Shuttle

The shuttle, the small instrument a weaver throws back and forth across the loom, supplies one of Job's images for the brevity of a human life. It is the sole appearance of the word in scripture.

Job's image of swift days

In the depth of his suffering Job measures his life against the rapid motion of the weaver's hand:

My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, And are spent without hope. (Job 7:6)

The figure is double-edged. The shuttle moves fast — life passes before the eye can follow it. And the shuttle moves toward an end already set in the warp; Job feels the thread running out. The image carries his complaint that his days are short and his hope cut off.