Job 6:14-21

Disappointing Friends

6:14 “To the one in despair, kindness ¹  should come from his friend ² 

even if ³  he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.

6:15 My brothers ⁴  have been as treacherous ⁵  as a seasonal stream, ⁶ 

and as the riverbeds of the intermittent streams ⁷ 

that flow away. ⁸ 

6:16 They ⁹  are dark ¹⁰  because of ice;

snow is piled ¹¹  up over them. ¹² 

6:17 When they are scorched, ¹³  they dry up,

when it is hot, they vanish ¹⁴  from their place.

6:18 Caravans ¹⁵  turn aside from their routes;

they go ¹⁶  into the wasteland ¹⁷  and perish. ¹⁸ 

6:19 The caravans of Tema ¹⁹  looked intently ²⁰  for these streams; ²¹ 

the traveling merchants ²²  of Sheba hoped for them.

6:20 They were distressed, ²³ 

because each one had been ²⁴  so confident;

they arrived there, ²⁵  but were disappointed.

6:21 For now ²⁶  you have become like these streams that are no help; ²⁷ 

you see a terror, ²⁸  and are afraid.

Psalms 38:10-11

38:10 My heart beats quickly;

my strength leaves me;

I can hardly see. ²⁹ 

38:11 Because of my condition, ³⁰  even my friends and acquaintances keep their distance; ³¹ 

my neighbors stand far away. ³² 

Psalms 69:20

69:20 Their insults are painful ³³  and make me lose heart; ³⁴ 

I look ³⁵  for sympathy, but receive none, ³⁶ 

for comforters, but find none.

Psalms 142:4

142:4 Look to the right and see!

No one cares about me. ³⁷ 

I have nowhere to run; ³⁸ 

no one is concerned about my life. ³⁹ 

Proverbs 21:13

21:13 The one who shuts his ears ⁴⁰  to the cry ⁴¹  of the poor,

he too will cry out and will not be answered. ⁴² 

Proverbs 24:11-12

24:11 Deliver those being taken away to death,

and hold back those slipping to the slaughter. ⁴³ 

24:12 If you say, “But we did not know about this,”

does not the one who evaluates ⁴⁴  hearts consider?

Does not the one who guards your life know?

Will he not repay each person according to his deeds? ⁴⁵ 

James 2:13-16

2:13 For judgment is merciless for the one who has shown no mercy. But mercy triumphs over ⁴⁶  judgment.

Faith and Works Together

2:14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, ⁴⁷  if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Can this kind of faith ⁴⁸  save him? ⁴⁹  2:15 If a brother or sister ⁵⁰  is poorly clothed and lacks daily food, 2:16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, keep warm and eat well,” but you do not give them what the body needs, ⁵¹  what good is it?

James 2:1

Prejudice and the Law of Love

2:1 My brothers and sisters, ⁵²  do not show prejudice ⁵³  if you possess faith ⁵⁴  in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. ⁵⁵ 

James 3:16-18

3:16 For where there is jealousy and selfishness, there is disorder and every evil practice. 3:17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, accommodating, ⁵⁶  full of mercy and good fruit, ⁵⁷  impartial, and not hypocritical. ⁵⁸  3:18 And the fruit that consists of righteousness ⁵⁹  is planted ⁶⁰  in peace among ⁶¹  those who make peace.

[6:14]  ¹ tn In this context חֶסֶד (khesed) could be taken as “loyalty” (“loyalty should be shown by his friend”).

[6:14]  ² tn The Hebrew of this verse is extremely difficult, and while there are many suggestions, none of them has gained a consensus. The first colon simply has “to the despairing // from his friend // kindness.” Several commentators prefer to change the first word לַמָּס (lammas, “to the one in despair”) to some sort of verb; several adopt the reading “the one who withholds/he withholds mercy from his friend forsakes….” The point of the first half of the verse seems to be that one should expect kindness (or loyalty) from a friend in times of suffering.

[6:14]  ³ tn The relationship of the second colon to the first is difficult. The line just reads literally “and the fear of the Almighty he forsakes.” The ו (vav) could be interpreted in several different ways: “else he will forsake…,” “although he forsakes…,” “even the one who forsakes…,” or “even if he forsakes…” – the reading adopted here. If the first colon receives the reading “His friend has scorned compassion,” then this clause would be simply coordinated with “and forsakes the fear of the Almighty.” The sense of the verse seems to say that kindness/loyalty should be shown to the despairing, even to the one who is forsaking the fear of the Lord, meaning, saying outrageous things, like Job has been doing.

