Job 7:17-18

Insignificance of Humans

7:17 “What is mankind ¹  that you make so much of them, ² 

and that you pay attention ³  to them?

7:18 And that you visit ⁴  them every morning,

and try ⁵  them every moment? ⁶ 

Job 15:14

15:14 What is man that he should be pure,

or one born of woman, that he should be righteous?

Psalms 8:4-8

8:4 Of what importance is the human race, ⁷  that you should notice ⁸  them?

Of what importance is mankind, ⁹  that you should pay attention to them, ¹⁰ 

8:5 and make them a little less than the heavenly beings? ¹¹ 

You grant mankind ¹²  honor and majesty; ¹³ 

8:6 you appoint them to rule over your creation; ¹⁴ 

you have placed ¹⁵  everything under their authority, ¹⁶ 

8:7 including all the sheep and cattle,

as well as the wild animals, ¹⁷ 

8:8 the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea

and everything that moves through the currents ¹⁸  of the seas.

Psalms 144:3

144:3 O Lord, of what importance is the human race, ¹⁹  that you should notice them?

Of what importance is mankind, ²⁰  that you should be concerned about them? ²¹ 

Isaiah 40:17

40:17 All the nations are insignificant before him;

they are regarded as absolutely nothing. ²² 

[7:17]  ¹ tn The verse is a rhetorical question; it is intended to mean that man is too little for God to be making so much over him in all this.

[7:17]  ² tn The Piel verb is a factitive meaning “to magnify.” The English word “magnify” might not be the best translation here, for God, according to Job, is focusing inordinately on him. It means to magnify in thought, appreciate, think highly of. God, Job argues, is making too much of mankind by devoting so much bad attention on them.

[7:17]  ³ tn The expression “set your heart on” means “concentrate your mind on” or “pay attention to.”

[7:18]  ⁴ tn The verb פָּקַד (paqad) is a very common one in the Bible; while it is frequently translated “visit,” the “visit” is never comparable to a social call. When God “visits” people it always means a divine intervention for blessing or cursing – but the visit always changes the destiny of the one visited. Here Job is amazed that God Almighty would be so involved in the life of mere human beings.

[7:18]  ⁵ tn Now the verb “to test” is introduced and gives further explanation to the purpose of the “visit” in the parallel line (see the same parallelism in Ps 17:3). The verb בָּחַן (bakhan) has to do with passing things through the fire or the crucible to purify the metal (see Job 23:10; Zech 13:3); metaphorically it means “to examine carefully” and “to purify by testing.”

[7:18]  ⁶ sn The amazing thing is the regularity of the testing. Job is at first amazed that God would visit him; but even more is he amazed that God is testing him every moment. The employment of a chiasm with the two temporal adverbial phrases as the central elements emphasizes the regularity.

[8:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “What is man[kind]?” The singular noun אֱנוֹשׁ (’enosh, “man”) is used here in a collective sense and refers to the human race.

[8:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “remember him.”

[8:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “and the son of man.” The phrase “son of man” is used here in a collective sense and refers to human beings. For other uses of the phrase in a collective or representative manner, see Num 23:19; Ps 146:3; Isa 51:12.

[8:4]  ¹⁰ tn The two imperfect verbal forms in v. 4 describe God’s characteristic activity.

[8:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and you make him lack a little from [the] gods [or “God”].” The Piel form of חָסַר (khasar, “to decrease, to be devoid”) is used only here and in Eccl 4:8, where it means “to deprive, to cause to be lacking.” The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive either carries on the characteristic nuance of the imperfect in v. 5b or indicates a consequence (“so that you make him…”) of the preceding statement (see GKC 328 §111.m). Some prefer to make this an independent clause and translate it as a new sentence, “You made him….” In this case the statement might refer specifically to the creation of the first human couple, Adam and Eve (cf. Gen 1:26-27). The psalmist does appear to allude to Gen 1:26-27, where mankind is created in the image of God and his angelic assembly (note “let us make man in our image” in Gen 1:26). However, the psalmist’s statement need not be limited in its focus to that historical event, for all mankind shares the image imparted to the first human couple. Consequently the psalmist can speak in general terms of the exalted nature of mankind. The referent of אֱלֹהִים (’elohim, “God” or “the heavenly beings”) is unclear. Some understand this as a reference to God alone, but the allusion to Gen 1:26-27 suggests a broader referent, including God and the other heavenly beings (known in other texts as “angels”). The term אֱלֹהִים is also used in this way in Gen 3:5, where the serpent says to the woman, “you will be like the heavenly beings who know good and evil.” (Note Gen 3:22, where God says, “the man has become like one of us.”) Also אֱלֹהִים may refer to the members of the heavenly assembly in Ps 82:1, 6. The LXX (the ancient Greek translation of the OT) reads “angels” in Ps 8:5 (this is the source of the quotation of Ps 8:5 in Heb 2:7).

[8:5]  ¹² tn Heb “you crown him [with].” The imperfect verbal forms in this and the next line describe God’s characteristic activity.

[8:5]  ¹³ sn Honor and majesty. These terms allude to mankind’s royal status as God’s vice-regents (cf. v. 6 and Gen 1:26-30).

[8:6]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “you cause [i.e., “permit, allow”] him to rule over the works of your hands.”

[8:6]  ¹⁵ tn The perfect verbal form probably has a present perfect nuance here. It refers to the continuing effects of God’s original mandate (see Gen 1:26-30).

[8:6]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “under his feet.”

[8:7]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and also the beasts of the field.”

[8:8]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “paths.”

[144:3]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “What is mankind?” The singular noun אֱנוֹשׁ (’enosh) is used here in a collective sense and refers to the human race. See Ps 8:5.

[144:3]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and the son of man.” The phrase “son of man” is used here in a collective sense and refers to human beings. For other uses of the phrase in a collective or representative manner, see Num 23:19; Ps 146:3; Isa 51:12.

[144:3]  ²¹ tn Heb “take account of him.” The two imperfect verbal forms in v. 4 describe God’s characteristic activity.

[40:17]  ²² tn Heb “[as derived] from nothing and unformed.”