Job 14 Study Notes: The Brevity of Human Life
Job laments that human life is short, troubled, and fixed in length by God. He contrasts a felled tree that sprouts again with a man who dies and stays in the grave, asks whether the dead can return to life, and ends grieving that God wears away human hope.
General
How does Job describe human life in 14:1-2?
Answer: Brief and troubled, like a fading flower or a passing shadow
Job says that every human being, born of a woman, has only a short life that is filled with trouble (14:1). People spring up like a flower and then wither, and they slip away like a shadow that does not last (14:2). Other Scriptures say the same: our days are as short-lived as grass and flowers that vanish when the wind blows over them (Psalm 103:15-16), our years pass quickly in labor and sorrow (Psalm 90:10), and our life is a mist that shows up briefly and is gone (James 4:14).
- Job 14:1-2 (BSB)““Man, who is born of woman, is short of days and full of trouble. Like a flower, he comes forth, then withers away; like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure.”Job describes man as short-lived, troubled, and passing like a flower or shadow.
- Psalm 103:15-16 (BSB)“As for man, his days are like grass—he blooms like a flower of the field; when the wind passes over, it vanishes, and its place remembers it no more.”Man’s days are like grass and a flower that vanishes.
- Psalm 90:10 (BSB)“The length of our days is seventy years—or eighty if we are strong—yet their pride is but labor and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.”Our years are labor and sorrow and pass quickly.
- James 4:14 (BSB)“You do not even know what will happen tomorrow! What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.”Life is a mist that appears briefly and then vanishes.
Theological
What portrait of human existence does Job draw in 14:1-2?
Answer: Brief and troubled, like a fading flower or a passing shadow
Job opens with a lament over human frailty: mortal man, born of a woman, lives briefly and full of turmoil (14:1), blossoming like a flower and withering, fleeing like a shadow (14:2). The imagery is common in Scripture: man’s days are grass and a wild flower that the wind removes (Psalm 103:15-16), our years are toil and trouble that soon fly away (Psalm 90:10), and life is a vanishing mist (James 4:14).
- Job 14:1-2 (BSB)““Man, who is born of woman, is short of days and full of trouble. Like a flower, he comes forth, then withers away; like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure.”Job describes man as short-lived, troubled, and passing like a flower or shadow.
- Psalm 103:15-16 (BSB)“As for man, his days are like grass—he blooms like a flower of the field; when the wind passes over, it vanishes, and its place remembers it no more.”Man’s days are like grass and a flower that vanishes.
- Psalm 90:10 (BSB)“The length of our days is seventy years—or eighty if we are strong—yet their pride is but labor and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.”Our years are labor and sorrow and pass quickly.
- James 4:14 (BSB)“You do not even know what will happen tomorrow! What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.”Life is a mist that appears briefly and then vanishes.
General
In 14:4, Job asks who can bring something clean out of something unclean. What answer does he give?
Answer: No one is able to do it
Job asks whether God really fixes His eyes on so frail a creature and summons him to judgment (14:3). Then he asks who can bring something clean out of something unclean, and he answers that no one can (14:4). Human beings cannot make themselves pure from the inside. Other Scriptures teach the same about our sinful nature (the inborn tendency toward sin that every person has): David confessed he was sinful from the time he was conceived (Psalm 51:5), Jeremiah said people used to doing evil can no more change than a leopard can change its spots (Jeremiah 13:23), and Paul wrote that all have sinned (Romans 3:23). Job uses this truth to ask God for mercy and rest (14:6), not to accuse anyone.
- Job 14:3-4 (BSB)“Do You open Your eyes to one like this? Will You bring him into judgment before You? Who can bring out clean from unclean? No one!”Job asks why God judges frail man and says no one can bring clean out of unclean.
- Psalm 51:5 (BSB)“Surely I was brought forth in iniquity; I was sinful when my mother conceived me.”David confesses he was sinful from conception.
- Jeremiah 13:23 (BSB)“Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Neither are you able to do good—you who are accustomed to doing evil.”Those accustomed to evil cannot change themselves any more than a leopard its spots.
- Romans 3:23 (BSB)“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”All have sinned and fall short of God’s glory.
Theological
How does Job answer his own question in 14:4 about producing the clean from the unclean?
Answer: No one is able to do it
Job asks whether God fixes His eyes on so frail a creature to summon him to judgment (14:3), then asks who can bring the clean out of the unclean, answering that no one can (14:4). The verse states human moral inability: fallen man cannot produce purity from his own nature. Scripture elsewhere affirms this depravity from conception (Psalm 51:5), the inability of those accustomed to evil to change themselves (Jeremiah 13:23), and the universality of sin (Romans 3:23). Purity must therefore come from God, not from man. Job applies the point as a plea for mercy and respite (14:6), not as a charge against anyone else.
