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Commentary on Job 7 verses 7–16
Job, observing perhaps that his friends, though they would not interrupt him in his discourse, yet began to grow weary, and not to heed much what he said, here turns to God, and speaks to him. If men will not hear us, God will; if men cannot help us, he can; for his arm is not shortened, neither is his ear heavy. Yet we must not go to school to Job here to learn how to speak to God; for, it must be confessed, there is a great mixture of passion and corruption in what he here says. But, if God be not extreme to mark what his people say amiss, let us also make the best of it. Job is here begging of God either to ease him or to end him. He here represents himself to God,
I. As a dying man, surely and speedily dying. It is good for us, when we are sick, to think and speak of death, for sickness is sent on purpose to put us in mind of it; and, if we be duly mindful of it ourselves, we may in faith put God in mind of it, as Job does here (v. 7): O remember that my life is wind. He recommends himself to God as an object of his pity and compassion, with this consideration, that he was a very weak frail creature, his abode in this world short and uncertain, his removal out of it sure and speedy, and his return to it again impossible and never to be expected - that his life was wind, as the lives of all men are, noisy perhaps and blustering, like the wind, but vain and empty, soon gone, and, when gone, past recall. God had compassion on Israel, remembering that they were but flesh, a wind that passeth away and cometh not again, Psa 78:38, Psa 78:39. Observe,
1.The pious reflections Job makes upon his own life and death. Such plain truths as these concerning the shortness and vanity of life, the unavoidableness and irrecoverableness of death, then do us good when we think and speak of them with application to ourselves. Let us consider then, (1.) That we must shortly take our leave of all the things that are seen, that are temporal. The eye of the body must be closed, and shall no more see good, the good which most men set their hearts upon; for their cry is, Who will make us to see good? Psa 4:6. If we be such fools as to place our happiness in visible good things, what will become of us when they shall be for ever hidden from our eyes, and we shall no more see good? Let us therefore live by that faith which is the substance and evidence of things not seen. (2.) That we must then remove to an invisible world: The eye of him that hath here seen me shall see me no more there. It is hadēs - an unseen state, Job 7:8. Death removes our lovers and friends into darkness (Psa 88:18), and will shortly remove us out of their sight; when we go hence we shall be seen no more (Psa 39:13), but go to converse with the things that are not seen, that are eternal. (3.) That God can easily, and in a moment, put an end to our lives, and send us to another world (Job 7:8): "Thy eyes are upon me and I am not; thou canst look me into eternity, frown me into the grave, when thou pleasest."
Shouldst thou, displeased, give me a frowning look,
I sink, I die, as if with lightning struck.
- Sir R. Blackmore
He takes away our breath, and we die; nay, he but looks on the earth and it trembles, Psa 104:29, Psa 104:30. (4.) That, when we are once removed to another world, we must never return to this. There is constant passing from this world to the other, but vestigia nulla retrorsum - there is no repassing. "Therefore, Lord, kindly ease me by death, for that will be a perpetual ease. I shall return no more to the calamities of this life." When we are dead we are gone, to return no more, [1.] From our house under ground (Job 7:9): He that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more until the general resurrection, shall come up no more to his place in this world. Dying is work that is to be done but once, and therefore it had need be well done: an error there is past retrieve. This is illustrated by the blotting out and scattering of a cloud. It is consumed and vanisheth away, is resolved into air and never knits again. Other clouds arise, but the same cloud never returns: so a new generation of the children of men is raised up, but the former generation is quite consumed and vanishes away. When we see a cloud which looks great, as if it would eclipse the sun and drawn the earth, of a sudden dispersed and disappearing, let us say, "Just such a thing is the life of man; it is a vapour that appears for a little while and then vanishes away." [2.] To return no more to our house above ground (Job 7:10): He shall return no more to his house, to the possession and enjoyment of it, to the business and delights of it. Others will take possession, and keep it till they also resign to another generation. The rich man in hell desired that Lazarus might be sent to his house, knowing it was to no purpose to ask that he might have leave to go himself. Glorified saints shall return no more to the cares, and burdens, and sorrows of their house; nor damned sinners to the gaieties and pleasures of their house. Their place shall no more know them, no more own them, have no more acquaintance with them, nor be any more under their influence. It concerns us to secure a better place when we die, for this will no more own us.
