Job 14:16. For now, &c.— But now thou, &c. Do not watch mine offences so narrowly: Job 14:17. Do not seal up my transgression in a bag, or note mine iniquities in thy register. The word rendered sewest up in our version, signifies the taking down any remark or memorandum in a table-book. Heath. read more
16. Rather, "Yea, thou wilt number my steps, and wilt not (as now) jealously watch over my sin." Thenceforward, instead of severe watching for every sin of Job, God will guard him against every sin. number . . . steps—that is, minutely attend to them, that they may not wander [UMBREIT] (1 Samuel 2:9; Psalms 37:23). read more
Job’s despair ch. 14In this melancholic lament Job bewailed the brevity of life (Job 14:1-6), the finality of death (Job 14:7-17), and the absence of hope (Job 14:18-22)."Born of woman" (Job 14:1) reflects man’s frailty since woman who bears him is frail. Job 14:4 means, "Who can without God’s provision of grace make an unclean person clean?" (cf. Job 9:30-31; Job 25:4). God has indeed determined the life span of every individual (Job 14:5).It seemed unfair to Job that a tree could come back to... read more
Job’s Third Speech (concluded)1-6. Job pleads for God’s forbearance on the grounds of man’s shortness of life and sinful nature.1, 2. The well-known Sentence in the Burial Service. 3. Open thine eyes] i.e. watch so vigilantly: cp. Job 14:16, Job 14:17. 4. Job pleads the innate sinfulness of man. 5, 6. Let man spend his days in peace, seeing that his time is but short: cp. Job 7.7-12. A tree has a chance of a second growth after it is cut down. Not so man. With him death is final. Job here... read more
(16) For now thou numberest my steps: dost thou not watch over my sin?—“It is sealed up in a bag, and Thou fastenest up mine iniquity. But persecution so persistent would wear out the strongest, even as the mountain and the rock are gradually worn away. How much more then must I be the subject of decay? for Thou destroyest the hope of man when he dieth, so that he no longer has any interest in the welfare or any concern in the adversity of his children after him; only in his own person he has... read more
Job 14:2 'I will not now ask, writes Charlotte Bronte in 1848, 'why Emily was torn from us in the fullness of an attachment, rooted up in the prime of her own days, in the promise of her powers; why her existence now lies like a field of green corn trodden down, like a tree in full bearing struck at the root. I will only say, sweet is rest after labour, and calm after tempest, and again that Emily knows that now.' Job 14:2 What shadows we are, and what shadows we pursue! Burke. The Apparently... read more
XII.BEYOND FACT AND FEAR TO GODJob 12:1-25; Job 13:1-28; Job 14:1-22Job SPEAKSZOPHAR excites in Job’s mind great irritation, which must not be set down altogether to the fact that he is the third to speak. In some respects he has made the best attack from the old position, pressing most upon the conscience of Job. He has also used a curt positive tone in setting out the method and principle of Divine government and the judgment he has formed of his friend’s state. Job is accordingly the more... read more
CHAPTERS 12-14 Job’s Answer to Zophar 1. His sarcasm (Job 12:1-6 ) 2. He describes God’s power (Job 12:7-25 ) 3. He denounces his friends (Job 13:1-13 ) 4. He appeals to God (Job 13:14-28 ) 5. The brevity and trouble of life (Job 14:1-6 ) 6. The ray of light through hope of immortality (Job 14:7-22 ) Job 12:1-6 . He answers not only Zophar but the others as well. Before this Job had expressed his disappointment in them, rebuked them for their unkindness, and assailed as worthless... read more
MAN'S DECAY AND DEATH (vv.1-12) What Job had said in chapter 3:28 he expands upon in these verses, giving a vivid description of the evanescent character of man's life on earth. This is generally true of all mankind, though men do everything in their power to alleviate this condition. "Man who is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble" (v.1) Though Job himself lived 140 years after his bitter experience, yet when it was finished, it was only "few days." Like a flower, man comes... read more
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Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Job 14:7-16
Job 14:7-16. For there is hope of a tree, &c.— Job begins this chapter with a reflection on the shortness and wretchedness of human life, a truth which he had so sadly learned from experience. In his progress, therefore, as was natural, he seems to be casting about for arguments of support and consolation under these distressed circumstances; and particularly for proofs to confirm him in the belief of what they had received an obscure tradition of, the resurrection of mankind to another... read more