How does Job 19:20 illustrate the depth of Job's physical suffering? The Verse in Context • Job 2:7 describes the plague of “terrible boils” that covered Job “from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.” • By chapter 19, weeks of relentless pain and isolation have reduced him to a shadow of himself. • Job 19:20: “My skin and flesh cling to my bones; I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.” Phrase-by-Phrase Breakdown • “My skin and flesh cling to my bones” – Extreme weight loss; the body’s fat and muscle are gone. – Visual of skin stretched tight over a skeletal frame. – A picture of advanced disease, starvation, or both. • “I have escaped by the skin of my teeth” – Hebrew idiom for a razor-thin survival. – Teeth have no literal skin, emphasizing how little remained between Job and death. – Suggests he is alive only by the tiniest margin. Word Picture of Emaciation • Bones protruding: Job 30:17 – “My bones are pierced within me at night, and my gnawing pains never rest.” • Dry, blackened skin: Job 30:30 – “My skin grows black and peels.” • Hollowness and weakness: Psalm 102:5 – “Because of my loud groaning my bones cling to my flesh.” • Comparable images: Lamentations 4:8 – “Now their skin clings to their bones; it is as dry as a stick.” The “Skin of My Teeth” Explained • Communicates survival by a fraction—less than a hairbreadth from death. • Reveals Job’s awareness that only God’s restraint keeps him alive (Job 1:12; 2:6). • Highlights the severity of his sickness: neither medicine nor human strength sustains him, only divine mercy. Cross-References Highlighting Physical Anguish • Psalm 22:14-17—prophetic portrait of suffering where bones can be counted. • Isaiah 1:6—wounds, welts, and festering sores left untreated. • Matthew 8:17—Christ “took our infirmities and bore our diseases,” echoing Job’s anticipatory suffering. Why This Matters for Us Today • Job’s graphic description assures readers that Scripture does not minimize real, bodily pain. • His endurance under such devastation models steadfast faith amid physical affliction (James 5:10-11). • God’s sovereignty is evident: Satan can strike, but only within limits set by the Almighty, preserving Job’s life “by the skin of my teeth.” |
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