Job 7:19
in Job 7Will You never look away from me, or leave me alone to swallow my spittle?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
How long wilt thou not look away from me, Nor let me alone till I swallow down my spittle?
KJV
How long wilt thou not depart from me, nor let me alone till I swallow down my spittle?
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This verse in Job 7
Commentary
9 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
How long wilt thou not depart? - How long is this to continue? The same word occurs in Job 14:6. The word rendered “depart” שׁעה shâ‛âh means to look, to look around, and then to look away from anyone or anything. The idea here is, that God had fixed his eyes upon Job, and he asks with anxiety, how long this was to continue, and when he would turn his eyes away; compare the notes at Job 7:8. Schultens supposes that the metaphor here is taken from combatants, who never take their eyes from their antagonists.
This site's exposition
What is man that You should exalt him
on Job 7:17-19
Job takes the question of Psalm 8:4 and turns it against itself: "What is man that You should exalt him". The visitation the psalm blesses, Job feels as a watch kept on a prisoner. To "swallow my spittle" is proverbial for the shortest respite, and Job cannot get even that.
This site's exposition
Will You never look away from me
Swallowing spittle is a proverb Clarke found still used among the Arabs, meaning a moment's pause, the time to draw a breath. Barnes notes the verb for look away returns at Job 14:6. Job asks for that one moment free of God's eye.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
Then he adds another reason that God should spare him taken from the brevity of life. He puts it in question form saying, "How long do you not spare me?" This is like saying: The time of the life of man is short and the …
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistMorals on the Book of Job, Book VIII · Written before 604.
proposed
How long wilt Thou not depart from me, nor let me alone until I swallow down my spittle. The spittle runs into the mouth from the head, but from the mouth it is carried into the belly by being swallowed.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
5 My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust; my skin is broken, and become loathsome. 6 My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and are spent without hope. Job is here excusing what he could not justify, even his inordinate desire of death.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-run:31w-of-46
How long wilt thou not depart from me,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
How long (like a jealous keeper) wilt thou never take thine eyes off (so the Hebrew for "depart from") me? Nor let me alone for a brief respite (literally, "so long as I take to swallow my spittle"), an Arabic proverb, like our, "till I draw my breath."
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Till I swallow down my spittle? - This is a proverbial expression, and exists among the Arabs to the present day; the very language being nearly the same. It signifies the same as, Let me draw my breath; give me a moment’s space; let me have even the twinkling of an eye. I am urged by my sufferings to continue my complaint; but my strength is exhausted, my mouth dry with speaking. Suspend my sufferings even for so short a space as is necessary to swallow my spittle, that my parched tongue may be moistened, so that I may renew my complaint.
The words behind it
9 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כַּ֭מָּה | kamah | how long? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תִשְׁעֶ֣ה | tisheh | will you look away | H8159 → | |
| מִמֶּ֑נִּי | mimeni | from me | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תַ֝רְפֵּ֗נִי | tarpeni | will you let alone? me | H7503 → | 46 times |
| עַד־ | ʾad- | until | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| בִּלְעִ֥י | bili | swallow I | H1104 → | 49 times |
| רֻקִּֽי׃ | ruki | spittle my | H7536 → |
כַּ֭מָּהhow long?
kamahH4100 →752 times
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
תִשְׁעֶ֣הwill you look away
tishehH8159 →
מִמֶּ֑נִּיfrom me
mimeniH4480 →1188 times
לֹֽא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
תַ֝רְפֵּ֗נִיwill you let alone? me
tarpeniH7503 →46 times
עַד־until
ʾad-H5704 →1261 times
בִּלְעִ֥יswallow I
biliH1104 →49 times
רֻקִּֽי׃spittle my
rukiH7536 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Revelation 6:10And they cried out in a loud voice, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You avenge our blood and judge those who dwell upon the earth?”
it leads to
- Revelation 19:2
For His judgments are true and just. He has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality. He has avenged the blood of His servants that was poured out by her…
- Psalms 9:12
For the Avenger of bloodshed remembers; He does not ignore the cry of the afflicted.
- Revelation 11:18
The nations were enraged, and Your wrath has come. The time has come to judge the dead and to reward Your servants the prophets, as well as the saints and those who fear Your…
- Luke 18:7–8
Will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry out to Him day and night? Will He continue to defer their help?
- Revelation 16:5–7
And I heard the angel of the waters say: “Righteous are You, O Holy One, who is and was, because You have brought these judgments.
- Revelation 19:2
Through
Psalms 6:3My soul is deeply distressed. How long, O LORD, how long?
it leads to
- Psalms 90:13
Return, O LORD! How long will it be? Have compassion on Your servants.
- Psalms 90:13
Through
Job 14:6look away from him and let him rest, so he can enjoy his day as a hired hand.
it leads to
- Psalms 39:13
Turn Your gaze away from me, that I may again be cheered before I depart and am no more.”
- Job 7:1–2
“Is not man consigned to labor on earth? Are not his days like those of a hired hand?
- Psalms 39:13
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Job
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Job; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Job; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book VIII; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.