Job 10:4

Job 10:4 Hast thou eyes of flesh? or seest thou as man seeth?

Ver. 4. Hast thou eyes of flesh?] Which see but the surface of things, and not that neither in the dark. Hast thou not fiery eyes, Rev 1:14, that need no outward light, but see by sending out a ray, and pierce the inward parts also? Hast thou not made the eye? yea, the optic virtue in the eye, which seeth all and is seen of none? If the sun be the eye of the world, God is much more. The Greeks give him his name from seeing, because he seeth through and through; eyes he hath, but not of flesh; he seeth, but not as man.

Or seest thou as man seeth?] Art thou subject to error, ignorance, partiality, popularity, &c.? Proceedest thou not according to truth (yea, truth in the inward parts), and not according to opinion or appearance? Of a judge it is said, that he doth neque suspicere, nec despicere, nec respicere, nec circumspicere, neither look up nor down, nor this way nor that, but straight forward to the cause, and not to the person. Of a just law it is said, that it is a heart without affection, an eye without lust, a mind without passion, a treasurer which keepeth for every man what he hath, and distributeth to every man what he ought to have; so and much more than so is God, whatever thoughts might arise sometimes in Job’s heart to the contrary.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Job 10:4. Hast thou eyes of flesh? — No. Eyes of flesh cannot see in the dark: but darkness hideth not from God. Eyes of flesh are but in one place at a time, and can see but a little way. But the eyes of the Lord are in every place, and run to and fro through the whole earth. Eyes of flesh will shortly be darkened by age, and shut up by death. But the eyes of God are ever the same, nor does his sight ever decay. Or seest thou as man — Man sees the outside only, and judges by appearances: but thou seest my heart.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Doest thou this of ignorance?

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Dost Thou see as feebly as man? that is, with the same uncharitable eye, as, for instance, Job's friends? Is Thy time as short? Impossible! Yet one might think, from the rapid succession of Thy strokes, that Thou hadst no time to spare in overwhelming me.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 4. Hast thou eyes of flesh!] Dost thou judge as man judges? Illustrated by the next clause, Seest thou as man seeth?

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

4. Job hazards the supposition that God has eyes like men and may see amiss, to account for His mistaken treatment of him.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Hast thou eyes of flesh?.... God has eyes, but not fleshly ones; he has eyes of love, grace, and mercy, which are always upon his people for good, and are never withdrawn from them; and he has eyes of displeasure and wrath on sinful men, to destroy them; these are not made of flesh, or like the eyes of flesh and blood, or of men; fleshy eyes cannot see at any great distance, and only in one place at a time, and only one object after another; they cannot see in the dark, and what they are, and only outward objects; and in these they are sometimes deceived, and at length fail: but the eyes of God see all things, at the greatest distance; he looks down from heaven, and beholds all the children of men on earth, and all their actions; his eyes are in every place, beholding the evil and the good; he can see in the dark as well as in the light, the darkness and the light are both alike to him; he beholds not only outward actions and visible objects, but the hearts of men, and all that is in them; nor is he ever deceived, nor will his sight ever fail: though Job, perhaps, may mean carnal eyes; that is, evil ones, as especially envious ones are: "is thine eye evil?" Mat 20:15; that is, envious; and it is as if Job should say, dost thou envy me my former prosperity and peace, that thou searchest so narrowly into my conduct to find iniquity in me, and take advantage against me?

or seest thou as man seeth? look with hatred and envy, as one man does upon another: so seemed the dispensations of God towards Job, as if he did, as he suggests.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Hast thou eyes of flesh? - Eyes like man. Dost thou look upon man with the same disposition to discern faults; the same uncharitableness and inclination to construe everything in the severest manner possible, which characterizes man? Possibly Job may have reference here to the harsh judgment of his friends, and means to ask whether it could be possible for God to evince the same feelings in judging of him which they had done.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Seeth, judging only of the exterior. (Tirinus) (Ver. 6.)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Of flesh, i.e. of a man, who is called flesh, as Gen 6:13; Isa 40:6.

