American King James Version - AKJV - 1999
Job 14
1
Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble.
Reference
Parallel theme
Job 5:7
Job 25:4
Ecclesiastes 2:23
Job 7:1
Psalm 51:5
Job 7:6
Job 15:14
Job 9:25
Genesis 47:9
Psalm 39:5
2
He comes forth like a flower, and is cut down: he flees also as a shadow, and continues not.
Reference
5
Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with you, you have appointed his bounds that he cannot pass;
Reference
7
For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease.
Reference
8
Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground;
Reference
Parallel theme
1 Corinthians 15:36
9
Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant.
11
As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decays and dries up:
Reference
Parallel theme
Isaiah 19:5
12
So man lies down, and rises not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep.
Reference
Parallel theme
Revelation 21:1
Job 3:13
Revelation 20:11
Isaiah 65:17
Isaiah 51:6
Acts 3:21
Job 30:23
2 Peter 3:7
Resurrection
Isaiah 26:19
Ephesians 5:14
13
O that you would hide me in the grave, that you would keep me secret, until your wrath be past, that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me!
Reference
Judgment
Acts 17:31
Parallel theme
Mark 13:32
Isaiah 12:1
Acts 1:7
Psalm 106:4
Genesis 8:1
Luke 23:42
14
If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.
Reference
Parallel theme
Acts 26:8
Job 7:1
Revelation 20:13
Psalm 27:14
Job 13:15
Philippians 3:21
Job 42:16
Job 14:5
15
You shall call, and I will answer you: you will have a desire to the work of your hands.
Reference
18
And surely the mountains falling comes to nothing, and the rock is removed out of his place.
Reference
19
The waters wear the stones: you wash away the things which grow out of the dust of the earth; and you destroy the hope of man.
20
You prevail for ever against him, and he passes: you change his countenance, and send him away.
21
His sons come to honor, and he knows it not; and they are brought low, but he perceives it not of them.
Reference
22
But his flesh on him shall have pain, and his soul within him shall mourn.
Summary of Job 14
Job Chapter 14 reflects deeply on the shortness of human life, the certainty of death, and the possibility of life beyond the grave. After asking God for an explanation of his suffering, Job steps back and considers the larger condition of humanity. His conclusion is that human life is fragile, temporary, and filled with trouble.
Job compares a person to a flower that quickly withers and a shadow that soon disappears. Human beings may grow, become strong, build families, and establish themselves, but their lives remain short. Job wonders why God watches such fragile creatures so closely and brings them into judgment.
He also recognizes a difficult truth about human nature: people are imperfect. He asks whether anything clean can come from something unclean, suggesting that human beings cannot completely remove their own weakness or impurity.
Job then contrasts human beings with trees. A tree that has been cut down may still have hope. Its roots can remain alive, and with water it may produce new branches. Nature provides an example of renewal after apparent death.
But Job sees human death differently.
When a person dies, he says, that person does not simply return to earthly life like a tree producing new growth. He compares death to a river or lake drying up. Once the water disappears, it does not simply return to its previous condition.
This leads to one of the most important questions in the chapter:
"If a man dies, shall he live again?"
Job does not give a simple answer. Instead, he expresses both despair and a small but significant hope. He imagines waiting through his difficult period until God might remember him. He says that if God called him, he would answer because God still desires the work of His hands.
This is a remarkable moment.
Earlier, Job has spoken as though death would be permanent and hopeless. Here, however, he imagines the possibility that God could remember and call him again. The language does not yet provide a fully developed doctrine of resurrection, but it shows Job wrestling with the possibility that death may not be the absolute end.
The chapter then returns to Job's sense of being constantly examined by God. He feels that God counts his steps and keeps his sins recorded. Job's suffering has made him feel as though his entire life is being inspected for evidence against him.
He uses the imagery of wrongdoing being sealed in a bag, like a record kept securely for later judgment.
