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Job Chapter
Fourteen
New King James Version (NKJV)
INTRODUCTION TO JOB 14
Job,
having turned himself from his friends to God, continues his address to him in
this chapter; wherein he discourses of the frailty of man, the shortness of his
life, the troubles that are in it, the sinfulness of it, and its limited
duration, beyond which it cannot continue; all which he makes use of with God,
that he would not therefore deal rigorously with him, but have pity on him, and
cease from severely afflicting him, till he came to the end of his days, which
could not be long, Job 14:1; he
observes of a tree, when it is cut down to the root, yea, when the root is
become old, and the stock dies, it will, by means of being watered, bud and
sprout again, and produce boughs and branches; but man, like the failing waters
of the sea, and the decayed and dried up flood, when he dies, rises not, till
the heavens be no more, Job 14:7; and then
he wishes to be hid in the grave till that time, and expresses hope and belief
of the resurrection of the dead, Job 14:13; and goes
on to complain of the strict notice God took of his sins, of his severe
dealings with men, destroying their hope in life, and removing them by death;
so that they see and know not the case and circumstances of their children they
leave behind, and while they live have continual pain and sorrow, Job 14:16.
Job 14:1 “Man
who is born of woman Is of few days and full of trouble.
YLT
1Man, born of woman! Of few
days, and full of trouble!
Man that is born of a woman,.... Man, Adam; not the
first man, so called, for he was made and created out of the dust of the earth,
and not born of a woman; the woman was made out of him, and not he of her;
"earthly man", as Mr. Broughton translates it, as every descendant of
Adam is; as is the earth, such are they that are earthy, everyone of which is
born of a woman; yet not as opposed unto and distinguished from the heavenly
One, or the Lord from heaven, for he also as man was made and born of a woman:
this, though a proper description of all mankind, there being none but what are
born of a woman, see Matthew 11:11; yet
Job chiefly designs himself; for having spoken of his wasting circumstances in
which he was, in Job 13:28, goes on
in this to treat of his frailty and mortality, and to improve it into an
argument with God for pity and mercy, as appears from Job 14:3; where he
speaks of himself in the first person, as here in the third, and all along: he
may have respect in this clause to Eve, the mother of all living, from whom all
descend, and of whom, in a sense, they may be said to be born; or else to his
immediate parent, he and every man being born of a woman; no man, but the
first, ever came into the world in any other way; there is one that came into
the world without an earthly father, and that is our Lord Jesus Christ, but
none without a mother; nor lie, who indeed was born of a virgin, and so in an
extraordinary and miraculous manner; and this is observed, not so much on account
of natural descent, or to denote that, as being reckoned from the mother, she
having so great a concern in the production of man, conceiving, bearing, and
bringing him forth; nor to remark the sinfulness of nature, though one born of
a sinful woman must needs be so too, since this is expressed clearly in Job 14:4; but the
weakness and frailty of man; as is the creature that generates, such is that
that is generated; creatures born of strong ones are strong, and of weak ones
weak; a creature born of a lion is a strong one; and man, born of a woman, must
be weak and feeble, and no wonder he is short lived, as follows:
is of few days; or
"short of days"F3קצר ימים "brevis dierum", Montanus, Schmidt,
Michaelis, Schultens; so Beza, Vatablus, Drusius, Mercerus. ; comes short of
the days he might have lived, if man had never sinned, and comes short of the
days the first man did live, and which those before the flood generally lived,
who most of them lived upwards of nine hundred years; whereas now, and ever
since the times of Moses, and about which Job lived, the days of the years of
man are but threescore and ten; and such are shorter of days still, who live not
more than half this time, who are cut off in the bloom and prime of life, the
days of whose youth are shortened, who die in their youth, or in their
childhood and infancy; and such especially are short of days who are carried
from the womb to the grave, or die as soon as born; and those that live the
longest, their days are but few, when compared with the days of eternity, or
with those men shall live in another world, either good men in heaven, or
wicked men in hell, which will be for ever; and especially with respect to God,
with whom one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day, and
therefore the days and age of man are as nothing before him. Job has here also
a respect to himself, whose days in his own apprehension were very few, and
just at an end, and therefore craves pity and compassion, see Job 10:20; and what
aggravates the shortness of man's days is, as it follows:
and full of trouble; man is born to it, being
born in sin; sin and trouble go together, where there is sin there is trouble;
sin entered into the world, and death by it, with the numerous train of
afflictions and miseries which issue in it: all men have their troubles, some of
one sort, and some of another; wicked men are not indeed in trouble as other
men, as good men are; they have not the same sort of trouble, yet are not
exempt from all; they are "full of commotion"F4שבע רגז "satur
commotione", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius, Schmidt,
Michaelis. disquietude and uneasiness, as the word signifies; they are
restless, and ever in motion; they are like the troubled sea, that cannot rest,
but is continually casting up mire and dirt; some are of such tempers and
dispositions, that they cannot sleep unless they do mischief; and though they
are many of them prosperous in their worldly circumstances, there are others
that are reduced to poverty and distress, are attended with diseases and
disorders, pains and sores, and blaspheme that God that has power over them;
and these are of all men the most miserable, having no interest in God, in his
loving kindness, nor any enjoyment of his presence, and so nothing to support
them in, and carry them through their troubles; and though they are generally
without any sense of sin or danger, have no remorse of conscience, and their
hearts are hardened; yet at times they are "full of trembling"F5"Saturus
tremore", Montanus; "satur trepidi tumultus", Schultens. , as
some render the words; are seized with a panic through the judgments of God
that are upon them, or are coming upon them, or when death is made the king of
terrors to them: and good men they have their troubles; besides those in common
with others, they have inward troubles arising from the vanity of their minds
and thoughts, the impurity of their hearts, and the power of indwelling sin in
them, and especially from the breaking forth of it in words and deeds; from the
weakness of their graces, from the hidings of God's face, and the temptations
of Satan: in short, Job's meaning is, that men in the ordinary course of things
meet with so much trouble, that there is no need of any extraordinary
afflictions to be laid on them, such as his were.
