TRV
Translation
American Standard Version
Is there injustice on my tongue? Cannot my taste discern mischievous things?
World English Bible Messianic
Is there injustice on my tongue? Can’t my taste discern mischievous things?
Young's Literal Translation
Is there in my tongue perverseness? Discerneth not my palate desirable things?
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In the KJVVerse 13,009 of 31,102
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Commentary on Job 6 verses 22–30
22 ¶ Did I say, Bring unto me? or, Give a reward for me of your substance?
23 Or, Deliver me from the enemy's hand? or, Redeem me from the hand of the mighty?
24 Teach me, and I will hold my tongue: and cause me to understand wherein I have erred.
25 How forcible are right words! but what doth your arguing reprove?
26 Do ye imagine to reprove words, and the speeches of one that is desperate, which are as wind?
27 Yea, ye overwhelm the fatherless, and ye dig a pit for your friend.
28 Now therefore be content, look upon me; for it is evident unto you if I lie.
29 Return, I pray you, let it not be iniquity; yea, return again, my righteousness is in it.
30 Is there iniquity in my tongue? cannot my taste discern perverse things?
Poor Job goes on here to upbraid his friends with their unkindness and the hard usage they gave him. He here appeals to themselves concerning several things which tended both to justify him and to condemn them. If they would but think impartially, and speak as they thought, they could not but own,
I. That, though he was necessitous, yet he was not craving, nor burdensome to his friends. Those that are so, whose troubles serve them to beg by, are commonly less pitied than the silent poor. Job would be glad to see his friends, but he did not say, Bring unto me (Job 6:22), or, Deliver me, Job 6:23. He did not desire to put them to any expense, did not urge his friends either, 1. To make a collection for him, to set him up again in the world. Though he could plead that his losses came upon him by the hand of God and not by any fault or folly of his own, - that he was utterly ruined and impoverished, - that he had lived in good condition, and that when he had wherewithal he was charitable and ready to help those that were in distress, - that his friends were rich, and able to help him, yet he did not say, Give me of your substance. Note, A good man, when troubled himself, is afraid of being troublesome to his friends. Or, 2. To raise the country for him, to help him to recover his cattle out of the hands of the Sabeans and Chaldeans, or to make reprisals upon them: "Did I send for you to deliver me out of the hand of the mighty? No, I never expected you should either expose yourselves to any danger or put yourselves to any charge upon my account. I will rather sit down content under my affliction, and make the best of it, than sponge upon my friends." St. Paul worked with his hands, that he might not be burdensome to any. Job's not asking their help did not excuse them from offering it when he needed it and it was in the power of their hands to give it; but it much aggravated their unkindness when he desired no more from them than a good look, and a good word, and yet could not obtain them. It often happens that from man, even when we expect little, we have less, but from God, even when we expect much, we have more, Eph 3:20.
II. That, though he differed in opinion from them, yet he was not obstinate, but ready to yield to conviction, and to strike sail to truth as soon as ever it was made to appear to him that he was in an error (Job 6:24, Job 6:25): "If, instead of invidious reflections and uncharitable insinuations, you will give me plain instructions and solid arguments, which shall carry their own evidence along with them, I am ready to acknowledge my error and own myself in a fault: Teach me, and I will hold my tongue; for I have often found, with pleasure and wonder, how forcible right words are. But the method you take will never make proselytes: What doth your arguing reprove? Your hypothesis is false, your surmises are groundless, your management is weak, and your application peevish and uncharitable." Note, 1. Fair reasoning has a commanding power, and it is a wonder if men are not conquered by it; but railing and foul language are impotent and foolish, and it is no wonder if men are exasperated and hardened by them. 2. It is the undoubted character of every honest man that he is truly desirous to have his mistakes rectified, and to be made to understand wherein he has erred; and he will acknowledge that right words, when they appear to him to be so, though contrary to his former sentiments, are both forcible and acceptable.
III. That, though he had been indeed in a fault, yet they ought not to have given him such hard usage (Job 6:26, Job 6:27): "Do you imagine, or contrive with a great deal of art" (for so the word signifies), "to reprove words, some passionate expressions of mine in this desperate condition, as if they were certain indications of reigning impiety and atheism? A little candour and charity would have served to excuse them, and to put a better construction upon them. Shall a man's spiritual state be judged of by some rash and hasty words, which a surprising trouble extorts from him? Is it fair, is it kind, is it just, to criticize in such a case? Would you yourselves be served thus?" Two things aggravated their unkind treatment of him: - 1. That they took advantage of his weakness and the helpless condition he was in: You overwhelm the fatherless, a proverbial expression, denoting that which is most barbarous and inhuman. "The fatherless cannot secure themselves from insults, which emboldens men of base and sordid spirits to insult them and trample upon them; and you do so by me." Job, being a childless father, thought himself as much exposed to injury as a fatherless child (Psa 127:5) and had reason to be offended with those who therefore triumphed over him. Let those who overwhelm and overpower such as upon any account may be looked upon as fatherless know that therein they not only put off the compassions of man, but fight against the compassions of God, who is, and will be, a Father of the fatherless and a helper of the helpless. 2. That they made a pretence of kindness: "You dig a pit for your friend; not only you are unkind to me, who am your friend, but, under colour of friendship, you ensnare me." When they came to see and sit with him he thought he might speak his mind freely to them, and that the more bitter his complaints to them were the more they would endeavour to comfort him. This made him take a greater liberty than otherwise he would have done. David, though he smothered his resentments when the wicked were before him, would probably have given vent to them if none had been by but friends, Psa 39:1. But this freedom of speech, which their professions of concern for him made him use, had exposed him to their censures, and so they might be said to dig a pit for him. Thus, when our hearts are hot within us, what is ill done we are apt to misrepresent as if done designedly.
