Job 42:6
Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.
Study Note
Study Note
'Therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes' — Job's final response to the theophanic speeches from the whirlwind (chapters 38–41) has generated more interpretive debate than almost any other verse in the book. The Hebrew 'em'as' can mean 'despise' (usually with an object) or possibly 'retract' or 'reconsider' — some scholars translate 'I retract my words' rather than reading it as self-loathing, avoiding a reading that seems to validate Job's comforters. The phrase 'repent in dust and ashes' (nachamti al aphar va'epher) may mean repentance from a position of dust and ashes — acknowledging creaturely finitude in contrast to divine immensity — rather than repentance for sin. Whatever the translation, the verse marks the transformation of Job's relationship with God from adversarial to worshipful, following his encounter with uncreated divine glory.
Other Translations
Wherefore I abhor myself, And repent in dust and ashes.
Therefore do I loathe <FI>it<Fi> , And I have repented on dust and ashes.
For this cause I give witness that what I said is false, and in sorrow I take my seat in the dust.
Cross References
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When Mordecai perceived all that was done, Mordecai rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out …
Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.
Then Job answered the Lord, and said,
He hath cast me into the mire, and I am become like dust and ashes.
Yet shalt thou plunge me in the ditch, and mine own clothes shall abhor me.
And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes.
Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it …