And Job took a piece of broken pottery to scrape himself as he sat among the ashes. And Job tookThe phrase "And Job took" signifies an intentional action by Job. In the Hebrew text, the verb "took" (לָקַח, laqach) implies a deliberate choice. Job's decision to take action in his suffering reflects his agency even amidst overwhelming adversity. This act of taking is a testament to his resilience and determination to address his physical affliction, despite the emotional and spiritual turmoil he is experiencing. a piece of broken pottery
The "piece of broken pottery" (חֶרֶשׂ, cheres) is a poignant symbol of Job's shattered life. Pottery shards were common in ancient times, often used for practical purposes when whole vessels were no longer usable. This imagery underscores Job's brokenness and the fragility of human life. Archaeological findings reveal that pottery was a staple in daily life, and its broken pieces were often repurposed, much like how Job is trying to find some utility in his suffering. to scrape himself
The act "to scrape himself" (לְהִתְגָּרֵד, lehithgared) indicates a desperate attempt to find relief from his physical torment. Scraping was a method used in ancient times to alleviate itching or remove sores. This action highlights the severity of Job's condition, as he resorts to a painful and rudimentary method to cope with his afflictions. It also symbolizes the depth of his suffering, both physically and spiritually, as he grapples with the inexplicable trials he faces. as he sat
The phrase "as he sat" (יֹשֵׁב, yoshev) conveys a sense of resignation and contemplation. Sitting is often associated with mourning and reflection in biblical contexts. Job's posture suggests a period of introspection and endurance. In the ancient Near Eastern culture, sitting in such a manner was a common expression of grief and lamentation, indicating Job's acceptance of his current state while pondering the reasons behind his suffering. among the ashes
"Among the ashes" (בַּתּוֹךְ הָאֵפֶר, batokh ha'efer) is a powerful image of mourning and repentance. Ashes were traditionally used in the Bible as a symbol of humility and contrition. Job's presence among the ashes signifies his deep sorrow and his acknowledgment of human frailty. Historically, sitting in ashes was a customary practice for those in deep distress or seeking divine intervention. This setting reflects Job's profound grief and his search for answers in the midst of his trials. Persons / Places / Events 1. JobA man described as blameless and upright, who feared God and shunned evil. He is the central figure in the Book of Job, known for his immense suffering and steadfast faith. 2. AshesIn ancient times, sitting among ashes was a sign of mourning, repentance, or extreme distress. It symbolizes Job's deep sorrow and the gravity of his affliction. 3. Broken PotteryRepresents the tools of Job's self-relief amidst his suffering. It signifies the depth of his physical and emotional pain, as he uses it to scrape his sores. 4. Satan's ChallengeThe event where Satan challenges God, claiming that Job's faithfulness is due to his prosperity. God allows Satan to test Job's faith by afflicting him with severe physical suffering. 5. Job's SufferingThe event of Job being afflicted with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head, leading him to sit among the ashes and scrape himself with pottery. Teaching Points The Reality of SufferingJob's experience reminds us that suffering is a part of the human condition, even for the righteous. It challenges the notion that faithfulness to God guarantees a life free from pain. Humility in AfflictionJob's act of sitting among the ashes is a powerful image of humility. In our own times of distress, we are called to humble ourselves before God, acknowledging our dependence on Him. Endurance and FaithDespite his intense suffering, Job does not curse God. His endurance is a testament to unwavering faith, encouraging believers to hold fast to their faith in trials. The Role of LamentJob's actions demonstrate that lament is a valid expression of faith. It is permissible to express our pain and confusion to God, trusting that He hears and understands. Community and SupportJob's account highlights the importance of community. While his friends initially come to comfort him, their eventual failure underscores the need for compassionate and understanding support during trials. Bible Study Questions 1. How does Job's response to his suffering challenge or affirm your understanding of faith in the midst of trials? 2. In what ways can the image of sitting among ashes be applied to modern expressions of grief and repentance? 3. How do other biblical figures who experienced suffering (e.g., Joseph, David, Paul) compare to Job's experience, and what can we learn from their responses? 4. What role does community play in supporting those who are suffering, and how can we ensure our support is compassionate and helpful? 5. How can the practice of lament, as seen in Job's account, be incorporated into your personal prayer life to deepen your relationship with God? Connections to Other Scriptures Lamentations 3:29This verse speaks of putting one's mouth in the dust, symbolizing humility and submission to God's will, similar to Job's posture of sitting in ashes. Isaiah 58:5Discusses fasting and humility, where sitting in ashes is a sign of genuine repentance and seeking God's mercy, paralleling Job's situation. Psalm 22:14-15Describes a state of physical and emotional anguish, akin to Job's suffering, highlighting the depth of human despair and the need for divine intervention. People Bildad, Eliphaz, Job, ZopharPlaces UzTopics Ashes, Bit, Broken, Dust, Edge, Midst, Piece, Pot, Potsherd, Pottery, Rubbing, Sat, Scrape, Scraped, Seated, Sharp, Sitting, Taketh, Therewith, WithalDictionary of Bible Themes Job 2:7-10 6705 peace, experience Library February 24 Evening
Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?--JOB 2:10. I know, O Lord, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me.--O Lord, thou art our father, we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.--It is the Lord: let him do what seemeth him good. Righteous art thou, O Lord, when I plead with thee: yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments. He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.--Whom the Lord loveth …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily PathResignation.