2.The passionate inference he draws from it. From these premises he might have drawn a better conclusion that this (Job 7:11): Therefore I will not refrain my mouth; I will speak; I will complain. Holy David, when he had been meditating on the frailty of human life, made a contrary use of it (Psa 39:9, I was dumb, and opened not my mouth); but Job, finding himself near expiring, hastens as much to make his complaint as if he had been to make his last will and testament or as if he could not die in peace until he had given vent to his passion. When we have but a few breaths to draw we should spend them in the holy gracious breathings of faith and prayer, not in the noisome noxious breathings of sin and corruption. Better die praying and praising than die complaining and quarrelling.
II. As a distempered man, sorely and grievously distempered both in body and mind. In this part of his representation is he is very peevish, as if God dealt hardly with him and laid upon him more than was meet: "Am I a sea, or a whale (Job 7:12), a raging sea, that must be kept within bounds, to check its proud waves, or an unruly whale, that must be restrained by force from devouring all the fishes of the sea? Am I so strong that there needs so much ado to hold me? so boisterous that no less than all these mighty bonds of affliction will serve to tame me and keep me within compass?" We are very apt, when we are in affliction, to complain of God and his providence, as if he laid more restraints upon us that there is occasion for; whereas we are never in heaviness but when there is need, nor more than the necessity demands. 1. He complains that he could not rest in his bed, Job 7:13, Job 7:14. There we promise ourselves some repose, when we are fatigued with labour, pain, or traveling: "My bed shall comfort me, and my couch shall ease my complaint. Sleep will for a time give me some relief;" it usually does so; it is appointed for that end; many a time it has eased us, and we have awaked refreshed, and with new vigour. When it is so we have great reason to be thankful; but it was not so with poor Job: his bed, instead of comforting him, terrified him; and his couch, instead of easing his complaint, added to it; for if he dropped asleep, he was disturbed with frightful dreams, and when those awaked him still he was haunted with dreadful apparitions. This was it that made the night so unwelcome and wearisome to him as it was (Job 7:4): When shall I arise? Note, God can, when he pleases, meet us with terror even where we promise ourselves ease and repose; nay, he can make us a terror to ourselves, and, as we have often contracted guilt by the rovings of an unsanctified fancy, he can likewise, by the power of our own imagination, create us much grief, and so make that our punishment which has often been our sin. In Job's dreams, though they might partly arise from his distemper (in fevers, or small pox, when the body is all over sore, it is common for the sleep to be unquiet), yet we have reason to think Satan had a hand, for he delights to terrify those whom it is out of his reach to destroy; but Job looked up to God, who permitted Satan to do this (thou scarest me), and mistook Satan's representations for the terror of God setting themselves in array against him. We have reason to pray to God that our dreams may neither defile nor disquiet us, neither tempt us to sin nor torment us with fear, that he who keeps Israel, and neither slumbers nor sleeps, may keep us when we slumber and sleep, that the devil may not then do us a mischief, either as an insinuating serpent or as a roaring lion, and to bless God if we lie down and our sleep is sweet and we are not thus scared. 2. He covets to rest in his grave, that bed where there are no tossings to and fro, nor any frightful dreams, Job 7:15, Job 7:16. (1.) He was sick of life, and hated the thoughts of it: "I loathe it; I have had enough of it. I would not live always, not only not live always in this condition, in pain and misery, but not live always in the most easy and prosperous condition, to be continually in danger of being thus reduced. My days are vanity at the best, empty of solid comfort, exposed to real griefs; and I would not be for ever tied to such uncertainty." Note, A good man would not (if he might) life always in this world, no, not though it smile upon him, because it is a world of sin and temptation and he has a better world in prospect. (2.) He was fond of death, and pleased himself with the thoughts of it: his soul (his judgment, he thought, but really it was his passion) chose strangling and death rather than life; any death rather than such a life as this. Doubtless this was Job's infirmity; for though a good man would not wish to live always in this world, and would choose strangling and death rather than sin, as the martyrs did, yet he will be content to live as long as pleases God, not choose death rather than life, because life is our opportunity of glorifying God and getting ready for heaven.
