Job 6:6
New International Version
Is tasteless food eaten without salt, or is there flavor in the sap of the mallow?

New Living Translation
Don’t people complain about unsalted food? Does anyone want the tasteless white of an egg?

English Standard Version
Can that which is tasteless be eaten without salt, or is there any taste in the juice of the mallow?

Berean Standard Bible
Is tasteless food eaten without salt, or is there flavor in the white of an egg?

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

New King James Version
Can flavorless food be eaten without salt? Or is there any taste in the white of an egg?

New American Standard Bible
“Can something tasteless be eaten without salt, Or is there any taste in the juice of an alkanet plant?

NASB 1995
“Can something tasteless be eaten without salt, Or is there any taste in the white of an egg?

NASB 1977
“Can something tasteless be eaten without salt, Or is there any taste in the white of an egg?

Legacy Standard Bible
Can something tasteless be eaten without salt, Or is there any taste in the slime of a yolk?

Amplified Bible
“Can something that has no taste to it be eaten without salt? Or is there any flavor in the white of an egg?

Christian Standard Bible
Is bland food eaten without salt? Is there flavor in an egg white?

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Is bland food eaten without salt? Is there flavor in an egg white?

American Standard Version
Can that which hath no savor be eaten without salt? Or is there any taste in the white of an egg?

Contemporary English Version
What is food without salt? What is more tasteless than the white of an egg?

English Revised Version
Can that which hath no savour be eaten without salt? or is there any taste in the white of an egg?

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Is tasteless food eaten without salt, or is there any flavor in the white of an egg?

Good News Translation
But who can eat flat, unsalted food? What taste is there in the white of an egg?

International Standard Version
Tasteless food isn't eaten without salt, is it? Is there any taste in an egg white?

Majority Standard Bible
Is tasteless food eaten without salt, or is there flavor in the white of an egg?

NET Bible
Can food that is tasteless be eaten without salt? Or is there any taste in the white of an egg?

New Heart English Bible
Can that which has no flavor be eaten without salt? Or is there any taste in the white of an egg?

Webster's Bible Translation
Can that which is unsavory be eaten without salt? or is there any taste in the white of an egg?

World English Bible
Can that which has no flavor be eaten without salt? Or is there any taste in the white of an egg?
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
Is an insipid thing eaten without salt? Is there sense in the drivel of dreams?

Young's Literal Translation
Eaten is an insipid thing without salt? Is there sense in the drivel of dreams?

Smith's Literal Translation
Shall that unseasoned be eaten without salt? if there is taste in purslain slime?
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
Or can an unsavoury thing be eaten, that is not seasoned with salt? or can a man taste that which when tasted bringeth death?

Catholic Public Domain Version
Or can one eat bland food, which is not seasoned with salt? Or can anyone taste that which, if tasted, causes death?

New American Bible
Can anything insipid be eaten without salt? Is there flavor in the white of an egg?

New Revised Standard Version
Can that which is tasteless be eaten without salt, or is there any flavor in the juice of mallows?
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
Or can that which is unsavory be eaten without salt? Or is there any taste in the white of an egg?

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
Or is a tasteless thing eaten without salt, or is there flavor in the mucilage of a mallows plant?
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
Can that which hath no savour be eaten without salt? Or is there any taste in the juice of mallows?

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Shall bread be eaten without salt? or again, is there taste in empty words?

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Job Replies: My Complaint is Just
5Does a wild donkey bray over fresh grass, or an ox low over its fodder? 6Is tasteless food eaten without salt, or is there flavor in the white of an egg? 7My soul refuses to touch them; they are loathsome food to me.…

Cross References
Proverbs 27:7
The soul that is full loathes honey, but to a hungry soul, any bitter thing is sweet.

Matthew 5:13
You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its savor, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.

Colossians 4:6
Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

Mark 9:50
Salt is good, but if the salt loses its saltiness, with what will you season it? Have salt among yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”

Luke 14:34-35
Salt is good, but if the salt loses its savor, with what will it be seasoned? / It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile, and it is thrown out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Psalm 34:8
Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!

1 Peter 2:3
now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Hebrews 6:4-5
It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, / who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age—

Isaiah 30:24
The oxen and donkeys that work the ground will eat salted fodder, winnowed with shovel and pitchfork.

Ezekiel 24:10
Pile on the logs and kindle the fire; cook the meat well and mix in the spices; let the bones be burned.

Leviticus 2:13
And you shall season each of your grain offerings with salt. You must not leave the salt of the covenant of your God out of your grain offering; you are to add salt to each of your offerings.

Numbers 11:8
The people walked around and gathered it, ground it on a handmill or crushed it in a mortar, then boiled it in a cooking pot or shaped it into cakes. It tasted like pastry baked with fine oil.

