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Read the Bible

Douay-Rheims Bible

Job 7:16

I have done with hope, I shall now live no longer: spare me, for my days are nothing.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Death;   Vanity;   Thompson Chain Reference - Life;   Life-Death;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Vanity;  

Dictionaries:

- Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Job;   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Greatness of God;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Ecclesiastes, the Book of;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Ecclesiastes, Book of;   Time, Meaning of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Life;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Vanity;  

Devotionals:

- Daily Light on the Daily Path - Devotion for December 4;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
I give up! I will not live forever.Leave me alone, for my days are a breath.
Hebrew Names Version
I loathe my life. I don't want to live forever. Leave me alone; for my days are but a breath.
King James Version
I loathe it; I would not live alway: let me alone; for my days are vanity.
English Standard Version
I loathe my life; I would not live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are a breath.
New Century Version
I hate my life; I don't want to live forever. Leave me alone, because my days have no meaning.
New English Translation
I loathe it; I do not want to live forever; leave me alone, for my days are a vapor!
Amplified Bible
"I waste away and loathe my life; I will not live forever. Let me alone, for my days are but a breath [futile and without substance].
New American Standard Bible
"I waste away; I will not live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are only a breath.
World English Bible
I loathe my life. I don't want to live forever. Leave me alone; for my days are but a breath.
Geneva Bible (1587)
I abhorre it, I shall not liue alway: spare me then, for my dayes are but vanitie.
Legacy Standard Bible
I have rejected everything; I will not live forever.Leave me alone, for my days are but a breath.
Berean Standard Bible
I loathe my life! I would not live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are but a breath.
Contemporary English Version
Leave me alone and let me die; my life has no meaning.
Complete Jewish Bible
I hate it! I won't live forever, so leave me alone, for my life means nothing.
Darby Translation
I loathe it; I shall not live always: let me alone, for my days are a breath.
Easy-to-Read Version
I hate my life—I give up. I don't want to live forever. Leave me alone! My life means nothing.
George Lamsa Translation
I am despondent; I would not live for ever; leave me alone, for my days are vanity.
Good News Translation
I give up; I am tired of living. Leave me alone. My life makes no sense.
Lexham English Bible
I loathe my life; I would not live forever; depart from me, for my days are a breath.
Literal Translation
I despise them ; I will not live always. Let me alone, for my days are vanity.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
I can se no remedy, I shall lyue nomore: O spare me then, for my dayes are but vayne
American Standard Version
I loathe my life; I would not live alway: Let me alone; for my days are vanity.
Bible in Basic English
I have no desire for life, I would not be living for ever! Keep away from me, for my days are as a breath.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
I can see no remedy, I shall liue no more: O spare me then, for my dayes are but vanitie.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
I loathe it; I shall not live alway; let me alone; for my days are vanity.
King James Version (1611)
I loath it, I would not liue alway: let me alone, for my dayes are vanitie.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
For I shall not live for ever, that I should patiently endure: depart from me, for my life is vain.
English Revised Version
I loathe my life; I would not live alway: let me alone; for my days are vanity.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
`Y dispeiride, now Y schal no more lyue; Lord, spare thou me, for my daies ben nouyt.
Update Bible Version
I loathe [my life]; I would not live always: Let me alone; for my days are vanity.
Webster's Bible Translation
I lothe [it]; I would not live always: let me alone; for my days [are] vanity.
New King James Version
I loathe my life; I would not live forever. Let me alone, For my days are but a breath.
New Living Translation
I hate my life and don't want to go on living. Oh, leave me alone for my few remaining days.
New Life Bible
I hate my life. I will not live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are only a breath.
New Revised Standard
I loathe my life; I would not live forever. Let me alone, for my days are a breath.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
I am wasted away, Not, to times age-abiding, can I live, Let me alone, for, a breath, are my days.
Revised Standard Version
I loathe my life; I would not live for ever. Let me alone, for my days are a breath.
Young's Literal Translation
I have wasted away -- not to the age do I live. Cease from me, for my days [are] vanity.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"I waste away; I will not live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are but a breath.