[6:15]  ⁴ sn Here the brothers are all his relatives as well as these intimate friends of Job. In contrast to what a friend should do (show kindness/loyalty), these friends have provided no support whatsoever.

[6:15]  ⁵ tn The verb בָּגְדוּ (bagÿdu, “dealt treacherously) has been translated “dealt deceitfully,” but it is a very strong word. It means “to act treacherously [or deceitfully].” The deception is the treachery, because the deception is not innocent – it is in the place of a great need. The imagery will compare it to the brook that may or may not have water. If one finds no water when one expected it and needed it, there is deception and treachery. The LXX softens it considerably: “have not regarded me.”

[6:15]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew term used here is נָחַל (nakhal); this word differs from words for rivers or streams in that it describes a brook with an intermittent flow of water. A brook where the waters are not flowing is called a deceitful brook (Jer 15:18; Mic 1:14); one where the waters flow is called faithful (Isa 33:16).

[6:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “and as a stream bed of brooks/torrents.” The word אָפִיק (’afiq) is the river bed or stream bed where the water flows. What is more disconcerting than finding a well-known torrent whose bed is dry when one expects it to be gushing with water (E. Dhorme, Job, 86)?

[6:15]  ⁸ tn The verb is rather simple – יַעֲבֹרוּ (ya’avoru). But some translate it “pass away” or “flow away,” and others “overflow.” In the rainy season they are deep and flowing, or “overflow” their banks. This is a natural sense to the verb, and since the next verse focuses on this, some follow this interpretation (H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 15). But this idea does not parallel the first part of v. 15. So it makes better sense to render it “flow away” and see the reference to the summer dry spells when one wants the water but is disappointed.

[6:16]  ⁹ tn The article on the participle joins this statement to the preceding noun; it can have the sense of “they” or “which.” The parallel sense then can be continued with a finite verb (see GKC 404 §126.b).

[6:16]  ¹⁰ tn The participle הַקֹּדְרים (haqqodÿrim), often rendered “which are black,” would better be translated “dark,” for it refers to the turbid waters filled with melting ice or melting snow, or to the frozen surface of the water, but not waters that are muddied. The versions failed to note that this referred to the waters introduced in v. 15.

[6:16]  ¹¹ tn The verb יִתְעַלֶּם (yit’allem) has been translated “is hid” or “hides itself.” But this does not work easily in the sentence with the preposition “upon them.” Torczyner suggested “pile up” from an Aramaic root עֲלַם (’alam), and E. Dhorme (Job, 87) defends it without changing the text, contending that the form we have was chosen for alliterative value with the prepositional phrase before it.

[6:16]  ¹² tn The LXX paraphrases the whole verse: “They who used to reverence me now come against me like snow or congealed ice.”

[6:17]  ¹³ tn The verb יְזֹרְבוּ (yÿzorÿvu, “burnt, scorched”) occurs only here. A good number of interpretations take the root as a by-form of צָרַב (tsarav) which means in the Niphal “to be burnt” (Ezek 21:3). The expression then would mean “in the time they are burnt,” a reference to the scorching heat of the summer (“when the great heat comes”) and the rivers dry up. Qimchi connected it to the Arabic “canal,” and this has led to the suggestion by E. Dhorme (Job, 88) that the root זָרַב (zarav) would mean “to flow.” In the Piel it would be “to cause to flow,” and in the passive “to be made to flow,” or “melt.” This is attractive, but it does require the understanding (or supplying) of “ice/snow” as the subject. G. R. Driver took the same meaning but translated it “when they (the streams) pour down in torrents, they (straightway) die down” (ZAW 65 [1953]: 216-17). Both interpretations capture the sense of the brooks drying up.

[6:17]  ¹⁴ tn The verb נִדְעֲכוּ (nid’akhu) literally means “they are extinguished” or “they vanish” (cf. 18:5-6; 21:17). The LXX, perhaps confusing the word with the verb יָדַע (yada’, “to know”) has “and it is not known what it was.”

[6:18]  ¹⁵ tn This is the usual rendering of the Hebrew אָרְחוֹת (’orkhot, “way, path”). It would mean that the course of the wadi would wind down and be lost in the sand. Many commentators either repoint the text to אֹרְחוֹת (’orÿkhot) when in construct (as in Isa 21:13), or simply redefine the existing word to mean “caravans” as in the next verse, and translate something like “caravans deviate from their route.” D. J. A. Clines (Job [WBC], 160-61) allows that “caravans” will be introduced in the next verse, but urges retention of the usual sense here. The two verses together will yield the same idea in either case – the river dries up and caravans looking for the water deviate from their course looking for it.

