Job Chapter 7 Review

 

Chapter 7

Job continues to speak

Job 7:1 (KJV) Is there not an appointed time to man upon earth? are not his days also like the days of an hireling?

The reference here seems to be of the hard service of a mercenary, conscripted for a set period of time, possibly more ill used then the regular native members of the military.

Job 7:2 (KJV) As a servant earnestly desireth the shadow, and as an hireling looketh for the reward of his work: Job 7:3 (KJV) So am I made to possess months of vanity, and wearisome nights are appointed to me.

A slave’s work is done at sundown, when he can rest.  One hired for a task is paid at the end of each day.

Strong’s H5157 translated here as ‘possess’, has a meaning of inherit.  We have no control over what we inherit.  Upon Job was bestowed months of Strong’s H7723, translated ‘vanity’ useless/lying/vain/desolating/evil.  Wearisome nights. . . nights which usually bring rest and restoration of strength, are themselves fatiguing.  

Job 7:4 (KJV) When I lie down, I say, When shall I arise, and the night be gone? and I am full of tossings to and fro unto the dawning of the day. Job 7:5 (KJV) My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust; my skin is broken, and become loathsome.

The ulcers on Job’s skin may have attracted flies to lay their eggs in them.  The worms may be maggots feasting on his flesh.  The hard scabs on his sores, he calls clods of dust.

Job 7:6 (KJV) My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and are spent without hope.

Job was just complaining about the long slow nights, which beset him, here he is not speaking of individual days, but rather the rapid passage of his life, from riches and happiness to utmost despair in a seemingly short time.

Job 7:7 (KJV) O remember that my life is wind: mine eye shall no more see good.

Job here apparently shifts from addressing his friends, to addressing God.  “My life is wind. . .”  Wind is fickle.  It changes direction without notice.

I’m reminded of this New Testament verse, Jesus speaking:

Matthew 6:22 KJV  The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.

If therefore thine eye be ‘single’. . . If you eye is clear, and healthy, your entire body will be illuminated.  Job’s eyes are clouded, darkened by his affliction.  He cannot see clearly.  He is under a cloud, in a fog, which obscures his vision.   

Job 7:8 (KJV) The eye of him that hath seen me shall see me no more: thine eyes are upon me, and I am not. 

Job still seems to be speaking of or to God.  Job’s life passes.  He is here today, but soon gone.  He can be seen only temporarily.

Job 7:9 (KJV) As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away: so he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more.

In arid countries especially, clouds often form near higher elevations, which do not float away, but evaporate by the intense heat of the sun. 

The word translated ‘grave’ Strong’s H7585, is sheol, or hades, the world of the dead. . . grave, hell, pit of death.

Job 7:10 (KJV) He shall return no more to his house, neither shall his place know him any more.

A man who descends to the world of the dead, does not come back to his house.  He is not again known in the land of the living.

Job 7:11 (KJV) Therefore I will not refrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.

My life is passing, and as such, what have I to lose?  I give myself permission to vent my anguish.

In the previous chapter:

Job 6:5 KJV  Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass? or loweth the ox over his fodder?

Even the animals are given power to complain when they are beset with hardship.  Job partakes of the same outlet for himself.

Job 7:12 (KJV) Am I a sea, or a whale, that thou settest a watch over me?

Strong’s H8577 here translated ‘whale’, has other meanings: a marine or land monster, a sea-serpent, a dragon. . . 

These are how it is rendered in the Bible:

    dragon ( 6 ) dragons ( 11 ) 

 serpent ( 2 ) serpents ( 1 ) 

 whale     ( 2 ) whales ( 1 )

When I was in the service stationed in Pensacola, Florida along the gulf coast, a leftover from decades long ago before radar, and satellites we had to stand hurricane watch each night in the barracks, to sound an alarm if an unexpected storm arose from the sea.

Disasters in the form of great storms, or tsunamis come from the sea.  The sea bears watching, as do sea monsters. . . Job is asking am I such a danger to you. . . to mankind that you need to keep an eye on me? 

Job 7:13 (KJV) When I say, My bed shall comfort me, my couch shall ease my complaint;  Job 7:14 (KJV) Then thou scarest me with dreams, and terrifiest me through visions:

Many modern and ancient and those described as the 'best' authorities, believe that Job suffered from elephantiasis.  Reasons given, symptoms of elephantiasis:

1. Skin inflammation - the word translated boils, also means itching inflammation. Itching his skin with a broken piece of pottery for relief: Job 2:7-8 KJV  So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.  8  And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes.  

2. Being covered with puss and putrefication: Job 7:5 KJV  My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust; my skin is broken, and become loathsome.

3.  Extremely offensive breath: Job 19:17 KJV  My breath is strange to my wife, though I intreated for the children's sake of mine own body.

4. Restless nights, with vivid frightening dreams: Job 7:13-14 KJV  When I say, My bed shall comfort me, my couch shall ease my complaint;  14  Then thou scarest me with dreams, and terrifiest me through visions:

All the above are symptoms.  Several ancient authorities recorded their belief that Job had black leprosy.

Job 7:15 (KJV) So that my soul chooseth strangling, and death rather than my life.  Job 7:16 (KJV) I loathe it; I would not live alway: let me alone; for my days are vanity.

Job despises his life.  He’d rather die of strangling, than the way he is living now.  Strong’s H1892 empty, fleeting, unsatisfactory.

Job 7:17 (KJV) What is man, that thou shouldest magnify him? and that thou shouldest set thine heart upon him? Job 7:18 (KJV) And that thou shouldest visit him every morning, and try him every moment?

Strong’s H582 mortal.  Among the ancients, it was often considered that their gods paid mankind little thought, but lived in heavenly splendor without concern for things on earth.  The Bible greatly contrasts this with the Hebrew God’s loving concern for mankind.  

His heart is set upon us. . .as the planets are in strict orbit around the sun, we are eternally in our loving God’s planetary sphere.

Job 7:19 (KJV) How long wilt thou not depart from me, nor let me alone till I swallow down my spittle?

Asking God, will He never look away from Job?  Will His attention always be focused on him? . . . ‘till I swallow my spittle’ a common phrase of the area and age. . . a moment, in the blink of an eye, while I catch my breath. . .

Job 7:20 (KJV) I have sinned; what shall I do unto thee, O thou preserver of men? why hast thou set me as a mark against thee, so that I am a burden to myself?

The sense of this seems to be, “If I have sinned, how can that effect You God?” or “Yes, I have sinned, but what have I done of such magnitude to deserve such a target as You have made me?”

Job 7:21 (KJV) And why dost thou not pardon my transgression, and take away mine iniquity? for now shall I sleep in the dust; and thou shalt seek me in the morning, but I shall not be.

I have sinned, why will You not forgive me?  I am not long for this world.  I am greatly humbled.  Soon my life will be over.