Job 7:12

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 7:12

Am I a sea, or a whale ,.... Like the restless sea, to which very wicked, profligate, and abandoned sinners are compared, that are continually casting up the mire and dirt of sin and wickedness; am I such an one? or like the raging sea, its proud waters and foaming waves, to which fierce and furious persecutors and tyrannical oppressors are compared; did I behave in such a manner to the poor and distressed in the time of prosperity? nay, was I not the reverse of all this, kind and gentle... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 7:12

Am I a sea, or a whale - " Am I condemned as the Egyptians were who were drowned in the Red Sea? or am I as Pharaoh, who was drowned in it in his sins, that thou settest a keeper over me?" Targum. Am I as dangerous as the sea, that I should be encompassed about with barriers, lest I should hurt mankind? Am I like an ungovernable wild beast or dragon, that I must be put under locks and bars? I think our own version less exceptionable than any other hitherto given of this verse. The meaning is... 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 7:12

Job now begins his complaint, which is wholly addressed to God. The heads of it are: (5) that he is made a butt for God's arrows (verse 20); and Am I a sea, or a whale? rather, Am I a sea, or a sea-monster ? Am I as wild and uncontrollable as the ocean, as fierce and savage as a crocodile or other monster of the deep? Do I not possess reason and conscience, by which I might be directed and guided? Why, then, am I treated as if I were without them? The sea must be watched, lest it... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 7:12

Am I a sea? - That is, “am I like a raging and tumultuous sea, that it is necessary to restrain and confine me? The sense of the verse is, that God had treated him as if he were untamable and turbulent, as if he were like the restless ocean, or as if he were some monster, which could be restrained within proper limits only by the stern exercise of power. Dr. Good, following Reiske, renders this, “a savage beast,” understanding by the Hebrew word ים yâm a sea-monster instead of the sea itself,... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Job 7:12

Job 7:12. Am I a sea Am I as fierce and unruly as the sea, which, if thou didst not set bounds to it, would overwhelm the earth? Or a whale? Am I a vast and ungovernable sea-monster? that thou settest a watch over me? That thou must restrain me by thy powerful providence; must shut me up and confine me under such heavy, unexampled, and insupportable sufferings, as these creatures are confined by the shore? “To set a watch over a whale,” says Dr. Dodd, “is certainly a very improper... read more

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