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Texts -- Job 14:1-20 (NET)

Context
The Brevity of Life
14:1 “Man , born of woman , lives but a few days , and they are full of trouble . 14:2 He grows up like a flower and then withers away ; he flees like a shadow , and does not remain . 14:3 Do you fix your eye on such a one ? And do you bring me before you for judgment ? 14:4 Who can make a clean thing come from an unclean ? No one ! 14:5 Since man’s days are determined , the number of his months is under your control ; you have set his limit and he cannot pass it. 14:6 Look away from him and let him desist , until he fulfills his time like a hired man .
The Inevitability of Death
14:7 “But there is hope for a tree : If it is cut down , it will sprout again , and its new shoots will not fail . 14:8 Although its roots may grow old in the ground and its stump begins to die in the soil , 14:9 at the scent of water it will flourish and put forth shoots like a new plant . 14:10 But man dies and is powerless ; he expires – and where is he? 14:11 As water disappears from the sea , or a river drains away and dries up , 14:12 so man lies down and does not rise ; until the heavens are no more , they will not awake nor arise from their sleep .
The Possibility of Another Life
14:13 “O that you would hide me in Sheol , and conceal me till your anger has passed ! O that you would set me a time and then remember me! 14:14 If a man dies , will he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait until my release comes . 14:15 You will call and I – I will answer you; you will long for the creature you have made .
The Present Condition
14:16 “Surely now you count my steps ; then you would not mark my sin . 14:17 My offenses would be sealed up in a bag ; you would cover over my sin . 14:18 But as a mountain falls away and crumbles , and as a rock will be removed from its place , 14:19 as water wears away stones , and torrents wash away the soil , so you destroy man’s hope . 14:20 You overpower him once for all , and he departs ; you change his appearance and send him away .

Pericope

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Bible Dictionary

  • Job

    [nave] JOB 1. A man who dwelt in Uz, Job 1:1. Righteousness of, Job 1:1, 5, 8; 2:3; Ezek. 14:14, 20. Riches of, Job 1:3. Trial of, by affliction of Satan, Job 1:13-19; 2:7-10. Fortitude of, Job 1:20-22; 2:10; Jas. 5:11. Visite...

  • Death

    [isbe] DEATH - (maweth; thanatos): PHYSIOLOGICAL AND FIGURATIVE VIEW The word "Death" is used in the sense of (1) the process of dying (Gen 21:16); (2) the period of decease (Gen 27:7); (3) as a possible synonym for poison (2 Ki 4:...
    [nave] DEATH. Called in some versions &ld;Giving Up the Ghost,&rd; Gen. 25:8; 35:29; Lam. 1:19; Acts 5:10. King of Terrors Job 18:14. A Change Job 14:14. Going to your Fathers Gen. 15:15; 25:8; 35:29. Putting Off This Tabe...

  • JOB, BOOK OF

    [isbe] JOB, BOOK OF - || I. INTRODUCTORY 1. Place in the Canon 2. Rank and Readers II. THE LITERARY FRAMEWORK 1. Setting of Time, Place and Scene 2. Characters and Personality 3. Form and Style III. THE COURSE OF THE STORY A) To Jo...

  • Readings, Select

    [nave] READINGS, SELECT. Judah's Defense Gen. 44:18-34 Joseph Revealing His Identity Gen. 45:1-15 The Deliverance of the Israelites from Pharaoh Ex. 14:5-30 Song of Moses When Pharaoh and His Army Were Overthrown Ex. 15:1-1...

  • Resurrection

    [isbe] RESURRECTION - rez-u-rek'-shun (in the New Testament anastasis, with verbs anistemi, "stand up," and egeiro, "raise." There is no technical term in the Old Testament, but in Isa 26:19 are found the verbs chayah, "live," kum ...
    [nave] RESURRECTION. Job 14:12-15; Job 19:25-27; Psa. 16:9, 10; Psa. 17:15; Psa. 49:15; Isa. 25:8; Isa. 26:19; Ezek. 37:1-14; Dan. 12:2, 3, 13; Hos. 13:14; Matt. 22:23-32 Mark 12:18-27; Luke 20:27-37. Matt. 24:31; Matt. 25:1-13; M...

  • Dead

    [nave] DEAD Raised to life, instances of: Son of the widow of Zarephath, 1 Kin. 17:17-23; Shunammite's son, 2 Kin. 4:32-37; young man laid in Elisha's sepulchre, 2 Kin. 13:21; widow's son, Luke 7:12-15; Jairus' daughter, Luke 8:49-...

