Job 18:4 - Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible

He teareth himself, i.e. Job, of whom he speaks in the third person for the second, as Job 12:4, Job 16:7 Obadiah 1:3. Or, O thou that tearest thyself ! Thou complainest of us for vexing thee with our speeches, when in truth thou art thy own greatest tormenter by thy own impatience and rage. Shall the earth be forsaken, to wit, by God? Shall God give over the government of the earth, and men, and things in it, and suffer all things to fall out by chance, and promiscuously to good and bad men, without any regard to his truth, or wisdom, or justice? Shall God forbear to rule the world righteously, as he hath hitherto done, in favouring good men, and destroying the wicked? For thee, i.e. for thy sake; or to prevent thy complaints and clamours. Shall the rock be removed out of his place? shall the counsels of God, which are more firm and unmovable than rocks, and the whole course of his providence, be altered to comply with thy fancies or humours?