35 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO Job 7 In this chapter Job goes on to defend himself in an address to God; as that he had reason to complain of his extraordinary afflictions, and wish for death; by observing the common case of mankind, which he illustrates by that of an hireling, Job 7:1; and justifies his eager desire of death by the servant and hireling; the one...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
[Is there] not an appointed time to man upon earth?.... There is a set time for his coming into the world, for his continuance in it, and for his going out of it; this is to man "on earth", with respect to his being and abode here, not in the other world or future state: not in heaven; there is no certain limited time for man there, but an...
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary - Matthew Henry
Job, in this chapter, goes on to express the bitter sense he had of his calamities and to justify himself in his desire of death. I. He complains to himself and his friends of his troubles, and the constant agitation he was in, ver. 1-6. II. He turns to God, and expostulates with him (ver. 7, to the end), in which, 1. He pleads the final period...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Is there not an appointed time to man upon earth? are not his days also like the days of an hireling? Is there not a certain time for each one of us to live? Is there not an end to all the trouble and sorrow of this mortal state? “Woe is me,” says Job, ”will this sad condition of things never come to a close? Must it always be thus with me?”
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
As a servant earnestly desireth the shadow,.... Either the shadow of some great rock, tree, or hedge, or any shady place to shelter him from the heat of the sun in the middle of the day, which in those eastern countries is hot and scorching; and very burdensome and fatiguing it is for servants and labourers to work in fields and vineyards, or in...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
As a servant earnestly desireth the shadow, — When the day shall close, and he can go to his home, —
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
And as an hireling looketh for the reward of his work: So am I made to possess months of vanity, and wearisome nights are appointed to me. If that is the case with any of you, dear friends, you ought to be comforted by the thought that a better man than you are underwent just what you are enduring, and underwent it so as to glorify God by it....
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
So am I made to possess months of vanity,.... This is not a reddition or application of the above similes of the servant and hireling, Job 7:1; for that is to be understood, and to be supplied at the end of Job 7:2; that as those looked for the shadow and payment of hire, so Job looked for and earnestly desired death, or to be removed out of the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
When I lie down, I say, when shall I arise,.... Or, "then I say", c. (t) that is, as soon as he laid himself down in his bed, and endeavoured to compose himself to sleep, in order to get rest and refreshment; then he said within himself, or with an articulate voice, to those about him, that sat up with him; oh that it was time to rise; when will...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
When I lie down, I say, When shall I arise, and the night be gone? and I am full of tossings to and fro unto the dawning of the day. My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust; my skin is broken, and become loathsome. Such was the dreadful disease under which this man of God laboured, for the worst of pain may happen to the best of men....
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust,.... Not as it would be at death, and in the grave, as Schmidt interprets it, when it would be eaten with worms and reduced to dust; but as it then was, his ulcers breeding worms, or lice, as some (y); these spread themselves over his body: some think it was the vermicular or pedicular disease that...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle,.... Which moves very swiftly, being thrown quick and fast to and fro; some versions render it "a racer" (b) one that runs a race on foot, or rides on horseback, agreeably to Job 9:25; where, and in Job 7:7; to it, other similes are used, to set forth the swiftness and fleetness of man's days; as they...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, and are spent without hope. His spirits are sunk so low that he had not any hope at all left; — at least, there was none apparent just then. O you poor tried children of God, I beseech you once again to see that you are only walking where others have gone before you! Mark their footprints, and take...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
O remember that my life [is] wind,.... Or, "breath" (c); man's life is in his breath, and that breath is in his nostrils, and therefore not to be accounted of, or depended on; man appears by this to be a poor frail creature, whose life, with respect to himself, is very precarious and uncertain; it is but as a "vapour", an air bubble, full of wind,...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
O remember that my life is wind: mine eye shall no more see good. The eye of him that hath seen me shall see me no more: thine eyes are upon me, and I am not. As if God only looked at him, and the very look withered him; or as if there was only time for God just to look at him, and then he disappeared as though, he had been but a dream, an...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
The eye of him that hath seen me shall see me no [more],.... Or "the eye of sight" (e); the seeing eye, the most acute and quick sighted eye; so Mr. Broughton renders it, "the quick eye" (f): this is to be understood as "after" (g) death, that then the sharpest eye should not see him, he would be out of the reach of it; which must be taken with a...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
[As] the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away,.... Which being dispersed by the wind, or broke up by the sun, is never seen, or returns more; for though the wise man speaks of clouds returning after the rain, this is not to be understood of the same clouds, but of succeeding ones, Ecclesiastes 12:2; so pardon of sin is expressed by the same...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away: so he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more. He shall return no more to his house, neither shall his place know him any more. Therefore I will not refrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul. Am I a sea, or a whale, that thou...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
He shall return no more to his house,.... In a literal sense, built or hired by him, or however in which he dwelt; and if a good man, he will have no desire to return to that any more, having a better house, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens; or in a figurative sense, either his body, the earthly house of his tabernacle, an...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Therefore I will not refrain my mouth,.... From speaking and complaining; seeing, besides the common lot of mankind, which is a state of warfare, sorrow, and trouble, and is as much as a man can well grapple with, extraordinary afflictions are laid upon me, which make life insupportable; and seeing I enjoy no good in this present life, and am...