Job 6:25
New International Version
How painful are honest words! But what do your arguments prove?

New Living Translation
Honest words can be painful, but what do your criticisms amount to?

English Standard Version
How forceful are upright words! But what does reproof from you reprove?

Berean Standard Bible
How painful are honest words! But what does your argument prove?

King James Bible
How forcible are right words! but what doth your arguing reprove?

New King James Version
How forceful are right words! But what does your arguing prove?

New American Standard Bible
“How painful are honest words! But what does your argument prove?

NASB 1995
“How painful are honest words! But what does your argument prove?

NASB 1977
“How painful are honest words! But what does your argument prove?

Legacy Standard Bible
How painful are upright words! But what does your reproof prove?

Amplified Bible
“How painful are words of honesty. But what does your argument prove?

Christian Standard Bible
How painful honest words can be! But what does your rebuke prove?

Holman Christian Standard Bible
How painful honest words can be! But what does your rebuke prove?

American Standard Version
How forcible are words of uprightness! But your reproof, what doth it reprove?

Contemporary English Version
The truth is always painful, but your arguments prove nothing.

English Revised Version
How forcible are words of uprightness! but what doth your arguing reprove?

GOD'S WORD® Translation
How painful an honest discussion can be! In correcting me, you correct yourselves!

Good News Translation
Honest words are convincing, but you are talking nonsense.

International Standard Version
The truth can be painful, but what has your argument proven?

Majority Standard Bible
How painful are honest words! But what does your argument prove?

NET Bible
How painful are honest words! But what does your reproof prove?

New Heart English Bible
How forcible are words of uprightness. But your reproof, what does it reprove?

Webster's Bible Translation
How forcible are right words! but what doth your arguing reprove?

World English Bible
How forcible are words of uprightness! But your reproof, what does it reprove?
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
How powerful have been upright sayings, "" And what reproof from you reproves?

Young's Literal Translation
How powerful have been upright sayings, And what doth reproof from you reprove?

Smith's Literal Translation
How forcible were words of uprightness! and what will reproving from you prove?
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
Why have you detracted the words of truth, whereas there is none of you that can reprove me?

Catholic Public Domain Version
Why have you diminished the words of truth, when there is none of you who is able to offer proof against me?

New American Bible
How painful honest words can be; yet how unconvincing is your argument!

New Revised Standard Version
How forceful are honest words! But your reproof, what does it reprove?
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
Why do you reject the words of truth? Who of you are able to rebuke and chastise?

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
Why do you reject the Word of truth, and who is it of you that humbles and rebukes?
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
How forcible are words of uprightness! But what doth your arguing argue?

Brenton Septuagint Translation
But as it seems, the words of a true man are vain, because I do not ask strength of you.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Job Replies: My Complaint is Just
24Teach me, and I will be silent. Help me understand how I have erred. 25How painful are honest words! But what does your argument prove? 26Do you intend to correct my words, and treat as wind my cry of despair?…

Cross References
Proverbs 15:23
A man takes joy in a fitting reply—and how good is a timely word!

Proverbs 25:11
A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.

Proverbs 12:18
Speaking rashly is like a piercing sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

Proverbs 16:24
Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.

Ecclesiastes 10:12
The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious, but the lips of a fool consume him.

Psalm 119:103
How sweet are Your words to my taste—sweeter than honey in my mouth!

Psalm 141:6
When their rulers are thrown down from the cliffs, the people will listen to my words, for they are pleasant.

Isaiah 50:4
The Lord GOD has given Me the tongue of discipleship, to sustain the weary with a word. He awakens Me morning by morning; He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple.

Isaiah 55:11
so My word that proceeds from My mouth will not return to Me empty, but it will accomplish what I please, and it will prosper where I send it.

Jeremiah 23:29
“Is not My word like fire,” declares the LORD, “and like a hammer that smashes a rock?”

Matthew 12:36-37
But I tell you that men will give an account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. / For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

Ephesians 4:29
Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building up the one in need and bringing grace to those who listen.

Colossians 4:6
Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

James 3:5-6
In the same way, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it boasts of great things. Consider how small a spark sets a great forest ablaze. / The tongue also is a fire, a world of wickedness among the parts of the body. It pollutes the whole person, sets the course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

James 3:17
But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peace-loving, gentle, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere.


