Job 7:11

“Therefore, ¹  I will not refrain my mouth; ²  I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain ³  in the bitterness of my soul.

Ge 42:21; 1Sa 1:10; 2Ki 4:27,28; Job 6:26; Job 10:1; Job 10:15; Job 13:13; Job 16:6; Job 21:3; Job 21:25; Ps 39:3; Ps 40:9; Isa 38:15,17; Mt 26:37,38; Lu 22:44; 2Co 2:4

¹ tn “Also I” has been rendered frequently as “therefore,” introducing a conclusion. BDB 168-69 s.v. גַמּ lists Ps 52:7 [5] as a parallel, but it also could be explained as an adversative.

² sn “Mouth” here is metonymical for what he says – he will not withhold his complaints. Peake notes that in this section Job comes very close to doing what Satan said he would do. If he does not curse God to his face, he certainly does cast off restraints to his lament. But here Job excuses himself in advance of the lament.

³ tn The verb is not limited to mental musing; it is used for pouring out a complaint or a lament (see S. Mowinckel, “The Verb si^ah and the Nouns si^ah, siha,” ST 15 [1961]: 1-10).