Job 7 Study Notes
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7:1-2 Job complained that God acted as a harsh master towards humans. The term forced labor could be used of military service, but here it involves the institution of service that was demanded of a man for a certain period (the corvée; see 1Kg 5:13-14). Hired hands usually worked for a day’s pay (Dt 24:14-15). To withhold a person’s wages was a miscarriage of justice (Lv 19:13).
‘awlah
| Hebrew pronunciation | [aw LAH] |
| CSB translation | injustice, wrong |
| Uses in Job | 10 |
| Uses in the OT | 34 |
| Focus passage | Job 6:29-30 |
‘Awlah, a feminine noun involving negative evaluation of someone’s actions, contrasts with blamelessness as wickedness (Ezk 28:15), and with justice as injustice (Is 61:8) or unrighteousness (Ps 92:15). ‘Awlah indicates crimes (Ps 64:6). “Sons of ‘awlah” are wicked men (Ps 89:22), criminals (2Sm 3:34), or evildoers (1Ch 17:9). ‘Awlah also indicates social wrong of all kinds (Zph 3:13) and appears with other antisocial terms (Jb 15:16) contrary to following God’s ways (Ps 119:3). ‘Awlah is something wrong in speech (Mal 2:6). God does no wrong (Zph 3:5). ‘Awlah appears as unjust (Jb 6:29) and unjustly (Jb 13:7). The masculine ‘awel (21x) has similar meanings, often occurs as the object of “do” (‘asah), and is additionally fault (Jr 2:5), unjustly (Ezk 3:20), or injustice (Ezk 18:8). The verb ‘awal (2x) means act unjustly (Is 26:10). ‘Awwal is a noun (5x) describing the unjust person (Jb 29:17).
7:3-4 The days and the nights were dragging on for Job.
7:5 Job’s boils (2:7) scabbed over only temporarily, then erupted, and the oozing pus became filled with maggots.
7:6 A play on words occurs here. The Hebrew word tiqwah can mean both “hope” and “thread.” Like a weaver running out of thread, Job’s life was moving swiftly toward its end, leaving him without hope.
7:7-8 Job speaks to God here. He longed for some pleasant experiences before his death, which was quickly approaching.
7:9-10 In the OT Sheol is used both for the grave generally (1Kg 2:6; Ps 16:10; 49:15) and for the final state of the wicked specifically (Ps 49:13-14; Is 14:14-15). At times it reflects a commonly held ancient view of a dismal underworld into which all people passed after death.
7:11 “Sorrow from an affliction is suffered in the depths of one’s being, and the tongue is the sole avenue for releasing that anguish” (John E. Hartley, The Book of Job, NICOT).
7:12 In Canaanite mythology the sea god (Yam) and the sea monster (Tannin) were defeated by Baal. The allusion in v. 12 compares Job to some primordial adversary on which God is keeping watch. Such mythological allusions appear in the OT about God’s victory over and control of the forces of nature in creation (9:13-14; 26:12-13), at the Red Sea (Ps 74:14-15), and the forces of evil at the end of history (Is 27:1).
7:13-15 Job was not even able to find peace in sleep.
7:16 Breath (Hb hevel) can also designate something worthless or futile (Ec 1:2).
7:17-19 Unlike the viewpoint of the psalmist (Ps 8:3-8), Job answered his own rhetorical question in despairing fashion to indicate God’s constant oppression of him.
7:20-21 If Job had sinned against God unintentionally (1:5), let the ever-watchful God tell him. Job used the title Watcher sarcastically.
’enosh
| Hebrew pronunciation | [eh NOSH] |
| CSB translation | mankind, human, man |
| Uses in Job | 18 |
| Uses in the OT | 42 |
| Focus passage | Job 7:1,17 |
The root of ’enosh in other Semitic languages involves weakness, sociableness, or manliness. ’Anash denotes become ill (2Sm 12:15), and the passive participle (8x) means incurable (Jr 30:12). ’Enosh appears mostly in poetry, signifying mankind (Dt 32:26) and human life (Is 33:8). It represents a generalized individual person (Is 56:2) and ordinary people (Jb 28:4), occurring with ’adam and geber, other words for man. ’Enosh and ’adam are in Ps 8:4 and in reverse order in Ps 144:3. ’Enosh implies human (Jb 10:4), mortal (Jb 4:17), or mere mortal (2Ch 14:11). It suggests a man’s pen and so, an ordinary pen (Is 8:1). God and ’enosh are often contrasted (Is 51:12). Man can be vicious (Ps 56:1), but ’enosh is used of friendship (Ps 55:13; Jr 20:10). It is humans in their ordinary needs (Ps 104:15) and connotes frailty (Is 13:7), sinfulness (Jb 25:4), travail (Jb 7:1), and mortality (Ps 103:15).