Job 21:34
How then comfort ye me in vain, seeing in your answers there remaineth falsehood?
Original Language Analysis
תְּנַחֲמ֣וּנִי
How then comfort
H5162
תְּנַחֲמ֣וּנִי
How then comfort
Strong's:
H5162
Word #:
2 of 6
properly, to sigh, i.e., breathe strongly; by implication, to be sorry, i.e., (in a favorable sense) to pity, console or (reflexively) rue; or (unfavo
הָ֑בֶל
ye me in vain
H1892
הָ֑בֶל
ye me in vain
Strong's:
H1892
Word #:
3 of 6
emptiness or vanity; figuratively, something transitory and unsatisfactory; often used as an adverb
וּ֝תְשֽׁוּבֹתֵיכֶ֗ם
seeing in your answers
H8666
וּ֝תְשֽׁוּבֹתֵיכֶ֗ם
seeing in your answers
Strong's:
H8666
Word #:
4 of 6
a recurrence (of time or place); a reply (as returned)
Historical Context
Ancient Near Eastern friendship included obligation to support friends in distress. Job's friends fulfilled formal requirements (sitting with him seven days, offering counsel) but failed substantively because their theology was flawed. The verse teaches that good intentions don't compensate for false doctrine—pastoral care requires both compassion and truth. Job's accusation anticipates God's verdict (42:7) that the friends spoke wrongly.
Questions for Reflection
- How does Job's critique teach us about the necessity of sound doctrine in pastoral care?
- What is the difference between comfort based on truth and well-intentioned counsel based on falsehood?
Analysis & Commentary
Job concludes his response: 'How then comfort ye me in vain, seeing in your answers there remaineth falsehood?' The verb nacham (נָחַם, comfort) means to console or encourage. Hevel (הֶבֶל, vain) means emptiness, breath, or futility—the same word translated 'vanity' in Ecclesiastes. Ma'al (מַעַל, falsehood) denotes treachery, unfaithfulness, or deceit. Job indicts his friends' counsel as worthless because founded on false premises—they assumed his suffering proved sin. Their theological error made their comfort not merely ineffective but harmful.