Job 6:25

Study note

Setting — Job speaks to his friends during his ongoing lament, responding directly to their attempts to correct his speech. He addresses them at a moment when he perceives their counsel as unhelpful and his suffering as dismissed.

The words — אִמְרֵי יֹשֶׁר ('im.rei Yo.sher) translates literally to "words of uprightness," and נִמְרְצוּ (nim.re.Tzu) means "they are painful." The text states that honest speech is both morally straight and deeply distressing to endure.

The thread — The tension between blunt truth and its reception runs through Job 4:4, where steady words strengthen the weak, and Job 13:5 and Job 16:3, where prolonged speeches are questioned for their lack of end or wisdom.

Why it lands — The text asks the reader to evaluate whether correction actually builds up or merely dismisses despair, and to consider if the speaker values truth for its own sake or for its practical effect.

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.