Bible Chapter Summary
Job 14 Summary
Man's Brief Life and Lack of Hope
Job laments the brevity and trouble inherent in human life, comparing a person to a flower that is quickly cut down and a shadow that does not endure. He questions why God brings him into judgment given his mortal frailty, noting that unlike a tree which may sprout again after being cut down, man dies and does not rise until the heavens are no more. Job wishes God would hide him in the grave until his wrath passes, yet asks if man could live again, expressing hope in God even while facing death.
Key themes
Key verses
Job 14:1-2
“Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.”
Job 14:7-12
“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. Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground; Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant. But man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he? As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up: So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep.”
Job 14:13-14
“O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me! If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.”
Job 14:19-20
“The waters wear the stones: thou washest away the things which grow out of the dust of the earth; and thou destroyest the hope of man. Thou prevailest for ever against him, and he passeth: thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away.”
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