Job 19:21

Old Testament Wisdom/Poetry ASV (1901)

What does Job 19:21 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends; For the hand of God hath touched me.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends; For the hand of God hath touched me.
Job 19:21 — American Standard Version

Context — Job 19

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
21Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends; For the hand of God hath touched me.

What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, etc.] Instead of calumny and censure, his case called for compassion; and the phrase is doubled, to denote the vehemence of his affliction, the ardency of his soul, the anguish of his spirits, the great distress he was in, and the earnest desire he had to have pity shown him; and in which he may be thought not only to make a request to his friends for it, but to give them a reproof for want of it: O ye my friends; as they once showed themselves to be, and now professed they were; and since they did, pity might be reasonably expected from them; for even common humanity, and much more friendship, required it of them, that they should be pitiful and…”
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Jamieson, Fausset & Brown
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“When God had made him such a piteous spectacle, his friends should spare him the additional persecution of their cruel speeches.”
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Barnes' Notes
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · Notes on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“Have pity on me - A tender, pathetic cry for sympathy. “God has afflicted me, and stripped me of all my comforts, and I am left a poor, distressed, forsaken man. I make my appeal to you, my friends, and entreat you to have pity; to sympathize with me, and to sustain me by the words of consolation.” One would have supposed that these words would have gone to the heart, and that we should hear no more of their bitter reproofs. But far otherwise was the fact. The hand of God hath touched me - Hath smitten me; or is heavy upon me. The meaning is, that he had been subjected to great calamities by God, and that it was right to appeal now to his friends, and to expect their sympathy and compassion.…”
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Wesley's Explanatory Notes
John Wesley (1703–1791) · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament and Old Testament notes · 18th-century historical commentary
“Touched me - My spirit is touched with a sense of his wrath, a calamity of all others the most grievous. Job 19:22”
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Tyndale Open Study Notes
Tyndale House Publishers · Tyndale Open Study Notes · Modern study notes
“19:21 The hand of God had struck Job through the permission he gave to Satan (1:11; 2:5).”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“have pity: Job 6:14; Rom 12:15; Co1 12:26; Heb 13:3 the hand: Job 1:11, Job 2:5, Job 2:10, Job 6:4; Psa 38:2 Job 19:22”
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Keil & Delitzsch
C. F. Keil & F. Delitzsch · Commentary on the Old Testament · 19th-century historical commentary
“21 Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends, For the hand of Eloah hath touched me. 22 Wherefore do ye persecute me as God, And are never satisfied with my flesh? 23 Oh that my words were but written, That they were recorded in a book, 24 With an iron pen, filled in with lead, Graven in the rock for ever! 25 And I know: my Redeemer liveth, And as the last One will He arise from the dust. In Job 19:21 Job takes up a strain we have not heard previously. His natural strength becomes more and more feeble, and his voice weaker and weaker. It is a feeling of sadness that prevails in the preceding description of suffering, and now even stamps the address to the friends with a tone of…”
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Related study paths

Sources and verification