"Oh! That...." The 10 "O thats" of Job

*There are at least 3 more such exclamations listed in the book of Job in the KJV, but none of those 3 are of the same Hebrew word.

O that God...

The Hebrew word מי , pronounced "me", used in direct exclamation is found 10 times in the book of Job. Athough this is often an interrogative pronoun, asking who, it is also a by oblique construction, a colloquial idom meaning "Would to God!..." Commonly phrased as "Oh that..."

The deepest yearnings of our soul are known only to God and are kept by Him.

Dare we entrust our yearnings to God, which knoweth the hearts?

The 10"O thats"of Job

1. Oh that I might have my request

2. Oh that God might speak

3. Oh that ye would hold thy peace

4. Oh that Thou wouldest hid me

5. Oh that my words were written

6. Oh that my words were printed in a book

7. Oh that I knew

8. Oh that I were

9. Oh that we had

10. Oh that One would hear

Do any of these sound familiar to you? Oh too familiar to me.

"I wish I had, God speak to me, everyone else be quiet, hide me o God, if only my words were written, if only what i had to say mattered, if only i knew, i wish i was ..., if only we had, oh that some ONE would listen"

The 10 "O that"s of Job. Job wasn't wrong to question, but he was genuinely longing for God to answer. Are we longing for God's answer, or are our exclamations really just exaggerated complaints?

Can we trust God to satisfy our need? Do we trust Him?

Job 6:8 Oh that I might have my request; and that God would grant me the thing that I long for!

Job 11:5 But oh that God would speak, and open his lips against thee;

Job 13:5 O that ye would altogether hold your peace! and it should be your wisdom.

Job 14:13 O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me!

Job 19:23a Oh that my words were now written!

Job 19:23b Oh that they were printed in a book!

Job 23:3 Oh that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat!

Job 29:2 Oh that I were as in months past, as in the days when God preserved me;

Job 31:31 If the men of my tabernacle said not, Oh that we had of his flesh! we cannot be satisfied.

Job 31:35 Oh that one would hear me! behold, my desire is, that the Almighty would answer me, and that mine adversary had written a book.

The Little Man of the Eye

"The eyes are the gateway to the Soul." This quote is often attributed to Herman Melville, author of Moby-Dick and other novels. Herman Melville is now well known in the literature world, however when he died in 1891 his works were largely unknown. Strange how fame has a way of showing up AFTER one dies... Herman Melville was friends with Nathaniel Hawthorne, who is predominately famous for The Scarlett Letter. Now, that's just a little blurb on who said it. :)

However, regardless of the quote being attributed to Melville, the concept is much older. Ancient peoples believed the eyes to be the gateway of the soul. If you have ever watched Mongol, (and be forewarned: there are more heads coming off in that movie than anything else) you may have caught a slight cultural reference to the same concept. In Mongol, Genghis Kan seeks to choose a wife. He is just a little boy, traveling with his father, when he sees the girl he wants. His father's words were to the audience and to little Genghis (whose real name is something else)--choose a bride with narrow eyes as wide eyes are too often invaded by spirits. (By referencing Mongol, I mean only to illustrate the presence of the concept in ancient cultures.)

Many missionary books mention various cultures of having the impression of the eyes as windows or openings to the soul. I keep thinking Peace Child mentioned something along those lines, although, I can't find the book to check. Anyhow, I could go on and on, but I won't.... see, as a kid, I was constantly wondering about things: this being one of them.

I wondered: Why did people say the eye was the gateway to the soul? and Was it true? and Where did they get the idea? Well, :) , I found a verse....

I was reading about apples --back awhile-- and I noticed that where our KJV reads "apples" there were two different Hebrew words used. So, I looked them up.

Whenever it was talking about the "apple of my eye" or along those lines , the Hebrew was really refering to the pupil of the eye --- ok. not exactly earth shattering --- BUT looking into what the Hebrew word was literally showed that it was saying "the little man of the eye"

(My Newberry reference Bible also made reference to this)

The little man of the eye.

I laughed aloud. What a great way to describe it. Not so much as a gateway or a window to the soul, as romantic as both those sound, it was the "little man of the eye." The "real" you looks out your eyes.

So I did a search on the Hebrew word (how I love e-sword!) and the word is used 5 times in the old testament. Three times as the "apple of the eye" .

Deu 32:10 He found him in a desert land,

and in the waste howling wilderness;

he led him about, he instructed him,

he kept him as the apple of his eye.

Psa 17:8 Keep me as the apple of the eye,

hide me under the shadow of thy wings,

Pro 7:2 Keep my commandments, and live;

and my law as the apple of thine eye.

The Hebrew word used is ee-shone אישׁון ( "eesh" אישׁ is Hebrew for "man")

So next time you look someone in the eye, think about how the Hebrew says it -

The Little Man of the Eye