"What! shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?"--Job 2:10. "Ich hab' in guten Stunden." [50]Christian Furchtegott Gellert. transl., Sarah Findlater, 1855 I have had my days of blessing, All the joys of life possessing, Unnumber'd they appear! Then let faith and patience cheer me, Now that trials gather near me: Where is life without a tear? Yes, O Lord, a sinner looking O'er the sins Thou art rebuking, Must own Thy judgments light. Surely I, so oft offending, Must …
Jane Borthwick—Hymns from the Land of Luther It is Indeed a Greater Fight of Patience...
9. It is indeed a greater fight of patience, when it is not a visible enemy that by persecution and rage would urge us into crime which enemy may openly and in broad day be by not consenting overcome; but the devil himself, (he who doth likewise by means of the children of infidelity, as by his vessels, persecute the children of light) doth by himself hiddenly attack us, by his rage putting us on to do or say something against God. As such had holy Job experience of him, by both temptations vexed, …
St. Augustine—On Patience Whether Death is Essential to Martyrdom?
Objection 1: It seems that death is not essential to martyrdom. For Jerome says in a sermon on the Assumption (Epist. ad Paul. et Eustoch.): "I should say rightly that the Mother of God was both virgin and martyr, although she ended her days in peace": and Gregory says (Hom. iii in Evang.): "Although persecution has ceased to offer the opportunity, yet the peace we enjoy is not without its martyrdom, since even if we no longer yield the life of the body to the sword, yet do we slay fleshly desires …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica Jesus, My Rock.
When the storm and the tempest are raging around me, Oh! where shall I flee to be safe from their shock? There are walls which no mortal hands built to surround me, A Refuge Eternal,--'Tis JESUS MY ROCK! When my heart is all sorrow, and trials aggrieve me, To whom can I safely my secrets unlock? No bosom (save one) has the power to relieve me, The bosom which bled for me, JESUS MY ROCK! When Life's gloomy curtain, at last, shall close o'er me, And the chill hand of death unexpectedly knock, I will …
John Ross Macduff—The Cities of Refuge: or, The Name of Jesus Illness and Patience of the Saint. The Story of a Priest whom She Rescued from a Life of Sin.
1. I forgot to say how, in the year of my novitiate, I suffered much uneasiness about things in themselves of no importance; but I was found fault with very often when I was blameless. I bore it painfully and with imperfection; however, I went through it all, because of the joy I had in being a nun. When they saw me seeking to be alone, and even weeping over my sins at times, they thought I was discontented, and said so. 2. All religious observances had an attraction for me, but I could not endure …
Teresa of Avila—The Life of St. Teresa of Jesus The Christian Described
HAPPINESS OF THE CHRISTIAN O HOW happy is he who is not only a visible, but also an invisible saint! He shall not be blotted out the book of God's eternal grace and mercy. DIGNITY OF THE CHRISTIAN There are a generation of men in the world, that count themselves men of the largest capacities, when yet the greatest of their desires lift themselves no higher than to things below. If they can with their net of craft and policy encompass a bulky lump of earth, Oh, what a treasure have they engrossed …
John Bunyan—The Riches of Bunyan Touching Jacob, However, that which He did at his Mother's Bidding...
