Job 7 is the seventh chapter of the Book of Job in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible.[1] The book is anonymous; most scholars believe it was written around 6th century BCE. The "dialogue" section of the book, comprises –31:40. This chapter records one of the speeches of Job, the central character in the book.
The original text is written in Hebrew language. This chapter is divided into 21 verses. Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text, which includes the Aleppo Codex (10th century), and Codex Leningradensis (1008).
There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BC; some extant ancient manuscripts of this version include Codex Vaticanus (B;
ak{G}
ak{G}
ak{G}
The structure of the book is as follows:
Within the structure, chapter 7 is grouped into the Dialogue section with the following outline:
The Dialogue section is composed in the format of poetry with distinctive syntax and grammar. Chapters 6 and 7 record Job's response after the first speech of Eliphaz (in chapters 4 and 5), which can be divided into two main sections:
The pattern of first speaking to the friends and then turning to God is typical of Job throughout the dialogue.
Chapter 7 is 'a balanced poem' comprising 3 parts, each bracketed by an opening statement about human condition and a closing cry to God:
| Part# | Verses | Opening | Closing | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1–8 | 1–2 | 7–8 | |
| 2 | 9–16 | 9–10 | 15–16 | |
| 3 | 17–21 | 17–18 | 21 |
The change of the focus of Job's speech is made explicit in verses 7–8, so the "you" in verses 12, 14, 16 and 21 is clearly referring to YHWH.
In this part, Job speaks of human misery and hardship in human existence. Job mentions the brevity of life (the focus later, in chapter 14) and the lack of hope (verse 6) before addressing God directly (verse 7) calling God to act toward him ("remember") according to God's prior commitments to "the afflicted" (cf. Genesis 8:1; Exodus 2:24). In rejecting Eliphaz's optimistic view that hope remains for him (cf. Job 6:20), Job utilizes a pun on the Hebrew words for "hope" and "thread" (tiqwah) as he thinks of himself as fragile and precarious as the useless 'small ends of the thread that are snapped off a loom after the weaving is completed' (cf. Joshua 2:18. 21).
[Job said:] "Remember that my life is a breath;
my eye will never again see good."[2]
Job's second axiom of human life focuses on 'the ephemeral nature of human beings'. In weighing up death and life (verses 15–16) Job does not embrace 'death as something positive', but he only dismisses the 'possibility of living forever'.
[Job said:] "Am I the sea, or a sea monster,
that You set a guard over me?"[6]
The third part contains a barrage of questions: "why?" (verses 17-18) and then "how long?" (verse 19), which are the characteristics of laments. Job does not deny that he sins (verse 20–21) but he cannot understand why he has not been forgiven after showing penitence and making necessary sacrifices (cf. Job 1:13). At the end, there is a tension between Job desiring God's presence and God's absence in his life.
[Job said:] "And why do You not pardon my transgression
and take away my iniquity?
For now I will lie down in the dust;
and You will seek me diligently, but I will not be."[9]
The last word of Job's speech (7:21; ’ê-nen-nî, "I [will] no longer [be]") shares the same root as the last word in Bildad's speech in the following chapter with different pronominal suffix (8:22; ’ê-nen-nū, "will come to nothing").
. Michael D. Coogan . The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books: New Revised Standard Version, Issue 48 . Coogan . Michael David . Marc Zvi . Brettler . Carol Ann . Newsom . Pheme . Perkins . Augmented 3rd . Oxford University Press . 2007 . 9780195288810 .
. Henry Hampton Halley. Halley's Bible Handbook: an abbreviated Bible commentary . 24th (revised). Zondervan Publishing House . 1965 . 0-310-25720-4.