I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin, and defiled my horn in the dust.
Parallel translations
- WEB I have sewed sackcloth on my skin, and have thrust my horn in the dust.
- BSB I have sewn sackcloth over my skin; I have buried my horn in the dust.
- NKJV “I have sewn sackcloth over my skin, And laid my head in the dust.
- NASB “I have sewed sackcloth over my skin, And thrust my horn in the dust.
- NLT I wear burlap to show my grief. My pride lies in the dust.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Job has put on sackcloth and laid his strength low in the dust. He expresses utter mourning and humiliation.
Overview
Job describes sewing sackcloth to his very skin and thrusting his horn, a symbol of dignity and strength, into the dust. These are signs of deep grief and lost standing. His self-abasement shows a man stripped of all earthly honor, yet still turning toward God, foreshadowing the humility through which true exaltation finally comes (1 Peter 5:6).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Gen 37:34And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days.
- Ps 7:5Let the enemy persecute my soul, and take it; yea, let him tread down my life upon the earth, and lay mine honour in the dust. Selah.
- Ps 75:5Lift not up your horn on high: speak not with a stiff neck.
- 1 Kgs 21:27And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly.
- Isa 22:12And in that day did the Lord GOD of hosts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth:
- Ps 75:10All the horns of the wicked also will I cut off; but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted.
- Job 30:19He hath cast me into the mire, and I am become like dust and ashes.
- 1 Sam 2:10The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall he thunder upon them: the LORD shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Job's cry for a mediator who can lay his hand on both God and man, and his confidence that 'my Redeemer lives' and will stand on the earth, reaches forward to Jesus the living Redeemer.
How Job 16:15 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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