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Job Chapter
Seven
New King James Version (NKJV)
INTRODUCTION TO JOB 7
In
this chapter Job goes on to defend himself in an address to God; as that he had
reason to complain of his extraordinary afflictions, and wish for death; by
observing the common case of mankind, which he illustrates by that of an
hireling, Job 7:1; and
justifies his eager desire of death by the servant and hireling; the one
earnestly desiring the shadow, and the other the reward of his work, Job 7:2; by
representing his present state as exceeding deplorable, even worse than that of
the servant and hireling, since they had rest at night, when he had none, and
were free from pain, whereas he was not, Job 7:3; by taking
notice of the swiftness and shortness of his days, in which he had no hope of
enjoying any good, Job 7:6; and so
thought his case hard; and the rather, since after death he could enjoy no
temporal good: and therefore to be deprived of it while living gave him just
reason of complaint, Job 7:8; and then
he expostulates with God for setting such a strict watch upon him; giving him
no ease night nor day, but terrifying him with dreams and visions, which made
life disagreeable to him, and death more eligible than that, Job 7:12; and
represents man as unworthy of the divine regard, and below his notice to bestow
favours on him, or to chastise him for doing amiss, Job 7:17; and
admitting that he himself had sinned, yet he should forgive his iniquity, and
not bear so hard upon him, and follow him with one affliction after another
without intermission, and make him the butt of his arrows; but should spare him
and let him alone, or however take him out of the world, Job 7:19.
Job 7:1 “Is
there not a time of hard service for man on earth? Are not his days
also like the days of a hired man?
YLT
1Is there not a warfare to
man on earth? And as the days of an hireling his days?
Is there not an
appointed time to man upon earth?.... There is a set time
for his coming into the world, for his continuance in it, and for his going out
of it; this is to man "on earth", with respect to his being and abode
here, not in the other world or future state: not in heaven; there is no
certain limited time for man there, but an eternity; the life he will enter
into is everlasting; the habitation, mansion, and house he will dwell in, are
eternal; saints will be for ever with Christ, in whose presence are pleasures
for evermore: nor in hell; the punishment there will be eternal, the fire will
be unquenchable and everlasting, the smoke of the torments of the damned will
ascend for ever and ever; but men's days and time on earth are but as a shadow,
and soon gone; they are of the earth, earthly, and return unto it at a fixed
appointed time, time, the bounds of which cannot be passed over: this is true
of mankind in general, and of Job in particular; see Job 14:1; the word
"Enosh"F9לאנוש
"mortali", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "misero et
aerumnoso homini", Michaelis. , here used, signifies, as is commonly
observed, a frail, feeble, mortal man; Mr. Broughton renders it "sorrowful
man"; as every man more or less is; even a man of sorrows, and acquainted
with griefs, is attended with them, has an experience of them: this is the
common lot of mankind; and if anything more than ordinary is inflicted upon
them, they are not able to bear it; and these sorrows death at the appointed
time puts an end to, which makes it desirable; now, seeing there is a set time
for every man's life on earth, and there was for Job's, of which he was well
assured; and, by all appearance of things, and by the symptoms upon him, this
time was near at hand; therefore it should not be thought a criminal thing in
him, considering his extraordinary afflictions, and which were intolerable,
that he should so earnestly wish the time was come; though in his more serious
thoughts he determined to wait for it: some render the words, "is there
not a warfare are for men on earth?"F11צבא
"militia", Montanus, Tigurine version, Schultens; so V. L. Targum.
the word being so rendered elsewhere, particularly in Isaiah 40:2; every
man's state on earth is a state of warfare; this is frequently said by the
stoic philosophersF12Vid. Gataker. Anotat. in M. Antonin. de seipso,
p. 77, 78. ; even so is that of natural and unregenerate men, who are often
engaged in war with one another, which arise from the lusts which war in their
members; and especially with the people of God, the seed of the woman, between
whom and the seed of the serpent there has been an enmity from the beginning;
and with themselves, with the troubles of life, diseases of body, and various
afflictions they have to conflict and grapple with: and more especially the
life of good men here is a state of warfare, not only of the ministers of the
word, or persons in public office, but of private believers; who are good
soldiers of Christ, enter volunteers into his service, fight under his banners,
and themselves like men; these have many enemies to combat with; some within,
the corruptions of hearts, which war against the spirit and law of their minds,
which form a company of two armies in militating against each other; and others
without, as Satan and his principalities and powers, the men the world, false
teachers, and the like: and these are properly accoutred for such service,
having the whole armour of God provided for them; and have great encouragement
to behave manfully, since they may be sure of victory, and of having the crown
of righteousness, when they have fought the good fight of even though they are
but frail, feeble, mortal, sinful men, but flesh and blood, and so not of
themselves a match for their enemies; but they are more than so through the
Lord being on their side, Christ being the Captain of their salvation, and the
Spirit of God being in them greater than he that is in the world; and besides,
it is only on earth this warfare is, and will soon be accomplished, the last
enemy being death that shall be destroyed: now this being the common case of
man, to be annoyed with enemies, and always at war with them, if, besides this,
uncommon afflictions befall him, as was Job's case, this must make life
burdensome, and death, which is a deliverance from them, desirable; this is his
argument: some choose to render the words, "is there not a servile
condition for men on earth"F13"Conditio servilis",
Schmidt. the word being used of the ministry and service of the Levites, Numbers 4:3; all
men by creation are or ought to be the servants of God; good men are so by the
grace of God, and willingly and cheerfully serve him; and though the great work
of salvation is wrought out by Christ for them, and the work of grace is
wrought by the Spirit of Christ in them, yet they have work to do in their day
and generation in the world, in their families, and in the house of God; and
which, though weak and feeble in themselves, they are capable of doing, through
Christ, his Spirit, power, and grace: and this is only on earth; in the grave
there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge; when the night of death comes, no
man can work; his service, especially his toilsome service, is at an end; and
as it is natural for servants to wish for the night, when their labours end,
Job thought it not unlawful in him to wish for death, which would put an end to
his toils and labours, and when he should have rest from them:
are not his days also
like the days plan hireling? the time for which a servant is hired,
whether it be for a day or for a year, or more, it is a set time; it is fixed,
settled, and determined in the agreement, and so are the days of man's life on
earth; and the of an hireling are few at most, the time for which he is hired
is but and as the days of an hireling are days of toil, and labour, and sorrow,
so are the days of men evil as well as few; his few days are full of trouble, Genesis 47:9; all
this and what follows is spoken to God, and not to his friends, as appears from
Job 7:7.
