Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Job 6:24
Teach me, and I will hold my tongue: and cause me to understand wherein I have erred.
24 27. In answer to their covert insinuations Job demands that they should bring home to him the sins of which they suspected him.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Teach me, and I will hold my tongue – That is, give me any real instruction, or show me what is my duty, and I will be silent. By this he means that Eliphaz had really imparted no instruction, but had dealt only in the language of reproof. The sense is, I would willingly sit and listen where truth is imparted, and where I could be enabled to see the reason of the divine dealings. If I could be made to understand where I have erred, I would acquiesce.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Job 6:24
Teach me, and I will hold my tongue.
The virtue of silence
This is the passionate outcry of a soul in trouble. Misfortune and loss have fallen heavily upon Job. His spirit is sorely stricken. The presence of Eliphaz and his many words of advice bring neither comfort nor hope, and almost in angry defiance the cry bursts from his lip. Teach me, and I will hold my tongue. Cause me to understand wherein I have erred. How forcible are right words! but what doth your arguing reprove? Angrily and hopelessly Job describes himself as one that is desperate. His eager demand is to know whether the trials and calamities that have come upon him are in reality due to exceeding wickedness and special sinfulness on his part. Let us take the words, Teach me, and I will hold my tongue, as the prayer of the earnest soul in the presence of God. In the experience of every Christian man occasions arise–alas, how often!–when words of unrestrained anger are allowed to escape from the lips–bitter, biting words that wound many a heart, that work havoc in the home, that make others wonder and even stumble, that bring discredit on the Christian profession. Truly the words of the apostle James are not the language of exaggeration. The tongue is a fire; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. Well may our prayer to God daily be, Teach me, and I will hold my tongue. Or, again, is not the same prayer needed in regard to our common conversation? Our speech is not always with grace, and, apart altogether from words of wrath and bitterness, there is a general carelessness which is to be deplored. Through sheer thoughtlessness incalculable harm is often done. The prayer is indeed necessary. Teach me, and I will hold my tongue. Usefully, however, as this text may be employed in enforcing common Christian duties and graces, my chief aim is to apply it to the culture of our deeper spiritual experience. The golden virtue of silence is not much in demand at the present time. On all hands the tendency is towards speech. It is a superficial age. Loudness and self-advertisement are in evidence rather than quietness and contemplation. Now I submit that when the prayer for Divine teaching is earnestly offered, there will be greater readiness to keep silence, greater desire for the quieter side of Christian life, greater longing for that deeper spirituality which does not always, or even chiefly, manifest itself in words. Even in the ordinary affairs of life the instructed man is not the man most eager to speak. Knowledge should bring humility, and a deepening sense of the tasks yet to be achieved. It is the man of little knowledge who is generally most eager to parade his opinions. In the spiritual culture of men it is not those who have passed through the deepest experiences that are most ready to speak of such things. The Divine teaching emphasises the importance and the value of silence quite as much as of speech. It enforces the need for quietness and meditation. How weary one often grows of the way in which Christ and Christianity are talked about on every side! How terrible is the lack of serious thought, or the presence of empty and complacent speech! Dr. Martineau has well said, If theological gossip were the measure of religious faith, we should be the devoutest of all human generations. I fear not! Curiosity, rather than reality, is the note that is sounded. Even in our Churches we must surely be grieved, and sometimes alarmed, by the lack of depth and seriousness. Earnest thought and prayerful aspiration are not too much in evidence. We talk too much: we strive too much. With our many organisations, societies, schemes, we are in danger of putting too high a value on the power of speech to the depreciation of the spirit that waits in silence and communes with God. Our aim seems largely to be to make speakers. Now I know well the need that exists for such help. Far be it from me to depreciate it! Yet I feel strongly that we are confronted by the peril of overestimating this kind of service. We are only too apt to forget the value of the man of quiet spirit, and to exalt unduly the man of many words and ready speech. I want to enter a plea on behalf of the silent man. There are undoubtedly in all the Churches many who could not give utterance to the deep thoughts and lofty aspirations stirring within them, and yet whose lives have in them the very spirit of Jesus Christ, and stamped upon them what is none other than the beauty of holiness. The time of difficulty and crisis clearly reveals their strength and their value. Great, indeed, is our loss when we fail to appreciate the man of few words, but of real spiritual power. One of our besetting dangers today is that of words outrunning experience. This peril must always prevail where speech is unduly exalted and praised. Where all are encouraged and frequently over persuaded to speak, utterance and conviction will find considerable difficulty in keeping company. Let the expression exceed the experience, and the spirit of unreality will creep in and will soon rule. Unreality will in the end beget contempt for the things professed, and indifference towards them. This is undoubtedly one of the explanations of the falling away of some in our Churches whose zeal has, for a time, been greatly in evidence. On the other hand we often find, especially among young people, that some of the very best of them are reserved in speech on religious matters, unwilling to discuss what is most sacred to them, unprepared as yet to reveal their deepest thoughts and experiences. The