Wisdom & Poetry · Old Testament
Job 6
Job 6: Job weighs his grief and faults his friends
General context
Job answers Eliphaz. He wishes his grief could be weighed, saying it would be heavier than the sand of the sea, and that the arrows of the Almighty are in him and the terrors of God are set in array against him. He asks whether the wild ass brays when it has grass, and whether unsavoury food is eaten without salt, and says what his soul once refused is now his sorrowful meat. He asks that God would grant his request and destroy him, cutting him off; then he would still have comfort, since he has not concealed the words of the Holy One. He asks what strength he has to hope, whether his strength is that of stones or his flesh brass. He says pity should be shown to the afflicted by his friend, and compares his brethren to brooks that vanish in heat, so that the troops of Tema and the companies of Sheba who waited for them are ashamed. He tells the friends they are nothing and are afraid at his casting down, and says he never asked them for gifts or rescue. He asks to be taught where he has erred, says right words are forcible but their arguing reproves nothing, and accuses them of treating the words of a desperate man as wind and digging a pit for their friend. He asks them to look at him and return, insisting his righteousness is in this and asking whether there is iniquity in his tongue.
Cited passages: Job 6:1, Job 6:2, Job 6:3, Job 6:4, Job 6:5, Job 6:6, Job 6:7, Job 6:8, Job 6:9, Job 6:10, Job 6:11, Job 6:12, Job 6:14, Job 6:15, Job 6:17, Job 6:19, Job 6:20, Job 6:21, Job 6:22, Job 6:23, Job 6:24, Job 6:25, Job 6:26, Job 6:27, Job 6:28, Job 6:29, Job 6:30
Job 6 (KJV)
1But Job answered and said,
2Oh that my grief were throughly weighed, and my calamity laid in the balances together!
3For now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea: therefore my words are swallowed up.
4For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit: the terrors of God do set themselves in array against me.
5Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass? or loweth the ox over his fodder?
6Can that which is unsavoury be eaten without salt? or is there any taste in the white of an egg?
7The things that my soul refused to touch are as my sorrowful meat.
8Oh that I might have my request; and that God would grant me the thing that I long for!
9Even that it would please God to destroy me; that he would let loose his hand, and cut me off!
10Then should I yet have comfort; yea, I would harden myself in sorrow: let him not spare; for I have not concealed the words of the Holy One.
11What is my strength, that I should hope? and what is mine end, that I should prolong my life?
12Is my strength the strength of stones? or is my flesh of brass?
13Is not my help in me? and is wisdom driven quite from me?
14To him that is afflicted pity should be shewed from his friend; but he forsaketh the fear of the Almighty.
15My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook, and as the stream of brooks they pass away;
16Which are blackish by reason of the ice, and wherein the snow is hid:
17What time they wax warm, they vanish: when it is hot, they are consumed out of their place.
18The paths of their way are turned aside; they go to nothing, and perish.
19The troops of Tema looked, the companies of Sheba waited for them.
20They were confounded because they had hoped; they came thither, and were ashamed.
21For now ye are nothing; ye see my casting down, and are afraid.
22Did I say, Bring unto me? or, Give a reward for me of your substance?
23Or, Deliver me from the enemy’s hand? or, Redeem me from the hand of the mighty?
24Teach me, and I will hold my tongue: and cause me to understand wherein I have erred.
25How forcible are right words! but what doth your arguing reprove?
26Do ye imagine to reprove words, and the speeches of one that is desperate, which are as wind?
27Yea, ye overwhelm the fatherless, and ye dig a pit for your friend.
28Now therefore be content, look upon me; for it is evident unto you if I lie.
29Return, I pray you, let it not be iniquity; yea, return again, my righteousness is in it.
30Is there iniquity in my tongue? cannot my taste discern perverse things?
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Historical context
The narrator's only words are But Job answered and said; the rest is Job's. Job answers the speech of chapters 4 and 5 as a whole; he does not name Eliphaz, and ye in verses 21 to 29 addresses the friends together though only Eliphaz has spoken. Job's claim that the arrows of the Almighty are in him is his reading of his affliction; the narrator in 2.7 attributed the boils to Satan acting with the Lord's permission, and Job has not been told this. My brethren in verse 15 is followed without a break by ye who see his casting down and are afraid, which points to the friends rather than to blood relatives. Tema and Sheba appear as travelers who hoped for water; Sheba was also the name of the raiders in 1.15, and Eliphaz is called a Temanite in 2.11, but the text draws no link. Job's request to be taught wherein I have erred asks for evidence, and Eliphaz has so far offered general principles rather than a specific charge. The speech continues into chapter 7, which has no new speaker line.
Cited passages: Job 6:1, Job 6:4, Job 2:7, Job 6:15, Job 6:21, Job 6:19, Job 1:15, Job 2:11, Job 6:24, Job 7:1
Literary context
Job's reply turns Eliphaz's images back on him. Eliphaz spoke of the blast of God against the wicked; Job says the arrows of the Almighty are in him, applying the picture to himself. The animal questions in verse 5, the wild ass and the ox, answer Eliphaz's lions with a plain point: a creature does not cry out without cause. The brook simile is the chapter's longest figure, streams dark with ice that vanish when it is hot, and it lands on the friends: For now ye are nothing. The rhetorical questions in verses 22 and 23, Did I say, Bring unto me, clear Job of having asked anything of them. The demand Teach me and the question what doth your arguing reprove shift the debate from principle to evidence. The chapter closes on Job's tongue and taste, picking up the salt and food of verses 6 and 7, so a speech that began with food that cannot be eaten ends with a palate that can still discern.
Cited passages: Job 4:9, Job 6:4, Job 6:5, Job 4:10, Job 6:15, Job 6:16, Job 6:17, Job 6:21, Job 6:22, Job 6:23, Job 6:24, Job 6:25, Job 6:6, Job 6:7, Job 6:30
Key moments
- Grief heavier than sand (Job 6:3). Job says his grief would outweigh the sand of the sea.
- Arrows of the Almighty (Job 6:4). Job says God's arrows are in him and his terrors arrayed against him.
- Let God cut me off (Job 6:9). Job asks that God would destroy him.
- Brooks that vanish (Job 6:15). Job compares his brethren to streams that disappear in heat.
- Ye are nothing (Job 6:21). Job tells the friends they see his fall and are afraid.
- Teach me where I erred (Job 6:24). Job asks to be shown his error and promises to hold his tongue.
- A pit for your friend (Job 6:27). Job accuses the friends of digging a pit for him.
For reflection
Job says pity should be shown to the afflicted by his friend, then accuses his friends of digging a pit for him. What in Eliphaz's speech could Job be pointing at, and what would pity have sounded like instead?
