SUMMARY
Job moves from speaking to his friends to speaking directly to God.
ANALYSIS
For the first time in the dialogue, Job moves from speaking to his friends to speaking directly to God. “Am I the Sea or the Dragon, that you set a guard over me?” (7:12). Job refers here to a common ancient Near Eastern myth about the gods defeating a great sea monster in order to create the habitable world. Is Job a dangerous chaos monster that God watches him so closely, waiting for him to sin?
Job quotes PsalmA psalm is a song of praise. In the Old Testament 150 psalms comprise the psalter, although some of the psalms are laments and thanksgivings. In the New Testament early Christians gathered to sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. More 8: “What are human beings?” (7:17; Psalm 8:4). In the psalm, human beings are made “a little lower than God” and given dominion over all creationCreation, in biblical terms, is the universe as we know or perceive it. Genesis says that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. In the book of Revelation (which speaks of end times) the author declares that God created all things and... More (Psalm 8:5-8). In Job, human beings are the object of God’s unwanted attention and the focus of God’s unwarranted concern. “Will you not look away from me for a while, let me alone until I swallow my spittle? If I sin, what do I do to you, you watcher of humanity?” (7:19-20).
Job’s words are harsh, but it is significant that he has turned from speaking to his friends to speaking directly to God. This is the movement of lament – being bold to question and even accuse God, while always holding onto God – and Job is commended for it in the end (42:7-8).
