What is my strength, that I should hope? and what is mine end, that I should prolong my life?
Job 6:11 is the voice of despair, asking what strength remains that could sustain hope and what future prospect remains that could make prolonging life worthwhile. It is asked out of prolonged suffering, with no strength seen for hoping and no end seen that would make continuing to live seem desirable. The anguish does not prove that affliction is a sign of divine displeasure, for adversity may fall upon one who is upright. Those who suffer therefore need not be discouraged, but may trust God.
The word rendered life is the Hebrew nephesh. That same word occurs 745 times in the Old Testament, being rendered soul about 473 times. It is rendered life or lives in 118 places, showing that soul in such places means life. The phrasing with end also stands as a parallel for rendering the Hebrew expression in Genesis 4:3 as in the end of days, in the sense of a definite period rather than merely the passage of time.
Job 6:11 is the voice of despair, asking what strength remains that could sustain hope and what future prospect remains that could make prolonging life worthwhile. It is asked out of prolonged suffering, with no strength seen for hoping and no end seen that would make continuing to live seem desirable. The anguish does not prove that affliction is a sign of divine displeasure, for adversity may fall upon one who is upright. Those who suffer therefore need not be discouraged, but may trust God.
The word rendered life is the Hebrew nephesh. That same word occurs 745 times in the Old Testament, being rendered soul about 473 times. It is rendered life or lives in 118 places, showing that soul in such places means life. The phrasing with end also stands as a parallel for rendering the Hebrew expression in Genesis 4:3 as in the end of days, in the sense of a definite period rather than merely the passage of time.