Job 14:1-2

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Job 14:1-6

We are here led to think, I. Of the original of human life. God is indeed its great original, for he breathed into man the breath of life and in him we live; but we date it from our birth, and thence we must date both its frailty and its pollution. 1. Its frailty: Man, that is born of a woman, is therefore of few days, Job 14:1. This may refer to the first woman, who was called Eve, because she was the mother of all living. Of her, who being deceived by the tempter was first in the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 14:1

Man that is born of a woman ,.... Man, Adam; not the first man, so called, for he was made and created out of the dust of the earth, and not born of a woman; the woman was made out of him, and not he of her; "earthly man", as Mr. Broughton translates it, as every descendant of Adam is; as is the earth, such are they that are earthy, everyone of which is born of a woman; yet not as opposed unto and distinguished from the heavenly One, or the Lord from heaven, for he also as man was made and... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 14:2

He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down ,.... As the flower comes from the earth, so does man; as it comes out of the stalk, so man out of his mother's womb; as the flower flourishes for a while, and looks gay and beautiful, so man while in youth, in health and prosperity. Job, doubtless, has respect to his own case before his troubles came upon him, when he was possessed of all that substance, which made him the greatest man of the east; when his children were like olive plants... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 14:1

Man - born of a woman - There is a delicacy in the original, not often observed: אשה ילוד אדם Adam yelud ishah , "Adam born of a woman, few of days, and full of tremor." Adam, who did not spring from woman, but was immediately formed by God, had many days, for he lived nine hundred and thirty years; during which time neither sin nor death had multiplied in the earth, as they were found in the days of Job. But the Adam who springs now from woman, in the way of ordinary generation, has... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 14:2

He cometh forth like a flower - This is a frequent image both in the Old and New Testament writers; I need not quote the places here, as the readers will find them all in the margin. He fleeth also as a shadow - Himself, as he appears among men, is only the shadow of his real, substantial, and eternal being. He is here compared to a vegetable; he springs up, bears his flower is often nipped by disease, blasted by afflictions and at last cut down by death. The bloom of youth, even in the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 14:1

Man that is born of a woman . In this fact Job sees the origin of man's inherent weakness. He is "born of a woman," who is "the weaker vessel" ( 1 Peter 3:7 ). He is conceived by her in uncleanness ( Psalms 51:5 ; comp. below, Psalms 51:4 ), brought forth in sorrow and pain ( Genesis 3:16 ) suckled at her breasts, placed for years under her guidance. No wonder that he shares the weakness of which she is a sort of type. Is of few days ; literally, short of days. Length and... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 14:1-2

Lessons from the brevity of human life. These words are consecrated to a supreme moment. Chosen to be the words spoken at the side of the grave, "while the corpse is made ready to be laid in the earth," they hear a solemn and overwhelming testimony to a truth men are apt, in the heat of the day, to forget. So many are the duties and toils of men that the hurry of a short life is hardly noticed, save when, by enforced attention, the thoughts recur to it. The truth is established—man's life is... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 14:1-2

The flower and the shadow. I. WHERE IS A COMMON CHARACTER IN ALL HUMAN LIFE . Job seems to be suffering from exceptional troubles. Yet he regards his condition as typical of that of mankind generally. He turns from himself to "man that is born of a woman." We differ in external circumstances, possessions, honours; in bodily, mental, and moral characteristics. But in our fundamental constitution we are alike. The points of resemblance are more numerous than the points of... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 14:1-6

Job to God: 2. The death-wail of humanity. I. THE WAIL OF HUMANITY IN THE EAR OF GOD . 1 . The constitutional frailty of man. Moses, in the Book of Genesis ( Genesis 1:26 ; Genesis 2:7 ), sets forth the dignity of man (Adam) as the crown of creation ( Psalms 8:6 ), as the handiwork of God ( Job 10:8 ; Psalms 100:3 ; Isaiah 15:1-9 :12), as the image of his Maker ( Genesis 9:6 ; Acts 17:29 ; 1 Corinthians 11:7 ). Job here supplies the companion picture... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 14:1-12

1. Self-defence before God: 2. Plaint of the weakness and vanity of mankind. Job's troubles are typical of the common doom of mankind—the "subjection, to vanity." And again (comp. Job 3:7 ; Job 7:1-5 ) he bursts forth into lamentation over the universal doom of sorrow. I. HIS NATURAL WEAKNESS . (Verses 1-2.) His origin is in frailty; he is "born of woman." His course is brief, and full of unrest. He sees himself mirrored in all natural things that fleet and pass: II. ... read more

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