forcing house has no attraction for them, and they shrink back from what seems undue familiarity with Divine things. Too often such are looked upon with suspicion, or spoken of with censure, by many glib of tongue yet unworthy to stand by their side. Let it be borne in mind, then, that while the Divine illumination may make men preachers and teachers, yet its result in producing silence and meditation is not to be overlooked nor lightly regarded. An intense hatred of sin, a clear conception of pardon, an earnest meditation on the wonders of grace and redemption, a tarrying long at the Cross of Calvary and dwelling on its mystery and glory–such vital experiences may well produce in the soul humility, awe, and silence. The quietness of the Divine method must not, then, be lost sight of. The virtue of silence must be more highly prized. Growth should be steady, not sudden; regular, not spasmodic. To this end personal communion with God, individual fellowship with Him is indispensable. The soul that waits in silence learns the deepest lessons, finds the richest treasures. Christ Himself found His truest strength in His solitary companionship with the Father. Silence has its place, therefore, in spiritual development. Speech is not to be underestimated. But there is little danger of that mistake being made. Far greater is the peril of an undue exaltation of the value of speech, and a corresponding depreciation of the virtue of silence. Teach me, and I will hold my peace, is a prayer full of promise for the common days and common ways of life, as well as for its special experiences and special crises. (H. P. Young.)
And cause me to understand wherein I have erred.—
Man liable to error
1. Man is subject to error. To error in speech, to error in practice, to error in judgment. Man by nature can do nothing else but err. All his goings are goings astray, and all his knowledge is bottomed upon an heap of false principles. All his works (by nature) are errata, and the whole edition of his life a continued mistake.
2. That man is in a fair way to truth, who acknowledgeth he may err.
3. An error strictly and properly taken is that which we hold or do out of bare ignorance of the truth.
4. That an erring brother or friend must not be importuned barely to leave his error, but he must be made to understand his error. (J. Caryl.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 24. Teach me] Show me where I am mistaken. Bring proper arguments to convince me of my errors; and you will soon find that I shall gladly receive your counsels, and abandon the errors of which I may be convicted.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Teach me; instead of censuring and reproaching, instruct and convince me by solid arguments.
I will hold my tongue; I will patiently hear and gladly receive your counsels; or, I will be silent; I will neither contradict you, nor complain of my own griefs. Compare Job 40:4,5; Pr 30:32.
Wherein I have erred, i.e. my mistakes and miscarriages.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
24, 25. Irony. If you can “teachme” the right view, I am willing to be set right, and “holdmy tongue”; and to be made to see my error. But then if yourwords be really the right words, how is it that they are so feeble?”Yet how feeble are the words of what you call the right view.”So the Hebrew is used (in Mic 2:10;Mic 1:9). The English Version,“How powerful,” &c., does not agree so well with thelast clause of the verse.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Teach me, and I will hold my tongue,…. Job having made his defence, and which he thought a sufficient one to acquit him of the charge against him; yet to show that he was not stubborn and flexible, but was open to conviction, and ready to attend and hearken to what might be further said, desires to be taught and instructed in the way of his duty; suggesting that, upon being convinced of his mistakes, he should ingenuously acknowledge them: good men are desirous of being taught both of God and men; they are not above instruction, or think themselves wiser than their teachers; they are willing to receive knowledge, not only from their superiors, but from their equals, and even from those that are inferior to them, as Job from his friends, though they had been unkind to him, and bore very hard upon him; and he promises that while they were speaking he would be silent, and not noisy, and clamorous, nor interrupt nor contradict them; but would patiently and attentively listen to what they said, and seriously consider it, and weigh it well in his mind; and, should he be convinced thereby, would no longer continue his complaints unto God, nor murmur at his providences; and would cease reflecting on them his friends, and no more charge them with deceit, perfidy, and unkindness; and by his silence would acknowledge his guilt, and not pertinaciously stand in an evil matter, but lay his hand on his mouth; hold his tongue, as our English phrase is, a Graecism z; that is, be silent, as in Hebrew; and even take shame to himself, and in this way confess his iniquity, and do so no more:
and cause me to understand wherein I have erred; not that he allowed that he was in an error; for all that he says, both before and after, shows that he thought himself free from any; only, that whereas there was a possibility that he might be in one, he should be glad to have it pointed out; for he would not willingly and obstinately continue therein: error is common to human nature; the best of men are liable to mistakes; and those are so frequent and numerous, that many of them escape notice; “who can understand his errors?” Ps 19:12; wherefore wise and good men will esteem it a favour to have their errors pointed out to them, and their mistakes rectified; and it becomes men of capacity and ability to take some pains to do this, since he that converts one that has erred, whether in principle or practice, saves a soul from death, and covers a multitude of sins; Jas 5:19; Job is desirous, that if he had imbibed or uttered any error in principle, any thing unbecoming the Divine Being, contrary to his perfections, or to the holy religion which he professed, or was guilty of any in practice, in his conduct and behaviour, especially under the present providence, that it might be clearly made out unto him, and he should at once frankly and freely own it, retract and relinquish it.
