Job 42:6

American Standard Version (1901)

Wherefore I abhor [myself], And repent in dust and ashes.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

עַל־כֵּ֭ן אֶמְאַ֣ס וְנִחַ֑מְתִּי עַל־עָפָ֥ר וָאֵֽפֶר׃

Transliteration

Upon-kēn ʾemʾas and-niḥamtî upon-ʿāpār and-ʾēper

Grammar Details

• *kēn*: adverb - thus/so
• *ʾemʾas*: Qal imperfect, 1st singular - I despise/reject
• *niḥamtî*: Niphal perfect, 1st singular - I am comforted/I repent
• *ʿāpār*: noun, masculine singular - dust
• *ʾēper*: noun, masculine singular - ashes

Word Meanings

• *kēn*: thus/so/therefore
• *ʾemʾas*: I despise/I reject/I abhor
• *niḥamtî*: I repent/I am comforted/I am sorry
• *ʿāpār*: dust/dirt/earth
• *ʾēper*: ashes/dust

Referenced Verses

• Ezra 9:6 : 6 and I said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God; for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our guiltiness is grown up unto the heavens.
• Job 2:8 : 8 And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself therewith; and he sat among the ashes.
• Job 30:19 : 19 He hath cast me into the mire, And I am become like dust and ashes.
• Job 40:3-4 : 3 Then Job answered Jehovah, and said, 4 Behold, I am of small account; What shall I answer thee? I lay my hand upon my mouth.
• Dan 9:3 : 3 And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.
• Jonah 3:6-9 : 6 And the tidings reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 7 And he made proclamation and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; let them not feed, nor drink water; 8 but let them be covered with sackcloth, both man and beast, and let them cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in his hands. 9 Who knoweth whether God will not turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not? 10 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil which he said he would do unto them; and he did it not.
• Matt 11:21 : 21 Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon which were done in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
• Luke 10:13 : 13 Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which were done in you, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.
• Luke 15:18-19 : 18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight: 19 I am no more worthy to be called your son: make me as one of thy hired servants.
• 1 Cor 15:8-9 : 8 and last of all, as to the [child] untimely born, he appeared to me also. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
• 1 Tim 1:13-16 : 13 though I was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: howbeit I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief; 14 and the grace of our Lord abounded exceedingly with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. 15 Faithful is the saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief: 16 howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me as chief might Jesus Christ show forth all his longsuffering, for an ensample of them that should thereafter believe on him unto eternal life.
• Jas 4:7-9 : 7 Be subject therefore unto God; but resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye doubleminded. 9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall exalt you.
• Ps 51:17 : 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: A broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
• Isa 5:5 : 5 And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; I will break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down:
• Isa 58:5 : 5 Is such the fast that I have chosen? the day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head as a rush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to Jehovah?
• Jer 31:19 : 19 Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth.
• Ezek 16:63 : 63 that thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more, because of thy shame, when I have forgiven thee all that thou hast done, saith the Lord Jehovah.
• Ezek 20:43 : 43 And there shall ye remember your ways, and all your doings, wherein ye have polluted yourselves; and ye shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that ye have committed.
• Ezek 36:31 : 31 Then shall ye remember your evil ways, and your doings that were not good; and ye shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations.
• Job 9:31 : 31 Yet wilt thou plunge me in the ditch, And mine own clothes shall abhor me.
• Esth 4:1-3 : 1 Now when Mordecai knew all that was done, Mordecai rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and cried with a loud and a bitter cry; 2 and he came even before the king's gate: for none might enter within the king's gate clothed with sackcloth. 3 And in every province, whithersoever the king's commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.
• 1 Kgs 21:27 : 27 And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly.