Job 7
Job: “I’d rather choke to death”
Life is endless work
1Hard labor. That’s our life on earth.We’re no different than a field slave.
2We work hard, waiting impatiently for sundown,
Like hired hands waiting for their pay. [1]
3I’ve lived like that for months now,
Waiting futilely for some relief.
What I get are days of emptiness,
And lingering nights of misery.
4I don’t rest in bed.
I think about work
And getting up in the morning.
I toss and turn till dawn.
5My skin lies riddled in scabs.
My flesh grows stiff
And breaks into pockets of oozing pus.
Here today, gone tomorrow
6My life speeds by in a blur,Like flying hands on a weaver’s shuttle.
7My life is just a short bag of breath.
My best days are gone forever.
8You can see me now,
But you won’t see me soon.
You’ll look and I’ll be gone.
9I’m like a cloud,
Here one day and gone the next.
They’ll drop me in the grave [2]
And I'll be gone for good.
10I won’t go home again.
Soon, my family will forget me.
Job unloads on God
11So I’m going to talk while I can.And here’s what I’ll say:
I’ve had all I can take.
And I’m sick to my soul.
12Are you confused?
Do you think I’m a god,
One of the monster gods of the sea? [3]
Why do you treat me like I’m a threat?
13I tell myself that sleep will help
And with rest I’ll feel better.
14But you frighten me with dreams
And visions in the night.
15I would rather choke to death
Than live like this any longer.
16I’ve had it with this life.
I can’t get out of here fast enough.
So leave me in peace
For the short time I have left.
17What are humans to you anyhow?
Why are you so obsessed with them?
18You’re there every morning
And you’re putting us to the test every day.
”Give me a break”
19How about you look somewhere else for a change?Give me one doggone moment of peace,
Long enough to swallow my spit. [4]
20Tell me this, you People Watcher.
What’s my sin? How’d I hurt you?
Why did you turn me into a bullseye?
What did I ever do to you?
21And if I sinned, why didn’t you forgive me?
I’ll be dead in the dirt soon. [5]
If you look for me then,
I won’t be there.
Footnotes
In Bible times, it was typical to pay “day laborers” every day.
Literally Sheol, a Hebrew word for the place of the dead. Greeks later translated the word as “Hades.”
The Hebrew words yam (Sea) and tannin (Tannin) refer to a pair of ancient Middle Eastern sea gods that, in ancient mythological stories, were defeated by higher gods. It seems Job is saying, “God, why are you doing all this to me? Do I look like a threat to you? Am I going to knock you off your heavenly throne, behead you, and take your crown?”
The tone in text of what Job says here reads like a reversal of what he initially said in Job 1:21. Anyone looking for permission to tell God off in a bitterly angry tone can turn to the book of Job. He was not always “patient as Job,” as the saying goes. Not with his friends. Not with God. At one time or another he blamed them all and didn’t seem to like any of them. He would eventually come through all the grief. But he would have to fight his way through a gauntlet to get there. Perhaps if there’s an application for folks today it might be this: If you have to unload criticism on God’s back, he can take it.
Job presents himself as an old man who looks and probably feels like he’s about to die. So he can’t seem to understand why God would bother with him even if Job had committed some sin. After all, what punishment is worse than the death that Job seems to believe is already coming soon?
Discussion Questions
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