Job 6:4

“For the arrows of the Almighty [are] within me, etc.] Which are a reason proving the weight and heaviness of his affliction, and also of his hot and passionate expressions he broke out into; which designs not so much outward calamities, as famine, pestilence, thunder and lightning, which are called the arrows of God, (<053223>Deuteronomy 32:23,24 <260516>Ezekiel 5:16) (<199105>Psalm 91:5,6 18:13,14); all which had attended Job, and were his case; being reduced to extreme poverty, had malignant and pestilential ulcers upon him, and his sheep destroyed by thunder and lightning; and which were like arrows, that came upon him suddenly, secretly, and at unawares, and very swiftly; these arrows…”

“arrows . . . within me--have pierced me. A poetic image representing the avenging Almighty armed with bow and arrows (Psa 38:2-3). Here the arrows are poisoned. Peculiarly appropriate, in reference to the burning pains which penetrated, like poison, into the inmost parts--("spirit"; as contrasted with mere surface flesh wounds) of Job's body. set themselves in array--a military image (Jdg 20:33). All the terrors which the divine wrath can muster are set in array against me (Isa 42:13).”

“For the arrows of the Almighty are within me - That is, it is not a light affliction that I endure. I am wounded in a manner which could not be caused by man - called to endure a severity of suffering which shows that it proceeds from the Almighty. Thus called to suffer what man could not cause, he maintains that it is right for him to complain, and that the words which he employed were not an improper expression of the extent of the grief. The poison whereof drinketh up my spirit - Takes away my rigor, my comfort, my life. He here compares his afflictions with being wounded with poisoned arrows. Such arrows were not unfrequently used among the ancients. The object was to secure certain…”

“Arrows - So he fitly calls his afflictions, because, like arrows, they came upon him swiftly and suddenly one after another, immediately shot by God into his spirit. Poison - Implying that these arrows were more keen than ordinary, being dipped in God's wrath, as the barbarous nations used to dip their arrows in poison, that they might not only pierce, but burn up and consume the vital parts. Drinketh - Exhausteth and consumeth my soul. In array - They are like a numerous army, who invade me on every side. This was the sorest part of his calamity, wherein he was an eminent type of Christ, who complained most of the sufferings of his soul. Now is my soul troubled. My soul is exceeding…”

“the arrows: Job 16:12-14; Deu 32:23, Deu 32:42; Psa 7:13, Psa 18:14, Psa 21:12, Psa 38:2, Psa 45:5; Lam 3:12, Lam 3:13 drinketh up: Deu 32:24; Psa 143:7; Pro 18:14; Mar 14:33, Mar 14:34, Mar 15:34 the terrors: Job 9:17, Job 30:15, Job 31:23; Psa 88:15, Psa 88:16; Co2 5:11 Job 6:5”