JOB CHAPTER 7 Our times are like those of hirelings, restless and hopeless. Death desirable. His days are as a weaver's shuttle; his life is as wind; and he was consumed out of this world, and should appear in it no more, JOB 7:1. Therefore he will speak to God, JOB 7:11,12: is tired out and weary o... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SHADOW, i.e. the sun-set, or the night, the time allotted for his rest and repose, PSALMS 104:23. And why may not I also desire the time of my rest? THE REWARD OF HIS WORK, Heb. _his work_; which is oft put for the reward of it, as LEVITICUS 19:13 ISAIAH 40:10, ISAIAH 49:4. Or, the end of his wo... [ Continue Reading ]
This so respects not so much the desire and expectation of a hired servant, which is expressed JOB 7:2, as the ground and reason of it, which is plainly implied there, to wit, his hard toil and service, which makes him thirst after rest. I AM MADE TO POSSESS; God, by his sovereign power and providen... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN I LIE DOWN, to get some rest and sleep. _The night_, Heb. _the evening_; the part put for the whole, as it is GENESIS 1:5. TO AND FRO; from side to side in the bed, as men in grievous pains of body or anxiety of mind use to be. UNTO THE DAWNING OF THE DAY; so this Hebrew word is used also @1 SA... [ Continue Reading ]
CLOTHED, i.e. covered all over as with a garment. WITH WORMS; which oft breed and break forth in divers parts of living bodies, as history and experience witnesseth, and which were easily bred out of Job's corrupted flesh and sores. CLODS OF DUST; either the dust of the earth upon which he lay, whic... [ Continue Reading ]
The time of my life hastens to a period; and therefore vain are those hopes which you give me of a restitution to my former prosperity in this world. A WEAVER'S SHUTTLE, which passeth in a moment from one end of the web to the other. WITHOUT HOPE, to wit, of enjoying any good day here.... [ Continue Reading ]
He turneth his speech to God, as appears from JOB 7:8,12,14. WIND, i.e. vain, ISAIAH 47:13 HOSEA 8:7; quickly passing away, so as never to come again, as is said, PSALMS 78:39. SEE GOOD, i.e. enjoy (for so seeing is sometimes used, as PSALMS 34:12 JEREMIAH 17:6) good, to wit, in this world, as my fr... [ Continue Reading ]
SHALL SEE ME NO MORE in this mortal state; I shall never return to this life again. THINE EYES ARE UPON ME, AND I AM NOT: either, 1. If thou dost but east one angry look upon me, _I am not_, i.e. I am a dead man. So that phrase is used GENESIS 5:24, GENESIS 42:13 44:20 PSA 103 16 JER 31:15. Or, 2. _... [ Continue Reading ]
THE CLOUD IS CONSUMED; being dried up or dissolved by the heat of the sun. VANISHETH AWAY; never returneth again. SHALL COME UP NO MORE, to live a natural, mortal life amongst men. For that he doth not deny a future life is manifest from JOB 19:25, &c.... [ Continue Reading ]
HE SHALL RETURN NO MORE, to enjoy his house and possessions again; he shall no more be seen and known in his former habitation and condition by his friends and neighbours. The PLACE put for the men of the place, as JOB 8:18, JOB 20:9 PSALMS 37:10.... [ Continue Reading ]
Since my life is by the common condition of mankind so vain and short, and, when once lost, without all hopes of recovery, and withal extremely miserable, I will plead with God for pity and relief before I die; knowing that I must now speak, or else for ever after hold my peace, as to requests of th... [ Continue Reading ]
Am I so great, and powerful, and dangerous a creature, that thou needest to use extraordinary power and violence to rule and subdue me? Am I as fierce and unruly as the sea, which, if thou didst not set a watch over it, and bounds to it, would overwhelm the earth, and destroy mankind upon it? Or am... [ Continue Reading ]
By giving me sweet and quiet sleep, which may take off the sense of my torments for that while.... [ Continue Reading ]
With sad and dreadful dreams, arising either from that melancholy humour which is now so fixed in me, and predominant over me, or from the devil's malice, who by thy permission disturbs me in this manner; so that I am afraid to go to sleep, and my remedy proves as bad as my disease. VISIONS are the... [ Continue Reading ]
CHOOSETH; not simply and in itself, but comparatively, rather than such a wretched life. STRANGLING; the most violent, so it be but a certain and sudden death. RATHER THAN MY LIFE, Heb. _than my bones_, i.e. than my body, formerly the soul's dear and desired companion; or than to be in the body, whi... [ Continue Reading ]
I LOATHE 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. Or, _let me not live for ever_, lingering in this miserable manner, as if thou wouldst not suffer me to die... [ Continue Reading ]
What is there in that poor, mean, contemptible creature called man, _miserable man_, as this word signifies, which can induce or incline thee to take any notice of him, to show him such respect, or to make such account of him? Man is not worthy of thy favour, and he is below thy anger. It is too gre... [ Continue Reading ]
VISIT HIM; to wit, punish or chasten him, as the word _to visit_, or _visiting_, is oft used, as EXODUS 20:5, EXODUS 32:34 34:7. _Every morning_, i.e. every day. But he mentions the morning, either because that is the beginning of the day, and so is put synecdochically for the whole day, as the _eve... [ Continue Reading ]
How long will it be ere thou withdraw thy afflicting hand from me? TILL I SWALLOW DOWN MY SPITTLE, i.e. for a little time; or that I may have a breathing time: a proverbial expression, like that Spanish proverb, _I have not time or liberty to spit out my spittle_. Or this expression may have respect... [ Continue Reading ]
I HAVE SINNED: although I am innocent and free from those crying sins, for which my friends suppose thou hast sent this uncommon judgment upon me; yet if thou be strict to mark what is amiss, I freely confess that I am a sinner, and therefore obnoxious to thy justice, and I humbly beg thy pardon for... [ Continue Reading ]
Seeing thou art so gracious to others, so ready to preserve and pardon them, why may not I hope for the same favour from thee? If thou dost not speedily help me, it will be too late, I shall be dead, and so uncapable of those blessings which thou usest to give to men in the land of the living. When... [ Continue Reading ]