Chapter 14

1 Job intreateth God for favour, by the shortness of life, and certainty of death. 7 Though life once lost be irrecoverable, yet he waiteth for his change. 16 By sin the creature is subject to corruption.

1. Of few days. Literally, “short of days” (see Ps. 90:10; Gen. 47:9).

Full of trouble. This oft-repeated text introduces an eloquent passage on the weakness and frailty of man.

2. A flower. Bible writers frequently compare life to a flower or grass (see Ps. 37:2; 90:5, 6; 103:15; Isa. 40:6; James 1:10, 11; 1 Peter 1:24).

“This is the state of man: to-day he puts forth

The tender leaves of hope; to-morrow blossoms,

And bears his blushing honours thick upon him;

The third day comes a frost, a killing frost,

And,—when he thinks, good easy man, full surely

His greatness is a-ripening,—nips his root,

And then he falls.”—Shakespeare.

A shadow. Nothing is more unsubstantial than a shadow (see 1 Chron. 29:15; Ps. 102:11; 144:4; Eccl. 6:12).

3. Open thine eyes? That is, “Do you scrutinize such an insignificant being for the purpose of punishing him?”

Bringest me into judgment? That is, should one so frail be called to trial before one so mighty?

4. Out of an unclean? Job admits his faults, but he inquires, “How can I be expected to be faultless? I belong to a sinful race. Why, then, does God follow me with so much severity?”

5. His days are determined. The purpose of the text is to show the frailty of man. His life is limited. In a few years he passes away.

6. Turn from him. Job pleads with God to cease watching him so closely, that he may have a brief respite before departing from the earth.

Rest. Literally, “cease.” The idea is not that of rest, but of having God cease to afflict him. Job wished that God would leave him alone (ch. 10:20).

Hireling. The hireling’s real enjoyment of his day comes when the shadow of evening brings with it the rest that he covets and the wages he has earned. In like manner, Job desires for himself the satisfaction that the end of his toil and sorrow will bring.

7. A tree. Job had seen trees cut down, and he had seen them sprout again and grow up as luxuriant as before. But a man lacks even the hope a tree has.

9. Water. A season of exceptional rainfall would awaken life in the apparently dead root, and again branches would come forth.

10. Man. Heb. geber, “warrior,” “strong man.”

Giveth up the ghost. Literally, “die,” or “expire” (see on ch. 3:11).

Where is he? Job has difficulty penetrating the veil of the future. The details of a corporeal resurrection were not clearly unveiled until the time of Christ (see John 5:28, 29; 1 Cor. 15:12–56; 1 Thess. 4:13–18; 2 Tim. 1:10).

11. Waters fail. The figure changes. Man is not like a tree that might sprout again, but like a lake or river that dries up and disappears. The effects of death appear as final as the unchanging heavens.

13. Grave. Heb. sheХol. The dreamless sleep of death was not an object of dread to Job. In his condition he welcomed it. It would be a refuge from the wrath of God. See on Prov. 15:11.

Appoint me a set time. This is the turning point in the passage. Job expresses the wish that beyond the sleep of death, at a time when divine wrath had ceased, God would remember him. The human spirit cannot be satisfied with the thought of inevitable extinction. Such a thought leads to the conclusion that life is meaningless.

14. Shall he live again? Job seems to be straining his gaze toward the horizons beyond this life. The spires of that distant city of perpetual life he did not see as clearly as did the NT writers, but he did see enough to give him hope.

My appointed time. Literally, “my warfare.” The language seems to be borrowed from the life of a soldier. The warrior serves until he is discharged.

15. Thou shalt call. A description of the resurrection. As the sleeper is called to waken in the morning, so Job is confident that one day he will be called to a new life.

Have a desire. Or, “long [for].” Job believes that God will not forget His handiwork. This is the basis of his expectation of the resurrection and immortality.

16. Numberest my steps. Job has glimpsed a day when God will remember him in mercy. But the vision fades away, and Job again sees his present suffering and God scrutinizing his life.

17. Sealed up. As a treasurer counts his money, sews it securely in a bag, and places a seal on it indicating the amount, so God takes notice of Job’s every sin.

Some interpret vs. 16 and 17 as a description, not of God’s surveillance, but of His promise of forgiveness, and translate the verses thus:

“For then thou wouldest number my steps,

thou wouldest not keep watch over my sin;

my transgression would be sealed up in a bag,

and thou wouldest cover over my iniquity.”

18. Cometh to nought. This verse begins the last stanza of Job’s speech. Job has given expression to hope—even though he may have seen through a glass, darkly (see 1 Cor. 13:12). Now he accuses God of treating him in such a way in this life that hope is extinguished. The tragedies of life are compared with the falling mountain and rolling rock.

19. Destroyest the hope. As rolling rocks and raging rivers destroy the earth, so the misfortunes of life, that Job attributes to God, destroy man’s hope.

20. For ever. That is, continually. The incessant afflictions ultimately result in death.

21. His sons. This text is obvious proof that Job considered death as a sleep (see on John 11:11).

22. Shall have pain. By poetic personification the body in the grave is said to have pain, and similarly the soul is said to mourn. This is a graphic picture of the ravages of death. This passage must not be interpreted to mean that the dead are capable of sensation. In poetic language intelligence, personality, and feelings are often ascribed to objects or concepts devoid of these attributes (see Judges 9:8–15).

Ellen G. White comments

2    PP 754

4     DA 172; FE 173; MH 443; SC 20; 8T 306

10–12GC 550

13   Ed 155

14   6T 230

21        GC 550