Oh that I might have my request; and that God would grant me the thing that I long for!
Parallel translations
- WEB “Oh that I might have my request, that God would grant the thing that I long for,
- BSB If only my request were granted and God would fulfill my hope:
- NKJV “Oh, that I might have my request, That God would grant me the thing that I long for!
- NASB ¶“Oh, that my request might come to pass, And that God would grant my hope!
- NLT “Oh, that I might have my request, that God would grant my desire.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Job longs that God would grant his request and give him what he desires. He yearns for relief, even though that relief is death.
Overview
Job voices a desperate wish that God would fulfill his longing. The intensity of his plea shows how deeply he suffers. While his specific request, as the next verses reveal, is for death, the verse models bringing even our darkest desires honestly to God, who meets the despairing not with rejection but, in Christ, with a hope stronger than the longing for death.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
- Ps 119:81My soul fainteth for thy salvation: but I hope in thy word.
- Job 17:14–16I have said to corruption, Thou art my father: to the worm, Thou art my mother, and my sister.
- Job 6:11–13What is my strength, that I should hope? and what is mine end, that I should prolong my life?
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Job's cry for a mediator who can lay his hand on both God and man, and his confidence that 'my Redeemer lives' and will stand on the earth, reaches forward to Jesus the living Redeemer.
How Job 6:8 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.