IV. That, though he had let fall some passionate expressions, yet in the main he was in the right, and that his afflictions, though very extraordinary, did not prove him to be a hypocrite or a wicked man. His righteousness he holds fast, and will not let it go. For the evincing of it he here appeals, 1. To what they saw in him (Job 6:28): "Be content, and look upon me; what do you see in me that bespeaks me either a madman or a wicked man? Nay, look in my face, and you may discern there the indications of a patient and submissive spirit, for all this. Let the show of my countenance witness for me that, though I have cursed my day, I do not curse my God." Or rather, "Look upon my ulcers and sore boils, and by them it will be evident to you that I do not lie," that is, "that I do not complain without cause. Let your own eyes convince you that my condition is very sad, and that I do not quarrel with God by making it worse than it is." 2. To what they heard from him, Job 6:30. "You hear what I have to say: Is there iniquity in my tongue? that iniquity that you charge me with? Have I blasphemed God or renounced him? Are not my present arguings right? Do not you perceive, by what I say, that I can discern perverse things? I can discover your fallacies and mistakes, and, if I were myself in an error, I could perceive it. Whatever you think of me, I know what I say." 3. To their own second and sober thoughts (Job 6:29): "Return, I pray you, consider the thing over again without prejudice and partiality, and let not the result be iniquity, let it not be an unrighteous sentence; and you will find my righteousness is in it," that is, "I am in the right in this matter; and, though I cannot keep my temper as I should, I keep my integrity, and have not said, nor done, nor suffered, any thing which will prove me other than an honest man." A just cause desires nothing more than a just hearing, and if need be a re-hearing.
Matthew Henry (1662–1714) — Commentary on the Whole Bible. This section covers verses 22–30. Public domain.
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Julian of EclanumAD 455
EXPOSITION ON THE BOOK OF JOB 6:29
While convincing his friends that they are not acting friendly but speaking against common sense, Job now tries to show that he cannot appropriately be accused of speaking harshly or of desiring death by just judges. “And judge by saying what is just.” Be judges of the words that we said in common, so that your judgment may be in compliance with justice and not with a feeling of hostility.
Gregory the DialogistAD 604
6. As if it were expressed in plain words, ‘The more exactly ye weigh your own words, the more truly ye estimate those of others, and when what ye say begins to be right, ye will recognise what ye hear to be just. For my tongue never sounds of folly to you, unless it be what comes from your own inward thoughts.’ Thus Holy Church makes it her aim first to prove the allegations of her enemies to be false, and then to make known the announcements of the truth, for so long as they reckon themselves to hold right notions, they obstinately assail the right things that they hear. Therefore it is necessary beforehand that heretics should feel their error, lest they gainsay the truth when it is heard. For neither if the tiller of the soil neglect to root up the briars of the field by the cutting of the share, will the earth bring to a crop the seed received into her bosom; and 'when the physician does not get rid of the corruption, by opening the wound, healthy flesh never forms in the corrupt spot. First then in destroying what is bad, let him say, And speaking that which is just, judge ye; but afterwards in teaching what is right, let him add, And ye shalt not find iniquity in my tongue, nor shall foolishness sound through my jaws. Now it is the way with heretics to deliver some things openly, to hold others in secret, for by the ‘tongue,’ plain speaking is denoted, but by the ‘jaws [fauces],’ the secret harbouring.
7. Neither in the tongue then of Holy Church does ‘iniquity resound,’ nor ‘foolishness in her jaws,’ for the things that she proclaims in open utterance, at the same time she preserves in inward faith; nor does she teach one thing in public and keep another to herself in secret; but she both delivers what she thinks by giving utterance to it, and keeps what she delivers by living accordingly; and whatever is let out belonging to the feast of heavenly wisdom by the tongue of preaching, she tastes this same by the jaws of silent expectation. And let blessed Job, both as an individual member of the whole Church, in telling his own case, and as showing what is the heart of all of the Elect, make known all that he feels, that the testimony of his speech may manifest the uprightness of his mind.
Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.
