Job 14:2-12

2 "1Like a flower he comes forth and withers. He also flees like 2a shadow and does not remain.
3 "You also 3open Your eyes on him And 4bring him into judgment with Yourself.
4 "5Who can make the clean out of the unclean? No one!
5 "Since his days are determined, The 6number of his months is with You; And his limits You have set so that he cannot pass.
6 "7Turn Your gaze from him that he may rest, Until he fulfills his day like a hired man.
7 "For there is hope for a tree, When it is cut down, that it will sprout again, And its shoots will not fail.
8 "Though its roots grow old in the ground And its stump dies in the dry soil,
9 At the scent of water it will flourish And put forth sprigs like a plant.
10 "But 8man dies and lies prostrate. Man 9expires, and where is he?
11 "As 10water evaporates from the sea, And a river becomes parched and dried up,
12 So 11man lies down and does not rise. Until the heavens are no longer, He will not awake nor be aroused out of his sleep.

Job 14:2-12 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JOB 14

Job, having turned himself from his friends to God, continues his address to him in this chapter; wherein he discourses of the frailty of man, the shortness of his life, the troubles that are in it, the sinfulness of it, and its limited duration, beyond which it cannot continue; all which he makes use of with God, that he would not therefore deal rigorously with him, but have pity on him, and cease from severely afflicting him, till he came to the end of his days, which could not be long, Job 14:1-6; he observes of a tree, when it is cut down to the root, yea, when the root is become old, and the stock dies, it will, by means of being watered, bud and sprout again, and produce boughs and branches; but man, like the failing waters of the sea, and the decayed and dried up flood, when he dies, rises not, till the heavens be no more, Job 14:7-12; and then he wishes to be hid in the grave till that time, and expresses hope and belief of the resurrection of the dead, Job 14:13-15; and goes on to complain of the strict notice God took of his sins, of his severe dealings with men, destroying their hope in life, and removing them by death; so that they see and know not the case and circumstances of their children they leave behind, and while they live have continual pain and sorrow, Job 14:16-22.

Cross References 11

  • 1. Psalms 90:5, 6; Psalms 103:15; Isaiah 40:6, 7; James 1:10; 1 Peter 1:24
  • 2. Job 8:9
  • 3. Psalms 8:4; Psalms 144:3
  • 4. Psalms 143:2
  • 5. Job 15:14; Job 25:4; Psalms 51:5
  • 6. Job 21:21
  • 7. Job 7:19; Psalms 39:13
  • 8. Job 3:13; Job 14:10-15
  • 9. Job 13:9
  • 10. Isaiah 19:5
  • 11. Job 3:13

Footnotes 8

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