Job 14:2 2 He comes forth like a
flower and fades away; He flees like a shadow and does not continue.
YLT
2As a flower he hath gone
forth, and is cut off, And he fleeth as a shadow and standeth not.
He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down,.... As the
flower comes from the earth, so does man; as it comes out of the stalk, so man
out of his mother's womb; as the flower flourishes for a while, and looks gay
and beautiful, so man while in youth, in health and prosperity. Job, doubtless,
has respect to his own case before his troubles came upon him, when he was
possessed of all that substance, which made him the greatest man of the east;
when his children were like olive plants around his table, and his servants at
his command, and he in perfect health of body: and as a flower flourishes for a
little while, and then withers; no sooner is it come to its full blow, but
presently decays; such is the goodliness of man, it fades away whenever God
blows a blast upon it; yea, he is easily and quickly cut down by death, like a
beautiful flower cut with the knife, or cropped by the hand, or trampled upon
by the foot, see Psalm 103:15;
he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not; either as the
shadow of the evening, which is lost when night comes on; or the shadow on a
dial plate, which is continually moving on; or, as the Jewish Rabbins say, as
the shadow of a bird flying, which stays not, whereas the shadow of a wall, or
of a tree, continues: a shadow is an empty thing, without substance, dark and
obscure, variable and uncertain, declining, fleeting, and passing away; and so
fitly resembles the life of a man, which is but a vapour, a bubble, yea, as
nothing with God; is full of darkness, of ignorance, and of adversity, very
fickle, changeable, and inconstant, and at most but of a short continuance.
Job 14:3 3 And do You open Your eyes
on such a one, And bring me[a] to
judgment with Yourself?
YLT
3Also -- on this Thou hast
opened Thine eyes, And dost bring me into judgment with Thee.
And dost thou open thine eyes on such an one,.... So frail
and feeble, so short lived and sorrowful, so soon and easily cut down and
destroyed: and by opening of his eyes is not meant his providential care of
men; whose eyes indeed are everywhere, run to and fro throughout the earth, and
are careful of and provident for all sorts of men, which is very wonderful, Psalm 8:4; nor the
displays of his special grace and favour towards his own peculiar people, on
whom his eyes of love, grace, and mercy, are opened, and are never withdrawn
from them, which is marvellous lovingkindness; but the exercise of rigorous
justice in punishing, afflicting, and chastising with so much severity, as Job
thought to be his own case; the eyes of God, as he thought, were set on him for
evil, and not for good; he looked wistly on him, and in a very frowning manner;
he sharpened his eye upon him, as the phrase is, Job 16:9; and as
some render the wordF6פקחת עיניך "super illo acuis oculos tuos", Cocceius;
"super hune apertos vibras oculos", Schultens. here, looked narrowly
into all his ways, and watched every motion and every step he took, and pursued
him with great eagerness, and used him with great strictness in a way of
justice, which he, a poor, weak creature, was not able to bear; which sense is
confirmed by what follows:
and bringeth me into judgment with thee? by this it
appears Job has a view to himself all along, and to the procedure of God against
him, which he took to be in strict justice, and that was what he was not able
to bear; he was not a match for God, being such a frail, weak, sinful, mortal
creature; nor was God a man as he was, that they should come together in
judgment, or be fit persons to contend together upon the foot of strict
justice; sinful man can never be just with God upon this bottom, or be able to
answer to one objection or charge of a thousand brought against him; and
therefore, as every sensible man will deprecate God's entering into judgment
with him, so Job here expostulates with God why he should bring him into
judgment with him; when, as he fled to his grace and mercy, he should rather
show that to him than in a rigorous manner deal with him.
Job 14:4 4 Who can bring a clean thing
out of an unclean? No one!
YLT
4Who giveth a clean thing
out of an unclean? not one.
Who can bring a clean thing out of an clean?.... Either
produce a clean person from an unclean one: it is not to be expected that one,
perfectly free from sin, should be generated by, or brought out of, one that is
defiled with it; which is the case of all men; the first man, though made
upright, sinned, and by sinning defiled himself, and all human nature in him:
and so those that immediately descended from him were polluted likewise, and so
on in all generations, every man being conceived and shaped in iniquity; so
that it is not possible that man that is born of a woman, sinful and unclean,
should be clean himself, or be free from sin; by which it is manifest, that the
sinfulness of human nature is unavoidable; it is natural and necessary, and
cannot be otherwise, such being the case and circumstances of immediate
parents, from whom men descend; and that this is the case of all men that come
into the world by ordinary and natural generation; there is none righteous or
pure from sin: no,
not one; and things being so, Job thought it hard that he should be
singled out, and so severely chastised, when the sinfulness of nature was from
and by his birth, and was natural and unavoidable, and when there was not a
single person on earth free from it. There never was but one instance of one
clean being brought out of an unclean person, and that was our Lord Jesus
Christ of the Virgin Mary; which was not in the ordinary way of generation, but
by a supernatural and extraordinary production of his human nature, through the
power of the Holy Ghost, whereby it escaped the original contagion and
pollution of mankind: or else, in consequence of this, the sense is, who can bring
forth or produce a good work from an impure person? or how can it be expected
that a man that is defiled with sin should do a good work perfectly pure? for
there is not even a just and good man that doth good and sinneth not; and much
less is it to be looked for, that men in a mere state of nature, that are as
they come into the world, sinful and impure, should ever be able to perform
good works; it may as well be thought that grapes are to be gathered of thorns,
or figs of thistles; men must be born again, created in Christ Jesus, have
faith in him, and the Spirit of God in them, before they can do that which is
truly good from right principles, and with right views; and man at most and
best must be an imperfect creature, and deficient in his duty, and cannot bear
to be strictly examined, and rigorously prosecuted: or the meaning is,
"who can make"F7מי יתן "quis potest facere?" V. L.
