“I have sinned; what shall I do unto thee, O thou preserver of men? why hast thou set me as a mark against thee, so that I am a burden to myself?”
My Notes
What Does Job 7:20 Mean?
"I have sinned; what shall I do unto thee, O thou preserver of men? why hast thou set me as a mark against thee, so that I am a burden to myself?" Job's confession is deeply ironic: "I have sinned" — even if he has, what can he possibly do about it? The question "what shall I do unto thee" isn't repentance. It's bewilderment. If God is watching his every move, targeting him like an archer targets a mark, what response could possibly satisfy?
The title "preserver of men" (notzer ha'adam — watcher of humanity) is used with double meaning: God preserves/watches over humanity — but for Job, the watching has become surveillance, and the preserving feels like trapping. The God who watches over you can also watch you with the intensity of a hunter tracking prey. The same attribute that comforts the protected terrifies the targeted.
The phrase "a burden to myself" (masa alai — a load upon myself) is Job's most introspective statement: he has become unbearable to himself. His own existence is a weight he can't carry. The suffering has made his own identity a burden — he can't escape his pain because he IS the site of the pain.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Have you ever felt like 'a burden to yourself' — and could you bring that honestly to God?
- 2.How does 'preserver of men' shift from comforting to terrifying when you feel targeted rather than protected?
- 3.What does Job's exasperated 'what shall I do unto thee' reveal about the limits of human effort in suffering?
- 4.When has God's watchful attention felt more like surveillance than protection — and what did you do with that feeling?
Devotional
I have sinned. So what? What can I possibly do about it? Job's confession isn't humble — it's exasperated. Even if I've sinned, what do You want from me? What action could possibly satisfy a God who has set me up as a target? The question isn't seeking instruction. It's expressing helplessness.
The 'preserver of men' — God who watches over humanity — becomes terrifying when the watching feels like targeting. The same God who preserves you from danger can turn that attention into an overwhelming surveillance: every action scrutinized, every step observed, every sin catalogued. The comfort of 'God watches over me' becomes the terror of 'God watches me' when the relationship shifts from protection to prosecution.
The 'set me as a mark against thee' makes Job feel like God's target — an archery mark for divine arrows. The image is of a God who has singled Job out, aimed at him specifically, and made him the object of focused negative attention. Job doesn't feel like one of many. He feels like the one.
The 'burden to myself' is the most devastating line: Job has become too heavy for himself to carry. His own existence — his own body, his own thoughts, his own waking hours — is a weight that crushes him. He can't escape the suffering because the suffering lives in him. He IS the site of the pain. There's nowhere to run when the burden is yourself.
Have you ever felt like a burden to yourself — and did you know that speaking it honestly to God is exactly what Job did?
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
I have sinned,.... Some render it, "if I have sinned" (w); be it so that I have, as my friends say, yet since there is…
I have sinned - חטאתי châṭâ'tı̂y. This is a literal translation, and as it stands in the common version it is the…
Job here reasons with God,
I. Concerning his dealings with man in general (Job 7:17, Job 7:18): What is man, that thou…
Third, Job makes the supposition that he has sinned, and asks, how such a thing can affect God? and, why He does not…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture