Job 6:8-13

Job 6:8-13

[8] Oh that I might have  my request;  and that God  would grant  me the thing that I long for!  [9] Even that it would please  God  to destroy  me; that he would let loose  his hand,  and cut me off!  [10] Then should I yet have comfort;  yea, I would harden  myself in sorrow:  let him not spare;  for I have not concealed  the words  of the Holy One.  [11] What is my strength,  that I should hope?  and what is mine end,  that I should prolong  my life?  [12] Is my strength  of stones?  or is my flesh  of brass?  [13] Is not my help  in me? and is wisdom  driven quite  from me?

What does Job 6:8-13 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

Job longed for death. He wished God would release him from his enslavement to life (cf. Psalm 105:20) and snip off his life as a weaver cuts thread ( Job 6:9).
"Life is like a weaving, and only God can see the total pattern and when the work is finished." [1]
Job affirmed his faithfulness to God"s words ( Job 6:10) but acknowledged that he had no hope and no help to live. Job 6:13 should read as an affirmation rather than as a question: "Indeed my help ... and deliverance is driven from me."
"The fact that Job speaks about God in the third person should not be permitted to give the wrong impression. He is actually praying, not talking to Eliphaz. Such a convention is common in the respectful address to a superior." [2]