- Job 14:3-4 (BSB)“Do You open Your eyes to one like this? Will You bring him into judgment before You? Who can bring out clean from unclean? No one!”Job asks why God judges frail man and says no one can bring clean out of unclean.
- Psalm 51:5 (BSB)“Surely I was brought forth in iniquity; I was sinful when my mother conceived me.”David confesses he was sinful from conception.
- Jeremiah 13:23 (BSB)“Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Neither are you able to do good—you who are accustomed to doing evil.”Those accustomed to evil cannot change themselves any more than a leopard its spots.
- Romans 3:23 (BSB)“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”All have sinned and fall short of God’s glory.
General
On what basis does Job ask God in 14:5-6 to look away and give him rest?
Answer: God has already fixed his days and set limits he cannot pass
Job says that a person’s days are already decided, God holds the count of his months, and He has set limits that cannot be crossed (14:5). Since life is already so short and set by God, Job asks Him to look away and give a man relief, so he can have his day like a hired worker finishing his shift (14:6). Job is right that God rules over the length of every life. David said that every one of his days was recorded in God’s book before any of them had begun (Psalm 139:16), that his times were in God’s hands (Psalm 31:15), and that God has made his days as short as a handbreadth (Psalm 39:4-5).
- Job 14:5-6 (BSB)“Since his days are determined and the number of his months is with You, and since You have set limits that he cannot exceed, look away from him and let him rest, so he can enjoy his day as a hired hand.”Job says man’s days are determined by God and asks God to look away and let him rest.
- Psalm 139:16 (BSB)“Your eyes saw my unformed body; all my days were written in Your book and ordained for me before one of them came to be.”All of David’s days were written in God’s book before they came to be.
- Psalm 31:15 (BSB)“My times are in Your hands; deliver me from my enemies and from those who pursue me.”David says his times are in God’s hands.
- Psalm 39:4-5 (BSB)““Show me, O LORD, my end and the measure of my days. Let me know how fleeting my life is. You, indeed, have made my days as handbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing before You. Truly each man at his best exists as but a breath. Selah”God has made man’s days as handbreadths.
Theological
What ground does Job give in 14:5-6 for asking God to turn His gaze away from man?
Answer: God has already fixed his days and set limits he cannot pass
Job grounds his plea in God’s sovereign appointment of the life span: man’s days are determined, the count of his months rests with God, and He has set bounds that cannot be passed (14:5). Given so brief and fixed a life, Job asks God to turn His gaze away and grant rest, that man may enjoy his day like a hired laborer (14:6). The premise is sound: the duration of every life is ordained by God, as David confesses that every one of his days was recorded in God’s book beforehand (Psalm 139:16), that his times are in God’s hands (Psalm 31:15), and that God has made his days handbreadths (Psalm 39:4-5).
- Job 14:5-6 (BSB)“Since his days are determined and the number of his months is with You, and since You have set limits that he cannot exceed, look away from him and let him rest, so he can enjoy his day as a hired hand.”Job says man’s days are determined by God and asks God to look away and let him rest.
- Psalm 139:16 (BSB)“Your eyes saw my unformed body; all my days were written in Your book and ordained for me before one of them came to be.”All of David’s days were written in God’s book before they came to be.
- Psalm 31:15 (BSB)“My times are in Your hands; deliver me from my enemies and from those who pursue me.”David says his times are in God’s hands.
- Psalm 39:4-5 (BSB)““Show me, O LORD, my end and the measure of my days. Let me know how fleeting my life is. You, indeed, have made my days as handbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing before You. Truly each man at his best exists as but a breath. Selah”God has made man’s days as handbreadths.
General
In 14:7-12, how does Job contrast a tree with a man?
Answer: A felled tree may grow back, but a man who dies stays down
Job says a tree has hope: even if it is chopped down and its stump seems dead, it can sprout again as soon as it gets water (14:7-9). A man, though, takes his final breath and is gone (14:10). Like water vanishing from the sea or a river running dry, a person lies down and never gets up; nothing will wake him until the sky itself is gone (14:11-12). Job is speaking about what he can see in this life, where death looks final. He said something similar earlier, that whoever goes down to the grave never returns home (7:9-10), and a wise woman once told King David that death is like water spilled on the ground that cannot be gathered up (2 Samuel 14:14).
