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Commentary on Job 6 verses 1–7
1 ¶ But Job answered and said,
2 Oh that my grief were throughly weighed, and my calamity laid in the balances together!
3 For now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea: therefore my words are swallowed up.
4 For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit: the terrors of God do set themselves in array against me.
5 Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass? or loweth the ox over his fodder?
6 Can that which is unsavoury be eaten without salt? or is there any taste in the white of an egg?
7 The things that my soul refused to touch are as my sorrowful meat.
Eliphaz, in the beginning of his discourse, had been very sharp upon Job, and yet it does not appear that Job gave him any interruption, but heard him patiently till he had said all he had to say. Those that would make an impartial judgment of a discourse must hear it out, and take it entire. But, when he had concluded, he makes his reply, in which he speaks very feelingly.
I. He represents his calamity, in general, as much heavier than either he had expressed it or they had apprehended it, Job 6:2, Job 6:3. He could not fully describe it; they would not fully apprehend it, or at least would not own that they did; and therefore he would gladly appeal to a third person, who had just weights and just balances with which to weigh his grief and calamity, and would do it with an impartial hand. He wished that they would set his grief and all the expressions of it in one scale, his calamity and all the particulars of it in the other, and (though he would not altogether justify himself in his grief) they would find (as he says, Job 23:2) that his stroke was heavier than his groaning; for, whatever his grief was, his calamity was heavier than the sand of the sea: it was complicated, it was aggravated, every grievance weighty, and all together numerous as the sand. "Therefore (says he) my words are swallowed up;" that is, "Therefore you must excuse both the brokenness and the bitterness of my expressions. Do not think it strange if my speech be not so fine and polite as that of an eloquent orator, or so grave and regular as that of a morose philosopher: no, in these circumstances I can pretend neither to the one nor to the other; my words are, as I am, quite swallowed up." Now, 1. He hereby complains of it as his unhappiness that his friends undertook to administer spiritual physic to him before they thoroughly understood his case and knew the worst of it. It is seldom that those who are at ease themselves rightly weigh the afflictions of the afflicted. Every one feels most from his own burden; few feel from other people's. 2. He excuses the passionate expressions he had used when he cursed his day. Though he could not himself justify all he had said, yet he thought his friends should not thus violently condemn it, for really the case was extraordinary, and that might be connived at in such a man of sorrows as he now was which in any common grief would by no means be allowed. 3. He bespeaks the charitable and compassionate sympathy of his friends with him, and hopes, by representing the greatness of his calamity, to bring them to a better temper towards him. To those that are pained it is some ease to be pitied.
II. He complains of the trouble and terror of mind he was in as the sorest part of his calamity, Job 6:4. Herein he was a type of Christ, who, in his sufferings, complained most of the sufferings of his soul. Now is my soul troubled, Joh 12:27. My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, Mat 26:38. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Mat 27:46. Poor Job sadly complains here, 1. Of what he felt The arrows of the Almighty are within me. It was not so much the troubles themselves he was under that put him into this confusion, his poverty, disgrace, and bodily pain; but that which cut him to the heart and put him into this agitation, was to think that the God he loved and served had brought all this upon him and laid him under these marks of his displeasure. Note, Trouble of mind is the sorest trouble. A wounded spirit who can bear! Whatever burden of affliction, in body or estate, God is pleased to lay upon us, we may well afford to submit to it as long as he continues to the use of our reason and the peace of our consciences; but, if in either of these we be disturbed, our case is sad indeed and very pitiable. The way to prevent God's fiery darts of trouble is with the shield of faith to quench Satan's fiery darts of temptation. Observe, He calls them the arrows of the Almighty; for it is an instance of the power of God above that of any man that he can with his arrows reach the soul. He that made the soul can make his sword to approach to it. The poison or heat of these arrows is said to drink up his spirit, because it disturbed his reason, shook his resolution, exhausted his vigour, and threatened his life; and therefore his passionate expressions, though they could not be justified, might be excused. 2. Of what he feared. He saw himself charged by the terrors of God, as by an army set in battle-array, and surrounded by them. God, by his terrors, fought against him. As he had no comfort when he retired inward into his own bosom, so he had none when he looked upward towards Heaven. He that used to be encouraged with the consolations of God not only wanted those, but was amazed with the terrors of God.
III. He reflects upon his friends for their severe censures of his complaints and their unskilful management of his case. 1. Their reproofs were causeless. He complained, it is true, now that he was in this affliction, but he never used to complain, as those do who are of a fretful unquiet spirit, when he was in prosperity: he did not bray when he had grass, nor low over his fodder, Job 6:5. But, now that he was utterly deprived of all his comforts, he must be a stock or a stone, and not have the sense of an ox or a wild ass, if he did not give some vent to his grief. He was forced to eat unsavoury meats, and was so poor that he had not a grain of salt wherewith to season them, nor to give a little taste to the white of an egg, which was now the choicest dish he had at his table, Job 6:6. Even that food which once he would have scorned to touch he was now glad of, and it was his sorrowful meat, Job 6:7. Note, It is wisdom not to use ourselves or our children to be nice and dainty about meat and drink, because we know not how we or they may be reduced, nor how that which we now disdain may be made acceptable by necessity. 2. Their comforts were sapless and insipid; so some understand Job 6:6, Job 6:7. He complains he had nothing now offered to him for his relief that was proper for him, no cordial, nothing to revive and cheer his spirits; what they had afforded was in itself as tasteless as the white of an egg, and, when applied to him, as loathsome and burdensome as the most sorrowful meat. I am sorry he should say thus of what Eliphaz had excellently well said, Job 5:8, etc. But peevish spirits are too apt thus to abuse their comforters.
