Daysman
What Is a Daysman?
The word "daysman" is an old English term that modern readers rarely encounter. It refers to an arbitrator, umpire, or mediator — someone appointed to settle a dispute between two parties. The term derives from the practice of setting a "day" for a hearing or trial, and the daysman was the one who presided over that appointed day of judgment.
In the sixteenth century, the word was common enough to appear in legal correspondence and Bible translations. William Tyndale used it in his translation of Exodus 21:22, rendering "judges" as "dayesmen." By the time the King James Version was published in 1611, the term was already becoming rare, but the translators retained it in one memorable passage.
The Daysman in Job 9:33
The word appears in Job 9:33, where Job cries out: "Neither is there any daysman betwixt us, that might lay his hand upon us both" (KJV). Modern translations render this as "umpire" (NASB), "mediator" (NIV margin), or "arbiter" (ESV).
Job is in the midst of profound suffering and is responding to Bildad's argument that God always acts justly. Job does not deny God's justice in principle, but he feels overwhelmed by God's power and majesty. How can a mere human being bring a case before the Almighty? Job acknowledges that even if he were righteous, he could not answer God in court (Job 9:14-16). He longs for someone who could stand between them — someone with the authority to "lay his hand" on both parties, signifying the right to adjudicate.
The ancient Near Eastern custom Job references involved a judge physically placing his hands on the heads of both disputants, symbolizing his authority over both and his impartiality. Job's agony is that no such figure exists who could simultaneously restrain God and advocate for a human being.
Job's Expanding Hope for a Mediator
Remarkably, Job's longing for a daysman does not end in chapter 9. As the dialogue progresses, his hope for a mediator grows rather than diminishes. In Job 16:19-21, he declares, "Even now my witness is in heaven; my advocate is on high. My intercessor is my friend as my eyes pour out tears to God; on behalf of a man he pleads with God as one pleads for a friend."
By Job 19:25-27, this hope has crystallized into one of the Old Testament's most remarkable declarations of faith: "I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God." What began as a despairing wish for an impossible mediator has become a confident assertion of a living Redeemer.
Christ as the True Daysman
The New Testament provides the answer to Job's longing. Paul writes in 1 Timothy 2:5: "For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus." Jesus is the daysman Job could not find — the one who, being both fully God and fully human, can legitimately "lay his hand" on both parties.
The book of Hebrews develops this theme extensively. Christ is presented as the great High Priest who can sympathize with human weakness because He has been tempted in every way, yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15). He is the mediator of a new and better covenant (Hebrews 8:6; 9:15; 12:24). Unlike any human arbitrator, Christ does not merely judge between the parties; He reconciles them through His own sacrifice.
The apostle John adds another dimension, describing Jesus as our "advocate with the Father" (1 John 2:1). The Greek word used, parakletos, carries the sense of one called alongside to help in a legal proceeding — not unlike the daysman of Job's desire.
The Enduring Relevance of the Daysman
Though the word itself has fallen out of use, the concept it represents remains central to Christian faith. Every believer who has ever felt the distance between human frailty and divine holiness shares something of Job's cry. The gospel's answer is that the gap has been bridged — not by a neutral arbitrator who splits the difference, but by a loving mediator who bore the penalty Himself and now intercedes at the Father's right hand (Romans 8:34).
Biblical Context
The term daysman appears only in Job 9:33 (KJV), where Job expresses his desire for an arbitrator between himself and God. This theme of mediation develops through Job 16:19-21 and Job 19:25-27. The New Testament answers Job's longing in 1 Timothy 2:5, Hebrews 8:6, 9:15, and 1 John 2:1, where Christ is revealed as the one mediator between God and humanity.
Theological Significance
The daysman concept highlights the fundamental problem of the divine-human relationship: how can sinful, finite humanity stand before a holy, infinite God? Job's cry for an intermediary anticipates the central work of Christ as mediator. The progression from Job's despair to his confident declaration of a living Redeemer traces one of the Old Testament's clearest trajectories toward the gospel. It affirms that the need for mediation is not merely legal but deeply personal and relational.
Historical Background
In the ancient Near East, arbitration was a well-established practice. Judges or mediators would physically place their hands on both parties to signal authority and impartiality. The English word daysman was common in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, appearing in legal documents and early Bible translations. Tyndale used it in Exodus 21:22, and it appeared in 1 Samuel 2:25 in the 1551 edition. By the seventeenth century it was archaic, but the KJV translators preserved it in Job 9:33.