“Has not man a hard service on earth, and are not his days like the days of a hired hand? Like a slave who longs for the shadow, and like a hired hand who looks for his wages,
English Standard Version (ESV)
Job's complaint isn't just about life being hard, but that it feels like a fixed, assigned duty, much like a hired hand who knows their time is limited and aims only to get through the job. He's not just suffering; he feels like he's in a service with an endpoint, and the difficulty is that he longs for that endpoint to arrive sooner.
“Has not man a hard service on earth, and are not his days like the days of a hired hand? Like a slave who longs for the shadow, and like a hired hand who looks for his wages,
English Standard Version (ESV)
Job, suffering immensely and seemingly abandoned by God, begins to speak directly to his friends after their lengthy speeches. He's weary and desperate, feeling like his life is a constant, hard struggle, not unlike a hired laborer just waiting for their shift to end. He questions the very nature of human existence, seeing it as a difficult service with a predetermined end.
Job opens with a question that feels raw and real: is life just a tough job? He compares human existence to something arduous and short. What does this perspective tell us about his suffering?
Job uses the imagery of 'hard service' and 'hired hand' to describe human life. The original language for 'hard service' can also mean 'warfare' or 'campaign.'
A Difficult Campaign
The Hired Hand's Hope
Job's complaint isn't just about the difficulty of life, but its duration. He hints at a predetermined span for human existence, which fuels his desire for an end to his suffering.
The phrase 'appointed time' or 'warfare' points to a divinely set period for human activity and suffering on earth.
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Life's Fixed Term
Job's Longing for Completion
Understand the original words
enosh · Hebrew Noun
A general term for humanity, emphasizing their frailty, mortal nature, and dependence upon God, often contrasted with God's transcendence.
tsaba · Hebrew Noun
Refers to military service, forced labor, or burdensome, arduous work; used metaphorically to describe the toilsome and often painful experience of human life.
sakir · Hebrew Noun
One who serves another for pay, highlighting a life governed by the requirements, control, and timelines of another rather than one's own desires.
ebed · Hebrew Noun
A person owned by another, signifying total loss of personal autonomy, subjection to the will of another, and often implying a condition of harsh struggle.
This passage directly parallels Job's sentiment, asking if a human life isn't short and full of trouble, echoing the 'hired hand' comparison.
Psalm 90:10This Psalm speaks of the brevity of human life, listing 'seventy years, or eighty if one is especially strong,' reinforcing the idea that human days are limited and fleeting, like a hired hand's term.
Matthew 6:34Jesus speaks about not worrying about tomorrow, implying that each day has enough trouble of its own, which resonates with Job's feeling of a constant, burdensome service.
1 Corinthians 10:13This verse promises that God will not let us be tempted beyond what we can bear, offering a contrast to Job's feeling of an unbearable 'hard service' and implying that even a difficult life has a purpose and limit set by God.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8This passage lists 'a time for everything,' suggesting an appointed time for all of life's experiences, including hardship and rest, which connects to Job's contemplation of life's structured, albeit difficult, periods.
jfbJob 7:1: "Is there not an appointed time to man upon earth? are not his days also like the days of an hireling?"
CHAPTER 7Job 7:1-21. Job Excuses His Desire for Death.1. appointed time—better, "a warfare," hard conflict with evil (so in Isa 40:2; Da 10:1). Translate it "appointed time" (Job 14:14). Job reverts to the sad picture of man, however great, which he had drawn (Job 3:14), and details in this chapter the miseries which his friends will see, if, according to his request (Job 6:28), they…
pulpitJob 7:1: "Is there not an appointed time to man upon earth? are not his days also like the days of an hireling?"
Verses 1-21. - In this chapter Job first bewails his miserable fate, of which he expects no alleviation (vers. 1-10); then claims an unlimited right of complaint (ver. 11); and finally enters into direct expostulation with God - an expostulation which continues from ver. 12 to the end of the chapter. At the close, he admits his sinfulness (ver. 20), but asks impatiently why God does…
Job's complaint isn't just about life being hard, but that it feels like a fixed, assigned duty, much like a hired hand who knows their time is limited and aims only to get through the job. He's not just suffering; he feels like he's in a service with an endpoint, and the difficulty is that he longs for that endpoint to arrive sooner.
Job, suffering immensely and seemingly abandoned by God, begins to speak directly to his friends after their lengthy speeches. He's weary and desperate, feeling like his life is a constant, hard struggle, not unlike a hired laborer just waiting for their shift to end. He questions the very nature of human existence, seeing it as a difficult service with a predetermined end.
Job, suffering immensely and seemingly abandoned by God, begins to speak directly to his friends after their lengthy speeches. He's weary and desperate, feeling like his life is a constant, hard struggle, not unlike a hired laborer just waiting for their shift to end. He questions the very nature of human existence, seeing it as a difficult service with a predetermined end.
"“Has not man a hard service on earth, and are not his days like the days of a hired hand? Like a slave who longs for the shadow, and like a hired hand who looks for his wages," — Job's complaint isn't just about life being hard, but that it feels like a fixed, assigned duty, much like a hired hand who knows their time is limited and aims only to get through the job. He's not…
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Last reviewed October 2026