Job 6:16

Old Testament Wisdom/Poetry ASV (1901)

What does Job 6:16 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “Which are black by reason of the ice, [And] wherein the snow hideth itself:” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

Which are black by reason of the ice, [And] wherein the snow hideth itself:
Job 6:16 — American Standard Version

Context — Job 6

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
16Which are black by reason of the ice, [And] wherein the snow hideth itself:

What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“Which are blackish by reason of the ice, etc.] When frozen over, they look of a blackish colour, and is what is called a black frost; and these either describe Job and his domestics, as some f269 think whom Eliphaz and his two friends compared to the above streams water passed away from, or passed by and neglected, and showed no friendship to; who were in black, mournful and rueful circumstances, through the severe hand of God upon them. The word is rendered, “those which mourn”, (<180511>Job 5:11); or rather the friends of Job compared to foul and troubled waters frozen over which cannot be so well discerned, or which were black through being frozen, and which describes the inward frame of…”
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Jamieson, Fausset & Brown
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“blackish--literally, "Go as a mourner in black clothing" (Psa 34:14). A vivid and poetic image to picture the stream turbid and black with melted ice and snow, descending from the mountains into the valley. In the [second] clause, the snow dissolved is, in the poet's view, "hid" in the flood [UMBREIT].”
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Barnes' Notes
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · Notes on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“Which are blackish - Or, rather, which are turbid. The word used here (קדרים qoderı̂ym) means to be turbid, foul, or muddy, spoken of a torrent, and then to be of a dusky color, to be dark-colored, as e. g. the skin scorched by the sun, Job 30:28; or to be dark - as when the sun is obscured; Joel 2:10; Joel 3:15. Jerome renders it, Qui timent pruinam - “which fear the frost, when the snow comes upon them.” The Septuagint renders it, “they who had venerated me now rushed upon me like snow or hoar frost, which melting at the approach of heat, it was not known whence it was.” The expression in the Hebrew means that they were rendered dark and turbid by the accumulated torrents caused by the…”
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Wesley's Explanatory Notes
John Wesley (1703–1791) · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament and Old Testament notes · 18th-century historical commentary
“Which - Which in winter when the traveller neither needs nor desires it, are full of water congealed by the frost. Snow - Under which the water from snow, which formerly fell, and afterward was dissolved, lies hid. So he speaks not of those brooks which are fed by a constant spring, but of them which are filled by accidental falls of water or snow. Job 6:17”
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Related study paths

Sources and verification