He comes out like a flower and withers; he flees like a shadow and continues 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?
A Funeral Song
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.
Samuel RidoutThis 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 Flower
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.
William KellyIf 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, However Many Years
"Few days" is not a statement about the calendar. Job himself outlived his suffering by a long stretch, and the verdict still held.
Leslie M. GrantJob 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.
Measured Against the Eternal God
Job's life was far longer than ours. Set beside the eternal God, that made no difference.
F. B. HoleIn 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.
The Limit of Job's Sight
Later in the chapter Job compares man with a tree. One writer marks where Job's sight stops.
J. N. DarbyIn 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 as the Reason for Grace
Frailty is the whole subject of the verse. One writer shows what God did about it.
H. H. SnellThe 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."
Summary
- 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."