2 Kings 2:20-21
“Bring me a new bowl,” he replied, “and put some salt in it.” So they brought it to him, / and Elisha went out to the spring, cast the salt into it, and said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘I have healed this water. No longer will it cause death or unfruitfulness.’”

2 Chronicles 13:5
Do you not know that the LORD, the God of Israel, has given the kingship of Israel to David and his descendants forever by a covenant of salt?

Genesis 19:26
But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.


Treasury of Scripture

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

that which.

Job 6:25
How forcible are right words! but what doth your arguing reprove?

Job 16:2
I have heard many such things: miserable comforters are ye all.

Leviticus 2:13
And every oblation of thy meat offering shalt thou season with salt; neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat offering: with all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt.

taste.

Job 6:30
Is there iniquity in my tongue? cannot my taste discern perverse things?

Job 12:11
Doth not the ear try words? and the mouth taste his meat?

Job 34:3
For the ear trieth words, as the mouth tasteth meat.

Jump to Previous
Dreams Eaten Egg Flavor Food Insipid Juice Mallows Salt Savor Savour Sense Slime Soft Something Substance Taste Tasteless Unsavory White
Jump to Next
Dreams Eaten Egg Flavor Food Insipid Juice Mallows Salt Savor Savour Sense Slime Soft Something Substance Taste Tasteless Unsavory White
Job 6
1. Job shows that his complaints are not causeless.
8. He wishes for death, wherein he is assured of comfort.
14. He reproves his friends of unkindness.














Is tasteless food eaten without salt
The phrase begins with a rhetorical question that Job uses to express his frustration and the bitterness of his situation. The Hebrew word for "tasteless" (תָּפֵל, "taphal") implies something insipid or lacking in substance. In ancient times, salt was a crucial preservative and seasoning, symbolizing purity and covenant (Leviticus 2:13). Job's use of "salt" here metaphorically underscores the necessity of meaning and purpose in life. Without "salt," life becomes bland and unbearable, much like his current suffering. This reflects Job's deep yearning for understanding and divine intervention in his trials.

or is there flavor in the white of an egg?
The "white of an egg" (רִיר חַלָּמוּת, "rir challamuth") is another metaphor for something insipid and lacking in taste. The Hebrew term "rir" can also mean "spittle" or "slime," emphasizing the unappealing nature of the substance. In Job's context, this imagery conveys his perception of his friends' counsel as empty and unsatisfying. Historically, eggs were a common food, but the white alone, without seasoning, would be unappetizing. This reflects Job's view that his friends' words are devoid of comfort or wisdom, much like the tasteless egg white. Theologically, it highlights the human need for divine wisdom and the insufficiency of human reasoning in the face of profound suffering.

Verse 6. - Can that which is unsavoury be eaten without salt? or, that which is insipid. Many critics suppose that in this and the following verse Job reproaches Eliphaz with the insipidity of his remarks, and declares that his soul refuses to touch such loathsome food. Others regard him as still speaking in his own defence, and justifying his expressions of disgust by the nauseous character of the food which had been put before him; i.e. of the treatment which he has received. Either explanation produces good sense; but perhaps the former is the more natural. Or is there any taste in the white of an egg? So our Revisers; and so Dillmann and Canon Cook. Professor Lee suggests "the whey of cheese" for "the white of an egg;" others, "the juice of purslaine." We have certainly no other evidence that eggs were eaten in primitive times.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Is tasteless food
תָּ֭פֵל (tā·p̄êl)
Adjective - masculine singular
Strong's 8602: Plaster, slime, frivolity

eaten
הֲיֵאָכֵ֣ל (hă·yê·’ā·ḵêl)
Verb - Nifal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 398: To eat

without
מִבְּלִי־ (mib·bə·lî-)
Preposition-m | Adverb
Strong's 1097: Failure, nothing, destruction, without, not yet, because not, as long as

salt,
מֶ֑לַח (me·laḥ)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 4417: Powder, salt

or
אִם־ (’im-)
Conjunction
Strong's 518: Lo!, whether?, if, although, Oh that!, when, not

is there
יֶשׁ־ (yeš-)
Adverb
Strong's 3426: Being, substance, existence, is

flavor
טַ֝֗עַם (ṭa·‘am)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 2940: A taste, perception, intelligence, a mandate

in the white
בְּרִ֣יר (bə·rîr)
Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 7388: To flow (like slime)

of an egg?
חַלָּמֽוּת׃ (ḥal·lā·mūṯ)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 2495: (a plant), probably a purslane


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OT Poetry: Job 6:6 Can that which has no flavor be (Jb)
Job 6:5
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