Job Chapter 7 — Job’s Lament on the Frailty of Life
Job expresses his deep despair and the exhaustion of his suffering, questioning why God is so attentive to the actions of a frail human life.
1“Isn’t a man forced to labor on earth?
2As a servant who earnestly desires the shadow,
3so I am made to possess months of misery,
4When I lie down, I say,
5My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust.
6My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle,
7Oh remember that my life is a breath.
8The eye of him who sees me will see me no more.
9As the cloud is consumed and vanishes away,
10He will return no more to his house,
11“Therefore I will not keep silent.
12Am I a sea, or a sea monster,
13When I say, ‘My bed will comfort me.
14then you scare me with dreams
15so that my soul chooses strangling,
16I loathe my life.
17What is man, that you should magnify him,
18that you should visit him every morning,
19How long will you not look away from me,
20If I have sinned, what do I do to you, you watcher of men?
21Why do you not pardon my disobedience, and take away my iniquity?
WEB Translation
Notable Verses
Job 7:7
“Oh remember that my life is a breath. The eye of him who sees me will see me no more.”
This verse highlights Job's perspective on the fleeting nature of human existence in the face of mortality.
Job 7:17-18
“What is man, that you should magnify him, that you should visit him every morning, and test him every moment?”
Job questions why God devotes so much attention to human beings, particularly when that attention feels like a burden of testing.
Chapter Summary
In Job 7, Job continues his response to Eliphaz by articulating the depth of his physical and emotional agony. He compares human existence to the grueling labor of a servant or a hired hand, noting that he is forced to endure months of misery and restless nights. Job emphasizes the brevity of his life, likening his days to a weaver’s shuttle and a vanishing cloud. Feeling that he has nothing left to lose, he addresses God directly with blunt honesty. He questions why God treats him like a sea monster or a threat that must be guarded. Job's suffering is so intense that he expresses a preference for death over continued life. He concludes by asking why God, as the 'watcher of men,' will not simply overlook his faults or pardon his sins before he perishes and returns to the dust.
Frequently Asked Questions
Job complains about the relentless nature of his physical pain and the perceived unfairness of his suffering. He feels that his life is both short and filled with agony, leading him to speak out in bitterness to God about his condition.
Job describes human life as forced labor, comparing a person to a servant longing for shade or a hireling looking for wages. He uses metaphors like a weaver’s shuttle and a breath to emphasize how quickly life passes away.
Job feels overwhelmed by what he perceives as God's constant scrutiny and testing. He asks for a moment of relief from his suffering, wondering why God is so concerned with a mortal's potential sins or mistakes.
Study Note
Job 7:17 appears to be a literary parody of the language found in Psalm 8:4, shifting the focus from God's caring attention to what Job perceives as an intrusive and painful scrutiny.
Related Chapters
Psalm 8
Psalm 8 asks a similar question about man's status before God but with a tone of wonder rather than Job's lament.
Ecclesiastes 1
Both chapters reflect on the fleeting and repetitive nature of human life and labor on earth.
Job 6
Chapter 7 is the direct continuation of Job's first response to Eliphaz.
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