Job 7:2 2 Like a servant who
earnestly desires the shade, And like a hired man who eagerly looks for his
wages,
YLT
2As a servant desireth the
shadow, And as a hireling expecteth his wage,
As a servant earnestly desireth the shadow,.... Either
the shadow of some great rock, tree, or hedge, or any shady place to shelter
him from the heat of the sun in the middle of the day, which in those eastern
countries is hot and scorching; and very burdensome and fatiguing it is for
servants and labourers to work in fields and vineyards, or in keeping herds and
flocks in such countries, and at such a time of the day; to which the allusion
is in Song of Solomon 1:7
Isaiah 25:4.
Wherefore they "gape" for, or "pant" after some shady place
for refreshment, as the wordF14ישאף
"anhelabit", Montanus, Bolducius; "anhelat", Beza, Tigurine
version, Piscator, Cocceius, Schmidt, Schultens. used signifies; or for the
shadow of the evening, or the sun setting, when the longest shadow is cast, Jeremiah 6:4; and
when the work of a servant is ended, and he retires to his house for
refreshment and rest: and since now such a shadow in either sense is desirable,
and not unlawful to wish for, Job suggests it ought not to be charged as a
crime in him, that he should importunately desire to be in the shadow of death,
or in the grave, where the weary are at rest; or to have the night come on him,
when he should cease from all his toil and labour, sorrows and pains:
and as an hireling looketh for the reward of his work; or "for
his work"F15פעלו "opus
suum", Beza Montanus, Bolducius, Schmidt, Schultens. ; either for new
work, what was set him being done, or rather for the finishing of it, that he
might have rest from it; or for the reward, the hire due to him upon its being
done; so Job intimates he desired death with the same view, that he might cease
from his works, which should follow him, and when he should have the reward of
the inheritance, not in a way of debt, but of grace: nor indeed is it sinful to
look or have respect unto the recompence of reward, in order to engage to go
through service more cheerfully, or to endure sufferings more patiently, see Hebrews 11:26; for
though the hireling is an emblem of a self-righteous person, that works for
life, and expects it as the reward of his work, and of false teachers and bad
shepherds, that take the care of the flock for filthy lucre's sake, see Luke 15:19; yet
hiring is sometimes used, in a good sense, of good men, that are hired and
allured by gracious promises and divine encouragements to labour in the Lord's
vineyard, and may expect their reward; see Matthew 20:1.
Job 7:3 3 So I have been allotted
months of futility, And wearisome nights have been appointed to me.
YLT
3So I have been caused to
inherit months of vanity, And nights of misery they numbered to me.
So am I made to possess months of vanity,.... This is
not a reddition or application of the above similes of the servant and
hireling, Job 7:1; for that
is to be understood, and to be supplied at the end of Job 7:2; that as
those looked for the shadow and payment of hire, so Job looked for and
earnestly desired death, or to be removed out of the world; besides, the things
here instanced in do not answer; for Job, instead of having the refreshing
shadow, had months of vanity, and instead of rest from his labours had nothing
but wearisome nights, and continual tossings to and fro; whereas the sleep of a
labouring man is sweet to him; and having laboured hard all day, the night is a
time of rest to him; but so it was not with Job; wherefore this "so"
refers to the common state and condition of mankind, in which Job was, with an
addition of extraordinary afflictions upon him: the time of his afflictions,
though but short, seemed long, and therefore is expressed by months; and some
months might have passed from the time his calamities began to the present;
since it must be some time before his friends heard of them, and more still
before they could meet together and agree upon their coming, and were actually
come to him; as also some time was spent in silence, and now in conversation
with him; the JewsF16Vid. Misn. Ediot, c. 2. sect. 10. & R.
Simeon Bar Tzemach, in loc. make them to be twelve months: and these months
were "months of vanity", or "empty"F17ירחי שוא "menses
vacuos", V. L. so Tigurine version, Michaelis. ones; such as winter
months, empty of all joy, and peace, and comfort; times in which he had no
pleasure, no ease of body or of mind; destitute of the good things of life, and
of the presence of God and communion with him; and full of trouble, sorrow, and
distress: and these were "given him for an inheritance"F18הנחלתי "accepi hereditate", Pagninus, Montanus,
Bolducius; so Cocceius, Schmidt, Schultens. ; were his lot and portion, which
he received as an inheritance from his parents, in consequence of original sin,
the source of all the troubles and miseries of human life, in common with other
men; and which were allotted him by his heavenly Father, according to his
sovereign will and pleasure, as all the afflictions of the Lord's people are
the inheritance bequeathed them by their Father, and the legacy of their
Redeemer:
and wearisome nights are appointed to me; one after
another, in succession; in which he could have no sleep nor rest, through pain
of body and distress of mind; and so became the more weary, through long lying
down and tossings to and fro, through groans and tears, and much watching; and
these were prepared for him in the purposes of God, and appointed to him in his
counsels and decrees; see Job 23:14; or they
"prepared" or "appointed"F19מנו
לי "constituerunt mihi", Pagninus,
Bolducius; "mihi paraverunt", Mercerus; so Schmidt, Cocceius,
Schultens. ; that is, "Elohim", the three Divine Persons.
Job 7:4 4 When I lie down, I say,
‘When shall I arise, And the night be ended?’ For I have had my fill of tossing
till dawn.
YLT
4If I lay down then I said,
`When do I rise!' And evening hath been measured, And I have been full of
tossings till dawn.
When I lie down, I say, when shall I arise,.... Or,
"then I say", &c.F20ואמרתי
"tum dixi", Beza, Piscator, Mercerus. ; that is, as soon as he laid
himself down in his bed, and endeavoured to compose himself to sleep, in order
to get rest and refreshment; then he said within himself, or with an articulate
voice, to those about him, that sat up with him; oh that it was time to rise;
when will it be morning, that I may rise from my bed, which is of no manner of
service to me, but rather increases weariness?
and the night be gone? and the day dawn and
break; or "night" or "evening be measured", as in the margin,
or "measures itself"F21So Saadiah Gaon. ; or that
"he", that is, God, or "it", my heart, "measures the
evening"F23ומדד ערב
"tum admensus est versperam", Schmidt; "extendit",
Schultens; "et cor", Mercerus; so Aben Ezra, Ben Gersom, and Bar
Tzemach. , or "night"; lengthens it out to its full time: to a
discomposed person, that cannot sleep, the night seems long; such count every
hour, tell every clock that strikes, and long to see peep of day; these are
they that watch for the morning, Psalm 130:6,
and I am full of tossings to and fro unto the dawning of the day; or,
"unto the twilight"; the morning twilight; though some understand it
of the twilight or evening of the next day, see 1 Samuel 30:17; and
interpret "the tossings to and fro" of the toils and labours of the
day, and of the sorrows and miseries of it, lengthened out to the eve of the
following day; but rather they are to be understood either of the tosses of his
mind, his distressed and perplexed thoughts within him he was full of; or of
the tosses of his body, his frequent turning himself upon his bed, from side to
side, to ease him; and with these he was "filled", or
"satiated"F24שבעתי
"satior", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius, Schultens. ;
he had enough and too much of them; he was glutted and sated with them, as a
man is with overmuch eating, as the word signifies.
Job 7:5 5 My flesh is caked with
worms and dust, My skin is cracked and breaks out afresh.
YLT
5Clothed hath been my flesh
[with] worms, And a clod of dust, My skin hath been shrivelled and is
loathsome,
My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust,.... Not as it
would be at death, and in the grave, as Schmidt interprets it, when it would be
eaten with worms and reduced to dust; but as it then was, his ulcers breeding
worms, or lice, as someF25So Sephorno and Bar Tzemach. ; these
spread themselves over his body: some think it was the vermicular or pedicular
disease that was upon him, and the scabs of them, which were all over him like
one continued crust, were as a garment to him; or those sores of his, running
with purulent matter, and he sitting and rolling himself in dust and ashes, and
this moisture mingling therewith, and clotted together, formed clods of dust,
which covered him all over; a dismal spectacle to look upon! a precious saint
in a vile body!
my skin is broken: with the boils and ulcers in all parts, and
was parched and cleft with the heat and breaking of them:
and become loathsome; to himself and others;
exceeding nauseous, and extremely disagreeable both to sight and smell: or
"liquefied"F26ימאס
"liquefit", Junius & Tremellius; "colliquefacta est",
Piscator, Mercerus. ; moistened with corrupt matter flowing from the ulcers in
all parts of his body; the word in Arabic signifies a large, broad, and open
wound, as a learned manF1Hinckelman. Praefat. ad Alcoran. p. 30. has
observed; and it is as if he should say, whoever observes all this, this long
time of distress, night and day, and what a shocking figure he was, as here
represented, could blame him for wishing for death in the most passionate
manner?
Job 7:6 6 “My days are swifter than
a weaver’s shuttle, And are spent without hope.
YLT
6My days swifter than a
weaving machine, And they are consumed without hope.
My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle,.... Which
moves very swiftly, being thrown quick and fast to and fro; some versions
render it "a racer"F2
δρομεως, Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion in Drusius. one that runs
a race on foot, or rides on horseback, agreeably to Job 9:25; where,
and in Job 7:7; to it,
other similes are used, to set forth the swiftness and fleetness of man's days;
as they also are elsewhere represented, as swift as a tale told, a word
expressed, or a thought conceived, Psalm 90:9; and so
here, by the Septuagint, are said to be "swifter than speech", though
wrongly translated: this is to be understood, not of his days of affliction,
distress, and sorrow; for these in his apprehension moved but slowly, and he
could have been, glad that they had gone on faster; but either his days in
common, or particularly his days of prosperity and pleasure, these were soon
over with him; and which he sometimes wished for again, see Job 29:1,
and are spent without hope; not without hope of
happiness in another world, but without hope of being restored to his outward
felicity in this; which Eliphaz had given him some him of, but he had no hope
concerning it; see Job 5:24.
Job 7:7 7 Oh, remember that my life is
a breath! My eye will never again see good.
YLT
7Remember Thou that my life
[is] a breath, Mine eye turneth not back to see good.
O remember that my life is wind,.... Or,
"breath"F3רוח "hali
us", Cocceius, Michaelis. ; man's life is in his breath, and that breath
is in his nostrils, and therefore not to be accounted of, or depended on; man
appears by this to be a poor frail creature, whose life, with respect to
himself, is very precarious and uncertain; it is but as a "vapour",
an air bubble, full of wind, easily broken and dissipated, and soon vanishes
away; it is like the "wind", noisy and blusterous, full of stir and
tumult, and, like that, swiftly passes and sweeps away, and returns not again:
this is an address to God; and so someF4So Beza, Vatablus, Drusius,
Michaelis. supply it, "O God", or "O Lord, remember",
&c. not that forgetfulness is in God, or that he needs to be reminded of
anything; but he may seem to forget the frailty of man when he lays his hand
heavy on him; and may be said to be mindful of it when he mercifully takes it
off: what Job here prays for, the Lord often does, as he did with respect to
the Israelites, Psalm 78:39,
mine eye shall no more see good: meaning not spiritual
and eternal good, here and hereafter; he knew he should, after this life, see
his living Redeemer even with the eyes of his body, when raised again; that he
should see him as he is, not through a glass, darkly, but face to face, in all
his glory; and that for himself, and not another, and even see and enjoy things
he had never seen before: but his sense is, that he should see or enjoy no more
temporal good; either in this world, being without hope of any, or in the
grave, whither he was going and would shortly be; and therefore entreats that
some mercy might be shown him while he lived; to which sense the following
words incline.
Job 7:8 8 The eye of him who sees me
will see me no more; While your eyes are upon me, I shall no
longer be.
YLT
8The eye of my beholder
beholdeth me not. Thine eyes [are] upon me -- and I am not.
The eye of him that hath seen me shall see me no more,.... Or
"the eye of sight"F5עין ראי Heb. "oculus visus", Drusius, Piscator;
"aspectus", Mercerus; so Simeon Bar Tzemach. ; the seeing eye, the
most acute and quick sighted eye; so Mr. Broughton renders it, "the quick
eye"F6"Ocuium perspicacissimum", Junius &
Tremellius, Piscator. : this is to be understood as "after"F7Posthac,
Tigurine version. death, that then the sharpest eye should not see him, he
would be out of the reach of it; which must be taken with a limitation; for men
after death are seen by the eyes of the omniscient God, their souls, be they in
heaven or in hell, and their bodies in the grave; and as for good men, such as
Job, they are at once with him in his immediate presence, beholding and beheld
by him; and they are seen by angels, whose care and charge their souls become
immediately upon death, and are carried by them into heaven, where they are
fellow worshippers with them; and they are seen by glorified saints, to whose
company they are joined; for if the rich man in hell could see Abraham, and
Lazarus in his bosom, Luke 16:23, then
much more do the saints see one another: but the meaning is, that when a man is
dead, he is seen no more by men on earth, by his relations, friends, and
acquaintance; the consideration of which is a cutting stroke at parting, see Acts 20:25; the
state of the dead is an invisible state, and therefore called in the Greek
tongue "Hades", "unseen"; so the dead will remain, with
respect to the inhabitants of this world, till the resurrection, and then they
shall see and be seen again in the same bodies they now have; for this is no
denial of the resurrection of the dead, as some Jewish writers charge Job with,
and infer from this and some following passages:
thine eyes are upon me, and I am not; am a dead
man, a phrase expressive of death, and of being in the state of the dead, or
however of being no more in this world, see Genesis 5:24; not
that the dead are nonentities, or are reduced to nothing; this is not true of
them, either with respect to soul or body; their souls are immaterial and
immoral, and exist in a separate state after death, and their bodies, though
reduced to dust, are not annihilated; they return to earth and dust, from
whence they came; but still they are something, they are earth and dust, unless
these can be thought to be nothing; and this dust is taken care of and
preserved, and will be gathered together, and moulded, and framed, and
fashioned into bodies again, which will endure for ever: nor is the meaning,
that they are nowhere; the spirits of just men made perfect are in heaven, in
paradise, in a state of life, immortality, and bliss; and the souls of the
wicked are in their own place, in the prison of hell, reserved with devils, to
the judgment of the great day; and the bodies of both are in the graves till
the day of the resurrection; but they are not, and no more, in the land of the
living, in their houses and families, in their shops and business, and places
of trade and merchandise, or in the house of God serving him there, according
to their different stations. And this Job ascribes to God, "thine eyes are
upon me": meaning not his eyes of love, favour, and kindness, which had
respect unto him; and yet, notwithstanding this, as it did not secure him from
afflictions, so neither would it from death itself; for "though his
eyes were upon him" in such sense, yet he "would not
be"F1"Etiam oculis tuis ad me respicientibus, me non fore
amplius", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. , or should die; but rather
his angry eyes, the frowns of his countenance, which were now upon him, and
might be discerned in the dispensations of his providence towards him, by
reason of which he "was not" as he was before; not fit for anything,
as Sephorno understands it; or should he frown upon him, one angry look would
sink him into the state of the dead, and he should be no more, who "looks
on the earth, and it trembles", Psalm 104:32. Mr.
Broughton renders it as a petition, "let thine eyes be upon me, that I be
no more"; that is, let me die, the same request he made in Job 6:8; but it
seems best to interpret it or the eyes of God's omnipresence and providence,
which are on men in every state and place; and the sense be, either as
granting, that though the eyes of men should not see him after death, yet the
eyes of God would be upon him when he was not, or in the state of the fiend; or
else, that should he long defer doing him good, it would be too late, he should
soon die, and then, though he should look after him, and seek for him, he
should not be in the land of the living, according to Job 7:21; or this
may denote the suddenness of death, which comes to a man in a moment, as Bar
Tzemach observes, in the twinkling of an eye; nay, as soon as the eye of God is
upon a man, that is, as soon almost as a man appears in the world, and the eye
of Divine Providence is upon him, he is out of it again, and is no more; see Ecclesiastes 3:2.
Job 7:9 9 As
the cloud disappears and vanishes away, So he who goes down to the grave does
not come up.
YLT
9Consumed hath been a cloud,
and it goeth, So he who is going down to Sheol cometh not up.
As the cloud is consumed and
vanisheth away,.... Which being dispersed by the wind, or broke up by the sun,
is never seen, or returns more; for though the wise man speaks of clouds
returning after the rain, this is not to be understood of the same clouds, but
of succeeding ones, Ecclesiastes 12:2;
so pardon of sin is expressed by the same metaphor, to show that sin thereby is
no more, no more to be seen or remembered, Isaiah 43:25; the
Targum renders it "as smoke", by which the shortness and consumption
of men's days are expressed, Psalm 102:3; but by
the simile of a cloud here is not so much designed the sudden disappearance of
life as the irrevocableness of it when gone, as the reddition or application
following shows:
so he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more; the grave is
the house or long home that all must go to, it being the appointment of God
that all should die, or be in the state of the dead; which is meant by the
grave, since all are not interred in the earth; and this, as here, is
frequently expressed, as if it was man's act being hither brought; and when it
designs an interment in the earth, it is with great propriety called a going
down; and however that be, yet the state of the dead is a state of humiliation,
a coming down from all the grandeur, honour, and glory of the present state,
which are all laid in the dust; and when this is man's case, he comes up no
more from it, that is, of himself, by his own power; none but Christ, who is
God over all, ever did this; or none naturally, or by the laws of nature, for
noticing short of almighty power can effect this; it must be done in an
extraordinary way, and is no less than a miraculous operation; nor will this be
done until the general resurrection of the just and unjust, when all that are
in their graves shall come forth, the one to the resurrection of life, and the
other to the resurrection of damnation; excepting in some few instances, as the
Shunammite's son, 2 Kings 4:32; the
man that touched the bones of the prophet Elisha, 2 Kings 13:21; the
daughter of Jairus, Mark 5:41; the
widow of Nain's son, Luke 7:14; Lazarus,
John 11:43; and
those that rose at our Lord's resurrection, Matthew 27:53; this
is further explained in Job 7:10.
Job 7:10 10 He shall never return to
his house, Nor shall his place know him anymore.
YLT
10He turneth not again to his
house, Nor doth his place discern him again.
He shall return no more to his house,.... In a
literal sense, built or hired by him, or however in which he dwelt; and if a
good man, he will have no desire to return to that any more, having a better
house, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens; or in a figurative
sense, either his body, the earthly house of his tabernacle, an house of clay,
which has its foundation in the dust; to this he shall not return until the
resurrection, when it will be rebuilt, and fitted up for the better reception
and accommodation of him; or else his family, to whom he shall not come back
again, to have any concern with them in domestic affairs, or in part of the
business of life, as David said of his child when dead, "I shall go to
him, but he shall not return to me", 2 Samuel 12:23,
neither shall his place know him any more; the place of
his office, or rather of his habitation; his dwelling house, his farms and his
fields, his estates and possessions, shall no more know, own, and acknowledge
him as their master, proprietor, and possessor, these, coming at his death into
other hands, who now are regarded as such; or the inhabitants of the place,
country, city, town, village, and house in which he lived, shall know him no
more; no more being seen among them, he will soon be forgotten; out of sight,
out of mindF2"Linquenda tellus et domus", &c. Horat.
Carmin. l. 2. Ode 14. .
Job 7:11 11 “Therefore I will not
restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in
the bitterness of my soul.
YLT
11Also I -- I withhold not my
mouth -- I speak in the distress of my spirit, I talk in the bitterness of my
soul.
