The Meaning of Job 16:12 Explained

Job 16:12

KJV: I was at ease, but he hath broken me asunder: he hath also taken me by my neck, and shaken me to pieces, and set me up for his mark.

YLT: At ease I have been, and he breaketh me, And he hath laid hold on my neck, And he breaketh me in pieces, And he raiseth me to him for a mark.

Darby: I was at rest, but he hath shattered me; he hath taken me by the neck and shaken me to pieces, and set me up for his mark.

ASV: I was at ease, and he brake me asunder; Yea, he hath taken me by the neck, and dashed me to pieces: He hath also set me up for his mark.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

I was at ease,  but he hath broken me asunder:  he hath also taken  [me] by my neck,  and shaken me to pieces,  and set me up  for his mark. 

What does Job 16:12 Mean?

Context Summary

Job 16:1-22 - Turning From "miserable Comforters" Unto God
With bitterness the sufferer turns from his comforters to God. As the r.v. makes clear, he says that if he were in their place and they in his, instead of joining words together and evincing the pride of the immaculate, he would set himself to speak strengthening words and to assuage their grief by tender sympathy.
He compares his pains to the attack of a wild beast, Job 16:7-14; and from this he proceeds to describe the anguish of his grief, Job 16:15-20. But toward the end of the chapter a new thought begins to shape itself; and from his lowest despair he catches sight of a Vindicator and a vindication that must someday be his. Job 16:21 should be read as in the r.v., margin. Job wanted a son of man to plead for him; and his prayer has been more than answered in the Son of man, who pleads for us "not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an indissoluble life," Hebrews 7:16. "O Lord, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul," Lamentations 3:58. [source]

Chapter Summary: Job 16

1  Job reproves his friends for unmercifulness
17  He maintains his innocence

What do the individual words in Job 16:12 mean?

At ease I was but He has shattered me and He has taken [me] by my neck and shaken me to pieces and He has set me up for His target
שָׁ֘לֵ֤ו הָיִ֨יתִי ׀ וַֽיְפַרְפְּרֵ֗נִי וְאָחַ֣ז בְּ֭עָרְפִּי וַֽיְפַצְפְּצֵ֑נִי וַיְקִימֵ֥נִי ל֝֗וֹ לְמַטָּרָֽה

שָׁ֘לֵ֤ו  At  ease 
Parse: Adjective, masculine singular
Root: שָׁלֵו  
Sense: quiet, at ease, prosperous.
הָיִ֨יתִי ׀  I  was 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, first person common singular
Root: אֶהְיֶה 
Sense: to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out.
וַֽיְפַרְפְּרֵ֗נִי  but  He  has  shattered  me 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Piel, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular, first person common singular
Root: פָּרַר 
Sense: to break, frustrate.
וְאָחַ֣ז  and  He  has  taken  [me] 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: אָחוּז 
Sense: grasp, take hold, seize, take possession.
בְּ֭עָרְפִּי  by  my  neck 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, masculine singular construct, first person common singular
Root: עֹרֶף  
Sense: neck, back of the neck, back.
וַֽיְפַצְפְּצֵ֑נִי  and  shaken  me  to  pieces 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Piel, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular, first person common singular
Root: פּוּץ 
Sense: to scatter, be dispersed, be scattered.
וַיְקִימֵ֥נִי  and  He  has  set  me  up 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Hifil, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular, first person common singular
Root: קוּם 
Sense: to rise, arise, stand, rise up, stand up.
ל֝֗וֹ  for  His 
Parse: Preposition, third person masculine singular
לְמַטָּרָֽה  target 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, feminine singular
Root: מַטָּרָה  
Sense: guard, ward, prison, mark, target.