Bible Strands
Job 7:2
Like a slave he longs for shade; like a hireling he waits for his wages.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Job speaks from his afflicted state, comparing his existence to the forced labor of a slave and the anxious waiting of a hired worker. The words — The Hebrew יִשְׁאַף (yish'af) translates to "he pants for" shade, while יְקַוֶּה (yeqaveh) means "he longs for" wages, highlighting desperate physical and economic anticipation. The thread — The text’s focus on wages and labor conditions parallels the commands in Leviticus 19:13 and Deuteronomy 24:15 regarding the prompt payment of hired hands. Why it lands — The text demands recognition that human life under suffering feels like unending labor with no guaranteed relief, mirroring the hireling’s wait for daily pay.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
As a servant earnestly desireth the shadow, and as an hireling looketh for the reward of his work:
Cross-references
- Leviticus 19:13 You must not defraud your neighbor or rob him. You must not withhold until morning the wages due a hired hand.
- Deuteronomy 24:15 You are to pay his wages each day before sunset, because he is poor and depends on them. Otherwise he may cry out to the LORD against you, and you will be guilty of sin.
- Malachi 3:5 “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. And I will be a swift witness against sorcerers and adulterers and perjurers, against oppressors of the widowed and fatherless, and against those who defraud laborers of their wages and deny justice to the foreigner but do not fear Me,” says the LORD of Hosts.
- James 5:4 Look, the wages you withheld from the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts.
- Jeremiah 6:4 ‘Prepare for battle against her; rise up, let us attack at noon. Woe to us, for the daylight is fading; the evening shadows grow long.
- Psalms 119:131 I open my mouth and pant, longing for Your commandments.
- Psalms 143:6 I stretch out my hands to You; my soul thirsts for You like a parched land. Selah