What is man, that thou shouldest magnify him? and that thou shouldest set thine heart upon him?
The verse stands in Job's reply to Eliphaz's counsel not to despise divine chastening, where Job defends his lament. It asks what a human being is that God should exalt him and fix His heart upon him, marveling why such care and scrutiny should be given to one so small and frail. Man is born of woman, living few days and full of trouble, sprouting like a flower only to be cut down, passing like a shadow without remaining.
That close divine regard and remembrance is astonishing mercy, and the verse affirms as true that God does magnify man and set His heart upon him. His watchful attention seeks human love, for He would be first in every heart, and He alone holds the key to its hidden chambers. The loneliness felt when no fellow creature can fully understand the inner life is meant to draw the soul to seek Him, in whom perfect sympathy and peace are found.
This certainty of God's regard for man brings comfort to friends and relatives left to mourn the dead. Eliphaz's reasoning about suffering must be weighed with care, for adversity does not prove divine displeasure, suffering may be loving discipline working for good, and the suffering of Christ shows that suffering may also glorify God.
The verse stands in Job's reply to Eliphaz's counsel not to despise divine chastening, where Job defends his lament. It asks what a human being is that God should exalt him and fix His heart upon him, marveling why such care and scrutiny should be given to one so small and frail. Man is born of woman, living few days and full of trouble, sprouting like a flower only to be cut down, passing like a shadow without remaining.
That close divine regard and remembrance is astonishing mercy, and the verse affirms as true that God does magnify man and set His heart upon him. His watchful attention seeks human love, for He would be first in every heart, and He alone holds the key to its hidden chambers. The loneliness felt when no fellow creature can fully understand the inner life is meant to draw the soul to seek Him, in whom perfect sympathy and peace are found.
This certainty of God's regard for man brings comfort to friends and relatives left to mourn the dead. Eliphaz's reasoning about suffering must be weighed with care, for adversity does not prove divine displeasure, suffering may be loving discipline working for good, and the suffering of Christ shows that suffering may also glorify God.