Job 6:23
“or, ‘Deliver me from the adversary’s hand?’ or, ‘Redeem me from the hand of the oppressors?’”
What does Job 6:23 mean?
Job is speaking to his friends in deep frustration, and these rhetorical questions cut to the heart of his pain. He's asking them: have I ever asked you to rescue me from enemies or oppressors? The answer is no, because that's not even his real problem. His suffering isn't from external enemies or injustice he can fight or flee from, but from something mysterious and internal that his friends can't understand. What makes this so poignant is that Job is essentially saying, "I wouldn't even be asking if this were a normal problem you could solve." He's longing for his friends to recognize that he needs something different from them than they're offering, though he's not quite sure what that is himself. Sometimes our deepest struggles can't be fixed by deliverance from an obvious threat, and Job is trying to help his friends see that reality.