Глава 7

1–10. Second half of Job's response to Eliphaz's speech 11–21. The impossibility of hope for happiness. Complaints about God who punished Job for no reason Job. 7:1–10. In the second half of his speech, Eliphaz expressed confidence that Job would be restored to earthly prosperity under the condition of a humble appeal to God (Job 5.8–26). The second part of Job’s speech is directed against this statement of his elder friend, proving the impossibility of happiness for himself. Job 7:1. Is not man's time on earth determined, and are his days not the same as the days of a mercenary? Job 7:2. Like a slave longs for shade, and like a mercenary waits for the end of his work, Job 7:3. so I received the vain months as my inheritance, and the nights of sorrow were assigned to me. Job 7:4. When I go to bed, I say: “When will I get up?”, and the evening lasts, and I toss and turn until dawn. Happiness is impossible nowadays. The earthly life of a person is difficult, like military service (“tsaba”, cf. Is 40.2 - “time of struggle”), like the existence of a mercenary deprived of freedom and full of labor; Job's situation is even more difficult. The servant enjoys rest in the evening, and the hired man receives payment for his work (cf. Proverbs 21.6), but Job was waiting for peace - relief from his illness, but he hoped in vain for months (v. 3). During them he suffered continuously, even at night. Sleepless, not relieving illnesses (“sorrowful nights”, in the LXX – νύκτες ὀδύιων – “nights of illness” v. 3; “I toss and turn until the dawn” - v. 4), they made him think: “when the evening passes” (Hebrew; “uniddad areeb”, translated in the synodal text the phrase: “and the evening continues” - v. 4, can mean: “the evening will pass”) and wait for the day to come (“When will I get up?” - v. 4) at the moment when he was just going to bed. Job 7:5. My body is covered with worms and dusty scabs; my skin bursts and festers. Job 7:6. My days fly by like a shuttle and end without hope. Job 7:7. Remember that my life is a breath, that my eye will not return to see good. Job 7:8. The eye of the one who saw me will not see me; Thy eyes are upon me, and I am not. Job 7:9. The cloud thins and goes away; so the one who descends will not go to the underworld, Job 7:10. he will no longer return to his house, and his place will no longer know him. Job's current state is such that it makes it impossible for him to think about happiness in the future. And it is truly impossible. He is a living corpse, covered with worms, which breed in a body that has taken on the color of earth (“my body is dressed ... with dusty scabs” - v. 5, more precisely - “earth bark”). The decomposition of the body is a harbinger of death: the days flashing by with the speed of a weaver's shuttle (v. 6, cf. Is 38.12) do not arouse any other hope; Job will die, disappear for all who knew and saw him (v. 8, 10 cf. Job 20.9; Ps 38.14, 102.16), will descend into the underworld, from which there is no return to return to earth, to its benefits. Job 7:11. I will not restrain my lips; I will speak in the distress of my spirit; I will complain in the sorrow of my soul. Job has no hope for an end to suffering, for the restoration of happiness, and therefore there is no reason to stop grumbling, as Eliphaz advised (Job 5.17). Job 7:12. Am I a sea or a sea monster that You have set a guard over me? In contrast to the murmur of Chapter III, complaints are now directed against God, the culprit of Job’s undeserved suffering. He is not a harmful sea or river monster (“tannin”) and not the sea, the limit of whose destructive actions is set by the shores (Ps 103.7; Proverbs 8.29; Jer 5.22), i.e., he is not dangerous to anyone. But in this case, what is the basis for keeping him in custody? Not for a minute free from suffering? Job 7:13. When I think: my bed will comfort me, my bed will take away my sorrow, Job 7:14. you frighten me with dreams and frighten me with visions; Job 7:15. and my soul desires better the cessation of breath, better death, than the preservation of my bones. They, contrary to expectations (v. 13), do not stop even at night. During sleep, he is subject to nightmares - hallucinations, moreover, so terrible and severe that he wants the attacks of suffocation that accompany leprosy to end in suffocation (v. 15). Job 7:16. Life disgusted me. I can't live forever. Depart from me, for my days are vanity. With continuous suffering, life becomes a burden for Job (cf. Job 10.1). And since his existence cannot continue indefinitely, someday he must die (“I will not live forever”), then in view of his imminent death (“my days are vanity” - “gebel” - steam, breath) God must give him relief from his suffering. Job 7:17. What is a person that You value him so much and pay Your attention to him, Job 7:18. do you visit it every morning, experience it every moment? Job 7:19. How long will you not leave me, how long will you not leave me, how long will you not let me swallow my spittle? Job 7:20. If I have sinned, then what will I do to You, guardian of men! Why did You make me your enemy, so that I became a burden to myself? Job 7:21. And why not forgive me my sin and take away my iniquity? for, behold, I will lie in the dust; Tomorrow you will look for me, and I will not be there. There are other reasons on the part of the Lord to alleviate Job’s torment, at least for the shortest period of time, for one moment (“How long will you not allow me to swallow my saliva?” - v. 19). Like any person, Job is an insignificant, weak creature (“enosh”), which, given the greatness of the Lord, should not be paid attention to (vv. 17, 18 cf. Ps 8.5, 143.3). With his sins, if they exist, he does not harm God; so He, the guardian of people, in the sense of a punisher, has no reason to see Job as his enemy, to make him the target of his arrows (v. 20). Finally, Job will soon die, and therefore, in the name of compassion, why not forgive his sins, relieve him of his suffering and thereby give him the opportunity to die in peace (v. 21)? You might be interested in: