Job 16:4

"Shall vain words have an end? Or what provokes you that you answer?"

Key Reflection

In Job 16:4, the question challenges the endurance of pointless speech, suggesting that while such talk might continue, it ultimately serves no constructive purpose. The query also probes why Job responds in vain words, hinting at his frustration and the intensity of his suffering, which compels him to speak even when his words may offer little solace or resolution.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

I also could speak as ye do -In the same reproachful manner, and stringing together old proverbs and maxims as you have. If your soul were in my soul’s stead -If you were in my place. The idea is, that there is no difficulty in finding arguments to overwhelm the afflicted - a truth which most persons who have been unfortunate, have had opportunity to experience. I could heap up words against you -Or, rather, “I could string together words against you.” The idea is not that of heaping up, or accumulating; it is that of tying together, or uniting; and refers here to stringing together old maxims, saws, and proverbs, in the form of a set argument or discourse.

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