Albert Barnes Commentary Job 7:4

"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." — Job 7:4 (ASV)

When I lie down - I find no comfort and no rest on my bed. My nights are long, and I am impatient for them to pass, and it is equally so with the day. This is a description that all who have been laid on a bed of pain can understand.

And the night be gone - The margin says, “evening be measured.” Herder translates this as, “the night is irksome to me.” The word translated as “night” (ערב ‛ereb) properly means the early part of the night, until the dawn follows. Thus, in Genesis 1:5, “And the evening (ערב ‛ereb) and the morning were the first day.” Here it means the portion of the night that is before the dawning of the aurora—the night. The word translated as “be gone” (and in the margin as “be measured”) (מדּד mı̂ddad) has been translated in various ways.

The verb מדד mâdad means to stretch, to extend, or to measure. According to Gesenius, the form of the word used here is a noun meaning “flight,” and the sense is, “When shall be the flight of the night?” He derives it from נדד nâdad: to move, to flee, to flee away. So Rosenmuller explains it. The expression is poetic, meaning, “When shall the night be gone?”

I am full of tossings to and fro - (נדדים nâdûdı̂ym). This is a word from the same root. It means uneasy motions, restlessness. He found no quiet repose on his bed.

Unto the dawning - נשׁף nesheph—from נשׁף nâshaph, meaning to breathe. Hence, it refers to the evening twilight because the breezes blow, or seem to breathe; and then it also means the morning twilight, the dawn. Dr. Stock translates it as, “until the morning breeze.”