"dabit", i.e. "faciet", Vatablus; "sistet aut
efficiet", Michaelis; "quis efficiet?" Cocceius. an unclean man
a clean one? "no, not one"; a man cannot make himself clean by
anything he can do, by his repentance and humiliation, by his good works,
duties, and services; none can do this but God; and to this sense some render
the words, "who can--is there one"F8לא
אחד "nonne tu qui solus est?" V. L.
"annon unus?" sc. Mediator, Cocceius. ? there is, that is, God, he
can do it, and he only: though men are exhorted to cleanse themselves, this
does not suppose a power in them to do it; this is only designed to convince
them of the necessity of being cleansed, and to awaken a concern for it; and
such as are made sensible thereof will apply to God to purge them, and make
them clean, and create a clean heart within them: and this God has promised to
do, and does do; he sprinkles the clean water of his grace, and purifies the
heart by faith in the blood of Jesus, which cleanses from all sin, and is the
fountain opened to wash in for sin and uncleanness; the Targum is,
"who
can give a clean thing out of a man that is defiled with sins, except God who
is one, and can forgive him?'
none
can pardon sin but God, or justify a sinner besides him; and he can do both in
a way of justice, upon the foot of the blood and righteousness of Christ.
Job 14:5 5 Since his days are
determined, The number of his months is with You; You have appointed his
limits, so that he cannot pass.
YLT
5If determined are his days,
The number of his months [are] with Thee, His limit Thou hast made, And he
passeth not over;
Seeing his days are determined,.... Or
"cut out"F9חרוצים "exacte
praefiniti sunt", Tigurine version. , exactly and precisely, how many he
shall live, and what shall befall him every day of his life; whose life,
because of the shortness of it, is rather measured by days than vents:
the number of his months are with thee; before him,
in his sight, in his account, and fixed and settled by him:
thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass; the
boundaries of his life the period of his days, beyond which he cannot go; the
term of man's life is so peremptorily fixed by God, that he cannot die sooner,
nor live longer, than he has determined he should; as the time of a man's
birth, so the time of his death is according to the purpose of God; and all
intervening moments and articles of time, and all things that befall a man
throughout the whole course of his life, all fall under the appointment of God,
and are according to his determinate will; and when God requires of man his
soul, no one has power over his spirit to retain it one moment; yet this
hinders not the use of means for the preservation and comfort of life, since
these are settled as well as the end, and are under the divine direction: the
word for bounds signifies sometimes "statutes"F11חקו "statuta ejus", V. L. Mercerus, Schmidt. :
though not to be understood of laws appointed by God, either of a moral or
ceremonial nature; but here it signifies set, stated, appointed timesF12"Stata
tempora", Beza. SenecaF13Consolat. ad Marciam, c. 20. says the
same thing;
"there
is a boundary fixed for every man, which always remains where it is set, nor
can any move it forward by any means whatsoever.'
Job 14:6 6 Look away from him that he
may rest, Till like a hired man he finishes his day.
YLT
6Look away from off him that
he may cease, Till he enjoy as an hireling his day.
Turn from him, that he may rest,.... From this short
lived afflicted man, whose days are limited, and will soon be at an end,
meaning himself; not that he desires he would withdraw his gracious presence,
nothing is more agreeable than this to a good man, and there is nothing he more
deprecates than the withdrawing of it; besides, this was Job's case, and one
part of his complaint, Job 13:24; nor to
withhold his supporting presence, or his providential care of him, without
which he could not subsist, but must die and drop into the dust; though some
think this is the sense, and render the words, "turn from him, that he may
cease"F14ויחדל "donec desinat,
sc. esse vel vivere", Piscator, Cocceius. ; to be, or to live, and so a
wish for death, that he might have rest in the grave from all his labours,
pains, and sorrows; but rather the meaning is, that he would turn away from
afflicting him in this extraordinary, manner; since, according to the ordinary
course of things, he would meet with many troubles and afflictions, and had but
a little time to live, and therefore entreats he would take off his hand which
pressed him sorely, and grant him a little respite; or "look off from
him"F15שעה מעליו
"respice aliorsum ab eo", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator,
Cocceius, Schmidt, Michaelis; so De Dieu, Schultens. ; not turn away his eye of
love, grace, and mercy, that is not reasonable to suppose; that was what he
wanted, that God would look upon him, and have compassion on him under his
affliction, and abate it; but that he would turn away his angry frowning
countenance from him, which he could not bear; he had opened his eyes upon him,
Job 14:3; and
looked very sternly, and with great severity in his countenance, on him, and it
was very distressing, and even intolerable to him; and therefore begs that he
would take off his eye from him, that he might have rest from his adversity,
that he might have some ease of body and mind, some intervals of peace and
pleasure: or "that he might cease"F16"Et
cesset", Mercerus; "et desinat a malo suo", Pagninus. from
murmuring, as Aben Ezra; or rather from affliction and trouble; not that he
expected to be wholly free from it in this life, for man is born to it, as he
full well knew; and the people of God have always their share of it, and which
abides and waits for them while in this world; but he desires he might be rid of
that very sore and heavy affliction now upon him; or "that it might
cease"F17"Et cesset afflictio", Drusius; so the
Targum. , the affliction he laboured under, which would be the case if God
would turn himself, remove his hand, or look another way, and not so sharply
upon him:
till he shall accomplish as an hireling his day; an hireling,
as if he should say, that is hired for any certain time, for a year, or more or
less, he has some relaxation from his labours, time for eating and sleeping to
refresh nature; or he has some time allowed him as a respite from them,
commonly called holy days; or if he is hired only for a day, he has time for
his meals; and if his master's eye is off of him, he slackens his hand, and
gets some intermission from his labour; wherefore at least Job begs that God
would let him have the advantage of an hireling. Moreover, to "accomplish
his day", is either to do the work of it, or to get to the end of it;
every man has work to do while in this world, in things natural, civil, and religious,
and is the work of his day or generation, and what must be done while it is
day; and a good man is desirous of finishing it; to which the recompence of
reward, though it is not of debt, but of grace, is a great encouragement, as it
is to the hireling: or "till as an hireling he shall will", or
"desire with delight and pleasureF18ירצה
"grato animo excipiet", Tigurine version; "velit",
Montanus, Bolducius; "acceptum habeat", Piscator; De Dieu, Michaelis.