Contextual Overview

7 Remember that my life is but wind, and my eye shall not return to see good things. 8 Nor shall the sight of man behold me: thy eyes are upon me, and I shall be no more. 9 As a cloud is consumed, and passeth away: so he that shall go down to hell shall not come up. 10 Nor shall he return any more into his house, neither shall his place know him any more 11 Wherefore, I will not spare my month, I will speak in the affliction of my spirit: I will talk with the bitterness of my soul. 12 Am I a sea, or a whale, that thou hast inclosed me in a prison? 13 If I say: My bed shall comfort me, and I shall be relieved, speaking with myself on my couch: 14 Thou wilt frighten me with dreams, and terrify me with visions. 15 So that my soul rather chooseth hanging, and my bones death. 16 I have done with hope, I shall now live no longer: spare me, for my days are nothing.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

I loathe it: Job 3:20-22, Job 6:9, Job 10:1, Genesis 27:46, 1 Kings 19:4, Jonah 4:3, Jonah 4:8

let me alone: Job 10:20, Job 14:6, Psalms 39:10, Psalms 39:13

my days: Psalms 62:9, Psalms 78:33, Psalms 144:4, Ecclesiastes 6:11, Ecclesiastes 6:12

Reciprocal: Numbers 14:2 - Would Job 9:21 - I would Job 13:13 - and let come Job 16:7 - he hath Psalms 78:39 - a wind Ecclesiastes 2:17 - I hated Isaiah 15:4 - his Jeremiah 8:3 - death Luke 14:26 - hate Revelation 9:6 - shall men

Cross-References

Genesis 7:1
And the Lord said to him: Go in, thou and all thy house, into the ark: for thee I have seen just before me in this generation.
Genesis 7:2
Of all clean beasts take seven and seven, the male and the female.
Genesis 7:3
But of the beasts that are unclean two and two, the male and the female. Of the fowls also of the air seven and seven, the male and the female: that seed may be saved upon the face of the whole earth.
Genesis 7:4
For yet a while, and after seven days, I will rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights: and I will destroy every substance that I have made, from the face of the earth.
Genesis 7:5
And Noe did all things which the Lord had commanded him.
Genesis 7:10
And after the seven days were passed, the waters of the flood overflowed the earth.
Deuteronomy 33:27
His dwelling is above, and underneath are the everlasting arms: he shall cast out the enemy from before thee, and shall say: Be thou brought to nought.
Psalms 46:2
(45-3) Therefore we will not fear, when the earth shall be troubled; and the mountains shall be removed into the heart of the sea.
Proverbs 3:23
Then shalt thou walk confidently in thy way, and thy foot shall not stumble:
Matthew 25:10
Now whilst they went to buy the bridegroom came: and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage. And the door was shut.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

I loathe [it],.... Or "them" k, either his life, which was a weariness to him, or his bones, which were so painful and nauseous; or rather, "I am become loathsome", to himself, to his servants, and to his friends, and even his breath was strange to his wife; or "being ulcerated, I pine and waste away" l, and must in course be quickly gone:

I would not live always; no man can or will; there is no man that lives but what shall see death, Psalms 89:48; Job knew this, nor did he expect or desire it; and this was not his meaning, but that he desired that he might not live long, or to the full term of man's life, yea, that he might die quickly; and indeed to a good man to die is gain; and to depart out of the world, and be with Christ, is far better than to continue in it. And had Job expressed himself without passion, and with submission to the divine will, what he says would not have been amiss:

let me alone; or "cease from me" m; from afflicting him any more, having as great a weight upon him as he could bear, or greater than he could well stand up under; or from supporting him in life, he wishes that either God would withdraw his afflicting hand from him, or his preserving hand; either abate the affliction, or dismiss him from the world:

for my days [are] vanity; a "breath" n or puff of wind; a "vapour", as Mr. Broughton renders it, that soon vanishes away; days empty of all that is good, delightful, and pleasant, and full of evil, trouble, and sorrow, as well as fleeting, transitory, and soon gone, are as nothing, yea, less than nothing, and vanity.

