Job 7:15-16

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Job 7:7-16

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... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 7:15

So that my soul chooseth strangling ,.... Not to strangle himself, as Ahithophel did, or to be strangled by others, this being a kind of death inflicted on capital offenders; but rather, as Mr. Broughton renders it, "to be choked to death" by any distemper and disease, as some are of a suffocating nature, as a catarrh, quinsy, &c.; and kill in that way; and indeed death in whatsoever way is the stopping of a man's breath; and it was death that Job chose, let it be in what way it would,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 7:16

I loathe it ,.... Or "them" F11 "Aspernor vitam", Piscator; so Jarchi & Ben Gersom. , either his life, which was a weariness to him, or his bones, which were so painful and nauseous; or rather, "I am become loathsome", to himself, to his servants, and to his friends, and even his breath was strange to his wife; or "being ulcerated, I pine and waste away" F12 מאסתי "tabui", Cocceius; "ulceratus tabesco", Schultens. , and must in course be quickly gone: I would not live... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 7:15

Chooseth strangling - It is very likely that he felt, in those interrupted and dismal slumbers, an oppression and difficulty of breathing something like the incubus or nightmare; and, distressing as this was, he would prefer death by this means to any longer life in such miseries. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 7:16

I loathe it; I would not live alway - Life, in such circumstances, is hateful to me; and though I wish for long life, yet if length of days were offered to me with the sufferings which I now undergo, I would despise the offer and spurn the boon. Mr. Good is not satisfied with our common version, and has adopted the following, which in his notes he endeavors to illustrate and defend: Job 7:15 ; So that my soul coveteth suffocation, And death in comparison with my suffering. Job 7:16... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 7:1-21

In this chapter Job first bewails his miserable fate, of which he expects no alleviation (verses 1-10); then claims an unlimited right of complaint (verse 11); and finally enters into direct expostulation with God—an expostulation which continues from verse 12 to the end of the chapter. At the close, he admits his sinfulness (verse 20), but asks impatiently why God does not pardon it instead of visiting it with such extreme vengeance (verse 21). read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 7:11-16

Job to God: 2. The opening of the third controversy. I. A DANGEROUS RESOLUTION . 1 . The purport of it. To complain, not merely to repine against the misery of his lot, but to express his sense of Jehovah's cruelty in first afflicting him and then vouchsafing him no response to his solemn and pathetic appeal. If murmurings against one's outward estate are sometimes natural and even excusable, they are always perilous, even where not actually sinful. Those who begin by finding... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 7:11-16

Fresh recourse to the relief of words. The prayer seems, in this dark state of despondency, in vain; and Job's despair overflows all bounds and pours itself forth in a dark stream of thoughts and words. I. SUFFERINGS MISUNDERSTOOD . One might suppose, he argues, from these intense oppressions, that he was some dangerous creature, who could not be chained down too closely nor be watched too narrowly (verse 12)—one to whom not a moment's rest must be given, that he may not in his... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 7:11-16

The cry of despair. Job is in the depth of his suffering. His heart is sore broken. He bursts forth with his loud complaint, which he can no longer restrain. His spirit seeks relief in its cry. Every cry is supposed to give relief. But the bitter cry of despair, coming up from the depths of excruciating sorrow, often marks the turning-point in the history of suffering. Its vanity and uselessness being made apparent, the soul returns to a calmer and more collected state. I. THE CRY ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 7:15

So that my soul chooseth strangling ; i.e. "so that I would prefer strangling to such horrid dreams," which are worse than any physical sufferings. Some see here a reference to suicide: but this is s very forced explanation. Suicide, as already observed, seems never even to have occurred to the thoughts of Job (see the comment on Job 6:8 ). And death rather than my life ; literally, rather than my bones. Death, that is, would be preferable to such a life as he leads, which is that of... read more

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