his day"; that is, his day to be at an end, which he wishes and longs for;
and when it comes is very acceptable to him, because he then enjoys his rest,
and receives his hire; so as there is a fixed time for the hireling, there is
for man on earth; and as that time is short and laborious, so is the life of
man; and at the close of it, the good and faithful servant of the Lord, like the
hireling, in some sense rests from his labours, and receives the reward of the
inheritance, having served the Lord Christ; which makes this day a grateful and
acceptable one to him, what he desires, and with pleasure waits for, being
better than the day of his birth; and especially when his life is worn out with
trouble, and he is weary of it through old age, and the infirmities thereof,
those days being come in which he has no pleasure. Job therefore entreats that
God would give him some intermission from his extraordinary troubles, till his
appointed time came, which then would be as welcome to him as the close of the
day is to an hireling, see Job 7:1.
Job 14:7 7 “For there is hope for a
tree, If it is cut down, that it will sprout again, And that its tender shoots
will not cease.
YLT
7For there is of a tree
hope, if it be cut down, That again it doth change, That its tender branch doth
not cease.
For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will
sprout again,.... That is, if it be cut down to the root, and only the stump
of the root is left in the ground, as the tree in Nebuchadnezzar's dream, Daniel 4:15, yet
the owner of it may entertain a hope that it is not utterly destroyed, but will
bud out again; or "change"F19יחליף
"mutabit se", Drusius; "conditionem suam", Piscator. its
state and condition, and become flourishing again: or "renew"F20"Renovat
se", Schmidt. itself; and its strength, and put out new shoots and
branches; either it will rise up into a new body, as the laurel, as PlinyF21Nat.
Hist. apud Pinedam in loc. relates, or produce new sprouts as the willow, alder
tree, and others; for this is not true of every tree, though it may be of many;
for it isF23Servius in Virgil. Aeneid. l. 3. p. 681. Plin. Nat.
Hist. l. 16. c. 33. reported of the cypress tree, when cut down, it never
sprouts out any more, unless in one place, in Aenaria; but since this is the
case of some, it is sufficient to Job's purpose:
and that the tender branch thereof will not cease; from shooting
out; or "its suckers will not cease"F24יונקתו
"sugensque ejus surculus", Schultens. ; which may be observed
frequently to grow out of the roots of trees, even of those that are cut down,
such as above mentioned.
Job 14:8 8 Though its root may grow
old in the earth, And its stump may die in the ground,
YLT
8If its root becometh old in
the earth, And its stem doth die in the dust,
Though the root thereof wax old in the earth,.... Lies long
there, and is become dry, and seems to be consumed, on which account there may
be the less hope of its flourishing:
and the stock thereof die in the ground; which may
make it still more improbable; for this is not to be understood with some
interpretersF25So Piscator and Cocceius. of the stock or trunk of
the tree cut down, and lying along on the earth, and in the dust of it; though
it may be observed, that even such a stock or trunk, separated from the root,
and as it lies along, will sprout again, as particularly in elms: but it may
rather mean, since it is said to be "in the ground", that part of the
stock or stump left in the ground, from whence the roots part and spread in the
earth; and even though this dies, or at least so seems, yet there being still
life and vigour in the roots, they send forth suckers.
Job 14:9 9 Yet
at the scent of water it will bud And bring forth branches like a plant.
YLT
9From the fragrance of water
it doth flourish, And hath made a crop as a plant.
Yet through the scent of
water it will bud,.... As soon as it smells it, or perceives it, is sensible of it,
or partakes of its efficacy; denoting both how speedily, and how easily, at
once as it were, it buds forth through the virtue either of rain water that
descends upon it, or river water by which it is planted, or by any means
conveyed unto it; particularly this is true of the willow, which delights in
watery places; and, when it is in the circumstances before described, will by
the benefit of water bud out again, even when its stock has been seemingly
dead:
and bring forth boughs like a plant; as if it was a new
plant, or just planted; so the Vulgate Latin version, as "when it was
first planted"; or as a plant that sends forth many branches: the design
of this simile is to show that man's case is worse than that of trees, which
when cut down sprout out again, and are in the place where they were before; but
man, when he is cut down by death, rises up no more in the same place; he is
seen no more in it, and the place that knew him knows him no more; where he
falls he lies until the general resurrection; he rises not before without a
miracle, and such instances are very rare, and never either before or at the
resurrection, but by the omnipotence of God; whereas a tree, in the above
circumstances, sprouts out of itself, according to its nature, and in virtue of
a natural power which God has put into it; not so manF25"Mutat
terra vices-----nos ubi decidimus", Horat. Carmin. l. 4. Ode 7. .
Job 14:10 10 But man dies and is laid
away; Indeed he breathes his last And where is he?
YLT
10And a man dieth, and
becometh weak, And man expireth, and where [is] he?
