Job 16:13
Translations
King James Version (KJV)
His archers compass me round about, he splits my reins asunder, and does not spare; he pours out my gall on the ground.
American King James Version (AKJV)
His archers compass me round about, he splits my reins asunder, and does not spare; he pours out my gall on the ground.
American Standard Version (ASV)
His archers compass me round about; He cleaveth my reins asunder, and doth not spare; He poureth out my gall upon the ground.
Basic English Translation (BBE)
His bowmen come round about me; their arrows go through my body without mercy; my life is drained out on the earth.
Webster's Revision
His archers encompass me; he cleaveth my reins asunder, and doth not spare; he poureth out my gall upon the ground.
World English Bible
His archers surround me. He splits my kidneys apart, and does not spare. He pours out my gall on the ground.
English Revised Version (ERV)
His archers compass me round about, he cleaveth my reins asunder, and doth not spare; he poureth out my gall upon the ground.
Definitions for Job 16:13
Clarke's Job 16:13 Bible Commentary
His archers compass me - רביו rabbaiv "his great ones." The Vulgate and Septuagint translate this his spears; the Syriac, Arabic, and Chaldee, his arrows. On this and the following verse Mr. Heath observes: "The metaphor is here taken from huntsmen: first, they surround the beast; then he is shot dead; his entrails are next taken out; and then his body is broken up limb by limb."
Barnes's Job 16:13 Bible Commentary
His archers - He does not come alone to shoot at me; he has employed a company of bowmen, who also direct "their" arrows against me. The word used here רב rab means properly "much, large," great; and is applied to that which is powerful or mighty. It is nowhere else used in the sense of "archers," and might be rendered "his many;" that is, his bands, hosts, or armies. But as all the ancient versions render it "arrows," or "archers," probably that sense is to be retained. Allusion is here made to those who claimed to be the friends of Job, but who now showed to his apprehension that they were merely sharp-shooters under the control of God, to deepen his woes.
He cleaveth my reins asunder - With his arrows. They penetrate quite through me.
He poureth out my gall - The word "gall" means the "bile" - the yellowish green bitter fluid secreted in the liver. A similar figure occcurs in Lamentations 2:11, "My liver is poured upon the earth." Among the pagan poets, also, the "liver" is represented as pierced, and as pouring out gore. Thus, Aesch. Agam. 442: θιγγάνει πρὸς ἧπαρ thinganei pros hēpar. So also 801: Δῆγμα λύπης ἐφ ̓ ἧπαρ προσικνεἴται Dēgma lupēs eph' hēpar prosikneitai. So in the Iliad, xiii. 412, xx. 469, 470. The meaning here is, "I am transfixed with a deadly wound, and must die. God has come upon me as an armed man, and has pierced my vitals."
Wesley's Job 16:13 Bible Commentary
16:13 His archers - Whoever are our enemies, we must look on them as God's archers, and see him directing the arrow.