Job 7 - Introduction
_A.M. 2484. B.C. 1520._ Job bemoans himself to his friends, Job 7:1. To God, Job 7:7. Begs for pardon and death, Job 7:17.... [ Continue Reading ]
_A.M. 2484. B.C. 1520._ Job bemoans himself to his friends, Job 7:1. To God, Job 7:7. Begs for pardon and death, Job 7:17.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Is there not_, &c. Job is here excusing what he cannot justify, his passionate longing for death. _An appointed time for man upon earth_ Hebrews צבא, _tzaba, a warfare;_ or, time of warfare. The Targum is, _Chela, militia._ The Vulgate, _militia est vita hominis_, The life of man is a warfare. The... [ Continue Reading ]
_As a servant earnestly desireth the shadow_ Of the evening, the sun-set, or the night, the time allotted for his rest and repose. _For man goeth forth to his labour until the evening, Psalms 104:23_. So, why may not I also desire the time of my rest? The Hebrew, however, ישׁא Š צל, _jishap tzel_, i... [ Continue Reading ]
_So am I made to possess_, &c. This word, _so_, respects not so much the desire of a hired servant, as the cause of it, his hard toil and service. He means, God hath allotted me these painful sufferings, as he hath allotted to a hired servant hard labour. _Months of vanity_ Months empty and unsatisf... [ Continue Reading ]
_My flesh is clothed with worms_ Which were bred out of his corrupted flesh and sores, and which, it seems, covered him all over like a garment. _And clods of dust_ The dust of the earth on which he lay. _My skin is broken_ By ulcers breaking out in all parts of it. _My days are swifter than a weave... [ Continue Reading ]
_O remember_ He turns his speech to God; perhaps observing that his friends grew weary of hearing it. If men will not hear us, God will: if men cannot help us, he can: for his arm is not shortened, neither is his ear heavy. _The eye, &c., shall see me no more_ In this mortal state: I shall never ret... [ Continue Reading ]
_As the cloud is consumed_ Being dissolved by the heat of the sun. _And vanisheth away_ Never to return again. _So he that goeth down, &c., shall come up no more_ Never until the general resurrection. When you see a cloud, which looked great, as if it would eclipse the sun, of a sudden dispersed and... [ Continue Reading ]
_Therefore I will not refrain_, &c. Since my life is so vain and short, and, when once lost, without all hopes of recovery. I will plead with God for pity before I die; I will not smother my anguish within my breast, but will ease myself by pouring out my complaints.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Am I a sea_ Am I as fierce and unruly as the sea, which, if thou didst not set bounds to it, would overwhelm the earth? _Or a whale? _ Am I a vast and ungovernable sea-monster? _that thou settest a watch over me?_ That thou must restrain me by thy powerful providence; must shut me up and confine me... [ Continue Reading ]
_My couch shall ease my complaint_ By giving me sweet and quiet sleep, which may take off my sense of pain for that time. _Then thou scarest me with dreams_ With sad and frightful dreams. _And terrifiest me with visions_ With horrid apparitions; so that I am afraid to go to sleep, and my remedy prov... [ Continue Reading ]
_So that my soul chooseth strangling_ The most violent death, so it be but certain and sudden, rather than such a wretched life. Hebrews מעצמותי, _megnatsmothai, rather than my bones_ That is, than my body, the skin of which was everywhere broken, and the flesh almost consumed, so that little remain... [ Continue Reading ]
_I loath it_ To wit, my life, last mentioned. _I would not live alway_ In this world, if I might, no not in prosperity; for even such a life is but vanity; much less in this extremity of misery. _Let me alone_ That is, withdraw thy hand from me, either, 1, Thy supporting hand, which preserves my lif... [ Continue Reading ]
_What is man Enosh_, lapsed, fallen man; _that thou shouldest magnify him?_ What is there in that poor, mean creature called man, _miserable man_, which can induce thee to take any notice of him, or to make such account of him? Man is not worthy of thy favour, and he is below thy anger. It is too gr... [ Continue Reading ]
_And that thou shouldest visit him_ Namely, punish or chastise him, as the word _visiting_ is often used; _every morning_ That is, every day; the word morning, which is the beginning of the day, being put, by a synecdoche, for the whole day, as the evening (Job 7:4) is put for the whole night; _and... [ Continue Reading ]
_How long wilt thou not depart from me_ How long will it be ere thou withdraw thy afflicting hand from me? The Hebrew is literally, How long wilt thou not take thine eyes off me? “This,” says Dodd, “is a metaphor from combatants, who never take their eyes from off their antagonists. The figure is pr... [ Continue Reading ]
_I have sinned_ Although I am free from those crying sins for which my friends suppose thou hast sent this uncommon judgment upon me; yet I freely confess that I am a sinner, and therefore obnoxious to thy justice. And _what shall I do unto thee?_ To satisfy thy justice, or regain thy favour. I can... [ Continue Reading ]
_Why dost thou not pardon_, &c. Seeing thou art so gracious to others, so ready to preserve and forgive them; why may not I hope for the same favour from thee? _For now shall I sleep in the dust_ If thou dost not speedily help me it will be too late, I shall be dead, and so incapable of receiving th... [ Continue Reading ]