Job 3:24

For my groaning comes like bread,

                My cries pour out like water.

When I first ran through this verse, the phrase “daily bread” dominated my thoughts as I pray that every morning when I do the Lord’s prayer. I wondered if Job used this phrase. I think the root of this phrase is the daily manna from heaven that God provided when the tribes were wondering in the desert, but since I think Job came earlier, I doubt the two are related and indeed took daily out of my rendition.

As is not normal, I used “groaning” even though almost every version used “sighing”. Groaning was actually used a lot in the second stitch, but it seems a little off in the flow of bread and water. Another first stich variant was moaning, but I associate that with words over sounds and did not use it.

In the second stich, the use of groaning and roaring were prevalent, but like the first, I went with a different word “cries”. To me not only did this fit better with the image of pouring out like water, it seems to have a higher level of ambiguity that could cover both groaning and roaring. Also, I think only lions roar.

There were a couple of oddities in the words used around comes, but none seemed to hit the mark any better.

There was a opposite set of views for whether the bread was the groans or if the groans came out before he ate his bread. There was no ambiguity about the water just pouring out as opposed to sustaining, so I went with the groans were bread as opposed to just before bread. It just seems to flow that both indicate his groaning and crying sustain him.

As I picture Job on a mound of burnt dung, I see him believing it is better for him to groan and cry than to eat or drink in an attempt to die and end his misery. To see this pitiful mound of oozing flesh groaning and crying is a miserable imagine in and of itself. While I do not “love” this imagery, I really appreciate how the long slow study has solidified a picture in my mind of what is happening to and around Job. Over the years I have seen representations of the story of Christ and feel like I could almost watch a movie of it in my head. This possibility makes it easier to understand the good news and what it means to me. And my image of Job helps me dig in and enjoy reading and dissecting his story. From a big picture, my blogs may have a lot of redundant bits and pieces, but at the pace I put them together, each feels new and alive.