Verse Lens · Concise explanation
Job 6:21 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 21. 21For now ye are nothing; ye see my casting down, and are afraid.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Job 6:21 closes the thought unit with the words “For now ye are nothing; ye see my casting down, and are afraid.” Job supplies a reason through “For now ye are nothing” in support of Job Compares Failed Friendship to Seasonal Streams.
Read It With
- Job 6:14–6:21
Read Job 6:21 with 6:14–6:21. Read alone, “For now ye are nothing; ye see my casting down, and are afraid” 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 This Verse Appears Here
Job continues from Job 6:8–6:13: Job wishes God would end his life, treats faithfulness to divine words as his remaining comfort, and denies having strength or resources to prolong hope. Job 6:14–6:21 now develops the next distinct movement: Job says an afflicted person needs loyal kindness, then compares his friends to torrents that vanish when travelers most need water. Within that relationship, Job 6:21 closes the thought unit through “For now ye are nothing; ye see my casting down, and are afraid.”
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.
What Remains True
Job says an afflicted person needs loyal kindness, then compares his friends to torrents that vanish when travelers most need water. Honest lament, grief, protest, and need can remain inside sustained relationship without being silenced by a demand for quick explanations. Job 6:21 carries that bounded truth through “For now ye are nothing; ye see my casting down, and are afraid.”
How It Can Shape Life
- Make room for the speech and emotion preserved in Job 6:14–6:21; listen before explaining, do not coerce closure or silence protest, and pair companionship with the practical care the situation requires. Preserve this unit-specific boundary in the action: Job's accusation targets unreliable comfort; it does not authorize abandoning every imperfect friend, while the friends' fear does not excuse their failure to see him. The verse-specific evidence to retain is “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 Verse Lens
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 ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible First Edition Notes: Job
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006; current official PDF
Supports: Verse-level controls for Job's difficult Hebrew, syntax, older KJV language, textual issues, speech boundaries, and alternatives in Job 6:14–6:21.
Exact location: Official NET Job PDF, exact translator, study, and textual notes attached to Job 6:14–6:21
Open the official NET Job PDF ↗