Job 6:11-13

6:11 What is my strength, that I should wait? ¹ 

and what is my end, ² 

that I should prolong my life?

6:12 Is my strength like that of stones? ³ 

or is my flesh made of bronze?

6:13 Is ⁴  not my power to help myself nothing,

and has not every resource ⁵  been driven from me?

[6:11]  ¹ sn Now, in vv. 11-13, Job proceeds to describe his hopeless condition. In so doing, he is continuing his defense of his despair and lament. The section begins with these rhetorical questions in which Job affirms that he does not have the strength to wait for the blessings that Eliphaz is talking about.

[6:11]  ² tn The word translated “my end” is קִצִּי (qitsi). It refers to the termination of his life. In Ps 39:5 it is parallel to “the measure of my days.” In a sense, Job is asking what future he has. To him, the “end” of his affliction can only be death.

[6:12]  ³ sn The questions imply negative answers. Job is saying that it would take great strength to hold up under these afflictions, but he is only flesh and bone. The sufferings have almost completely overwhelmed him. To endure all of this to the end he would need a strength he does not have.

[6:13]  ⁴ tn For the use of the particle אִם (’im) in this kind of interrogative clause, see GKC 475 §150.g, note.

[6:13]  ⁵ tn The word means something like “recovery,” or the powers of recovery; it was used in Job 5:12. In 11:6 it applies to a condition of the mind, such as mental resource. Job is thinking not so much of relief or rescue from his troubles, but of strength to bear them.