Man, born of woman, is of few days, and full of trouble.
Job has been arguing with his friends. Now he turns to God and speaks about every human being, himself included: life is short, and it is full of trouble.
Job's tone changes here from debate to mourning. One writer compares his words to a psalm about human frailty:
The close of this address ends the first round of the debate. It is a beautiful funeral song about the frailty and uncertainty of human life. Man comes up like a flower, and is cut down and withers. We are listening to the wail of Psalm 90, but without its faith in God, and not yet followed by the triumph of Psalm 91.
The phrase is not about a short lifespan by human reckoning. Job himself went on living long after he said it, and the words still held:
In these verses Job gives a vivid description of how quickly man's life on earth passes. This is generally true of all mankind, though men do everything in their power to soften this condition. Job himself lived 140 years after his bitter experience, yet when it was finished, it was only "few of days." In view of this brevity of life, Job wondered why God troubles Himself to bring him to judgment, as he thought God was doing.
Job is speaking of man only as he enters the world by natural birth. One commentator notes how different a believer's words can be:
Now, if you are speaking of those who are born of God, is that all you could say? Surely not! To depart is no doubt gain, but to live is well worthwhile, above all when Christ is the object. Such people can say, in their measure and despite all their weaknesses and faults, "For to me to live is Christ." Yes, that life is full of blessing. But here it is only man born of woman, never born of God — not yet, until a later chapter. Not one of these is thought of as born of God.
Job's next words show what troubled him most. Shortness of life was bad enough; being unfit to stand before God was worse.
In the far-off days of Job human life was perhaps three times longer than it is today. Yet it was still "few of days," and then it was "full of trouble," just as it is today. Seen in the light of the eternal God, he is only like a fading flower or a fleeting shadow. Job was conscious of this about himself, and so he knew he could not stand up under God's inspection, nor stand before Him in judgment. What is more, he knew that he was not clean in the sight of God, and he was sure no one could produce the clean out of the unclean.
Job was right that no one can bring something clean out of something unclean. What he could not see is where cleansing does come from:
"Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one!" This is impossible for any human being. Yet God is able to purify men's hearts, cleansing them through the blood of Jesus Christ (1 John 1:7), by faith (Romans 3:25). But we find this only in the New Testament, so Job did not understand such a marvellous gospel.
Everything Job says here stays inside what he can see. Death ends the life he knows, and at this point in the book he has no light beyond it:
In Job 14, he clearly does not go beyond this present world of sight, and in the bitterness of his spirit has no sense of resurrection. A tree sprouts again in this present world, where we can see it. Man does not, and in fact never will, unless by a miracle, as with Lazarus. Death has wholly passed on him as an inhabitant of this world — a child of Adam. Such life he never recovers. Job was right, only he did not see beyond, nor here know Him who is the resurrection and the life.
- Few days. Even Job's extra 140 years counted as "few of days." The verse measures life by God's scale, not ours.
- Full of trouble. Job's grief is real but incomplete. It is the sorrow of Psalm 90 without its faith, and without the triumph of Psalm 91.
- Born of woman. That birth is all this verse describes — man as he comes from Adam, not yet born of God. Those born of God can say something more: for them, to live is Christ.
- Not clean. Job's own answer stands: no human being can bring the clean out of the unclean. The problem is deeper than the shortness of life.
- Not seeing beyond. Job was right about man and death. He stopped too soon: he did not yet know the One who is the resurrection and the life, or the blood that cleanses.
He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down; and he fleeth as a shadow, and continueth not.
Job has been answering his friend Zophar. He ends the first round of the debate by turning from his friends to God. He paints every human life in two pictures: a blossom, and a shadow. One question sits under the poetry. If man is this brief, why does God examine him at all?
These lines close a long speech, and they sound like a funeral song. One writer sets them beside Psalm 90 and points out what is missing.
This speech closes the first round of the debate. Its ending is a most beautiful funeral song about the frailty and uncertainty of human life. Man comes up like a flower, and is cut down and withers. We are listening to the wail of Psalm 90, but without its faith in God, and not yet followed by the triumph of Psalm 91.
The picture is about man as born of woman, not about those born of God. A flower draws admiration for as long as it lasts, and that is not long.
If you are speaking of those who are born of God, is that all you could say? Surely not! To depart is no doubt gain, but to live is well worth while, particularly when Christ is the object... But here it is merely man born of woman, never born of God. "He comes forth like a flower" — for they are all much the same when they are born. So far they are like a flower: an interesting object, no doubt. But how quickly it is fully grown and completely plain. "He comes forth like a flower, and is cut down; he flees also as a shadow, and continues not." You know very well — we all know — that many children die. Death is especially frequent among them.
(Kelly follows an older translation, "is cut down"; the ESV reads "withers.")
"Few days" is not a statement about the calendar. Job himself outlived his suffering by a long stretch, and the verdict still held.
Job himself lived 140 years after his bitter experience. Yet when it was over, it was still only "few days." Like a flower, man comes forth and fades away. Like a shadow he does not continue. Life is that short. So Job wondered why God troubles Himself to bring him to judgment, as he thought God was doing.
Job's life was far longer than ours. Set beside the eternal God, that made no difference.
