Job6
New American Standard
1Then Job responded,
2“Oh if only my grief were actually weighed And laid in the balances together with my disaster!
3For then it would be heavier than the sand of the seas; For that reason my words have been rash.
4For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, My spirit drinks their poison; The terrors of God line up against me.
5Does the wild donkey bray over his grass, Or does the ox low over his feed?
6Can something tasteless be eaten without salt, Or is there any taste in the juice of an alkanet plant?
7My soul refuses to touch them; They are like loathsome food to me.
8“Oh, that my request might come to pass, And that God would grant my hope!
9Oh, that God would decide to crush me, That He would let loose His hand and cut me off!
10But it is still my comfort, And I rejoice in unsparing pain, That I have not denied the words of the Holy One.
11What is my strength, that I should wait? And what is my end, that I should endure?
12Is my strength the strength of stones, Or is my flesh bronze?
13Is it that my help is not within me, And that a good outcome is driven away from me?
14“For the despairing man there should be kindness from his friend; So that he does not abandon the fear of the Almighty.
15My brothers have acted deceitfully like a wadi, Like the torrents of wadis which drain away,
16Which are darkened because of ice, And into which the snow melts.
17When they dry up, they vanish; When it is hot, they disappear from their place.
18The paths of their course wind along, They go up into wasteland and perish.
19The caravans of Tema looked, The travelers of Sheba hoped for them.
20They were put to shame, for they had trusted, They came there and were humiliated.
21Indeed, you have now become such, You see terrors and are afraid.
22Have I said, ‘Give me something,’ Or, ‘Offer a bribe for me from your wealth,’
23Or, ‘Save me from the hand of the enemy,’ Or, ‘Redeem me from the hand of the tyrants’?
24“Teach me, and I will be silent; And show me how I have done wrong.
25How painful are honest words! But what does your argument prove?
26Do you intend to rebuke my words, When the words of one in despair belong to the wind?
27You would even cast lots for the orphans, And barter over your friend.
28Now please look at me, And see if I am lying to your face.
29Please turn away, let there be no injustice; Turn away, my righteousness is still in it.
30Is there injustice on my tongue? Does my palate not discern disasters?
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Job 6.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: Job justifies his complaints. (1–7). He wishes for death. (8–13). Job reproves his friends as unkind. (14–30).
vv1-7
Job still justifies himself in his complaints. In addition to outward troubles, the inward sense of God's wrath took away all his courage and resolution. The feeling sense of the wrath of God is harder to bear than any outward afflictions. What then did the Saviour endure in the garden and on the cross, when he bare our sins, and his soul was made a sacrifice to Divine justice for us! Whatever burden of affliction, in body or estate, God is pleased to lay upon us, we may well submit to it as long as he continues to us the use of our reason, and the peace of our conscience; but if either of these is disturbed, our case is very pitiable. Job reflects upon his friends for their censures. He complains he had nothing offered for his relief, but what was in itself tasteless, loathsome, and burdensome.
vv8-13
Job had desired death as the happy end of his miseries. For this, Eliphaz had reproved him, but he asks for it again with more vehemence than before. It was very rash to speak thus of God destroying him. Who, for one hour, could endure the wrath of the Almighty, if he let loose his hand against him? Let us rather say with David, O spare me a little. Job grounds his comfort upon the testimony of his conscience, that he had been, in some degree, serviceable to the glory of God. Those who have grace in them, who have the evidence of it, and have it in exercise, have wisdom in them, which will be their help in the worst of times.
vv14-30
In his prosperity Job formed great expectations from his friends, but now was disappointed. This he compares to the failing of brooks in summer. Those who rest their expectations on the creature, will find it fail when it should help them; whereas those who make God their confidence, have help in the time of need, Heb 4:16. Those who make gold their hope, sooner or later will be ashamed of it, and of their confidence in it. It is our wisdom to cease from man. Let us put all our confidence in the Rock of ages, not in broken reeds; in the Fountain of life, not in broken cisterns. The application is very close; “for now ye are nothing.” It were well for us, if we had always such convictions of the vanity of the creature, as we have had, or shall have, on a sick-bed, a death-bed, or in trouble of conscience. Job upbraids his friends with their hard usage. Though in want, he desired no more from them than a good look and a good word. It often happens that, even when we expect little from man, we have less; but from God, even when we expect much, we have more. Though Job differed from them, yet he was ready to yield as soon as it was made to appear that he was in error. Though Job had been in fault, yet they ought not to have given him such hard usage. His righteousness he holds fast, and will not let it go. He felt that there had not been such iniquity in him as they supposed. But it is best to commit our characters to Him who keeps our souls; in the great day every upright believer shall have praise of God.
Key Words
אִיּוֹב: Ijob, the patriarch famous for his patience
עָנָה: properly, to eye or (generally) to heed, i.e. pay attention; by implication, to respond; by extension to begin to speak; specifically to sing, shout, testify, announce
אָמַר: to say (used with great latitude)
לוּא: a conditional particle; if; by implication (interj. as a wish) would that!
כַּעַס: vexation
הַוָּה: by implication, of falling); desire; also ruin
נָשָׂא: to lift, in a great variety of applications, literal and figurative, absolute and relative
יַחַד: properly, a unit, i.e. (adverb) unitedly
מֹאזֵן: (only in the dual) a pair of scales
עַתָּה: at this time, whether adverb, conjunction or expletive
Cross References
Job 6Proverbs explicitly matches Job's comparison of heavy grief or wrath to the weight of sand.
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David uses the same poetic image of God's piercing arrows representing divine wrath and affliction.
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Jeremiah describes the wild ass gasping/braying in distress due to lack of grass, mirroring Job's metaphor.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The Psalmist, like Job, describes his deep sorrow using the metaphor of ashes or tears as meat.
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Reflects the term 'the Holy One' used by Job, highlighting man's reciprocal obligation to be holy.
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Job elsewhere directly appeals to his friends for pity, noting the hand of God has touched him.
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Hezekiah uses the identical weaving metaphor of being 'cut off' from the loom by God.
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Paul's resolve not to keep back/conceal profitable truth parallels Job's claim to have not concealed God's words.
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Contrasts Eliphaz's harshness with the proverbial expectation that a friend loves at all times.
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To deny mercy or pity to an afflicted brother demonstrates a lack of the fear of God.
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Repeats the proverb of physical taste discerning food to illustrate moral and verbal discernment.
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The ear trieth words as the mouth or taste discerneth meat, reinforcing Job's claim here.
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The Hebrew term for 'the white of an egg' literally matches the word for spittle in 1 Samuel.
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Job consistently maintains his righteousness and refuses to let go of his integrity before his friends.
Supported by Matthew Henry