Job - Caput 7

Job 7.1 militia est vita hominis super terram et sicut dies mercennarii dies eius Job 7.2 sicut servus desiderat umbram et sicut mercennarius praestolatur finem operis sui Job 7.3 sic et ego habui menses vacuos et noctes laboriosas enumeravi mihi Job 7.4 si dormiero dico quando consurgam et rursum expectabo vesperam et replebor doloribus usque ad tenebras Job 7.5 induta est caro mea putredine et sordibus pulveris cutis mea aruit et contracta est Job 7.6 dies mei velocius transierunt quam a texente tela succiditur et consumpti sunt absque ulla spe Job 7.7 memento quia ventus est vita mea et non revertetur oculus meus ut videat bona Job 7.8 nec aspiciet me visus hominis oculi tui in me et non subsistam Job 7.9 sicut consumitur nubes et pertransit sic qui descenderit ad inferos non ascendet Job 7.10 nec revertetur ultra in domum suam neque cognoscet eum amplius locus eius Job 7.11 quapropter et ego non parcam ori meo loquar in tribulatione spiritus mei confabulabor cum amaritudine animae meae Job 7.12 numquid mare sum ego aut cetus quia circumdedisti me carcere Job 7.13 si dixero consolabitur me lectulus meus et relevabor loquens mecum in strato meo Job 7.14 terrebis me per somnia et per visiones horrore concuties Job 7.15 quam ob rem elegit suspendium anima mea et mortem ossa mea Job 7.16 desperavi nequaquam ultra iam vivam parce mihi nihil enim sunt dies mei Job 7.17 quid est homo quia magnificas eum aut quia ponis erga eum cor tuum Job 7.18 visitas eum diluculo et subito probas illum Job 7.19 usquequo non parces mihi nec dimittis me ut gluttiam salivam meam Job 7.20 peccavi quid faciam tibi o custos hominum quare posuisti me contrarium tibi et factus sum mihimet ipsi gravis Job 7.21 cur non tolles peccatum meum et quare non auferes iniquitatem meam ecce nunc in pulvere dormiam et si mane me quaesieris non subsistam

Job : Caput 7

Job's Lament: A Call to Reflection

Chapter 7 of the book of Job continues to explore the profound lament of this tried man. Why does he question his life's purpose? This powerful text compares life to hard, forced labor and expresses Job's yearning for relief. Throughout this chapter, we are confronted with essential themes such as the brevity of life, the apparent silence of God, and the existential anguish that dwells in the human soul.

Job 7 reveals Job's brutal honesty in his communication with God. He does not hide his suffering or his doubts, inviting us to meditate on biblical passages that shed light on these intense and provocative questions.

Biblical Reflections

We invite you to contemplate five biblical passages that resonate with the questions raised by Job:

Psalm 39:4-5

"Show me, O Lord, the end of my life and the number of my days, that I may know my frailty. You have made my days as short as a space; the span of my life is nothing before you. Indeed, man is but a breath."

These verses echo Job's reflections on the brevity of life, illustrated in Job 7:6-7.

Ecclesiastes 2:23

"All his days are laborious and his tasks are burdensome; even at night he has no rest. This is also absurd!"

This verse reflects Job's lamentations over his nights of agony, as we see in Job 7:3-4.

Psalms 8:4

"What is man that you care for him? Or the son of man, why should you worry about him?"

This question about the relationship between God and man is similar to that expressed by Job in 7:17-19.

2 Corinthians 5:4

"For when we are in this house, we groan and anguish, because we do not want to be undressed, but clothed, so that what is mortal may be absorbed into life."

The apostle Paul expresses a sentiment similar to Job's in 7:11, about the weight of mortal existence.

Psalms 90:5-6

"You take them away, and they are like sleep; in the morning they are like the growing grass: in the morning it blossoms and sprouts; in the afternoon it is cut down and withered."

These verses reflect Job's meditations on the fragility of human life, as emphasized by Job 7:9-10.

By meditating on these passages, we are invited to confront our own existence, our relationship with God, and the transient nature of life. May these reflections lead us to a deeper understanding of our faith and divine mercy.