I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin, and defiled my horn in the dust.
Sewed - denoting the tight fit of the mourning garment: it was a sack with arm-holes, closely sewed to the body.
Horn - image from horned cattle, which when excited tear the earth with their horns. The horn was the emblem of power (1 Kings 22:11). Here it is "in the dust," which, as applied to Job, denotes his humiliation from former greatness. To throw one's self in the dust was a sign of mourning: this idea is here joined with that of excited despair, depicted by the fury of a horned beast. The Druses of Lebanon still wear horns as an ornament.