When they lifted up their eyes from afar, they could barely recognize Job. They began to weep aloud, and each man tore his robe and threw dust in the air over his head.
Parallel translations
- WEB When they lifted up their eyes from a distance, and didn’t recognize him, they raised their voices, and wept; and they each tore his robe, and sprinkled dust on their heads toward the sky.
- KJV And when they lifted up their eyes afar off, and knew him not, they lifted up their voice, and wept; and they rent every one his mantle, and sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven.
- NKJV And when they raised their eyes from afar, and did not recognize him, they lifted their voices and wept; and each one tore his robe and sprinkled dust on his head toward heaven.
- NASB When they looked from a distance and did not recognize him, they raised their voices and wept. And each of them tore his robe, and they threw dust over their heads toward the sky.
- NLT When they saw Job from a distance, they scarcely recognized him. Wailing loudly, they tore their robes and threw dust into the air over their heads to show their grief.
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
The friends barely recognize Job and weep aloud, mourning with him. His suffering has left him almost unrecognizable.
Overview
Job's affliction has so disfigured him that his friends scarcely know him, and they respond with loud weeping and traditional mourning. Their grief is sincere and their solidarity real at this point. The scene captures the depth of Job's devastation and the proper instinct to mourn alongside the suffering.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Lam 2:10The elders of the Daughter of Zion sit on the ground in silence. They have thrown dust on their heads and put on sackcloth. The young women of Jerusalem have bowed their heads to the ground.
- Ezek 27:30They will raise their voices for you and cry out bitterly. They will throw dust on their heads and roll in ashes.
- Neh 9:1On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth, with dust on their heads.
- Josh 7:6Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell facedown before the ark of the LORD until evening, as did the elders of Israel; and they all sprinkled dust on their heads.
- Job 1:20Then Job stood up, tore his robe, and shaved his head. He fell to the ground and worshiped,
- Judg 2:4When the angel of the LORD had spoken these words to all the Israelites, the people lifted up their voices and wept.
- Rev 18:19Then they will throw dust on their heads as they weep and mourn and cry out: “Woe, woe to the great city, where all who had ships on the sea were enriched by her wealth! For in a single hour she has been destroyed.”
- Lam 4:7–8Her dignitaries were brighter than snow, whiter than milk; their bodies were more ruddy than rubies, their appearance like sapphires.
- 1 Sam 11:4When the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul and relayed these words in the hearing of the people, they all wept aloud.
- Job 19:14My kinsmen have failed me, and my friends have forgotten me.
- 2 Sam 13:36And as he finished speaking, the sons of the king came in, wailing loudly. Then the king and all his servants also wept very bitterly.
- Esth 4:1When Mordecai learned of all that had happened, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the middle of the city, wailing loudly and bitterly.
- Ruth 1:19–21So Naomi and Ruth traveled until they came to Bethlehem. When they entered Bethlehem, the whole city was stirred because of them, and the women of the city exclaimed, “Can this be Naomi?”
- 1 Sam 30:4So David and the troops with him lifted up their voices and wept until they had no strength left to weep.
- Gen 27:34When Esau heard his father’s words, he let out a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me too, O my father!”
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 2:12 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.