Job 6:24 Meaning Teach Me

Sovacassatā: Being easy to admonish Sovacassatā is the readiness to be spoken to about your faults. "Teach me" comes from a man sitting in ashes and scraping his sores, and he still leaves the door open to correction. Most of us meet criticism with a raised hand; he sets his hand down first and promises quiet, and that willingness counts as a virtue before any lesson arrives.

Kalyāṇamitta: A good friend A kalyāṇamitta is the companion who steers you toward what is wholesome. Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar sat with him seven days without a word, then began explaining his suffering back to him, and being asked to teach is being asked to be that kind of friend instead. His demand is fair, since he has just called them a desert stream that dries up in summer, right when the thirsty caravan turns aside to look for it.

Ariyo tuṇhībhāvo: Noble silence Noble silence is the quiet kept in company when speech has nothing to add. "I will hold my peace" puts down the long self-defense he has been making since he opened his mouth to curse the day of his birth. Offering that silence clears a space for someone else's words to land in, and it is the costlier half of his bargain.

Paccavekkhaṇā: Reviewing your own conduct Paccavekkhaṇā is looking back over what you have done. The Buddha told his young son that a mirror is for looking at your own face, and deeds are to be looked at the same way. "Cause me to understand" is the request of a man who cannot see his own face without a glass, asking the three of them to hold one steady and keep it honest while he looks.

Accaya: A fault owned as a fault Accaya is an offense once it is acknowledged. Saying "my error" before knowing what the error is leaves the latch off the door in advance. Making amends starts with seeing a transgression as a transgression, and until that seeing lands, apology is only noise; he is asking to be brought to the seeing, and he will go quiet the moment they get him there.