Job 10:9

10:8-13 Job seems to argue with God, as if he only formed and preserved him for misery. God made us, not we ourselves. How sad that those bodies should be instruments of unrighteousness, which are capable of being temples of the Holy Ghost! But the soul is the life, the soul is the man, and this is the gift of God. If we plead with ourselves as an inducement to duty, God made me and maintains me, we may plead as an argument for mercy, Thou hast made me, do thou new-make me; I am thine, save me.

Not of the clay, though man was made originally of the dust of the earth, and the bodies of men are houses of clay, earthen vessels, and earthly tabernacles, but "as the clay"; either as the clay is wrought in the hand of the potter, and worked into what form, and made into what vessel he pleases, so are men in the hand of God, made by him in what form, and for what use and end he thinks fit; or rather this denotes not the likeness of the operation, but the likeness of the matter of the human body to clay: not for the impurity of it; for though man is in a state and condition comparable to the mire and clay, this he has brought himself into by sin, and not the Lord; he made man upright, but man has made himself sinful and polluted; but for the brittleness of it; as a vessel made of clay is brittle and easily broke to pieces, and cannot bear much weight, or any heavy stroke; so the body of man is weak and frail, and feeble; its strength is not the strength of stones, and its flesh brass, but clay: and this Job humbly entreats the Lord would "remember", and that "now" (h); immediately; and deal mildly and mercifully with him, since he was not able to bear the weight of his hand, which would soon, crush him and break him to pieces; not that God forgets this, for he remembers man's frame and composition, that he is but dust; that he is flesh, and a wind or vapour that passes away: but he may seem to do so, when he sorely afflicts, and his hand lies heavy, and he does not remove i

Job 10:9 . Remember, thou hast made me as the clay — I was formed by thee as a potter makes a vessel of clay; so this may note both the frailty of man’s nature, which of itself decays and perishes, and doth not need such violent shocks to overthrow it; and the excellence of the divine artifice commended from the meanness of the materials; which is an argument why God should not destroy it. And will thou bring me? &c. — Or, rather, without an interrogation, thou wilt bring me into dust again — Out of which I was made: I must die by the course of nature, and by the sentence of thy law; and, therefore, while I do live, give me some ease and comfort.

Verse 9. - Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as the clay ; rather, that thou hast fashioned me as day ; i.e. "Thou hast formed me, as a potter fashions a pot out of clay." This is scarcely a reference to Genesis 3:19 , but rather an early use of what became a stock metaphor (comp. Isaiah 29:16 ; Isaiah 30:14 :; 45:9; 64:8; Jeremiah 18:6 ; Romans 9:21 -2.9, etc.). And wilt thou bring us into dust again? After having fashioned me out of clay into a human form, wilt thou undo thine own work, crumble me into powder, and make me mere dust once more? Job 10:9

As the clay, i.e. of the clay; the note of similitude here expressing the truth of things, as it doth John 1:14 , and elsewhere, as hath been before observed. Or, as a potter maketh a vessel of the clay; and so this may note both the frailty of man’s nature, which of itself decays and perisheth, and doth not need such violent shocks and storms to overthrow it; and the excellency of the Divine artifice, commended from the meanness of the materials out of which it was made; which is an argument why God should not destroy it. Wilt thou bring me into dust again? wilt thou now causelessly and violently destroy thy own work? But the words are and may be read without an interrogation, and thou wilt bring me into dust again, out of which I was made: I must die by the course of nature, and by the sentence of thy law; and therefore whilst I do live give me some ease and comfort.

Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as the clay - There is evident allusion here to the creation of man, and to the fact that he was moulded from the dust of the earth - a fact which would be preserved by tradition; see Genesis 2:7 . The fact that God had moulded the human form as the potter moulds the clay, is one that is often referred to in the Scriptures; compare Romans 9:20-21 . The object of Job in this is, probably, to recall the fact that God, out of clay, had formed the noble structure, man, and to ask whether it was his intention to reduce that structure again to its former worthless condition - to destroy its beauty, and to efface the remembrance of his workmanship? Was it becoming God thus to blot out every memorial of his own power and skill in moulding the human frame?