Job 6:17

17 But they stop flowing in the dry season; they disappear when it is hot.

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 But my brothers cannot be counted on. They are like streams that do not always flow, streams that sometimes run over.
16 They are made dark by melting ice and rise with melting snow.
17 But they stop flowing in the dry season; they disappear when it is hot.
18 Travelers turn away from their paths and go into the desert and die.
19 The groups of travelers from Tema look for water, and the traders of Sheba look hopefully.
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.