Job 14:7-12

8. When man goes to his death, he does not return. (Job 14:7-12)

TEXT 14:7-12

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.

8 Though the root thereof wax old in the earth,

And the stock thereof die in the ground;

9 Yet through the scent of water it will bud,

And put forth boughs like a plant.

10 But man dieth, and is laid low:

Yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?

11 As the waters fail from the sea,

And the river wasteth and drieth up;

12 So man lieth down and riseth not:

Till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake,
Nor be roused out of their sleep.

COMMENT 14:7-12

Job 14:7The figures now change to a tree. Trees can be cut down, but some species will sprout again.[162] Even trees have more hope than men (Job 14:7-9 reveal Near Eastern custom of cutting trees off in order to produce new life.)

[162] For this image see F. Delitzsch, Job, Vol. I, E.T., Eerdmans, p. 227.

Job 14:8A tree may not be completely dead, but drought retards its growth. The roots are withering in the ground.

Job 14:9But the scent of water will bring new hope for life (Psalms 92:12 f; and Proverbs 14:11).

Job 14:10There are two Hebrew roots for man in this verse, one to be strong and to be weak. (The word translated laid low in A. V. is h-l-sweakening, defeating, or helpless; the gibbor is a strong person, translated in A. V. as giveth up the ghost.) Even a strong man dies and is no more (Joel 3:10). Job here reflects a very limited view of life after death.

Job 14:11Though the contexts are different, the second line of this verse is identical with Isaiah 19:5 b. Dhorme's point is well taken regarding the word rendered sea. The Hebrew term is used in a wider sense than the sea; it can mean a lake (Isaiah 19:5). The sea could not dry up; if it did it would not make any difference to the dead.[163]

[163] Dhorme, Job, p. 199.

Job 14:12When man lies down to pleasant dreams, they shall not wake,[164] as long as the heavens do not burst.

[164] G. R. Driver, Vetus Testamentum, Supplement, III, 1960, p. 77.