What is the meaning of Job 6:27? You would even cast lots Job pictures his friends acting like cold-hearted gamblers who decide a person’s fate by chance. In Scripture, casting lots was sometimes a legitimate way of discerning God’s will (Leviticus 16:8; Acts 1:26), yet it was also what heartless enemies did with someone’s goods (Psalm 22:18; Joel 3:3). Job’s point is blunt: • Instead of seeking God for wisdom about his suffering, they treat it like a game of chance. • Their counsel feels random, detached, and careless—rolled out like dice rather than weighed in love (Proverbs 17:17). for an orphan The “orphan” or fatherless child is a touchstone of God’s compassion (Exodus 22:22; James 1:27). To gamble over an orphan’s future is to trample one who has no earthly defender. Job’s accusation underscores how unsafe he feels with those who should protect him: • God condemns anyone who exploits the vulnerable (Deuteronomy 27:19; Isaiah 10:2). • By likening himself to an orphan (Job 6:27) Job says his friends are behaving like the very oppressors Scripture denounces. and barter away your friend To “barter” is to sell or trade a commodity. Job charges them with putting a price tag on friendship itself: • Similar betrayals stain biblical history—Joseph’s brothers sold him for silver (Genesis 37:27, 28), and Judas betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces (Matthew 26:15). • True friends bind themselves by steadfast love, especially in adversity (Proverbs 18:24; 27:10). By treating Job as a theological problem to solve, they break that bond. summary Job 6:27 exposes the cruelty of counsel given without genuine compassion. His friends’ words feel as indifferent as gamblers casting lots, as unjust as profiteers exploiting an orphan, and as treacherous as traders selling a friend. Scripture consistently reveals God’s heart for the vulnerable and His call to covenant faithfulness in relationships; when those who claim to speak for Him ignore that heart, their advice becomes not merely unhelpful but deeply wounding. |
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