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Job 6:17

Old Testament Wisdom/Poetry ASV (1901)

What does Job 6:17 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “What time they wax warm, they vanish; When it is hot, they are consumed out of their place.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

What time they wax warm, they vanish; When it is hot, they are consumed out of their place.
Job 6:17 — American Standard Version

Context — Job 6

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
14To him that is ready to faint kindness [should be showed] from his friend; Even to him that forsaketh the fear of the Almighty.
15My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook, As the channel of brooks that pass away;
16Which are black by reason of the ice, [And] wherein the snow hideth itself:
17What time they wax warm, they vanish; When it is hot, they are consumed out of their place.
18The caravans [that travel] by the way of them turn aside; They go up into the waste, and perish.
19The caravans of Tema looked, The companies of Sheba waited for them.
20They were put to shame because they had hoped; They came thither, and were confounded.
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What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“What time they wax warm they vanish, etc.] The ice and the snow, which, when the weather becomes warm, they melt away and disappear; and in like manner, he suggests his friends ceased to be friends to him in a time of adversity; the sun of affliction having looked upon him, they deserted him, at least did not administer comfort to him: when it is hot they are consumed out of their place; when it is hot weather, and the sun has great strength then the waters, which swelled through the floods and fall of rain and snow, and which when frozen, looked black and big as if they had great depth in them, were quickly dried up, and no more to be seen in the place where they were; which still expresses…”
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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
“wax warm--rather, "At the time when." ("But they soon wax") [UMBREIT]. "they become narrower (flow in a narrower bed), they are silent (cease to flow noisily); in the heat (of the sun) they are consumed or vanish out of their place. First the stream flows more narrowly--then it becomes silent and still; at length every trace of water disappears by evaporation under the hot sun" [UMBREIT].”
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Barnes' Notes
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · Notes on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“What time - In the time; or after a time. They wax warm - Gesenius renders this word (יזרבו yezorebû) when they became narrow, and this version has been adopted by Noyes. The word occurs nowhere else. Taylor (Concord.) renders it, “to be dissolved by the heat of the sun.” Jerome, fuerint dissipati - “in the time in which they are scattered.” The Septuagint, τακεῖσα Θέρμης γενομένης takeisa thermēs genomenēs - “melting at the approach of heat.” The Chaldee, “In the time in which the generation of the deluge sinned, they were scattered.” Castell says that the word זרב zârab in the Piel, as the word in Chaldee (זרב zerab) means “to flow”; and also that it has the same signification as…”
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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
“Warm - When the weather grows milder. Hot - In the hot season, when waters are most refreshing and necessary. Job 6:18”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“vanish: Heb. are cut off when it is hot they are consumed: Heb. in the heat thereof they are extinguished. Kg1 17:1 Job 6:19”
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Related study paths

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Sources and verification