Ayub 7:1

The Brevity of Life

7:1 “Does not humanity have hard service ¹  on earth?

Are not their days also

like the days of a hired man? ² 

Ayub 12:15

12:15 If he holds back the waters, then they dry up; ³ 

if he releases them, ⁴  they destroy ⁵  the land.

Ayub 28:24

28:24 For he looks to the ends of the earth

and observes everything under the heavens.

Ayub 37:3

37:3 Under the whole heaven he lets it go,

even his lightning to the far corners ⁶  of the earth.

[7:1]  ¹ tn The word צָבָא (tsava’) is actually “army”; it can be used for the hard service of military service as well as other toil. As a military term it would include the fixed period of duty (the time) and the hard work (toil). Job here is considering the lot of all humans, not just himself.

[7:1]  ² tn The שָׂכִיר (sakhir) is a hired man, either a man who works for wages, or a mercenary soldier (Jer 46:21). The latter sense may be what is intended here in view of the parallelism, although the next verse seems much broader.

[12:15]  ³ tc The LXX has a clarification: “he will dry the earth.”

[12:15]  ⁴ sn The verse is focusing on the two extremes of drought and flood. Both are described as being under the power of God.

[12:15]  ⁵ tn The verb הָפַךְ (hafakh) means “to overthrow; to destroy; to overwhelm.” It was used in Job 9:5 for “overturning” mountains. The word is used in Genesis for the destruction of Sodom.

[37:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “wings,” and then figuratively for the extremities of garments, of land, etc.