What is the meaning of Job 6:20? They are confounded “They are confounded because they had hoped; their arrival brings disappointment.” (Job 6:20) • Job has just pictured his friends as desert caravans looking for seasonal streams that have already dried up (Job 6:15-19). When the travelers finally reach the empty riverbed, “they are confounded.” • Confounded means stunned, put to shame, left speechless (cf. Psalm 34:5; Jeremiah 14:3-4). • Job applies this image to himself: the very people who should have refreshed him have instead left him bewildered. • The literal event—caravans misled by vanished water—underscores the spiritual reality: false hopes bring real shame (Isaiah 45:16; Romans 9:33). Because they had hoped • Hope is healthy when fixed on God’s sure promises (Psalm 62:5-6; Romans 5:5). Here it is misplaced hope, fixed on a resource that proved unreliable. • The caravans expected relief; Job expected comfort from friends. Both sets of hope rest on something that looks promising from afar yet fails at close range (Proverbs 25:19). • Scripture warns that hope grounded anywhere but the Lord will collapse (Jeremiah 17:5-6). Job is not renouncing hope itself; he is exposing the pain of hope betrayed. Their arrival brings disappointment • “Their arrival brings disappointment.” The closer the travelers come, the sharper their letdown. Likewise, when Job’s friends finally speak, their words only deepen his sorrow (Job 4:1-5; 5:1-7). • Disappointment is inevitable when expectation meets emptiness (Proverbs 13:12). God allows such moments to redirect hearts back to Him, the unfailing spring (Isaiah 58:11; John 4:14). • For believers, the scene is a sober reminder: be a source of living water, not a dried-up channel (John 7:38; 2 Corinthians 1:3-4). summary Job 6:20 pictures caravans shamed, hopes dashed, and arrival met with emptiness. Job uses the image to confront friends who promised support but only added grief. The verse challenges readers to place hope squarely in the Lord and to be faithful sources of refreshment to those in distress, never mirages that disappear when most needed. |
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