Job 10:5

[Are] thy days as the days of man? [are] thy years as man's days,

Are thy days {H3117} as the days {H3117} of man {H582}? are thy years {H8141} as man's {H1397} days {H3117},

Are your days like the days of mortals? Are your years like human years,

Are Your days like those of a mortal, or Your years like those of a man,

Are thy days as the days of man, Or thy years as man’s days,

Context

Job 10:5 is part of Job's passionate and deeply personal lament to God, following his friends' attempts to explain his suffering. In chapters 9 and 10, Job grapples with the immense power and unsearchable ways of God, acknowledging God's sovereignty while simultaneously questioning His justice and methods in dealing with him. This particular verse encapsulates Job's bewilderment: he feels God is scrutinizing him with a human-like impatience and limitation, as if God's time and perspective were brief and finite like a man's, rather than eternal and boundless. It's a rhetorical question born out of profound anguish, expressing his desire for God to deal with him from a divine, not human, vantage point.

Key Themes

  • Divine Eternity vs. Human Mortality: The core tension of the verse. Job contrasts God's timeless nature with the fleeting existence of humanity. He implies that if God were limited by time like a man, His judgment might be hasty or flawed. This echoes themes found elsewhere in Scripture about the brevity of human life compared to God's eternal nature, such as in Psalm 90:4, which states that a thousand years in God's sight are like a day.
  • God's Scrutiny and Justice: Job feels he is under intense divine examination, as if God needs to diligently search for his sin over a prolonged period, akin to a human judge who must meticulously gather evidence. He begs for God to not apply a human standard of investigation, which would imply a need for time and painstaking effort to uncover wrong.
  • The Problem of Suffering: Underlying Job's questions is his struggle to reconcile his blamelessness (from his perspective) with the immense suffering he endures. He seeks to understand why an omnipotent and eternal God would deal with him in such a seemingly harsh and human-like manner, rather than with the instantaneous and complete knowledge of a divine being.

Linguistic Insights

The repetition of "days" (Hebrew: yom) and "years" (Hebrew: shanah) emphasizes the brevity of human life and Job's plea for God to consider His eternal nature. It is a rhetorical question designed to highlight the absurdity of an eternal God operating under human temporal constraints. Job is essentially asking, "Do You need time to search for my sin, as humans do?" The implied answer is "No," underscoring God's omniscience.

Practical Application

This verse challenges us to consider our own perceptions of God. Do we sometimes project our human limitations, impatience, or finite understanding onto an infinite and eternal God? Job's lament reminds us that it is permissible to bring our deepest questions and even our frustrations before God, particularly in times of suffering. He is big enough to handle our doubts and fears, and desires our honest engagement. Ultimately, the verse calls us to trust in God's divine perspective, which transcends our limited human understanding and time. His ways are higher than our ways, as highlighted in Isaiah 55:9. Even when we cannot comprehend His methods, we can rest in His eternal wisdom, perfect justice, and boundless love.

Note: Commentary was generated by an advanced AI, utilizing a prompt that emphasized Biblical fidelity over bias. We've found these insights to be consistently reliable, yet we always encourage prayerful discernment through the Holy Spirit. The Scripture text and cross-references are from verified, non-AI sources.

  • 2 Peter 3:8

    ¶ But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day [is] with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

  • Psalms 90:2

    Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou [art] God.

  • Psalms 90:4

    For a thousand years in thy sight [are but] as yesterday when it is past, and [as] a watch in the night.

  • Hebrews 1:12

    And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.

  • Job 36:26

    Behold, God [is] great, and we know [him] not, neither can the number of his years be searched out.

  • Psalms 102:12

    ¶ But thou, O LORD, shalt endure for ever; and thy remembrance unto all generations.

  • Psalms 102:24

    I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days: thy years [are] throughout all generations.
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