Tree of Life Version
Job 2:8
8He took a piece of broken pottery to scrape himself while he was sitting among the ashes.
Job 2:8 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes.
- New International Version (NIV)Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes.
- English Standard Version (ESV)And he took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself while he sat in the ashes.
- New King James Version (NKJV)And he took for himself a potsherd with which to scrape himself while he sat in the midst of the ashes.
Context of Job 2:8
6Adonai said to the satan, “Very well, he is in your hand—only spare his life!” 7So the satan departed from the presence of Adonai, and afflicted Job with painful boils, from the sole of his foot to the top of his head. He took a piece of broken pottery to scrape himself while he was sitting among the ashes. 9Then his wife said to him, “Are you still holding firmly to your integrity? Curse God and die!” 10He said to her, “You speak as any foolish woman would speak. Should we accept the good from God and not accept the bad?” Through all this Job did not sin with his lips.
Read all of Job 2Job 2:8 word by word
וַיִּֽקַּֽח־ל֣וֹ חֶ֔רֶשׂ לְהִתְגָּרֵ֖ד בּ֑וֹ וְה֖וּא יֹשֵׁ֥ב בְּתוֹךְ־הָאֵֽפֶר׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Job 2:8
- Job 19:14My relatives have gone away and my close friends have forgotten me.
- Psalms 38:5For my iniquities are on my head— like a burden too heavy for me.
- Luke 16:20But a poor man named Lazarus had been laid at his gate, covered with sores
- Job 42:6Therefore I despise myself, and repent on dust and ashes.”
- 2 Samuel 13:19Tamar put ashes on her head and rent her long-sleeved garment that was on her. She laid her hand on her head and was crying aloud as she went away.
- Isaiah 61:3to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they might be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of Adonai, that He may be glorified.
- Ezekiel 27:30They will raise their voices over you and cry bitterly. They will throw up dust on their heads. They will roll themselves in ashes.
- Jonah 3:6When the word reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his robe, covered himself in sackcloth, and sat in the ashes.
- Matthew 11:21“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have turned long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
Commentaries on Job 2:8
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 8And he took him a potsherd - The word used here חרשׁ chârâsh means a fragment of a broken vessel; see the notes at Isaiah 45:9. The Septuagint renders it ̓́ ostrakon - “a shell.” One object of taking this was to remove from his body the filth accumulated by the universal ulcer, compare Job 7:4-5; and another design probably was, to “indicate” the greatness of his calamity and sorrow. The ancients were accustomed to show their grief by significant…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 7-10Verses 7-10 The devil tempts his own children, and draws them to sin, and afterwards torments, when he has brought them to ruin; but this child of God he tormented with affliction, and then tempted to make a bad use of his affliction. He provoked Job to curse God. The disease was very grievous. If at any time we are tried with sore and grievous distempers, let us not think ourselves dealt with otherwise than as God sometimes deals with the best of his…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 8Job might have scraped his skin for relief. The ancient Greek Old Testament (Septuagint) says it was “to scrape away the pus.” The ashes might refer to a place where they placed lepers in isolation. But Job was probably showing his grief and how desperate he was (30:19; Genesis 18:27; 2 Samuel 13:19; Isaiah 58:5; Jonah 3:6).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 88. a potsherd--not a piece of a broken earthen vessel, but an instrument made for scratching (the root of the Hebrew word is "scratch"); the sore was too disgusting to touch. "To sit in the ashes" marks the deepest mourning (Jon 3:6); also humility, as if the mourner were nothing but dust and ashes; so Abraham (Ge 18:27).Read the comment
Topics related to Job 2:8
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Job 2
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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