Therefore I will not refrain my mouth,.... From
speaking and complaining; seeing, besides the common lot of mankind, which is a
state of warfare, sorrow, and trouble, and is as much as a man can well grapple
with, extraordinary afflictions are laid upon me, which make life
insupportable; and seeing I enjoy no good in this present life, and am shortly
going where no temporal good is to be expected, and shall never return to this
world any more to enjoy any; therefore I will not be silent, and forbear
speaking my mind freely, and uttering my just complaint, for which I think I
have sufficient reason: or "I also will not refrain my mouth"F3גם אני "etiam ego",
Vatablus, Beza, Piscator, Bolducius, Cocceius, Schmidt, Michaelis, Schultens;
"vicissim", Noldius, p. 222. ; in turn, as a just retaliation, so
Jarchi; since God will not refrain his hand from me, I will not refrain my
mouth from speaking concerning him; since he shows no mercy to me, I shall
utter my miserable complaints, and not keep them to myself; this was Job's
infirmity when he should have held his peace, as Aaron, and been dumb and
silent as David, and been still, and have known, owned, and acknowledged the
sovereignty of God, and not vented himself in passion as he did:
I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; or "in
the straitness"F4בצר "in
angustia", Junius & Tremellius, Schmidt; "in arcto",
Cocceius; "in angusto", Schultens. of it; he was surrounded on all
sides with distress, the sorrows of death compassed him about, and the pains of
hell got hold upon him; he was like one pent up in a narrow place, in a close
confinement, that he could not get out of, and come forth from; and he felt not
only exquisite pains of body from his boils and sores, but great anguish of
soul; and therefore he determines to speak in and "of"F5"De
angustia", Vatablus, Drusius, Mercerus, Piscator. all this, to give vent
to his grief and sorrow, his passion and resentment:
I will complain in the bitterness of my soul; his
afflictions were like the waters of Marah, bitter ones, very grievous and
disagreeable to flesh and blood, and by which his life and soul were embittered
to him; and in and ofF6במר "de
amaritudine", Drusius, Piscator, Mercerus. this he determines to complain,
or to utter in a complaining way what he had been meditating on, as the wordF7אשיחה "meditabor et eloquar", Michaelis.
signifies; so that this was not an hasty and precipitate action, but what upon
deliberation he resolved to do; to pour out his complaint before God, and leave
it with him, in a submissive way, would not have been amiss, but if he
complained of God and his providence, it was wrong: "why should a living
man complain?" not even a wicked man, of "the punishment of his
sin", and much less a good man of fatherly chastisements? We see what the
will of man is, what a stubborn and obstinate thing it is, "I will, I
will, I will", even of a good man when left to himself, and not in the
exercise of grace, and under the influence of it; the complaint follows, by way
of expostulation.
Job 7:12 12 Am
I a sea, or a sea serpent, That You set a guard over me?
YLT
12A sea-[monster] am I, or a
dragon, That thou settest over me a guard?
Am I a sea, or a whale,.... Like the
restless sea, to which very wicked, profligate, and abandoned sinners are
compared, that are continually casting up the mire and dirt of sin and
wickedness; am I such an one? or like the raging sea, its proud waters and
foaming waves, to which fierce and furious persecutors and tyrannical
oppressors are compared; did I behave in such a manner to the poor and
distressed in the time of prosperity? nay, was I not the reverse of all this,
kind and gentle to them, took their part, and rescued them out of the hands of
those that oppressed them? see Job 29:12; or like
its tossing waves, which attempt to pass the bounds that are set to them; am I
such an one, that have transgressed the laws of God and then, which are set as
boundaries to restrain the worst of men? and am I a whale, or like any great
fish in the ocean, the dragon in the sea, the leviathan, the piercing and
crooked serpent? an emblem of cruel princes, as the kings of Egypt and Assyria,
or antichrist, Isaiah 27:1; see Psalm 74:13. The
Targum is,"as the Egyptians were condemned to be drowned in the Red sea,
am I condemned? or as Pharaoh, who was suffocated in the midst of it for his
sin, since thou settest a watch over me?'or, as another Targum,"am I as
the great sea, which is moved to extreme parts, or the leviathan, which is
ready to be taken?'or else the sense is, have I the strength of the sea, which
subsists, notwithstanding its waves are continually heating, and which carries
such mighty vessels upon it, and would bear down all before it, if not
restrained? or of a whale, the leviathan, whose flakes of flesh are joined
together, and his heart as firm as a stone, and as hard as a piece of the
nether millstone, and laughs at the spear, the sword, and the dart? no, I have
not; I am a poor, weak, feeble creature, whose strength is quite exhausted, and
not able to bear the weight of the chains and fetters of afflictions upon me;
or rather the principal thing complained of, and which he illustrates by these
metaphors, is, that he was bound with the cords of afflictions, and compassed
with gall and travail, and hedged in hereby, that he could not get out, as the
church says, Lamentations 3:5;
or could not get released from his sorrows by death, or otherwise; just as the
sea is shut up with bars and doors, that its waves can come hitherto, and no
further; and as the whale is confined to the ocean, or surrounded with vessels
and armed men in them, when about to be taken; and thus it was with Job, and of
this he complains:
that thou settest a watch over me? which Jarchi and others
understand of Satan; and though in his hands, he was not suffered to take away
his life; but besides him may be meant all his afflictions, calamities, and
distresses, in which he lay fettered and bound, in which he was shut up as in a
prison, and by which he was watched over and guarded; and from which he could
make no escape, nor get a release.
Job 7:13 13 When I say, ‘My bed will
comfort me, My couch will ease my complaint,’
YLT
13When I said, `My bed doth
comfort me,' He taketh away in my talking my couch.
When I say, my bed shall comfort me,.... When he thought
within himself that he would lie down upon his bed and try if he could get a
little sleep, which might comfort and refresh him, and which he promised
himself he should obtain by this means, as he had formerly had an experience
of:
my couch shall ease my complaint; he concluded, that by
lying down upon his couch, and falling asleep, it would give some ease of body
and mind; that his body would, at least, for some time be free from pain, and
his mind composed, and should cease from complaining for a while; which
interval would be a relief to him, and of considerable service. Some render it,
"my couch shall burn"F8ישא
"ardebit", Pagninus; so Kimchi in Sepher Shorash. & Ben Melech in
loc. ; be all on fire, and torture me instead of giving ease; and so may have
respect to his burning ulcers.
