Job 7:6

_MY DAYS ARE SWIFTER THAN A WEAVER'S SHUTTLE, AND ARE SPENT WITHOUT HOPE._ Days. "I have cut off like a weaver my life" (Isaiah 38:12). Every day, like the weaver's shuttle, leaves a thread behind; and each shall wear as he weaves. But Job's thought is, that his days must swiftly be cut off as a web: without hope-namely, of a recovery and renewal of life. "Thou washest away the tidings which grow out of the dust of the earth: and thou destroyest the hope of man" (Job 14:19. cf. Job 9:25; 1 Chronicles 29:15.)...

1-6 Job here excuses what he could not justify, his desire of death. Observe man's present place: he is upon earth. He is yet on earth, not in hell. Is there not a time appointed for his abode here? yes, certainly, and the appointment is made by Him who made us and sent us here. During that, man's life is a warfare, and as day-labourers, who have the work of the day to do in its day, and must make up their account at night. Job had as much reason, he thought, to wish for death, as a poor servant that is tired with his work, has to wish for the shadows of the evening, when he shall go to rest. The sleep of the labouring man is sweet; nor can any rich man take so much satisfaction in his wealth, as the hireling in his day's wages. The comparison is plain; hear his complaint: His days were useless, and had long been so; but when we are not able to work for God, if we sit still quietly for...

Verse Job 7:6. _SWIFTER THAN A WEAVER'S SHUTTLE_] The word ארג _areg_ signifies rather the _weaver_ than his _shuttle_. And it has been doubted whether any such instrument were in use in the days of Job. Dr. Russell, in his account of Aleppo, shows that though they wove many kinds of curious cloth, yet no _shuttle_ was used, as they conducted every thread of the _woof_ by their _fingers_. That some such instrument as the _shuttle_ was in use from time immemorial, there can be no doubt: and it is certain that such an instrument must have been in the view of Job, without which the figure would lose its expression and force. In almost every nation the whole of human existence has been compared to a _web_; and the principle of life, through the continual succession of moments, hours, days, weeks, months, and years, _to a thread woven through that web_. Henc...

MY DAYS ARE SWIFTER THAN A WEAVER’S SHUTTLE - That is, they are short and few. He does not here refer so much to the rapidity with which they were passing away as to the fact that they would soon be gone, and that he was likely to be cut off without being permitted to enjoy the blessings of a long life; compare the notes at Isaiah 38:12. The weaver’s shuttle is the instrument by which the weaver inserts the filling in the woof. With us few things would furnish a more striking emblem of rapidity than the speed with which a weaver throws his shuttle from one side of the web to the other. It would seem that such was the fact among the ancients, though the precise manner in which they wove their cloth, is unknown. It was common to compare life with a web, which was filled up by the successive days. The ancient Classical writers spoke of it as a web woven by the Fate

EXPOSITION JOB 7:1 In this chapter Job first bewails his miserable fate, of which he expects no alleviation (verses 1-10); then claims an unlimited right of complaint (verse 11); and finally enters into direct expostulation with God—an expostulation which continues from verse 12 to the end of the chapter. At the close, he admits his sinfulness (verse 20), but asks impatiently why God does not pardon it instead of visiting it with such extreme vengeance (verse 21). JOB 7:1 IS THERE NOT AN APPOINTED TIME TO MAN UPON EARTH? rather, _Is there not a warfare _(or, _a time of service_)_ to man upon earth?_ Has not each man a certain work appointed for him to do, and a certain limited time assigned him within which to do it? And th

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" b 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, Psalms 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 d

Job was sorely troubled by the cruel speeches of his friends, and he answered them out of the bitterness of his soul. What we are first about to read is a part of his language under those circumstances. Job 7:1. _Is there not an appointed time to man upon earth? are not his days also like the days of an hireling?_ Is there not a certain time for each one of us to live? Is there not an end to all the trouble and sorrow of this mortal state? «Woe is me,» says Job, »will this sad condition of things never come to a close? Must it always be thus with me?» Job 7:2. _As a servant earnestly desireth the shadow,_ When the day shall close, and he can go to his home, Job 7:2. And as an hireling

CHAPTER S 6-7 JOB'S ANSWER _ 1. His Despair justified by the greatness of his suffering (Job 6:1)_ 2. He requests to be cut off (Job 6:8) 3. He reproacheth his friends (Job 6:14) 4. The misery of life (Job 7:1) 5. Two questions: Why does God deal with me thus? Why does He not pardon? (Job 7:8) Job 6:1. He meets first of all the reproach and accusation of Eliphaz (Job 4:1). Because his sufferings are so g

Job complains of the misery of his life and destiny. How is it that Job does not go on to maintain his innocence? Instead of this he proceeds to show how dreadfully he suffers, and to accuse God of cruelty (Job 7:11 f.). The point is that he cannot think of his suffering without viewing it as a ground against God. The ideas of Eliphaz about suffering being due to sin make no impression on him: moreover he feels that, if he had sinned, that would give God no reason to treat him as He does. Again Job can hardly believe as yet that Eliphaz really meant to accuse him of sin. He indulges himself, therefore, freely again in the complaint of his misery. As before, however, in Job 3:20, he is led to think of his own case as one among many (Job 7:1 f.). Life is a sold

By his "days" is meant his life as a whole, not his individual days, which are far from passing quickly (Job 7:4); and "are spent" means, have been consumed (as Job 7:9), or, are come to an end (Genesis 21:15). He regards his life as near a close, for his disease was incurable; this is expressed by "without hope," i. e. hope of recovery or relief....