Job then returns to the theme of things that appear permanent but eventually disappear. Mountains can fall. Rocks can move. Water can wear away stone. Soil can be washed away by floods.
If even mountains and rocks can be destroyed, then human life is certainly fragile.
Job concludes that death separates people from the events of this world. A person's children may become successful and honored, but the dead person does not see it. Meanwhile, the living continue to experience pain and grief.
The chapter therefore moves through three connected ideas:
human life is short, death is unavoidable, and Job longs to know whether God might provide hope beyond death.
The historical imagery comes from an ancient world in which agriculture, trees, rivers, mountains, rocks, burial practices, and family honor were central parts of daily life. These familiar images allow Job to express abstract questions about mortality through things people could see and experience.
The chapter is especially important because Job's suffering has moved him beyond simply asking, "Why am I suffering?" He is now asking a much larger question:
"What happens to a human being when this short and painful life is over?"
His answer remains uncertain. At times he sees death as darkness and permanent separation. At other moments he imagines God remembering him and calling him again.
Job Chapter 14 therefore combines despair with a small but powerful glimpse of hope. Job knows that human life is fragile, but he also recognizes that the God who created him has the power to remember and restore His creation.
Job compares a person to a flower that quickly withers and a shadow that soon disappears. Human beings may grow, become strong, build families, and establish themselves, but their lives remain short. Job wonders why God watches such fragile creatures so closely and brings them into judgment.
He also recognizes a difficult truth about human nature: people are imperfect. He asks whether anything clean can come from something unclean, suggesting that human beings cannot completely remove their own weakness or impurity.
Job then contrasts human beings with trees. A tree that has been cut down may still have hope. Its roots can remain alive, and with water it may produce new branches. Nature provides an example of renewal after apparent death.
But Job sees human death differently.
When a person dies, he says, that person does not simply return to earthly life like a tree producing new growth. He compares death to a river or lake drying up. Once the water disappears, it does not simply return to its previous condition.
This leads to one of the most important questions in the chapter:
"If a man dies, shall he live again?"
Job does not give a simple answer. Instead, he expresses both despair and a small but significant hope. He imagines waiting through his difficult period until God might remember him. He says that if God called him, he would answer because God still desires the work of His hands.
This is a remarkable moment.
Earlier, Job has spoken as though death would be permanent and hopeless. Here, however, he imagines the possibility that God could remember and call him again. The language does not yet provide a fully developed doctrine of resurrection, but it shows Job wrestling with the possibility that death may not be the absolute end.
The chapter then returns to Job's sense of being constantly examined by God. He feels that God counts his steps and keeps his sins recorded. Job's suffering has made him feel as though his entire life is being inspected for evidence against him.
He uses the imagery of wrongdoing being sealed in a bag, like a record kept securely for later judgment.
Job then returns to the theme of things that appear permanent but eventually disappear. Mountains can fall. Rocks can move. Water can wear away stone. Soil can be washed away by floods.
If even mountains and rocks can be destroyed, then human life is certainly fragile.
Job concludes that death separates people from the events of this world. A person's children may become successful and honored, but the dead person does not see it. Meanwhile, the living continue to experience pain and grief.
The chapter therefore moves through three connected ideas:
human life is short, death is unavoidable, and Job longs to know whether God might provide hope beyond death.
The historical imagery comes from an ancient world in which agriculture, trees, rivers, mountains, rocks, burial practices, and family honor were central parts of daily life. These familiar images allow Job to express abstract questions about mortality through things people could see and experience.
The chapter is especially important because Job's suffering has moved him beyond simply asking, "Why am I suffering?" He is now asking a much larger question:
"What happens to a human being when this short and painful life is over?"
His answer remains uncertain. At times he sees death as darkness and permanent separation. At other moments he imagines God remembering him and calling him again.
Job Chapter 14 therefore combines despair with a small but powerful glimpse of hope. Job knows that human life is fragile, but he also recognizes that the God who created him has the power to remember and restore His creation.