Job 16:8

You have crumpled my skin,

   Which has become a witness against me,

My emaciation has risen up,

   Bearing witness with my face.

 

I read somewhere that some medically inclined folks had read Job and tried to diagnose him with some particular disease or other. Similarly, I heard those same types had read Isaiah and the Gospels trying to denote all the aspects of the crucifixion that were true. I assume the goal was to assuage doubts about God or create them. I completed a spiritual gifts inventory once that showed my individual faith to be pretty strong in just assuming the Bible was right.

‘Crumpled’ was also ‘shriveled’, ‘bound’, ‘wrinkled’, and ‘creased’.

‘Emaciation’ was also ‘leanness’ and ‘gauntness’.

‘Witness’ was also ‘deposes’ or ‘testifies’.

One source told how crumpled in Hebrew sounds like the actual noise of crumpling something. We miss all that when it is translated into English. All the alliteration as well. That is too bad, but it is not worth learning old Hebrew in my opinion. I firmly believe Job is in the Bible to teach us about God and all the fancy aspects are to distract the non-believers.

One on of my wife’s cop shows, the main character was a five-hundred-pound pastor who secretly killed his wife and used her tragic story to sleep with as many women in the church as he could. Nominally speaking, this is the type of sin I think deserves burning in hell. Through history most heavy people were of the ruling classes and the emaciated people were in the poor classes just based on who could afford food. I assumed this pastor abused his position to eat all he wanted and just went overboard. Dominating others from positions of power is a terrible outcome of positive leadership opportunities.

Job was denoting that his disease had left him looking like a poor person, and a diseased person who had sinned according to the culture he lived in. People are no different today in that they delight in seeing others suffer so obviously. The dueling ideas of ‘I’m better than them’ and ‘loving your neighbor’ often have a clear winner. If only we could pick the love your neighbor option a little more, the world would be a better place.

Written 6/21/25, Posted 8/14/25, Job 382