Job 7, "Innocent - Yet Harassed at Every Step"

Job continues responding to Eliphaz.

Job 7:1-3, Days of misery

"Does not man have hard service on earth? 

Are not his days like those of a hired man?

Like a slave longing for the evening shadows, 

or a hired man waiting eagerly for his wages,

so I have been allotted months of futility, 

and nights of misery have been assigned to me.

Job wants each day to hurriedly end. Hartley says there is a progression in the Hebrew words used to describe working men. First there is ṣābā’, translated "hard service", describing a fighting man, a conscript. Then there is śākîr, translated "hired man" and finally ʽebed, translated "slave". All of these represent men working hard under the control of others, with ever tightening control.

Job 7:4-5, Followed by weary nights

When I lie down I think, `How long before I get up?' 

The night drags on, and I toss till dawn.

My body is clothed with worms and scabs, 

my skin is broken and festering.

And then at night, he wants the night to hurry through.  His skin disease bring pain and discomfort. We have some hints of the seriousness and painfulness of his skin disease.

Job 7:6, An end without hope

"My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, 

and they come to an end without hope.

Life is short and fast; Job fears he will only endure pain ending in death.

Job 7:7-10, Remember me!

Remember, O God, that my life is but a breath; 

my eyes will never see happiness again.

The eye that now sees me will see me no longer; 

you will look for me, but I will be no more.

As a cloud vanishes and is gone, 

so he who goes down to the grave does not return.

He will never come to his house again; 

his place will know him no more.

Job's lament now turns to a petition. He addresses God, reminding God how brief his life is. He will never again have pleasure or joy; his life will quickly vanish and disappear from God's presence.

Job 7:11-12, I speak out!

"Therefore I will not keep silent; 

I will speak out in the anguish of my spirit, 

I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.

Am I the sea, or the monster of the deep, 

that you put me under guard?

Job's pain forces him to speak out.  He is harassed and tested. Why does he draw God's attention, as if he were some chaotic threat from the deep?

Job 7:13-16, Examined every morning

When I think my bed will comfort me 

and my couch will ease my complaint,

even then you frighten me with dreams 

and terrify me with visions,

so that I prefer strangling and death, 

rather than this body of mine.

I despise my life; 

I would not live forever. 

Let me alone; 

my days have no meaning.

In the day Job longs for rest and sleep but even in broken sleep he has nightmares. He longs for death; his life is futile and painful.

Job 7:17-19, Examined every morning

"What is man that you make so much of him, 

that you give him so much attention,

that you examine him every morning 

and test him every moment?

Will you never look away from me, 

or let me alone even for an instant?

Job claims that he is examined and tested at each moment. Job's question in verse 17 echoes Psalm 8: 4, but in an opposite, negative fashion. He is always under that gaze of God and that is not good!

Job 7:20-21, Watcher of men

If I have sinned, what have I done to you, O watcher of men? 

Why have you made me your target? 

Have I become a burden to you?

Why do you not pardon my offenses 

and forgive my sins? 

For I will soon lie down in the dust; 

you will search for me, but I will be no more."

Here Job seems to admit that maybe he has done something wrong.  If so, he wants forgiveness. Surely Job has not done anything so seriously wrong as to draw the attention of the Creator, the Watcher of men!

Having seen the initial meetings between God and The Accuser, we should recognize some truth to Job's complaint. While his friends claim that Job is paying for his sins, Job insists that that is not true. Indeed, for reasons we do not quite understand, Job is paying for his righteousness!