his archers surround me. He slashes open my kidneys and does not spare; he pours out my gall on the ground.
English Standard Version (ESV)
Job isn't just describing physical pain; he's revealing the intense, internal agony by focusing on his kidneys and gall. This imagery paints a picture of being utterly gutted and having the very essence of his being spilled out, showing the profound, soul-deep suffering caused by these attacks.
his archers surround me. He slashes open my kidneys and does not spare; he pours out my gall on the ground.
English Standard Version (ESV)
Job is desperately crying out that God, who has made him a target, is now relentlessly attacking him from all sides, inflicting agonizing and seemingly fatal internal wounds. This intense imagery follows his lamentations about his friends' harsh judgments and his feeling of abandonment by God.
Job feels completely surrounded and under attack. Who are these 'archers' and how do they relate to God's will?
Job vividly portrays his suffering as a military assault. The 'archers' surrounding him represent the overwhelming forces of affliction that seem to come from every direction.
The Divine Commander
While enemies might seem to be the direct attackers, Job understands them as instruments of God's will. Whether it's illness, calamity, or even the harsh words of his friends, Job sees God as the ultimate commander directing these 'archers.' This doesn't mean God causes evil, but that in His sovereign plan, He permits or uses these forces to test and refine His people.
Arrows of Affliction
These 'archers' don't just besiege Job; their 'arrows' pierce his vital organs. This imagery highlights the deep, internal, and seemingly incurable nature of his pain.
Job speaks of his kidneys being slashed and his gall being poured out. What do these graphic details reveal about his pain?
Job uses incredibly visceral language to describe the intensity and deadliness of his suffering.
Wounded Within
The 'kidneys' were often seen as the seat of deep emotion and inner life. To have them 'cleaved asunder' speaks of a pain that is not superficial but strikes at the core of his being, causing unimaginable agony.
Life Drained Away
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Pouring out the 'gall' refers to the rupture of the gallbladder, a fatal injury. This imagery emphasizes that Job feels his very life force is being spilled out onto the ground, leaving him with no hope of recovery. He perceives his condition as utterly beyond repair.
Understand the original words
kilyah · Hebrew Noun
Often used in Job to denote the deepest, inward part of a person; in Hebrew thought, it represents the seat of emotions, conscience, and the innermost being, sometimes associated with divine scrutiny.
mererah · Hebrew Noun
A term for bile or gall; symbolically in the Old Testament, it represents bitterness, intense pain, or the very essence of life being spilled out or exhausted during extreme suffering.
This passage vividly describes enemies surrounding and attacking like lions and bulls, mirroring Job's sense of being overwhelmed and violently assaulted by unseen forces.
Lamentations 3:12-13The prophet also feels attacked by God, likening divine judgment to arrows that pierce his kidneys, echoing Job's intense internal and seemingly fatal wounds.
Genesis 49:23This verse speaks of archers fiercely attacking Joseph, paralleling Job's experience of being relentlessly struck and grieved by adversaries, even when they are not directly God's archers but acting under His permissive will.
Luke 22:31-32Jesus warns Peter about Satan's desire to sift the disciples like wheat, showing that even the righteous can face intense, targeted attacks that feel like a dismantling of their very being, similar to Job's profound suffering.
bensonJob 16:13: "His archers compass me round about, he cleaveth my reins asunder, and doth not spare; he poureth out my gall upon the ground."
Job 16:13-14 . His archers compass me round about — His plagues or judgments, elsewhere compared to arrows, and here to archers, surround me on all sides, and assault me from every quarter. Whoever are our enemies, we must look on them as God’s archers, and see him directing the arrow. He cleaveth my reins asunder — He wounds me inwardly, mortally, and incur…
clarkeJob 16:13: "His archers compass me round about, he cleaveth my reins asunder, and doth not spare; he poureth out my gall upon the ground."
His archers compass me - רביו rabbaiv "his great ones." The Vulgate and Septuagint translate this his spears; the Syriac, Arabic, and Chaldee, his arrows. On this and the following verse Mr. Heath observes: "The metaphor is here taken from huntsmen: first, they surround the beast; then he is shot dead; his entrails are next taken out; and then his body is b…
Job isn't just describing physical pain; he's revealing the intense, internal agony by focusing on his kidneys and gall. This imagery paints a picture of being utterly gutted and having the very essence of his being spilled out, showing the profound, soul-deep suffering caused by these attacks.
Job is desperately crying out that God, who has made him a target, is now relentlessly attacking him from all sides, inflicting agonizing and seemingly fatal internal wounds. This intense imagery follows his lamentations about his friends' harsh judgments and his feeling of abandonment by God.
Job is desperately crying out that God, who has made him a target, is now relentlessly attacking him from all sides, inflicting agonizing and seemingly fatal internal wounds. This intense imagery follows his lamentations about his friends' harsh judgments and his feeling of abandonment by God.
"his archers surround me. He slashes open my kidneys and does not spare; he pours out my gall on the ground." — Job isn't just describing physical pain; he's revealing the intense, internal agony by focusing on his kidneys and gall. This imagery paints a picture of being utterly gutted and having the very esse…
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Last reviewed October 2026