Job 7 Study Notes

7:11 “Sorrow from an affliction is suffered in the depths of one’s being, and the tongue is the sole avenue for releasing that anguish” (John E. Hartley, The Book of Job, NICOT).

7:12 In Canaanite mythology the sea god (Yam) and the sea monster (Tannin) were defeated by Baal. The allusion in v. 12 compares Job to some primordial adversary on which God is keeping watch. Such mythological allusions appear in the OT about God’s victory over and control of the forces of nature in creation (9:13-14; 26:12-13), at the Red Sea (Ps 74:14-15), and the forces of evil at the end of history (Is 27:1).

7:13-15 Job was not even able to find peace in sleep.

7:16 Breath (Hb hevel) can also designate something worthless or futile (Ec 1:2).

7:17-19 Unlike the viewpoint of the psalmist (Ps 8:3-8), Job answered his own rhetorical question in despairing fashion to indicate God’s constant oppression of him.

7:20-21 If Job had sinned against God unintentionally (1:5), let the ever-watchful God tell him. Job used the title Watcher sarcastically.

The root of ’enosh in other Semitic languages involves weakness, sociableness, or manliness. ’Anash denotes become ill (2Sm 12:15), and the passive participle (8x) means incurable (Jr 30:12). ’Enosh appears mostly in poetry, signifying mankind (Dt 32:26) and human life (Is 33:8). It represents a generalized individual person (Is 56:2) and ordinary people (Jb 28:4), occurring with ’adam and geber, other words for man. ’Enosh and ’adam are in Ps 8:4 and in reverse order in Ps 144:3. ’Enosh implies human (Jb 10:4), mortal (Jb 4:17), or mere mortal (2Ch 14:11). It suggests a man’s pen and so, an ordinary pen (Is 8:1). God and ’enosh are often contrasted (Is 51:12). Man can be vicious (Ps 56:1), but ’enosh is used of friendship (Ps 55:13; Jr 20:10). It is humans in their ordinary needs (Ps 104:15) and connotes frailty (Is 13:7), sinfulness (Jb 25:4), travail (Jb 7:1), and mortality (Ps 103:15).