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SUMMARY
In Job 6:30, the suffering patriarch Job issues a profound rhetorical challenge to his friends, particularly Eliphaz, vehemently asserting the integrity of his speech and the clarity of his moral discernment. This verse serves as a powerful culmination of his defense, declaring that his words are free from hidden sin or malicious intent, and that his spiritual judgment remains unclouded, enabling him to distinguish truth from falsehood even amidst his profound anguish. It is a desperate plea for his accusers to recognize his blamelessness and the soundness of his perception, rather than attributing his suffering to an imagined iniquity.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Job 6:30 powerfully employs Rhetorical Questions to convey Job's vehement denial and assertion. Instead of making direct statements, Job poses questions to which the implied answer is unequivocally "no" for the first and "yes" for the second, thereby intensifying his defense and challenging his accusers to confront the baselessness of their claims. The verse also features a potent Metaphor in the use of "taste" (palate) to represent Job's moral and spiritual discernment. Just as the palate distinguishes flavors, Job's "taste" distinguishes between truth and "perverse things." This vivid imagery underscores his claim to an acute and uncorrupted judgment. Furthermore, there is an element of Parallelism in the two clauses, where the purity of his "tongue" (speech) is paralleled with the discerning capacity of his "taste" (judgment), reinforcing the interconnectedness of his words and his inner moral state. The verse's structure and word choice highlight Job's unwavering conviction of his own integrity.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Job 6:30 speaks profoundly to the biblical understanding of the relationship between speech, character, and truth. It highlights the Old Testament emphasis on the integrity of the tongue as a reflection of the heart, a theme consistently explored in wisdom literature. Job's defense resonates with the divine expectation for righteous speech, free from deceit, malice, or folly, and underscores the pain of being judged falsely based on misguided theological frameworks. The verse also touches on the nature of discernment, a spiritual gift and a mark of maturity in biblical thought, where believers are called to distinguish between good and evil, truth and error, especially in the face of challenging circumstances or deceptive counsel. Job's desperate plea for his friends to recognize his pure speech and clear judgment anticipates the New Testament's call for believers to speak truth in love and to exercise spiritual discernment in all matters.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Job's passionate defense in this verse offers profound insights into the human experience of suffering, false accusation, and the desperate need for vindication. It calls us to examine the integrity of our own speech: are our words truly free from "iniquity," from malice, gossip, or deceit? Do we speak truth, even when it is difficult, and do our words reflect a heart that seeks righteousness? Furthermore, Job's claim to discern "perverse things" challenges us to cultivate spiritual discernment. In a world saturated with information and competing narratives, do we possess the "taste" to distinguish between truth and error, wisdom and folly, sound counsel and harmful ideology? This requires a deep engagement with God's Word, prayer, and a reliance on the Holy Spirit. Finally, Job's pain reminds us of the devastating impact of false accusations and the importance of offering grace and empathy rather than quick judgments, especially to those who are suffering. We are called to be comforters, not accusers, and to speak words that build up rather than tear down, remembering that true wisdom begins with humility and compassion.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
What does Job mean by "taste" in this verse, and how is it connected to discernment?
Answer: In Job 6:30, "taste" (Hebrew: chêk, literally "palate" or "roof of the mouth") is used metaphorically to represent Job's faculty of moral and spiritual judgment. Just as the physical palate discerns flavors and distinguishes between what is palatable and what is not, Job claims his spiritual "taste" allows him to discern between truth and falsehood, righteousness and "perverse things" (twisted or harmful ideas). This metaphor emphasizes his mental and spiritual acuity, asserting that his judgment is clear and uncorrupted, directly refuting any implication from his friends that his words or thoughts are confused or sinful. It's a powerful way for Job to declare his intellectual and spiritual integrity, suggesting he is fully capable of distinguishing between sound wisdom and misguided counsel, even in his suffering. This concept of discernment is vital throughout Scripture, encouraging believers to test everything and hold fast to what is good (1 Thessalonians 5:21).
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Job 6:30, with its passionate defense of an innocent man's integrity and the blamelessness of his speech, finds its ultimate and perfect fulfillment in Jesus Christ. Job, a righteous man suffering unjustly, yearns for vindication and asserts that no "iniquity" is in his tongue and that his "taste" can discern "perverse things." This foreshadows the perfect and truly blameless life of Jesus, in whose mouth no deceit was found (1 Peter 2:22). Unlike Job, who was a sinner though righteous in God's sight (Job 1:1), Jesus was truly without sin, the spotless Lamb of God. He perfectly discerned every perverse thing, exposing the twisted logic of the Pharisees (Matthew 22:15-22) and speaking only words of truth and life (John 6:68). While Job suffered for reasons beyond his understanding, Christ suffered as the ultimate innocent victim, bearing the iniquity of all humanity (Isaiah 53:6), and through His perfect life and sacrifice, He became the vindication for all who believe, demonstrating that true righteousness is found not in human defense but in divine grace and the perfect life of our Savior.