Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Job 6:1 - 6:13

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Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Job 6:1 - 6:13


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Job Defends his Desire for Death

v. 1. But Job answered and said,

v. 2. Oh, that my grief were throughly weighed,
namely, the suffering which he was enduring, and my calamity, the bitter and unexplainable affliction, laid in the balances together! Both pans being thus adjusted, his misfortunes would be found to out weigh his sorrows, his complaint.

v. 3. For now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea,
his woe was heavy beyond measure; therefore my words are swallowed up, rather, "they raved," they were spoken rashly. Although the greatness of his misery explained his complaining, yet he himself confessed that this fact did not really justify his untamed sorrow, his foolish raving. His better knowledge told him that he should not indulge his grief, but the unequaled greatness of his misery drove his tongue to the complaint which he made.

v. 4. For the arrows of the Almighty are within me,
the sickness, pains, and plagues which God inflicted upon him, the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit, like a venom whose burning heat dried up his soul; the terrors of God do set themselves in array against me, like an attacking army storming a citadel, Isa_42:13. Job now argues that the demand which wanted him to submit without a murmur is unnatural.

v. 5. Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass,
literally, "by the fresh grass"? Or loweth the ox over his fodder? That is, even an irrational beast will not groan or utter discontented cries if it is fully provided with food; much less would Job lament without sufficient cause.

v. 6. Can that which is unsavory,
tasteless, be eaten without salt? Or is there any taste in the white of an egg? In either case the lack of flavor, the insipid taste, tends to make the food nauseating; even so Job cannot relish his present sufferings, which to him are like a loathsome food.

v. 7. The things that my soul refused to touch are as my sorrowful meat,
or, What my soul abhorred to touch, that is to me as my loathsome food; he had to smell and touch the putrid matter of leprosy day after day.

v. 8. Oh, that I might have my request,
literally, "that it might come," be fulfilled; and that God would grant me the thing that I long for! He was crying and longing for release from his misery.

v. 9. Even that it would please God to destroy me,
snuffing out his life by an early death; that He would let loose His hand and cut me off! The picture is that of the cutting of a cord or string, which was synonymous with death. It was an intense, an impatient desire for death.

v. 10. Then should I yet have comfort,
he would find consolation in this fact; yea, I would harden myself in sorrow. Let Him not spare, rather, "I would leap up in unsparing pain," due to its excessive force which promised him no respite; for I have not concealed the words of the Holy One. The fact that he had not denied the Lord was Job's confidence in the midst of all distress and misery, even if the pain it caused him should be practically unbearable.

v. 11. What is my strength that I should hope,
continue to wait, persevere as heretofore? And what is mine end that I should prolong my life, literally, "lengthen my soul," be patient? His strength was completely gone, and therefore he looked forward to death with eager impatience.

v. 12. Is my strength the strength of stones? Or is my flesh of brass?
He certainly did not have the power of endurance which inorganic matter possesses.

v. 13. Is not my help in me,
rather, "Is not the nothingness of my help with me," that is, Am I not utterly helpless? And is wisdom driven quite from me? His well-being, his prospect of strength in the future, of an eventual recovery, had been driven away from him and thus utterly lost. An early death was the only hope he cherished, and that he desired with an intense longing. A Christian will always be ready for death, but it would be wrong for him to demand death at the hands of God. We must at all times submit our will to that of our heavenly Father.