After Eliphaz's rebuking and correcting, Job vindicated himself. Chapters six and seven are devoted to Job's vindication.
First, in 6:1-7 Job stated his grievances. He said, "Oh that my vexation were weighed indeed,/And that my ruin were lifted onto the scales together with it!/For then it would be heavier than the sand of the seas;/Therefore my words have been rash" (vv. 2-3). Then he went on to say that the arrows of the Almighty were with him and were the poison of which his spirit drank up and that the terrors of God were arrayed like an army against him (v. 4).
Job continued by challenging God concerning how much God would require of him (vv. 8-13). Job said, "Oh that I might have my request,/And that God would grant me what I long for;/That God would be willing to crush me;/That He would release His hand and cut me off!" (vv. 8-9). In his speaking Job surely was different from Paul, who rejoiced triumphantly when he was about to be martyred.
"What is my strength, that I should wait?/And what is my end, that I should be patient?/Is my strength the strength of stones?/Or is my flesh bronze?/Is there any help for me at all within me,/And has all wisdom been driven away from me?" (vv. 11-13). Here Job was challenging God, asking Him how much He would require of him. It seemed to Job that God was treating him as if he was stone or bronze. Job's word regarding wisdom indicates that he had been exhausted in every way and had become empty.