Job 30:21 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

Thou art become cruel to me, &c.— This appears to be one of the most exceptionable passages in all Job's speeches. There seems to be a great want of decency, or of delicacy at least, in the expression, if the Hebrew words carry the same force with the English. But the turn of the sentence in the original is somewhat different, תשׂטמני ידךֶ בעצם לי לאכזר תהפךֶ tehapek leakzar li beotsem yadeka tistemeni which is literally thus: Thou art become cruel to me; with thy strong hand thou hatest me: to hate with the hand, is something very different from hating with the heart, and is a plain direction to us how the passage ought to be understood; namely, Thou hast dealt with me as if thou hatest me; or as men use to deal with those whom they hate. As for the other expression, thou art become cruel to me, it is remarkable that the same word is used Jeremiah 30:14 where God himself declares how he had dealt with his own people, and expresses it in the following terms: I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one. What shall we say? Does the Hebrew word carry a softer sense than the English? Or have we softer ears than the ancients? Or is there a mixture of both in the case? It is not my purpose to vindicate every daring thought or ardent expression which occurs in the speeches of this afflicted man; but we shall certainly judge amiss, if we think every thing wrong which will not suit with the politeness of our manners. If we flatter ourselves that we excel in this respect, it is certain that we fall short in others; and it were happy for us if, with Job's simplicity, we could reach those noble heights of piety which are so conspicuous in his speeches and his character throughout. Some of his commentators have fallen very hard upon him, and given him little better quarter than his three friends. It is well for him that he had a better advocate to plead his cause than any of them; for as to any thing highly criminal in Job's speeches, it is what the infallible judge himself acquits him of. See chap. Job 42:7-8. Peters.