Job 7:14 14 Then You scare me with
dreams And terrify me with visions,
YLT
14And thou hast affrighted me
with dreams, And from visions thou terrifiest me,
Then thou scarest me with dreams,.... Not with dreams and
visions being told him, as were by Eliphaz, Job 4:13; but with
dreams he himself dreamed; and which might arise from the force of his
distemper, and the pain of his body, whereby his sleep was broken, his
imagination disturbed, and his fancy roving, which led him to objects as seemed
to him very terrible and dreadful; or from a melancholy disposition his
afflictions had brought upon him; and hence in his dreams he had dismal
apprehensions of things very distressing and terrifying; or from Satan, in
whose hands he was, and who was permitted to distress and disturb him at such
seasons; all which he ascribes to God, because he suffered it so to be: and now
these dreams not only hindered sound sleep, and getting that ease and
refreshment he hoped for from thence, but even they were frightful and scaring
to him, so that instead of being the better for his bed and his couch, he was
the worse; these dreams added to his afflictions, and in them he suffered much,
as Pilate's wife is said to do, Matthew 27:19,
and terrifiest me through visions; spectres, apparitions,
and such like things, being presented to his fancy, while sleeping and
dreaming, which filled him with terror, and sorely distressed him, so that he
could receive no benefit hereby, but rather was more fatigued and weakened.
Job 7:15 15 So that my soul chooses
strangling And death rather than my body.[a]
YLT
15And my soul chooseth
strangling, Death rather than my bones.
So that my soul chooseth strangling,.... Not to strangle
himself, as Ahithophel did, or to be strangled by others, this being a kind of
death inflicted on capital offenders; but rather, as Mr. Broughton renders it,
"to be choked to death" by any distemper and disease, as some are of
a suffocating nature, as a catarrh, quinsy, &c. and kill in that way; and
indeed death in whatsoever way is the stopping of a man's breath; and it was
death that Job chose, let it be in what way it would, whether natural or
violent; so weary was he of life through his sore and heavy afflictions:
and death rather than my life; or,
"than my bones"F9מעצמותי
"prae ossibus meis", Montanus, Tigurine version, Bolducius, Cocceius,
Schmidt, Schultens; so Mercerus, Piscator, Michaelis. ; which are the more
solid parts of the body, and the support of it, and are put for the whole and
the life thereof; or than these bones of his, which were full of strong pain,
and which had nothing but skin upon them, and that was broken and covered with
worms, rottenness, and dust; the Vulgate Latin version renders it, "and my
bones death"; that is, desired and chose death, being so full of pain, see
Psalm 35:10.
Job 7:16 16 I loathe my life; I
would not live forever. Let me alone, For my days are but a breath.
YLT
16I have wasted away -- not
to the age do I live. Cease from me, for my days [are] vanity.
I loathe it,.... Or "them"F11"Aspernor
vitam", Piscator; so Jarchi & Ben Gersom. , either his life, which was
a weariness to him, or his bones, which were so painful and nauseous; or
rather, "I am become loathsome", to himself, to his servants, and to
his friends, and even his breath was strange to his wife; or "being
ulcerated, I pine and waste away"F12מאסתי
"tabui", Cocceius; "ulceratus tabesco", Schultens. , and
must in course be quickly gone:
I would not live always; no man can or will;
there is no man that lives but what shall see death, Psalm 89:48; Job
knew this, nor did he expect or desire it; and this was not his meaning, but
that he desired that he might not live long, or to the full term of man's life,
yea, that he might die quickly; and indeed to a good man to die is gain; and to
depart out of the world, and be with Christ, is far better than to continue in
it. And had Job expressed himself without passion, and with submission to the
divine will, what he says would not have been amiss:
let me alone; or "cease from me"F13חדל ממני "cessa a me",
Pagninus, Montanus, Bolducius, Schmidt. ; from afflicting him any more, having
as great a weight upon him as he could bear, or greater than he could well
stand up under; or from supporting him in life, he wishes that either God would
withdraw his afflicting hand from him, or his preserving hand; either abate the
affliction, or dismiss him from the world:
for my days are vanity; a "breath"F14הבל "halitus", Michaelis, Schultens. or puff of
wind; a "vapour", as Mr. Broughton renders it, that soon vanishes
away; days empty of all that is good, delightful, and pleasant, and full of
evil, trouble, and sorrow, as well as fleeting, transitory, and soon gone, are
as nothing, yea, less than nothing, and vanity.
Job 7:17 17 “What is man, that
You should exalt him, That You should set Your heart on him,
YLT
17What [is] man that Thou
dost magnify him? And that Thou settest unto him Thy heart?
What is man, that thou shouldest magnify him?.... Man in
his best estate, in his original state, was but of the earth, earthly; a
mutable creature, and altogether vanity; so that it was wonderful God should
magnify him as be did, raise him to such honour and dignity, as to set him over
all the works of his hands, and bestow peculiar marks of his favour upon him in
Eden's garden; but man in his low and fallen estate, being, as the word here
used is generally observed to signify, a frail, feeble, weak, and mortal
creature; yea, a sinful one; it is much more marvellous that God should magnify
him, or make him great, that is, any of the human race, as he has some, so as
"to set his heart upon them", as Jarchi connects this with the
following clause; to think of them and provide for them in his purposes and
decrees, in his council and covenant, to choose any of them to grace here, and
glory hereafter: he has magnified them, by espousing them to his Son, whereby
they share with him in his glory, and in all the blessings of his goodness;
through the incarnation of Christ, by means of which the human nature is
greatly advanced and honoured; and by their redemption through Christ, whereby
they are raised to an higher dignity, and restored to a greater estate than
they lost by the fall; by clothing them with the rich robe of Christ's
righteousness, comparable to the gold of Ophir, and raiment of needlework; and
by adorning them with the graces of the blessed Spirit; and, in a word, by
taking them into his family, making them his children and his heirs, rich in
grace, and heirs of the kingdom of heaven, and kings and priests unto him;
taking them as beggars from the dunghill, to sit among princes, and to inherit
the throne of glory. The words may be understood in a different sense, and more
agreeably to the context, and to the scope of Job's discourse, as they are by
someF15So Simeon Bar Tzemach, Sephorno, Mercerus, Diodati,
Schultens. , of God's magnifying men by afflicting them; according to which,
man is represented as a poor, weak, strengthless creature, a worm and clod of
the earth; and the Lord as the mighty God, as of great and infinite power and
strength, between whom there is no manner of proportion; God is not a man, that
they should come together, or as if on equal foot; nor man a match for God; to
wrestle with principalities and powers, which are not flesh and blood, is too
much for men of themselves, and how much less able are they to contend with
God? Now Job by this suggests, that his thought and sentiment of the matter
was, and in which he has a particular view to himself, and his own case; that
as on the one hand it was a demeaning the might and majesty of God, by making
himself a combatant with man; so on the other hand it was doing man too much
honour, as if he was one of more importance and consequence, and more mighty
and powerful than he is; whereas he is unworthy of the divine notice in any
respect, either to bestow his favours, or lay his afflicting hand upon him;
compare with this 1 Samuel 24:14.
