Job 6:9

Old Testament Wisdom/Poetry ASV (1901)

What does Job 6:9 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “Even that it would please God to crush me; That he would let loose his hand, and cut me off!” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

Even that it would please God to crush me; That he would let loose his hand, and cut me off!
Job 6:9 — American Standard Version

Context — Job 6

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
9Even that it would please God to crush me; That he would let loose his hand, and cut me off!

What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“Even that it would please God to destroy me, etc.] Not with an everlasting destruction of body and soul; for destruction from the Almighty was a terror to him, (<183123>Job 31:23); but with the destruction of the body only; not with an annihilation of it, but with the dissolution of it, or of that union there was between his soul and body: the word f251 used signifies to bruise and beat to pieces; his meaning is, that his body, his house of clay in which he dwelt, might be crushed to pieces, and beat to powder, and crumbled into dust; and perhaps he may have regard to his original, the dust of the earth, and his return to it, according to the divine threatening, (<010319>Genesis 3:19); a…”
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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
“destroy--literally, "grind" or "crush" (Isa 3:15). let loose his hand--God had put forth His hand only so far as to wound the surface of Job's flesh (Job 1:12; Job 2:6); he wishes that hand to be let loose, so as to wound deeply and vitally. cut me off--metaphor from a weaver cutting off the web, when finished, from the thrum fastening it to the loom (Isa 38:12).”
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Barnes' Notes
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · Notes on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“Even that it would please God to destroy me - To put me to death, and to release me from my sorrows; compare Job 3:20-21. The word rendered “destroy” here (דכא dâkâ') means properly to break in pieces, to crush, to trample under foot, to make small by bruising. Here the sense is, that Job wished that God would crush him, so as to take his life. The Septuagint renders it “wound” - τρωσάτω trōsatō. The Chaldee renders it, “Let God, who has begun to make me poor, loose his hand and make me rich.” That he would let loose his hand - Job here represents the hand of God as bound or confined. He wishes that that fettered hand were released, and were so free in its inflictions that he might be…”
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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
“Destroy - To end my days and calamities together. Job 6:10”
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Tyndale Open Study Notes
Tyndale House Publishers · Tyndale Open Study Notes · Modern study notes
“6:9 At one time, both Moses and Elijah wished that God would kill them (Num 11:15; 1 Kgs 19:4).”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“that it would: Job 3:20-22, Job 7:15, Job 7:16, Job 14:13; Num 11:14, Num 11:15; Kg1 19:4; Jon 4:3, Jon 4:8; Rev 9:6 that he would: Job 19:21; Psa 32:4; Isa 48:10-13 Job 6:10”
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Related study paths

Sources and verification