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Saturday, July 19th, 2025
the Week of Proper 10 / Ordinary 15
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Christian Standard Bible ®

Job 6:3

For then it would outweigh the sand of the seas!That is why my words are rash.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Torrey's Topical Textbook - Sea, the;  

Dictionaries:

- Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Contrite;   Greatness of God;   Sanctification;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Job, the Book of;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Eliphaz (2);   Sand;  

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
For now it would be heavier than the sand of the seas, Therefore have my words been rash.
King James Version
For now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea: therefore my words are swallowed up.
English Standard Version
For then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea; therefore my words have been rash.
New Century Version
My sadness would be heavier than the sand of the seas. No wonder my words seem careless.
New English Translation
But because it is heavier than the sand of the sea, that is why my words have been wild.
Amplified Bible
"For now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea; Therefore my words have been incoherent,
New American Standard Bible
"For then it would be heavier than the sand of the seas; For that reason my words have been rash.
World English Bible
For now it would be heavier than the sand of the seas, Therefore have my words been rash.
Geneva Bible (1587)
For it woulde be nowe heauier then the sande of the sea: therefore my wordes are swallowed vp.
Legacy Standard Bible
For then it would be heavier than the sand of the seas;Therefore my words have been rash.
Berean Standard Bible
For then it would outweigh the sand of the seas-no wonder my words have been rash.
Contemporary English Version
They outweigh the sand along the beach, and that's why I have spoken without thinking first.
Complete Jewish Bible
They would outweigh the sands of the seas! No wonder, then, that my words come out stammered!
Darby Translation
For now it would be heavier than the sand of the seas; therefore my words are vehement.
Easy-to-Read Version
They would be heavier than all the sand of the sea! That is why my words are so crazy.
George Lamsa Translation
For then it would be heavier than the sand of the seas; therefore my words are restrained.
Good News Translation
they would weigh more than the sands of the sea, so my wild words should not surprise you.
Lexham English Bible
for then it would be heavier than the sand of the seas; therefore my words have been rash,
Literal Translation
For now it would be heavier than the sand of the seas; on account of this my words have been rash.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
for then shulde it be heuyer, then the sonde of the see. This is the cause, that my wordes are so soroufull.
American Standard Version
For now it would be heavier than the sand of the seas: Therefore have my words been rash.
Bible in Basic English
For then its weight would be more than the sand of the seas: because of this my words have been uncontrolled.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
For nowe it woulde be heauier then the sande of the sea: and this is the cause, that my wordes fayle me.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
For now it would be heavier than the sand of the seas; therefore are my words broken.
King James Version (1611)
For now it would be heauier then the sand of the sea, therefore my words are swallowed vp.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And verily they would be heavier than the sand by the seashore: but, as it seems, my words are vain.
English Revised Version
For now it would be heavier than the sand of the seas: therefore have my words been rash.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
As the grauel of the see, this wretchidnesse schulde appere greuousere; wherfor and my wordis ben ful of sorewe.
Update Bible Version
For now it would be heavier than the sand of the seas: Therefore my words have been rash.
Webster's Bible Translation
For now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea: therefore my words are swallowed up.
New King James Version
For then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea-- Therefore my words have been rash.
New Living Translation
they would outweigh all the sands of the sea. That is why I spoke impulsively.
New Life Bible
They would weigh more than the sand of the seas. My words have been spoken fast and without thought.
New Revised Standard
For then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea; therefore my words have been rash.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
For, now, beyond the sand of the seas, would it be heavy, On this account, my words, have wandered.
Douay-Rheims Bible
As the sand of the sea, this would appear heavier: therefore, my words are full of sorrow:
Revised Standard Version
For then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea; therefore my words have been rash.
Young's Literal Translation
For now, than the sands of the sea it is heavier, Therefore my words have been rash.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"For then it would be heavier than the sand of the seas; Therefore my words have been rash.

Contextual Overview

1Then Job answered: 2If only my grief could be weighedand my devastation placed with it on the scales. 3For then it would outweigh the sand of the seas!That is why my words are rash.4Surely the arrows of the Almighty have pierced me;my spirit drinks their poison.God’s terrors are arrayed against me. 5Does a wild donkey bray over fresh grassor an ox low over its fodder? 6Is bland food eaten without salt?Is there flavor in an egg white? 7I refuse to touch them;they are like contaminated food.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

heavier: Proverbs 27:3, Matthew 11:28

my words are swallowed up: that is, I want words to express my grief, Job 37:19, Job 37:20, Psalms 40:5, Psalms 77:4

Reciprocal: 1 Samuel 1:16 - out of Job 1:18 - there came Job 3:10 - hid Psalms 21:9 - the Lord

Cross-References

Genesis 6:1
When mankind began to multiply on the earth and daughters were born to them,
Genesis 6:13
Then God said to Noah, “I have decided to put an end to every creature, for the earth is filled with wickedness because of them; therefore I am going to destroy them along with the earth.
Genesis 6:14
“Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it with pitch inside and outside.
Genesis 6:15
This is how you are to make it: The ark will be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high.
Genesis 6:16
You are to make a roof, finishing the sides of the ark to within eighteen inches of the roof. You are to put a door in the side of the ark. Make it with lower, middle, and upper decks.
Genesis 6:18
But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark with your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives.
Genesis 6:20
Two of everything—from the birds according to their kinds, from the livestock according to their kinds, and from the animals that crawl on the ground according to their kinds—will come to you so that you can keep them alive.
Numbers 11:17
Then I will come down and speak with you there. I will take some of the Spirit who is on you and put the Spirit on them. They will help you bear the burden of the people, so that you do not have to bear it by yourself.
Nehemiah 9:30
You were patient with them for many years,and your Spirit warned them through your prophets,but they would not listen.Therefore, you handed them over to the surrounding peoples.
Psalms 78:39
He remembered that they were only flesh,a wind that passes and does not return.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

