Job 19:19 · Bible study
Job 19:19 Commentary: Total Alienation and the Cry for a Redeemer
Hebrew · 10 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Job's lament over his closest friends turning against him. How total human alienation sets the stage for his cry of faith.
Research Summary
- Meaning: Job’s closest confidants, the “men of his secret,” now regard him with loathing; those he loved have become his enemies.
- Key words: sod (council, intimate circle); ta‘av (abhor, detest); haphakh (turn against, overturn); ’ahav (love).
- Main debate: Whether the singular “he whom I loved” in the Hebrew (v.19b) refers to a specific friend or is a collective idiom.
- Theological theme: Total human alienation as the crucible for faith in a divine Redeemer who never abandons.
- Best use: A pastoral text for those who feel betrayed by friends; a lens to understand the depth of Job’s suffering before his confession of hope.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
All my best friends despise me, and those I love have turned against me.
WEB World English Bible 2000
All my familiar friends abhor me. They whom I loved have turned against me.
KJV King James Version 1769
All my inward friends abhorred me: and they whom I loved are turned against me.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
All my familiar friends abhor me, And they whom I loved are turned against me.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
Abominate me do all the men of my counsel, And those I have loved, Have been turned against me.
Darby Darby Bible 1890
All my intimate friends abhor me, and they whom I loved are turned against me.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
They that were sometime my counsellors, have abhorred me: and he whom I loved most is turned against me.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Todos mis confidentes me aborrecieron; y los que yo amaba, se tornaron contra mí.
Todos os meus amigos próximos me abominam; e até aqueles que eu amava se viraram contra mim.
Ceux que j’avais pour confidents m’ont en horreur,
Alle meine Getreuen haben einen Greuel an mir; und die ich liebhatte, haben sich auch gegen mich gekehrt.
Alle mensen mijns heimelijken raads hebben een gruwel aan mij; en die ik liefhad, zijn tegen mij gekeerd.
Tutti gli amici più stretti m’hanno in orrore, e quelli che amavo mi si son vòlti contro.
Brzydzą się mną wszyscy najwierniejsi moi, a którychem umiłował, stali mi się przeciwnymi.
Гнушаются мною все наперсники мои, и те, которых я любил, обратились против меня.
我的密 友 都 憎惡我；我平日所 愛 的人向我 翻臉。
All the men of my circle keep away from me; and those dear to me are turned against me.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Job 19:19
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators across traditions agree that this verse describes the most painful level of social abandonment. Barnes notes that “inward friends” translates the Hebrew phrase “men of my secret” (sod), those admitted to intimate counsel and trusted with hidden plans. Gill and Matthew Henry stress that these were confidants who knew Job’s deepest thoughts. The second line, “they whom I loved”, intensifies the betrayal: not casual acquaintances but people Job deliberately cherished. The Cambridge Bible observes that the turning away of those closest to us “crushes us completely.” This total human rejection sets the bitter backdrop for Job’s later cry for pity (v.21) and his leap of faith in the living Redeemer (v.25). The Geneva Bible Notes and Wesley’s Explanatory Notes echo the same sense: when even the innermost circle abandons you, the suffering is not only physical but relational to its core.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Medium
Main views:
- Straightforward lament of total social abandonment: The Hebrew syntax is clear, and all commentators agree on the basic meaning: closest friends have become enemies. The verse functions as a climax to Job’s catalog of losses.
- Precursor to the Redeemer declaration: Lange and others note that this desperate isolation drives Job to the hope of divine vindication in vv.25–27. The verse is not just a complaint but a transition from human to divine help.
What is clear: Job experienced complete rejection by his most intimate confidants—a betrayal that mirrors the depth of his physical and emotional suffering.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Identity of the confidants | They are the closest circle, those admitted to secret counsel (<em>sod</em>). | Some translations (Douay, Gill) read “he whom I loved most” as a single person; most see it as a collective idiom for all his loved ones. |
| Scope of alienation | Job experiences total social rejection from every human relationship. | Whether this is a literary climax or simply one more step in a series of losses. |
| Connection to verse 25 | The verse sets the stage for Job’s cry of faith in the living Redeemer. | Some see a direct cause‑and‑effect: total human emptiness forces Job to trust God alone. Others view it as a separate, spontaneous act of faith not caused by the loss. |
Historical & Cultural Context
In the ancient Near East, friendship carried a weight of mutual obligation and public honor. The phrase “men of my secret” (sod) refers to a circle of trusted advisors who shared a person’s most private affairs. Job 15:8 and 29:4 show that Job had such a council; he had been a judge and prince whose word was law. To lose these men was to lose not only emotional support but also social standing. In a shame‑culture, rejection by one’s confidants meant complete public disgrace.
Job’s physical condition made this alienation worse. Keil and Delitzsch, drawing on descriptions of elephantiasis, note that the disease produced stinking breath and repulsive skin. The movement from household servants (v.15, 16) to wife and siblings (v.17) to young children (v.18) and finally to intimate friends (v.19) shows a systematic stripping of every human bond. By the time he reaches verse 19, Job stands utterly alone.
Literarily, this catalog of losses is the lowest point before the dramatic turn to hope in verses 25, 27. The crushing weight of total human isolation forces Job to look beyond human help altogether. That is precisely the moment when faith can rise, not because suffering is good, but because when all human bridges burn, the only direction left is towards God.
Textual Notes
The consulted sources (including the Masoretic Text and all major English translations) note no significant textual variants for Job 19:19. The few differences among versions (e.g., “inward friends” vs. “men of my secret”) reflect translation choices regarding the Hebrew sod rather than variant manuscripts.
