Job 16:13

Study note

Setting — Job speaks in the midst of detailing his severe affliction, immediately after describing how God shattered him and set him up as a target (Job 16:12). He introduces this verse to describe the specific violent actions he believes are being directed against him, which he follows by noting they continue as relentless wounds (Job 16:14).

The words — The Hebrew יְפַלַּ֣ח (ye.fa.Lach) translates literally to "he splits open" or "pierces," applied directly to כִּ֭לְיוֹתַ/י (Kil.yo.ta/i), "my kidneys." The phrase וְ/לֹ֣א יַחְמ֑וֹל (ve./Lo' yach.Mol) states plainly "and not he has compassion," while יִשְׁפֹּ֥ךְ (yish.Pokh) means "he pours out" regarding the gall.

The thread — This depiction of divine aggression and internal fluids appears in Job 20:25, which describes an arrow striking the liver, and Job 6:4, which mentions the arrows of the Almighty piercing the speaker and his spirit drinking their poison. The action of pouring out is also noted in Lamentations 2:11, where the heart is poured out in grief over destruction.

Why it lands — The text requires the reader to acknowledge the speaker's claim that his suffering is inflicted by a force that deliberately targets vital organs and withholds mercy. It presents the experience as one of unmitigated violence where divine action is described in precise, physical terms rather than abstract judgment.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.