I was at ease, but he hath broken me asunder: he hath also taken [me] by my neck, and shaken me to pieces, and set me up for his mark.
Ver. 12. I was at ease, but he hath broken me asunder] It is no small misery to have been happy. Fuimus Troes et fortis Milesis. Euripides bringeth in Hecuba as ashamed to look Polymnestor in the face, because having been a queen she was now a captive; her former felicity was no small aggravation compared to her present misery: so was Job's. Prosper eram, sed disrupit me, saith he. I was wealthy, but he hath undone me; so Broughton rendereth it. The same Hebrew word signifieth both to be rich and to be at ease; for such commonly sing requiems to their souls, as he did Luke 12:19, and say, "I shall never be moved," Psalms 30:6; "I shall see no sorrow," Revelation 18:7. But God can quickly confute them. Job's worldly prosperity was quickly dashed and lost. He once hoped to have died in his nest, but God not only unnested him, but broke him to shivers, yea, beat him to dust and atoms, as the word here signifies. Nay, more,
He hath also taken me by my neck] As a strong man doth his enemy, dashing him to the ground, and giving him his passport, as we say.
And hath shaken me to pieces] Heb. He hath scattered and scattered me, as a stone crumbled to crattle, or a pitcher beaten to powder. Sunt illustres figurae et elegantes hyperbolae, saith Mercer. Here is brave rhetoric.
And set me up for his mark] Heb. For a mark to him; that I may feel all the arrows of his judgments. See Job 7:20, with the notes there. God shot showers of shafts at him, and seemed to take pleasure in so doing, as a man doth in his shooting at a mark.