1 Anyone born of woman
is short of days and full of trouble. i
2 He blossoms like a flower, then withers; j
he flees like a shadow and does not last.
3 Do you really take notice of one like this?
Will you bring me into judgment against you? ,k
4 Who can produce something pure from what is impure?
No one!
5 Since a person’s days are determined
and the number of his months depends on you,
and since you have set limits he cannot pass, l
6 look away from him and let him rest
so that he can enjoy his day like a hired worker. m
7 There is hope for a tree:
If it is cut down, it will sprout again,
and its shoots will not die.
8 If its roots grow old in the ground
and its stump starts to die in the soil,
9 the scent of water makes it thrive
and produce twigs like a sapling. n
10 But a person dies and fades away;
he breathes his last—where is he?
11 As water disappears from a lake
and a river becomes parched and dry,
12 so people lie down never to rise again.
They will not wake up until the heavens are no more; o
they will not stir from their sleep.
13 If only you would hide me in Sheol p
and conceal me until your anger q passes.
If only you would appoint a time for me
and then remember me.
14 When a person dies, will he come back to life?
If so, I would wait r all the days of my struggle s
until my relief comes.
15 You would call, and I would answer you.
You would long for the work of your hands. t
16 For then you would count my steps u
but would not take note v of my sin.
17 My rebellion would be sealed up in a bag,
and you would cover over my iniquity.
18 But as a mountain collapses and crumbles
and a rock is dislodged from its place,
19 as water wears away stones
and torrents wash away the soil from the land,
so you destroy a man’s hope. w
20 You completely overpower him, and he passes on;
you change his appearance and send him away.
21 If his sons receive honor, he does not know it;
if they become insignificant, he is unaware of it. x
22 He feels only the pain of his own body
and mourns only for himself.
14:1–6. In chapter 14, Job broadens the scope of his lament to reflect on the human condition in general rather than just his own experience. In 14:1–2 Job concludes that humans are consigned to brief and troubled lives. He speaks generally, referring not to himself alone but to every human, including both the righteous and the wicked. This trouble is not merely a minor irritation but the dominant feature of life, and this brevity is like that of a flower that withers (cf. Pss 37:2; 90:5–6) and a fleeting shadow (cf. Pss 102:11; 144:4). Job’s rhetorical question “Do you really take notice . . . ?” (14:3) implies a positive answer, that God does indeed scrutinize humans during their brief and troubled lives. In contrast to the psalmist’s delight in God’s constant watching over him (Ps 8:4), Job perceives God as looking for every opportunity to find fault with humans (Jb 7:17–21).
14:7–12. Using the observational technique of traditional wisdom, Job looks at nature to discern if there is hope to which humans can cling during their adversities. He observes that a tree can grow again after it has been cut down (14:7–9; cf. Is 11:1), but humans cannot (14:10). Like dried up seas or riverbeds, humans have no hope for renewal to life after death (14:11–12). As Job says also in 10:21 and 16:22, the grave is a place of no return. He does not have the doctrine of resurrection to appeal to, for he is limited in his understanding to what God has revealed at this time in history. His only hope is for God to intervene for him before he dies (cf. Ps 27:13).
14:13–17. Job tries, through his imagination, to glimpse hope for the future after death. The hypothetical desire expressed by Job in 14:13 contrasts with his revulsion toward the grave elsewhere (7:9; 17:16). As he grasps for any semblance of hope, he twists the image of the grave in a positive direction, hoping that perhaps in the dark recesses of Sheol he can find temporary concealment from God’s anger. Job views his life as toil that must be endured (14:14; cf. 7:1–3). Although the hope of resurrection has not yet been revealed in his day, Job determines to wait for his restoration or release by God, apparently hoping that this positive turn of events will occur during his lifetime, not after death. Here, the endurance of Job about which Jms 5:11 speaks shows through his intense pain.
14:18–22. Job’s daring hope in 14:13–17 cannot sustain him in the face of his great adversity. Once again he uses the procedure of observation. If a mountain cannot survive erosion (14:18), then what chance could a feeble human have in the face of God’s inexorable laws? This reality destroys human hope (14:19).