The Meaning of Job 7:4 Explained

Job 7:4

KJV: When I lie down, I say, When shall I arise, and the night be gone? and I am full of tossings to and fro unto the dawning of the day.

YLT: If I lay down then I said, 'When do I rise!' And evening hath been measured, And I have been full of tossings till dawn.

Darby: If I lie down, I say, When shall I rise up, and the darkness be gone? and I am full of tossings until the dawn.

ASV: When I lie down, I say, When shall I arise, and the night be gone? And I am full of tossings to and fro unto the dawning of the day.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

When I lie down,  I say,  When shall I arise,  and the night  be gone?  and I am full  of tossings to and fro  unto the dawning of the day. 

What does Job 7:4 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 7:4 mean?

When I lie down and I say when shall I arise and be ended the night for I have had my fill of tossing till dawn
אִם־ שָׁכַ֗בְתִּי וְאָמַ֗רְתִּי מָתַ֣י אָ֭קוּם ؟ וּמִדַּד־ עָ֑רֶב וְשָׂבַ֖עְתִּי נְדֻדִ֣ים עֲדֵי־ נָֽשֶׁף

שָׁכַ֗בְתִּי  I  lie  down 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, first person common singular
Root: שָׁכַב  
Sense: to lie down.
וְאָמַ֗רְתִּי  and  I  say 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, first person common singular
Root: אָמַר 
Sense: to say, speak, utter.
אָ֭קוּם  shall  I  arise 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, first person common singular
Root: קוּם 
Sense: to rise, arise, stand, rise up, stand up.
؟ וּמִדַּד־  and  be  ended 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Piel, Conjunctive perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: מָדַד  
Sense: (Piel) to make extension, continue.
עָ֑רֶב  the  night 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: עֶרֶב  
Sense: evening, night, sunset.
וְשָׂבַ֖עְתִּי  for  I  have  had  my  fill 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, first person common singular
Root: שָׂבַע  
Sense: to be satisfied, be sated, be fulfilled, be surfeited.
נְדֻדִ֣ים  of  tossing 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: נְדֻדִים  
Sense: tossing (of sleeplessness).
עֲדֵי־  till 
Parse: Preposition
Root: עַד  
Sense: as far as, even to, until, up to, while, as far as.
נָֽשֶׁף  dawn 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: נֶשֶׁף  
Sense: twilight.