z , Aelian. Var. Hist. l. 2. c. 2.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
24 Teach me, and I will be silent,
And cause me to understand wherein I have failed.
25 How forcible are words in accordance with truth!
But what doth reproof from you reprove?
26 Do you think to reprove words?
The words of one in despair belong to the wind.
27 Ye would even cast lots for the orphan,
And traffic about your friend.
, Job 6:25, in the signification of ( Psa 119:103), would suit very well: how smooth, delicate, sweet, are, etc. (Hirz., Ew., Schlottm.); but this meaning does not suit Job 16:3. Hupfeld, by comparison with mar, bitter, translates: quantumvis acerba ; but may signify quidquid , though not quantumvis . Hahn compares the Arabic verb to be sick, and translates: in what respect are right words bad; but physical disease and ethical badness are not such nearly related ideas. Ebrard: honest words are not taken amiss; but with an inadmissible application of Job 16:3. Von Gerl. is best: how strong or forcible are, etc. is taken as related to , in the signification to penetrate; Hiph. to goad; Niph. to be furnished with the property of penetrating, – used here of penetrating speech; 1Ki 2:8, of a curse inevitably carried out; Mic 2:10, of unsparing destruction. Words which keep the straight way to truth, go to the heart; on the contrary, what avails the reproving from you, i.e., which proceeds from you? , inf. absol. as Pro 25:27, and in but a few other passages as subject; , as Job 5:15, the sword going forth out of their mouth. In Job 6:26 the waw introduces a subordinate adverbial clause: while, however, the words of one in despair belong to the wind, that they may be carried away by it, not to the judgment which retains and analyzes them, without considering the mood of which they are the hasty expression. The futt. express the extent to which their want of feeling would go, if the circumstances for it only existed; they are subjunctive, as Job 3:13, Job 3:16. , the lot, is to be supplied to , as 1Sa 14:42. The verb , however, does not here signify to dig, so that , a pit, should be supplied (Heiligst.), still less: dig out earth, and cast it on any one (Ebrard); but has the signification of buying and selling with of the object, exactly like Job 39:27.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
4. Their words are academic. Where is his sin? (Job. 6:24-30)
TEXT 6:2430
24 Teach me, and I will hold my peace;
And cause me to understand wherein I have erred.
25 How forcible are words of uprightness!
But your reproof, what doth it reprove?
26 Do ye think to reprove words,
Seeing that the speeches of one that is desperate are as wind?
27 Yea, ye would cast lots upon the fatherless,
And make merchandise of your friend.
28 Now therefore be pleased to look upon me;
For surely I shall not lie to your face.
29 Return, I pray you, let there be no injustice;
Yea, return again, my cause is righteous.
30 Is there injustice on my tongue?
Cannot my taste discern mischievous things?
COMMENT 6:2430
Job. 6:24If his friends can help him, he will listen in silence for their sympathetic words. He only asks for proof, not mere assertions, concerning his guilt. For discussions of inadvertent and presumptuous sins, see Leviticus 4; Num. 15:22-29; Psa. 19:13.
Job. 6:25The A. V. translates nimras as how forcible. It is used here and occurs again only in Job. 16:3.[91] Job asks once more for what specific sin do you accuse me? Your arrogant generalities are meaningless, and only provoke me to more pain.
[91] G. R. Driver, Journal of Theological Studies, XXIX, 1927-a, 394ff, argues for be bitter.
Job. 6:26Are Jobs words but wind? His friends have only been concerned to rebuke Job for his expression of his grief, instead of comforting him by identifying the cause of his words. You think that your words are correct and hold the words of him who is in anguish to be vanity. One that is desperate[92] is one that is as hopeless (Hebrew a despairing manIsa. 57:10; Jer. 2:25; and Jer. 18:12) as wind, meaning that they will soon be blown away; then we can forget them.
