Job 11:9

Its measure is longer than the earth’s,

   And broader than the sea’s,

 

Going verse by verse sometimes brings these bits that dangle if they were on their own. I understand people feel like that sometimes. In a group all is good, but when they are left on their own, they struggle. I think the general tactic is to call them an extrovert, wish them well, and go back into our introvert holes. Often we are called to do more, and sometimes it is not just a calling but a duty.

“Its” was also “their”, “it” with no measure, or left out all together. “Measure” was also “extension” in one place, but I think that source was wrong. Most sources only had “earth” rather than “earth’s” which does put a slight twist to the potential meanings. “Longer” was also “greater”. I liked the King James with “The measure there of is”.

“Broader” was also “wider”. “Sea’s” was only “sea”, but I matched the first stitch outcome.

I went with the singular it since I felt the topic was the essence of God and not deep things. I went with earth’s and sea’s as I felt it was talking about the measure of the earth and the measure of the sea and not the earth and the sea itself. I may yet like ”The measure there of” over “its measure”. (I do.)

Not with this verse, but one I was working on in the last couple days, one of my sources included an opinion that maybe it was added later. The reasoning he mentioned was that the language was different than the text around it. My first thought was that this is poetry and not every word has to be full of wisdom and a super high purpose. Sometimes, it should be able to be a little less. This verse today is one of those. We just used heaven and hell as relative measures, and now we are backing down to the earth and its seas. Could this have been added later to dumb it down?

I firmly believe that the underlying content in the King James version is the content that God wanted us to use to learn about Him through scripture. The extra bits that seem to have been added or the extra bits that seem to have been lost or the extra bits that seem out of order are all a snapshot that we could all work from and believe was enough. There are parts that have been added in later that I would not argue about their truth, but I would think we could get where we needed without them.

And so, we return to the people that struggle with aloneness. It is a thing. I know it is a thing. God knows it is a thing. I do not have it, but I know people who do. I think God is the solution to everything. When I think about things that could go wrong, I always circle back to the expectation that my relationship with God is sufficient. I do not need anything else. I want other things and I have other things, but this is the one thing that I truly need. I have an older friend who is somewhat isolated from every other person. He told me he struggles even with the thought of driving 30 minutes to meet for lunch. I would struggle with driving 30 minutes to meet him for lunch except I think God has placed him in my life for me to serve. I may not be really helping, but I am just trying to be a good follower. Every person has a bit of God either living in them or ready to. For those who do not have it in them, I can almost visualize the bit dangling waiting for the opportunity to be let in. I wonder if others can as well. Either way, its that little bit that makes each person worth saving.

 

The measure there of is longer than the earth’s,

   And broader than the sea’s,

 

Yep, I like it.

(Written 2/10, Posted 2/11, Job 239)