12 When they first caught sight of him, they couldn't believe what they saw - they hardly recognized him! They cried out in lament, ripped their robes, and dumped dirt on their heads as a sign of their grief. 13 Then they sat with him on the ground. Seven days and nights they sat there without saying a word. They could see how rotten he felt, how deeply he was suffering.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Job 2:12-13
Commentary on Job 2:11-13
(Read Job 2:11-13)
The friends of Job seem noted for their rank, as well as for wisdom and piety. Much of the comfort of this life lies in friendship with the prudent and virtuous. Coming to mourn with him, they vented grief which they really felt. Coming to comfort him, they sat down with him. It would appear that they suspected his unexampled troubles were judgments for some crimes, which he had vailed under his professions of godliness. Many look upon it only as a compliment to visit their friends in sorrow; we must look life. And if the example of Job's friends is not enough to lead us to pity the afflicted, let us seek the mind that was in Christ.