Job 7:1-3
“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, so I am allotted months of emptiness, and nights of misery are apportioned to me.
English Standard Version (ESV)
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Job isn't just complaining about a hard life; he's framing it as an appointed service or warfare, like a hired hand whose time is limited and work is tough. This isn't a grievance against labor itself, but a pointed question: if life is a set period of toil, why is this particular service so agonizing, and when will the contract end?
Job, overwhelmed by suffering and misunderstood by his friends, begins to express the profound weariness of his existence. He argues that his desire for death is natural, likening human life to the hard, time-bound service of a hired worker, implying that release from such labor is understandable and even desirable. This sets the stage for his desperate plea to God for an end to his torment.
Job opens his lament with a question that feels almost rhetorical, yet carries the weight of his suffering. Is life not a struggle, a difficult taskmaster?
Job uses the imagery of "hard service" (or "warfare") to describe human existence on earth. This isn't just a gentle stroll through life; it's a demanding campaign.
The Soldier's Life
Scholars note that the original Hebrew can be translated as "warfare." Think of a soldier enlisted for a specific period, facing battles, enduring hardship, and longing for the end of their term. Job sees his life, and indeed all human life, as being under such an assignment.
The Hireling's Toil
The second part of the verse compares human days to those of a "hired hand." A hired hand works for a set wage over a limited time. Their days are marked by labor, often with an anxious eye on the clock, anticipating the release from their task and the reward for their effort. Job feels this same weariness and anticipation.
Beyond the struggle, Job highlights a crucial element: time. Our days are not endless; they are measured and, in a sense, assigned.
The phrase "appointed time" speaks to the finite nature of human life. It's a concept echoed throughout Scripture.
God's Sovereign Hand
While Job feels the weight of his suffering, the underlying idea is that there's a divine ordering to human existence. Our time on earth is not random; it's overseen by God. This "appointed time" is the period God has set for each person's life on earth.
A Cause for Complaint?
For Job, understanding that his days are numbered and difficult makes his desire for release seem reasonable. He's not asking for an escape from God's will, but rather expressing the natural human longing for an end to suffering when life feels like an unbearable contract nearing its end.
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 speaks of a 'hard service' that has been accomplished, drawing a parallel to Job's understanding of human life as a difficult period of service or warfare.
Galatians 6:11Paul describes enduring hardships and troubles, echoing Job's sentiment that life on earth is a difficult service, much like that of a hired laborer who faces toil and awaits their pay.
1 Corinthians 4:12This verse speaks of working with one's own hands and facing insults, reflecting the difficult, often thankless, nature of human labor and service that Job alludes to when comparing man's days to those of a hired hand.
1 Timothy 5:18The concept of a laborer being worthy of their wages connects to Job's comparison of human days to those of a hired hand, implying an expectation of reward or completion for one's service.
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 isn't just complaining about a hard life; he's framing it as an appointed service or warfare, like a hired hand whose time is limited and work is tough. This isn't a grievance against labor itself, but a pointed question: if life is a set period of toil, why is this particular service so agonizing, and when will the contract end?
Job, overwhelmed by suffering and misunderstood by his friends, begins to express the profound weariness of his existence. He argues that his desire for death is natural, likening human life to the hard, time-bound service of a hired worker, implying that release from such labor is understandable and even desirable. This sets the stage for his desperate plea to God for an end to his torment.
Job, overwhelmed by suffering and misunderstood by his friends, begins to express the profound weariness of his existence. He argues that his desire for death is natural, likening human life to the hard, time-bound service of a hired worker, implying that release from such labor is understandable and even desirable. This sets the stage for his desperate plea to God for an end to his torment.
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shav · Hebrew Noun
Used poetically to describe time that lacks substance, purpose, or satisfaction, reflecting the futility of life apart from divine meaning.
amal · Hebrew Noun
Refers to labor, trouble, or painful effort; it signifies the experience of distress, sorrow, or annoyance that accompanies fallen human existence.
"“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, so I am allotted months of emptiness, a…" — Job isn't just complaining about a hard life; he's framing it as an appointed service or warfare, like a hired hand whose time is limited and work is tough. This isn't a grievance against labor i…
