Job 6:3

For then it would outweigh the sand of the seas—no wonder my words have been rash.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — Job addresses his friends, using the hypothetical scale from the previous verse to frame his current moment of acute distress. He speaks before detailing the divine arrows and terrors arrayed against him.

The words — The Hebrew יִכְבָּ֑ד (yikhbad) translates literally to "it will be heavy," paired with דְּבָרַ֥י (devarai), "my words." The text states that his grief would surpass the sand of the seas, explaining why his speech has turned rash.

The thread — Proverbs 27:3 uses heavy sand to show how a fool's aggravation outweighs physical burdens. Job 23:2 and Job 37:19 track the same motif of inexpressible weight and darkness surrounding divine confrontation.

Why it lands — The verse demands recognition that extreme suffering distorts language, requiring readers to account for how unmeasured pressure fractures their own speech. It calls for precise self-examination rather than defensive rhetoric.

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

כִּֽי־ki-for עַתָּ֗ה'a.Tahnow מֵח֣וֹלme./Cholmore than/ [the] sand of יַמִּ֣יםya.Mim[the] seas יִכְבָּ֑דyikh.Badit will be heavy עַל־'al-there-כֵּ֝֗ןKen-fore דְּבָרַ֥יde.va.Ra/iwords/ my לָֽעוּ׃La.'uthey have been rash

King James Version

For now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea: therefore my words are swallowed up.

Cross-references

Proverbs 27:3 A stone is heavy and sand is a burden, but aggravation from a fool outweighs them both.
Job 23:2 “Even today my complaint is bitter. His hand is heavy despite my groaning.
Job 37:19 Teach us what we should say to Him; we cannot draw up our case because of our darkness.
Psalms 40:5 Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders You have done, and the plans You have for us—none can compare to You—if I proclaim and declare them, they are more than I can count.
Psalms 77:4 You have kept my eyes from closing; I am too troubled to speak.
Matthew 11:28 Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.