Bible Strands
Job 6:4
For the arrows of the Almighty have pierced me; my spirit drinks in their poison; the terrors of God are arrayed against me.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Job speaks to his three friends during his ongoing lament, positioned between his admission of rash speech and his comparison to a wild donkey.
The words — The text emphasizes חִצֵּ֪י (chi.Tzei) = arrows and שֹׁתָ֣ה (sho.Tah) = drinks, depicting a spirit actively absorbing the venom of divine judgment.
The thread — The imagery of divine arrows and terrors appears in Psalms 38:2 and Psalms 88:15, while Job reiterates the terror motif in Job 30:15.
Why it lands — The verse presents suffering as direct, inescapable divine action rather than passive misfortune, requiring the reader to face the reality of unmediated judgment without softening its severity.
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
For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit: the terrors of God do set themselves in array against me.
Cross-references
- Psalms 38:2 For Your arrows have pierced me deeply, and Your hand has pressed down on me.
- Job 30:15 Terrors are turned loose against me; they drive away my dignity as by the wind, and my prosperity has passed like a cloud.
- Psalms 88:15 From my youth I was afflicted and near death. I have borne Your terrors; I am in despair.
- Proverbs 18:14 The spirit of a man can endure his sickness, but who can survive a broken spirit?
- Job 16:12 I was at ease, but He shattered me; He seized me by the neck and crushed me. He has set me up as His target;
- Psalms 143:7 Answer me quickly, O LORD; my spirit fails. Do not hide Your face from me, or I will be like those who descend to the Pit.
- Mark 15:34 At the ninth hour, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
- Job 9:17 For He would crush me with a tempest and multiply my wounds without cause.
- Lamentations 3:12 He bent His bow and set me as the target for His arrow.
- Deuteronomy 32:23 I will heap disasters upon them; I will spend My arrows against them.