  • SHEOL

    [isbe] SHEOL - she'-ol (she'ol): 1. The Name 2. The Abode of the Dead (1) Not a State of Unconsciousness (2) Not Removed from God's Jurisdiction (3) Relation to Immortality 3. Post-canonical Period 1. The Name: This word is often t...

  • Sin

    [nave] SIN. Index of Sub-Topics Miscellany of Minor Sub-Topics; Unclassified Scriptures Relating to, Defining, and Illustrating; Confession of; Consequences of, Entailed Upon Children; Conviction of; Forgiveness of; Fruits of; Kn...

  • Employee

    [nave] EMPLOYEE. Lev. 19:13; Lev. 25:6; Deut. 15:18; Deut. 24:14, 15; Matt. 10:10; Luke 10:7; Rom. 4:4; 1 Tim. 5:18 Character of Unrighteous Job 7:1-3; Job 14:1, 6; Matt. 20:1-15; Matt. 21:33-41; John 10:12, 13 Kindness to Rut...

  • Hell

    [smith] In the Old Testament this is the word generally and unfortunately used by our translators to render the Hebrew Sheol . It really means the place of the dead, the unseen world, without deciding whether it be the place of miser...
    [nave] HELL The word used in the King James Version of the O.T. to translate the Hebrew word sheol, signifying the unseen state, in Deut. 32:22; 2 Sam. 22:6; Job 11:8; 26:6; Psa. 9:17; 16:10; 18:5; 55:15; 86:13; 116:3; 139:8; Prov....

  • FLOWERS

    [ebd] Very few species of flowers are mentioned in the Bible although they abounded in Palestine. It has been calculated that in Western Syria and Palestine from two thousand to two thousand five hundred plants are found, of which...
    [isbe] FLOWERS - flou'-erz (BLOOM, BLOSSOM, etc.): (1) gibh`ol, literally, "a small cup," hence, calyx or corolla of a flower (Ex 9:31, "The flax was in bloom"). (2) nets (Gen 40:10, nitstsah, "a flower" or "blossom"; Job 15:33; Is...

  • BRANCH ;BOUGH

    [isbe] BRANCH ;BOUGH - bransh: Represented by very many words in the Hebrew. (1) zemorah used especially of a vine branch. The spies "cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes" (Nu 13:23). See also Ezek 15:2; Nah 2:2...

  • Afflictions and Adversities

    [nave] AFFLICTIONS AND ADVERSITIES. List of Sub-Topics Miscellany of Minor Sub-Topics; Unclassified Scriptures Relating to; Benefits of; Benefits of, Illustrated; Consolation in; Deliverance from; Design of; Despondency in; Dispe...

  • Life

    [nave] LIFE. Index of Sub-topics Miscellany of Minor Sub-topics; Brevity and Uncertainty of; Everlasting; From God; Long; Spiritual. Miscellany of Minor Sub-topics Breath of, Gen. 2:7. Called Spirit of God, Job 27:3. Tree of,...

  • God

    [nave] GOD. List of Sub-Topics Miscellany; Unclassified Scriptures Relating to; Access to; Compassion of; Creator; Creator of Mankind; Eternity of; Faithfulness of; Fatherhood of; Favor of; Foreknowledge of; Glory of; Goodness of...

  • Faith

    [nave] FAITH. 2 Sam. 22:31; Psa. 5:11; Psa. 7:1; Psa. 9:9, 10; Psa. 18:30; Psa. 32:10; Psa. 33:18, 19; Psa. 34:8, 22 vs. 1-8;; Psa. 2:12. Psa. 36:7; Psa. 40:4; Psa. 64:10; Psa. 78:7 vs. 5-7.; Psa. 84:5, 12; Psa. 112:5, 7, 8; Psa. ...

  • Depravity of Mankind

    [nave] DEPRAVITY OF MANKIND Gen. 6:5-8, 11-13; Gen. 8:21; Deut. 32:10; Job 4:17-19; Job 9:2, 3, 20, 29-31; Job 11:12; Job 14:4; Job 15:14-16; Job 25:4-6; Psa. 5:9; Psa. 14:1-3 Psa. 53:1-3. Psa. 51:5; Psa. 58:1-5; Psa. 94:11; Psa. 1...

  • Immortality

    [nave] IMMORTALITY. Gen. 5:24; 2 Sam. 12:23; 2 Kin. 2:11; Neh. 9:5; Job 4:17-21; Job 14:13; Psa. 16:10, 11; Psa. 21:4; Psa. 22:26; Psa. 23:6; Psa. 31:5; Psa. 36:9; Psa. 37:18, 27; Psa. 49:7-9; Psa. 49:14, 15; Psa. 73:26; Psa. 86:1...

