Bible Strands
Job 19:18
Even little boys scorn me; when I appear, they deride me.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Job addresses his friends and any listeners while describing his complete social ruin after losing his family, wealth, and health. He notes that his presence now triggers contempt rather than pity.
The words — עֲוִילִים ('Avilim) translates literally to "young boys," specifying the age group that rejects him. The verb מָאֲסוּ (ma'asu) means "they despise" or "they reject," directly naming the action taken when he appears.
The thread — The pattern of youth mocking a revered figure appears in 2 Kings 2:23 where boys jeer at Elisha, and repeats in Job 30:1 and Job 30:12 where younger men and the rabble arise to deride and oppose him.
Why it lands — The text reports that social standing can vanish instantly, leaving even children to cast contempt. It requires the reader to acknowledge isolation as a tangible condition that strips away every layer of human dignity.
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.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Yea, young children despised me; I arose, and they spake against me.
Cross-references
- 2 Kings 2:23 From there, Elisha went up to Bethel, and as he was walking up the road, a group of boys came out of the city and jeered at him, chanting, “Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!”
- Job 30:1 “But now they mock me, men younger than I am, whose fathers I would have refused to put with my sheep dogs.
- Job 30:12 The rabble arises at my right; they lay snares for my feet and build siege ramps against me.
- Isaiah 3:5 The people will oppress one another, man against man, neighbor against neighbor; the young will rise up against the old, and the base against the honorable.