Or, conceal.

See note Job 3:11¹.

Job’s vindication of himself in chs. 6 and 7 is an extract of the entire book. As he vindicated himself, Job stated his grievances (vv. 1-7), challenged God (vv. 8-13), blamed his friends (vv. 14-23), justified himself (vv. 24-30), expressed that he had the common knowledge of the vanity and end of human life (Job 7:1-10), and concluded by saying that he loathed life and wanted to die (Job 7:11-21). Job was challenging God and his friends to give him an answer. However, the answer to the book of Job is found not in this book but in the New Testament (see note Job 2:13¹, par. 2 and note Job 42:17¹).

Job, like his friends, was halted in the knowledge of right and wrong, not knowing God’s economy, not realizing in an adequate way the purpose for which God created man. He and his friends were devoid of the divine revelation and of the experience of the divine life. He had no idea that God had no intention to increase his perfection, uprightness, righteousness, and integrity. Rather, God’s intention was to strip all these human virtues which he had as his contentment, so that he could seek and gain only God Himself. Neither his friends nor he were in the line of the tree of life as God ordained man to be (Gen. 2:9, 16-17).