Job 30:18 Meaning and Explanation
“By the great force of my disease is my garment changed: it bindeth me about as the collar of my coat.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →His disease has so disfigured him that it clings like a garment, binding him tightly as the collar of his tunic.
What Does Job 30:18 Mean?
Job pictures his sickness as clothing. By its "great force" his garment is changed, marred and transformed, and the disease grips him "as the collar of my coat," wrapping him close and choking like a tight neckband. His affliction has become a second skin he cannot remove.
The image of a disease that clothes and binds conveys how total Job's suffering is, surrounding him at every point with no part untouched. There is a quiet ache in being unable to step out of one's own pain as out of a coat. Yet the believer holds to the hope that this garment of affliction is not the final dress of the soul. God promises to clothe his own at last in garments of salvation, exchanging the binding robe of suffering for the beauty of his righteousness.
Frequently Asked Questions About Job 30:18
What does Job 30:18 mean?
His disease has so disfigured him that it clings like a garment, binding him tightly as the collar of his tunic.