But man dieth, and wasteth away,.... All men, every man,
"Geber", the mighty man, the strong man; some die in their full
strength; the wise man, notwithstanding all his wisdom and knowledge, and even
skill in the art of medicine; the rich man, with all his riches, with which he
cannot bribe death, nor keep it off; the great and the honourable, emperors,
kings, princes, nobles, all die, and their honour is laid in the dust; yea,
good men die, though Christ has died for them; even those that are the most
useful and beneficial to men, the prophets of the Lord, and the ministers of
his word; and it is no wonder that wicked men should die, though they put the
evil day far from them, make an agreement with death, or bid it defiance, their
wickedness shall not deliver from it; all men have sinned, and death passes on
them, it is appointed for them to die; not their souls, which are immortal, but
their bodies, which return to dust, and are only the mortal part; death is a
disunion or separation of soul and body: and now when this is made, the body
"wasteth away" in the grave, and becomes rottenness, dust, and worms,
and does not by the strength of nature spring up again, as a tree does; though
some understand, by an inversion of the phrases, a wasting before death through
diseases, as if the words were to be read, "but man wasteth away and
dieth"F26So the Tigurine version, Vatablus, and some in
Drusius; and some Hebrews in Ramban and Bar Tzemach. ; he is enervated by
sickness, his strength is weakened in the way, and when he dies there is none
left in him; he is cut offF1ויחלש
"exciditur", Beza, Piscator, Mercerus; so Kimchi & Ben Gersom. ,
as some choose to render it, or cut down as a tree is; but then there is no
force or natural strength in him to rise again, as in a tree:
yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he? not in the
same place he was; not in his house and habitation where he lived; nor in his
family, and among his friends, with whom he conversed, nor in the world, and on
the earth where he did business; he is indeed somewhere, but where is he? his
body is in the grave; his soul, where is that? if a good man, it is in the
presence of God, where is fulness of joy; it is with Christ, which is far
better than to be here; it is with the spirits of just men made perfect; it is
in Abraham's bosom, feasting with him and other saints; it is in heaven, in
paradise, in a state of endless joy and happiness: if a wicked man, his soul is
in hell, in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, with the devil and
his angels, and other damned spirits; in a prison, from whence there is no
release, and in the uttermost misery and distress, banished from the divine
Presence, and under a continual sense of the wrath of God.
Job 14:11 11 As
water disappears from the sea, And a river becomes parched and dries up,
YLT
11Waters have gone away from
a sea, And a river becometh waste and dry.
As the waters fail from the
sea,.... the words may be rendered either without the as, and denote
dissimilitude, and the sense be, that the waters go from the sea and return
again, as with the tide:
and the flood decays and dries up; and yet is supplied
again with water: "but man lieth down, and riseth not again", Job 14:12; or else
with the as, and express likeness; as the waters when they fail from the sea,
or get out of lakes, and into another channel, never return more; and as a
flood, occasioned by the waters of a river overflowing its banks, never return
into it more; so man, when he dies, never returns to this world any more. The
Targum restrains this to the Red sea, and the parting of that and the river
Jordan, and the drying up of that before the ark of the Lord, and the return of
both to their places again.
Job 14:12 12 So man lies down and does
not rise. Till the heavens are no more, They will not awake Nor be
roused from their sleep.
YLT
12And man hath lain down, and
riseth not, Till the wearing out of the heavens they awake not, Nor are roused
from their sleep.
So man lieth down,.... Or "and", or "but man
lieth down"F2ואיש "et vir",
Pagninus, Montanus, Beza, Schmidt; "at vir", Cocceius. ; in the grave
when he dies, as on a bed, and takes his rest from all his labours, toil and
troubles, and lies asleep, and continues so till the resurrection morn:
and riseth not; from off his bed, or comes not out of his
grave into this world, to the place where he was, and to be engaged in the
affairs of life he was before, and never by his own power; and whenever he will
rise, it will be by the power of God, and this not till the last day, when
Christ shall appear in person to judge the world; and then the dead in Christ
will rise first, at the beginning of the thousand years, and the wicked at the
end of them:
till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be
raised out of their sleep; for so the words are to be read, not in
connection with those that go before, but with the last clauses; though the
sense is much the same either way, which is, that those who are fallen asleep
by death, and lie sleeping in their graves, and on their beds, these shall
neither awake of themselves, nor be awaked by others, "till the heavens be
no more"; that is, never, so as to awake and arise of themselves, and to
this natural life, and to be concerned in the business of it; which sometimes
seems to be the sense of this phrase, see Psalm 89:29, Matthew 5:18; or, as
some render it, "till the heavens are wore out", or "waxen
old"F3עד בלתי
"donec atteratur eoelum", V. L. so some in Bar Tzemach, though
disapproved of by him as ungrammatical. ; as they will like a garment, and be
folded up, and laid aside, as to their present use, Psalm 102:26; or
till they shall vanish away, and be no more, as to their present form, quality,
and use, though they may exist as to substance; and when this will be the case,
as it will be when the Judge shall appear, when Christ shall come a second time
to judge the world; then the earth and heaven will flee away from his face, the
earth and its works shall be burnt up, and the heavens shall pass away with
great noise; and then, and not till then, will the dead, or those that are
asleep in their graves, be awaked by the voice of the archangel, and the trump
of God, and they shall be raised from their sleepy beds, awake and arise, some
to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
Job 14:13 13 “Oh, that You would hide
me in the grave, That You would conceal me until Your wrath is past, That You
would appoint me a set time, and remember me!
YLT
13O that in Sheol Thou
wouldst conceal me, Hide me till the turning of Thine anger, Set for me a limit,
and remember me.
