Job 19:6 kjv
Know now that God hath overthrown me, and hath compassed me with his net.
Job 19:6 nkjv
Know then that God has wronged me, And has surrounded me with His net.
Job 19:6 niv
then know that God has wronged me and drawn his net around me.
Job 19:6 esv
know then that God has put me in the wrong and closed his net about me.
Job 19:6 nlt
But it is God who has wronged me,
capturing me in his net.
Job 19 6 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Job 6:4 | "For the arrows of the Almighty are within me..." | Job sees God as the source of his pain. |
| Job 7:12 | "Am I a sea, or a sea monster, that you set a guard over me?" | Job questions God's strict vigilance over him. |
| Job 10:3 | "Does it seem good to You that You should oppress, that You should despise the work of Your hands?" | Job accuses God of injustice. |
| Job 13:27 | "You put my feet in the stocks and watch all my paths..." | God as an unrelenting jailer. |
| Job 16:9 | "God has torn me in His wrath and hated me..." | Job views God as his violent assailant. |
| Job 30:21 | "You have turned cruel to me; with the might of Your hand You persecute me." | God's harsh and persistent persecution. |
| Psa 73:13-14 | "Surely in vain have I cleansed my heart... all day long I have been afflicted." | Righteous suffering without clear reason. |
| Jer 12:1 | "Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all who are faithless flourish?" | Jeremiah questions God's justice. |
| Lam 3:52-53 | "My enemies hunted me like a bird without cause; they cast me alive into the pit..." | Innocent one trapped and attacked. |
| Lam 3:8-10 | "Though I cry and call for help, He shuts out my prayer; He has blocked my ways with hewn stones; He has made my paths crooked. He is to me like a bear lying in wait, like a lion in hiding;" | God perceived as obstructing and predatory. |
| Hab 1:13 | "You who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong, why do You idly look at traitors...?" | Habakkuk questions God's inaction/tolerance. |
| Rom 9:20 | "But who are you, O man, to answer back to God?" | Limits of human understanding and judgment of God. |
| Isa 55:8-9 | "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the Lord." | God's wisdom transcends human understanding. |
| Deut 32:4 | "He is the Rock, His work is perfect, for all His ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is He." | Contrasts with Job's immediate perception of God's injustice. |
| Psa 11:5-6 | "The Lord tests the righteous, but His soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence... he will rain on the wicked snares, fire and brimstone..." | God uses snares/judgment, but typically for wicked. |
| Psa 57:6 | "They have dug a pit before me; into it they themselves have fallen." | Trapping imagery, but usually enemies caught in own trap. |
| Luke 13:1-5 | Discussion of suffering not equating to sinfulness. | Clarifies that suffering does not imply greater sin. |
| John 9:2-3 | "Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned..." | Directly challenges the premise that suffering equals sin. |
| Heb 12:5-11 | God's discipline as a Father, for our good. | Suffering viewed as divine discipline, not injustice. |
| 1 Pet 4:19 | "Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good." | Suffering can be according to God's will. |
| Jas 1:2-4 | "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness." | Trials are for spiritual growth. |
| Job 12:13 | "With God are wisdom and might; He has counsel and understanding." | Affirmation of God's perfect character despite Job's accusations. |
| 2 Cor 4:8-9 | "We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;" | Endurance in suffering despite outward appearance. |
| Job 19:25 | "For I know that my Redeemer lives..." | Job's eventual hope despite his accusations against God. |
Job 19 verses
Job 19 6 Meaning
Job 19:6 expresses Job's deep conviction that his extreme suffering is directly inflicted by God. He asserts that God has unjustly treated him, perverting what is right, and has completely entrapped him as if in a hunting net, leaving him no escape. It is Job's desperate cry of perceived injustice at the hands of the Almighty, who he believes has become his adversary.
Job 19 6 Context
Job 19:6 comes during Job's profound anguish as he responds to Bildad's third, harsh speech. Throughout chapter 19, Job laments that God has isolated and attacked him, alienating even his closest companions and family. He perceives his suffering not as an unfortunate turn of events or the consequence of sin (which he consistently denies), but as a direct, personal assault by God. His declaration in verse 6 underscores his deep conviction that God is his adversary, methodically and unjustly bringing him to ruin. This perception forms a crucial part of his lament, even as he pivots in the same chapter to his famed declaration of hope in a living Redeemer (Job 19:25). Historically, Job's friends represent the prevailing ancient Near Eastern wisdom that linked suffering directly to sin (retribution theology), a view Job directly challenges with his proclaimed innocence and direct appeal against God's actions.
