Job 6:17

17 In time they dry up, they disappear; when it [is] hot, they vanish from their place.

Job 6:17 Meaning and Commentary

Job 6:17

What time they wax warm they vanish
The ice and the snow, which, when the weather becomes warm, they melt away and disappear; and in like manner, he suggests his friends ceased to be friends to him in a time of adversity; the sun of affliction having looked upon him, they deserted him, at least did not administer comfort to him:

when it is hot they are consumed out of their place;
when it is hot weather, and the sun has great strength then the waters, which swelled through the floods and fall of rain and snow, and which when frozen, looked black and big as if they had great depth in them, were quickly dried up, and no more to be seen in the place where they were; which still expresses the short duration of friendship among men, which Job had a sorrowful experience of.

Job 6:17 In-Context

15 My companions are treacherous like a torrent-bed; like a streambed of wadis they flow away,
16 which are growing dark because of ice upon them, it will pile up snow.
17 In time they dry up, they disappear; when it [is] hot, they vanish from their place.
18 The paths of their way wind [around]; they go up into the wasteland, and they perish.
19 The caravans of Tema looked; the traveling merchants of Sheba hope for them.
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.