[92] Reichert, Job, Soncino, p. 28.
Job. 6:27Eliphazs complacent lecturing is inhumane. As a healer, he is more interested in the disease than the patient. Though the general sense is evident, the phrase cast lots is a problem, as the Hebrew contains no word lots, but see Job. 6:14-23. They bargain overmake merchandise oftheir friends. Make merchandise, barter, is used in 40:30 where the same verb is used of fish dealers (wholesalers) haggling over Leviathan. The same verb is used in Hos. 3:2 concerning Hoseas purchase of a prostitute on the slave marketDeu. 2:6. Job is suffering, while they are haggling with him as an object in a consumer trainee program.
Job. 6:28The verse is in the form of an oathI swear I will not lie. But his friends have turned from him, unable to bear either his physical appearance or his violent words.
Job. 6:29Return (Heb. subureturn you) does not mean that his friends are departing from him, but rather that he is asking them to change their attitude toward him. The A. V. translation my cause is right is possible but unclear. Dhorme reveals the meaning in his translationmy righteousness is still in tact.[93] Job still maintains his innocence, even in his furnace of affliction.
[93] Dhorme, Job, p. 94.
Job. 6:30Job says if there was poison on my tongue, would I not know it? Cannot my palate (Hebrew) discern mischievous things, i.e., am I not able to discern the flavor of my own suffering? Neither his palate nor his moral integrity have lost their powers of discernment.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
Second strophe Their words, far from being forcible, have in them the elements of cruelty, Job 6:24-27.
24. Teach me If they really believe that he has been guilty of some great wrong, as their looks probably showed during the seven days of formal sorrow, it is their duty now to show him the wrong. Eliphaz had taken advantage of “the wrath” of Job to charge him with folly. Having disposed, as he thinks, of this charge, Job now demands other reasons for their cruel treatment.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“Handfuls of Purpose”
For All Gleaners
“… cause me to understand wherein I have erred.” Job 6:24
Job does not admit his error, but inasmuch as he is suffering as if he had erred he wishes to have the mistake definitely pointed out. All unexplained suffering is made the larger by its very mystery. We do not always see the errors we have committed; sometimes they require to be distinctly pointed out by him against whom we have transgressed. Error is not broad, vulgar, and obvious, in all its manifestations. Sometimes it is spiritual, subtle, beyond the reach of words, and wholly invisible, except when high moral light falls upon it from above. The patriarch is in a reasonable mood, inasmuch as he desires to have his understanding enlightened as to his faults; at the same time, even our reasonableness may be barbed with a cruel sting: the soft tone does not always convey the soft meaning: even in this exclamation of the sufferer there may be a tone of self-complacency or even of defiance, as who should say, It is impossible to charge me with error: if I am chargeable with it, let me know what it is, for I have no consciousness of it, and if any proof can be furnished it will excite my surprise. Men are not quick to see their own errors. Even the best man requires all the light of heaven in which to see himself as he really is. Comparing ourselves with ourselves, we become wise in our own conceit, but comparing ourselves with the spiritual law of God, we see that even our virtue cannot boast to be without stain or flaw. The prayer may be turned to high practical uses: Search me, O God, and try me, and see if there be any wicked way in me. We must get rid of the deception that we fully and absolutely see ourselves as we really are: every day we need God’s help to show us our true character, our real motive, our complete design. We can hide many things under a false exterior which we would not for the world expose to the light of day. We must insist upon viewing ourselves in the divine light, rather than judging ourselves by social canons and conventional standards. Let us go to God for full explanations of natural mysteries, personal perplexities, and all social hindrances and vexations. There is always more in a case of this kind than is obvious on the surface. All inward trouble does not indicate itself by outward symptoms: hence we need the intervention and guidance of the divine.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
Job 6:24 Teach me, and I will hold my tongue: and cause me to understand wherein I have erred.
Ver. 24. Teach me, and I will hold my tongue ] If I be in an error, I am willing to be rectified. Hitherto you have mistook my case; and so your speech hath been to small purpose. But if you will come home to my case indeed, and weigh things in an even balance, I shall gladly submit to your more mature judgment and direction. Teach me, and you shall find that I am not indocible, that I am not as “horse and mule that have no understanding,” Psa 32:9 , nor will learn any; much less than the creature called rhinoceros, untameable and untractable. It shall appear to you that I am not utterly uncounselable, as those of whom Basil complaineth, qui quid verum sit neque sciunt, neque sustinent discere, that neither know what truth and right is, nor will endure to be taught it (Epist. ad Euagr. 10). Job was not to be told that it was easier to deal with 20 men’s reasons than with one man’s will; he promiseth therefore not to stand out against his friends, because he will stand out. It is not my will, saith he, that opposeth what you have spoken, but my understanding. I am a slave to right reason; and if convinced thereby, I shall soon lay down the bucklers. Teach me, and I will hold my tongue, and not strive for the last word to lengthen out the contention; I am willing to reason, but not to wrangle. See Pro 30:32 .