k "Aspernor vitam", Piscator; so Jarchi Ben Gersom. l מאסתי "tabui", Cocceius "ulceratus tabesco", Schultens. m חדל ממני "cessa a me", Pagninus, Montanus, Bolducius, Schmidt. n הבל "halitus", Michaelis, Schultens.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

I loathe it - I loathe my life as it is now. It has become a burden and I desire to part with it, and to go down to the grave. There is, however, considerable variety in the interpretation of this. Noyes renders it, “I am wasting away.” Dr. Good connects it with the previous verse and understands by it, “death in comparison with my sufferings do I despise.” The Syriac is, - it fails to me, that is, I fail, or my powers are wasting away. But the Hebrew word מאס mâ'as means properly to loathe and contemn (see the note at Job 7:5), and the true idea here is expressed in the common version. The sense is, “my life is painful and offensive, and I wish to die.”

I would not live alway - As Job used this expression, there was doubtless somewhat of impatience and of an improper spirit. Still it contains a very important sentiment, and one that may be expressed in the highest state of just religious feeling. A man who is prepared for heaven should not and will not desire to live here always. It is better to depart and to be with Christ, better to leave a world of imperfection and sin, and to go to a world of purity and love. On this text, fully and beautifully illustrating its meaning, the reader may consult a sermon by Dr. Dwight. Sermons, Edinburgh, 1828, vol. ii. 275ff. This world is full of temptations and of sin; it is a world where suffering abounds; it is the infancy of our being; it is a place where our knowledge is imperfect, and where the affections of the best are comparatively grovelling; it is a world where the good are often persecuted, and where the bad are triumphant; and it is better to go to abodes where all these will be unknown. Heaven is a more desirable place in which to dwell than the earth; and if we had a clear view of that world, and proper desires, we should pant to depart and to be there. Most people live as though they would live always here if they could do it, and multitudes are forming their plans as if they expected thus to live. They build their houses and form their plans as if life were never to end. It is the privilege of the Christian, however, to EXPECT to die. Not wishing to live always here, he forms his plans with the anticipation that all which he has must soon be left; and he is ready to loose his hold on the world the moment the summons comes. So may we live; so living, it will be easy to die. The sentiments suggested by this verse have been so beautifully versified in a hymn by Muhlenberg, that I will copy it here:

I would not live alway; I ask not to stay

Where storm after storm rises dark o’er the way;

The few fleeting mornings that dawn on us here

Are enough for life’s sorrows - enough for its cheer.

I would not live alway; no, welcome the tomb;

Since Jesus hath lain there, I dread not its gloom;

There sweet be my rest, till he bid me arise,

To hail him in triumph descending the skies.

Who, who would live alway, away from his God,

Away from yon heaven, that blissful abode,

Where rivers of pleasure flow o’er the bright plains,

And the noontide of glory eternally reigns?

Where the saints of all ages in harmony meet,

Their Saviour and brethren transported to greet;

While anthems of rapture unceasingly roll,

And the smile of the Lord is the feast of the soul.

Let me alone - This is an address to God. It means, “cease to afflict me. Suffer me to live out my little length of life with some degree of ease. It is short at best, and I have no desire that it should always continue.” This sentiment he illustrates in the following verses.

For my days are vanity - They are as nothing, and are unworthy the notice of God. Life is a trifle, and I am not anxious that it should be prolonged. Why then may I not be suffered to pass my few days without being thus afflicted and pained?

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Job 7:16. I loathe it; I would not live alway — Life, in such circumstances, is hateful to me; and though I wish for long life, yet if length of days were offered to me with the sufferings which I now undergo, I would despise the offer and spurn the boon.

Mr. Good is not satisfied with our common version, and has adopted the following, which in his notes he endeavours to illustrate and defend:

Ver. Job 7:15. So that my soul coveteth suffocation,

And death in comparison with my suffering.

Ver. Job 7:16. No longer would I live! O, release me!

How are my days vanity!


 
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