Job 6:27

Old Testament Wisdom/Poetry ASV (1901)

What does Job 6:27 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “Yea, ye would cast [lots] upon the fatherless, And make merchandise of your friend.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

Yea, ye would cast [lots] upon the fatherless, And make merchandise of your friend.
Job 6:27 — American Standard Version

Context — Job 6

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
27Yea, ye would cast [lots] upon the fatherless, And make merchandise of your friend.

What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“Yea, ye overwhelm the fatherless, etc.] Meaning himself; who was like a fatherless child, stripped of all his mercies, of his children, his substance, and his health; and was in a most miserable, helpless, and forlorn condition; and, moreover, deprived of the gracious presence and visible protection of his heavenly Father, being given up for a while into the hands of Satan; and now it was unkind and barbarous to overwhelm such a man, who was overwhelmed with overmuch sorrow already: or, “ye cause to fall upon the fatherless”; either their wrath and anger, as the Targum and many others f279 instead of doing him justice; or a wall, or any such thing, to crush him, as Aben Ezra; or a lot, as…”
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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
“literally, "ye cause" (supply, "your anger") [UMBREIT], a net, namely, of sophistry [NOYES and SCHUTTENS], to fall upon the desolate (one bereft of help, like the fatherless orphan); and ye dig (a pit) for your friend--that is, try to ensnare him, to catch him in the use of unguarded language [NOYES]. (Psa 57:6); metaphor from hunters catching wild beasts in a pit covered with brushwood to conceal it. UMBREIT from the Syriac, and answering to his interpretation of the first clause, has, "Would you be indignant against your friend?" The Hebrew in Job 41:6, means to "feast upon." As the first clause asks, "Would you catch him in a net?" so this follows up the image, "And would you next feast…”
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Barnes' Notes
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · Notes on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“Yea, ye overwhelm the fatherless - Job undoubtedly means that this should be applied to himself. He complains that they took advantage of his words, that they were disposed to pervert his meaning, and unkindly distorted what he said. The word rendered” fatherless” יתום yâthôm properly denotes an orphan; Exodus 22:22; Deuteronomy 10:18; Deuteronomy 14:29. But it is possible that it is not to be taken in this limited signification here. The word is still retained in the Arabic language - the language spoken in the country where Job lived, - where the word יתום yâthôm means to be lonely, bereaved, etc. It may be that this idea occurs under the form of the word used here, that Job was lonely…”
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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
“Overwhelm - You load with censures and calumnies. Desolate - Me who am deprived of all my children, my estate, and my friends. I spoke all I thought, as to my friends, and you thence occasion to cast me down. Job 6:28”
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Tyndale Open Study Notes
Tyndale House Publishers · Tyndale Open Study Notes · Modern study notes
“6:27 even send an orphan into slavery: Job, the former protector of orphans (31:17, 21), used a proverbial example of his counselors’ hard-heartedness toward the defenseless (see 17:5).”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“overwhelm: Heb. cause to fall upon the fatherless: Job 22:9, Job 24:3, Job 24:9, Job 29:12, Job 31:17, Job 31:21; Exo 22:22-24; Psa 82:3; Pro 23:10, Pro 23:11; Eze 22:7; Mal 3:5; Jam 1:27 ye dig: Psa 7:15, Psa 57:6; Jer 18:20, Jer 18:22 Job 6:28”
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Related study paths

Sources and verification