What Does Job 6:8 Mean in the King James?
Oh that I might have my request; and that God would grant me the thing that I long for!
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The Hebrew says “give” twice, framing both Job’s request and his hope as something he asks God to grant.
THE MEANING
Your longing can be named both as a request and as a hope, even before either is granted. The verse lets that desire stand openly before God without pretending its answer is already known.
THE ROOT
יִתֵּן
yitten
GROWS FROM
נתן
natan
Give, set, place.
“grant / have” in this verse is yitten. The Hebrew uses a form of natan twice: first in Job’s wish that his request come, then in his wish that God give his hope. English renders those occurrences as “might have” and “grant,” while the repeated Hebrew root makes the plea echo with one act of giving.
ALSO GROWS
natan: Give, set, place.
נָתַן
This verb appears in both halves of Job’s plea, binding the request and the hope together.
mattanah: Gift.
מַתָּנָה
The related noun keeps the idea of giving close to what is received.
תִּקְוָתִי
tiqvati
GROWS FROM
קוה
qavah
Wait for, hope for, expect.
“the thing that I long for” in this verse is tiqvati. The English phrase “thing that I long for” sounds like an undefined desire, but the Hebrew names it as hope or expectation. The same noun can also mean a cord, giving expectation the image of a line reaching toward what is ahead.
ALSO GROWS
qavah: Wait for, hope for, expect.
קָוָה
The verb shows the waiting or expecting held within Job’s “hope.”
tiqvah: Hope, expectation; also a cord or line.
תִּקְוָה
The word names Job’s expectation and is also used for the scarlet cord in Joshua 2:18, linking hope with something stretched toward what is ahead.
שֶׁאֱלָתִי
she'elati
GROWS FROM
שאל
sha'al
Ask, inquire, request.
“request” in this verse is she'elati. She’elah comes from the verb “ask,” so Job’s longing is cast as a direct appeal, not just an inward wish. The same root forms the word for “petitions” in Psalm 20:5, where requests are held within a blessing.
ALSO GROWS
sha'al: Ask, inquire, request.
שָׁאַל
This verb makes clear that Job’s desire is voiced as an appeal.
mish'alotekha: Your petitions or requests.
מִשְׁאֲלוֹתֶיךָ
This related form appears in Psalm 20:5, connecting Job’s “request” with the Bible’s broader language of petition.
THE PATTERN
Desire can be spoken before God as a concrete request before its outcome is known.
Lord, all my desire is before thee; and my groaning is not hid from thee.Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.THE THREAD
We will rejoice in thy salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners: the LORD fulfil all thy petitions.Job’s “request” (she’elati) and Psalm’s “petitions” (mish’alotekha) grow from the same Hebrew root, שאל, “ask, request.” The shared root connects Job’s raw longing with the wider language of petition, while the Psalm’s appeal for fulfillment leaves the response still to come.
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