[6:18]  ¹⁶ tn The verb literally means “to go up,” but here no real ascent is intended for the wasteland. It means that they go inland looking for the water. The streams wind out into the desert and dry up in the sand and the heat. A. B. Davidson (Job, 47) notes the difficulty with the interpretation of this verse as a reference to caravans is that Ibn Ezra says that it is not usual for caravans to leave their path and wander inland in search of water.

[6:18]  ¹⁷ tn The word תֹּהוּ (tohu) was used in Genesis for “waste,” meaning without shape or structure. Here the term refers to the trackless, unending wilderness (cf. 12:24).

[6:18]  ¹⁸ sn If the term “paths” (referring to the brook) is the subject, then this verb would mean it dies in the desert; if caravaneers are intended, then when they find no water they perish. The point in the argument would be the same in either case. Job is saying that his friends are like this water, and he like the caravaneer was looking for refreshment, but found only that the brook had dried up.

[6:19]  ¹⁹ sn Tema is the area of the oasis SE of the head of the Gulf of Aqaba; Sheba is in South Arabia. In Job 1:15 the Sabeans were raiders; here they are traveling merchants.

[6:19]  ²⁰ tn The verb נָבַט (navat) means “to gaze intently”; the looking is more intentional, more of a close scrutiny. It forms a fine parallel to the idea of “hope” in the second part. The NIV translates the second verb קִוּוּ (qivvu) as “look in hope.” In the previous verbs the imperfect form was used, expressing what generally happens (so the English present tense was used). Here the verb usage changes to the perfect form. It seems that Job is narrating a typical incident now – they looked, but were disappointed.

[6:19]  ²¹ tn The words “for these streams” are supplied from context to complete the thought and make the connection with the preceding context.

[6:19]  ²² tn In Ps 68:24 this word has the meaning of “processions”; here that procession is of traveling merchants forming convoys or caravans.

[6:20]  ²³ tn The verb בּוֹשׁ (bosh) basically means “to be ashamed”; however, it has a wider range of meaning such as “disappointed” or “distressed.” The feeling of shame or distress is because of their confidence that they knew what they were doing. The verb is strengthened here with the parallel חָפַר (khafar, “to be confounded, disappointed”).

[6:20]  ²⁴ tn The perfect verb has the nuance of past perfect here, for their confidence preceded their disappointment. Note the contrast, using these verbs, in Ps 22:6: “they trusted in you and they were not put to shame [i.e., disappointed].”

[6:20]  ²⁵ tn The LXX misread the prepositional phrase as the noun “their cities”; it gives the line as “They too that trust in cities and riches shall come to shame.”

[6:21]  ²⁶ tn There is a textual problem in this line, an issue of Kethib-Qere. Some read the form with the Qere as the preposition with a suffix referring to “the river,” with the idea “you are like it.” Others would read the form with the Kethib as the negative “not,” meaning “for now you are nothing.” The LXX and the Syriac read the word as “to me.” RSV follows this and changes כִּי (ki, “for”) to כֵּן (ken, “thus”). However, such an emendation is unnecessary since כִּי (ki) itself can be legitimately employed as an emphatic particle. In that case, the translation would be, “Indeed, now you are” in the sense of “At this time you certainly are behaving like those streams.” The simplest reading is “for now you have become [like] it.” The meaning seems clear enough in the context that the friends, like the river, proved to be of no use. But D. J. A. Clines (Job [WBC], 161) points out that the difficulty with this is that all references so far to the rivers have been in the plural.

[6:21]  ²⁷ tn The perfect of הָיָה (hayah) could be translated as either “are” or “have been” rather than “have become” (cf. Joüon 2:373 §113.p with regard to stative verbs). “Like it” refers to the intermittent stream which promises water but does not deliver. The LXX has a paraphrase: “But you also have come to me without pity.”

[6:21]  ²⁸ tn The word חֲתַת (khatat) is a hapax legomenon. The word חַת (khat) means “terror” in 41:25. The construct form חִתַּת (khittat) is found in Gen 35:5; and חִתִּית (khittit) is found in Ezek 26:17, 32:23). The Akkadian cognate means “terror.” It probably means that in Job’s suffering they recognized some dreaded thing from God and were afraid to speak any sympathy toward him.