In the far-off days of Job, human life was perhaps three times longer than it is today. Yet it was after all "of few days," and then it was "full of trouble," just as it is today. So seen in the light of the eternal God, he is only like a fading flower or a fleeting shadow. Job knew this about himself. So he knew he could not stand God's inspection, nor stand before Him in judgment.
Later in the chapter Job compares man with a tree. One writer marks where Job's sight stops.
In Job 14 he clearly does not go beyond this present world that he can see. In the bitterness of his spirit he has no sense of resurrection. The tree sprouts now and visibly in this present world; man does not... Job was right, only he did not see beyond, nor did he here know Him who is the resurrection and the life.
Frailty is the whole subject of the verse. One writer shows what God did about it.
The flower attracts the eye, and no sooner charms with interest than it fades away for ever. Such is man — all men, without exception... Man is not only sinful, unclean and corrupt, but weak and without continuance, for he passes away. Rich or poor, high or low, in this there is no difference... Still it is a blessing to remember that Jesus died for weak and frail ones. For it is written: "while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly."
- Frail — Job ends the first round of debate with a funeral song: a flower that fades, a shadow that will not stay.
- Few — "Few days" is a verdict, not a number. Job lived 140 more years, and it still counted as few.
- Faded — Set beside the eternal God, man is a fading flower. Job knew he could not stand God's inspection.
- Faithless — This is Psalm 90's lament without Psalm 90's faith in God. Job's eye stops at the world he can see. He does not yet know the One who is the resurrection and the life.
- For the frail — Weakness is not the end of the story. It is why Christ died: "while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly."
Yet dost thou open thine eyes upon such a one, and bringest me into judgment with thee?
Job has just described how short and fragile human life is. Now he turns to God with a question that is half complaint and half plea: if a man's days are already so few and so hard, why watch him so closely and bring him to court?
Job is not describing a believer here. "Born of woman" marks out man as a creature only, with no new birth in view.
Here it is simply man born of woman, never born of God — not yet, not until a later chapter — none of these is thought of as born of God… "And do you open your eyes on such a one and bring me into judgment with you? Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? There is not one." It does not mean "not one person," but "not one thing."
Job's problem is not that he thinks himself sinless. He measures his own brief life against the God who never ends, and he already knows how that inspection would go.
In Job's far-off days human life was perhaps three times longer than it is today. Yet his life was still "few of days," and then it was "full of trouble," just as it is today. So, seen in the light of the eternal God, man is only like a fading flower or a passing shadow. Job knew this about himself, so he knew he could not stand God's inspection, or stand before Him in judgment. He also knew that he was not clean in God's sight, and he was sure no one could produce the clean out of the unclean.
Job's question is true as far as it goes. But he does not stay with it; he turns from the truth he has just spoken and asks God to look away.
But how sadly true verses 1 and 2 are! And will the mighty God enter into judgment with such a frail creature — not only frail, but impure by nature! Ah, let Job weigh his own words well. Instead he moves on in self-pity, begging to be left alone for a while, until like a hired worker he finishes his day! (verses 3-6).
Behind the question lies an assumption of Job's own. He is sure he already knows what God is doing with him.
Because life is so short, Job wondered why God troubles Himself to bring him to judgment, as he thought God was doing.
Job's instinct is sound. No one can afford to be brought into judgment with God. The believer's answer is not to deny that verdict but to accept it in advance.
But first let us recognize that we are all subject to condemnation, and in ourselves liable to judgment as responsible to God… The Christian has, through grace, anticipated this. He has recognized by divine teaching that condemnation is his own portion. He knows that in him, that is, in his flesh, nothing good lives. He has said in spirit, "Enter not into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you" [older translations: "no man living shall be justified"].
What keeps the chapter so dark is the horizon. Job reasons only about this present world, where a felled tree can sprout but a dead man cannot.
In Job 14, he does not go beyond this present world of sight, and in his bitterness of spirit he has no sense of resurrection… Job was right, but he did not see beyond it, and here he did not know Him who is the resurrection and the life.
Job asks the question as though God's eye on him were hostile. By the end of the book, that same light has done what his friends could not do.
Man was never so exposed as a sinner as in the presence of the Son of God, and yet who was so attractive to the sinner?… In the presence of the light of God Job goes down in self-judgment. He says, "I despise myself." When his three friends had said all they had to say, his confidence in himself was still unshaken. He felt himself to be morally superior to them. But the light of God brought him down: "now my eye sees You" was what killed the sinful pride of his heart.
- Frail — man here is "born of woman," not born of God. He is a fading flower and a passing shadow. Nothing clean comes out of an unclean source.
- Exposed — Job knows he could not survive God's inspection. His own words condemn the self-defence he keeps making.
- Mistaken — he treats God's eye on him as a summons to court, and begs to be left alone.
- Answered — if God enters into judgment, no one living stands. Grace lets a person own that verdict now instead of meeting it later.
- Broken open — the eye Job wanted turned away was the very thing that brought him down, until he could say, "now my eye sees You."
Who can bring a clean [man] out of the unclean? Not one!
Job is answering his friends, and here he turns to God with a question that leaves him no way out. It confesses where he came from, and it raises a further question: does God have an answer Job could not yet see?
Job asks and answers in the same breath. One writer notes that the answer reaches wider than we might first read.
"Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? There is not one." It does not mean, "not one person," but "not one thing." I say this only so that it is understood.