For now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea,.... Or "seas" z; all sand is heavy in its own nature, Proverbs 27:3; especially the sand of the sea, that which is immediately taken out of it; for that on the shore is lighter, being dried by the winds and heat of the sun, but the other is heavier, through the additional weight of water; and much more especially how heavy must all the sand of the sea be, and of all the seas that are in the world: yet Job suggests by this hyperbolical expression, exaggerating his case, that his affliction was heavier than it all, a most intolerable and insupportable burden; the afflictions of God's people are but light when compared with what their sins deserve, with the torments of the damned in hell, with the sufferings of Christ in their room and stead, and with everlasting, happiness, the eternal weight of glory, 2 Corinthians 4:17; but in themselves they are heavy, and press hard; they are so to flesh and blood, and especially unless everlasting arms are put under men, and they are supported and upheld with the right hand of God's righteousness; they are heavy when attended with the hidings of God's face, and a sense of his wrath and displeasure, which was Job's case, see Job 13:24; some render "it more copious", or "numerous" a, and indeed the word has this signification, as in Numbers 20:20; and the metaphor is more frequently used to express a multitude, even what is innumerable, Hosea 1:10; yet the notion of heaviness best agrees with the preceding figure of weighing in balances, and therefore at least is not to be excluded some learned men take in both, as the sense of the word, the number of afflictions, and the bulk and weight of them:

therefore my words are swallowed up; either by his friends, as Kimchi, who heard them, and put a wrong construction on them, without thoroughly examining the true sense of them; as men that swallow down their food greedily, do not chew it, nor take the true taste of it, and so are no judges whether it is good or bad; but this sense seems to have no connection with what goes before; rather they were swallowed up by himself, and the meaning either is, that such was the weight and pressure of his afflictions, that he wanted words to express it; his words "failed" him, as the Targum: or they "come short", as Mr. Broughton renders it; they were not sufficient to set forth and declare the greatness of his troubles; or he faltered in his speech, he could not speak out plainly and distinctly, because of his grief and sorrow, see Psalms 77:4; what he had said was delivered amidst sighs and sobs, through the heaviness of the calamity on him; they were but half words, attended with groanings that could not be uttered; by which he would signify, that though his friends had charged him with speaking too much and too freely, he had not spoken enough, nor could he, by reason of the greatness of his affliction; and also to excuse his present answer, if it was not delivered with that politeness and fulness of expression, with that eloquence and strength of reasoning and discoursing he at other times was capable of: or rather the words may be rendered, "therefore my words break out with heat" b; in a vehement manner, in a hot and passionate way I am blamed for; but this is to be imputed to the burden of affliction and sorrow upon me, which, if considered, some allowances would be made, and the charge be alleviated.

z ימים "marium", Pagninus, Montanus, Mercerus, Piscator, Michaelis, Schultens. a יכבד "copiosior et gravior est", Michaelis; so Schultens. b על-כן דברי לעו "propterea verba mea aestuantia sunt", Schultens.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Heavier than the sand of the sea - That is, they would be found to be insupportable. Who could bear up the sands of the sea? So Job says of his sorrows. A comparison somewhat similar is found in Proverbs 27:3.

Heavy is a stone, and weighty the sand of the Sea,

But a fool’s wrath is heavier than them both.

My words are swallowed up - Margin, “I want words to express my grief.” This expresses the true sense - but not with the same poetic beauty. We express the same idea when we say that we are choked with grief; we are so overwhelmed with sorrow that we cannot speak. Any very deep emotion prevents the power of utterance. So in Psalms 77:4 :

Thou holdest mine eyes waking:

I am so troubled that I cannot speak.

So the well-known expressions in Virgil,

Obstupui, steteruntque comae, et vox faucibus haesit.

There has been, however, considerable variety in the interpretation of the word here rendered swallowed up - לוּע lûa‛. Gesenius supposes that it means to speak rashly, to talk at random, and that the idea is, that Job now admits that his remarks had been unguarded - “therefore were my words rash.” The same sense Castell gives to the Arabic word. Schultens renders it, “therefore are my words tempestuous or fretful.” Rosenmuller, “my words exceed due moderation.” Castellio, “my words fail.” Luther, “therefore it is vain that I speak.” The Septuagint, “but my words seem to be evil.” Jerome, “my words are full of grief.” In this variety it is difficult to determine the meaning; but probably the old interpretation is to be retained, by which the word is derived from לוּע lûa‛, to absorb, to swallow up; compare Proverbs 20:25; Obadiah 1:16; Job 39:30; Proverbs 23:2. The word does not elsewhere occur.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Job 6:3. Heavier than the sand of the sea — This includes two ideas: their number was too great to be counted; their weight was too great to be estimated.


 
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