Job 19:18 (DBY)

Passage

Even young children despise me; I rise up, and they speak against me.

Nearby Context

Job 19:16 I called my servant, and he answered not; I entreated him with my mouth.

Job 19:17 My breath is strange to my wife, and my entreaties to the children of my [mother's] womb.

Job 19:18 Even young children despise me; I rise up, and they speak against me.

Job 19:19 All my intimate friends abhor me, and they whom I loved are turned against me.

Job 19:20 My bones cleave to my skin and to my flesh, and I am escaped with the skin of my teeth.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "even", "young", "children", "despise", "rise", "speak", and "against". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "even" and "young", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 17's "My breath is strange to my wife..." into verse 19's "All my intimate friends abhor me and...", so "even" and "young" belong inside that flow. In Job context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "even" and "young" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.