Job 6:3

They would outweigh the sands of the seas,

   No wonder my words have been impetuous.

 

Impetuous is not a word I use in my vocabulary. It probably should be as I am and most other people are impetuous at times (acting without thought). This characteristic of our lives is sometimes beneficial when following a good habit, but it can be devastating when interacting with other people.

Unexpectedly, there was an option for “they” when some used “it”. I do not see how one gets it from the previous verse with anguish and calamity together. Often, I wonder how anything gets done in committee, much less done well. “Outweigh” was also suggested as “drag down” or “be heavier”. I think the physical limitations make be heavier nonsensical. I did like drag down as it implies a gradual realization that the mental overrides the physical. I went with “outweigh” as the context did not support the drag down effect. “Ocean” could have been used for “sea”, but who has ever heard it that way?

“No wonder” was taken from the New International Version which hardly ever has something I like. But “therefore”, “thus”, and “that is why” all seemed like he was making an excuse which I was not sure of. “My words” could also have been “I spoke” or “my speech”, but neither added to the meaning. One twist was a source that used “may have” as if maybe his words were not rash at all. I found this hard to include. For “have been impetuous”, I could have used “have been rash”, “are swallowed up”, “recklessly”, “is clumsy”, or “are choked back”. Again, I followed the NIV here, but the variations indicated some uncertainty of meaning. “Swallowed up” came from the King James and do not seem applicable and may have been a phrase of the same meaning at that time of our language. “Rash” and “recklessly” seem to me to carry the same meaning, so I declined them. “Clumsy” came from the poet source and I dismissed it as out of step, but there may be some aspect of the original Hebrew term that carries this feel that I cannot see in the other sources. But “are choked back” leads me to further think the ”swallowed up” has some validity as it comes from my second favorite source and brings a different feel to the conversation. I could see this meaning that Job had been speaking not without thinking, but in spurts and sputters that resembled someone whose thoughts are all messed up. He is in terrible mental and physical condition and to expect someone to eloquently speak long, well thought out proverbs is a little much. If I project into the visual of the scene, we have a relatively mature man who has lost almost everything, has painful sores all over his body, and is sitting on a pile of dung crying out to die. We are not to the point where the whole of Job has transpired. Job has only spoken chapter three and it was all about death and chaos.

After all this, I have decided to follow a thought I had when I first reread the verse today. I want to change “been” to “seemed”.

They would outweigh the sands of the seas,

   No wonder my words have seemed impetuous.

This capture both the idea that may Job did not speak with out thought, pushes the negativity to the audience, and allows for the possibility that the intent was for his speech to not be heard for its content so much as for his physical condition and how it was delivered.

Intentional is the ideal that I have as an opposite of impetuous. I want to be intentional. I am often not because my sinful selfish nature is to be impetuous. In some social settings, I am viewed as being “anti-social” when I do not join conversations and simply listen. Often, I am just trying not to be a horse’s rear by saying something stupid. Occasionally, my silence lends impact to what I do say when I say something. One of the phrases I have heard with people talking is that they like talking so they can hear themselves speak. It means they do not care what they say as long as they get to say it. I only want to speak when I will be heard. Not that I want to feed my ego, but if my goal is to glorify God, then I want what I say to have impact. And I want to be intentional about that impact being positive. Impetuous: another bad characteristic to eliminate, intentionally.