Treasury of Scripture

How forcible are right words! but what does your arguing reprove?

forcible.

Job 4:4
Thy words have upholden him that was falling, and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees.

Job 16:5
But I would strengthen you with my mouth, and the moving of my lips should asswage your grief.

Proverbs 12:18
There is that speaketh like the piercings of a sword: but the tongue of the wise is health.

what doth.

Job 13:5
O that ye would altogether hold your peace! and it should be your wisdom.

Job 16:3,4
Shall vain words have an end? or what emboldeneth thee that thou answerest? …

Job 21:34
How then comfort ye me in vain, seeing in your answers there remaineth falsehood?

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Argue Arguing Argument Arguments Force Forceful Forcible Honest Painful Pleasing Powerful Prove Reproof Reprove Right Sayings Upbraiding Upright Uprightness Words
Job 6
1. Job shows that his complaints are not causeless.
8. He wishes for death, wherein he is assured of comfort.
14. He reproves his friends of unkindness.














How painful
The Hebrew word for "painful" here is "כְּאֵב" (ke'ev), which conveys a sense of deep emotional or physical pain. In the context of Job's suffering, this word underscores the intense anguish he feels not only from his physical afflictions but also from the emotional turmoil caused by his friends' accusations. Historically, the Book of Job is set in a time when suffering was often seen as a direct result of sin, making Job's pain even more acute as he grapples with the misunderstanding of his friends.

are honest words
The phrase "honest words" translates from the Hebrew "אִמְרֵי־אֹמֶן" (imrei-omen), which can also mean "words of truth" or "faithful words." This highlights the value and power of truth, even when it is difficult to hear. In the conservative Christian perspective, truth is foundational, and the Bible is seen as the ultimate source of truth. Job's lament here reflects the struggle of receiving truth that is hard to bear, a theme that resonates throughout Scripture as believers are called to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15).

But what does your argument prove?
The Hebrew word for "argument" is "מוּסָר" (musar), which can also mean "instruction" or "discipline." Job challenges his friends, questioning the validity and purpose of their reasoning. This phrase invites reflection on the nature of human wisdom versus divine wisdom. In the historical context of Job, wisdom literature often explored the limits of human understanding. Job's question points to the inadequacy of his friends' arguments, which fail to grasp the divine purpose behind his suffering. From a conservative Christian viewpoint, this underscores the belief that true wisdom and understanding come from God alone, as echoed in Proverbs 3:5-6, where believers are encouraged to trust in the Lord rather than their own understanding.

(25) How forcible are right words !--"How forcible are words of uprightness! But what doth your reproof reprove? Open rebuke is better than secret love; better to be honestly and openly rebuked by you than be subject to the secret insinuations which are intended to pass for friendship."

Verse 25. - How forcible are right words! literally, words of uprightness. Such words have a force that none can resist. If the charges made by Eliphaz had been right and true, and his arguments sound and just, then Job must have yielded to them, have confessed himself guilty, and bowed down with shame before his judges. But they had had no such constraining power. Therefore they were not "words of uprightness." But what doth your arguing reprove? literally, What doth your reproving reprove? That is - What exactly is it that ye think to be wrong in me? At what is your invective aimed?

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
How
מַה־ (mah-)
Interrogative
Strong's 4100: What?, what!, indefinitely what

painful
נִּמְרְצ֥וּ (nim·rə·ṣū)
Verb - Nifal - Perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 4834: To press, to be pungent, vehement, to irritate

[are] honest
יֹ֑שֶׁר (yō·šer)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 3476: Straightness, uprightness

words!
אִמְרֵי־ (’im·rê-)
Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 561: Something said

But what
וּמַה־ (ū·mah-)
Conjunctive waw | Interrogative
Strong's 4100: What?, what!, indefinitely what

does your argument
יּוֹכִ֖יחַ (yō·w·ḵî·aḥ)
Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 3198: To be right, reciprocal, to argue, to decide, justify, convict

prove?
הוֹכֵ֣חַ (hō·w·ḵê·aḥ)
Verb - Hifil - Infinitive absolute
Strong's 3198: To be right, reciprocal, to argue, to decide, justify, convict


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OT Poetry: Job 6:25 How forcible are words of uprightness! (Jb)
Job 6:24
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