And that thou wouldest hide me in the grave,.... The house
appointed for all living, which some understand by the "chambers" in Isaiah 26:20; The
cemeteries or dormitories of the saints, where they lie and sleep until the
indignation of God against a wicked world is over and past; or in Hades, the
state of the dead, where they are insensible of what is done in this world,
what calamities and judgments are on the inhabitants of it, and so are not
affected and grieved with these things; or in some cavern of the earth, in the
utmost recesses of it, in the very centre thereof, if possible; his wish is, to
be buried alive, or to live in some subterraneous place, free from his present
afflictions and misery, than to be upon earth with them:
that thou wouldest keep me secret; so that no eye should
see him, that is, no human eye; for he did not expect to be hid from the sight
of God, be he where he would, before whom hell and destruction, or the grave,
are and have no covering; and not only be secret, but safe from all trials and
troubles, oppressions and oppressors; especially as he may mean the grave where
the wicked cease from troubling and the weary are at rest; the keys of which
Christ keeps in his hands, and locks and unlocks, and none but him; and where
he has laid up his jewels, the precious dust of his saints and where they and
that will be preserved as hidden treasure:
until thy wrath be past; either with respect to
others, an ungodly world, to punish whom God sometimes comes out of his place
in great wrath and indignation; and to prevent his dear children and people
from being involved in common and public calamities, he takes them away beforehand,
and hides them in his chambers, Isaiah 26:19; or
with respect to himself, as to his own apprehension of things, who imagined
that the wrath of God was upon him, being severely afflicted by him; all the
effects of which he supposed would not be removed until he was brought to the
dust, from whence he came, and until his body was changed at the resurrection;
till that time there are some appearances of the displeasure of against sin:
and then follows another petition,
that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me; either for
his going down to the grave, and being hid there, for which there is an
appointed time; for as that is the place appointed for man, it is appointed for
man to go unto it, and the time when, as appears from Job 14:5; or his
coming out of the grave, for his resurrection from thence, which also is fixed,
even the last day, the day God has appointed to judge the world in
righteousness by Christ at which time the dead will be raised; though of that
day and hour no man knows: unless he should mean a time for deliverance from
his afflictions which also is set; for God, as he settles the bounds of an
affliction, how far it should go, and no farther, so likewise the time when it
should end; and either of these Job might call a remembering of him, who
thought himself in his present case, as a dead man, out of mind, as those that
lie in the grave, remembered no more.
Job 14:14 14 If a man dies, shall he
live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait, Till my change
comes.
YLT
14If a man dieth -- doth he
revive? All days of my warfare I wait, till my change come.
If a man die,.... This is said not as if it was a matter
of doubt, he had before asserted it; as sure as men have sinned, so sure shall
they die; nothing is more certain than death, it is appointed by God, and is
sure; but taking it for granted, the experience of all men, and the instances
of persons of every age, rank, and condition, testifying to it; the Targum
restrains it to wicked men,
"if
a wicked man die:'
shall he live again? no, he shall not live in
this earth, and in the place where he was, doing the same business he once did;
that is, he shall not live here; ordinarily speaking, the instances are very
rare and few; two or three instances there have been under the Old Testament,
and a few under the New; but this is far from being a general and usual case,
and never through the strength of nature, or of a man's self, but by the mighty
power of God: or it may be answered to affirmatively, he shall live again at
the general resurrection, at the last day, when all shall come out of their
graves, and there will be a general resurrection of the just, and of the
unjust; some will live miserably, in inexpressible and eternal torments, and
wish to die, but cannot, their life will be a kind of death, even the second
death; others will live comfortably and happily an endless life of joy and
pleasure with God; Father, Son and Spirit, angels and glorified saints: hence,
in the faith of this is the following resolution,
all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come; there is an
appointed time for man on earth when he shall be born, how long he shall live,
and when he shall die, see Job 7:1; or
"of my warfare"F4צבאי
"quibus nunc milito", V. L. "militiae maae", Montanus,
Tigurine version, Drusius, Codurcus, Michaelis, Schultens. for the life of man,
especially of a good man, is a state of warfare with many enemies, sin, Satan,
and the world; at the end of which there will be a "change"; for not
a change of outward circumstances in this life is meant; for though there was
such a change befell Job, yet he was, especially at this time, in no
expectation of it; and though his friends suggested it to him, upon his
repentance and reformation, he had no hope of it, but often expresses the
contrary: but either a change at death is meant; the Targum calls it a change
of life, a change of this life for another; death makes a great change in the
body of a man, in his place here, in his relations and connections with men, in
his company, condition, and circumstances: or else the change at the
resurrection, when this vile body will be changed, and made like unto Christ's;
when it will become an incorruptible, glorious, powerful, and spiritual body, which
is now corruptible, dishonourable, weak, and natural; and, till one or other of
these should come, Job is determined to wait, to live in the constant
expectation of death, and to be in a readiness and preparation for it; in the
mean while to bear afflictions patiently, and not show such marks of impatience
as he had done, nor desire to die before God's time, but, whenever that should
come, quietly and cheerfully resign himself into the hands of God; or this may
respect the frame and business of the soul in a separate state after death, and
before the resurrection, believing, hoping, and waiting for the resurrection of
the body, and its union to it, see Psalm 16:10.
Job 14:15 15 You shall call, and I will
answer You; You shall desire the work of Your hands.
YLT
15Thou dost call, and I -- I
answer Thee; To the work of Thy hands Thou hast desire.
Thou shall call, and I will answer thee,.... Either at
death, when the soul of than is required of him, and he is summoned out of time
into eternity, and has sometimes previous notice of it; though not by a
prophet, or express messenger from the Lord, as Hezekiah had, yet by some
disease and distemper or another, which has a voice, a call in it to expect a
remove shortly; and a good man that is prepared for it, he answers to this call
readily and cheerfully; death is no king of terrors to him, he is not reluctant
to it, yea, desirous of it; entreats his dismission in peace, and even longs
for it, and rejoices and triumphs in the views of it: or else at the
resurrection, when Christ shall call to the dead, as he did to Lazarus, and
say, Come forth; and when they shall hear his voice, even the voice of the
archangel, and shall answer to it, and come forth out of their graves, the sea,
death, and the grave, being obliged to deliver up the dead that are therein;
though some think this refers to God's call unto him in a judicial way, and his
answers to it by way of defence, as in Job 13:22; but the
other sense seems more agreeable to the context:
thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands; meaning his
body, which is the workmanship of God, and a curious piece of workmanship it
is, wonderfully and fearfully made, Psalm 139:14, and
curiously wrought; and though it may seem to be marred and spoiled by death,
yet God will have a desire to the restoration of it at the resurrection to a
better condition; even the bodies of his people, and that because they are
vessels chosen by him, given to his Son, redeemed by his blood, united to his
person, and sanctified by his Spirit, whose temples they are, and in whom he
dwells: wherefore upon these considerations it may be reasonably supposed that
Father, Son, and Spirit, have a desire to the resurrection of the bodies of the
saints, and in which they will have a concern; and from which it may be
concluded it will be certainly effected, since God is a rock, and his work is
perfect, or will be, both upon the bodies and souls of his people; and the work
of sanctification will not be properly completed on them until their vile
bodies are changed, and made like to the glorious body of Christ; which must be
very desirable to him, who has such a special love for them, and delight in
them. Some render the words with an interrogation, "wilt thou desire to
destroy the work of thine hands"F5תכסף
"perdere desiderabis?" Pagninus, Vatablus. ? surely thou wilt not;
or, as Ben Gersom,
"is
it fit that thou shouldest desire to destroy the work of thine hands?'
surely
it is not becoming, it cannot be thought that thou wilt do it; but the former
sense is best.
