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Public-domain commentary
Matthew Henry
From his Commentary on the Whole Bible. Henry comments on passages, not single verses — this entry covers Job 6:14–21. His three-level outline is real structure in the source text, so it is rendered as structure.
Eliphaz had been very severe in his censures of Job; and his companions, though as yet they had said little, yet had intimated their concurrence with him. Their unkindness therein poor Job here complains of, as an aggravation of his calamity and a further excuse of his desire to die; for what satisfaction could he ever expect in this world when those that should have been his comforters thus proved his tormentors?
I.He shows what reason he had to expect kindness from them.
His expectation was grounded upon the common principles of humanity (Job 6:14): "To him that is afflicted, and that is wasting and melting under his affliction, pity should be shown from his friend; and he that does not show that pity forsakes the fear of the Almighty." Note,
1.Compassion is a debt owing to those that are in affliction. The least which those that are at ease can do for those that are pained and in anguish is to pity them, - to manifest the sincerity of a tender concern for them, and to sympathize with them, - to take cognizance of their case, enquire into their grievances, hear their complaints, and mingle their tears with theirs, - to comfort them, and to do all they can to help and relieve them: this well becomes the members of the same body, who should feel for the grievances of their fellow-members, not knowing how soon the same may be their own.
2.Inhumanity is impiety and irreligion. He that withholds compassion from his friend forsakes the fear of the Almighty. So the Chaldee. How dwells the love of God in that man? Jo1 3:17. Surely those have no fear of the rod of God upon themselves who have no compassion for those that feel the smart of it. See Jam 1:27.
3.Troubles are the trials of friendship. When a man is afflicted he will see who are his friends indeed and who are but pretenders; for a brother is born for adversity, Pro 17:17; Pro 18:24.
II.He shows how wretchedly he was disappointed in his expectations from them (Job 6:15):
"My brethren, who should have helped me, have dealt deceitfully as a brook." They came by appointment, with a great deal of ceremony, to mourn with him and to comfort him (Job 2:11); and some extraordinary things were expected from such wise, learned, knowing men, and Job's particular friends. None questioned but that the drift of their discourses would be to comfort Job with the remembrance of his former piety, the assurance of God's favour to him, and the prospect of a glorious issue; but, instead of this, they most barbarously fall upon him with their reproaches and censures, condemn him as a hypocrite, insult over his calamities, and pour vinegar, instead of oil, into his wounds, and thus they deal deceitfully with him. Note, It is fraud and deceit not only to violate our engagements to our friends, but to frustrate their just expectations from us, especially the expectations we have raised. Note, further, It is our wisdom to cease from man. We cannot expect too little from the creature nor too much from the Creator. It is no new thing even for brethren to deal deceitfully (Jer 9:4, Jer 9:5; Mic 7:5); let us therefore put our confidence in the rock of ages, not in broken reeds - in the fountain of life, not in broken cisterns. God will out-do our hopes as much as men come short of them. This disappointment which Job met with he here illustrates by the failing of brooks in summer.
1.The similitude is very elegant, Job 6:15-20.
(1.)Their pretensions are fitly compared to the great show which the brooks make when they are swollen with the waters of a land flood, by the melting of the ice and snow, which make them blackish or muddy, Job 6:16.
(2.)His expectations from them, which their coming so solemnly to comfort him had raised, he compares to the expectation which the weary thirsty travellers have of finding water in the summer where they have often seen it in great abundance in the winter, Job 6:19. The troops of Tema and Sheba, the caravans of the merchants of those countries, whose road lay through the deserts of Arabia, looked and waited for supply of water from those brooks. "Hard by here," says one, "A little further," says another, "when I last travelled this way, there was water enough; we shall have that to refresh us." Where we have met with relief or comfort we are apt to expect it again; and yet it does not follow; for,
(3.)The disappointment of his expectation is here compared to the confusion which seizes the poor travellers when they find heaps of sand where they expected floods of water. In the winter, when they were not thirsty, there was water enough. Every one will applaud and admire those that are full and in prosperity. But in the heat of summer, when they needed water, then it failed them; it was consumed (Job 6:17); it was turned aside, Job 6:18. When those who are rich and high are sunk and impoverished, and stand in need of comfort, then those who before gathered about them stand aloof from them, those who before commended them are forward to run them down. Thus those who raise their expectations high from the creature will find it fail them when it should help them; whereas those who make God their confidence have help in the time of need, Heb 4:16. Those who make gold their hope will sooner or later be ashamed of it, and of their confidence in it (Eze 7:19); and the greater their confidence was the greater their shame will be: They were confounded because they had hoped, Job 6:20. We prepare confusion for ourselves by our vain hopes: the reeds break under us because we lean upon them. If we build a house upon the sand, we shall certainly be confounded, for it will fall in the storm, and we must thank ourselves for being such fools as to expect it would stand. We are not deceived unless we deceive ourselves.