The picture behind the words is a spring and the stream that flows from it.
This leads him to a wider view of man's sad and frail condition, but still with his own case clearly before his eyes. If the fountain is corrupt, no one need wonder that its stream is foul.
Job has just described how short and troubled human life is. Now he adds uncleanness to frailty as a second reason for God to leave him alone.
But how sadly true are verses 1, 2! And will the mighty God enter into judgment with such a frail creature — not only frail but impure by nature! Ah, let Job ponder well his own words. But he passes on in self-pity to beg that he be let alone for a little, until as a hired man he completes his day (verses 3-6).
Writers read this line as a principle, not a mood. The whole race takes what it has from its head.
The first man was also, in a very real way, the representative of his race. This was not by any formal covenant made for his descendants, of which Scripture has no trace, but because God Himself made him the head of the race. Scripture states this in the plainest possible way. "Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?" expresses the law. "Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me." And the Lord affirms the principle in the strongest terms: "That which is born of the flesh is flesh."
The same law explains why each new child adds to the world's evil — and why that is not the whole story.
Through the woman death had come in, and through the woman life comes in, but the life she brings in carries the taint of its origin: "who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?" asks Job. We must answer with him: by nature, "not one." So the truth taught here is that human increase means human defilement. Every child born into the world only adds to the evil in it. But this does not stand alone: we also see that "where sin increased, grace abounded all the more."
Job's "not one" holds for every child of Adam. Writers point to one birth where God did what Job said no one could do.
God completely shut out the poison that sin had put into human nature in every other case. So the Lord Jesus was born of the woman, not of the man... The power of the Highest overshadowed His mother from the start, and only in this way was "that holy thing" born of her at the right time. "Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? There is not one," Job 14. This, and far more than this, was "that holy thing" which was born of the virgin. With God nothing is impossible.
The same writer sets His birth beside the new birth.
In His person human nature was cleansed from its defilement, and God did what Job declared impossible for man — brought forth a clean thing out of an unclean (Job 14:4). At His birth He was what we become at new birth, but without any taint of evil, perfect in all things — yes, the Eternal Life itself.
One writer names what Job's question could not reach:
"Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? There is not one." This is impossible for any human being. Yet God is able to purify man's hearts, cleansing them through the blood of Jesus Christ (1 Jn. 1:7), by faith (Rom. 3:25). But this is found only in the New Testament, so Job did not understand such a marvellous gospel.
- Source — The verse states a law about origins: a corrupt fountain gives a foul stream. "Not one" means not one thing, not just not one person.
- Reach — The law covers every descendant of Adam, the head God made for the race. Each birth adds to the evil; none takes away from it.
- Deadlock — Job pleads his impurity as a reason for God to look away from him. The plea leaves him with no hope in himself.
- Exception — God did the one thing Job called impossible. By the power of the Highest, "that holy thing" was born of the virgin, untainted, though of a fallen race.
- Outcome — A clean thing did come out of an unclean. So God cleanses hearts through the blood of Jesus Christ, by faith — the gospel Job had not yet been shown.
If his days are determined, if the number of his months is with thee, [and] thou hast appointed his bounds which he must not pass,
Job speaks these words in the middle of his suffering. He describes a life that is short and already measured out before it begins. Job never doubts that God fixes the limits of every human life. What he does with that fact is where the trouble starts.
Job's picture of man in this chapter is a flower cut down and a shadow that does not stay. The days themselves are the point: God counts them, not us. One writer draws out a double truth here. Human life feels unstable, yet God has settled all of it.
Here it is simply man born of woman, never born of God... "He comes out like a flower, and is cut down; he flees like a shadow, and does not last." You know very well — we all know — that many children die. Death is most frequent there... "Since his days are determined, and the number of his months is with you, and you have appointed his limits that he cannot pass." So it is all uncertain — a shaky position as far as man is concerned — but God has settled all of it.
Because man's days are few, his life must end, and God decides when. Another writer presses past that fact with a question the verse does not answer.
Man has few days. His life in this world must end in death, and God decides the time when he goes, as verse 5 states. But what then? Job felt he was just like a hired worker putting in his day, and he wished that God would give him rest until the end came. But again, what then?
In the next line Job asks God to look away from him. That plea can be taken two ways. One commentator asks what Job really wanted from the God who set his limits.
He recognises that God has determined the length of a man's life, and man cannot overstep his limits. But why did Job not fully submit at this time to the greater work of God? Why did he strain against the limits God had placed him under? (v.5). "Look away from him that he may rest," Job says. Did he mean he wanted God to relax the limits, so he could rest comfortably? For he was only like a hired man: could he not finish his day's work in peace?
Job's speech ends here, and the first round of the debate ends with it. Another writer measures Job's closing words against two psalms.
The close of this speech brings the first round of the debate to an end. It is a most beautiful funeral song about the frailty and uncertainty of human life. Man comes up like a flower, and is cut down and withers. We are listening to the cry of Psalm 90, but without its faith in God, and not yet followed by the triumph of Psalm 91.
Job draws his limit at the grave, and in this chapter he does not look past it. One writer says Job is right as far as his sight goes.