Matthew Henry (1662–1714) — Commentary on the Whole Bible. This section covers verses 1–7. Public domain.
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John ChrysostomAD 407
COMMENTARY ON JOB 6:7B
Sores and pus were not enough. A new affliction is added. Job’s disease has destroyed his entire sensitivity to the extent that even his nourishment has become a torture for him. Indeed, Job says, the nauseating smell of gangrene has deprived him of the capability to distinguish sensations. Is there anything more painful than that torment? Neither sleep gave him rest nor food nourished him. “As the smell of a lion,” Job says. That wild beast, in fact, gives a horrible stench.
Gregory the DialogistAD 604
10. For he goes very far wrong, who imagines that the words of blessed Job were delivered with an eye to the historical fact alone. For what would the holy man, and one too borne up by the proclaim of His Maker, have said, that was great, or rather what that was true, if he had said that ‘unsavoury meat could not be eaten?’ or who had offered deadly food for him to eat, that he should subjoin, Or who can taste, what by being tasted brings death? And if we imagine that was said of his friends’ discourse, we are withheld from this view by the sentence that is subjoined, in which he says, The things that my soul refused to touch are for straitness become my meat. For never let it be thought that the holy man, when established in soundness of state, at any time looked down upon the words of his friends; who, as we learn afterwards by himself attesting it, was humble even to his servants, His words then are not void of mystical senses, which, as we gather from the end of the history, the internal Arbiter Himself commends. And these would never have gone on commanding such deep veneration even to the very ends of the world, if they had not been pregnant with mystical meaning.
11. Let blessed Job then, in that he is a member of holy Church, speak in her voice also, saying, The things which my soul refused to touch are for my straitness become my meat. For the Gentile world, after conversion, made eager by the fever of her love, hungers for the food of Holy Scripture, which being filled with pride it disdained for long. And yet these words agree with the voice of Judaea also, if they be a little more attentively made out. For from the training of the Law, and from the knowledge of the One God, she herself had salt, and looked down upon all the Gentiles as brute creatures. But because, when instructed by the precepts of the Law, she disdained to admit to herself the communion of the Gentiles, what did she but loath to take ‘unsavoury food?’ For the Divine decree had forbidden, on the menace of death, that the Israelitish people should join in a league with strangers, and pollute the way of life in holy religion. Whence too it is added, Or can anyone taste, what, by being tasted, brings death? But because this same Judaea, in the portion of the Elect, was converted to the faith of the Redeemer, the light which she had become acquainted with she laboured by the Holy Apostles to deliver to the faithless of her offspring. But the pride of the Hebrew people rejected the ministry of her preaching, whence she immediately turned aside her words of exhortation for the gathering together of the Gentiles, as it is said also by the same Apostles, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you; but seeing that ye have put it from you, and have judged yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. [Acts 13, 46] Whence too in this place it is fitly subjoined, The things which my soul refused to touch are now for my straitness become my meat. For Judaea, having disdained the life of the Gentiles, refused as it were for long to touch her, whose society she scorned to admit; but on coming to the grace of the Redeemer, being rejected by the unbelieving Israelites, while by the Holy Apostles she stretches out herself for the gathering together of the Gentiles, she as it were takes that for food with a hungry appetite, which before with loathing she disdained as unworthy. For she underwent ‘straitness’ in her preaching, who saw that what she spoke was despised among the Hebrew people. But for her ‘straitness’ she ate the food which she had for long despised, in that being rejected by the obduracy of the Jews, she yearns to take to her the Gentile folk, whom she had contemned. Seeing then that we have delivered these points in a figurative sense, it remains that we go into them in their moral import.
Gregory the DialogistAD 604
18. For the soul of the righteous, going on in its progress, whereas before, when it cared for its own interests alone, it loathed to bear the burthens of another, and, too little sympathizing with others, could not stand against adversities, now that it constrains itself to bear with the weakness of its neighbour, acquires strength to overcome adversity, so that for the love of truth it seeks the hurts of the present life with so much the more courage afterwards, that before it fled from them in its weakness. For by its bending it is made erect, by its drawing towards another it is stretched out, by its fellow-feeling it is strengthened, and when it opens itself out in the love of our neighbour, it as it were gathers from reflection, with what resoluteness to lift itself up to its Maker. For charity, which lowers us according to the force of our sympathy, lifts us the higher upon the height of contemplation, and enlarged manifold it already burns with bigger desires, already beats high to attain to the life of the Spirit, even though through the torments of the body. What then aforetime he refused to touch, this same for straitness he afterwards eateth, who scarce containing his desires, now for love of his heavenly Country loves even the very pains, which for long he had feared. For if the mind is bent towards God with a strong purpose, whatever bitter betides it in this present life it accounts sweet, all that annoys it reckons rest, and it longs to pass even through death, that it may more completely possess itself of life. It desires to be utterly annihilated below, that it may more truly mount on high. But all this I may be falsely representing to be the case with the mind of a righteous man in general, and with the mind of blessed Job.
