Defining the Terms

Have I sinned? What have I done to You, Watcher of mankind?  Why have You made me Your target, so that I am a burden to myself?  Job 7:20  NASB

Watcher of mankind – Does God watch over us?  That might seem a ridiculous question.  Of course He does.  Who could imagine otherwise?  He’s the Creator.  He’s the Sovereign.  How could He not observe His own creation?  The omniscient One certainly sees us.

But this isn’t the sense of Job’s rhetorical question.  There’s no doubt that God observes.  The question is “What involvement does God have in what He has made?”  The answer to that question has been theologically debated for centuries.  It’s the “Immanent vs. Transcendent” dilemma.  Is God the deistic outside observer or is He an existential participant in the human drama?  It seems as though the biblical material provides evidence for both, but exactly how both can be equally true is a bit more difficult to determine.  So difficult, actually, that the Church was forced to invent the “dual nature of Christ” in response.  Judaism doesn’t escape the problem simply because it doesn’t include a divine Messiah.  Second Temple rabbinic thought still speaks about transcendence with a tip of the hat toward moment-by-moment involvement.  Job’s question places the dilemma in the foreground.  What exactly is sin if God is the distant, transcendent observer?  And if He isn’t so far removed, then why does righteousness bring about suffering?

“Have I sinned?” asks Job.  The Hebrew noun is the common word ḥāṭāʾ.

The basic meaning of the root is to miss a mark or a way. . . The verb has the connotation of breach of civil law, i.e. failure to live up to expectations, . . . Extended to religious obligations, the form, ḥāṭāʾ min, in Lev 4:2 designates a failure to observe God’s laws and in Lev 5:16 denotes action which gives less than is due, a failure of full duty.

In so acting, man is missing the goal or standard God has for him, is failing to observe the requirements of holy living, or falls short of spiritual wholeness.

the failure to hit the mark, a turning away from obedience, a lack of wholeness or of acceptance before God.^[1]

Our difficulty in Job’s case is that he is explicitly accounted as someone who has not missed the mark.  He is ritually observant.  He acts in godly ways.  He demonstrates holy living.  By the standard of ḥāṭāʾ, Job is exemplary.  But his consequences are out of alignment with the expectation of righteousness.  Therefore, Job inquires, “What kind of Watcher are You?”

The verbal root of the title “Watcher” is nāṣar.  Interestingly, Job isn’t the only one to use this title for God.  “The Lord himself is regarded as a keeper or watchman over his vineyard Israel and over all men in general (Isa 27:3; Job 7:20).”^[2]  But “watching” is understood biblically in terms of fidelity, loyalty, and observance.

. . . there is the concept of “guarding with fidelity.” It usually centers around observing the covenant or the law of the Lord. The Lord himself is the one keeping loyal love (ḥesed) to thousands of generations (Ex 34:7). But mortal men are also responsible for observing the covenant (Deut 33:9; Ps 25:10) and the precepts or law of God (Ps 78:7; 105:45; 119:2, 22, 33, 34, 56, 69, 100, 115, 129, 145). Even the commands of parents (Prov 6:20; 28:7) and the discipline of wisdom (Prov 3:1, 21; 4:13; 5:2) require the same kind of faithful observance.^[3]

If God is the Watcher in the biblical sense, then Job is being seriously mistreated.  In fact, Job uses another Hebrew word to emphasize this disparity when he says, “You made me a target.”

mipgāʿ means, “something hit, a mark.”  Job has substituted missing the mark with hit the mark, only in this case, while he has not missed the mark, God has aimed at him anyway.

Consider the implications in this linguistic exchange.  Job expects punishment for those who miss the mark, and he expects protection and prosperity for those who do not miss the mark.  But the circumstances turn this world upside down.  Now those who miss the mark go unpunished while those who don’t miss the mark experience suffering.  Righteousness isn’t what it’s cracked up to be.  And this is potentially one of the deepest lessons of the book of Job.  Grace falls on the sinner; suffering visits the righteous.  God shows benevolence to those who have not kept the Law, but He allows heartache for those who have.  Is it any wonder that Judaism concluded that the role of the Jew was to act as the scapegoat for the disobedience of the Gentile?  Is that how you’ve thought about it?

Topical Index: sin, ḥāṭāʾ, target, mipgāʿ, Job 7:20

^[1] Livingston, G. H. (1999). 638 חָטָא. In R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament(electronic ed., p. 278). Moody Press.

^[2] Kaiser, W. C. (1999). 1407 נָצַר. In R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 594). Moody Press.

^[3] Ibid.