Job 14:5

5 A person’s days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed.

Job 14:5 in Other Translations

KJV
5 Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass;
ESV
5 Since his days are determined, and the number of his months is with you, and you have appointed his limits that he cannot pass,
NLT
5 You have decided the length of our lives. You know how many months we will live, and we are not given a minute longer.
MSG
5 Mortals have a limited life span. You've already decided how long we'll live - you set the boundary and no one can cross it.
CSB
5 Since man's days are determined and the number of his months depends on You, and [since] You have set limits he cannot pass,

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 Do you fix your eye on them? Will you bring them before you for judgment?
4 Who can bring what is pure from the impure? No one!
5 A person’s days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed.
6 So look away from him and let him alone, till he has put in his time like a hired laborer.
7 “At least there is hope for a tree: If it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its new shoots will not fail.

Cross References 3

  • 1. Job 24:1; Psalms 31:15; Psalms 139:16
  • 2. Job 21:21; Psalms 39:4; Psalms 90:12
  • 3. Acts 17:26
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