The Meaning of Job 7:17 Explained

Job 7:17

KJV: What is man, that thou shouldest magnify him? and that thou shouldest set thine heart upon him?

YLT: What is man that Thou dost magnify him? And that Thou settest unto him Thy heart?

Darby: What is man, that thou makest much of him? and that thou settest thy heart upon him?

ASV: What is man, that thou shouldest magnify him, And that thou shouldest set thy mind upon him,

KJV Reverse Interlinear

What [is] man,  that thou shouldest magnify  him? and that thou shouldest set  thine heart  upon him? 

What does Job 7:17 Mean?

Context Summary

Job 7:1-21 - Longing For The Evening
The servant eagerly longs for the lengthening shadow, which tells him that his day of labor is at an end, and we may allow ourselves to anticipate the hour of our reward and deliverance.
In plaintive words, which have so often been on the lips of heavy sufferers, Job tells the story of his sorrow and bitterness. The sufferer addresses God directly-almost suggesting at first that God was persecuting him without cause. Let those who have been disposed to think God unmindful and hard in His dealings, ponder these words. Even this saint of patience has trodden that path before them, and he came out right at last. But a softer tone follows; Job realizes that he has sinned, pleads to be forgiven, and asks that the word of forgiving love may not tarry, lest it be too late. The psalmist uses expressions similar to Job 7:17-18, but with a more wholesome application, Psalms 8:4; Psalms 144:3.
Notice that wonderful name for God-the watcher of men, Job 7:20, r.v. Not to discover their sins, but to learn their sorrows and needs with the intent of helping them with His saving strength. [source]

Chapter Summary: Job 7

1  Job excuses his desire of death
12  He complains of his own restlessness, and reasons with God

What do the individual words in Job 7:17 mean?

What [is] man that You should exalt him and [That] You should set on him Your heart
מָֽה־ אֱ֭נוֹשׁ כִּ֣י תְגַדְּלֶ֑נּוּ וְכִי־ תָשִׁ֖ית אֵלָ֣יו לִבֶּֽךָ

מָֽה־  What  [is] 
Parse: Interrogative
Root: לָמָּה 
Sense: what, how, of what kind.
אֱ֭נוֹשׁ  man 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: אֱנׄושׁ 
Sense: man, mortal man, person, mankind.
כִּ֣י  that 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: כִּי 
Sense: that, for, because, when, as though, as, because that, but, then, certainly, except, surely, since.
תְגַדְּלֶ֑נּוּ  You  should  exalt  him 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Imperfect, second person masculine singular, third person masculine singular
Root: גָּדַל  
Sense: to grow, become great or important, promote, make powerful, praise, magnify, do great things.
וְכִי־  and  [That] 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Conjunction
Root: כִּי 
Sense: that, for, because, when, as though, as, because that, but, then, certainly, except, surely, since.
תָשִׁ֖ית  You  should  set 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, second person masculine singular
Root: שִׁית  
Sense: to put, set.
אֵלָ֣יו  on  him 
Parse: Preposition, third person masculine singular
Root: אֶל  
Sense: to, toward, unto (of motion).
לִבֶּֽךָ  Your  heart 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, second person masculine singular
Root: לֵב 
Sense: inner man, mind, will, heart, understanding.