Because He has loosed my bowstring and afflicted me, They have cast off restraint before me.
Parallel translations
- WEB For he has untied his cord, and afflicted me; and they have thrown off restraint before me.
- KJV Because he hath loosed my cord, and afflicted me, they have also let loose the bridle before me.
- BSB Because God has unstrung my bow and afflicted me, they have cast off restraint in my presence.
- NASB “Because He has undone my bowstring and afflicted me, They have cast off the bridle before me.
- NLT For God has cut my bowstring. He has humbled me, so they have thrown off all restraint.
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 attributes his humiliation to God, who has loosed his cord and afflicted him, emboldening his mockers.
Overview
Job traces his suffering back to God's hand, picturing God as having unstrung him like a slackened bow and removed his protection. With Job's strength and standing gone, his enemies cast off all restraint. This honest acknowledgment that God permits his affliction reflects Job's struggle to reconcile God's sovereignty with his innocent suffering, a tension resolved only in trusting God's ultimately good purposes (Romans 8:28).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Job 12:21He pours contempt on princes, and loosens the belt of the strong.
- Job 12:18He loosens the bond of kings. He binds their waist with a belt.
- Ruth 1:21I went out full, and Yahweh has brought me home again empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since Yahweh has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?”
- Matt 27:39–44Those who passed by blasphemed him, wagging their heads,
- Matt 26:67–68Then they spit in his face and beat him with their fists, and some slapped him,
- Ps 32:9Don’t be like the horse, or like the mule, which have no understanding, who are controlled by bit and bridle, or else they will not come near to you.
- Ps 35:21Yes, they opened their mouth wide against me. They said, “Aha! Aha! Our eye has seen it!”
- Jas 1:26If anyone among you thinks himself to be religious while he doesn’t bridle his tongue, but deceives his heart, this man’s religion is worthless.
- 2 Sam 16:5–8When king David came to Bahurim, behold, a man of the family of Saul’s house came out, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera. He came out and cursed as he came.
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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 30:11 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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