Job 14:5-15

5 if even his life should be one day upon the earth: and his months are numbered by him: thou hast appointed for a time, and he shall by no means exceed .

6 Depart from him, that he may be quiet, and take pleasure in his life, as a hireling.

7 For there is hope for a tree, even if it should be cut down, it shall blossom again, and its branch shall not fail.

8 For though its root should grow old in the earth, and its stem die in the rock;

9 it will blossom from the scent of water, and will produce a crop, as one newly planted.

10 But a man that has died is utterly gone; and when a mortal has fallen, he is no more.

11 For the sea wastes in time, and a river fails and is dried up.

12 And man that has lain down shall certainly not rise again till the heaven be dissolved, and they shall not awake from their sleep.

13 For oh that thou hadst kept me in the grave, and hadst hidden me until thy wrath should cease, and thou shouldest set me a time in which thou wouldest remember me!

14 For if a man should die, shall he live , having accomplished the days of his life? I will wait till I exist again?

15 Then shalt thou call, and I will hearken to thee: but do not thou reject the work of thine hands.

Job 14:5-15 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.