As Job suffers, his friend Eliphaz had weighed in, insisting that there is a connection between suffering and sin and therefore Job's troubles are due to his sins. Eliphaz has urged Job to repent must repent of his sins.
Job responds.
Job 6:1-7, Pain heavier that the universe
Then Job replied:
"If only my anguish could be weighed
and all my misery be placed on the scales!
It would surely outweigh the sand of the seas--
no wonder my words have been impetuous.
The arrows of the Almighty are in me,
my spirit drinks in their poison;
God's terrors are marshaled against me.
Does a wild donkey bray when it has grass,
or an ox bellow when it has fodder?
Is tasteless food eaten without salt,
or is there flavor in the white of an egg?
I refuse to touch it; such food makes me ill.
Job describes his misery and anguish. If one could measure his anguish, it would outweigh the sands of the world's beaches. This anguish gives him reason to be so brash. God has poisoned his spirit.
Job 6:8-13 Crush me,
"Oh, that I might have my request,
that God would grant what I hope for,
that God would be willing to crush me,
to let loose his hand and cut me off!
Then I would still have this consolation--
my joy in unrelenting pain--
that I had not denied the words of the Holy One.
"What strength do I have,
that I should still hope?
What prospects,
that I should be patient?
Do I have the strength of stone?
Is my flesh bronze?
Do I have any power to help myself,
now that success has been driven from me?
Job's complaint is that he is so trodden down and hurt -- he is not even sure if he is really righteous. He longs for God to say something to him. Or at least kill him, so that he no longer suffers (and would no longer be tempted to curse God?)
Job 6:14-20, Undependable friends
"A despairing man should have the devotion of his friends,
even though he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
But my brothers are as undependable as intermittent streams,
as the streams that overflow when darkened by thawing ice and swollen with melting snow,
but that cease to flow in the dry season,
and in the heat vanish from their channels.
Caravans turn aside from their routes;
they go up into the wasteland and perish.
The caravans of Tema look for water,
the traveling merchants of Sheba look in hope.
They are distressed, because they had been confident;
they arrive there, only to be disappointed.
Job's friends are no help. They are not dependable; they are like intermittent wadis that come and go in the dessert, sometimes offering refreshment but empty and disappointing at other times. Job had hoped for their help but it has not come.
Hartley points out (verse 14) that both Job and Eliphaz are unhappy with the other's view of God. Eliphaz says that God always supports the just, so Job must be unjust while Job argues that his friends don't help him because they are afraid to anger God. Says Hartley (p. 138): "Both parties are thus attacking the center of the other's worship of God."
Job 6:21-23, You too
Now you too have proved to be of no help;
you see something dreadful and are afraid.
Have I ever said, `Give something on my behalf,
pay a ransom for me from your wealth,
deliver me from the hand of the enemy,
ransom me from the clutches of the ruthless'?
Job continues to claim innocence. He has never demanded anything from his friends; why do they respond so?
Job 6:24-27, Ignored
"Teach me, and I will be quiet;
show me where I have been wrong.
How painful are honest words!
But what do your arguments prove?
Do you mean to correct what I say,
and treat the words of a despairing man as wind?
You would even cast lots for the fatherless
and barter away your friend.
Job is willing to listen to good advice but he is not getting it. Instead his friends acts as if they might be willing to a man or his children.
Tema and Sheba (says Hartley) were trading centers in western Arabai. Tema appears in Genesis 25: 13-14 as a son of Ishmael, grandson of Abraham.
Job 6:28-30, Look at me!
"But now be so kind as to look at me.
Would I lie to your face?
Relent, do not be unjust;
reconsider, for my integrity is at stake.
Is there any wickedness on my lips?
Can my mouth not discern malice?
"I have not lied to you!" claims Job. "Relent in your attacks on me and comfort me!" Job's first request is simply that his friends look at him. (It is possible his horrible sores have made him repulsive and so this request may be a literal one.) Job's request is a reasonable one -- Look at me! -- a basic need of anyone in physical or emotional pain, indeed a basic need of all of us.
Throughout his pain, Job is not aware of anything he has done to deserve this suffering. But Eliphaz had insisted that there is a correlation between sins and suffering.
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