Job · chapter 6 of 42
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In Job 6 Job answers Eliphaz by saying that his complaint is no greater than his pain, which is heavier than the sand of the sea, and he wishes that God would end his life. He reproaches his friends for failing him like streams that dry up in summer, and asks them to show him where he went wrong, if they can, instead of speaking empty words.
With this chapter the dialogue proper begins. Job answers Eliphaz without accepting his explanation. He speaks harshly, but what hurts him most is not only his suffering but his friends' lack of loyalty. The chapter shows that Job protests but has not renounced God: he still says that he has not denied the words of the Holy One.
Job begins by asking that his grief and calamity be weighed on scales: they would be heavier than the sand of the sea, which is why his words have been so rash. The arrows of the Almighty are in him and his spirit drinks their poison; the terrors of God are arrayed against him. He asks whether a wild donkey brays when it has grass, or whether tasteless food is eaten without salt. His appetite has turned to loathing, and his food makes him sick.
Then he voices his deepest wish: that God would grant his request and put an end to him. That would still be his comfort and joy in unrelenting pain, because he has not denied the words of the Holy One. But he has no strength to wait and no reason to be patient: is his strength the strength of stones, or is his flesh bronze?
Now he turns to his friends. A person who is suffering deserves loyalty from his friends, even if he forsakes the fear of the Almighty. But his brothers are treacherous like winter torrents, dark with ice and snow, that vanish in the heat. Caravans of Tema and Sheba that look for water are put to shame when they arrive. You have become like that, says Job: you see the horror and are afraid.
Job ends by asking them to teach him and show him his error, and not to speak into the wind. Honest words are painful, but what do their arguments prove? He asks them to turn and look at him, for he will not lie to their faces. Let there be no injustice: his cause is still righteous.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Job wishes that his anguish could be weighed on scales, and says it would be heavier than the sand of the seas. With that he explains why his words are so wild: pain has made them so.
Job says that he would still have comfort and joy in unrelenting pain, because he has not denied the words of the Holy One. Even in his despair, his faithfulness to God remains at the center of his protest.
The one who is fainting deserves kindness from his friend, even if he has forsaken the fear of the Almighty. Job asks for compassion before doctrine, and his complaint is a warning for everyone who comforts.
Job asks his friends to teach him and to show him where he has erred, and promises to be silent. He does not reject correction, but he wants it honest and well founded, not a suspicion dressed up as advice.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: The sand of the seas. — Job 6:2-3
Answer: The arrows of the Almighty, whose poison his spirit drinks. — Job 6:4
Answer: Grant his request, crush him, let loose his hand and cut him off. — Job 6:8-9
Answer: He has not denied the words of the Holy One. — Job 6:10
Answer: Winter torrents that dry up in the heat and disappoint the caravans. — Job 6:15-20
Answer: To teach him and show him where he has erred, and to turn and look at him fairly. — Job 6:24-29
Job 6 teaches us what a suffering person needs from friends: loyalty, not sermons. Job says that a word of compassion is worth more than an explanation that is correct but cold. In your church or small group, ask yourselves whether we are streams that dry up when someone else needs us.
The chapter also gives us permission to complain to God without ceasing to trust him. Job hurts and protests, but he clings to the fact that he has not denied the words of the Holy One. The Bible includes this kind of prayer. A mature faith does not hide its pain but brings it to God, and accepts correction when it is sincere and well founded.
Job 6 ends with Job asking his friends to be fair and to show him his error. In Job 7 he will turn to God himself: he stops speaking to his friends and directs his complaint toward how short and heavy a person's life is.
It is a poetic image: Job feels that his suffering comes directly from God, like arrows that wound him. It is not an accusation of wickedness but the way he describes his experience. Job believes in God's sovereignty, which is why the question of why hurts him so much.
Because his pain is so great that death seems like relief. Even so, he does not take his own life or curse God: he hopes that God will decide. The Bible shows here that despair and faith can coexist, and that God hears the one who cries out.
They are regions of northern Arabia known for their trading caravans. Job uses the image of caravans crossing the desert in search of water and finding the stream dry to describe what he feels when he looks to his friends for support and finds only emptiness.