Job 16:3 kjv
Shall vain words have an end? or what emboldeneth thee that thou answerest?
Job 16:3 nkjv
Shall words of wind have an end? Or what provokes you that you answer?
Job 16:3 niv
Will your long-winded speeches never end? What ails you that you keep on arguing?
Job 16:3 esv
Shall windy words have an end? Or what provokes you that you answer?
Job 16:3 nlt
Won't you ever stop blowing hot air?
What makes you keep on talking?
Job 16 3 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Psa 12:2-4 | "Everyone utters lies to his neighbor... O that the Lord would cut off all flattering lips..." | Falsity and emptiness of human words |
| Prov 10:19 | "When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent." | Warnings against excessive and foolish speech |
| Prov 12:18 | "There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing." | Words that wound vs. words that heal |
| Prov 17:28 | "Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent." | Silence as wisdom |
| Prov 18:2 | "A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his own opinion." | Speaking out of self-absorption |
| Eccl 5:3 | "For a dream comes with much business, and a fool's voice with many words." | Futility of much speech |
| Eccl 6:11 | "The more words, the more vanity, and what is the advantage to man?" | The vanity of superfluous words |
| Jer 23:32 | "Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the Lord, and who tell them and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness..." | Empty words as deception |
| Job 6:15 | "My brothers are faithless like a torrent, like the beds of wadis that pass away..." | Friends' unreliability and deceit |
| Job 13:4 | "As for you, you whitewash with lies; worthless physicians are you all." | Friends' futile advice/accusations |
| Job 26:3 | "How you have helped him who has no power! How you have saved the arm that has no strength!" | Sarcastic dismissal of useless help |
| Psa 35:11 | "Malicious witnesses rise up; they ask me of things that I do not know." | Wrongful accusations from adversaries |
| Psa 38:19 | "But my foes are vigorous, they are strong, and those who hate me wrongfully are many." | Unjustified hostility against the righteous |
| Mat 5:11 | "Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account." | Persecution through false words |
| Luke 6:45 | "The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks." | Speech reveals inner state/motivation |
| Acts 24:5-6 | "For we have found this man a pestilent fellow, a disturber of the peace among all the Jews throughout the world and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes." | False accusations against the innocent |
| Rom 3:13 | "Their throat is an open grave; with their tongues they keep practicing deceit. The venom of asps is under their lips." | Destructive power of the tongue |
| Eph 4:29 | "Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear." | Proper use of speech (edification) |
| Tit 1:10 | "For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party." | Warning against empty and deceptive talk |
| 2 Tim 2:16 | "But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness." | Avoiding spiritually damaging speech |
| Jas 1:26 | "If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless." | Importance of controlling the tongue |
| Jas 3:8 | "But no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison." | The destructive nature of uncontrolled speech |
| 1 Pet 2:23 | "When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly." | Christ's example of enduring false accusations |
Job 16 verses
Job 16 3 Meaning
Job 16:3 is an anguished plea from Job, directed at his so-called comforters, expressing his deep weariness and exasperation with their relentless, unhelpful rhetoric. He first poses a rhetorical question, asking if their insubstantial and detrimental words will ever cease, highlighting their futility. Following this, he challenges their motivation, demanding to know what provokes them to persist in their baseless accusations and troubling responses, suggesting a misguided and perhaps bitter intent behind their speech.
Job 16 3 Context
Job 16:3 is Job's direct response to Eliphaz's second speech in chapter 15. In chapter 15, Eliphaz had accused Job of speaking with empty words and being overcome by his own iniquity (Job 15:2-3, 5). Job now turns these very accusations back onto his friends, whom he refers to as "miserable comforters" in Job 16:2. Job is intensely frustrated because his friends, instead of providing comfort and understanding, have continually lectured, condemned, and misinterpreted his suffering as divine punishment for his sin. This verse marks Job's deep weariness with their repetitive, unsubstantiated claims and his desire for their harmful, baseless accusations to cease. Historically and culturally, in the ancient Near East, a strong correlation was generally made between a person's suffering and their sinfulness, a prevailing belief that Job's experiences directly challenged and critiqued.
Job 16 3 Word analysis
- הַקֵּץ (hakkeṣ) - "Shall any limit be set?" / "Shall vain words have an end?": This term, initiated by the interrogative
הַ(ha-) for a question and rooted inקֵּץ(qeṣ), meaning "end, limit, boundary," conveys Job's desperate desire for a cessation. It signifies his profound exhaustion with the unending stream of their useless counsel, implying that the boundaries of reasonable, compassionate dialogue have been long breached. - לְדִבְרֵי-רוּחַ (lᵉdibrē-rūaḥ) - "to your windy words" / "to vain words":
דִבְרֵי(dibrē): The construct form ofדָבָר(dabar), meaning "word, speech, matter, affair." It highlights the actual spoken content and specific pronouncements of the friends.רוּחַ(rūaḥ): Literally meaning "wind, breath, spirit." Here, it functions metaphorically to describe words that are empty, futile, without substance, profit, or impact, much like a fleeting breath or an uncontained gust of wind. It characterizes their advice as useless, adding nothing of value. The usage ofruachin this derogatory sense reflects how something that is vital (breath) can also be transient and unsupportive when applied to their empty discourse. Job is mirroring Eliphaz’s accusation that Job's words are "words of wind" (Job 15:2).- Combined, "windy words" denote rhetoric that is both unproductive and painful, serving only to aggravate Job’s suffering rather than alleviating it.
