The night racks my bones, and the pain that gnaws me takes no rest.
Job's last long speech moves from his past glory to his present misery, and verse 17 is its darkest point. Night comes, the pain digs deeper instead of easing, and the question pressed on us is who Job believed was behind it.
Night That Brings No Rest
Night usually gives even a wretched man a pause. For Job it did the reverse, and one writer traces how — down to the gnawing the verse names.
William KellyHe was completely unnerved, and his soul dissolved, as it were, in sorrow, while days of suffering held him fast. The night usually gives a break to the most miserable, but it made his misery worse. It pierced his bones, as if they were being picked out of him. And the gnawers of his flesh not only began their work before the time, but did it without sleeping.
The disease wrecked more than his sleep. Another writer sets the night pain beside the next verse: Job's own clothes no longer fitted him.
Leslie M. GrantIn these verses Job describes the agony of his suffering (vv.16-17). His soul is poured out, his very bones seem to pierce him in the night, and the pain never lets up. His clothing was no longer a fitting adornment. It had lost its shape because his body had wasted away, so the collar of his coat no longer fitted.
Whose Hand Was Behind It
Job no longer blames the men who mocked him. He lays his suffering at God's door, and one writer says he was right to — but that he stopped half a step short.
Leslie M. GrantBut he no longer talks now of the persecution of callous men: rather, he attributes his sufferings to God, saying, "He has cast me into the mire, and I have become like dust and ashes" (v.19). It is good that he recognises that whatever suffering he may have and from whatever source, God is the One who has allowed it. But Job ought to have realised that God would not allow it if it was not going to be of pure blessing to Job in the end. Later he did realise the truth of Romans 8:28: "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose." But at that moment he was so overwhelmed by his calamity that he would not give God credit for being who He is.
Faith in Eclipse
From this bed of pain Job cries out and hears nothing back. What he then concludes about God's character is where one writer marks his failure, and points to the love Job could not yet see.
Samuel RidoutHe cries to Him for help, but no answer comes from above. He stands in all his wretchedness before God, who looks on him but does not pity. God does look at him, yet He remains unmoved by his sufferings. "You change Yourself to a cruel being toward me." Oh, if Job had only known the tender love which would have spared him all this suffering, except that it was for his own good! ... Job sees nothing ahead of him but death, the house appointed for all living. His faith seems to have suffered a great eclipse.
Occupied With the Wrong Person
The same writer names the cause behind that eclipse, and applies it beyond Job to any believer.
Samuel RidoutJob is occupied with the wrong person. Even if everything he said were true — and we have no reason to doubt it was sincerely spoken — it does not suit a man to dwell on his own condition... for a child of God to follow the same course shows clearly that he has not yet learned his lesson.
Pain as God's Voice
Later in the book, Elihu describes how God deals with a man who will not hear His word. One writer shows that the description fits Job's sleepless bones.
Samuel RidoutBut God has another way of speaking to men. If they do not listen to His word, He may send them His rod. In enlarging on this, Elihu practically describes the case of Job. Severe chastening pains come on him, and his bones seem to wither in mortal struggle. "My bones are pierced in me, and my sinews take no rest" (Job 30:17).
(The writers quote an older translation. The ESV reads, "The night racks my bones, and the pain that gnaws me takes no rest.")
He then puts a question to Job, and to us:
Samuel RidoutCan he not at least see that God is speaking in the affliction and that He has something to say?
Summary
- Night — the hours that usually bring a break made Job's misery worse. The gnawing pain never slept, and his bones felt as if they were picked out of him.
- Hand — Job traced the suffering to God, not to the men who mocked him. That much was good.
- Mistake — he stopped there and decided God had turned cruel. He should have trusted that God allowed it only because pure blessing would come of it — a truth he saw later.
- Cause — his faith went into eclipse while he was occupied with the wrong person. Dwelling on his own state shows a man has not yet learned his lesson.
- Voice — when a man will not listen to God's word, God may send the rod. The question for Job, and for us, is whether we can hear that God is speaking and has something to say.