It appears that Job addresses all three of his friends. Job is really upset and he gives an explanation of his complaint. He says no one understands or could weigh the anguish he is experiencing, Job 6:1-3.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Job wished to be dealt with according to justice; as he was willing that his sins, if they could be proved, should be weighed against his sufferings; and if this could not be done, he wished that his sufferings and his complaints might be weighed together and it would then be seen that, bitter as his complaint had been, it was little when compared with the distress which occasioned it.’
He admits he has spoken rashly, Job 6:3, and he knows from what his friends have said that he would have to admit that he committed some large sin but he hasn’t, so he won’t admit to having done anything. He hasn’t sinned so why is it happening, he may have spoken rashly but he sees no other sin.
God has fired arrows into him for no apparent reason, Job 6:4. Job felt that God had launched this attack against him, but he couldn’t understand why. He gets stronger and says his friends are like animals needing comfort, Job 6:5. Braying and lowing, Job 6:5, are the results of dissatisfaction in the life of an animal, so he claimed the right to voice his dissatisfaction in reference to his predicament.
Dummelow, in his commentary, says the following.
‘It is because he feels that his troubles are due to God that he is almost beside himself since he cannot understand their motive. In Job 3 he had not charged God with being the author of his sorrows.’
Job asks is tasteless food eaten without salt or is there flavour in the sap of the mallow? Job 6:6. He refuses to touch it because such food makes him ill, Job 6:7. If the friends could only see the totality of his suffering but his friends simply can’t understand his condition. Job argued, they would conclude that he was not complaining without cause.
Then he turns to God and cries out to Him, Job 6:8. The content of this prayer is not good, he prays for death, Job 6:9, and anticipates no joy afterwards. He said he had a right to desire happiness in his existence in life. He gives the reason as to why he isn’t afraid to die, he thought death would bring him peace. He says he I would still have this consolation, his joy in unrelenting pain, that he hadn’t denied the words of the Holy One, Job 6:10.
Job asks, what strength do I have, that I should still hope? What prospects, that I should be patient? Job 6:11. Since Job was human, he wasn’t like stone or bronze, Job 6:12, he wondered how much longer he could endure his present physical state, Job 6:13.
The Tyndale commentary, says the following.
‘What Job is saying in this and the next verse is that ‘I am a human. I am a weak, frail, faltering human’ I am not made of brass or stone, this is more than I can bear. Therefore, I pray for God to take me home. Job’s resources were all spent, he had no endurance left.’
Job wonders how long he can bear to be patient. He may be directly attacking his three friends here because anything he turns to is taken away, Job 6:13. He came to the conclusion that because he had no hope for this life and no purpose for living, he may as well be dead, Romans 8:24-25.
Here Job now reproaches his friends because they have shown him no proper kindness, Job 6:14, especially at this time when his faith is being greatly tested. Surely he should have received some words of encouragement from them, I guess they are what are called, fair-weathered friends.
Job describes his friends as undependable as intermittent streams, as the streams that overflow, Job 6:15. When darkened by thawing ice and swollen with melting snow, but that stop flowing in the dry season and in the heat vanish from their channels, Job 6:16-17.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘He represents the waters as being sometimes suddenly frozen, their foam being turned into the semblance of snow or hoar-frost: when the heat comes, they are speedily liquefied and the evaporation is so strong from the heat, and the absorption so powerful from the sand, that they soon disappear.’
His disappointment in his friends is portrayed as those in trading caravans who followed a path that was to lead to water, Job 6:18-19, but the path led to despair, Job 6:20, for there was no water awaiting thirsty souls. He says in some way they are frightened of him because of his position, Job 6:21. It appears that his situation in life has made been into an opportunity for them to expose their jealousy concerning his former prosperity, Job 6:22-23.
DeHoff, in his commentary, says the following.
‘When Job was in prosperity, his friends were loyal to him but, when he was struck down with suffering, they rejected him.’
Job now issues the challenge, if they are so wise, then what is the terrible sin he committed, Job 6:24. He knows how painful honest words are and so he asks his friends what do your arguments prove? Job 6:25. He asks do you mean to correct what I say, and treat my desperate words as wind? Job 6:26. Reproof without proof is meaningless and perhaps dangerous, 1 Timothy 5:19.
Job goes over the top, he says they are heartless as those who cast lots for the fatherless and barter away their friend, Job 6:27. He expected that his friends who came to him would bring words of comfort and exhortation but because his friends brought only words of judgment, he too had resorted to such words in order to counter the accusations that were made against him. After this, they surely got the point.
He then appeals to their sympathy and sincerity, Job 6:28-30. It is not their fault that he is experiencing these difficulties, so who is? Wicked men do reap what they sow, Galatians 6:7-8, but Job wasn’t reaping from what he had sown in wickedness.
Coffman, in his commentary, gives the following paraphrase of Job 6:24-30.
‘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.’