Bible Strands
Job 13:4
You, however, smear with lies; you are all worthless physicians.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Job speaks to his three friends during a heated dispute, positioning himself to address God directly after their counsel has failed.
The words — The phrase טֹפְלֵי־שָׁקֶר (to.fe.lei-sha.ker) literally renders "smearers of falsehood," and רֹפְאֵי אֱלִל (ro.fe.'e-i-e.lil) translates to "physicians of worthlessness."
The thread — This pattern of false comfort and negligent care appears in Psalms 119:69, Job 16:2, and Jeremiah 6:14.
Why it lands — The text first records Job's condemnation of empty medical and theological advice before demanding that readers test their own counsel against factual truth rather than comforting illusion.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
But ye are forgers of lies, ye are all physicians of no value.
Cross-references
- Psalms 119:69 Though the arrogant have smeared me with lies, I keep Your precepts with all my heart.
- Job 16:2 “I have heard many things like these; miserable comforters are you all.
- Jeremiah 6:14 They dress the wound of My people with very little care, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace at all.
- Jeremiah 8:22 Is there no balm in Gilead? Is no physician there? Why then has the health of the daughter of my people not been restored?
- Jeremiah 23:32 “Indeed,” declares the LORD, “I am against those who prophesy false dreams and retell them to lead My people astray with their reckless lies. It was not I who sent them or commanded them, and they are of no benefit at all to these people,” declares the LORD.
- Mark 5:26 She had borne much agony under the care of many physicians and had spent all she had, but to no avail. Instead, her condition had only grown worse.
- Jeremiah 30:13 There is no one to plead your cause, no remedy for your sores, no recovery for you.
- Jeremiah 46:11 Go up to Gilead for balm, O Virgin Daughter of Egypt! In vain you try many remedies, but for you there is no healing.
- Ezekiel 34:4 You have not strengthened the weak, healed the sick, bound up the injured, brought back the strays, or searched for the lost. Instead, you have ruled them with violence and cruelty.
- Hosea 5:13 When Ephraim saw his sickness and Judah his wound, then Ephraim turned to Assyria and sent to the great king. But he cannot cure you or heal your wound.