Hence a late learned writerF16Schultens. , agreeably to the use of
the word in the Arabic language, renders it, "what is mortal man, that
thou shouldest wrestle with him?" strive and contend with him as if he was
thy match, when thou couldest at one blow, and even at a touch, dispatch him at
once?
and that thou shouldest set thine heart upon him? have an
affection for him, love him, delight in him, highly value and esteem him; it is
wonderful that God should have such a regard to any of the sons of men; and yet
it is certain that he has, as appears by the good things he has provided and
laid up for them in covenant, by sending his Son to die for them, by calling
and quickening them by his Spirit and grace, and drawing them with loving
kindness to himself; by taking continual care of them, and keeping them as the
apple of his eye: though these words may be interpreted agreeably to the other
sense, "that thou shouldest set thine heart upon him?" or towards
him, to afflict him and chastise him with afflictions, so Bar Tzemach; or to
stir up himself against him, as Sephorno: and the above late learned writer
chooses to render them, "that thou shouldest set thine heart against
him?"F17וכי תשית
אליו לבך "et quod
intendas cor tuum". and so the HebrewF18"Adversus
eum". ibid. particle is used in many other places; see Ezekiel 13:2;
compare with this Job 34:14, where R.
Simeon Bar TzemachF19Vid. Noldii Ebr. Partic. Concord. p. 57. thinks
Elihu has respect to this passage of Job, and reproves him for it.
Job 7:18 18 That You should visit him
every morning, And test him every moment?
YLT
18And inspectest him in the
mornings, In the evenings dost try him?
And that thou shouldest visit him every morning,.... That is,
"daily", continually, as Aben Ezra interprets it; either in a way of
love, grace, and mercy; so God has visited men, by raising up and sending his
Son to be a Redeemer of them; the Son of God has visited them, as the dayspring
from on high, by his incarnation and appearance in this world; see Luke 1:68; and the
Lord visits them, by calling them by his grace, see Acts 15:14; by
communing and conversing with them in a free and friendly manner; by helping
right early, and by renewing his mercies to them every morning, all which is
matter of admiration: or else the word may be taken in a different sense, as it
sometimes is, either for punishing man for sin, as in Exodus 20:5; or for
chastising the Lord's people, which is a visiting them, though in a fatherly
way, and in love, and which is often and frequently done, even every morning,
see Psalm 89:32; and so
the sense agrees with the former, though by some given with this difference
thus, "what is man, that thou shouldest magnify him?" or make him
great both in things temporal and spiritual, as he had made Job in the time of
his prosperity, which he may have respect unto; having been the greatest man in
all the east, with respect to both characters, whereby it was plain he had
interest in the love and affections of the heart of God; and "yet,
notwithstanding, nevertheless, thou visitest him"F20ותפקדנו "et tamen, nihilominus visitas eum",
Michaelis. , with afflictions and chastisements continually; which may seem
strange, and look like a contradiction, that thou shouldest:
and try him every moment? by afflictive
providences; in this way the Lord often tries the faith and patience, the fear
and love, the hope and humility of his people, and all other graces, whereby
they appear and shine the brighter, which was Job's case, see Job 23:10; and
which he doubtless had in view in all he had said, and more particularly
expostulates about in the following verses.
Job 7:19 19 How long? Will You not
look away from me, And let me alone till I swallow my saliva?
YLT
19How long dost Thou not look
from me? Thou dost not desist till I swallow my spittle.
How long wilt thou not depart from me,.... From
wrestling and contending with him, and afflicting of him; the Lord was too hard
a combatant for job, and therefore he chose to be rid of him, and was impatient
of it; or "look off from me"F21תשעה
ממני "respicis a me?" Junius &
Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius, Schmidt, Michaelis; "avertis oculum a
me?" Schultens. ; so Mr. Broughton renders it, "how long wilt thou
not look from me?" this is to be understood not of a look of love, which
Job would never have desired to have averted from him; but a frowning and angry
look, such as the Lord put on in this dispensation of his providence towards
him; the allusion may be to that sharp and constant look, which antagonists in
wrestling have upon each other while conflicting together, and so the metaphor
before used is still carried on:
nor let me alone till I swallow down my spittle? some think
Job has reference to his disease which affected his throat, that being so dried
up, or having a quinsy in it, that he could not swallow his spittle, or it was
with great difficulty he did it; or rather it is a proverbial expression,
signifying that his afflictions were incessant, that he had no respite nor
intermission, had not space enough given him to swallow down his spittle, or
take his breath, as in Job 9:18; so
Schultens observes, that with the Arabians this was a proverbial form of
speech, when they required time for anything, "give me time to swallow my
spittle"; or when they had not proper time, or any intermission, used to
say, "you will not give me time to swallow my spittle"; and one being
asked a multitude of questions, replied, "suffer me to swallow my
spittle", that is, give me time to make an answer: or the sense is, that
his antagonist in wrestling with him held him so fast, and kept him so close to
it, and so twisted him about, and gave him fall upon fall, so that he had no
time to swallow his spittle; or he so collared him, and gripped him, and almost
throttled him, that he could not swallow it down; all which intends how closely
and incessantly Job was followed with one affliction upon another, and how
severe and distressing they were to him.
Job 7:20 20 Have I sinned? What have I
done to You, O watcher of men? Why have You set me as Your target, So that I am
a burden to myself?[b]
YLT
20I have sinned, what do I to
Thee, O watcher of man? Why hast Thou set me for a mark to Thee, And I am for a
burden to myself -- and what?
I have sinned,.... Some render it, "if I have
sinned"F23Vatablus, Drusius, Schmidt; so Sept. Syr. & Ar. ;
be it so that I have, as my friends say, yet since there is forgiveness with
thee, why should I be so afflicted as I am? but there is no need of such a
supplement, the words are an affirmation, I have sinned, or I am a sinner; not
that he owned that he had been guilty of any notorious sin, or had lived a
sinful course of life, on account of which his afflictions came upon him, as
his friends suggested; but that he was not without sin, was daily guilty of it,
as men, even the best of men, ordinarily are; and being a sinner was not a
match for a holy God; he could not contend with him, nor answer him for one sin
of a thousand committed by him in thought, word, or deed; and therefore desires
him to desist and depart from him, see Luke 5:8,
what shall I do unto thee? this he said, not as one
in distress of mind on account of sin, and under the load of the guilt of it,
inquiring what he must do to make satisfaction for it, how and what way he
could be saved from it; for he knew that nothing done by him in a ceremonial
way by sacrifices, nor in a moral way by the performance of duties, could take
away sin, or atone for it, or save him from it; he knew this was only by his
living Redeemer, and whom he knew and determined should be his salvation, and
he only; see Job 9:30; but
rather as it may be rendered, "what can or ought I do unto thee?"F24מה אפעל לך
"quid faciam aut facere possum tibi", Michaelis; "debeam",
Schmidt. that is, more than I have done, namely, to confess my sin unto thee;
what more dost thou require of me? or what more can be done by me, than to
repent of my sin, acknowledge it, and beg pardon for it? as he does in Job 7:21, or
"what can I do unto thee?" thou art all over match for me, I cannot
struggle and contend with thee, a sinful man with an holy God:
O thou preserver of men? as he is in a
providential way, the supporter of men in their lives and beings; or, "O
thou keeper of men"F25נצר האדם "custos hominum". V. L. Pagninus, Junius
& Tremellius, Piscator, Mercerus. , as he is, not only of Israel, but of
all others, and that night and day; perhaps Job may refer to his setting and
keeping a watch over him, Job 7:12; and
enclosing and hedging him all around with afflictions, so that he could not get
out of the world as he desired; or, "O thou observer of men"F26"Observator",
Schultens. , of their words, ways, works, and actions, and who kept such a
strict eye upon him while wrestling with him, and therefore what could he do?
