Job's comforter

(jōbz)
n.
One who is discouraging or saddening while seemingly offering sympathy or comfort.

[After JOB¹, whose friends pretended to comfort but actually found fault with him.]

(johbz KUM-fuhr-tuhr)

noun
A person who tries to console or help someone and not only fails but ends up making the other feel worse.

Etymology
Originally there was not just one, but three Job's comforters. In the Biblical story these people tried to console Job, an upright person, that his troubles must be divine retribution for his sins.
There are Job's comforters in current times as well: soon after any disaster these TV preachers are ready to explain how the afflicted had offended gods and brought it upon themselves

Usage
"Parting with my son William this past June was difficult. He was going abroad to study language for two semesters. 'I don't know why I feel so sad,' I told my husband. 'I just feel as if he is going to the other side of the world.' 'He is,' said my husband in his role as Job's comforter. 'That's where China is.'" — Julia McCue; Full of Great People ; Portland Press Herald (Maine); Feb 13, 2005.

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Three friends of Job who visited him in his affliction and offered him a way of making sense of his troubles: namely, that he was getting what he deserved. Job's friends maintained that misfortunes were sent by God as punishments for sin, and thus despite Job's apparent goodness, he must really be a terrible sinner. Job persistently disputed them, saying that God is supreme and mysterious — that God can send misfortunes to both good and wicked people and may not be second-guessed.

A “Job's comforter” is someone who apparently offers consolation to another person but actually makes the other person feel worse.

Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: someone whose comfort is actually discouraging

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