39. Man is ‘compassed about with a prison,’ in that he very often both strives to mount on high by the strides of virtuous attainments, and yet is impeded by the corruption of his fleshly part. Of which same the Psalmist rightly prays that he might be divested, saying, Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise Thy Name. [Ps. 142, 7] But what have we set forth by the designation of ‘the sea,’ saving the hearts of carnal men tossed with swelling thoughts? and what by the name of ‘a whale,’ except our old enemy? who when in taking possession of the hearts of the children of this world he makes his way into them, does in a certain sort swim about in their slippery thoughts. But the whale is made fast in prison, in that the evil Spirit, being cast down below, is kept under by the weight of his own punishment, that he should have no power to fly up to the heavenly realms, as Peter testifies, who saith, God spared not the Angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness to be reserved unto judgment. [2 Pet. 2, 4] ‘The whale’ is fast bound in prison, in that he is prevented from tempting the good as much as he desires. The sea too is ‘compassed about with a prison,’ in that the swelling and raging desires of carnal minds, for the doing of the evil that they long for, are clogged by the straitness of their inability. For they often long to have power over their betters, yet by the Divine ordering, that regulates all things marvellously, they are made to bow beneath them. They desire, being exalted high, to injure the good, yet being brought under their power, they look for consolation from them. For the sake of fulfilling the gratification of the flesh, they covet length of years in the present life, yet they are carried off from it with haste. Concerning such it is well said by the Psalmist, And He put the waters as it were in a skin. [Ps. 78, 13. V. thus] For ‘the waters are in a skin’ when their loose desires, in that they find not the execution in deed, are kept down under a carnal heart. Therefore the whale and the sea are hemmed in by the close pressure of a prison, in that whether as regards the evil spirit or his followers, in whose minds he gathers himself and sets rolling therein the waves of tumultuous thoughts, the rigour of the Most High confines them, that they should have no power to accomplish the evil things that they are set upon.
40. But holy men, in proportion as they contemplate the Mysteries of heavenly truths with more perfect purity of heart, pant after them with daily increased ardour of affection. They long to be henceforth filled to the full at that fountain head, whence they as yet taste but a little drop with the mouth of contemplation. They long entirely to subdue the promptings of the flesh, no longer to be subject to any thing unlawful in the imaginations of the heart springing from the corruption thereof. But because it is written, For the corruptible body presseth down the soul, and the earthy tabernacle weigheth down the mind that museth upon many things, [Wisd. 9, 15] therefore they henceforth rise above themselves in purpose of mind, but being still subject to the capricious motions of their imperfect nature, they lament that they are confined in the prison-house of corruption. Am I a sea or a whale, that Thou dost compass me about with a prison? As if it were in plain words; ‘The sea or the whale, i.e. the wicked and their prime mover, the Evil Spirit, because they desire to have a loose given them for the mere liberty of committing iniquity alone, are justly held bound in the prison of the punishment inflicted on them. But I, that already long for the liberty of Thine eternal state, why am I still enclosed in the prison of mine own corruption?’ Not that this is either demanded in pride by the righteous, in that being inflamed with the love of the Truth they desire completely to surmount the narrow compass of their imperfect condition; nor yet that it is unjustly ordered by the Author of the just, in that in delaying the wishes of His Elect, He puts them to pain, and in paining purifies, that they may one day be the better enabled by that delay, for the receiving that they desire. But the Elect, so long as they are kept away from the interior rest, turn back into their own hearts, and being there buried from the tumults of the flesh, as it were seek a retreat of infinite delight. But therein they often feel the stings of temptation, and are subject to the goadings of the flesh, and there they meet with the hardest toils, where they had looked for perfect rest from toil. Hence the holy man after the prison of his state of corruption that he told of, hastening to return to the tranquil regions of the heart, seeing that he experienced in the interior also all that same strife, to escape which he fled from things without.
“Am I the sea, or the dragon?” That is, you have imposed a limit that the sea must not trespass, so that it might not submerge the earth. You did the same with the dragon, that it might not go out and destroy all that it met. But why do you continue to punish me so harshly, for I am a feeble man with a short life?
