Job 16:12
 Job 16:12 
New International Version (©2011)
All was well with me, but he shattered me; he seized me by the neck and crushed me. He has made me his target;

New Living Translation (©2007)
"I was living quietly until he shattered me. He took me by the neck and broke me in pieces. Then he set me up as his target,

English Standard Version (©2001)
I was at ease, and he broke me apart; he seized me by the neck and dashed me to pieces; he set me up as his target;

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
"I was at ease, but He shattered me, And He has grasped me by the neck and shaken me to pieces; He has also set me up as His target.

King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)
I was at ease, but he hath broken me asunder: he hath also taken me by my neck, and shaken me to pieces, and set me up for his mark.

Holman Christian Standard Bible (©2009)
I was at ease, but He shattered me; He seized me by the scruff of the neck and smashed me to pieces. He set me up as His target;

International Standard Version (©2012)
"He tore me apart when I was at ease; grabbing me by my neck, he shook me to pieces— then he really made me his target.

NET Bible (©2006)
I was in peace, and he has shattered me. He has seized me by the neck and crushed me. He has made me his target;

GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
I was at ease, and he shattered me. He grabbed me by the back of the neck and smashed [my skull]. He set me up as his target,

King James 2000 Bible (©2003)
I was at ease, but he has broken me asunder: he has also taken me by my neck, and shaken me to pieces, and set me up for his mark.

American King James Version
I was at ease, but he has broken me asunder: he has also taken me by my neck, and shaken me to pieces, and set me up for his mark.

American Standard Version
I was at ease, and he brake me asunder; Yea, he hath taken me by the neck, and dashed me to pieces: He hath also set me up for his mark.

Douay-Rheims Bible
I that was formerly so wealthy, am all on a sudden broken to pieces: he hath taken me by my neck, he hath broken me, and hath set me up to be his mark.

Darby Bible Translation
I was at rest, but he hath shattered me; he hath taken me by the neck and shaken me to pieces, and set me up for his mark.

English Revised Version
I was at ease, and he brake me asunder; yea, he hath taken me by the neck, and dashed me to pieces: he hath also set me up for his mark.

Webster's Bible Translation
I was at ease, but he hath broken me asunder: he hath also taken me by my neck, and shaken me to pieces, and set me up for his mark.

World English Bible
I was at ease, and he broke me apart. Yes, he has taken me by the neck, and dashed me to pieces. He has also set me up for his target.

Young's Literal Translation
At ease I have been, and he breaketh me, And he hath laid hold on my neck, And he breaketh me in pieces, And he raiseth me to him for a mark.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

16:6-16 Here is a doleful representation of Job's grievances. What reason we have to bless God, that we are not making such complaints! Even good men, when in great troubles, have much ado not to entertain hard thoughts of God. Eliphaz had represented Job as unhumbled under his affliction: No, says Job, I know better things; the dust is now the fittest place for me. In this he reminds us of Christ, who was a man of sorrows, and pronounced those blessed that mourn, for they shall be comforted.


Pulpit Commentary

Verse 12. - I was at ease (compare the picture drawn in Job 1:1-5). Job had been "at ease," tranquil, prosperous, happy. He had been almost without a care, when suddenly "trouble came." But he hath broken me asunder; rather, he brake me asunder (see the Revised Version). In the midst of his ease and tranquillity, God suddenly poured out his chastisements, and "brake Job asunder," i.e. destroyed his life, ruined it and broke it down. He hath also taken me by my neck, and shaken me to pieces; or, dashed me to pieces. And set me up for his mark; i.e. as a target for his arrows (comp. Deuteronomy 32:23; Job 6:4; Psalm 7:13; Psalm 38:2, etc.; Lamentations 3:12).


Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

I was at ease, but he hath broken me asunder,.... He was in easy and affluent circumstances, abounding with the good things of this life, lay in his nest, as his expression is, Job 29:18; quietly and peaceably, where he expected he should have died; and he was easy in his mind, had peace of conscience, being a good man that feared God, and trusted in his living Redeemer, enjoying the presence of God, the light of his countenance, and the discoveries of his love, see Job 39:2; but now he was broken to pieces, he was stripped of his worldly substance; his family was broken up, and not a child left him; his body broken, and full of ruptures through boils and ulcers; and his spirits were broken with his afflictions, and a sense of divine displeasure; the arrows of God's wrath, in his apprehension, stuck in him, and the poison thereof drank up his spirits. Mr. Broughton renders it, "I was wealthy, and he hath undone me"; though once so opulent, he was now broken, and become a bankrupt. It may be applied to Christ, his antitype, who, though rich, became poor to make his people rich, 2 Corinthians 8:9; and whose body was broken for them; and he was wounded and bruised for their transgressions, and whose heart was broken with reproach:

he hath also taken me by the neck, and shaken me to pieces; as a combatant in wrestling, who is stronger than his antagonist, uses him; or as a giant, who takes a dwarf by his neck or collar, and shakes him, as if he would shake him to pieces, limb from limb; or "hath dashed" or "broken me to pieces" (f); or to shivers; as glass or earthen vessels dashed against a wall, or struck with a hammer, fly into a thousand pieces, can never be put together again; so Job reckoned of his state and condition as irrecoverable, that his health, his substance, his family, could never be restored as they had been:

and set me up for his mark; to shoot at, of which he complains Job 7:20; a like expression is used by the church in Lamentations 3:12; and a phrase similar to this is used of Christ, Luke 2:34; and in consequence of this are what follow.

(f) "confregit me", V. L. Pagninus; "minutatim confregit me", Tigurine version; so Schultens, Jarchi, & Ben Gersom.


Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

12. I was at ease—in past times (Job 1:1-3).

by my neck—as an animal does its prey (so Job 10:16).

shaken—violently; in contrast to his former "ease" (Ps 102:10). Set me up (again).

mark—(Job 7:20; La 3:12). God lets me always recover strength, so as to torment me ceaselessly.


Job 16:12 Parallel Commentaries

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Job: Poor Comforters are You
11God has delivered me to the ungodly, and turned me over into the hands of the wicked. 12I was at ease, but he has broken me asunder: he has also taken me by my neck, and shaken me to pieces, and set me up for his mark. 13His archers compass me round about, he splits my reins asunder, and does not spare; he pours out my gall on the ground. …

Job 7:20 If I have sinned, what have I done to you, you who see everything we do? Why have you made me your target? Have I become a burden to you?
Job 9:17 He would crush me with a storm and multiply my wounds for no reason.
Job 16:11 God has turned me over to the ungodly and thrown me into the clutches of the wicked.
Lamentations 3:11 he dragged me from the path and mangled me and left me without help.
Lamentations 3:12 He drew his bow and made me the target for his arrows.