Job 14:16 16 For now You number my
steps, But do not watch over my sin.
YLT
16But now, my steps Thou
numberest, Thou dost not watch over my sin.
For now thou numberest my steps,.... Or "but
now"F7כי עתה
"at nunc", Piscator. , at this present time thou seemest to have no
desire to me, or affection for me, but the reverse. Job was in a pretty good
frame of mind a little before, having in view his last change, and the glorious
resurrection; but on a sudden he returns to his former complaints of God, and
here of the rigour and strictness of his justice in marking his steps, and
correcting him for his sin; so very uncertain are the best of frames: the
outward conversation of men, whether good or bad, is often in Scripture
expressed by walking, and the actions of men, good or evil, are the steps taken
therein; here they signify evil ones, irregular steps, steps out of the way of
God's commandments, aberrations, strayings from thence, false steps; these Job
supposed God not only had knowledge of, as he has of all the ways, paths, and
goings of men, but took very exact notice of his wrong steps; looked very
narrowly to his paths, as in Job 13:27; and
strictly marked them; yea, told them one by one, that he might miss none, and
make up a large account, which he put down in his book, in order to produce
against him; in which Job was mistaken: he thought God dealt with him as he
does with wicked men, whose evil actions are not only known and observed, but
are counted and put down in the book of his remembrance, which will be opened
at the last day, and produced against them; but God has blotted out of his book
the sins of his people, and will remember them no more; he has a book of
remembrance for their good works, words, and thoughts, but none for their evil
ones:
dost thou not watch over my sin? of error, infirmity, and
weakness; observe it, mark it in a strict and rigorous way, which, when God
does, who can stand before him? or "watch for my sin?" Daniel 9:14 as
Jeremiah's enemies watched for his halting; so Job here represents God very
wrongly, as if he watched for an opportunity against him, to take the advantage
of it, and severely chastise him: or "thou dost not wait for my sin"F8לא תשמור על
חטאתי "non differes punitionem meam",
Pagninus, ; that is, the punishment of it as many of the Jewish writersF9Jarchi,
Gersom, Bar Tzemach. carry the sense; which is, that God did not defer the
punishment of sin, or give him any respite or breathing time, but as soon as
ever he committed any offence, immediately, at once, he was rough with him, and
used him with great severity. Aben Ezra inserts the word "only", as
explanative of the meaning of the words, thus, "thou watchest only over my
sin", or dost not mark and observe anything but my sins; not my good
deeds, only my evil ones; which is a wrong charge, for God takes notice of the
good works of his people, and rewards them in a way of grace, though not of
debt, as well as of their evil works, and chastises for them in a fatherly way:
others render the words to this sense, what is not, or of no moment or
consequence, thou keepest for me in mind and memory, as sinF11So
Schultens. ; that which is not sin, or at least not known to me to be sin, or
however something very trifling, scarce to be called a sin, yet I am dealt with
for it as if a very heinous one; or I am afflicted for I know not what, or,
which is all one, for what is not known to me. Some take the words to be a
petition, "do not observe my sin"F12"Nec serves, id
est, observes peccatum meum"; some in Mercerus. ; or mark it strictly, or
keep it in mind, or reserve it against another time, but hide thy face from it,
and remember it no more, nor never against me.
Job 14:17 17 My transgression is
sealed up in a bag, And You cover[b] my
iniquity.
YLT
17Sealed up in a bag [is] my
transgression, And Thou sewest up mine iniquity.
My transgression is sealed up in a bag,.... Denoting
either the concealment of it, as in Hosea 13:12; not
from God; nor in such sense sealed up as sin is by the sacrifice and
satisfaction of Christ, who has thereby removed it out of the sight of divine
justice; so that when it is sought for it shall not be found, nor any more
seen, which is the sense of the phrase in Daniel 9:24; where
the words, "to make an end of sin", may be rendered, to "seal them
up"; but this Job would not have complained of; he means it was hid as in
a bag from himself, or he knew not what it was; the transgression was sealed up
from him, he was entirely ignorant of and unacquainted with what it was for
which he was severely afflicted: or else his sense is, that God had taken
strict notice of his transgressions, and had, as it were, put them up in a bag,
and set a seal upon it, that none might be lost, but might be ready to be
produced against him another day; in allusion, as it is thought, to bills of
indictment put up in bags sealed, to be brought into courts of judicature at a
proper time, for which they are reserved:
and thou sewest up mine iniquity; in the bag in which it
is sealed; not only did he seal up the bag, but sewed a cloth over it thus
sealed, for greater security: or "thou sewest to mine iniquity"F13ותטפל על עוני
"assuis iniquitati meae", Piscator; "et adjungis ad iniquitatem
meam", Beza. , or adds iniquity to iniquity, as in Psalm 69:27; as
arithmeticians do, who add one number to another until it becomes a great sum;
thus God, according to Job, tacked and joined one sin to another, till it became
one large heap and pile, reaching to the heavens, and calling for vengeance;
or, as Sephorno interprets it, joined sins of ignorance to sins of presumption;
or rather sewed or added the punishment of sin to sin, or punishment to
punishment; the Targum is,
"my
transgression is sealed up in a book of remembrances, and thou hast joined it
to my iniquities.'