Cause me to understand wherein I have erred
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Job 6:24-30
Job 6:24-30
JOB’S DEMAND THAT HIS FRIENDS IDENTIFY HIS SINS
“Teach me, and I will hold my peace;
And cause me to understand wherein I have erred.
How forcible are the words of righteousness!
But your reproof, what doth it reprove?
Do ye think to reprove words,
Seeing that the speeches of one that is desperate are as wind?
Yea, ye would cast lots upon the fatherless,
And make merchandise of your friend.
Now therefore be pleased to look upon me;
For surely I shall not lie to your face.
Return, I pray you, let there be no injustice;
Yea, return again, my cause is righteous.
Is there injustice on my tongue?
Cannot my taste discern mischievous things?”
A paraphrase of this paragraph: “Look, If I am a sinner, tell me what it was in which I sinned. Would I lie to you? Look me in the eye. Don’t get up and leave me. Stay here and help me. Am I so ignorant that I don’t know what sin is.’? No matter what you think, my trouble is not caused by my wickedness. You have criticized my words; but it is silly to make a case based on the words of a man who is suffering desperately. “Allowances must be made for words uttered in deep distress.” “Reconsider my case, for my cause is righteous.”
“Return … return” (Job 6:29). These words indicate that Job’s friends, at this juncture, were on the verge of getting up and departing from him; and Job pleaded with them not to impose such an injustice upon him, still insisting that he had done no wickedness that might have been the cause of his sufferings.
E.M. Zerr:
Job 6:24. Up to the present point in the conversation Eliphaz had not spoken anything to Job that he did not already know. That is why he said teach me and I will hold my tongue.
Job 6:25. Reprove is another form of “prove.” Job meant that the argument of Eliphaz did not prove anything on the subject under consideration.
Job 6:26. Another meaning of reprove is “dispute.” Job asked Eliphaz if his purpose was merely to dispute or contend against the words he was hearing. A man in as desperate condition as that of Job would likely give forth words like a whirlwind. But it would not be fair for a man to wage such a contest when he was in possession of all his good things and the other man was as downcast as Job.
Job 6:27. Job did not accuse Eliphaz of literally injuring the helpless as it is worded here. But such an act was an illustration of his unjust attacks on Job.
Job 6:28-30. This paragraph amounts to a challenge for Eliphaz to “get down to business” and come to the real issue. If Job was lying or making false claims it ought to be evident, and his friend was called upon to expose it.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Teach me: Job 5:27, Job 32:11, Job 32:15, Job 32:16, Job 33:1, Job 33:31-33, Job 34:32, Psa 32:8, Pro 9:9, Pro 25:12, Jam 1:19
I will: Psa 39:1, Psa 39:2, Jam 3:2
cause me: Job 10:2, Psa 19:12
Reciprocal: Job 12:2 – ye are the people
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Job 6:24-25. Teach me Instead of censuring and reproaching, instruct and convince me by solid arguments; and I will hold my tongue I will patiently hear and gladly receive your counsels; and cause me to understand wherein I have erred Show me my mistakes and miscarriages; for I am ready to receive your reproofs, and humbly to submit to them. How forcible are right words! The words of truth and solid argument have a marvellous power to convince and persuade a man; and, if yours were such, I should readily yield to them. But what doth your arguing reprove? There is no truth in your assertions, nor weight in your arguments, and therefore they are of no account, and have no power with me.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
6:24 Teach me, and I will {o} hold my tongue: and cause me to understand wherein I have erred.
(o) Show me where I have erred, and I will confess my sin.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Job’s invitation to his friends 6:24-30
Next, Job invited his friends to identify the sin for which they believed God was punishing him. [Note: See Westermann, pp. 97-99, for a discussion of Job’s claim of innocence.] So far Eliphaz had only alluded to it. Job welcomed specific honest criticism, not arguments based on insinuations (Job 6:25). In Job 6:30 Job seems to be claiming the ability to know whether his afflictions were the result of sin or not, as a person can distinguish different tastes in his or her mouth.