In Job 14 he clearly does not look past this present world of sight. In the bitterness of his spirit he has no sense of resurrection. The tree sprouts now, and visibly, in this present world — man does not... Job was right, only he did not see beyond, nor here know Him who is the resurrection and the life.
The same hand that sets the boundary reaches past it.
Our coming into the world is completely under God's control. And once we are born, our life is in His hand. Death, too, answers to His will... He is "the sovereign Lord of life and death." He kills; death is His black-winged messenger... He "makes alive," and "brings up" from the grave. Resurrection is the sovereign act of His power.
- Determined. God counts your days. Your months are already with Him — uncertain to you, settled with Him.
- Bounded. The limit is real: life in this world must end, and the timing of that end is God's decision, not yours.
- Contested. Job accepts the limit but strains against it. He asks God to look away instead of fully submitting to Him.
- Incomplete. His cry is as honest as Psalm 90 about frailty, but it never reaches Psalm 90's faith. In this chapter he sees nothing past the grave.
- Answered. The One who fixes the boundary also crosses it: He kills and makes alive, and resurrection is the act of His own power.
Look away from him; and let him rest, till he accomplish, as a hireling, his day.
Job has just said that God counts a man's days and sets limits no one can pass. Now he asks only to be left alone, like a hired worker finishing his day — which raises the question behind the whole chapter: when the day ends, what then?
Job asks God to look away from him, so that the days he has left can pass quietly. One writer ties the plea to the limits Job has just admitted:
His short span of life is all in God's hands. So why not look away and give him a little relief, so that he may enjoy his day like a hired worker? All the more so, since life on earth closes for man with no hope. A tree that is cut down may sprout again. But man is like water that drains away and dries up: he lies down and rises no more, as long as the heavens last.
Another writer questions what Job really wanted from God:
Why did Job not fully submit at this time to God's greater work, instead of fretting against the limits God had placed him under? (v.5). "Look away from him that he may rest," Job says. Did he mean he wanted God to relax the limits, so he could rest comfortably? For he was only like a hired man: could he not finish his day's work in peace?
The comparison is not flattering. A hired servant stood outside the household:
These were different from the house servants, who were usually slaves. A hired servant was taken on for the day and paid at the end of it. A servant hired by the priest did not count as one of the family, and could not eat the holy food. The slaves, by contrast, counted as part of the family.
So Job casts himself as a man hired for a single day, paid at sundown, and outside the family circle.
One writer hears in the plea the voice of a man turned in on himself:
But how sadly true are verses 1, 2! And will the mighty God enter into judgment with such a frail creature — not only frail, but impure by nature! Ah, let Job ponder well his own words. But he goes on in self-pity, begging to be left alone for a while, until he finishes his day like a hired worker! (verses 3-6).
The same writer sets the whole speech beside two psalms:
The close of this address ends the first round of the debate. It is a most beautiful funeral song about the frailty and uncertainty of human life. Man comes up like a flower, and is cut down and withers. We are listening to the wail of the 90th psalm, but without its faith in God, and not yet followed by the triumph of the 91st psalm.
Job's plea assumes this day is all there is. Another writer presses the obvious question twice:
Man being of few days, his life in this world must end in death, and the time when he goes is determined by God, as verse 5 states. But, what then? Job felt he was just like a hired man filling out his day, and he wished that God would give him rest until the end came. But again, what then?
That silence is not error, only limited light:
In Job 14 he clearly does not look beyond this present world of sight. In the bitterness of his spirit he has no sense of resurrection. The tree sprouts again, here and now, in this present world — man does not… Job was right. He simply did not see beyond, and he did not yet know Him who is the resurrection and the life.
The same image can also become a way to live:
Everything around us is an empty show, but what is inside lasts. When the heart takes hold of this fact, it becomes like someone brought into a house to work for the day. He does the work well, but he passes through instead of settling into the circumstances… May the Lord keep us going on in simplicity, doing our day's work like a hired worker, until Christ comes — and then each one will receive his praise from God.
- The day — Job asks God to look away so he can finish his short life quietly, like a worker seeing out his shift.
- The wage — a hired servant was taken on for one day, paid at sundown, and never part of the family. That is how Job sees himself before God.
- The lament — his words on human frailty are true, yet they come as self-pity; it is the sorrow of Psalm 90 without its faith.
- The limit — "what then?" is the question Job cannot answer. He does not yet see past this world to resurrection.
- The turn — the same picture becomes a good way to live. Do the day's work well, pass through instead of settling down, and wait for Christ.
For there is hope for a tree if it be cut down, it will sprout again, and its tender branch will not cease;
Job is near the end of a long reply to his friends. He points to something anyone can check: a tree that is cut down and grows back. Does a person get the same second chance? Commentators call Job's answer honest but incomplete.
Job's reply ends with a comparison between man and a tree.
He closes his answer (Job 14) with wider thoughts on man's miserable lot in this world. Man is frail and faulty by nature, with no hope of coming back to life here — unlike a tree, which can sprout again however low it is cut down.
Job had watched this happen over years.
He started to reason the matter out. He took the example of a tree that had been cut down, its root long in the earth. He had watched the years pass, and the stump left behind had begun to decay. Yet a change came. Something happened. Perhaps an earth tremor cracked the rocks and opened a fresh channel for water to reach its roots. As a result, the dead tree came to life and sprouted again. The hope of Job was that something like that lay before mankind.
