Job 36:13 Meaning: When Affliction Makes You Store Anger
“But those who are godless in heart lay up anger. They don’t cry for help when he binds them.
But the hypocrites in heart heap up wrath: they cry not when he bindeth them.
But they that are godless in heart lay up anger: They cry not for help when he bindeth them.
And the profane in heart set the face, They cry not when He hath bound them.
But thegodless in heart heap up anger; they cry not when he bindeth them:
Meaning in one sentence
Job 36:13 describes the godless heart that stores up anger instead of crying to God when He brings affliction. Learn what this means for you.
Context
Elihu is the youngest of Job’s friends, and he has been listening to the long debate between Job and the other three. Now he speaks, and he believes God uses suffering to teach people. He describes two paths: those who hear God’s instruction in affliction and return to Him, and those who refuse and perish. Verse 13 sits at the turning point. The person with a godless heart, Elihu says, does not respond to suffering by turning toward God. Instead, something else happens inside them. They store something up, and they refuse to call out. This is not a random observation. Elihu is pressing in on what he thinks Job may be doing wrong, and he wants Job to examine his own heart.
Key Words
Three Hebrew words shape this verse. The first is chaneph, often translated “hypocrites” but in Job it means something more direct: godless, profane, someone whose heart is estranged from God. This is not a person who puts on a show of religion. It is a person who has no real relationship with the Almighty.
The second phrase is “lay up anger.” The verb yasimu means to put or store something away, like hiding treasure in a safe place. The word af can mean anger, either God’s or a person’s. Commentators have long disagreed on which anger this is. Are they storing up God’s wrath against themselves by their stubbornness? Or are they storing their own resentment, nursing a grudge against God? The Hebrew allows both, and either way the heart is holding on to something that should be released.
Third, “they don’t cry for help.” The verb shava means to shout for rescue, usually to God. The tragedy is not that they suffer. It is that when God “binds” them (the word asar means to tie or imprison), they still do not call out. Their silence is the real sign of a godless heart.
How Christians Read This Verse
Many Protestant commentators, such as Barnes, Gill, and Matthew Henry, read the verse as the godless storing up God’s wrath by remaining impenitent. In this view, every rebellion adds to the punishment they will face. Other interpreters, like Keil and Delitzsch, argue that the anger is the person’s own resentment against God. They are not thinking about divine wrath; they are cherishing bitterness. The Cambridge Bible suggests Elihu may be using this category to make Job consider where he stands. Both readings share a common warning: an afflicted heart that refuses to cry out to God is in grave danger.
A common misunderstanding
A common mistake is to read “hypocrites in heart” as people who pretend to be religious while living secretly sinful lives. In the book of Job, the word chaneph almost always means “godless” or “irreligious”, someone who is openly alienated from God, not someone who fakes piety. In fact, Elihu is describing a heart that is simply far from God, not a person who wears a mask.
Living This Out
Think of the last time something went wrong in your life. Maybe a health problem, a broken relationship, or a financial blow. What was your first response? For many of us, it is anger. Not just at the situation, but at God. We feel He should have prevented it. That anger can quietly settle in and become a stored resentment. This verse invites you to notice that reflex. The alternative is not pretending to be happy. It is crying out to God, honestly, even if your words come out angry. A real cry is the opposite of storing anger. It opens the door for God to meet you in the place of binding.
Main takeaway: When God binds us with trouble, the mark of a godless heart is storing anger instead of crying out for help.
For Families
For ages 5, 8
When something hard happens, you might feel angry. This verse says that people who don't know God keep their anger inside and don't ask Him for help. You can always ask God for help when you are sad or mad.
For ages 9, 12
Sometimes when life gets hard, our first feeling is anger. We might feel like God didn't protect us. The verse says that a person who doesn't know God just stores that anger and never prays. But God wants you to come to Him with your real feelings, even anger. He can handle it. Crying out to Him is better than holding onto bitterness.
Questions People Ask
What does 'godless in heart' mean in Job 36:13?
The Hebrew word is chaneph, which means profane, irreligious, or estranged from God. In Job, it describes someone who is not just pretending to be religious but actually has no real relationship with God. The heart itself is far from Him.
Does Job 36:13 say God stores up anger against the godless?
Some interpreters think so, reading 'lay up anger' as storing up God's wrath for future punishment. Others believe it means the person stores up their own bitter resentment against God. The Hebrew can be read either way, and both readings carry a serious warning about the condition of the heart.
Why do the godless not cry for help when God binds them?
The verse says they don't cry out. Their hearts are so hardened that even when God sends affliction to get their attention, they refuse to call on Him. It is a sign of deep estrangement, not just stubbornness.
Who is Elihu in the book of Job?
Elihu is the youngest of Job's friends. He appears in chapters 32, 37 and speaks after the three older friends have finished. He believes that suffering can be a form of divine discipline meant to teach and restore, and he urges Job to listen to God's voice in his pain.
For pastors & researchers
Hebrew interlinear, 8 commentaries & word study