2.The application is very close (Job 6:21): For now you are nothing. They seemed to be somewhat, but in conference they added nothing to him. Allude to Gal 2:6. He was never the wiser, never the better, for the visit they made him. Note, Whatever complacency we may take, or whatever confidence we may put, in creatures, how great soever they may seem and how dear soever they may be to us, one time or other we shall say of them, Now you are nothing. When Job was in prosperity his friends were something to him, he took complacency in them and their society; but "Now you are nothing, now I can find no comfort but in God." It were well for us if we had always such convictions of the vanity of the creature, and its insufficiency to make us happy, as we have sometimes had, or shall have on a sick-bed, a death-bed, or in trouble of conscience: "Now you are nothing. You are not what you have been, what you should be, what you pretend to be, what I thought you would have been; for you see my casting down and are afraid. When you saw me in my elevation you caressed me; but now that you see me in my dejection you are shy of me, are afraid of showing yourselves kind, lest I should thereby be emboldened to beg something of you, or to borrow" (compare Job 6:22); "you are afraid lest, if you own me, you should be obliged to keep me." Perhaps they were afraid of catching his distemper or of coming within smell of the noisomeness of it. It is not good, either out of pride or niceness, for love of our purses or of our bodies, to be shy of those who are in distress and afraid of coming near them. Their case may soon be our own.
Historical interpretation
Historical Reception
2 surviving comments on this verse. Each one is dated, so this reads as a timeline rather than a list.
49. As though he said in plain words, ‘I feared God then, when, buoyed up with prosperity, I felt no hurts of the scourge. But ye, who fear not God from love, dread Him from the stroke of the rod alone.
“They are confounded, because I have hoped.” When the wicked inflict evils upon the good, they are overjoyed at the success of their deceptions, if they see the good shaken from interior hope. For the wicked reckon the spread of their error to be the greatest gain, for they rejoice to have companions in perdition. But when the good person’s hope is rooted within, never bent to the ground by outward evils, confusion seizes the soul of the wicked. Their inability to get at the innermost parts of the distressed results in shame for the wicked. Their cruelty has not produced the effect they expected.… “They came even to me and were ashamed.” For lost sinners “come even to holy church” on the day of judgment, in that they are brought even then to behold its glory. For the punishment of their guilt is even greater when they see what they have lost as they are rejected. Then shame covers the wicked, when the conscience bears witness and convicts them in the sight of the Judge. At that time the Judge is beheld without and the accuser is convicted within. Every sin is called up before the eyes and the soul. The soul is tortured by its own fire, over and above the burnings of hell.
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Summary
In Job 6:21, Job expresses profound disappointment and a sense of betrayal towards his friends, particularly Eliphaz, who have failed to offer genuine comfort or understanding in his immense suffering. He perceives their presence as utterly useless ("nothing") and their response to his utter ruin ("casting down") as one of fear rather than compassion, highlighting the stark chasm between his desperate need for empathy and their judgmental, self-protective distance.
Context
Literary Context
Job 6:21 is a poignant utterance within Job's extended lament and direct response to Eliphaz's initial, unhelpful counsel found in Job 4. Having just articulated the overwhelming nature of his suffering and his longing for death in Job 6:1-4, Job turns his attention to his companions. He had anticipated solace and understanding from them, but instead received accusations rooted in a rigid retributive theology, as seen in Eliphaz's assertion that the innocent do not perish in Job 4:7. Job's earlier comparison of his friends to "deceitful brooks" that fail when most needed in Job 6:15 sets the stage for this verse, where he bluntly declares their utter uselessness in his time of need.
