Job 6: Group Study Handout

Overview

In Job 6, Job responds to his friend Eliphaz's speech. He begins by lamenting the unbearable weight of his suffering, comparing it to heavier than the sands of the sea. Job expresses his frustration at his friends' inability to understand the magnitude of his anguish. He feels betrayed and abandoned, as even his closest friends fail to offer genuine comfort. As Job reflects on his condition, he wishes God would grant him the relief of death, ending his intense misery. Despite his despair, Job maintains that he has not wavered in his faithfulness to God's words.

Key verse

“For the arrows of the Almighty are within me. My spirit drinks up their poison. The terrors of God set themselves in array against me.”

Job 6:4 (WEB)

Outline

1. Job 6:1–2 Job's Lament Over Suffering
2. Job 6:3–6 The Weight of Pain
3. Job 6:7–10 Desire for Death
4. Job 6:11–13 Questions of Strength and Wisdom
5. Job 6:14–18 Betrayal by Friends
6. Job 6:19–22 The Disappointment of Hope
7. Job 6:23–30 Challenge to Friends

Discussion questions

1. In v3, what does Job compare the weight of his anguish to?
2. What does Job's soul refuse to touch in v7?
3. Job's reference to his friends in v15: how does he view their support during his suffering?
4. Job's statements about 'the words of the Holy One' in v10: what does this imply about his understanding of faithfulness?
5. When have you felt abandoned by friends during a time of suffering like Job describes in v14?

Go deeper

Passages that echo Job 6: Psalm 38, Job 16, Job 23.

Before next time: read Job 7.