Job 19 6 Word analysis
Know then (כִּי דְעוּ, ki d'u):
- ki: Emphatic particle, "surely," "indeed." It reinforces the certainty and gravity of what follows.
- d'u: Imperative plural form of the verb יָדַע (yada), meaning "to know," "to understand," "to perceive."
- Significance: Job is issuing a direct, almost confrontational command to his friends. It is not an inquiry or a suggestion, but an emphatic assertion of a perceived truth, demanding they recognize his plight as directly attributable to God. He's trying to shake them from their rigid theological stance.
that God (אֱלוֹהַּ, 'Eloah):
- A singular form of God, prominent throughout the Book of Job. It emphasizes God's unique, absolute power and transcendence.
- Significance: Job leaves no room for ambiguity about the source of his misery. His torment is not from random chance or human agents alone, but explicitly from the sovereign Deity himself. This direct attribution to 'Eloah intensifies the sense of divine unfairness from Job's perspective.
has wronged me (עִוְּתָנִי, 'ivv'tani):
- From the verb עָוַת ('awath), meaning "to be crooked," "to bend," "to pervert," "to do wrong," "to subvert." It implies a departure from what is straight, right, or just.
- Significance: This is a powerful accusation. Job asserts that God's actions against him are a perversion of justice. He perceives God as having "made crooked" his path, twisted his destiny, or acted unjustly towards him. This is Job's human and agonizing assessment of God's dealings with him, reflecting profound suffering and misunderstanding of God's ways. It stands in polemic against the simplistic view of God's unassailable, always immediately comprehensible justice preached by his friends.
and encircled me (וּבְמַצְמֵתוֹ הִקִּפֵנִי, uv'matzmeytho hiqqifeni):
- uv'matzmeytho: "with His net." Matzmed (מַצְמֵת) is a rare word, used uniquely here in this context for a "net" or "snare." The suffix indicates possession ("His"). It implies a trapping device designed to capture.
- hiqqifeni: From the root נָקַף (naqaph), meaning "to encompass," "to surround," "to circle around," "to encircle completely." The suffix "-ni" means "me."
- Significance: This vivid metaphor portrays Job as prey, deliberately and skillfully ensnared by a divine hunter. He sees himself entirely enclosed, trapped without an avenue of escape, overwhelmed by God's power and design. This image underscores his feeling of helplessness and absolute subjugation to God's relentless assault, amplifying the sense of divine intentionality in his suffering. The net signifies inescapable capture and doom, reinforcing his perception that God is meticulously orchestrating his downfall.
Job 19 6 Bonus section
The audacity of Job's statement in verse 6—accusing God of wronging him and trapping him—is striking. It highlights a unique theological tension within the Book of Job: a righteous individual directly challenging divine action without himself committing sin. The fact that God never rebukes Job for this specific claim, instead emphasizing His own sovereign wisdom and power from the whirlwind, suggests that while Job's perspective was humanly limited, his raw honesty and desperate appeal were acceptable to God. The imagery of "the net" also reverses common biblical themes where God ensnares the wicked; here, Job feels the righteous are ensnared. This verse prepares the reader for Job's continued insistence on his integrity and ultimate appeal to a divine Redeemer who he trusts will vindicate him even against the apparent "wrong" of God.
Job 19 6 Commentary
Job 19:6 encapsulates Job’s agonizing conviction that his suffering is not random or merely a test, but a direct and deliberate act of God's perceived injustice. For Job, God has deviated from righteousness (wronged me) and orchestrated his ruin, capturing him utterly (encircled me with His net), like a hunter traps its prey. This stark accusation, seemingly blasphemous from a traditional standpoint, reveals the depths of Job's pain and confusion. He attributes not just the extent but the nature of his affliction directly to God's intervention, seeing himself as relentlessly targeted and unable to escape the divine grip. This imagery conveys Job’s complete subjugation and hopelessness in the face of God's overwhelming power, as perceived from his finite, suffering perspective.