Job feels that in a short time he will die—“sleep in the dust”—therefore why should not God pardon him? What advantage is it to God to torment him, when life has so nearly ebbed away? If pardon does not come speedily, it will be too late.

 There are those who believe that vs. 20 and 21 were addressed, not to God, but to Eliphaz. According to this view, Job turned to Eliphaz and said in effect, “You say I must have been a sinner. What then? I have not sinned against you, O you spy upon mankind! Why have you set me up as a mark to shoot at? Why am I become a burden to you? Why not rather overlook my transgressions and pass by my iniquity? Tomorrow, perhaps, I shall be sought in vain!” Such an interpretation is possible, but a shift in the person addressed is not obvious in the text.

 Job’s speech, recorded in chs. 6 and 7, exhibits certain perils:

 (1) The danger of too much emphasis on the vanity of life. Men should remember their great value in the sight of God.

 (2) The danger of unrestrained expression of emotion. When Job removed his inhibitions, he complained in bitterness, questioned with irreverence, accused with rashness, and begged with impatience.

 (3) The tendency of the human heart, when blinded by grief or agitated by passion, to misconstrue God’s dealings.

 (4) The certainty that good men may have much of the old unrenewed nature in them lying unsuspected until occasion calls it forth. One would hardly have anticipated Job’s outburst of passion.