You have ruthlessly turned on me; You oppose me with Your strong hand.
Parallel translations
- WEB You have turned to be cruel to me. With the might of your hand you persecute me.
- KJV Thou art become cruel to me: with thy strong hand thou opposest thyself against me.
- NKJV But You have become cruel to me; With the strength of Your hand You oppose me.
- NASB “You have become cruel to me; With the strength of Your hand You persecute me.
- NLT You have become cruel toward me. You use your power to persecute me.
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 accuses God of turning cruel and persecuting him with a mighty hand. It is the raw, mistaken complaint of a sufferer who misreads God's purposes.
Overview
In his anguish Job charges God with becoming his opponent, using his power against him rather than for him. The reader knows from the prologue that God has not turned cruel but is allowing a test that will end in vindication and blessing. Job's words show how suffering can distort our view of God, and they highlight the gospel truth that in Christ God's hand is revealed as gracious even when his providence is hard to understand.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Job 16:9–14His anger has torn me and opposed me; He gnashes His teeth at me. My adversary pierces me with His eyes.
- Job 10:14–17If I sinned, You would take note, and would not acquit me of my iniquity.
- Job 10:3Does it please You to oppress me, to reject the work of Your hands and favor the schemes of the wicked?
- Job 19:6–9then understand that it is God who has wronged me and drawn His net around me.
- 1 Pet 5:6Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, so that in due time He may exalt you.
- Job 6:9that God would be willing to crush me, to unleash His hand and cut me off!
- Ps 89:13Mighty is Your arm; strong is Your hand. Your right hand is exalted.
- Ps 77:7–9“Will the Lord spurn us forever and never show His favor again?
- Job 13:25–28Would You frighten a windblown leaf? Would You chase after dry chaff?
- Job 19:22Why do you persecute me as God does? Will you never get enough of my flesh?
- Jer 30:14All your lovers have forgotten you; they no longer seek you, for I have struck you as an enemy would, with the discipline of someone cruel, because of your great iniquity and your numerous sins.
- Job 23:6Would He contend with me in His great power? No, He would certainly take note of me.
- Job 7:20–21If I have sinned, what have I done to You, O watcher of mankind? Why have You made me Your target, so that I am a burden to You?
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 30:21 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.