Seest thou as man seeth? Man seeth outsides only, and judgeth by appearances, and is liable to many mistakes, and cannot search out secret faults without forcing men by cruel usage to accuse themselves: but thou needest none of these arts; thou seest my heart and mine uprightness, which my friends do not see, who therefore are more excusable in charging me with hypocrisy: but thou knowest all things, thou needest not examine me by tortures, as thou now dost, Job 10:6. For thou knowest that I am not wicked, as he saith, Job 10:7, and therefore do not thou deal with me as if I were wicked.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

4. Eyes of flesh — A second reason is, that God is not limited by human faculties. He sees not through the external sense but by intuition. He has not to reason, as man does, from what appears. His sight is thwarted by no dimming veil of sense, but He at once comprehends the heart.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Hast thou eyes of flesh? or seest thou as man seeth? Notwithstanding the anthropomorphism of their language, the sacred writers are as fully aware as their modern critics of the immateriality of God, and the immense gap that separates his nature from human nature. It is on this that Job now dwells. God, being so much above man, having eyes that are not of flesh, and seeing not as man sooth, ought not to judge as man judges, with partiality, or prejudice, or even with extreme severity (ver. 6).

God"s vision of man.

How does God see us? Is he SO far above us that he cannot quite see us as we are? Is he so great that he cannot conceive of our littleness? Are his ideas so different from our own that he cannot understand our life and sympathize with it? Or is not God so supreme in his vision of man that he cannot make the mistakes we make, and must see us truly just as we are? If w, why does God seem to act as though he had man"s limited vision? Questions of this sort seem to be perplexing Job. How can they be met?

I GOD SEES US TRULY AS WE ARE. It is no attribute of infinity to be above seeing what is small. Because God is infinite he can descend to the infinitely little as well as comprehend the infinitely great. Moreover, he does not treat us as insignificant beings unworthy of his notice, but he regards us as his children. The very hairs of our head are numbered by God. His greatness is seen in the truth and thoroughness of his vision. He does not look through distorting media, nor does he only see one aspect of things, as is the case with us. He sees all round everything, and he looks through all things. There is no secret hidden from God. He understands what he sees, for his infinite vision is accompanied by an infinite comprehension.

II GOD JUDGES US BY A HIGHER STANDARD THAN OURS. We are hampered by narrow ideas; our judgment is warped and cramped by prejudice and error. Our ignorance, folly, and sin even mar the very standards by which we judge. God"s estimate is supremely fair, and it is after the very highest and purest ideas of judgment.

III GOD"S STANDARD OF JUDGMENT IS NOT ALIEN TO OURS. We might be dismayed by the very elevation and perfection of God"s method of judgment, thinking it totally different from our own. If this were the case conscience would be a delusion. But God is the Creator of conscience, and though this is limited, and in a measure perverted, still it retains the essential character given to it by God. "God made man in his own image". (Gen_1:26) Therefore man"s honest judgment must be a reflection of God"s judgment. God sees as we see, so far as we see truly. His judgment is just the correction and perfection of our judgment.

IV GOD HAS ENTERED INTO OUR LIFE THAT HE MAY SEE US WITH OUR OWN EYES. This seems to be part of the purpose of the Incarnation. Christ is a brother-Man. He looks at us with human eyes. One with us by nature, he can perfectly understand us. We cannot even understand our favourite dog when he turns to us his dumb, pathetic gaze, for he is of a different species. Christ became one with us, one of our species. Thus we can understand him, and he can perfectly sympathize with us. Apart from Christ, God seems to be distant and altogether different from ourselves. In Christ he is one with us, near to us, and able to regard us with the eyes of a Brother. W.F.A.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Eyes of faith - No. Eyes of flesh cannot see in the dark: but darkness hideth not from God. Eyes of flesh are but in one place at a time, and can see but a little way. But the eyes of the Lord are in every place, and run to and fro thro' the whole earth. Eyes of flesh will shortly be darkened by age, and shut up by death. But the eyes of God are ever the same, nor does his sight ever decay. As man - Man sees the outside only, and Judges by appearances: but thou seest mine heart.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Do you have eyes of flesh? Do you see like a man sees?

These two questions have nearly the same meaning. These questions expect a negative answer to emphasize that God does not see or understand things the same way a man does. They can be expressed as statements. AT: "You do not have eyes of flesh, and you do not see like a man sees." (See: Parallelism and Rhetorical Question)

Are your days like the days of mankind or your years like the years of people ... and there is no one who can rescue me from your hand?

This question expects a negative answer to emphasize that God is eternal and man's days are limited. It can be expressed as a statement. AT: "Your days are not like the days of mankind and your years are not like the years of people ... and there is no one who can rescue me from your hand." (See: Rhetorical Question)

your days like the days of mankind ... your years like the years of people

These two phrases have nearly the same meaning. (See: Parallelism)

your days

"the number of your days"

your years

"the number of your years"

inquire after my iniquity ... search after my sin

These two phrases have nearly the same meaning. (See: Parallelism)

inquire after

"seek after"

from your hand

Here "your hand" represents God's power. AT: "from your power" (See: Synecdoche)

translationWords

flesh

inquire

iniquity

sin

guilt

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.