Heritage Reformed Baptist Mission
Job
Chapter 6b
Job 6:14-30
III. JOB REPROVES HIS FRIENDS AS UNKIND - vv. 14-30
6:14 - afflicted = despairing; consumed under calamities
pity = kindness; mercy; compassion
One in such a condition as Job, though afflicted by God or by Satan, expects and should receive tender words and care at least from his friends.
forsaketh . . . Almighty = a friend who fails to show pity, mercy, compassion is himself guilty of acting falsely against his professed faith in God. - cf. Jam 1:27
So Job reproves Eliphaz for his harsh words.
6:15 - my brethren = all three who, though they were not of the same country as Job, were his friends and kindred in their belief and worship of the true God
Job saw that, though Eliphaz was the only one that had thus far spoken, all three were of the same mind toward him.
deceitfully as a brook = offering the hope of refreshing water, but disappearing in the sand or being dried up
Job expected consolation from his friends, but found none
6:16 - blackish . . . ice = streams that are turbulent with broken ice and melting snow giving them a blackish appearance
snow is hid = the snow that once covered the mountains with glorious white is now melted and hidden in the turbulent streams
Job's friends came to comfort him and mourn with him, but their original intent, though white as snow, is now hidden in the blackness of their wrong attitudes toward him and his afflictions
6:17 - wax warm . . . hot = streams that were once flowing with melted snow and ice vanish (evaporate) altogether in the heat of the sun
When Job's friends saw his condition, their original intentions were evaporated by the heat of the attitude within them that such afflictions are surely the result of personal sin/hypocrisy.
6:18 - paths . . . aside = water flowing from the mountains into the desert make new channels here and there
go . . . perish = the streams eventually disappear into the sand or are evaporated by the heat
Such were the original intentions of Job's friends.
6:19 - troops; companies = caravans, probably of merchants
Where they had seen water before, they came expecting to find some now, patiently waiting until they came to the place.
Job no doubt was glad when he saw his three friends coming to him. From his previous contacts with them, he certainly had reason to believe they would be a comfort to him, and he looked for them to be exactly that.
6:20 - confounded; ashamed = the caravans were greatly disappointed to find no water where they had hoped to find some.
So Job was greatly disappointed when his friends brought accusations instead of comfort.
6:21 - ye are nothing = Job says his friends are to him just like those vanishing, evaporated streams are to thirsty travelers.
casting down = dismay; terror
They saw and were overwhelmed by Job's condition, both his loss of all and his loathsome physical affliction.
afraid = of comforting lest they should be guilty of agreeing with his supposed hypocrisy; of getting too near him lest they should be infected; of staying too long with him lest they should be likewise punished, as they assumed Job was
6:22 - Job had not asked for any of the material substance of his friends to help him.
6:23 - deliver me . . . = rescue me from an enemy
redeem me . . . = rescue me from robbers, even those who had taken his cattle, etc., as Abram had rescued Lot and all his goods from the four kings - cf. Gen 14:14-16
6:24 - Job is willing to be shown wherein he is at fault. If it can be done, then he will say no more in his own defense and confess his sin; which is a trait believers young and old need to have.
6:25 - How forcible . . . = right words spoken in the right way and applied correctly are powerful to bring conviction.
but what . . . = the words of Eliphaz, though most of them were right, were not correctly applied and so brought no conviction to Job; therefore, he would not accept them.
6:26 - reprove words, and the speeches . . . = Job says they have, without reason and wisdom, simply latched on to what he said without considering the whole situation and the fact that he spoke out of his extreme grief. They have made him an offender for a word. - cf. Isa 29:21
6:27 - fatherless = lonely, desolate as an orphan, which Job applies to himself and says his friends are taking advantage of him as such.
dig a pit = as hunters do to trap animals; Job sees his friends as hunters who, having already put the wrong meaning on his words, are trying to trap him into saying something that will really condemn him and prove they are right about him. cf. Mat 22:15-22
6:28 - look upon me = Job entreats his friends to simply look into his face where they can see that he is not lying.
. . . there is much more to be learned from the motions of the muscles of the face than from the words of the lips. Honesty shines in the face, but villainy peeps out at the eyes. - C.H. Spurgeon
6:29 - return = come back to the real argument, not that which you have supposed by twisting my words
not be iniquity = don't take for granted that I am a hypocrite
righteousness is in it = not that he is free from all sin, but that he is not guilty of hypocrisy, which his further words will prove.
6:30 - tongue = words
taste = sense; reason
Job says what he has said has not been evil. After all, he still has his mind and the ability to discern between right and wrong by which his further words should be judged.