Job 7:20

The first half of the verse reads,

Have I sinned: what do I unto thee, O thou watcher of men?

I have sinned Rather as above, have I sinned; the words being put as a supposition, equivalent to, if I have sinned. Job makes the supposition, he hardly concedes the fact, which is not meantime the point. His object is to pursue the idea that even sin (supposing it) on man's part cannot affect God, and ought not to be the reason for such unsparing pains as man has to suffer. In ch. Job 14:3-4, where Job is calmer and more self-possessed, the same argument occurs, but is there supported by a reference to the universal sinfulness of mankind, which descends to the individual by inheritance and makes him more excusable and pitiable. Here the moral relations of men and God are less before his mind, it is God's natural Greatness in contrast with the natural littleness of man that engages his attention, and he thinks that in this there is a reason why men even if sinful should be less severely reckoned with.

what shall I do unto thee? Rather, what do I unto thee? that is, how do I affect thee by my sin? The idea is repeatedly expressed in the Poem that God is too high to be affected by men's actions, whether sinful or righteous, cf. ch. Job 22:2 seq., Job 35:5 seq.

thou preserver of men Rather, thou watcher, or keeper, of men. "Watcher" or keeper, elsewhere a word of comfort to the godly (Deuteronomy 32:10; Psalms 31:23; Psalms 121:4), is here used in an invidious sense to express the constant espionage exercised by God over men, that He may detect their sin and bring them to a reckoning, cf. ch. Job 13:27; Job 14:16.

a mark against thee lit. unto thee. The word markhere does not mean a target at which to discharge arrows (ch. Job 6:4; Job 16:4), but a stumbling-block or obstacle against which one strikes. Job feels that he is continually in the way of God, an obstacle against which the Almighty is always of set purpose striking Himself. The thought is one of unprecedented boldness.

am a burden to myself Or, am becomea burden, &c., that is, weary of myself and of my life, cf. 2 Samuel 15:33. The Septuagint seems to have read, "a burden unto thee"; and according to Jewish tradition this was the original reading, but was corrected by the scribes as savouring of impiety.