Bible Strands
Job 30:18
With great force He grasps my garment; He seizes me by the collar of my tunic.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Job speaks from the depths of personal affliction to an unspecified audience, marking the moment his physical torment escalates immediately before his body turns to dust.
The words — כֹּ֭חַ (koach) denotes "strength," and יַֽאַזְרֵֽנִי (ya'azreni) translates literally as "he girds about me," describing a violent, inescapable constriction.
The thread — This motif of bodily violation and divine pressure appears in Job 2:7, Job 7:5, and Job 19:20, where physical decay is consistently framed as an active, oppressive force.
Why it lands — The verse records unadorned suffering without offering explanation or relief, requiring the reader to acknowledge pain that operates independently of human intervention.
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
By the great force of my disease is my garment changed: it bindeth me about as the collar of my coat.
Cross-references
- Job 2:7 So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and infected Job with terrible boils from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head.
- Job 7:5 My flesh is clothed with worms and encrusted with dirt; my skin is cracked and festering.
- Job 19:20 My skin and flesh cling to my bones; I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.
- Psalms 38:5 My wounds are foul and festering because of my sinful folly.
- Isaiah 1:5 Why do you want more beatings? Why do you keep rebelling? Your head has a massive wound, and your whole heart is afflicted.