[38:10]  ²⁹ tn Heb “and the light of my eyes, even they, there is not with me.” The “light of the eyes” may refer to physical energy (see 1 Sam 14:27, 29), life itself (Ps 13:3), or the ability to see (Prov 29:23).

[38:11]  ³⁰ tn Or “wound,” or “illness.”

[38:11]  ³¹ tn Heb “stand [aloof].”

[38:11]  ³² tn Heb “and the ones near me off at a distance stand.”

[69:20]  ³³ tn Heb “break my heart.” The “heart” is viewed here as the origin of the psalmist’s emotions.

[69:20]  ³⁴ tn The verb form appears to be a Qal preterite from an otherwise unattested root נוּשׁ (nush), which some consider an alternate form of אָנַשׁ (’anash, “be weak; be sick”; see BDB 60 s.v. I אָנַשׁ). Perhaps the form should be emended to a Niphal, וָאֵאָנְשָׁה (va’e’onshah, “and I am sick”). The Niphal of אָנַשׁ occurs in 2 Sam 12:15, where it is used to describe David’s sick child.

[69:20]  ³⁵ tn Heb “wait.”

[69:20]  ³⁶ tn Heb “and I wait for sympathy, but there is none.” The form נוּד (nud) is an infinitive functioning as a verbal noun:, “sympathizing.” Some suggest emending the form to a participle נָד (nad, “one who shows sympathy”). The verb נוּד (nud) also has the nuance “show sympathy” in Job 2:11; 42:11 and Isa 51:19.

[142:4]  ³⁷ tn Heb “there is no one who recognizes me.”

[142:4]  ³⁸ tn Heb “ a place of refuge perishes from me.”

[142:4]  ³⁹ tn Heb “there is no one who seeks for the sake of my life.”

[21:13]  ⁴⁰ sn The imagery means “pay no attention to” the cry for help or “refuse to help,” so it is a metonymy of cause for the effect.

[21:13]  ⁴¹ sn “Cry” here would be a metonymy of effect for the cause, the cause being the great needs of the poor.

[21:13]  ⁴² sn The proverb is teaching that those who show mercy will receive mercy. It involves the principle of talionic justice – those who refuse the needs of others will themselves be refused when they need help (so Luke 16:19-31).

[24:11]  ⁴³ tn The idea of “slipping” (participle from מוֹט, mot) has troubled some commentators. G. R. Driver emends it to read “at the point of” (“Problems in Proverbs,” ZAW 50 [1932]: 146). But the MT as it stands makes good sense. The reference would be general, viz., to help any who are in mortal danger or who might be tottering on the edge of such disaster – whether through sin, or through disease, war, or danger. Several English versions (e.g., NASB, NIV, NRSV) render this term as “staggering.”

[24:12]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “weighs” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV) meaning “tests” or “evaluates.”

[24:12]  ⁴⁵ sn The verse completes the saying by affirming that people will be judged responsible for helping those in mortal danger. The verse uses a series of rhetorical questions to affirm that God knows our hearts and we cannot plead ignorance.

[2:13]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “boasts against, exults over,” in victory.

[2:14]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.

[2:14]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “the faith,” referring to the kind of faith just described: faith without works. The article here is anaphoric, referring to the previous mention of the noun πίστις (pisti") in the verse. See ExSyn 219.

[2:14]  ⁴⁹ sn The form of the question in Greek expects a negative answer.

[2:15]  ⁵⁰ tn It is important to note that the words ἀδελφός (adelfos) and ἀδελφή (adelfh) both occur in the Greek text at this point, confirming that the author intended to refer to both men and women. See the note on “someone” in 2:2.

[2:16]  ⁵¹ tn Grk “what is necessary for the body.”

[2:1]  ⁵² tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.

[2:1]  ⁵³ tn Or “partiality.”

[2:1]  ⁵⁴ tn Grk “do not have faith with personal prejudice,” with emphasis on the last phrase.

[2:1]  ⁵⁵ tn Grk “our Lord Jesus Christ of glory.” Here δόξης (doxhs) has been translated as an attributive genitive.

[3:17]  ⁵⁶ tn Or “willing to yield,” “open to persuasion.”

[3:17]  ⁵⁷ tn Grk “fruits.” The plural Greek term καρπούς has been translated with the collective singular “fruit.”

[3:17]  ⁵⁸ tn Or “sincere.”

[3:18]  ⁵⁹ tn Grk “the fruit of righteousness,” meaning righteous living as a fruit, as the thing produced.

[3:18]  ⁶⁰ tn Grk “is sown.”

[3:18]  ⁶¹ tn Or “for,” or possibly “by.”