Job 13:6

6. hear now my reasoning] Rather, hear now my rebuke. The reference is not to Job’s cause with God, this is not resumed till Job_13:13. He utters a formal indictment against his friends which he commands them to hear.

the pleadings of my lips] i. e. the reproofs of my lips, their pleadings against you, or their controversy with you, cf. Deu_17:8. These reproofs now follow, Job_13:7-9.

6–12. Severe rebuke of the three friends, in which (1) they are charged with partiality for God, and with acting the advocate for Him (Job_13:6-8); and (2) they are threatened with the chastisement of God for their insincerity, and for falsely pleading even in God’s behalf (Job_13:9-12).

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Job 13:6 Hear now my reasoning, and hearken to the pleadings of my lips.

Ver. 6. Hear now my reasoning, &c.] Or, hear, I pray you. Be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; suffer the word of exhortation and of reprehension; sharp though it be, and to the flesh irksome, yet suffer it, since it is for your good. Quintilian testifieth of Vespasian, that he was patientissimus veri, one that could well endure to be told the truth; but there are few Vespasians. Many people are like the nettle: touch it never so gently, it will sting you.

And hearken to the pleadings of my lips] Heb. The contention of my lips. See that you not only hear, but hearken to it with attention of body, intention of mind, and retention of memory: neither God nor man can bear it, to speak, and not be heard. "See that ye refuse not him that speaketh," &c., Heb 12:25. See that ye slight not, shift not off Christ speaking to you in his ministers and messengers; for if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Job 13:6-8. Hear now my reasoning — Attend to it, and consider it more seriously than you have done; and hearken to the pleadings of my lips — That is, to the arguments which I shall produce. Will ye speak wickedly for God? — Will you utter falsehoods upon pretence of pleasing God, or of maintaining God’s honour or righteousness? Doth he need such defences? Will ye accept his person? — Not judging according to the right of the cause, but the quality of the person, as corrupt judges do. Will ye contend with God? — Or, will ye plead, as the word, תריבון, teribun, is rendered, Jdg 6:31. He means, is his cause so bad as to call for your assistance to defend it? Will you plead for him, as one person pleads for another, making use of little arts and subtle contrivances in his defence? He wants no such crafty, unprincipled advocates. “Job here convicts his friends of wickedness, in taking upon them to defend God in an improper manner, as if he needed their rash censures to vindicate the ways of his providence. This was such a fault, as they had but too much reason to fear might one time or other draw down his severe chastisements on their own heads.” See Peters.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 6. Hear now my reasoning] The speeches in this book are conceived as it delivered in a court of justice, different counsellors pleading against each other. Hence most of the terms are forensic.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Hear now my reasoning,.... Job entreats his friends that they would be no longer speakers, but hearers; that they would vouchsafe to sit still, and hear what he had to say; though he was greatly afflicted, he had not lost his reason, wisdom was not driven out from him, Job 6:13; he had still with him his reasoning powers, which he was capable of making use of, and even before God, and desires that they would attend to what he had to say on his own behalf:

and hearken to the pleadings of my lips; he was capable of pleading his own cause, and he was desirous of doing it before God as his Judge; and begs the favour of his friends to be silent, and hear him out, and then let judgment be given, not by them, but by God himself.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Judgment. Hebrew, "pleading" before our common judge. (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

i.e. Attend to it, and consider it more seriously than you have done.

The pleadings of my lips, i.e. the arguments which I shall produce.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

6. Reasoning — Better, reproof.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Hear now my reasoning. As his friends have not kept silence, but have spoken, Job claims a right to be heard in his turn. If it be thought that he is somewhat impatient, it must be remembered that his opponents are three to one, all eager to catch him in a fault, and not very mild in their reprimands. And hearken to the pleadings of my lips. Job"s "pleadings" are addressed, not to his friends, but to God, and are contained in vers. 14-28 of the present, and the whole of the succeeding chapter.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Connecting Statement:

Job continues to speak to his friends.

listen to the pleading of my own lips

Here "lips" represent the person who is speaking. AT: "listen to what I myself plead for" (See: Synecdoche)

Will you speak unrighteously ... deceitfully for him?

Job uses these two questions to rebuke his friends for speaking unrighteously. AT: "You think that you are speaking for God, but you are speaking unrighteously. You are speaking deceitfully." (See: Rhetorical Question and Parallelism and Irony)

talk deceitfully

"lie" or "tell lies"

Will you show him partiality? Will you argue the case for God?

Showing kindness to God represents helping God or defending God against Job's complaints. Job uses these questions to rebuke his friends for thinking that they can defend God. AT: "You think that God need you to defend him? You think that you can argue for God like attorneys in court." (See: Rhetorical Question and Parallelism and Irony)

translationWords

righteous

deceive

court

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

the contentions The proofs.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.