Job 7:2

7:2 Like a servant ¹  longing for the evening shadow, ² 

and like a hired man looking ³  for his wages, ⁴ 

Job 7:19

7:19 Will you never ⁵  look away from me, ⁶ 

will you not let me alone ⁷ 

long enough to swallow my spittle?

Job 31:1

Job Vindicates Himself

31:1 “I made a covenant with ⁸  my eyes;

how then could I entertain thoughts against a virgin? ⁹ 

[7:2]  ¹ tn This term עֶבֶד (’eved) is the servant or the slave. He is compelled to work through the day, in the heat; but he longs for evening, when he can rest from the slavery.

[7:2]  ² tn The expression יִשְׁאַף־צֵל (yish’af tsel, “longing for the evening shadow”) could also be taken as a relative clause (without the relative pronoun): “as a servant [who] longs for the evening shadow” (see GKC 487 §155.g). In either case, the expressions in v. 2 emphasize the point of the comparison, which will be summed up in v. 3.

[7:2]  ³ tn The two verbs in this verse stress the eager expectation and waiting. The first, שָׁאַף (sha’af), means “to long for; to desire”; and the second, קָוָה (qavah), has the idea of “to hope for; to look for; to wait.” The words would give the sense that the servant or hired man had the longing on his mind all day.

[7:2]  ⁴ tn The word פֹּעַל (po’al) means “work.” But here the word should be taken as a metonymy, meaning the pay for the work that he has done (compare Jer 22:13).

[7:19]  ⁵ tn Heb “according to what [= how long] will you not look away from me.”

[7:19]  ⁶ tn The verb שָׁעָה (sha’ah, “to look”) with the preposition מִן (min) means “to look away from; to avert one’s gaze.” Job wonders if God would not look away from him even briefly, for the constant vigilance is killing him.

[7:19]  ⁷ tn The Hiphil of רָפָה (rafah) means “to leave someone alone.”

[31:1]  ⁹ tn The idea of cutting a covenant for something may suggest a covenant that is imposed, except that this construction elsewhere argues against it (see 2 Chr 29:10).

[31:1]  ¹⁰ tn This half-verse is the effect of the covenant. The interrogative מָה (mah) may have the force of the negative, and so be translated “not to pay attention.”