24. Touching Jacob, however, that which he did at his mother's bidding, so as to seem to deceive his father, if with diligence and in faith it be attended to, is no lie, but a mystery. The which if we shall call lies, all parables also, and figures designed for the signifying of any things soever, which are not to be taken according to their proper meaning, but in them is one thing to be understood from another, shall be said to be lies: which be far from us altogether. For he who thinks this, may …
St. Augustine—Against Lying Of his Cross what Shall I Speak, what Say? this Extremest Kind of Death...
9. Of His cross what shall I speak, what say? This extremest kind of death He chose, that not any kind of death might make His Martyrs afraid. The doctrine He shewed in His life as Man, the example of patience He demonstrated in His Cross. There, you have the work, that He was crucified; example of the work, the Cross; reward of the work, Resurrection. He shewed us in the Cross what we ought to endure, He shewed in the Resurrection what we have to hope. Just like a consummate task-master in the matches …
St. Augustine—On the Creeds Jesus Defends Disciples who Pluck Grain on the Sabbath.
(Probably While on the Way from Jerusalem to Galilee.) ^A Matt. XII. 1-8; ^B Mark II. 23-28; ^C Luke VI. 1-5. ^b 23 And ^c 1 Now it came to pass ^a 1 At that season ^b that he ^a Jesus went { ^b was going} on the { ^c a} ^b sabbath day through the grainfields; ^a and his disciples were hungry and began ^b as they went, to pluck the ears. ^a and to eat, ^c and his disciples plucked the ears, and did eat, rubbing them in their hands. [This lesson fits in chronological order with the last, if the Bethesda …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel Elucidations.
I. (The Shepherd of Hermas, p. 85.) Here, and in chap. xx. below, Tertullian's rabid utterances against the Shepherd may be balanced by what he had said, less unreasonably, in his better mood. [999] Now he refers to the Shepherd's (ii. 1) [1000] view of pardon, even to adulterers. But surely it might be objected even more plausibly against "the Shepherd," whom he prefers, in common with all Christians, as see John viii. 1-11, which I take to be canonical Scripture. A curious question is suggested …
Tertullian—On Modesty Meditations for one that is Like to Die.
If thy sickness be like to increase unto death, then meditate on three things:--First, How graciously God dealeth with thee. Secondly, From what evils death will free thee. Thirdly, What good death will bring unto thee. The first sort of Meditations are, to consider God's favourable dealing with thee. 1. Meditate that God uses this chastisement of thy body but as a medicine to cure thy soul, by drawing thee, who art sick in sin, to come by repentance unto Christ, thy physician, to have thy soul healed …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety Adam's Sin
Q-15: WHAT WAS THE SIN WHEREBY OUR FIRST PARENTS FELL FROM THE ESTATE WHEREIN THEY WERE CREATED? A: That sin was eating the forbidden fruit. 'She took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also to her husband.' Gen 3:3. Here is implied, 1. That our first parents fell from their estate of innocence. 2. The sin by which they fell, was eating the forbidden fruit. I. Our first parents fell from their glorious state of innocence. God made man upright, but they have sought out many inventions.' Eccl …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity Consolations against Impatience in Sickness.
If in thy sickness by extremity of pain thou be driven to impatience, meditate-- 1. That thy sins have deserved the pains of hell; therefore thou mayest with greater patience endure these fatherly corrections. 2. That these are the scourges of thy heavenly Father, and the rod is in his hand. If thou didst suffer with reverence, being a child, the corrections of thy earthly parents, how much rather shouldst thou now subject thyself, being the child of God, to the chastisement of thy heavenly Father, …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety Job
The book of Job is one of the great masterpieces of the world's literature, if not indeed the greatest. The author was a man of superb literary genius, and of rich, daring, and original mind. The problem with which he deals is one of inexhaustible interest, and his treatment of it is everywhere characterized by a psychological insight, an intellectual courage, and a fertility and brilliance of resource which are nothing less than astonishing. Opinion has been divided as to how the book should be …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links Job 2:8 NIVJob 2:8 NLTJob 2:8 ESVJob 2:8 NASBJob 2:8 KJV
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