Job 19 Chapter Introduction

Structure and Formatting

This chapter is Job’s response to Bildad’s second speech. It is structured as a chiasm. (See the discussion of that poetic form in the introduction to Job.)

• Verses 1–7: Job rebukes his friends for not being sympathetic to him.
• Verses 8–1: Job uses images to describe how God has made him suffer.
• Verses 13–19: Job describes how his family and friends have abandoned him.
• Verses 20–21: Job uses images to describe how God has made him suffer.
• Verse 22: Job rebukes his friends for not being sympathetic to him.
• Verses 23–24: Job wishes that people would hear his defense and he foresees that God will vindicate him.

The ULT sets the lines of this chapter farther to the right on the page than the rest of the text because it is poetry.

Religious and Cultural Concepts in This Chapter

Job’s Faith

In verses 25–27, Job shows the great depth of his faith in God even after suffering so much. Job believes that even if God is treating him unfairly now, God will ultimately do the right thing. Job does not understand that God is actually not treating him unfairly. But the faith and confidence that he nevertheless has in God are remarkable. (See: faith)