The Meaning of Job 13:4 Explained

Job 13:4

KJV: But ye are forgers of lies, ye are all physicians of no value.

YLT: And yet, ye are forgers of falsehood, Physicians of nought -- all of you,

Darby: For ye indeed are forgers of lies, ye are all physicians of no value.

ASV: But ye are forgers of lies; Ye are all physicians of no value.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

But  ye [are] forgers  of lies,  ye [are] all physicians  of no value. 

What does Job 13:4 Mean?

Context Summary

Job 13:1-28 - "though He Slay Me"
The sufferer first rebukes his friends, Job 13:4-12. Then he makes an appeal to God, affirming that he was no hypocrite, and asking that his sins, for which he was suffering, might be set down, Job 13:23.
When Job said that he knew himself to be righteous, he was clearly speaking of known sin; he knew, so far as a man may know himself, that he had not committed the sins of which his friends charged him. He could bare his life to the inspection of men and angels, being sure that no accusation of which human law-courts would take cognizance could be established against him. But this is a very different matter with the divine tribunal. When a fuller light had shone upon him from the face of God, when the patriarch had seen Him instead of merely hearing of Him by the ear, then he would "abhor himself and repent in dust and ashes," Job 42:5-6.
Job 13:15 is almost the greatest sentence ever uttered by mortal lips! Let us ask for grace to affirm it. [source]

Chapter Summary: Job 13

1  Job reproves his friends for partiality
14  He professes his confidence in God;
19  and entreats to know his own sins, and God's purpose in afflicting him

What do the individual words in Job 13:4 mean?

But you forgers of lies physicians worthless You [are] all
וְֽאוּלָ֗ם אַתֶּ֥ם טֹֽפְלֵי־ שָׁ֑קֶר רֹפְאֵ֖י אֱלִ֣ל כֻּלְּכֶֽם

טֹֽפְלֵי־  forgers 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine plural construct
Root: טָפַל  
Sense: (Qal) to smear, plaster over, stick, glue.
שָׁ֑קֶר  of  lies 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: שֶׁקֶר  
Sense: lie, deception, disappointment, falsehood.
רֹפְאֵ֖י  physicians 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine plural construct
Root: רָפָא  
Sense: to heal, make healthful.
אֱלִ֣ל  worthless 
Parse: Adjective, masculine singular
Root: אֱלִיל  
Sense: of nought, good for nothing, worthless.
כֻּלְּכֶֽם  You  [are]  all 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, second person masculine plural
Root: כֹּל  
Sense: all, the whole.