Historical & Cultural Context
In the ancient Near East, friendship, hospitality, and communal support were highly valued, especially in times of distress. There was a strong societal expectation that friends and family would offer comfort and solidarity to those experiencing misfortune. However, a prevailing theological framework, often referred to as retributive justice, posited that suffering was a direct consequence of sin. This belief system heavily influenced Job's friends, causing them to interpret Job's immense suffering as evidence of hidden transgression, rather than an unmerited affliction. Their fear ("and are afraid") likely stemmed from a combination of discomfort with Job's extreme misery, a desire to distance themselves from what they perceived as divine judgment, and perhaps an underlying anxiety that such calamity could befall them if they associated too closely with perceived sin.
Key Themes
This verse powerfully underscores several key themes pervasive throughout the book of Job. Firstly, it highlights the failure of human wisdom and empathy in the face of profound, inexplicable suffering. Job's friends, representatives of conventional wisdom, prove utterly incapable of offering true comfort, instead resorting to theological platitudes and accusations. Secondly, it explores the nature of true friendship and compassion, contrasting Job's desperate need for genuine solidarity with his friends' fear-driven withdrawal and judgment. Their inability to "weep with those who weep" as later exhorted in Romans 12:15 is a central tension. Finally, the verse touches upon the theme of divine sovereignty and the mystery of suffering, as Job's experience challenges the simplistic cause-and-effect understanding of God's justice held by his friends, forcing a deeper exploration of God's ways beyond human comprehension.
Exposition and Analysis
Key Word Analysis
This primitive root (H7200) denotes a literal or figurative act of seeing, perceiving, or beholding. Here, it emphasizes that Job's friends are not ignorant of his plight; they have directly observed his catastrophic losses and debilitating illness. Their visual perception of his "casting down" makes their subsequent reaction of fear, rather than compassion, all the more poignant and condemning.
Derived from the root meaning "to dismay" (H2866), this word signifies ruin, destruction, terror, or a complete collapse. It vividly describes Job's utterly devastated state—his physical ailments, loss of family and possessions, and profound emotional and spiritual anguish. It's not merely a setback but a total undoing, a "casting down" into the depths of despair and affliction that his friends are witnessing.
This primitive root (H3372) means "to fear," "to dread," or "to be frightened." In this context, it reveals Job's keen perception of his friends' true motivation. Their fear is not for Job, but for themselves. It could stem from discomfort with Job's extreme misery, a desire to distance themselves from what they perceived as divine judgment, or an underlying anxiety that such calamity could befall them if they associated too closely with perceived sin. This fear paralyzes their compassion.
Verse Breakdown
"For now ye are nothing;"
Job delivers a blunt and painful assessment of his friends' current utility to him. Their earlier expressions of sympathy have evaporated, replaced by judgmental pronouncements and a failure to genuinely empathize. In his desperate state, their presence offers no comfort, no insight, and no true support; they have become utterly ineffectual and irrelevant to his immediate need for solace. This statement reflects Job's profound disillusionment and the crushing weight of their betrayal.
"ye see [my] casting down,"
This clause emphasizes the undeniable reality of Job's suffering. His "casting down" refers to his complete ruin, his physical and emotional collapse, his utter devastation. His friends are not ignorant of his plight; they are direct witnesses to his catastrophic losses and debilitating illness. The visual aspect ("ye see") underscores their direct observation of his misery, making their subsequent reaction all the more poignant and condemning.
"and are afraid."
This final phrase reveals Job's keen perception of his friends' true motivation. Their fear is not for Job, but for themselves. Perhaps they are afraid of the implications of Job's suffering for their own theological framework, afraid of contagion from his perceived sin, or simply uncomfortable with the raw, inexplicable nature of his misery. This fear paralyzes their compassion, leading them to withdraw emotionally and intellectually, rather than extending genuine, empathetic support.
