What is man, that thou shouldest magnify him? and that thou shouldest set thine heart upon him?
Parallel translations
- WEB What is man, that you should magnify him, that you should set your mind on him,
- BSB What is man that You should exalt him, that You should set Your heart upon him,
- NKJV “Whatis man, that You should exalt him, That You should set Your heart on him,
- NASB “What is man that You exalt him, And that You are concerned about him,
- NLT “What are people, that you should make so much of us, that you should think of us so often?
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Job asks why God makes so much of frail humanity, setting his attention on man. Here it is a complaint that God's scrutiny feels oppressive.
Overview
Job's words echo the wonder of Psalm 8 ('What is man?') but turn it to lament: he cannot understand why God bothers to fix such intense attention on a creature so small. What the psalmist celebrates as dignity, Job experiences as unwelcome surveillance. The tension is resolved as God's care for humanity is ultimately revealed as redemptive love.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Heb 2:6But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him?
- Ps 8:4What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
- Ps 144:3LORD, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him! or the son of man, that thou makest account of him!
- Job 34:14–15If he set his heart upon man, if he gather unto himself his spirit and his breath;
- Job 7:12Am I a sea, or a whale, that thou settest a watch over me?
- 1 Sam 24:14After whom is the king of Israel come out? after whom dost thou pursue? after a dead dog, after a flea.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Job's cry for a mediator who can lay his hand on both God and man, and his confidence that 'my Redeemer lives' and will stand on the earth, reaches forward to Jesus the living Redeemer.
How Job 7:17 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.