Job 14:11-21

11 [As] the waters fail from the sea, And the river wasteth and drieth up;

12 So man lieth down and riseth not: Till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, Nor be roused out of their sleep.

13 Oh that thou wouldest hide me in Sheol, That thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, That thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me!

14 If a man die, shall he live [again]? All the days of my warfare would I wait, Till my release should come.

15 Thou wouldest call, and I would answer thee: Thou wouldest have a desire to the work of thy hands.

16 But now thou numberest my steps: Dost thou not watch over my sin?

17 My transgression is sealed up in a bag, And thou fastenest up mine iniquity.

18 But the mountain falling cometh to nought; And the rock is removed out of its place;

19 The waters wear the stones; The overflowings thereof wash away the dust of the earth: So thou destroyest the hope of man.

20 Thou prevailest for ever against him, and he passeth; Thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away.

21 His sons come to honor, and he knoweth it not; And they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them.

Job 14:11-21 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.