- אוֹ (ō) - "Or": A conjunction that introduces an alternative question, signifying a shift from the nature of their words to their underlying motivation.
- מַה-יְּמַרְמֵר (ma-yᵉmarmēr) - "what troubles you?" / "what emboldens you?":
מַה(mah): "What?" It serves as an interrogative pronoun, seeking the reason or source.יְמַרְמֵר(yᵉmarmēr): This verb is derived from the rootמָרַר(marar), meaning "to be bitter, to provoke, to vex, to trouble, to be harsh." In its Hiphil form, as here, it implies causing bitterness or acting from a place of provocation. This word offers a nuanced interpretation:- "What troubles you?" (ESV) implies Job asks what internal state of bitterness or agitation leads them to speak so harshly. It suggests their own internal turmoil fuels their accusations.
- "What emboldens you?" (KJV) takes
mararin the sense of 'provoking' someone to be daring or audacious. It could mean Job perceives their stubborn, insistent counsel as arising from a harsh or bitter determination. This reflects Job's view that their zeal to condemn him stems from a rigid, perhaps uncharitable, mindset.
- The term
yemarmerhighlights that the source of their speech might not be wisdom or compassion, but a form of bitter, unhelpful compulsion.
- לָךְ (lāk) - "to you": A singular masculine pronoun, indicating Job’s direct address to Eliphaz as the speaker, but implicitly encompassing all three friends. It makes the question deeply personal and pointed.
- כִּי תַעֲנֶה (kī taʿaneh) - "that you answer?":
כִּי(kī): A conjunction meaning "that, because." It links the troubling internal state to the outward act of speaking.תַּעֲנֶה(taʿaneh): Fromעָנָה(ʿanah), meaning "to answer, respond." This refers to their consistent replies and persistent interjections throughout the dialogue, which Job perceives as unhelpful and adding to his burdens rather than alleviating them.
Words-group analysis
- "Shall any limit be set to your windy words?": This phrase captures Job's profound exasperation and the endless nature of his friends' accusatory, insubstantial rhetoric. It's a sarcastic plea for them to stop their futile pronouncements. By calling their words "windy," Job underscores their lack of solid content, true empathy, or genuine understanding, rendering them useless and ultimately painful. It’s a bitter retort, throwing their own criticism of his speech back at them, highlighting the profound disconnect between their theological arguments and his raw, experiential suffering.
- "Or what troubles you, that you answer?": This follow-up question shifts from the nature of their words to their underlying psychological or spiritual motivation. Job delves deeper, probing the source of their unceasing accusations. He suggests their persistent communication does not stem from a place of genuine wisdom or love, but perhaps from an internal vexation, a bitter resolve, or a misdirected theological certainty that compels them to respond despite the pain they inflict. It challenges them to consider what internal dis-ease drives their harmful speech.
Job 16 3 Bonus section
This verse vividly illustrates the inadequacy of a rigid retribution theology when applied to complex human suffering. Job's friends believe suffering directly correlates with sin, and this framework leads them to misinterpret Job's blamelessness and accuse him. Job 16:3 is a strong counter-polemic against their limited understanding, exposing the barrenness of their advice despite its veneer of religious orthodoxy. It teaches that adherence to a doctrinal system without true empathy and discernment can lead to words that wound rather than heal, turning would-be comforters into accusers. The phrase "windy words" encapsulates theological debates that offer no practical comfort or spiritual truth, but merely exhaust the hearer. This chapter, and this verse in particular, highlights Job's remarkable clarity of spiritual perception amidst his intense personal suffering, enabling him to accurately assess the spiritual and intellectual deficiencies of his tormentors.
Job 16 3 Commentary
Job 16:3 serves as Job’s lament over the utter ineffectiveness and additional pain inflicted by his "comforters." His rhetorical questions lay bare his despair with their relentless, hollow pronouncements, devoid of truth, comfort, or genuine understanding of his immense suffering. The "windy words" are emblematic of counsel that is vapid and fruitless, intensifying Job's agony instead of offering solace. By questioning "what troubles" or "what emboldens" his friends, Job forces them, and implicitly the reader, to scrutinize the hidden motivations behind human speech, especially when offered in a context of suffering. It highlights how religious pronouncements, if disconnected from compassion and accurate understanding of a person's true condition, can stem from rigidity, judgmentalism, or self-righteousness rather than genuine wisdom or divine truth, causing further distress. This verse encapsulates the tension between superficial religious answers and the profound complexity of human suffering, urging a shift from hollow rhetoric to compassionate silence or words that genuinely uplift and heal.