AZAMRA Job 7-8
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BS"D KNOW YOUR BIBLE: Job 7-8
Study Notes by Avraham ben Yaakov
JOB CHAPTER 7
Chapter
7 continues Job's reply to Eliphaz, which started at the beginning of
Chapter 6. At the end of Chapter 6 Job had protested his innocence of
any sin that could be accounted as the cause of his suffering, asking
his companions to examine carefully and see that he had committed no
wrong. Now in Chapter 7 Job counters Eliphaz' argument that if he would
only submit to his suffering and accept its purgative power, God would
in the end "settle" with him, protect him from trouble and evil and show
him goodness.
Vv
1-2: "Is there not a limit to man's service on earth…" Man's life has
an end: he is like a hired laborer whose contract is for a limited
period and who longs for it to come to an end. Job is unable to wait for
the good end promised by Eliphaz because his suffering is so great that
his only hope is to die.
In
vv 3-4 Job depicts the terrible suffering caused by his illness. His
pain keeps him awake all night hoping for relief in the morning, and
when the relief does not come he tosses and turns on his bed all day
hoping for relief in the evening.
In
v 5 Job depicts the horrible effects of the boils with which he is
afflicted, which are full of maggots, while his skin is cracked and
disintegrating.
Vv
6-10: Job feels that his life is "slipping through his fingers" at a
rate faster than that of the weaver's shuttle, and there is therefore no
hope of a better future.
Vv
7-9: "My eye shall no more see good… As a cloud is consumed and
vanishes away, so he who goes down to the grave shall come up no more."
From here the Rabbis learned that Job denied in the resurrection of the
dead (Rashi & Metzudas David ad loc.; Bava Basra 16a). If death is
but a sleep (Job 3:12) and there is no afterlife, what hope is there of a
better future for Job if his life in this world is slipping away
consumed by his suffering?
V
11: "I ALSO shall not restrain my mouth." Job is saying that if God
will not leave him alone and refrain from hurting him, he too will not
restrain himself from crying out over His way of dealing with him. If he
complains, it is because of the terrible bitterness of his soul.
V
12: "Am I a sea or a sea monster that You set a watch against me?" The
sea is limited by the shore, and the sea monster cannot move beyond the
depths of the sea. Similarly Job feels God has set a watch against him
from which he cannot escape, because of the Satan, who has been charged
to ensure that despite his suffering the soul will not go out of him, so
that there is no refuge for him in death (see Rashi).
Vv
13-16: Job is sick of this life of suffering, in which he finds no
relief or comfort but only anguish. He would much prefer to die.
Vv
17-18: Job now challenges Eliphaz' argument that everything is under
God's Providence, asking how it could be fitting that God would
constantly watch over man and pay attention to his deeds when man is so
lowly and despicable.
V
18: "That You should remember him every morning and try him at every
moment." From this verse the Rabbis learned that man is judged every day
and at every moment (Rosh HaShanah 16a).
V
19 is the desperate cry of the suffering invalid: How long before You
will leave me alone? You do not even give me a moment to swallow!
Vv
20-21: Job now asks how it could affect or harm God even if he had
sinned. If God knew from the very outset of Job's creation that this is
how it would be, why did He create him simply in order to take vengeance
from him like the target of an arrow? Why can He not simply take away
his sin since his life will soon be over?
CHAPTER 8
The
second of Job's three companions, Bildad HaShoohi, now makes his
contribution to the first cycle of arguments and counterarguments,
answering Job by asking how it could be possible that God would corrupt
justice (v 3).
V 4: If Job's children died, this must have been because of their sinful life of constant banqueting (Metzudas David).
Vv
5-7: If, as Job claims, he is innocent, then God will surely "settle"
with him in the end so that although he is suffering now, he will enjoy
relief later on.
Vv 8-10: Bildad adduces the wisdom handed down from the earliest generations based on their experience and investigations.
Vv
11ff: Bildad explains this received wisdom through the metaphor of the
reed grass and rushes, which expresses the evanescence of the success of
the wicked. As long as the reeds and rushes have an abundant supply of
water they flourish, but as soon as the water disappears they dry up and
wither. Similarly the wicked flourish as long as the hour "laughs" at
them, but as soon as their measure is complete, the success in which
they trusted turns out to be as flimsy as a spider's web.
There
is a difference in the way vv 16-19 are explained by Rashi and Ramban
on the one hand as opposed to the way they are explained by Metzudas
David on the other.
Rashi
and Ramban explain vv 16-19 as a continuation of the metaphor of the
reed grass and rushes. No matter how extensively their roots may spread,
as soon as they are consumed they disappear for ever and it is as if
they had never been in the place where they grew.
However
according to Metzudas David's interpretation, vv 16-19 contain a second
metaphor expressing how the righteous endure and are regenerated, as
opposed to the wicked who were compared to the reed grass that quickly
dries up and disappears. Thus Metzudas David interprets v 16 as
referring to a mighty tree that remains moist even when it stands in the
sun, and its branches spread over the whole garden where it is planted.
Its extensive roots reach down to deep deposits of water. Metzudas
David explains vv 17-18 as saying that such a tree is so strong that
even if it is transplanted so that it is as if it never existed in its
first place, even so, it has the power to regenerate itself and grow
even better in the new place to which it is transplanted. According to
Metzudas David, the metaphor comes to teach that even the trouble that
strikes the righteous, who are compared to a mighty tree with extensive
roots, is actually for their benefit because since the tree is
intrinsically strong. Even when it is transplanted elsewhere, it still
has the power to grow and flourish. Likewise even when the Tzaddikim are
"transplanted" into a life of suffering, it can still be turned to
their advantage even though we cannot know how this is so because of the
limitations of human understanding.
Vv
20: Bildad's inference from this received wisdom of the early
generations is that if Job is truly pure and innocent, God will not
reject him and eventually the tables will be turned on his adversaries.
ABY
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AZAMRA INSTITUTE, PO Box 50037, 9150001 Jerusalem, Israel
Please Mr. Netanyahu, Mr. Ben Gvir, Mr. Smotrich and Mr. Gallant unite and bring Hashem’s Righteousness back to the Har HaBayit?
Under HaShem’s Righteousness the Har HaBayit shall become a Prayer House for all peoples. Jews, Muslims, and Christians when they put away Avoda Zara and their false doctrines……
By annulling that covenant made with the Islamic authorities in ’67 on the Har Habayit and all other covenants, banning all crimes and abominations by PA, Hamas and Islamic Jihad with an Iron fist declaring Jewish Sovereignty in all the Land Hashem gave the Jewish People in ’67. |
בבקשה מר נתניהו, מר בן גביר, מר סמוטריץ' ומר גלנט תתאחדו והחזירו את צדקת ה' להר הבית,?
תחת צדקת השם הר הבית יהפוך לבית תפילה לכל העמים: יהודים, מוסלמים ונוצרים כשהם מסירים עבודה זרה ואת דוקטרינות השקר שלהם... על ידי ביטול הברית שנכרתה עם השלטונות האיסלאמיים בשנת 67' על הר הבית וכל שאר הבריתות, איסור על כל הפשעים והתועבות שנעשות על ידי הרשות הפלסטינית, חמאס והג'יהאד האסלאמי. והכרזת ריבונות יהודית על כל ארץ ישראל. |
Come let us Pray that Hashem's Righteousness shall 'return' to the Har haBayit and the whole of Eretz Israel.
| בוא נתפלל שצדקת ה' 'תשוב' להר הבית ולארץ ישראל כולה. |
Free to study all Jewish Scripture: | חופשי ללמוד את כל כתבי הקודש היהודיים: |
Sefaria Calendar - לוח שנה ספריה
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Our Prayer and hope: All the gates to the Har haBayit have to be opened for Jews and non-Jews seven days in the week 24 hours a day. The Jews need to have the freedom to go with Tefillin, Tallit and Torah Scroll up on the Mountain to serve Hashem. And do קידה ('Kidah' prostate, laying down, before Hashem) Everyone showing his/her respect for the Jewish and all other religions. But NOT for the words/deeds/sins spoken against any word of the Torah of Moshe Rabbeinu and the 'real' teachings of the Jewish Rabbis. The Jews must be the guardians of the Har haBayit. |
תפילתנו ותקוותנו: כל שערי הר הבית צריכים להיפתח עבור יהודים ולא-יהודים שבעה ימים בשבוע 24 שעות ביממה. ליהודים צריך להיות חופש ללכת עם תפילין, טלית וספר תורה במעלה ההר כדי לשרת את ה' ולקוד קידה .מתוך הפגנת כבוד ליהודים ולכל הדתות האחרות, אבל לא למילים/למעשים/לחטאים הנאמרים נגד תורת משה רבנו. מלמודי רבנים, היהודים חייבים להיות שומרי הר הבית. |
Let's pray for a death sentence for the Palestinian Authority, Hamas, Hezbollah and for the continuation of the Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria. The Palestinian Authority, Hamas and Hezbollah must disappear. Enough of the hatred from the world (the USA, the European Union, and the UN!) against the Jewish people. |
בואו נתפלל לגזר דין מוות לרשות הפלסטינית, חמאס, חיזבאללה ולמען התיישבות יהודית ביהודה ושומרון. הרשות הפלסטינית, חמאס וחיזבאללה חייבים להעלם. די לשנאה מהעולם (ארה"ב, האיחוד האירופי והאו"ם!) נגד העם היהודי! |
The Jews have the mission to change the Har HaBayit, from her situation now, into a Prayer House for all peoples based on the Torah Law of Moshe Rabbeinu.
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על היהודים מוטלת המשימה לשנות את הר הבית, ממצבו הקיים, לבית תפילה לכל העמים על פי חוק התורה של משה רבנו. |
Ariel, hopefully your Representee | אריאל, מקווה שהנציג שלך |
By Har HaBait Jewish Sovereign for all Israel I pray as a Jew when I bring your prayers. |
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