Job Fourteen

by Dr. Henry M. Morris

(taken from the Defender's Study Bible)

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Job 14:1 Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.

few days. In Job's day, men were still living to about two hundred years of age, but they must have felt keenly the fact that only a few generations earlier people had lived nine hundred years.

Job 14:2 He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.

Job 14:3 And dost thou open thine eyes upon such an one, and bringest me into judgment with thee?

Job 14:4 Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.

clean thing. Despite his singular righteousness, Job realized that he, like everyone since Adam and Eve, had been born with innate sin.

Job 14:5 Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass;

Job 14:6 Turn from him, that he may rest, till he shall accomplish, as an hireling, his day.

Job 14:7 For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease.

Job 14:8 Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground;

Job 14:9 Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant.

Job 14:10 But man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?

Job 14:11 As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up:

the flood decayeth. In the early centuries after the great Flood, it was common everywhere that the water levels in lakes and inland seas were falling. Arabia and Trans-Jordan, now largely desert regions, were fertile and well-watered in Job's day, but they were rapidly drying up.

Job 14:12 So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep.

riseth not. This unhappy outlook probably represents Job's personal feelings at this time. Very soon, however, his strong faith triumphed and he expressed certain assurance that he would be raised again after death to see God (Job 19:25).

Job 14:13 O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me!

Job 14:14 If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.

shall he live again. Death is man's greatest and unconquerable enemy. The question was especially poignant as voiced by Job, for he had even expressed a desire to die (Job 3:11-13). Later, as his faith reasserted itself, he answered his own question (Job 19:25).

Job 14:15 Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands.

Job 14:16 For now thou numberest my steps: dost thou not watch over my sin?

Job 14:17 My transgression is sealed up in a bag, and thou sewest up mine iniquity.

Job 14:18 And surely the mountain falling cometh to nought, and the rock is removed out of his place.

Job 14:19 The waters wear the stones: thou washest away the things which grow out of the dust of the earth; and thou destroyest the hope of man.

Job 14:20 Thou prevailest for ever against him, and he passeth: thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away.

Job 14:21 His sons come to honour, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them.

Job 14:22 But his flesh upon him shall have pain, and his soul within him shall mourn.