Verse 4
4. When I lie down “This is a fine touch. The longing for morn does not come, as to the Prometheus of AEschylus, after a night of suffering, but anticipates it. Job’s one thought, as he lies down hopeless of rest or respite, is, when will the light return, bringing with it, at least, more of consciousness and power to endure the agony.” Canon Cook.
The night be gone מדד , is rendered by some, is long. Thus Dillmann, Hitzig, and Renan, “When shall I arise? and the night is prolonged.” Many others make middadh the construct state of a verbal noun, and read, “and the flight of the evening be” evening being equivalent to night of the preceding verse. The accents favour this reading, which is substantially that of the Authorized Version. The use of the word evening heightens the beauty of the thought. If the evening twilight be so hard to bear in anticipation, what must the whole night be?
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