Job 6 7

Job 6:7 kjv

The things that my soul refused to touch are as my sorrowful meat.

Job 6:7 nkjv

My soul refuses to touch them; They are as loathsome food to me.

Job 6:7 niv

I refuse to touch it; such food makes me ill.

Job 6:7 esv

My appetite refuses to touch them; they are as food that is loathsome to me.

Job 6:7 nlt

My appetite disappears when I look at it;
I gag at the thought of eating it!

Job 6 verses

Job 6 7 Meaning

Job 6:7 expresses Job's profound loathing for his present suffering, extending to the insincere words of his friends. His very being recoils from the unbearable situation and the false comfort offered, finding it not only distasteful but utterly sickening, like foul and repulsive food. It portrays a deep physical and spiritual revulsion, indicating that his suffering has become a pervasive torment affecting his innermost self.

Job 6 7 Context

Job 6:7 is part of Job’s first response (chapters 6-7) to Eliphaz’s speech. Eliphaz had suggested Job's suffering must be due to hidden sin, and had offered traditional, unhelpful wisdom. In verse 7, Job dramatically illustrates his profound suffering and his utter disgust with the false comfort and shallow reasoning his friends present. He likens their "comfort"—and perhaps life itself in his state—to sickening food, expressing a deep inner aversion. This sets the stage for Job to passionately argue his innocence and his intense desire for relief, even death.

Job 6 7 Word analysis

• My soul refuses to touch them:
  • My soul (נַפְשִׁי, naphshi): In Hebrew thought, nephesh signifies the entire person, the living being, the seat of emotions, will, and desires. It’s not merely the spirit but the whole inner self, the core of one's being. Job emphasizes that his entire person, his very core, rejects the reality of his situation and the counsel offered.
  • refuses (לֹא־תֹאבֶה, lo-to’ve): From the root ’abah, meaning "to be willing, to consent, to desire." The negative form "not willing" or "refuses" highlights a deep, resolute unwillingness and aversion. It's not a mere disinterest but a forceful rejection.
  • to touch (לִגַּע, ligga'): To draw near, to touch, to take hold of. This suggests an aversion even to the slightest contact or association with what he finds repulsive. It can refer to his current condition, the specific suffering he endures, or more directly to the "comforting" words and advice of his friends from previous verses, which he views as utterly without substance or even harmful.
• they are as food that is sickening to me:
  • they (הֵמָּה, hemmah): Refers broadly to the issues Job has been addressing: his calamities, the perceived injustice of his suffering, and the ineffectiveness/harmfulness of his friends' counsel.
  • as food (כְּמוֹ לֶחֶם, k'mo lechem): Lechem commonly means "bread" but generally refers to "food" or "sustenance." The simile here highlights that what is supposed to sustain or comfort him—whether life, relief, or friendship—is having the opposite effect.
  • sickening to me (חָרְאִי, cho'ri): This is a particularly strong and vivid word. It is related to things that are foul, putrid, nauseous, or excremental (similar to things ejected from the body due to illness). It denotes extreme physical and visceral disgust and abhorrence. Job is not simply displeased; he is literally sickened and revolted by his circumstances and the inadequacy of the comfort offered. The taste metaphor highlights an inability to digest or benefit from his situation or from the counsel, instead finding it entirely vile.
• Words-group by words-group analysis:
  • "My soul refuses to touch them": This phrase encapsulates a complete and deep personal aversion. It's not just a superficial dislike but a revulsion originating from the very core of Job's being, preventing any engagement or acceptance of his plight or the shallow solace provided. This spiritual and emotional nausea precedes and then undergirds the physical analogy.
  • "they are as food that is sickening to me": This provides the potent imagery. What should nourish and sustain, or what is offered as a remedy, is perceived as poison. It speaks to an unpalatable and utterly nauseating reality, representing the severity of his suffering and his disgust at the lack of genuine empathy or understanding from his friends, whose words are as unhelpful and bitter as foul food to a sated or truly unwell soul.

Job 6 7 Bonus section

Job's use of taste and food metaphors throughout his discourse (cf. Job 6:30; 12:11) suggests a personal sensitivity and capacity for discernment that he feels his friends lack. He implicitly argues that just as the tongue discerns good from bad food, his "taste" (or judgment) concerning their words and his own condition is accurate. The extreme nature of the "sickening food" highlights that Job's pain has pushed him beyond mere physical discomfort into a deep spiritual malaise where even fundamental human needs or comforts become intolerable. This profound rejection hints at a unique aspect of spiritual suffering where a soul feels completely saturated, but with bitterness rather than blessing, making any further "input" abhorrent.

Job 6 7 Commentary

Job 6:7 powerfully conveys Job's state of profound despair and his visceral rejection of his suffering and his friends' conventional, yet hurtful, responses. Using the vivid metaphor of "sickening food," Job illustrates that his inner self (his nephesh) recoils from the unbearable weight of his afflictions, perceiving any attempt at comfort or a return to normal life as utterly vile and indigestible. His taste for life itself, and for simplistic theological explanations of his pain, has been corrupted to the point of nausea. This verse underscores the isolation of Job's experience and the inability of human wisdom to genuinely minister to a soul in deep, undeserved agony. It reveals that the traditional answers presented by his friends are not only insufficient but actively contribute to his disgust.