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Selected Verse: Job 7:1 - King James
| Verse |
Translation |
Text |
| Job 7:1 |
King James |
Is there not an appointed time to man upon earth? are not his days also like the days of an hireling? |
Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse
| A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882] |
JOB EXCUSES HIS DESIRE FOR DEATH. (Job 7:1-21)
appointed time--better, "a warfare," hard conflict with evil (so in Isa 40:2; Dan 10:1). Translate it "appointed time" (Job 14:14). Job reverts to the sad picture of man, however great, which he had drawn (Job 3:14), and details in this chapter the miseries which his friends will see, if, according to his request (Job 6:28), they will look on him. Even the Christian soldier, "warring a good warfare," rejoices when it is completed (Ti1 1:18; Ti2 2:3; Ti2 4:7-8). |
| Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
Is there not an appointed time to man upon earth? - Margin, or, warfare. The word used here צבא tsâbâ' means properly a host, an army, see the notes, Isa 1:9; then it means warfare, or the hard service of a soldier; notes, Isa 40:2. Here it means that man on the earth was enlisted, so to speak, for a certain time. He had a certain and definite hard service to perform, and which he must continue to discharge until he was relieved by death. It was a service of hazard, like the life of a soldier, or of toil, like that of one who had been hired for a certain time, and who anxiously looked for the period of his release. The object of Job in introducing this remark evidently is, to vindicate himself for the wish to die which he had expressed. He maintains that it is as natural and proper for man in his circumstances to wish to be released by death, as for a soldier to desire that his term of service might be accomplished, or a weary servant to long for the shades of the evening. The Septuagint renders it, "Is not the life of man upon the earth peirateerion " - explained by Schleusner and rendered by Good, as meaning a band of pirates. The Vulgate renders it, militia - miltary service. The sense is, that the life of man was like the hard service of a soldier; and this is one of the points of justification to which Job referred in Job 6:29-30. He maintains that it is not improper to desire that such a service should close.
The days of an hireling - A man who has been hired to perform some service with a promise of a reward, and who is not unnaturally impatient to receive it. Job maintained that such was the life of man. He was looking forward to a reward, and it was not unnatural or improper to desire that that reward should be given to him. |
| Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78] |
1 Has not a man warfare upon earth,
And his days are like the days of a hireling?
2 Like a servant who longs for the shade,
And like a hireling who waits for his wages,
3 So am I made to possess months of disappointment,
And nights of weariness are appointed to me.
The conclusion is intended to be: thus I wait for death as refreshing and rest after hard labour. He goes, however, beyond this next point of comparison, or rather he remains on this side of it. צבא is not service of a labourer in the field, but active military service, then fatigue, toil in general (Isa 40:20; Dan 10:1). Job 7:2 Ewald and others translate incorrectly: as a slave longs, etc. כּ can never introduce a comparative clause, except an infinitive, as e.g., Isa 5:24, which can then under the regimen of this כּ be continued by a verb. fin.; but it never stands directly for כּאשׁר, as כּמו does in rare instances. In Isa 5:3, שׁוא retains its primary signification, nothingness, error, disappointment (Job 15:31): months that one after another disappoint the hope of the sick. By this it seems we ought to imagine the friends as not having come at the very commencement of his disease. Elephantiasis is a disease which often lasts for years, and slowly but inevitably destroys the body. On מנּוּ, adnumeraverunt = adnumeratae sunt, vid., Ges. 137, 3*. |
| Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65] |
| Is there not - Job is here excusing what he cannot justify, his passionate longing for death. A time - Is there not a time limited by God, wherein man shall live in this sinful, and miserable world? And is it a crime in me, to desire that God would bring me to that joyful period? Our time on earth is limited and short, according to the narrow bounds of this earth. But heaven cannot be measured, nor the days of heaven numbered. Hireling - Whose time is short, being but a few years, or days, whose condition is full of toil and hardship. |
| Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826 |
| Is there not an appointed time to man - The Hebrew, with its literal rendering, is as follows: הלא צבא לאנוש עלי ארץ halo tsaba leenosh aley arets, "Is there not a warfare to miserable man upon the earth?" And thus most of the versions have understood the words. The Septuagint: Ποτερον ουχι πειρατηριον εστι ὁ βιος ανθρωπου επι της γης; "Is not the life of man a place of trial upon earth?" The Vulgate: Militia est vita hominis super terram, "The life of man is a warfare upon earth?" The Chaldee is the same. N'y a-t-il pas comme un train de guerre ordonne aux mortels sur la terre? "Is there not a continual campaign ordained for mortals upon the earth?" French Bible. The German and Dutch the same. Coverdale: Is not the life off man upon earth a very batayle? Carmarden, Rouen, 1566: Hath man any certayne tyme upon earth? Syriac and Arabic: "Now, man has time upon the earth." Non e egli il tempo determinato a l'huomo sopra la terra?" "Is there not a determined time to man upon the earth?" Bib. Ital., 1562. All these are nearer to the true sense than ours; and of a bad translation, worse use has been made by many theologians. I believe the simple sentiment which the writer wished to convey is this: Human life is a state of probation; and every day and place is a time and place of exercise, to train us up for eternal life. Here is the exercise, and here the warfare: we are enlisted in the bands of the Church militant, and must accomplish our time of service, and be honorably dismissed from the warfare, having conquered through the blood of the Lamb; and then receive the reward of the heavenly inheritance. |
7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:
8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
3 Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
18 This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare;
28 Now therefore be content, look upon me; for it is evident unto you if I lie.
14 With kings and counsellors of the earth, which built desolate places for themselves;
14 If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.
1 In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a thing was revealed unto Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar; and the thing was true, but the time appointed was long: and he understood the thing, and had understanding of the vision.
2 Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD'S hand double for all her sins.
29 Return, I pray you, let it not be iniquity; yea, return again, my righteousness is in it.
30 Is there iniquity in my tongue? cannot my taste discern perverse things?
2 Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD'S hand double for all her sins.
9 Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.
31 Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity: for vanity shall be his recompence.
3 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard.
24 Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the LORD of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
2 As a servant earnestly desireth the shadow, and as an hireling looketh for the reward of his work:
1 In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a thing was revealed unto Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar; and the thing was true, but the time appointed was long: and he understood the thing, and had understanding of the vision.
20 He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved.