Verse Lens · Context pointer
Job 6:20 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 20. 20They were confounded because they had hoped; they came thither, and were ashamed.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Role in This Section
Job 6:20 advances the thought unit with the words “They were confounded because they had hoped; they came thither, and were ashamed.” Job states “They were confounded because they had hoped” as one poetic claim in Job Compares Failed Friendship to Seasonal Streams.
Read It With
- Job 6:14–6:21
Read Job 6:20 with 6:14–6:21. Read alone, “They were confounded because they had hoped; they came thither, and were ashamed” could lose its speaker, the question or claim it develops, and the unit's outcome. The complete movement establishes: Job says an afflicted person needs loyal kindness, then compares his friends to torrents that vanish when travelers most need water.
Why It Needs Context
Job 6:20 depends on 6:14–6:21; isolating “They were confounded because they had hoped; they came thither, and were ashamed” would detach a poetic premise, image, response, or transition from Job and “Job Compares Failed Friendship to Seasonal Streams.”
Read Job 6:14–21 together
Why these verses belong together: Job 6:14–6:21 follows the pinned KJV paragraphing and holds together one sustained speech movement: “Job Compares Failed Friendship to Seasonal Streams.” The next unit begins with a new stanza, question sequence, scene, speaker response, or rhetorical turn.
Verse 14. 14 To him that is afflicted pity should be shewed from his friend; but he forsaketh the fear of the Almighty.
Verse 15. 15 My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook, and as the stream of brooks they pass away;
Verse 16. 16 Which are blackish by reason of the ice, and wherein the snow is hid:
Verse 17. 17 What time they wax warm, they vanish: when it is hot, they are consumed out of their place.
Verse 18. 18 The paths of their way are turned aside; they go to nothing, and perish.
Verse 19. 19 The troops of Tema looked, the companies of Sheba waited for them.
Verse 20. 20 They were confounded because they had hoped; they came thither, and were ashamed.
Verse 21. 21 For now ye are nothing; ye see my casting down, and are afraid.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Job 6:14–6:21 — Job Compares Failed Friendship to Seasonal StreamsSources used for this context pointer
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Job 6:14–6:21, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Job
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a complete apparatus or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Job.xml, OSIS 6:14–6:21
Open the fixed Hebrew Job file ↗