Job 7:17-20

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Job 7:17-21

Job here reasons with God, I. Concerning his dealings with man in general (Job 7:17, 18): What is man, that thou shouldst magnify him? This may be looked upon either, 1. As a passionate reflection upon the proceedings of divine justice; as if the great God did diminish and disparage himself in contending with man. ?Great men think it below them to take cognizance of those who are much their inferiors so far as to reprove and correct their follies and indecencies; why then does God magnify man,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 7:17

What is man, that thou shouldest magnify him ?.... Man in his best estate, in his original state, was but of the earth, earthly; a mutable creature, and altogether vanity; so that it was wonderful God should magnify him as be did, raise him to such honour and dignity, as to set him over all the works of his hands, and bestow peculiar marks of his favour upon him in Eden's garden; but man in his low and fallen estate, being, as the word here used is generally observed to signify, a frail,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 7:18

And that thou shouldest visit him every morning ,.... That is, "daily", continually, as Aben Ezra interprets it; either in a way of love, grace, and mercy; so God has visited men, by raising up and sending his Son to be a Redeemer of them; the Son of God has visited them, as the dayspring from on high, by his incarnation and appearance in this world; see Luke 1:68 ; and the Lord visits them, by calling them by his grace, see Acts 15:14 ; by communing and conversing with them in a free... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 7:19

How long wilt thou not depart from me ,.... From wrestling and contending with him, and afflicting of him; the Lord was too hard a combatant for job, and therefore he chose to be rid of him, and was impatient of it; or "look off from me" F21 תשעה ממני "respicis a me?" Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius, Schmidt, Michaelis; "avertis oculum a me?" Schultens. ; so Mr. Broughton renders it, "how long wilt thou not look from me?" this is to be understood not of a look of love,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 7:20

I have sinned ,.... Some render it, "if I have sinned" F23 Vatablus, Drusius, Schmidt; so Sept. Syr. & Ar. ; be it so that I have, as my friends say, yet since there is forgiveness with thee, why should I be so afflicted as I am? but there is no need of such a supplement, the words are an affirmation, I have sinned, or I am a sinner; not that he owned that he had been guilty of any notorious sin, or had lived a sinful course of life, on account of which his afflictions came upon... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 7:17

What is man that thou shouldest magnify him? and that thou shouldest set thine heart upon him? - Two different ideas have been drawn from these words: - Man is not worth thy notice; why therefore dost thou contend with him? How astonishing is thy kindness that thou shouldest fix thy heart - thy strongest affections, on such a poor, base, vile, impotent creature as man, ( אנוש enosh ), that thou shouldest so highly exalt him beyond all other creatures, and mark him with the most... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 7:19

Till I swallow down my spittle? - This is a proverbial expression, and exists among the Arabs to the present day; the very language being nearly the same. It signifies the same as, Let me draw my breath; give me a moment's space; let me have even the twinkling of an eye. I am urged by my sufferings to continue my complaint; but my strength is exhausted, my mouth dry with speaking. Suspend my sufferings even for so short a space as is necessary to swallow my spittle, that my parched tongue... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 7:20

I have sinned; what shall I do - Dr. Kennicott contends that these words are spoken to Eliphaz, and not to God, and would paraphrase them thus: "You say I must have been a sinner. What then? I have not sinned against thee, O thou spy upon mankind! Why hast thou set up me as a butt or mark to shoot at? Why am I become a burden unto thee? Why not rather overlook my transgression, and pass by mine iniquity? I am now sinking to the dust! To-morrow, perhaps, I shall be sought in vain!" See his... 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 7:17

What is man, that thou shouldest magnify him? or, make so much of him—regard him as of such great importance (comp. Psalms 8:4 ). It seems, at first sight, an exalted idea of God to regard him as too lofty, too great, to be really concerned about so mean a creature, so poor a being, as man. Hence, among the Greeks, the Epicureans maintained that God paid no attention at all to this world, or to anything that happened in it, but dwelt secure and tranquil in the empyrean, with nothing to... read more

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