Job saw something true here, but he could not see past it.
In Job 14, he does not go beyond this present world of sight, and in the bitterness of his spirit he has no sense of resurrection. The tree sprouts now, here where we can see it — man does not, and never will, unless by a miracle, as with Lazarus. Death has passed fully on him as someone who lives in this world — a child of Adam. Such life he never recovers. Job was right, only he did not see beyond, nor here know Him who is the resurrection and the life.
The mystery lies on the other side of the comparison. One writer points to the part of man that is not the body:
There was no mystery about the tree, but there was about the human race. Like the tree stump, the body of man wasted away in the ground. Yet no sign of continuing life appeared, as it did when the young shoots sprang from the old roots of the tree. Still, Job realised that man is made of more than body, for he spoke of his spirit, and this is what puzzled him.
The chapter records a man reasoning in the dark, and some quote it as if it settled doctrine.
That is the language of man apart from revelation. It is the expression of one who is in darkness and uncertainty. Teachers of error often quote Job and the words of his friends to defend false teachings such as soul-sleep and the annihilation of the wicked, as if these were true revelations from God. But their words are only the expressions of the human mind, and often false and misleading. What Job and his friends said is recorded in an inspired account that cannot fail, yet revelation is a different matter altogether.
Yet Job does not stop where despair usually stops.
People very often stop there, but the Spirit of God does not stop there in Job. It is plain that he says what Scripture fully backs — "till the heavens are no more." That is a remarkable phrase. We might have expected "till the earth is no more," which would be natural enough. But man lives and dies, and does not rise — not till the earth is no more, but "till the heavens are no more he will not awake or be roused out of his sleep."
The same figure is later picked up for a whole nation, and there the hope proves real.
Does this mean that Israel can never be restored? No, it does not. For a tree may die, so that in its first state it bears fruit no more. Yet "there is hope for a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that its shoots will not cease. Though its root grow old in the earth, and its stump die in the soil" (Job 14:7-8). Israel will rise again in a different state from the one that brought her to ruin. This will truly be "life from the dead" (Romans 11:15).
- Cut down. Job argues from something he had watched. A tree was cut down, its stump decayed for years, then water reached it and it sprouted again.
- Contrast. The tree comes back where all can see it. A man does not, and that silence pressed on Job. He had not yet met the One who is the resurrection and the life.
- Caution. These are the words of a man reasoning without revelation. The record is inspired, but his words are not settled teaching about the dead.
- Crack of light. Job says man will not wake "till the heavens are no more" — not the earth, but the heavens. The phrase is larger than the despair around it.
- Confirmation. The same cut-down tree pictures a nation reduced to nothing and sprouting again. The hope Job could only reach for turns out to be real.
Though its root grow old in the earth, and its stock die in the ground,
A cut-down tree can sprout again, even after long years in the ground. Job asks whether a dying man has the same prospect — and how far his own answer reached.
This is no fresh cut. The tree is long past the point where anyone would expect anything from it — and then a change comes.
He took the picture of a tree that had been cut down, its root long in the earth. He had watched the years pass, until the stump left behind began to decay. Yet a change came. Something happened — an earth tremor may have cracked the rocks and opened a fresh channel for water to reach its roots. Then the dead tree came to life and sprouted again. Job's hope was that something like that lay ahead for mankind.
The picture exposes a gap. A plant can lose everything above ground and still rise. For this life, a man cannot.
"Though its root grow old in the earth, and its stump die in the soil, yet at the scent of water it will bud and put out branches like a young plant. But a man dies and is laid low." There is no hope for him in this earthly life; he dies and is done with. A plant, on the other hand, may be brought down to the worst and nothing appear, and yet it may shoot up again, especially if there is water to help it.
Job's sight here stops at the world in front of him.
In Job 14, he does not go beyond this present world of sight, and in the bitterness of his spirit he has no sense of resurrection. The tree sprouts now, in plain view, in this present world. Man does not, and in fact never will, unless by a miracle, as with Lazarus. Death has wholly passed upon him as a dweller in this world — a child of Adam. Such life he never recovers. Job was right, only he did not see beyond, nor here know Him who is the resurrection and the life.
Job speaks here in the dark, and that changes how his words should be used.
He speaks of man who "lies down and rises not." That is the language of man apart from revelation. It is the expression of one who is in darkness and uncertainty. Teachers of error often quote Job and the sayings of these friends to defend false teachings — such as soul-sleep, or the annihilation of the wicked — as if these were true revelations from God. But their words are only the expressions of the human mind, and often false and misleading.
Commentators differ on how much Job himself grasped. Some read the tree as a contrast that defeats him. Others read it as a likeness he failed to press home.
Yet the fact is this. Though man's body decays completely in the grave, the new sprouting of a tree is a comparison, not a contrast, to the eventual "sprouting" of a new body from the old. Man's resurrection is longer delayed, but it is just as certain. Job knew this, as he says in chapter 19:26. But in chapter 14 he is too concerned about the immediate future to give proper weight to the distant future.
One writer takes the old root and the dead stump beyond one man's grave, to a whole nation.
Job can say, "There is hope for a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again … though its root grow old in the earth … yet at the scent of water it will bud and put out branches" (Job 14:7-9). Israel has indeed failed. The tree has been battered by wind and storm among the nations, but the root remains, so Israel will bud and bring forth branches again.
