The Book of Job: No. 7, And When they had lifted up their eyes afar off and knew him not, they lifted up their voices and wept

The Book of Job: No. 7, And When they had lifted up their eyes afar off and knew him not, they lifted up their voices and wept by William Blake, executed in 1825, is one of the definitive works of graphic art from the United Kingdom. This profound copperplate engraving belongs to the artist's final and most celebrated series of twenty-one illustrations based on the Old Testament Book of Job. Blake, a visionary poet and printmaker, used the exacting technique of engraving to detail the profound spiritual suffering and ultimate redemption of the patriarch.

Plate 7 depicts the pivotal moment described in Job 2:12, where Job’s three friends—Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar—arrive at his dwelling. They find the formerly prosperous man reduced to a state of utter destitution, seated on a dung heap and afflicted with painful boils. The subtitle captures the emotional shock of the encounter: they had traveled to console him but were so taken aback by his physical transformation that they initially failed to recognize him. Blake masterfully conveys the weight of Job's despair, contrasting it with the dramatic, stylized grief of the arrivals, who tear their robes and cast dust upon their heads.

Completed shortly before the artist’s death, the Job engravings are regarded as the culmination of Blake’s visual theology, synthesizing his spiritual beliefs with his mastery of linear design. This work demonstrates the enduring legacy of 19th-century British prints and illustrations. As these influential works have entered the public domain, they continue to serve as a vital reference point for biblical iconography and Western art history. This particular impression of The Book of Job: No. 7, And When they had lifted up their eyes afar off and knew him not, they lifted up their voices and wept is maintained in the permanent collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art.