He hath stripped me of my glory, and taken the crown [from] my head.
Ver. 9. He hath stripped me of my glory] This is the second comparison, ab externo corporis cultu et habitu, saith Merlin; from the outward habiliments and habits of the body, Genesis 37:23. Our King Richard II, when he was to be deposed, was brought forth gorgeously attired in his royal robes, with a crown upon his head, a sceptre in his hand, &c., but soon after despoiled of all, and unkinged. So it fared with poor Job, stripped and bereft of all that he formerly gloried in, and was respected for, as a man robbed hath all his clothes taken off, and is left naked. In him it appeared that mortality was but the stage of mutability, as one saith of our Henry VI, who of a most potent monarch was, when deposed, not the master of a molehill, nor owner of his own liberty (Daniel's Hist.).
And hath taken the crown from off my head] Hence some infer that Job was a king, the same with Jobab, king of Edom, mentioned Genesis 36:34. But this is uncertain, since crown is often in Scripture taken allegorically, for riches, authority, dignity, and other ornaments. These were taken from Job, yea, from off his head. See Lamentations 5:16. But he had a better crown, quae nec eripi nec surripi potuit, which could not be taken away; viz. that crown of twelve stars, or celestial graces, Revelation 12:1, together with that crown of glory (the fruit of the former) that is "incorruptible and fadeth not away," 1 Peter 1:4. Happy Job in such a crown; and that he was in the number of those few heads destined to such a diadem. David had (whatever Job had) a crown of pure gold set upon his head, Psal. xxi. 1; this was a great mercy to so mean a man, since beyond a crown the wishes of mortal man extend not. But David blesseth God for a better crown, Psalms 103:4, "Who crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies." And how was this set on his head? "Who forgiveth all thy iniquities," &c., Psalms 103:3. Neither can any take away this crown, because we are kept (Greek, φρουρουμενοι, guarded or garrisoned as in a tower of brass, or town of war, that is well fenced with walls and works, and so it is made impregnable) by the power of God through faith unto salvation, 1 Peter 1:5 .