Job 7:3

7:1-6 Job here excuses what he could not justify, his desire of death. Observe man's present place: he is upon earth. He is yet on earth, not in hell. Is there not a time appointed for his abode here? yes, certainly, and the appointment is made by Him who made us and sent us here. During that, man's life is a warfare, and as day-labourers, who have the work of the day to do in its day, and must make up their account at night. Job had as much reason, he thought, to wish for death, as a poor servant that is tired with his work, has to wish for the shadows of the evening, when he shall go to rest. The sleep of the labouring man is sweet; nor can any rich man take so much satisfaction in his wealth, as the hireling in his day's wages. The comparison is plain; hear his complaint: His days were useless, and had long been so; but when we are not able to work for God, if we sit still quietly for him, we shall be accepted. His nights were restless. Whatever is grievous, it is good to see it appointed for us, and as designed for some holy end. When we have comfortable nights, we must see them also appointed to us, and be thankful for them. His body was noisome. See what vile bodies we have. His life was hastening apace. While we are living, every day, like the shuttle, leaves a thread behind: many weave the spider's web, which will fail, ch. 8:14.

This is not a reddition or application of the above similes of the servant and hireling, Job 7:1 ; for that is to be understood, and to be supplied at the end of Job 7:2 ; that as those looked for the shadow and payment of hire, so Job looked for and earnestly desired death, or to be removed out of the world; besides, the things here instanced in do not answer; for Job, instead of having the refreshing shadow, had months of vanity, and instead of rest from his labours had nothing but wearisome nights, and continual tossings to and fro; whereas the sleep of a labouring man is sweet to him; and having laboured hard all day, the night is a time of rest to him; but so it was not with Job; wherefore this "so" refers to the common state and condition of mankind, in which Job was, with an addition of extraordinary afflictions upon him: the time of his afflictions, though but short, seemed long, and therefore is expressed by months; and some months might have passed from the time his calamities began to the present; since it must be some time before his friends heard of them, and more still before they could meet together and agree upon their coming, and were actually come to him; as also some time was spent in silence, and now in conversation with him; the Jews (p) make them to be twelve months: and these months were "months of vanity", or "empty" (q) ones; such as winter months, empty of all joy, and peace, and comfort; times in which he had no pleasure, no ease of body or of mind;

Job 7:3 . So am I made to possess, &c. — This word, so, respects not so much the desire of a hired servant, as the cause of it, his hard toil and service. He means, God hath allotted me these painful sufferings, as he hath allotted to a hired servant hard labour. Months of vanity — Months empty and unsatisfying, or false and deceitful, not affording me the ease and rest which they promised me, and I expected. He terms them months, rather than days, to signify the tediousness of his affliction. And wearisome nights — He mentions nights, because that is the saddest time for sick and miserable persons; the darkness and solitude of the night being of themselves uncomfortable, and giving them more opportunity for solemn and sorrowful reflections.

3 . made to possess ] lit. made to inherit . They are laid on him by the will of another. Job narrows his view here from the lot of men in general to his own. He is one of an afflicted race, but the universal misery does not alleviate his own, it rather increases it. That loss is common would not make My own less bitter, rather more; Too common! Never morning wore To evening, but some heart did break. A sorrowing Arab poet gives expression to a different feeling: Did not a common sorrow console me I would not live an hour among men, But whenever I will, they in like condition with myself respond to me. Hamasa , p. 389, 396. The point of comparison between Job’s life and the day of the hireling lies in their common toil and their common longing for the end of it. Job describes his day as “months of vanity” and “nights of trouble,” indicating that his disease had already endured a long time. He refers to “nights” perhaps because his pains were severest then (cf. Job 7:4; Job 7:14 , ch. Job 30:17 ); although in the East the method also of counting by nights instead of days was common.

Verse 3. - So am I made to possess months of vanity . "Months of vanity" are "months of which he can make no use " - "months which are no good to him." It has been concluded from this theft some considerable time had elapsed since Job was stricken by his disease. But he is perhaps looking to the future as much as to the past, anticipating a long, lingering illness. Elephantiasis is a disease which often lasts for years . And wearisome nights are appointed to me . To one stretched on a bed of sickness, the night is always more wearisome than the day. It has no changes, nothing to mark its flight. It seems almost interminable. In elephantiasis, however, it is a special feature of the disease that the sufferings of the patient are greatest at night. "In elephantiasis ansesthetica " says Dr. Erasmus Wilson, "a sense of dulness and heat pervades the surface, and there are sensations of tingling and prickling, and of burning heat. While the integument is insensible, there are deep-seated burning pains, sometimes of a bone or joint, sometimes of the vertebral column. These pains are greatest at night ; they prevent sleep , and give rise to restlessness and frightful dreams" (Quain's 'Dictionary of Medicine,' vol. 1. p. 817). Job 7:3

3.—Months of comfortless misfortune. I am made to possess—literally, "to be heir to." Irony. "To be heir to," is usually a matter of joy; but here it is the entail of an involuntary and dismal inheritance. Months—for days, to express its long duration. Appointed—literally, "they have numbered to me"; marking well the unavoidable doom assigned to him.

This so respects not so much the desire and expectation of a hired servant, which is expressed Job 7:2 , as the ground and reason of it, which is plainly implied there, to wit, his hard toil and service, which makes him thirst after rest. I am made to possess; God, by his sovereign power and providence, hath given me this as my lot and inheritance. Months ; so he calls them rather than days, to note either the irksomeness and tediousness of his affliction, whereby every day seemed a month to him; or their length and continuance, which, as some infer from hence, had now been upon him some months. Of vanity; empty and unsatisfying, or false and deceitful, not giving me that ease and rest which they promised me, and I expected. Wearisome nights: he mentions nights, because that is the saddest time for sick and miserable persons; the darkness and solitude of the night being of themselves uncomfortable, and giving them more opportunity for solemn and sorrowful thoughts and reflections upon their own miseries.

So am I made to possess - Hebrew I am made to inherit. The meaning is, that such sad and melancholy seasons now were his only portion. Months of vanity - That is, months which were destitute of comfort; in other words, months of affliction. How long his trials had continued before this, we have no means of ascertaining. There is no reason, however, to suppose that his bodily sufferings came upon him all at once, or that they had not continued for a considerable period. It is quite probable that his expressions of impatience were the result not only of the intensity, but the continuance of his sorrows. And wearisome nights are appointed to me - Even his rest was disturbed. The time when care is usually forgotten and toil ceases, was to him a period of sleepless anxiety and distress - עמל ‛âmâl. The Septuagint renders it, nights of pangs (νύκτες ὀδυνῶν nuktes odunōn), expressing accurately the sense of the Hebrew. The Hebrew word עמל ‛âmâl is commonly applied to intense sorrow, to trouble and pain of the severest kind, such as the pains of parturition; see the notes at Isaiah 53:11.