CHAPTER XIV _The shortness, misery, and sinfulness of man's life_, 14. _The unavoidable necessity of death; and the hope of a general_ _resurrection_, 5-15. _Job deplores his own state, and the general wretchedness of_ _man_, 16-22. NOTES ON CHAP. XIV Verse Job 14:1. _MAN-BORN OF A WOMAN_] T... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 14:2. _HE COMETH FORTH LIKE A FLOWER_] This is a frequent image both in the Old and New Testament writers; I need not quote the places here, as the readers will find them all in the _margin_. _HE FLEETH ALSO AS A SHADOW_] Himself, as he appears among men, is only the _shadow_ of his _rea... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 14:3. _DOST THOU OPEN THINE EYES UPON SUCH A ONE_] The whole of this chapter is directed to God alone; in no part of it does he take any notice of his friends.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 14:4. _WHO CAN BRING A CLEAN_ THING] This verse is thus rendered by the _Chaldee_: "Who will produce a clean thing from man, who is polluted with sins, except God, who is one?" By _Coverdale_ thus: _Who can make it cleane, that commeth of an uncleane thinge?_ _No body_. The text refers to... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 14:5. _SEEING HIS DAYS_ ARE _DETERMINED_] The general _term_ of human life is fixed by God himself; in vain are all attempts to prolong it beyond this term. Several attempts have been made in all nations to find an _elixir_ that would expel all the seeds of disease, and keep men in contin... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 14:6. _TURN FROM HIM, THAT HE MAY REST_] Cease to try him by afflictions and distresses, that he may enjoy some of the comforts of life, before he be removed from it: and thus, like a _hireling_, who is permitted by his master to take a little repose in the heat of the day, from severe lab... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 14:7. _FOR THERE IS HOPE OF A TREE_] We must not, says _Calmet_, understand this of an _old tree_, the stem and roots of which are _dried up_ and _rotted_: but there are some trees which grow from _cuttings_, and some which, though pulled out of the earth, and having had their roots dried... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 14:9. _THROUGH THE SCENT OF WATER IT WILL BUD_] A fine metaphor: the water acts upon the decaying and perishing tree, as strong and powerful odours from musk, otto of roses, ammonia, c., act on a fainting or swooning person.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 14:10. _BUT MAN DIETH_] No human being ever can spring from the dead body of man; that wasteth away, corrupts, and is dissolved; for the man dies; and when he breathes out his last breath, and his body is reduced to dust, then, _where is he_? There is a beautiful verse in the Persian poet... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 14:11. _THE WATERS FAIL FROM THE SEA_] I believe this refers to _evaporation_, and nothing else. As the waters are evaporated from the sea, and the river in passing over the sandy desert is partly exsiccated, and partly absorbed; and yet the waters of the sea are not exhausted, as these va... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 14:12. _SO MAN LIETH DOWN_] He falls asleep in his bed of earth. _AND RISETH NOT_] Men shall not, like cut down trees and plants, reproduce their like; nor shall they arise till the heavens are no more, till the earth and all its works are burnt up, and the general resurrection of human... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 14:13. _O THAT THOU WOULDEST HIDE ME IN THE GRAVE_] Dreadful as death is to others, I shall esteem it a high privilege; it will be to me a covert from the wind and from the tempest of this affliction and distress. _KEEP ME SECRET_] Hide my soul with thyself, where my enemies cannot invade... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 14:14. _IF A MAN DIE, SHALL HE LIVE_ AGAIN?] The _Chaldee_ translates, If a wicked man die, can he ever live again? or, _he_ _can never live again_. The _Syriac_ and _Arabic_ thus: "If a man die, shall he revive? Yea, all the days of his youth he awaits till his old age come." The _Septuag... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 14:15. _THOU SHALT CALL_] Thou shalt say _There shall be time no_ _longer: Awake, ye dead! and come to judgment_! _AND I WILL ANSWER THEE_] My dissolved frame shall be united at thy call; and body and soul shall be rejoined. _THOU WILT HAVE A DESIRE_] תכסף _tichsoph_, "Thou wilt _pant_... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 14:16. _FOR NOW THOU NUMBEREST MY STEPS_] כי עתה _ki attah,_ _ALTHOUGH thou_, c. Though thou, by thy conduct towards me, seemest bent on my utter destruction, yet thou delightest in mercy, and I shall be saved.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 14:17. _MY TRANSGRESSION IS SEALED UP IN A BAG_] An allusion to the custom of collecting evidence of state transgressions, _sealing_ _them up in a bag_, and presenting them to the judges and officers of state to be examined, in order to trial and judgment. Just at this time (July, 1820) ch... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 14:18. _THE MOUNTAIN FALLING COMETH TO NAUGHT_] Every thing in nature is exposed to mutability and decay:-even mountains themselves may fall from their bases, and be dashed to pieces; or be suddenly swallowed up by an earthquake; and, by the same means, the strongest and most massive rocks... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 14:19. _THE WATERS WEAR THE STONES_] Even the common stones are affected in the same way. Were even _earthquakes_ and violent concussions of nature wanting, the action of _water_, either _running_ over them as a _stream_, or _even falling upon them_ in _drops_, will wear these stones. Henc... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 14:20. _THOU PREVAILEST FOR EVER AGAINST HIM_] It is impossible for him to withstand thee: every stroke of thine brings him down. _THOU CHANGEST HIS COUNTENANCE_] Probably an allusion to the custom of _covering the face_, when the person was condemned, and _sending him away_ to execution.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 14:21. _HIS SONS COME TO HONOUR_] When dead, he is equally indifferent and unconscious whether his children have met with a splendid or oppressive lot in life; for as to this world, when man dies, _in that day all his thoughts perish_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 14:22. _BUT HIS FLESH UPON HIM SHALL HAVE PAIN_] The sum of the life of man is this, _pain of body_ and _distress of soul_; and he is seldom without the one or the other, and often oppressed by both. Thus ends Job's discourse on the miserable state and condition of man. THE last verse of... [ Continue Reading ]