or, "O thou Saviour of men"F1"Sospitatur",
Codurcus; "servator", Drusius, Schmidt, Michaelis. Vid. Witsii
Oeconom. Foeder. l. 4. c. 3. sect. 30. , by whom only I can be saved from the
sins I have been and am daily guilty of:
why hast thou set me as a mark against thee? as a butt to
shoot thine arrows at, one affliction after another, thick and fast, see Job 16:12 Lamentations 3:12;
the words I think may be rendered, "why hast thou appointed me to meet
thee", or "for a meeting with thee?"F2למפנע לך "in occursum
tibi", Pagninus, Montanus, Mercerus, Drusius. as one man challenge,
another to meet him in such a place and fight him: alas! I am not equal to
thee, I am a mere worm, not able to contend with thee the mighty God, or to
meet thee in the way of thy judgments, and to endure the heavy strokes of thy angry
hand; and so Bar Tzemach paraphrases it,"thou hast hated me, and not loved
me; that thou hast set, or appointed me to meet thee, as a man meets his enemy
in the time of his wrath, and he stirs up against him all his fury:'and to the
same sense, and much in the same words, Jarchi interprets it:
so that I am a burden to myself? weary of his life,
through the many pressing and heavy afflictions upon him, as Rebekah was of
hers, because of the daughters of Heth, Genesis 27:46. The
reading which we follow, and is followed by the Targum, and by most
interpreters, Jewish and Christian, is a correction of the scribes, and one of
the eighteen places corrected by them; which is no argument of the corruption
of the Hebrew text, but of the contrary; since this was only placed in the
margin of the Bible, as the Masorites afterwards did with their various
readings, showing only what was their sense of this, and the like passages; and
as an instruction how in their opinion to understand them, still retaining the
other reading or writing; and which, according to Aben Ezra, may be rightly
interpreted, and is, "so that I am a burden to thee"F3עליך επι σοι,
Sept. "et tibi", Beza, Grotius. ; and which is followed by some,
signifying, as Job thought at least, that he was so offensive to him that he
could not bear him, but treated him as an enemy; was weary of him, as God is
said to be of sinners and their sins, and of the services and duties of carnal
professors, see Isaiah 1:14; so
Abendana interprets it,"thou hast set me for a mark unto thee, as if I was
a burden to thee.'
Job 7:21 21 Why then do You not pardon
my transgression, And take away my iniquity? For now I will lie down in the
dust, And You will seek me diligently, But I will no longer be.”
YLT
21Thou dost not take away my
transgression, And cause to pass away mine iniquity, Because now, for dust I
lie down: And Thou hast sought me -- and I am not!
And why dost thou not pardon my transgression,.... Or
"lift it up"F4תשא
"tolles", Montanus, Beza, Drusius, Mercerus, Michaelis. ; every sin
is a transgression of the law of God, and the guilt of it upon the conscience
is a burden too heavy to bear, and the punishment of it is intolerable; pardon
lifts up and takes away all manner of sin, and all that is in sin; it takes off
the load of sin from the conscience, and eases it, and loosens from obligation
to punishment for it, which comes to pass in this manner: Jehovah has taken
lifted up sin from his people, and has put and laid it, or caused it to meet on
his Son, by the imputation of it to him; and he has voluntarily taken it on himself,
and has bore it, and has taken it away by his blood and sacrifice, which being
applied to the conscience of a sinner, lifts it up and takes it from thence,
and speaks peace and pardon to him; it wholly and entirely removes it from him,
even as far as the east is from the west; and for such an application Job
postulates with God, with whom there was forgiveness, and who had proclaimed
himself a God pardoning iniquity, transgression, and sin; and which he does
when he both removes the guilt of it from the conscience, and takes away all
the effects of it, such as afflictions and the like; in which latter sense Job
may well be understood, as agreeing with his case and circumstances:
and take away mine iniquity? or "cause it to
pass away"F5תעביר "transire facies",
Pagninus, Montanus, Drusius. from him, by applying his pardoning grace and
mercy to his conscience, and by removing his afflicting hand from him:
for now shall I sleep in the dust; having sin pardoned, and
the hand of God removed; I shall depart out of the world in peace, lie down in
the grave, and rest quietly till the resurrection; there being in the bed of
dust no tossings to and fro as now, nor a being scared with dreams and
terrified with night visions. Mr. Broughton renders it, "whereas I lie now
in the dust"; as if it referred to his present case, sitting as a mourner
in dust and ashes, and his flesh clothed with clods of dust; or, in a
figurative sense, lying in the dust of self-abhorrence; but the former sense
seems best:
and thou shalt seek me in the morning, but I shall not be; meaning not
in the morning of the resurrection, for then he will be found; but it is a
figurative way of speaking, as Bar Tzemach observes, just as one goes to visit
a sick man in a morning, and he finds him dead, and he is not any more in the
land of the living: many interpreters understand this as Job's sense, that he
should quickly die; he could not be a long time in the circumstances he was;
and therefore if the Lord had a mind to bestow any good thing on him in the
present life, he must make haste to do it, since in a short time he should be
gone, and then, if he sought for him, it would be too late, he should be no
more; but the sense is this, that when he lay down in the dust, in the grave,
he should be seen no more on earth by any man, nay, not by the eye of God
himself, should the most early and the most diligent search be made for him.
Mr. Broughton takes it to be a petition and request to die, rendering the
words,"why dost thou not quickly seek me out, that I should be no
more?'and to which othersF6So Junius & Tremellius. agree.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》
New King James
Version (NKJV)