The Meaning of Job 10:9 Explained

Job 10:9

KJV: Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as the clay; and wilt thou bring me into dust again?

YLT: Remember, I pray Thee, That as clay Thou hast made me, And unto dust Thou dost bring me back.

Darby: Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as clay, and wilt bring me into dust again.

ASV: Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast fashioned me as clay; And wilt thou bring me into dust again?

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Remember,  I beseech thee, that thou hast made  me as the clay;  and wilt thou bring  me into dust  again? 

What does Job 10:9 Mean?

Context Summary

Job 10:1-22 - Soul Bitterness
In this chapter Job accuses God of persecuting His own workmanship, Job 20:3; of pursuing him with repeated strokes, as if he had not time enough to wait between them, but must hurry on to achieve His design, Job 10:5; of reversing the careful providence which had watched over his earlier years, Job 10:12; of hunting and playing with him as a wild beast with his prey, Job 10:16-17; and asks that he may be allowed speedily to enter the land of Sheol, Job 10:18-22.
As we read these complaints, we may remember days in our lives when we uttered similar ones, but we are without excuse. And when we are tempted in this direction, it is for us to remember that probably we are being tried to teach the manifold wisdom of God, and that the works of God should be made manifest in us, Ephesians 3:10; John 9:3. It will enable us to endure, if we remember that God has conferred on us high honor, by choosing us to show that we can stand the fire, like those iron safes, blackened by smoke, which the makers place in the shop windows to prove the stability of their workmanship. [source]

Chapter Summary: Job 10

1  Job, taking liberty of complaint, expostulates with God about his afflictions
18  He complains of life, and craves a little ease before death

What do the individual words in Job 10:9 mean?

Remember I pray that like clay You have made me and into dust will You turn me again
זְכָר־ נָ֭א כִּי־ כַחֹ֣מֶר עֲשִׂיתָ֑נִי וְֽאֶל־ עָפָ֥ר ؟ תְּשִׁיבֵֽנִי

זְכָר־  Remember 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperative, masculine singular
Root: זָכַר 
Sense: to remember, recall, call to mind.
נָ֭א  I  pray 
Parse: Interjection
Root: נָא  
Sense: I (we) pray, now, please.
כִּי־  that 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: כִּי 
Sense: that, for, because, when, as though, as, because that, but, then, certainly, except, surely, since.
כַחֹ֣מֶר  like  clay 
Parse: Preposition-k, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: חֹמֶר 
Sense: cement, mortar, clay.
עֲשִׂיתָ֑נִי  You  have  made  me 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, second person masculine singular, first person common singular
Root: עָשָׂה 
Sense: to do, fashion, accomplish, make.
וְֽאֶל־  and  into 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Preposition
Root: אֶל  
Sense: to, toward, unto (of motion).
עָפָ֥ר  dust 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: עָפָר  
Sense: dry earth, dust, powder, ashes, earth, ground, mortar, rubbish.
؟ תְּשִׁיבֵֽנִי  will  You  turn  me  again 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Imperfect, second person masculine singular, first person common singular
Root: שׁוּב  
Sense: to return, turn back.