after mine iniquity, and searchest after my sin?
- 10:7 Thou knowest that I am not wicked; and there is none that can deliver out of thine hand.
- 10:8 Thine hands have made me and fashioned me together round about; yet thou dost destroy me.
- 10:9 Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as the clay; and wilt thou bring me into dust again?
- 10:10 Hast thou not poured me out as milk, and curdled me like cheese?
- 10:11 Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, and hast fenced me with bones and sinews.
- 10:12 Thou hast granted me life and favour, and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit.
- 10:13 And these things hast thou hid in thine heart: I know that this is with thee.
- 10:14 If I sin, then thou markest me, and thou wilt not acquit me from mine iniquity.
- 10:15 If I be wicked, woe unto me; and if I be righteous, yet will I not lift up my head. I am full of confusion; therefore see thou mine affliction;
- 10:16 For it increaseth. Thou huntest me as a fierce lion: and again thou shewest thyself marvellous upon me.
- 10:17 Thou renewest thy witnesses against me, and increasest thine indignation upon me; changes and war are against me.
- 10:18 Wherefore then hast thou brought me forth out of the womb? Oh that I had given up the ghost, and no eye had seen me!
- 10:19 I should have been as though I had not been; I should have been carried from the womb to the grave.
- 10:20 Are not my days few? cease then, and let me alone, that I may take comfort a little,
- 10:21 Before I go whence I shall not return, even to the land of darkness and the shadow of death;
- 10:22 A land of darkness, as darkness itself; and of the shadow of death, without any order, and where the light is as darkness.
Who
- Who wrote the book? The author is unknown. Moses is one ancient traditional proposal, but neither that proposal nor another named author can be established with confidence. Historical source: Babylonian Talmud, Bava Batra 14b–15a (record of Jewish attribution, not contemporary proof). book background
- Who was present or being addressed in this passage? In the surrounding chapter context (Job 9:1–10:22): Job replies and directs his complaint toward God. stated in the text
- Who was the book written to? Readers within Israel's wisdom tradition, wrestling with innocent suffering, justice, and the limits of human judgment. No named individual or first community is identified. Biblical references: Job 28:28; Job 42:7. book background
What
- What is the topic of this reading unit? Job’s Plea to God. Read Job 10:1 through Job 10:22 as a connected unit. interpretation
- How does it contribute to the book? Job's lament leads into the first cycle of speeches, in which the friends' explanations are challenged by Job's experience. interpretation
When
- When are the events or message set? The book supplies no royal date or exact historical year for Job's experiences. Proposed patriarchal-era settings are historical inferences, not a date explicitly stated by the narrative. book background
Where
- What is the book’s geographic setting? Job is introduced as a man in the land of Uz. The poetic speeches range through imagined and remembered scenes that should not all be treated as the speakers' physical locations. book background
- Where does the context start? This passage sits in Job’s Plea to God (Job 10:1 to Job 10:22). Start reading at Job 10:1. An editorial reading unit, not a claim that the surrounding context stops here. Book background below applies to the shared passage; individual verses may need more specific explanation.
How
- How does this book connect with Jesus Christ? James refers to Job's endurance and the Lord's compassion. Connections between Job's suffering and Christ may be considered as comparisons; Job's speeches should not all be treated as direct predictions of Jesus. See Job 1:1, James 5:11, Hebrews 4:15. interpretation
- How should this book guide our response? Do not assume that a sufferer's losses prove a hidden sin. Listen carefully, distinguish the speakers, and read their claims alongside the LORD's concluding rebuke of the friends. interpretation
Cited: Job 10:1, Job 10:22, Job 1:1, James 5:11, Hebrews 4:15
Who wrote it, and how we know
Uncertain; among the oldest books of Scripture
Not known
What Scripture saysThe book does not name its author.
Early traditionJewish tradition (Baba Bathra 14b) suggested Moses, but ancient opinion varied widely.
What is debatedThe author is unknown and the date is uncertain. The setting appears patriarchal, but the book could have been written far later.
Related passages
- Do not Ps 6:1-4 Ps 25:7 Ps 38:1-8 Ps 109:21 Ps 143:2 Rom 8:1
- shew me Job 8:5-6 Job 34:31-32 Ps 139:23-24 Lam 3:40-42 Lam 5:16-17 1 Cor 11:31-32
Cross references from CrossReferences-org (CC BY 4.0).
Macro-Structure
See how this passage fits the chapter and the book.
Macro-Structure of Job 10
Job contains narrative, lament, and extended disputation. The speakers must be identified before treating an assertion as the book's teaching: the LORD explicitly rebukes Job's friends near the end. Neither the author nor an exact historical date is stated. Local headings and stanza divisions are editorial reading aids adapted from public-domain BSB headings; verse boundaries and Scripture links use the KJV. Connections describe the surrounding book movement.
Suggested literary divisions. Headings summarize the passage; they are not part of the biblical text.
Macro-Structure of Job
Job contains narrative, lament, and extended disputation. The speakers must be identified before treating an assertion as the book's teaching: the LORD explicitly rebukes Job's friends near the end. Neither the author nor an exact historical date is stated.
Job's losses and the friends' arrival
Job 1:1–2:13FocusSuffering and the opening test
Connection to the wholeThe narrative establishes Job's losses and integrity before the speeches begin, giving readers information the disputing friends do not possess.
interpretation FocusSuffering questioned and explained
Connection to the wholeJob's lament leads into the first cycle of speeches, in which the friends' explanations are challenged by Job's experience.
interpretation The second exchange
Job 15:1–21:34FocusAccusation and protest intensify
Connection to the wholeThe argument sharpens as the friends connect suffering with wickedness and Job challenges their account of the wicked's fortunes.
interpretation The final exchange and Job's defense
Job 22:1–31:40FocusWisdom and the demand for an answer
Connection to the wholeThe later speeches, poem on wisdom, and Job's final defense bring the dispute to the point of his appeal for an answer.
interpretation Elihu speaks
Job 32:1–37:24FocusClaims about God's justice and instruction
Connection to the wholeA new speaker responds to Job and the friends before the LORD's speeches begin; his speech must be distinguished from the divine answer.
interpretation The LORD answers
Job 38:1–41:34FocusCreation and the limits of human knowledge
Connection to the wholeThe LORD questions Job concerning the created order, confronting the limits of his knowledge and his attempt to contend with God.
interpretation Job's response and the conclusion
Job 42:1–17FocusRepentance, rebuke, and restoration
Connection to the wholeJob responds, the friends are rebuked, and the narrative closes with intercession and restoration without turning every speech into endorsed doctrine.
interpretation Suggested literary divisions. Headings summarize the passage; they are not part of the biblical text.