Job 6:6

6. Unsavoury… white of an egg Rir hhallamouth. The latter word is one of the many in this book which occur but once in the Bible. This is because of the great antiquity of the book of Job. This archaism has given rise to conflicting views. Michaelis thinks it means the insipid froth of camel’s milk, from which the Arabs derive many proverbs, comparing anger, vanity, and whatever is superficial with this tasteless froth. ( Sup. ad Lex., page 779.) Others suppose it signifies the broth or slime of purslain, an herb proverbial among the Arabs, Greeks, and Romans for its insipidity. Thus Renan and Merx. The authorized version is preferable, as Dillmann shows; also Umbreit, Ewald, Delitzsch, and Hitzig. An objection is made by Bottcher, that the Hebrews before the captivity did not keep poultry. The objection is inapposite, since geese, together with beef, constituted the principal part of the animal food throughout ancient Egypt. That by tasteless food he means his sorrows, and perhaps his loathsome disease, is evident from the preceding verses. As insipid food calls for some kind of condiment or relish, so does his calamity justify complaint.