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SUMMARY
Job 7:12 is a poignant, rhetorical cry from a suffering Job, expressing his profound bewilderment and indignation at God's seemingly relentless scrutiny. In his agony, he likens himself to the vast, untamed sea or a formidable sea monster, questioning why the Almighty would need to "set a watch" over such a frail and insignificant human being. This verse encapsulates Job's perception of God's attention not as loving care, but as an oppressive, unwarranted vigilance, as if he were a dangerous cosmic threat requiring constant containment, rather than a broken mortal in despair.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Job 7:12 is rich in literary devices that amplify Job's despair and protest. The most prominent is the Rhetorical Question, "Am I a sea, or a whale, that thou settest a watch over me?" Job does not expect a literal answer but uses the question to express his profound indignation and bewilderment, highlighting the perceived absurdity of God's actions from his perspective. Closely related are Metaphor and Simile, as Job implicitly compares himself to a "sea" and a "whale" (or sea monster). While phrased as a question, the underlying comparison is clear: "Am I like these chaotic, dangerous entities that require your constant vigilance?" This employs Hyperbole, exaggerating his perceived threat level to underscore the perceived injustice of God's treatment. There is also an element of Anthropomorphism in Job's portrayal of God, as he describes God's actions ("settest a watch") in human-like terms, implying a deliberate, almost paranoid, vigilance that Job feels is directed at him.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Job 7:12 profoundly challenges conventional understandings of divine justice and suffering, echoing the broader theological tension within the book of Job: why do the righteous suffer, and how does God's sovereignty relate to human pain? Job's lament forces us to confront the reality that human perception of God can be profoundly distorted by intense suffering, leading to accusations and questions that arise from a place of deep anguish rather than theological precision. Yet, the book validates the authenticity of such raw human emotion before God, demonstrating that God is big enough to handle our most bitter complaints and doubts. This verse also implicitly touches upon the theme of God's control over chaos, but from Job's inverted perspective, where he feels God is treating him as chaos.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Job 7:12 offers profound lessons for those navigating the complexities of suffering and faith. Firstly, it provides immense validation for the human experience of feeling overwhelmed, misunderstood, and even unjustly treated by God during times of intense pain. Job's raw, unfiltered questions demonstrate that it is permissible, even vital, to bring our deepest frustrations, doubts, and complaints directly to God. God is not intimidated by our honest anguish; rather, He invites us into a relationship where such transparency is possible. This verse reminds us that faith is not the absence of doubt or questioning, but the willingness to voice those questions within the context of relationship with God. Secondly, it challenges us to examine our own perceptions of God when we are in distress. Job's view of God as an oppressive guard was a product of his agony, not an accurate reflection of God's character. While God is indeed omniscient and omnipresent, His watchfulness is ultimately for our good, even when we cannot comprehend it. This encourages us to hold onto the truth of God's loving and just character, even when our circumstances obscure it, trusting that His ultimate purposes are redemptive, even if painful in the moment.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Why does Job compare himself to a "sea" or "whale" (sea monster) in this verse?
Answer: Job's comparison is a rhetorical device used to express his profound bewilderment and sense of injustice. In ancient Near Eastern cultures, the "sea" and "sea monsters" (like the Hebrew tannîyn, often translated as "whale" or "dragon") symbolized primordial chaos, untamed forces, or rebellious entities that required divine power to subdue and control. By asking, "Am I a sea, or a whale, that thou settest a watch over me?", Job is essentially saying, "Am I such a dangerous, chaotic, or rebellious cosmic threat that you, the Almighty God, need to expend so much energy and vigilance to constantly guard and control me?" He feels that God is treating him as if he were a powerful, destructive force, which he clearly is not, given his human frailty and suffering. It highlights the perceived disproportion between his insignificance and God's intense scrutiny, born from his deep anguish.
Is it acceptable to question God or express anger towards Him, as Job does in this verse?
Answer: The book of Job, and specifically verses like Job 7:12, powerfully affirm that it is indeed acceptable to question God and express raw emotions, including anger, frustration, and doubt, in prayer. Job's laments are not condemned by God; rather, God ultimately vindicates Job's honest, albeit painful, wrestling over his friends' simplistic theology (Job 42:7-8). The Psalms also contain numerous examples of lament where the psalmist cries out to God in anguish, questioning His actions or perceived absence (Psalm 13:1-2). This demonstrates that God is big enough to handle our most profound and even audacious questions, inviting us into an authentic relationship where we can bring our whole selves, including our pain and confusion, before Him.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Job's agonizing cry in Job 7:12, where he feels God is watching him as if he were a chaotic sea monster, finds its profound Christ-centered fulfillment not in God's oppressive scrutiny, but in His compassionate and redemptive watchfulness over humanity through Jesus. While Job perceived God's gaze as a burden, the New Testament reveals God's ultimate "watch" to be one of loving intervention and salvation. The divine Son, Jesus Christ, did not come to subdue humanity as a chaotic force, but to bear its chaos and sin upon Himself. He is the one who truly has power over the sea and its storms, calming them with a word (Mark 4:39), demonstrating His ultimate authority over the very forces Job compared himself to. Furthermore, Jesus Himself experienced the ultimate "watch" of God's wrath against sin on the cross, crying out in abandonment (Matthew 27:46). Yet, through His suffering, He transformed God's watchfulness from a perceived judgment into a promise of eternal security for those who believe (John 10:28). Thus, Job's lament, born of a distorted view of God under suffering, ultimately points to Christ, who reveals God's true watchfulness as one of grace, mercy, and vigilant love, securing His people from all chaos and evil.