Job 7:2

Job 7:2 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)As a servant earnestly desireth the shadow, and as an hireling looketh for the reward of his work:
• New International Version (NIV)Like a slave longing for the evening shadows, or a hired laborer waiting to be paid,
• English Standard Version (ESV)Like a slave who longs for the shadow, and like a hired hand who looks for his wages,
• New King James Version (NKJV)Like a servant who earnestly desires the shade, And like a hired man who eagerly looks for his wages,

Context of Job 7:2

1Hath not man a life of labour upon earth? and are not his days like the days of a hireling? As a bondman earnestly desireth the shadow, and a hireling expecteth his wages, 3So am I made to possess months of vanity, and wearisome nights are appointed to me. 4If I lie down, I say, When shall I rise up, and the darkness be gone? and I am full of tossings until the dawn.

Job 7:2 word by word

כְּעֶ֥בֶד יִשְׁאַף־צֵ֑ל וּ֝כְשָׂכִ֗יר יְקַוֶּ֥ה פָעֳלֽוֹ׃Read the interlinear

• shadowצֵלtsêl · shadowH6738
• wagesפֹּ֫עַלpô‛al · workH6467

Cross-references for Job 7:2

• Psalms 119:131I opened my mouth wide and panted; for I longed for thy commandments.
• Psalms 143:6I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul, as a parched land, [thirsteth] after thee. Selah.
• Jeremiah 6:4Prepare war against her. Arise, and let us go up at noon. Woe unto us! for the day hath declined, for the shadows of the evening are lengthening.
• Leviticus 19:13Thou shalt not oppress thy neighbour, neither rob him. The wages of the hired servant shall not abide with thee all night until the morning.
• Deuteronomy 24:15on his day thou shalt give him his hire, neither shall the sun go down upon it; for he is poor, and his soul yearneth after it; lest he cry against thee to Jehovah, and it be a sin in thee.
• Malachi 3:5And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against the false swearers, and against those that oppress the hired servant in [his] wages, the widow and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger [from his right], and fear not me, saith Jehovah of hosts.
• James 5:4Behold, the wages of your labourers, who have harvested your fields, wrongfully kept back by you, cry, and the cries of those that have reaped are entered into the ears of [the] Lord of sabaoth.

Commentaries on Job 7:2

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 2Earnestly desireth the shadow - As a man who labors hard in the heat of the day earnestly desires to get under a shade, or wishes for the long evening shadows, that he may rest from his labor, get his day's wages, retire to his food, and then go to rest. Night is probably what is meant by the shadow; as in Virgil, Aen. iv., ver. 7: Humentemque Aurora polo dimoverat Umbram. "The morning had removed the humid shadow, i.e., night, from the world." Where…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 2As a servant earnestly desireth - Margin, gapeth after. The word here שׁאף shâ'aph means to breathe hard, to pant, to blow, and then to desire earnestly. The shadow - This may refer either to a shade in the intense heat of the day, or to the night. Nothing is more grateful in oriental countries, when the sun pours down intensely on burning sands, than the shadow of a tree, or the shade of a projecting rock. The editor of the Pictorial Bible on this verse…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 2Employers had the obligation to pay workers at the end of each day (Leviticus 19:13; Deuteronomy 24:15). But this did not always happen (Jeremiah 22:13; Malachi 3:5; James 5:4).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 22. 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. 3.--Months of comfortless misfortune. I am made to possess--literally, "to be heir to." Irony. "To be…Read the comment

Topics related to Job 7:2

• Afflictions and Adversities
• Death
• Employee
• Life
• Servant

In the dictionaries

• Bitterness
• Complain
• Dust
• Preserver
• Terrify
• Wearisome

Commentaries on Job 7

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings