If I sin, what do I do to you, you watcher of mankind? Why have you made me your mark? Why have I become a burden to you?
Disease has worn Job down, and his friends have turned into accusers. He stops arguing with them and speaks straight to God about his sin. He admits it, complains, and asks a question he cannot answer. If he has sinned, why does God aim at him instead of pardoning him?
Watcher, Not Preserver
Commentators read the title Job gives God in two ways. They take it as watcher, not preserver. One writer explains that choice, and what Job knew about being seen.
F. B. HoleIn verse 20, Job goes even further. He realized God would not let him alone and he confesses to sin. The New Translation renders the opening of that verse, "Have I sinned, what do I to You, You Observer of men?" We understand that "Observer," and not "Preserver," is the correct translation. He knew he was under God's eye, who could perceive error where he was hardly aware of it. And why did God not grant pardon and remove the weight of his load?
The Same Eye Seen as Kindness
The same watching that Job resents is a comfort elsewhere in Scripture. One commentator, writing about God as the preserver of men, points back to this verse.
William KellyThe apostle is speaking of the living God Himself — of God in His character as preserver of men, just as Job speaks here (Job 7:20). We are looking at God's care and rule over the world, where nothing escapes His notice. So He makes His sun rise on evil and good, and sends rain on just and unjust. How much more valued are His own than many sparrows, even the hairs of their heads being all numbered!
A Confession That Stops Short
Job does mention his sin, but only in passing. One commentator weighs what that admission is worth.
Samuel RidoutAt last Job will speak of his sin, though most briefly. "I have sinned" — but it is not the true acknowledgment of penitence, rather a hypothetical statement. Granted that I have sinned, what is that to You, O watcher of men? Why do You seek me as a mark for Your weapons instead of pardoning and restoring me to my former prosperity? … As his soul twists in anguish, Job does not hesitate to accuse God. If he has sinned, why does God punish instead of showing mercy? Such challenges cannot be allowed to pass.
The Charge Behind the Question
Job asks what harm his sin could do to God. In asking it, he comes close to charging God with cruelty.
Leslie M. GrantSupposing it true that he had sinned, yet what harm had this done to God, whom he calls the Observer of men (v.20)? Was God watching him with a cold, spiteful attitude? Was He making Job a target for His temper, so that Job became a burden to himself? … Of course Job's words are ill-considered, the expressions of a tortured mind. Yet it is as well that what is in the heart comes out.
(Some older translations read "a burden to myself," where the ESV has "a burden to you.")
Why He Could Not Answer His Own Question
One commentator traces the trouble to something Job had never done — look at himself in God's presence.
C. H. MackintoshBut, with all this, Job had never sounded the depths of his own heart. He did not know himself. He had never really grasped the truth of his own utter ruin and total depravity. … You must grasp this point, or you will not understand the book of Job. Job was called to pass through deep and painful trials. We will not see what they were for unless we face this solemn fact: his conscience had never really been in God's presence. He had never seen himself in the light.
Where the Watching Was Leading
Job's question does get an answer. It comes later, when Job sees the One who was watching him.
J. Wilson SmithThe lesson was now learned. Job had looked into the mirror and had seen himself as he had never done; not only so, but he had also seen the Lord. This was enough. It produced repentance. But there is an immense difference between saying "I abhor myself" and "I am clean without transgression."
Summary
- Watched. Job calls God the Observer, or watcher, of men — not the Preserver. He knew God's eye was on him, seeing faults he barely noticed in himself.
- Watched in care. The same watching is a comfort elsewhere. Nothing escapes God's care and notice, down to the sparrows and the hairs of our heads.
- Watched, and resenting it. Job treats that watching as hostile. He asks what harm his sin could do to God, and sees himself as a target instead of a man pardoned.
- Watched, but not yet known. "I have sinned" here sounds more like a supposition than repentance. Job's conscience had never yet stood in God's presence.
- Watched until seen. In the end Job sees the Lord, and then he sees himself. Self-defence turns into repentance. That is the answer to this verse.