Reception History
In Christian tradition, this verse has been read as a type of Christ’s abandonment, the familiar friend who lifted up his heel (Psalm 41:9) and the disciples who fled. Early church writers (including Gregory the Great in his Moralia on Job) saw Job’s isolation as foreshadowing the loneliness of the cross. The verse has also comforted those betrayed by loved ones through centuries of pastoral care, from medieval monastic commentaries to modern sermons on suffering. Its stark honesty gives voice to the unspeakable grief of being rejected by those we loved most.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- Who leaves: “All my familiar friends abhor me.” These are not strangers but the inner circle, people who knew Job’s secrets and shared his plans.
- Why it hurts: “They whom I loved have turned against me.” Love is the deepest bond; when it becomes hostility, the wound is unlike any other.
- Where it leads: Verse 21, Job cries for pity, then verse 25, he proclaims his Redeemer lives. Human abandonment clears a path to divine encounter.
Five-point outline
- Complete rejection: Every layer of relationship, servants, family, children, friends.
- The special sting: Intimates who “abhor” (Hebrew ta‘av, to regard as an abomination). The same word used for ritually detestable things.
- Love returned as enmity: Like Psalm 109:4: “In return for my love, they are my adversaries.”
- Universal pattern: Psalm 38:11 and 41:9 show similar abandonment. Suffering often strips away even those who should stay.
- Hope from the pit: This very aloneness drives Job to the Redeemer. No human comfort remains, so God must be enough.
Illustration hooks
- A person going through a painful divorce discovers that mutual friends have taken sides, leaving them with no one to call.
- A cancer patient finds that visitors stop after a few weeks. The ones who promised to stay gradually drift away.
- A church leader who confessed a moral failure finds that colleagues who once praised him now will not meet his eyes.
Questions your congregation is asking
- Why do even close friends desert us when we suffer?
- Is it wrong to feel angry or bitter when those we loved turn against us?
- How can we keep faith in God when human support collapses?
Leading a Discussion
Job 19:19 sits at a turning point. The losses have climbed from servants to family to children, and now they reach the innermost circle. Read verses 13, 20 slowly. Notice the escalation. Then discuss how total human abandonment can paradoxically open a door to deeper faith (verses 25, 27). This passage invites honesty about pain without rushing to resolution.
Discussion questions
- What does the phrase “familiar friends” or “men of my secret” tell us about the depth of Job’s relationships? (See Barnes and Gill on sod.)
- Why does Job name each group, servants, wife, siblings, children, friends, before he cries for pity? What effect does that have on the reader?
- This verse echoes Psalm 41:9 and Psalm 109:4. How do these cross‑references deepen our understanding of Job’s experience?
- When have you felt abandoned by people you trusted? How did that affect your view of God?
- Why does Job not curse his friends here? Instead he pleads for pity (v.21). What does that choice reveal about his inner state?
- How does verse 19 prepare the way for the faith declaration in verse 25? Can hope grow from complete human emptiness?
- In what ways can a Christian community become a place where suffering people do not have to face this kind of abandonment?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Job 6:14 | “To him who is ready to faint, kindness should be shown from his friend; even to him who forsakes the fear of the Almighty. |
| Job 6:15 | My brothers have dealt deceitfully as a brook, as the channel of brooks that pass away; |
| Psalms 38:11 | My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my plague. My kinsmen stand far away. |
| Psalms 41:9 | Yes, my own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, who ate bread with me, has lifted up his heel against me. |
| Psalms 55:12 | For it was not an enemy who insulted me, then I could have endured it. Neither was it he who hated me who raised himself up against me, then I would have hidden myself from him. |
| Psalms 55:14 | We took sweet fellowship together. We walked in God’s house with company. |
| Psalms 55:20 | He raises his hands against his friends. He has violated his covenant. |
| Psalms 109:4 | In return for my love, they are my adversaries; but I am in prayer. |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
10 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
My inward friends - Those who were my greatest intimates.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes draws attention to the Hebrew word behind "inward friends," which originally referred to intimate companions admitted to one's secret counsels and plans. His point is that the psalmist does not lament ordinary acquaintances but those who knew his inmost thoughts, and even they have turned against him.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges notes that Job feels even deeper pain from people turning away from him than from his physical suffering. He cries out for mercy because he is completely alone without any human sympathy.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The Geneva note highlights that even the speaker's closest, most trusted friends now hate him. Those he loved have turned against him, leaving him utterly isolated and without any human support.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill highlights the depth of betrayal Job experienced: those he called "men of my secret," the bosom friends he trusted with his private affairs, not only abandoned him but actively abhorred him. Even the specific friends he loved more than others turned against him in his distress.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
Jamieson Fausset Brown notes that inward refers to people who hold a man’s closest secrets. He explains this word means those to whom he has given his most private trust.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil and Delitzsch stress that Job's alienation reaches its peak here: even those bound to him by intimate trust and affection now regard him with loathing. This verse completes the devastating picture of total isolation as everyone—from servants to family to closest confidants—turns away.
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange argues that Job's hope in a living Redeemer points not to a bodily resurrection or earthly restoration, but to a future spiritual vindication after death. Job expects to see God while freed from his decaying flesh, though still as a conscious, glorified self. This "moderate eschatology" marks a step toward later resurrection hope.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry notes that Job describes God’s wrath as a flame that burns and causes great pain. He believes these words show how deeply God’s anger affected Job’s suffering.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley highlights the word "inward" to mean the closest circle of trusted friends, the ones with whom he shared every thought and plan. For him, it describes an intimacy of total openness and confidence.