Job had to reason his way to hope from a tree stump. Readers now start from somewhere else.
People in Old Testament times believed that the soul of man survived death and that resurrection lay ahead. Job's words here show it, and the Lord made it plain when He argued with the Sadducees of His day. What God had not yet made known was that for the saint resurrection will mean entering a new and incorruptible order of things. Our Lord showed this when He rose from the dead. So we have no need to discuss the matter and reason it out, as Job does here. God has plainly revealed the whole truth of it.
- The root. An aged root and a decayed stump still hold life; water reaches them, and the dead tree sprouts.
- The gap. What the root has, man does not have in this world — he dies and is laid low, with no new spring to follow.
- The dark. Job speaks apart from revelation. Scripture records his words exactly, but they are not God's doctrine.
- The dispute. Some read the tree as a contrast that leaves Job hopeless. Others read it as a comparison: a resurrection just as certain, only longer delayed.
- The answer. The root remains for Israel. For the saint, Christ's resurrection has made the whole truth plain — nothing left to reason out from a stump.
Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and put forth boughs like a young plant.
Job looks at a felled tree and finds a strange comfort in it. The stump lies dead for years, then water reaches the root and green shoots appear. Then he turns the picture against himself: a man does not come back the way that tree does.
Job is not inventing a symbol. He had watched it happen, and the change came from outside the stump.
He took the analogy of a tree, which had been felled, when its root had been in the earth for a long time. He had seen the years pass, so that the stump left behind had begun to decay. Yet a change had come. Something had happened. Perhaps an earth-tremor had cracked the rocks and opened a fresh channel for water to reach its roots. Then, as a result, the dead tree came to life and sprouted again. Job's hope was that something like that lay ahead for mankind.
The tree is only half the argument. Job puts it beside man, and the comparison collapses at once.
"But man dies, and wastes away." There is no hope for him in this earthly life; he dies and that is the end of it. A plant, on the other hand, may be brought down to the worst state and show nothing. Yet it can shoot up again, especially if there is water to help it. "Yes, man gives up his spirit, and where is he?"
In this chapter Job reasons from what he can see, and no further.
In Job 14 he clearly does not go beyond this present world of sight. In his bitterness of spirit he has no sense of resurrection. The tree sprouts now, and it sprouts in plain sight in this present world. Man does not, and in fact never will, unless by a miracle, as Lazarus was raised. Death has wholly passed upon him as an inhabitant of this world, a child of Adam. Such life he never recovers. Job was right; only he did not see beyond, nor did he know here the One who is the resurrection and the life.
A tree's revival can be seen. A buried man shows nothing. That gap is where Job's question comes from.
There was no mystery about the tree, but there was about the human race. Like the tree stump, the body of man wasted away in the ground. But there was no evidence of continuing life, as there was when young shoots sprang from the old roots of the tree. Still, Job realised that man is made of more than body. He spoke of his spirit, and this was what perplexed him. The body of the man wasted away, but where was the man who lived in that body?
Job's question waited a long time for a plain answer. It came from the Lord Jesus.
Clear, plain teaching about the place a man enters when he dies came only with the Lord Jesus. Job's question was plainly answered by the Lord in Luke 16, where He speaks about the rich man and Lazarus. There we learn what happens to a person who lives without any thought of God. He enters the place of torment when he leaves this world.
Writers also apply the picture to Israel.
The root is the hidden source of life. Christ is the source of spiritual life for every saint of God, and the blessing is sure because the root is perfect. Israel has indeed failed; the tree has been storm-swept and torn among the nations, but the root remains, and so Israel will bud and bring forth branches again.
Another writer names what that reviving water turned out to be in history.
The holy seed was in the people, but they had dwindled to a very small number when the Lord Jesus came. Among them were Zacharias, Elizabeth, Anna, Mary and others who followed Him. But the grace and truth that came by Him was like the scent of water that Job speaks of. There were fine boughs shooting from the stump of Judah.
- Cut down — Job's picture is a felled tree. Its stump has decayed in the ground for years, with nothing showing above the surface.
- Water — what revives it comes from outside: water reaching the root, not strength left in the stump.
- Contrast — the tree sprouts again in this world; man dies and does not. Job's comfort turns into his complaint.
- Question — a stump shows evidence of life; a grave shows none. Job knew man has a spirit, so he asks where the man himself has gone.
- Answer — Job reasoned from nature and could see no further. Clear teaching about life after death came with the Lord Jesus, who is the resurrection and the life.
But a man dieth, and is prostrate; yea, man expireth, and where is he?
Job has just looked at a felled tree that sprouts again from its stump, and the comparison turns bitter. What nature does for timber it does not seem to do for people.
There is no hope for him for this earthly life. He dies and is done with. A plant, on the other hand, may be cut down to the worst state with nothing left showing, and yet it may shoot up again, especially if there is water to help it.
The question is not what happens to the body. Job can watch that. What he cannot trace is the person who lived in it.
There was no mystery about the tree, but there was about the human race. Like the tree stump, the body of man wasted away in the ground. But there was no sign of life going on, as there was when young shoots sprang from the old roots of the tree. Still, Job realised that man was made of more than a body, for he spoke of his spirit, and this is what puzzled him. The body of the man wasted, but where was the man that lived in the body?
