You have become cruel toward me. You use your power to persecute me.
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.
- BSB You have ruthlessly turned on me; You oppose me with Your strong hand.
- 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.
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 16:9–14He has torn me in his wrath, and persecuted me. He has gnashed on me with his teeth. My adversary sharpens his eyes on me.
- Job 10:14–17if I sin, then you mark me. You will not acquit me from my iniquity.
- Job 10:3Is it good to you that you should oppress, that you should despise the work of your hands, and smile on the counsel of the wicked?
- Job 19:6–9know now that God has subverted me, and has surrounded me with his net.
- 1 Pet 5:6Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time;
- Job 6:9even that it would please God to crush me; that he would let loose his hand, and cut me off!
- Ps 89:13You have a mighty arm. Your hand is strong, and your right hand is exalted.
- Ps 77:7–9“Will the Lord reject us forever? Will he be favorable no more?
- Job 13:25–28Will you harass a driven leaf? Will you pursue the dry stubble?
- Job 19:22Why do you persecute me as God, and are not satisfied with my flesh?
- Jer 30:14All your lovers have forgotten you. They don’t seek you: for I have wounded you with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the greatness of your iniquity, because your sins were increased.
- Job 23:6Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power? No, but he would listen to me.
- Job 7:20–21If I have sinned, what do I do to you, you watcher of men? Why have you set me as a mark for you, so that I am a burden to myself?
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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.