God’s Word Translation
Job 7:19
19Why don’t you stop looking at me long enough to let me swallow my spit?
Job 7:19 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)How long wilt thou not depart from me, nor let me alone till I swallow down my spittle?
- New International Version (NIV)Will you never look away from me, or let me alone even for an instant?
- English Standard Version (ESV)How long will you not look away from me, nor leave me alone till I swallow my spit?
- New King James Version (NKJV)How long? Will You not look away from me, And let me alone till I swallow my saliva?
Context of Job 7:19
17“What is a mortal that you should make so much of him, that you should be concerned about him? 18⌞What is he⌟ that you should inspect him every morning and examine him every moment? Why don’t you stop looking at me long enough to let me swallow my spit? 20If I sin, what can I ⌞possibly⌟ do to you since you insist on spying on people? Why do you make me your target? I’ve become a burden even to myself. 21Why don’t you forgive my disobedience and take away my sin? Soon I’ll lie down in the dust. Then you will search for me, but I’ll be gone!”
Read all of Job 7Job 7:19 word by word
כַּ֭מָּה לֹא־תִשְׁעֶ֣ה מִמֶּ֑נִּי לֹֽא־תַ֝רְפֵּ֗נִי עַד־בִּלְעִ֥י רֻקִּֽי׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Job 7:19
- Job 9:18He would not let me catch my breath. He fills me with bitterness.
- Psalms 6:3My soul has been deeply shaken with terror. But you, O Lord, how long … ?
- Psalms 13:1How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?
- Psalms 94:3How long, O Lord, will wicked people triumph? How long?
- Revelation 6:10They cried out in a loud voice, “Holy and true Master, how long before you judge and take revenge on those living on earth who shed our blood?”
Commentaries on Job 7:19
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 19Till I swallow down my spittle? - This is a proverbial expression, and exists among the Arabs to the present day; the very language being nearly the same. It signifies the same as, Let me draw my breath; give me a moment's space; let me have even the twinkling of an eye. I am urged by my sufferings to continue my complaint; but my strength is exhausted, my mouth dry with speaking. Suspend my sufferings even for so short a space as is necessary to swallow…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 19How long wilt thou not depart? - How long is this to continue? The same word occurs in Job 14:6. The word rendered “depart” שׁעה shâ‛âh means to look, to look around, and then to look away from anyone or anything. The idea here is, that God had fixed his eyes upon Job, and he asks with anxiety, how long this was to continue, and when he would turn his eyes away; compare the notes at Job 7:8. Schultens supposes that the metaphor here is taken from…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 17-21Verses 17-21 Job reasons with God concerning his dealings with man. But in the midst of this discourse, Job seems to have lifted up his thoughts to God with some faith and hope. Observe the concern he is in about his sins. The best men have to complain of sin; and the better they are, the more they will complain of it. God is the Preserver of our lives, and the Saviour of the souls of all that believe; but probably Job meant the Observer of men, whose…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 19Will You never look away from me (literally How long will you not look away from me): Job wanted the opposite of the attention that loyal people usually desire (Numbers 6:25; Psalms 27:9; 69:17; 80:3, 7, 19; Lamentations 1:9). to swallow: This means “a chance to calm my breathing.”Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1919. How long (like a jealous keeper) wilt thou never take thine eyes off (so the Hebrew for "depart from") me? Nor let me alone for a brief respite (literally, "so long as I take to swallow my spittle"), an Arabic proverb, like our, "till I draw my breath."Read the comment
In the dictionaries
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
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
Commentaries