The book containing the verse is the oldest book in the Bible and the oldest of all poetical books to have come down, consisting of a prose prologue in chapters 1 and 2 and a prose epilogue in chapter 42:7-17, with the speeches of Elihu in chapters 32 to 37 and the speeches of the Lord out of the storm-cloud following. The verse stands in the second of the four parts of the book, the debate between Job and his three friends on the subject of his afflictions in chapters 4 to 31, made up of three circles of speeches on the part of each. In that debate chapter 9 is Job's answer to Bildad's first speech exhorting humility.
The verse belongs to Job's wrestling with overruling providence and sin and suffering. It stands where God is disciplining Job and bringing him through the fire of affliction while his three friends charge him with sin and declare his sufferings are because of sin. It expresses Job's perplexity that if he is treated as wicked his efforts to prove his innocence seem futile. It reflects his inability to understand God's dealings while maintaining that he is upright and not accusing God of wrongdoing.
The chapter teaches that afflictions are no proof of sin. The setting of the verse shows how prone humanity is to misjudge its fellows in affliction.
The book containing the verse is the oldest book in the Bible and the oldest of all poetical books to have come down, consisting of a prose prologue in chapters 1 and 2 and a prose epilogue in chapter 42:7-17, with the speeches of Elihu in chapters 32 to 37 and the speeches of the Lord out of the storm-cloud following. The verse stands in the second of the four parts of the book, the debate between Job and his three friends on the subject of his afflictions in chapters 4 to 31, made up of three circles of speeches on the part of each. In that debate chapter 9 is Job's answer to Bildad's first speech exhorting humility.
The verse belongs to Job's wrestling with overruling providence and sin and suffering. It stands where God is disciplining Job and bringing him through the fire of affliction while his three friends charge him with sin and declare his sufferings are because of sin. It expresses Job's perplexity that if he is treated as wicked his efforts to prove his innocence seem futile. It reflects his inability to understand God's dealings while maintaining that he is upright and not accusing God of wrongdoing.
The chapter teaches that afflictions are no proof of sin. The setting of the verse shows how prone humanity is to misjudge its fellows in affliction.