Can that which is unsavoury be eaten without salt? or is there any taste in the white of an egg?

JOB 6:6KJV
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Job 6:6 (KJV)

What does Job 6:6 mean?

Job 6:6 uses a simple food image to ask if something tasteless can be eaten without salt, or if there is any flavor in the white of an egg. Job is saying that just as bland food is unappealing, so too are his friends’ words and explanations, which offer him no comfort or meaning in his suffering.

In this verse, Job is speaking to his friends after they have tried to explain his suffering. Job uses the example of unsalted, flavorless food to show how empty and unsatisfying their advice feels to him. The comparison highlights Job’s frustration and the sense that his friends’ words do not help or nourish him in his pain.

The Hebrew behind Job 6:6

  • "unsavoury" (תָּפֵל, tāp̄ēl): This word means tasteless or lacking flavor. Job uses it to describe something that is dull and unappealing, which he connects to the advice he is receiving.
  • "salt" (מֶלַח, melach): Salt was essential in the ancient world for both flavor and preservation. Job’s mention of salt emphasizes how necessary it is for making something palatable, just as meaningful words are needed for comfort.
  • "white" (רִיר, rîr): This word refers to the clear or white part of an egg, which is bland and without taste. By mentioning the egg white, Job underlines how truly flavorless and unsatisfying his friends’ words are to him.

Why Job 6:6 matters

  • Job 6:6 clears up that Job is not just complaining about his suffering, but also about the emptiness of his friends’ attempts to explain or comfort him.
  • The verse emphasizes how important it is for words to have substance and meaning, especially when someone is in distress.
  • This image connects to the wider passage, where Job is challenging the adequacy of traditional explanations for suffering and calling for deeper understanding.

Where else these words appear

“white” Hebrew H7388 · used in 2 verses

  • 1 Samuel 21:13 And he changed his behaviour before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard.

“unsavoury” Hebrew H8602 · used in 7 verses

  • Lamentations 2:14 Thy prophets have seen vain and foolish things for thee: and they have not discovered thine iniquity, to turn away thy captivity; but have seen for thee false burdens and causes of banishment.
  • Ezekiel 13:11 Say unto them which daub it with untempered morter, that it shall fall: there shall be an overflowing shower; and ye, O great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall rend it.
  • Ezekiel 13:15 Thus will I accomplish my wrath upon the wall, and upon them that have daubed it with untempered morter, and will say unto you, The wall is no more, neither they that daubed it;

“taste” Hebrew H2940 · used in 12 verses

  • Exodus 16:31 And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna: and it was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.
  • 1 Samuel 25:33 And blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou, which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself with mine own hand.
  • Proverbs 11:22 As a jewel of gold in a swine's snout, so is a fair woman which is without discretion.

“salt” Hebrew H4417 · used in 26 verses

  • Genesis 14:3 All these were joined together in the vale of Siddim, which is the salt sea.
  • Joshua 3:16 That the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon an heap very far from the city Adam, that is beside Zaretan: and those that came down toward the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, failed, and were cut off: and the people passed over right against Jericho.
  • 2 Kings 2:21 And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith the LORD, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land.