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
Job 6:7 encapsulates the profound and debilitating anguish of Job, who, overwhelmed by inexplicable suffering, describes how his deep despair has permeated every aspect of his existence, rendering even the most basic sustenance utterly repugnant. This verse powerfully illustrates the holistic nature of suffering, where emotional and spiritual torment manifests physically, making life's necessities taste like the very bitterness of his sorrow itself. It is a poignant expression of a soul pushed to its absolute limits, finding no comfort or relief in the very things meant to sustain life.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Job 6:7 employs several potent literary devices to convey the depth of Job's suffering. The most prominent is Metaphor, where "sorrowful meat" functions as a powerful image for his entire existence. His food is not just like his sorrow; it is his sorrow, implying that every act of sustenance is steeped in his pain. This is further amplified by Hyperbole, as Job's statement exaggerates the extent of his aversion to convey the overwhelming nature of his despair. It's not merely that he has lost his appetite, but that the very thought of food is repulsive, an extreme expression of his internal state. Additionally, there is a subtle form of Personification where his "soul" is depicted as actively "refusing to touch," giving agency to his inner being in its rejection of sustenance, underscoring the deep, internal nature of his revulsion rather than a mere physical symptom.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Job 6:7 offers a profound theological insight into the human experience of suffering, particularly the way it can permeate and distort every aspect of life, including the most basic necessities. It challenges simplistic notions of cause and effect in suffering, presenting a reality where pain is so overwhelming that it defies easy explanation or resolution. This verse connects to the broader biblical theme of lament, affirming that it is permissible, even necessary, to express raw, unfiltered anguish to God, even when it involves physical manifestations of distress. It underscores that suffering is not merely a spiritual or intellectual battle but a holistic assault on the human person, affecting body, mind, and spirit, and that God is big enough to hear and hold even our most visceral expressions of pain.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Job 6:7 serves as a powerful reminder of the profound and pervasive impact of deep grief and suffering on the human person. It invites us to cultivate a profound empathy for those who are overwhelmed by sorrow, recognizing that their pain can manifest in surprising and debilitating ways, even affecting their most basic physical needs like appetite. This verse challenges us to move beyond superficial comfort or simplistic explanations when confronting suffering, instead encouraging us to sit with the uncomfortable reality of another's anguish, offering presence rather than platitudes. It also grants us permission to be fully honest with God about our own pain, acknowledging that our laments, no matter how raw or physically expressed, are valid and heard by a compassionate Creator. In a world that often pressures us to "get over it" quickly, Job's lament reminds us that true healing often begins with acknowledging the full scope of our brokenness and allowing ourselves to feel the bitter taste of our own "sorrowful meat," trusting that God meets us even in our deepest despair.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Does Job 6:7 suggest that Job is rejecting God's provision or being ungrateful?
Answer: No, Job 6:7 does not suggest Job is rejecting God's provision or being ungrateful in a rebellious sense. Instead, it is a desperate and honest expression of the extreme physical and emotional toll his suffering has taken. His "soul refused to touch" and his food became "sorrowful meat" because his overwhelming grief and pain had so thoroughly permeated his being that even the most basic act of sustenance became repulsive. This is a common physiological response to profound stress, trauma, or depression, where appetite is suppressed, and food loses its appeal. Job is not intentionally spurning God's gifts; rather, his body and spirit are so broken that they cannot receive comfort or nourishment from anything, even food. It highlights the depth of his anguish, not a deliberate act of ungratefulness, much like a person in deep mourning might find it impossible to eat, as reflected in Psalm 102:4-5.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Job 6:7, with its depiction of a soul so burdened that even sustenance becomes "sorrowful meat," finds its ultimate and most profound fulfillment in the person and work of Jesus Christ. While Job's suffering was inexplicable to him, Christ's suffering was a deliberate, redemptive act. Jesus, the sinless Son of God, truly tasted the bitterness of human sin and the full weight of divine wrath on the cross, becoming "a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief" (Isaiah 53:3). In Gethsemane, His soul was "overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death" (Matthew 26:38), a spiritual agony so intense that it caused Him to sweat drops of blood. He willingly embraced the "sorrowful meat" of our sin and separation from God, enduring the ultimate rejection and abandonment so that we might partake of the "bread of life" (John 6:35) and never hunger spiritually. His sacrifice transforms our "sorrowful meat" into a feast of grace, offering true sustenance and comfort where Job found only revulsion, ultimately leading to eternal life and joy in His presence (John 6:53-58).