Writers note that Job is describing what a man can see from the earth's surface, and no further.
In Job 14, he does not go beyond this present world of sight, and in the bitterness of his spirit he has no sense of resurrection. The tree sprouts now, in plain view, in this present world. Man does not, and in fact never will, unless by a miracle, as with Lazarus. Death has fully passed on him as a dweller in this world — a child of Adam. He never gets that life back. Job was right, only he did not see beyond, nor did he know here Him who is the resurrection and the life.
That difference matters when someone builds a teaching about death on this verse.
That is the language of man apart from revelation. It is the expression of one who is in darkness and uncertainty. Teachers of errors — soul-sleep, the wiping out of the wicked, and so on — often quote Job and the words of these friends to defend their false teachings. They treat them as if they were true revelations from God. But their words are only the expressions of the human mind, and often false and misleading. Scripture gives an unfailing inspired record of what Job and his friends said, but revelation is a different matter altogether.
Job asked; later Scripture replies. The answer is not the same for everyone.
The Lord answered Job's hard question in Luke 16:19–31 and Luke 23:43, and Paul answered it through the Spirit in 2 Corinthians 5:1–8 and Philippians 1:23. For the believer, death means entry into Christ's presence in the heavenly paradise. For the unbeliever, it means entry into hell with all its torments.
Spoken at a graveside, the same reply becomes personal:
Justified and right with God as he was, he has died. That raises another question about him, and we read it in Job 14:10. We may well echo that second question, for we are not left in any doubt about the answer. For this we turn to 2 Corinthians 5:8: "Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord." That is where our brother is, WITH THE LORD.
Commentators differ on what Job's picture proves. One reading turns the contrast around: the stump was closer to man's case than Job realised.
Yet here is the fact. Man's body decays completely in the grave, but the fresh sprouting of a tree is a comparison, not a contrast, to the "sprouting" of a new body from the old in the end. Man's resurrection takes longer to come, but it is just as certain. Job knew this, as he says in chapter 19:26. In chapter 14, though, he is too taken up with the near future to give proper weight to the distant future.
One writer finds both resurrections in the book — the just in chapter 19, and the unjust in these verses.
Job had the resurrection of the just before him (Job 19:25-27), and no less the resurrection of the unjust (Job 14:10-12). The first is tied to the Kinsman Redeemer standing up on the last day on this earth of dust. The second is tied to a day when even the heavens are no more.
- The question. A felled tree sprouts again; the man who dies wastes away and leaves no visible trace — so Job asks where he has gone.
- The limit. Job speaks of this world of sight, and speaks in bitterness. He was right about what he could see, and saw no further.
- The warning. These are a man's words, not revelation. Nobody can build soul-sleep or the wiping out of the wicked on them.
- The answer. Later Scripture replies: for the believer, death is entry into Christ's presence; for the unbeliever, entry into hell.
- The certainty. The sprouting stump turns out to be a picture, not a contradiction. Resurrection takes longer, but it is just as sure.
The waters recede from the lake, and the river wasteth and drieth up
A cut-down tree can sprout again, but Job says a man's life drains away like water from a lake. The image raises the book's hardest question — is death simply the end of a man, and if not, when does he come back?
Job sets a cut-down tree beside a dying man, and the tree comes off better. One writer traces the logic of the picture and the sharp turn at the end of it.
"Though the root grows old in the earth, and the stock dies in the ground; yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant. But man dies, and wastes away." There is no hope for him for this earthly life; he dies and is done with. A plant is different. It may be brought down to its worst, with nothing showing, and yet it may shoot up again, especially if water helps it.
The same writer notes elsewhere that Job is speaking about man as he stands on earth, and that within those limits his words hold exactly.
And the more, as life on earth closes for man hopelessly, though a tree cut down may sprout again, while, like waters that fail and dry up, man lies down, and rises no more while the heavens last. He speaks of "man" for this world, and nothing can really be conceived more exact.
Job sets a time limit on this sleep: the end of the heavens. One writer matches that with a scene in Revelation.
This is man — the prey of sorrow, decay and death, with no ray of divine light, till all ends in utter gloom. But it is not actual extinction. Yet it is a "sleep" only broken when "the heavens are no more." How striking the agreement with Revelation 20:11! This resurrection comes after the resurrection of the blessed and holy, who reign with Christ. It comes only when the thousand years of their reign are over.
The same writer notes which end Job names, and which he does not.
Many people stop there, but the Spirit of God, speaking here through Job, does not... We might have expected "till the earth is no more," which would be natural and easy to understand. But man lives and dies, and does not rise — not till the earth is no more, but till the heavens are no more.
Some read this verse to mean that the dead stop existing. One writer answers that Job's own words say the opposite.
But what is that sleep? That he cannot tell you. He only uses words that fit a man who knows nothing of the other world, or of the state between death and resurrection. Those words certainly do not say the dead have ceased to exist. They imply the opposite. When I say they shall not rise, they shall not awake or arise out of their sleep, these words assume someone who is asleep. He will not wake till a set time. It is not a statement of non-existence, but the contrary... Job does not tell me what becomes of his soul in the meantime, and I do not expect him to. The Lord tells me it is not destroyed with the body. The apostle uses this same word "sleep," adding "in Jesus" for the saints, who have their gain in death, because He receives their spirits.
