Job 10:16
And were my head lifted up, you would hunt me like a lion and again work wonders against me.
English Standard Version (ESV)
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What's easy to miss here is the relentless repetition of God's action against Job. The phrase "and again" emphasizes not just a single overwhelming blow, but a recurring, ever-present assault. It's like a lion that doesn't just kill its prey quickly, but tears at it, retreats, and then returns to inflict more torment, making the suffering "wonderful" in its extremity and endurance.
Job feels utterly crushed, convinced that even if he tried to lift his head or find a moment's relief, God would relentlessly pursue him like a ferocious lion. He sees God not as a deliverer, but as an overwhelming force who repeatedly torments him with inexplicable and escalating suffering. This verse highlights Job's despairing view of God's actions, which he perceives as deliberately increasing his misery rather than bringing it to a swift end.
Job feels like prey caught by a predator, but it’s not just any hunter. It’s God himself, pursuing him relentlessly.
Job uses powerful imagery to describe his suffering. He says God "hunts me like a fierce lion."
The Lion's Fury
A lion doesn't just stalk its prey; it attacks with immense power and fury. This imagery suggests to Job that God's pursuit is aggressive, eager, and overwhelming. It's not a distant force, but an active, terrifying presence.
Renewed Torment
Job also notes that God "again" shows himself marvelous. This isn't a one-time attack. The lion might tear its prey quickly, but Job feels God's afflictions are renewed, prolonged, and intensified. It’s a continuous, escalating torment that leaves him feeling utterly trapped.
Job acknowledges God's actions are "wonders," but not the kind that inspire awe and praise. These are terrifying, baffling works.
The word "marvelous" here isn't about something beautiful or good. Job uses it to express his profound confusion and distress over God's actions.
Baffling Power
Job feels overwhelmed by God's "wonders." These are not miracles of deliverance, but acts that confound him. He cannot understand why God is doing this, nor how such suffering can be part of a divine plan. The sheer power displayed in his affliction is "marvelous" in its extremity and strangeness.
The Unseen Motive
In his distress, Job feels God is displaying immense power against him, yet his motives remain hidden. This creates a deep sense of isolation and helplessness. He sees God's awesome power at work, but it's directed towards his destruction, making God seem both terrifyingly present and inscrutably distant.
Understand the original words
ro'sh · Hebrew Noun
The figurative representation of one's dignity, pride, or state of being. To have one's head lifted up is to be honored or to possess confidence, whereas Job here contrasts this with being hunted.
shachal · Hebrew Noun
A powerful predator used metaphorically in Scripture to describe a fierce, relentless pursuer or an enemy who destroys without mercy. In this context, it illustrates God's perceived overwhelming power directed against Job.
pala' · Hebrew Noun
Extraordinary deeds, signs, or miracles. In this context, Job uses the term ironically to describe the 'miraculous' way God is relentlessly targeting him, implying that God’s power is being used for his destruction.
This passage describes God as a lion, roaring over his flock, which directly parallels Job's imagery of being hunted by God like a fierce lion.
Lamentations 3:10Here, Jeremiah also speaks of God acting like a hidden lion, ambushing him, highlighting a shared theme of God's terrifying, predatory pursuit.
Hosea 13:7-8This passage portrays God as a lion waiting in ambush and devouring his enemies, echoing Job's feeling of being relentlessly attacked and overwhelmed by God's power.
Psalm 22:13The psalmist describes enemies surrounding and tearing at him like a ravenous lion, which shares the visceral image of being violently attacked that Job feels from God.
pooleJob 10:16: "For it increaseth. Thou huntest me as a fierce lion: and again thou shewest thyself marvellous upon me."
As a fierce lion; which hunteth after his prey with great eagerness, and when he overtakes it, falls upon it with great fury. And again thou showest thyself marvellous upon me, Heb. and thou returnest and showest thyself marvellous upon, or in , or against me . The lion tears its prey speedily, and so ends its torments; but thou renewest my calamities again and again, and makest…
ellicottJob 10:16: "For it increaseth. Thou huntest me as a fierce lion: and again thou shewest thyself marvellous upon me."
(16) For it increaseth. —This verse is very obscure. Some understand it thus: “But is it so glorious a thing that Thou shouldst hunt me like a fierce lion, and then again show Thyself mysterious and wonderful towards me? hunting me like a lion, and yet hiding alike Thy person and Thy motive from me?” Or the subject is the head of the former verse, “And if it exalt itself, Thou hu…
What's easy to miss here is the relentless repetition of God's action against Job. The phrase "and again" emphasizes not just a single overwhelming blow, but a recurring, ever-present assault. It's like a lion that doesn't just kill its prey quickly, but tears at it, retreats, and then returns to inflict more torment, making the suffering "wonderful" in its extremity and endurance.
Job feels utterly crushed, convinced that even if he tried to lift his head or find a moment's relief, God would relentlessly pursue him like a ferocious lion. He sees God not as a deliverer, but as an overwhelming force who repeatedly torments him with inexplicable and escalating suffering. This verse highlights Job's despairing view of God's actions, which he perceives as deliberately increasing his misery rather than bringing it to a swift end.
Job feels utterly crushed, convinced that even if he tried to lift his head or find a moment's relief, God would relentlessly pursue him like a ferocious lion. He sees God not as a deliverer, but as an overwhelming force who repeatedly torments him with inexplicable and escalating suffering. This verse highlights Job's despairing view of God's actions, which he perceives as deliberately increasing his misery rather than bringing it to a swift end.
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"And were my head lifted up, you would hunt me like a lion and again work wonders against me." — What's easy to miss here is the relentless repetition of God's action against Job. The phrase "and again" emphasizes not just a single overwhelming blow, but a recurring, ever-present assault. It's…
