Job Speaks Job 3:23 Why is life given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in? Compare or contrast Job 1:10 (1:8-10 but especially Job 1:10) 8 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.” 9 “Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. 10 “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. 11 But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.”
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Any object -- such as a wall, or (in the cited verses) a hedge -- that can act as a protective barrier against external hazards can also, under different circumstances, become an obstructive barrier that prevents escape or relief. The same metaphor or figure of speech is used in both verses, but in Job 1:10, it is used positively in the sense of protection (with respect to God having safeguarded Job and his possessions), while in Job 3:23, it is used negatively in the sense of confinement or restriction (with respect to Job not being able to escape the adversities that had come upon him).
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