How should we rate what Job says here? One writer places it between faith and unbelief, and points to fuller light elsewhere in the Old Testament.
He lies down and rises no more, so long as earth and heaven remain. This is not exactly the language of unbelief, nor yet of faith. It is one speaking as a man, and of things upon earth... Thank God, even in the Old Testament there was more light.
Another writer puts it more sharply. Job's sight stops at this world, and his grief leaves him no thought of rising:
In Job 14 he clearly does not go beyond this present world of sight. In the bitterness of his spirit he has no sense of resurrection. The tree sprouts now and visibly in this present world — man does not... Job was right, only he did not see beyond, nor here know Him who is the resurrection and the life.
Job does not stay in this darkness. Later in the book he speaks of a Redeemer, and one writer draws out how much Job knew when he said it.
His wondrous words were "written" — yes, "printed in a book"... A "Redeemer" should one day stand upon the earth. Job knew this; and that, though his body should become the food of worms, yet in his flesh he should see God. He knew that he should die, and rise again... His memorable words are written in the BOOK OF BOOKS forever. So they give us the first clear statement of a life beyond the death that man's sin brought in.
- Picture — A felled tree buds again when water reaches it. A man does not. What drains away does not come back by itself.
- Limit — Job speaks of man as he stands on earth, and inside that limit he is right: this life, once ended, does not start again.
- Clock — He dates the waking not by the earth's end but by the heavens' end, which matches the scene of Revelation 20:11.
- Sleep — "Sleep" assumes a sleeper. Job denies a rising now, not continued existence; the soul is not destroyed with the body.
- Light — Job's sight here stops at this world, and his grief leaves no thought of rising. But the book does not stop here. He later says he will see God in his own flesh.
So man lieth down, and riseth not again; till the heavens be no more, they do not awake, nor are raised out of their sleep.
Job has just compared a man with a felled tree: the stump can smell water and sprout again, but a man who dies wastes away. Verse 12 draws the conclusion, and the surprise lies in its second half — the limit Job sets on the sleep of the dead.
The verse ends a comparison that runs against man. A tree cut to the ground still holds a future in its roots; human life on earth does not.
"But man dies, and wastes away." There is no hope for him for this earthly life; he dies and is done with. A plant on the contrary may be brought down to the worst and nothing appear, and yet it may shoot up again, particularly if there is water to help it.
Job is speaking about man's standing in this present world, and that limit is deliberate.
He speaks of "man" for this world, and nothing could be more exact. It was not the time or place to introduce the special blessedness of the first resurrection, which we shall find has its echo elsewhere in this book. Every scripture is given by inspiration, and consistent with every other.
Most people stop reading at "rises not." The second half of the verse is where the weight falls, and the choice of word is odd enough to demand attention.
There people very often stop, but not so the Spirit of God here by Job. For it is plain here he really does say what Scripture fully warrants — "till the heavens be no more." A very remarkable expression. It might have been thought to be — and that we could easily understand as a natural thing — "till the earth be no more"; but man lives and dies, and does not rise — not till the earth be no more, but — "till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep."
Job elsewhere speaks of seeing his Redeemer stand on the earth. Here he speaks of a different waking — of man generally, at the far end of everything.
Yet it is certain that in Job 14:12 Job speaks of man's resurrection (i.e., of man, as such) when the heavens are no more and eternity begins, contrasted with the rising of the righteous like himself, to enjoy their hope when the Kinsman-Redeemer shall stand on the earth, which is clearly for the kingdom.
The last book of the Bible sets the two events in the same order Job gives.
Commentators differ here. One writer weighs the line against how long the wait felt to Job.
This is an exaggeration because the time seemed so long to Job, as though death was the end of everything.
Others place it between the two extremes — neither despair nor confession.
He lies down and rises no more, so long as earth and heaven remain. This is not exactly the language of unbelief, nor yet of faith. It is one speaking as a man, and of things upon earth.
The verse is a favourite text for those who argue the dead are simply extinguished. One writer answers that granting the words in full does not grant the conclusion drawn from them.
But you chiefly rely on Job 14:12: nor are you singular… Thus speaks Job: "Man lies down and rises not till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep." And if they do not, what does that prove? I believe that fully; but I would remark, that we cannot take all that Job says in the vexation of his spirit as revelations, any more than all his friends say, who did not speak rightly of God as he did.
Whatever Job's grasp of the timing, the added clause carries him past the grave — and the verses that follow show him waiting rather than despairing.
- Tree — a felled tree can sprout again; a man who dies has no hope left for this earthly life. Job describes man in this world; he does not shut the door on eternity.
- Heavens — the clock Job sets is startling. He does not say "till the earth be no more," but the heavens — a limit that reaches past every earthly hope.
- Which waking — commentators read this as the raising of man as such at the end of all things. It is not the rising of the righteous to see their Redeemer stand on the earth.
- Confirmed — Revelation 20 keeps Job's order. Heaven and earth pass away, then the dead, small and great, stand raised at the great white throne.
- Waiting — commentators differ over whether Job spoke prophecy or overstatement in his pain. But sleep supposes a sleeper who will wake, and Job waits for God's appointed time until his change comes. Death is not the end.