- Job 14:7-10 (BSB)“For there is hope for a tree: If it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its tender shoots will not fail. If its roots grow old in the ground and its stump dies in the soil, at the scent of water it will bud and put forth twigs like a sapling. But a man dies and is laid low; he breathes his last, and where is he?”A cut-down tree can sprout again, but a man dies and is gone.
- Job 14:12 (BSB)“so a man lies down and does not rise. Until the heavens are no more, he will not be awakened or roused from sleep.”Man lies down and is not roused until the heavens are no more.
- Job 7:9-10 (BSB)“As a cloud vanishes and is gone, so he who goes down to Sheol does not come back up. He never returns to his house; his place remembers him no more.”Job earlier said that one who goes down to Sheol does not come back.
- 2 Samuel 14:14 (BSB)“For we will surely die and be like water poured out on the ground, which cannot be recovered. Yet God does not take away a life, but He devises ways that the banished one may not be cast out from Him.”Death is pictured as water poured on the ground that cannot be recovered.
Theological
What contrast does Job draw in 14:7-12 between a tree and a human being?
Answer: A felled tree may grow back, but a man who dies stays down
Job sets the hope of a tree against the finality of human death: a felled tree, even with an aged root and a dead stump, revives when it smells water (14:7-9), but man expires and is gone (14:10). Like water vanishing from a sea or riverbed, he lies down and is not roused until the heavens pass away (14:11-12). Job speaks from the vantage of observable life, where death appears irreversible, echoing his earlier lament that one who descends to Sheol never returns home (7:9-10) and the woman of Tekoa’s image of life as water spilled on the ground (2 Samuel 14:14).
- Job 14:7-10 (BSB)“For there is hope for a tree: If it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its tender shoots will not fail. If its roots grow old in the ground and its stump dies in the soil, at the scent of water it will bud and put forth twigs like a sapling. But a man dies and is laid low; he breathes his last, and where is he?”A cut-down tree can sprout again, but a man dies and is gone.
- Job 14:12 (BSB)“so a man lies down and does not rise. Until the heavens are no more, he will not be awakened or roused from sleep.”Man lies down and is not roused until the heavens are no more.
- Job 7:9-10 (BSB)“As a cloud vanishes and is gone, so he who goes down to Sheol does not come back up. He never returns to his house; his place remembers him no more.”Job earlier said that one who goes down to Sheol does not come back.
- 2 Samuel 14:14 (BSB)“For we will surely die and be like water poured out on the ground, which cannot be recovered. Yet God does not take away a life, but He devises ways that the banished one may not be cast out from Him.”Death is pictured as water poured on the ground that cannot be recovered.
General
True or False: Job ends chapter 14 on a confident note, declaring that God will surely restore everything he has lost.
Answer: False
This is false. After his brief longing for renewal, Job sinks back into grief. Just as mountains crumble and water wears away stones, God wears down a man’s hope (14:18-19). God overpowers him and sends him away; he does not even know whether his sons are honored or brought low, and he feels only his own pain (14:20-22). Job voices the same despair later, asking where his hope could be (17:15), and the Preacher likewise says the dead have no knowledge (Ecclesiastes 9:5). Job did not know how his story would end, but the LORD did later restore his prosperity and double it, after Job interceded for his friends (42:10).
- Job 14:18-19 (BSB)“But as a mountain erodes and crumbles and a rock is dislodged from its place, as water wears away the stones and torrents wash away the soil, so You destroy a man’s hope.”As water wears away stones, God destroys man’s hope.
- Job 14:21-22 (BSB)“If his sons receive honor, he does not know it; if they are brought low, he is unaware. He feels only the pain of his own body and mourns only for himself.””The dying man does not know his sons’ fate and feels only his own pain.
- Job 17:15 (BSB)“where then is my hope? Who can see any hope for me?”Job later asks where his hope could be.
- Ecclesiastes 9:5 (BSB)“For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing. They have no further reward, because the memory of them is forgotten.”The Preacher says the dead know nothing.
- Job 42:10 (BSB)“After Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD restored his prosperity and doubled his former possessions.”The LORD restored and doubled Job’s prosperity after he prayed for his friends.
Theological
True or False: The close of Job’s speech in 14:18-22 is a confident announcement that God will restore his fortunes.
Answer: False
This is false. The speech ends in renewed lament, not confidence. As mountains erode and waters wear away stones, God destroys man’s hope (14:18-19); He overpowers him and sends him away, so that he knows nothing of his sons’ honor or disgrace and feels only his own pain (14:20-22). Job repeats the despairing question of where his hope lies (17:15), and Ecclesiastes similarly observes that the dead have no knowledge (Ecclesiastes 9:5). Job could not see the outcome, yet the LORD later restored and doubled his prosperity after he interceded for his friends (42:10).
