Job 7:2-3
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 saying he's tired; he's tapping into a visceral, ancient longing for relief that every laborer understands. The "shadow" he craves isn't just shade, but the evening's arrival, marking the end of exhausting work and the promise of rest – a desire so deep, it mirrors the hired hand eagerly awaiting his wages.
Job is in the depths of his suffering, feeling utterly forsaken and tormented. He compares himself to a desperate slave longing for the cool evening shade after a long, brutal day of work, and to a paid laborer eagerly anticipating the end of his shift to receive his wages. This longing isn't for mere comfort, but for the release from his overwhelming pain and the conclusion of his earthly toil.
Imagine working under the scorching sun, every muscle aching, with no end in sight. What would you long for most?
Job uses two powerful images to express the depth of his suffering.
The Servant and the Evening Shadow
He compares himself to a slave who intensely desires the 'shadow.' This isn't just any shade; it's the evening shadow – the sign that the day's brutal labor is over. In the intense heat of the ancient Near East, the end of the workday, marked by the lengthening shadows, brought the promise of rest, relief, and freedom from toil. Job is saying his suffering is so overwhelming that he yearns for the end of his 'workday' – his life.
What fuels a worker to keep going through hardship? Often, it's the promise of what's due at the end.
Job's second image is the hired hand looking for his wages. This worker isn't just waiting for the day to end; they are anticipating the payment that signifies the completion and value of their labor.
The Hireling's Expected Reward
This points to a desire not just for an end to suffering, but for a resolution, a 'reward' that acknowledges the toil. For Job, this seems to carry a spiritual weight. He has lived faithfully, and he anticipates that his life's 'work' and endurance will be met with some form of recompense. This suggests Job is looking beyond the present agony to a future where his faithfulness is acknowledged.
Understand the original words
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.
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.
This Psalm speaks of God's creation and provision, including how 'night comes on, when all the beasts of the forest creep out' and how humans 'go to their work and to their labor until the evening,' highlighting the natural longing for the end of the workday and the rest that comes with it.
Matthew 20:8This parable of the laborers in the vineyard illustrates the employer paying wages at the end of the day, directly paralleling the 'hired hand who looks for his wages' in Job, emphasizing the expectation of a just reward for labor.
Ecclesiastes 2:10-11Solomon reflects on his endeavors, noting that 'whatever my eyes demanded I did not withhold from them,' and that 'when I considered all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.' This resonates with Job's weariness and questioning of the ultimate benefit of his hard life, despite his faithful service.
Hebrews 11:35This passage mentions those who 'chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasure of sin,' implying they looked beyond immediate suffering for a future, eternal reward, much like Job seems to be yearning for rest and resolution.
jfbJob 7:2: "As a servant earnestly desireth the shadow, and as an hireling looketh for the reward of his work:"
- earnestly desireth—Hebrew, "pants for the [evening] shadow." Easterners measure time by the length of their shadow. If the servant longs for the evening when his wages are paid, why may not Job long for the close of his hard service, when he shall enter on his "reward?" This proves that Job did not, as many maintain, regard the grave as a mere sleep.
pulpitJob 7:2: "As a servant earnestly desireth the shadow, and as an hireling looketh for the reward of his work:"
Verse 2. - As a servant (or, a slave) panteth for the shadow; i.e. longs for the shades of evening to descend and bring the day to a close. The slavery of Job's time was probably not unlike that of captive races in Egypt, so graphically portrayed in the early chapters of Exodus. The captive, working from morning to night at exhausting labour, would long intensely for the night to arrive…
Job isn't just saying he's tired; he's tapping into a visceral, ancient longing for relief that every laborer understands. The "shadow" he craves isn't just shade, but the evening's arrival, marking the end of exhausting work and the promise of rest – a desire so deep, it mirrors the hired hand eagerly awaiting his wages.
Job is in the depths of his suffering, feeling utterly forsaken and tormented. He compares himself to a desperate slave longing for the cool evening shade after a long, brutal day of work, and to a paid laborer eagerly anticipating the end of his shift to receive his wages. This longing isn't for mere comfort, but for the release from his overwhelming pain and the conclusion of his earthly toil.
Job is in the depths of his suffering, feeling utterly forsaken and tormented. He compares himself to a desperate slave longing for the cool evening shade after a long, brutal day of work, and to a paid laborer eagerly anticipating the end of his shift to receive his wages. This longing isn't for mere comfort, but for the release from his overwhelming pain and the conclusion of his earthly toil.
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"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." — Job isn't just saying he's tired; he's tapping into a visceral, ancient longing for relief that every laborer understands. The "shadow" he craves isn't just shade, but the evening's arrival, marking…
