properly · verb, qal perfect, 1st person common singular
afraid
וְנִבְהָ֑לְתִּיve.niv.Hal.ti
H926
to tremble inwardly (or palpitate) · conjunction + verb, niphal perfect, 1st person common singular
trembling
פַּלָּצֽוּתpa.la.Tzut
H6427
affright · noun, common feminine singular absolute
on
וְאָחַ֥זve.'a.Chaz
H270
to seize (often with the accessory idea of holding in p… · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
flesh
בְּ֝שָׂרִ֗יbe.sa.Ri
H1320
flesh (from its freshness) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Psalms 77:3 I remembered God, and was troubled: I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah.
Psalms 88:15 I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up: while I suffer thy terrors I am distracted.
Psalms 119:120 My flesh trembleth for fear of thee; and I am afraid of thy judgments.
Lamentations 3:19-20 Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall.
Habakkuk 3:16 When I heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice: rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself, that I might res…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Job 21:1-6
Job here recommends himself, both his case and his discourse, both what he suffered and what he said, to the compassionate consideration of his friends. 1. That which he entreats of them is very fair, that they would suffer him to speak (Job 21:3) and not break in upon him, as Zophar had done, in the midst of his discourse. Losers, of all men, may have leave to speak; and, if those that are accused and censured are not allowed to speak for themselves, they are wronged without remedy, and have no way to come at their right. He entreats that they would hear diligently his speech (Job 21:2) as those that were willing to understand him, and, if they were under a mistake, to have it rectified; an…
remember--Think on it. Can you wonder that I broke out into complaints, when the struggle was not with men, but with the Almighty? Reconcile, if you can, the ceaseless woes of the innocent with the divine justice! Is it not enough to make one tremble? [UMBREIT].
John Gill on Job 21:6
Even when I remember,.... Either the iniquities of his youth he was made to possess; or his former state of outward happiness and prosperity he had enjoyed, and reviewed his present miserable case and condition, and called to mind the evil tidings brought him thick and fast of the loss of his substance, servants, and children, which were so terrible and shocking; or when he reflected on the instances of Providence he was about to relate in the following verses:
I am afraid, and trembling taketh hold on my flesh; which is sometimes the case of good men, both with respect to the judgments of God upon the wicked, and with respect to what befalls, or is coming upon, the people of God, Psalm 119…
1 Then began Job, and said:
2 Hear, oh hear, my speech,
And let this be instead of your consolations.
3 Suffer me, and I will speak,
And after I have spoken thou mayest mock.
4 As for me, then, doth my complaint concern man,
Or wherefore should I not become impatient?
5 Turn ye to me and be astonished,
And lay your hand upon your mouth.
6 Even if I think of it I am bewildered,
And my flesh taketh hold on trembling - :
The friends, far from being able to solve the enigma of Job's affliction, do not once recognise the mystery as such. They cut the knot by wounding Job most deeply by ever more and more frivolous accusations. Therefore he entreats them to be at least willing to listen (שׁמעוּ wi…
The Church Fathers
"For if I remember my memories, I am in trouble. Here he confesses the miseries of human life by comparing his present dispositions with those of the past. "And my flesh is seized by pain. I grieve in a carnal way.
"When I think of it, I am dismayed and pains seize my flesh." Notice how he always stands up, how he puts forward his sufferings, how he indicates the reason for the terrible words he is going to speak, because he does not talk in this manner by himself or from a fixed position but because his soul is dismayed and his thoughts are darkened.
Ver. 6. Even when I remember I am afraid, and trembling taketh hold of my flesh. 44. That blessed Job was not forgetful of his deeds, the last utterance of his lips proves. Wherefore this which he now says to his friends, Even when I remember I am afraid, and trembling taketh hold of my flesh, must clearly be said in mockery. As if it were in plain words; 'If I remember that I have had any thing of the hypocrite in me, directly I tremble in tears of penitence.' And 'if he remembered, his flesh was shaken with trembling' he declares, i.e. that the weakness of practice was disheartened by the dread of vengeance. But as Zophar said many things about the sudden condemnation of the wicked man, whereby he snapped at the powerful estate of blessed Job, the holy man subjoins in answer to his words.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Job 21:6 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
When I think about what I am saying: Job was dismayed by his horrible task of complaining against God (13:3, 15-16, 22; 23:1-5) and discussing his terrors (6:4; 27:20; 30:15). • My body trembles: This reaction resembles that of Habakkuk (Hab 1:5; 3:16), Ezekiel (Ezek 3:14), and Daniel (Dan 8:27; 10:8-9).
Rashi on Job 21:6
Now when I remember the thing I wish to say, “Why do the wicked live?”
I become frightened for I see the wicked men of the Flood.