  • Servant

    [nave] SERVANT Distinguished as bond servant, who was a slave, and hired servant. Bond Laws of Moses concerning, Ex. 21:1-11, 20, 21, 26, 27, 32; Lev. 19:20-22; 25:6, 10, 35-55; Deut. 15:12, 14, 18; 24:7. Kidnapping forbidden, D...

  • Sleep

    [nave] SLEEP From God, Psa. 127:2. Of the sluggard, Prov. 6:9, 10. Of Jesus, Matt. 8:24; Mark 4:38; Luke 8:23. A symbol of death, Job 14:12; Matt. 9:24; Mark 5:39; Luke 8:52; John 11:11, 12; 1 Thess. 4:14. See: Death.
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Arts

Questions

  • Life is a precious gift from God and should be so valued. Pain and suffering are to be regarded as discipline. There is no Scriptural authority to justify the view that we have a right to shorten or terminate our existence. S...
  • I've heard and read the same statement a number of times, but have never troubled myself to look up each passage. I'm not surprised that looking up "heaven" and "hell" in a concordance would give you contradictory results. T...

Sermon Illustrations

Trouble

Resources/Books

Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • What this book is all about has been the subject of considerable debate. Many people think God gave it to us to provide His answer to the age-old problem of suffering. In particular, many believe it is in the Bible to help us...
  • I. Prologue chs. 1-2A. Job's character 1:1-5B. Job's calamities 1:6-2:101. The first test 1:6-222. The second test 2:1-10C. Job's comforters 2:11-13II. The dialogue concerning the basis of the divine-human relationship 3:1-42...
  • The writer composed the prologue and epilogue of this book in prose narrative and the main body (3:1-42:6) in poetry. The prologue and epilogue form a frame around the main emphasis of the revelation, the poetic section, and ...
  • Uz (1:1) was probably southeast of the Dead Sea (cf. vv. 3, 14, 19; 42:12).15Some scholars place it in Bashan south of Damascus, but the writer of Lamentations (probably Jeremiah) associated the land of Uz with Edom (Lam. 4:2...
  • The two soliloquies of Job (chs. 3 and 29-31) enclose three cycles of dialogue between Job and his three friends. Each cycle consists of speeches by Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar in that order interspersed with Job's reply to e...
  • In these chapters Job again rebutted his friends and their view of God. He also challenged God and brooded over death. Half of this section is dialogue with his friends (12:1-13:19) and half is prayer to God (13:20-14:22). Jo...
  • As in his replies to Eliphaz (7:12-21) and Bildad (9:28-33; 10:2-19), Job also addressed God in this reply to Zophar (13:20-14:22).Job asked God to stop afflicting him and to stop terrifying him (13:20-21). He also requested ...
  • In this melancholic lament Job bewailed the brevity of life (vv. 1-6), the finality of death (vv. 7-17), and the absence of hope (vv. 18-22)."Born of woman"(v. 1) reflects man's frailty since woman who bears him is frail. Ver...
  • Perhaps Eliphaz wanted to scare Job into repenting with these words. As before, Eliphaz's authority was his own observations (v. 17; cf. 4:8). To this he added the wisdom of their ancestors (vv. 18-19; cf. 8:8). Probably vers...
  • "But it is just here, when everything is blackest, that his faith . . . like the rainbow in the cloud . . . shines with a marvelous splendor."89This short section contains probably the best known verses in the book (vv. 23-27...
  • Elihu began by voicing his respect for Job's three friends (vv. 6-10). They were older than he, and for this reason he said he had refrained from speaking until now. However he had become convinced that advancing age does not...
  • Elihu reminded the three older counselors that Job had claimed to be innocent of transgressions (cf. 13:18, 23; 14:17; 23:11; 27:2, 6). Then he sided with them and agreed that Job was guilty of sin for which God could punish ...
  • 31:23 Instead of Judah being a target for cursing in the future, as she became because of the Babylonian exile, she would be a subject of blessing. She would become a place where righteousness dwelt, a holy hill.31:24-25 Juda...
  • Whereas the previous verses have focused on the Antichrist, those in this pericope concern Israel. Here we learn that this "end time"will definitely be a time of intense persecution of Jews. This section constitutes the clima...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

  • If a man die. shall he live again?'--Job 14:14.I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: 26. And whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die.'--John 11:25-2...
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