Job 14:15

RV 'Thou shouldest call and I would answer thee: Thou wouldest have a desire to the work of thine hands.'

16, 17. These vv. probably are not, as AV and RV take them, the present contrast to the glowing picture of the future that he has been wishing might be true, but a continuation of that picture. Render, 'For then Thou wouldest number my steps; Thou wouldest not watch over my sin; my transgression would be sealed up in a bag, and Thou wouldest cover over my iniquity.' God would number his steps in kindly care (cp. 'the very hairs of your head are all numbered'). He would no longer treasure up his sin against him, but bide it away out of sight.

18, 19. And] render, 'But.' Under God's visitation the hopes of men come to nought, like undermined mountains or water-worn rocks.

20-22. A description of what happens after the death change passes over the face and the spirit goes away to Sheol. The dead have lost all knowledge, all interest in the things of earth, even in the fortunes of their own children (cp. Sir 19:5-6). In the grave the body passes through the painful process of decomposition, the pain of which is also felt by its shade in Sheol.