Literary Devices
Job 6:21 employs several powerful literary devices to convey Job's anguish and disappointment. The most prominent is Irony, as those who came to comfort Job, his supposed "friends," have become "nothing" to him, actively contributing to his distress rather than alleviating it. Their presence, intended for solace, becomes a source of further pain. There is also a strong element of Pathos, as Job's words are a direct, emotional appeal born of deep suffering and betrayal, designed to evoke pity or understanding from his audience, though it falls on deaf ears. Furthermore, the phrase "ye are nothing" functions as a stark Hyperbole, emphasizing the extreme degree of their failure to provide any meaningful support, effectively reducing their presence to zero value in his eyes. The contrast between Job's expectation of comfort and his friends' fear-driven withdrawal creates a powerful Antithesis, highlighting the tragic disconnect in their relationship.
Theological and Thematic Connections
Job 6:21 resonates deeply with broader biblical themes concerning the nature of suffering, the limitations of human understanding, and the call to authentic compassion. Job's experience challenges the simplistic notion of retributive justice often found in the Old Testament, where suffering is always a direct consequence of sin. His friends' inability to move beyond this framework leads them to misinterpret his pain and offer unhelpful, even harmful, counsel. This verse serves as a powerful reminder that true empathy requires entering into another's suffering without judgment, even when the reasons are unclear. It underscores the profound human need for solidarity in times of trial and the devastating impact when that need is met with fear, condemnation, or theological rigidity rather than grace.
Reflection and Application
Job 6:21 serves as a profound mirror, inviting us to examine our own responses to suffering, both in ourselves and in others. It challenges the common human tendency to seek quick answers, assign blame, or withdraw in discomfort when confronted with profound pain that defies easy explanation. Instead of offering simplistic theological formulas or shying away from the messiness of grief, this verse calls us to cultivate genuine empathy—to be present, to listen without judgment, and to mourn with those who mourn, even when we don't fully understand their plight. It reminds us that true compassion often means setting aside our own fears and preconceived notions to simply bear witness to another's "casting down," offering a steadfast, non-anxious presence rather than unhelpful advice. In our communities and relationships, we are called to be friends who do not become "nothing" when trials come, but rather a tangible expression of God's steadfast love and comfort.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Why does Job call his friends "nothing"?
Job calls his friends "nothing" not because they are literally non-existent, but because their presence and counsel have become utterly useless and ineffectual in his time of profound need. He had hoped for comfort, understanding, and solidarity, but instead received judgmental accusations, theological platitudes, and a distinct lack of empathy. Their words and actions, far from alleviating his suffering, only intensified his sense of isolation and betrayal, rendering their "friendship" valueless to him in his current state.
What does Job mean by "my casting down"?
"My casting down" refers to Job's complete and utter ruin, his physical, emotional, and social collapse. It encompasses the loss of his children, wealth, and health, as well as the profound spiritual and psychological anguish he endures. It signifies a state of total devastation and despair, a fall from grace and prosperity into the deepest pit of suffering. His friends are witnesses to this catastrophic downfall, yet their response is one of fear rather than compassionate engagement with his immense pain.
Christ-Centered Fulfillment
Job 6:21, with its raw portrayal of human failure to truly comfort in suffering, finds its ultimate fulfillment and answer in Jesus Christ. While Job's friends proved "nothing" in his "casting down," paralyzed by fear and limited by their flawed understanding of suffering, Christ is the perfect friend and comforter who fully enters into our "casting down." He is not afraid of our suffering; rather, He identifies with it completely, having Himself been "a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief" as foretold in Isaiah 53:3. Unlike Job's friends who observed from a distance, Jesus actively bore the ultimate burden of sin and suffering on the cross, becoming "nothing" for our sake so that we might gain everything, as described in Philippians 2:7. He is our High Priest who can "sympathize with our weaknesses" because He was "in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin" according to Hebrews 4:15. Where human empathy fails and fear erects barriers, Christ's perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18) and offers true, unwavering comfort and advocacy, becoming for us everything that Job's friends failed to be. He is the one who invites the weary and burdened to come to Him, promising rest in Matthew 11:28-30, fulfilling the deepest need for a compassionate presence in our darkest hours.