Bible Discussion Thread

what is the meaning of 2nd question in Job 6:6 is there any taste in the white of an egg

Hello David. In Job chapter 6, Job is responding to what Eliphaz was speaking to him in the previous couple of chapters. Eliphaz was essentially urging Job to simply bear up (be patient) & submit to God, the God Who would bless him if he would repent of sins, for which he was suffering ( Job 5:17: "Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty").

Now in chapter 6, Job is responding to Eliphaz that the impatience with which he is being charged & the agony that he is bearing, be weighed against the great calamities he has experienced ( Job 6:1-4).

Then in v5, Job asks a couple of questions: 'does the ass complain when it has food and likewise the ox?' The expected answer is, 'No, they are satisfied when there's enough to eat'. Likewise, Job says that he does not complain without good reason, just as those animals. Rather, he has lost his taste for life: just as anyone would refrain from eating saltless/inspid food as also when eating just the white of an egg which has no taste of its own, so to his sufferings (which were undeserved) have now become his detestable portion in life. If it was that easy for Job to overcome his sufferings as simply adding salt to food or flavor to an egg, he would certainly do it. But in vv 8 & 9, Job longs for relief from God, or if none comes, that God would shorten his life so that his sufferings would finally end.

Job 6:6

"Can that which is unsavoury be eaten without salt? or is there any taste in the white of an egg?"

The second question is just a repeatition of the first, is there any taste in the white of an egg (that is the unsavoury) if it has no salt on it?