Job 6:1

JOB 6

JOB'S REPLY TO ELIPHAZ:

JOB DEFENDS THE RASHNESS OF HIS LAMENT

Job 6:1-7

"Then Job answered and said,

Oh that my vexation were but weighed,

And all my calamity laid in the balances!

For now it would be heavier than the sand of the seas;

Therefore have my words been rash.

For the arrows of the Almighty are within me,

The poison whereof my spirit drinketh up:

The terrors of God do set themselves in array against me.

Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass?

Or loweth the ox over his fodder?

Can that which hath no savor be eaten without salt?

Or is there any taste in the white of an egg?

My soul refuseth to touch them;

They are as loathsome food to me."

These words of Job are, "Strong and coherent, contrasted with those of Eliphaz, which are incoherent and without the backbone of any clear conviction, turning hither and thither."[1] These words of Job were spoken out of deep disappointment and pain in what Eliphaz had said. Eliphaz had applied such words as fool, godless man, confounded and impatient to Job,"[2] bringing him no comfort whatever.

"Oh that my vexation were but weighed" (Job 6:1). Job's contention here is that the weight of his vexations greatly outweighs the alleged rashness and impatience of his words.[3]

"The arrows of the Almighty are within me" (Job 6:4). "Job here, for the first time, distinctly names God as the author of his afflictions."[4] The perplexity and distress of Job came from his bewilderment concerning why God was wounding him. "The evil-doer knows why he suffers; the martyr is sustained by the truth for which he suffers; but Job suffered without either support or explanation."[5]

"Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass" (Job 6:5)? Here Job appealed to the behavior of animals, the cries of which arise from their distress. The same should be accepted as the allowable behavior of men. "Job argues that he has the right to bray like a hungry wild ass, or to bellow like a hungry bull."[6]

"Or is there any taste in the white of an egg" (Job 6:6)? The RSV renders the last five words of this, in the slime of the purslane. But that rendition is a blunder because, "Most modern readers never heard of the purslane."[7] "The purslane is a plant, the flower of which, as it fades away, resolves into an insipid mucilaginous jelly. It is that tasteless jelly which is alluded to here."[8]

"My soul refuseth to touch them" (Job 6:7). This refers to the insipid, tasteless food just mentioned; but what did Job mean? Kelly thought that Job was comparing, "His flat and tasteless existence,"[9] to that tasteless food. Heavenor suggested that Job was comparing his tasteless life to "Insipid and saltless food."[10] However, Pope wrote that, "The figure of taste is most appropriate as applied to the arguments of Eliphaz";[11] and, although Rawlinson stated that either meaning is appropriate,[12] we strongly prefer Pope's understanding of the place.