My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook, and as the stream of brooks they pass away;
Job's complaint belongs to the moment when his friends confronted his suffering by insisting that sin was its cause. They judged him wrongly instead of discerning what was happening to him. God was in fact bringing him through affliction, not punishing him as they claimed. The trusted brothers he looked to for support proved unreliable like a brook that deceives the traveler. As the streams of seasonal brooks dry up and pass away, so they disappeared when he needed help most. The sufferer was left without the help he had expected from those he trusted.
Job's complaint belongs to the moment when his friends confronted his suffering by insisting that sin was its cause. They judged him wrongly instead of discerning what was happening to him. God was in fact bringing him through affliction, not punishing him as they claimed. The trusted brothers he looked to for support proved unreliable like a brook that deceives the traveler. As the streams of seasonal brooks dry up and pass away, so they disappeared when he needed help most. The sufferer was left without the help he had expected from those he trusted.