- Job 14:18-19 (BSB)“But as a mountain erodes and crumbles and a rock is dislodged from its place, as water wears away the stones and torrents wash away the soil, so You destroy a man’s hope.”As water wears away stones, God destroys man’s hope.
- Job 14:21-22 (BSB)“If his sons receive honor, he does not know it; if they are brought low, he is unaware. He feels only the pain of his own body and mourns only for himself.””The dying man does not know his sons’ fate and feels only his own pain.
- Job 17:15 (BSB)“where then is my hope? Who can see any hope for me?”Job later asks where his hope could be.
- Ecclesiastes 9:5 (BSB)“For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing. They have no further reward, because the memory of them is forgotten.”The Preacher says the dead know nothing.
- Job 42:10 (BSB)“After Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD restored his prosperity and doubled his former possessions.”The LORD restored and doubled Job’s prosperity after he prayed for his friends.
General
In 14:13-15, what does Job wish God would do?
Answer: Hide him in the grave until His anger ends, then recall him
Job wishes God would hide him in Sheol (the realm of the dead) until God’s anger is over, and then set a time to remember him (14:13). He asks the great question whether a man who dies will live again, and says he would wait through all his hard days until his renewal comes (14:14). He pictures God calling and Job answering, with God longing for the work of His hands (14:15), and God covering over his sin instead of keeping a record of it (14:16-17). Job leaves the question as a question, and the chapter turns back to grief (14:18-22). Earlier he had said that those who go down to the grave do not return (7:9-10); later he will speak with stronger confidence that he will see God (19:25-26). Readers differ on how far Job’s hope here reaches beyond this life. Job’s longing to have his sin covered matches David’s blessing on the one whose sin God has covered (Psalm 32:1).
- Job 14:13-15 (BSB)“If only You would hide me in Sheol and conceal me until Your anger has passed! If only You would appoint a time for me and then remember me! When a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait, until my renewal comes. You will call, and I will answer; You will desire the work of Your hands.”Job wishes God would hide him in Sheol and later remember him, and asks whether a man who dies will live again.
- Job 14:16-17 (BSB)“For then You would count my steps, but would not keep track of my sin. My transgression would be sealed in a bag, and You would cover over my iniquity.”Job imagines God covering over his iniquity.
- Job 7:9-10 (BSB)“As a cloud vanishes and is gone, so he who goes down to Sheol does not come back up. He never returns to his house; his place remembers him no more.”Job earlier said that one who goes down to Sheol does not come back.
- Job 19:25-26 (BSB)“But I know that my Redeemer lives, and in the end He will stand upon the earth. Even after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God.”Job later says he knows his Redeemer lives and that he will see God.
- Psalm 32:1 (BSB)“Of David. A Maskil. Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.”David calls blessed the one whose sins are covered.
Theological
What does Job long for God to do in 14:13-15?
Answer: Hide him in the grave until His anger ends, then recall him
Job voices a longing that God would conceal him in Sheol until His wrath passes and then appoint a time to remember him (14:13). He asks whether a man who dies will live again, and resolves to wait through his hard service until his renewal comes (14:14). He imagines God calling and himself answering, God longing for the work of His hands (14:15), and his transgression sealed up and his iniquity covered (14:16-17). The question stands unresolved within the speech, which sinks back into lament (14:18-22). It marks a movement beyond his earlier insistence that the dead do not return (7:9-10) and toward his later confidence that he will see God (19:25-26); readers differ on how far this hope reaches beyond the present life. His desire for covered iniquity echoes the blessing David pronounces on the one whose sin God has covered (Psalm 32:1).
- Job 14:13-15 (BSB)“If only You would hide me in Sheol and conceal me until Your anger has passed! If only You would appoint a time for me and then remember me! When a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait, until my renewal comes. You will call, and I will answer; You will desire the work of Your hands.”Job wishes God would hide him in Sheol and later remember him, and asks whether a man who dies will live again.
- Job 14:16-17 (BSB)“For then You would count my steps, but would not keep track of my sin. My transgression would be sealed in a bag, and You would cover over my iniquity.”Job imagines God covering over his iniquity.
- Job 7:9-10 (BSB)“As a cloud vanishes and is gone, so he who goes down to Sheol does not come back up. He never returns to his house; his place remembers him no more.”Job earlier said that one who goes down to Sheol does not come back.
- Job 19:25-26 (BSB)“But I know that my Redeemer lives, and in the end He will stand upon the earth. Even after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God.”Job later says he knows his Redeemer lives and that he will see God.
- Psalm 32:1 (BSB)“Of David. A Maskil. Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.”David calls blessed the one whose sins are covered.