Job 19:21 Have pity on me, have pity on me, O you my friends; for the hand of God has touched me. Sympathy is peculiarly liable to inhibition from other instincts which its stimulus may call forth. The traveller whom the Good Samaritan rescued may well have prompted such instinctive fear or disgust in the priest and Levite who passed in front of him, that their sympathy could not come to the front. Then, of course, habits, reasoned reflections, and calculations may either check or reinforce one's sympathy, as may also the instincts of love or hate, if these exist, for the suffering individual. The hunting and pugnacious instincts, when aroused, also inhibit our sympathy absolutely. This accounts for the cruelty of collections of men hounding each other on to bait or torture a victim. The blood mounts to the eyes, and sympathy's chance is gone. (James, Psychology.) Parallel Verses KJV: Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends; for the hand of God hath touched me.WEB: "Have pity on me, have pity on me, you my friends; for the hand of God has touched me. |
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