Job 14:5

5 If his days [are] determined, the number of his months [is] with you; you have appointed his boundaries, and he cannot cross [them].

Job 14:5 Meaning and Commentary

Job 14:5

Seeing his days [are] determined
Or "cut out" F9, exactly and precisely, how many he shall live, and what shall befall him every day of his life; whose life, because of the shortness of it, is rather measured by days than vents:

the number of his months [are] with thee;
before him, in his sight, in his account, and fixed and settled by him:

thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass;
the boundaries of his life the period of his days, beyond which he cannot go; the term of man's life is so peremptorily fixed by God, that he cannot die sooner, nor live longer, than he has determined he should; as the time of a man's birth, so the time of his death is according to the purpose of God; and all intervening moments and articles of time, and all things that befall a man throughout the whole course of his life, all fall under the appointment of God, and are according to his determinate will; and when God requires of man his soul, no one has power over his spirit to retain it one moment; yet this hinders not the use of means for the preservation and comfort of life, since these are settled as well as the end, and are under the divine direction: the word for bounds signifies sometimes "statutes" F11: though not to be understood of laws appointed by God, either of a moral or ceremonial nature; but here it signifies set, stated, appointed times F12 Seneca F13 says the same thing;

``there is a boundary fixed for every man, which always remains where it is set, nor can any move it forward by any means whatsoever.''


FOOTNOTES:

F9 (Myuwrx) "exacte praefiniti sunt", Tigurine version.
F11 (wqx) "statuta ejus", V. L. Mercerus, Schmidt.
F12 "Stata tempora", Beza.
F13 Consolat. ad Marciam, c. 20.

Job 14:5 In-Context

3 Even on such a one you fix your eyes, and you bring me into judgment with you.
4 "Who can bring a clean [thing] from an unclean [thing]? No one!
5 If his days [are] determined, the number of his months [is] with you; you have appointed his boundaries, and he cannot cross [them].
6 Look away from him, and let him desist until he enjoys his days like a laborer.
7 "Indeed, there is hope for a tree: if it is cut down, then it will sprout again, and its new shoots will not cease;
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.