Job 19:18

Job 19:18, in plain English

Even children mock and ridicule Job when they see him, showing no respect or compassion for his condition.

Why it's here

Children, who normally wouldn't challenge an adult of Job's former status, now feel free to scorn him openly. This shows how utterly his standing has collapsed. When even the lowest members of society feel entitled to mock you, you've lost everything.

Who's speaking

Job

Where it sits in the story

The image of being despised by children appears in other lament passages. It represents the complete loss of dignity and respect.

The scholarly reading

Job's humiliation has reached such depths that even children—those with no social standing—openly mock him with scorn.

Language and setting

The term עוֹלָלִים (olamim, 'little boys' or 'children') represents the lowest rung of social hierarchy. That they deride him suggests complete status reversal—he who once may have held authority over the young is now their object of ridicule. The verb קוּם (kum, 'arise' or 'appear') combined with דִּבְּרוּ (dibberu, 'speak') or in the parallel text 'deride' suggests that his mere appearance provokes mockery. Ancient Near Eastern literature (particularly Mesopotamian laments) uses the mockery of children as a marker of utter degradation.

Voice

Job, cataloging the extent of his social humiliation, now encompassing even the powerless.

Significance

This represents the inversion of wisdom authority. The sage traditionally held the authority to instruct youth; now the youth direct their contempt toward him. This image appears in biblical wisdom's dark passages (Proverbs 22:3 concerning the prudent and simple) and will inform later biblical depictions of shame, particularly in the Passion narrative where soldiers mock the crucified Christ.

16I call for my servant, but he does not answer, though I implore him with my own mouth.

17My breath is repulsive to my wife, and I am loathsome to my own family.

18Even little boys scorn me; when I appear, they deride me.

19All my best friends despise me, and those I love have turned against me.

20My skin and flesh cling to my bones; I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.

Read all of Job 19 — From the lowest depths, Job makes the highest claim in the book: I know that my Redeemer lives, and in the end He will stand upon the earth.