Job 14:18 18 “But as a mountain
falls and crumbles away, And as a rock is moved from its place;
YLT
18And yet, a falling mountain
wasteth away, And a rock is removed from its place.
And surely the mountain falling cometh to nought,.... Job here
returns to his former subject of the irreparable state of man at death, which
he illustrates by various other similes, as before; and first by a
"mountain falling", which may be supposed, and has been fact, and
when it does, it "comes to nought"; it crumbles into dust, and where
it falls there it lies, and never rises up to a mountain, or to the height it
had, any more; or it "withers"F14יבול
"marceseit", Tigurine version, Mercerus; "emarcescit",
Schultens. , as some render it, the plants, herbs, and trees that grow upon it,
wither away, see Nahum 1:4; or
"it is dissolved", or "flows"F15"Diffluit",
Cocceius, Schmidt, Michaelis. , and spreads itself over the face of the green
earth it covers, and destroys with its dust and sand, which is never more
gathered up to form a mountain again; so man, like unto a mountain, as kingdoms
and states, and kings and princes, and great men are; the Targum instances in
Lot; as a man may be said to be, that is in good health of body, and in
prosperous circumstances in his family; when he falls, as he does by death,
which is expressed by falling, 2 Samuel 3:38; he
comes to nought, he is not any more in the land of the living, nor in the place
and circumstances in which he was before:
and the rock is removed out of his place; from the
mountain, of which it was a part; or elsewhere, by earthquakes, by force of
winds, or strength of waters; and which, when once removed, is never returned
to its place any more; so man, who in his full strength seems like a rock
immovable, when death comes, it shakes and moves him out of his place, and that
never knows him any more.
Job 14:19 19 As
water wears away stones, And as torrents wash away the soil of the
earth; So You destroy the hope of man.
YLT
19Stones have waters worn
away, Their outpourings wash away the dust of earth, And the hope of man Thou
hast destroyed.
The waters wear the stones,.... Either by continual
running in them, or constant dropping upon themF16"Gutta cavat
lapidem", Ovid. de Ponto, l. 4. ; and the excavations or hollow places
they: make are never filled up again, these impressions are never effaced, nor
the stones reduced to their ancient form; so man, though he may have the
strength of stones, yet the waters of afflictions will gradually wear him away,
and bring him to the dust of death, and where he must lie till the heavens be
no more:
thou washest away the things which grow out of the dust of
the earth; herbs, plants, and trees, which a violent inundation of water
tears up by the roots, and carries away, and they are never restored to their
places any more. The word ספיחיה, which we render
"the things which grow out", the spontaneous productions of the
earth, as in Leviticus 25:5.
Aben Ezra interprets of floods of water; and so Schultens, from the use of the
wordF17"effudit", Golius, col. 1182. Castel. col. 2590. in
the Arabic language, translates it, "their effusions"; that is, the
effusions of waters before mentioned, the floods and inundations of them
overflow, "and wash away the dust of the earth"; not only that which
is on the surface of it, the soil of it; but, as the same learned man observes,
they plough and tear up the earth itself, and carry it away, and it is never
repaired; so men at death are carried away as with a flood, and are no more,
see Psalm 90:5;
and or "so"F18"Sic", Vatablus,
Drusius, Mercerus, Schultens; "ita", Junius & Tremellius,
Piscator; it answers to כן, Aben Ezra, Gersom. .
thou destroyest the hope of man, not the hope of a good
man about his eternal state, and of enjoying eternal happiness; which is the
gift of God's grace, which is without repentance, never revoked, called in, or
taken away or destroyed; it is built upon the promise of God, who cannot lie;
it is founded on the person, blood, and righteousness of Christ; and though it
may be brought low, it is never lost; the hope of carnal men in an arm of
flesh, in the creature and creature enjoyments, is indeed destroyed; and so is
the hope of external professors of religion, that is formed on their own works
of righteousness, and profession of religion; but of this Job is not speaking,
but of the hope of man of living again in this world after death; for this is a
reddition or application of the above similes used to illustrate this point,
the irreparable state of man at death, so as that he shall never return to this
life again, and to the same state and circumstances of things as before; and
next follows a description of death, and the state of the dead.
Job 14:20 20 You prevail forever
against him, and he passes on; You change his countenance and send him away.
YLT
20Thou prevailest [over] him
for ever, and he goeth, He is changing his countenance, And Thou sendest him
away.
Thou prevailest for ever against him,.... God is a
more than a match for man, in anything, in everything; there is no contending
with him, or standing against him, he is stronger than he, and always prevails;
there is no withstanding any disease, and the force of it, when he sends it; it
is a messenger and servant of his, it goes at his command, and does what he
bids it do; and all the art and power of man cannot resist it, or hinder what
God would have done by it; and so death itself is irresistible; what is
stronger than death? it is a king that reigns with a despotic power; it reigns
irresistibly, victoriously, and triumphantly; it prevails over all men, in all
ages, and will do to the end of the world; no man has power over his spirit to
retain it one moment, when death comes to separate it from the body: and this
prevalence of God by death over men will be for ever; the grave is man's long
home, to which he is brought by death, and he will never return from it more,
to come again into this world, and be about the business of it as now;
and he passeth; out of the world, and is seen no more in
it; death is a going the way of all flesh, a departure out of this life, and to
it man never usually returns more; he goes to Hades, to the invisible place,
and makes his appearance no more here; see Psalm 37:35;
thou changest his countenance; at death; the
forerunners of death will change a man's countenance, pains, and diseases of
body; by these God makes man's beauty to consume like the moth; the fear of
death will change a man's countenance, as the handwriting on the wall did
Belshazzar's, Daniel 5:9; even
such who have out-braved death, and pretended to have made a covenant and
agreement with it, yet when the king of terrors is presented to them, they are
seized with a panic, their hearts ache, and their countenances turn pale; but
oh! what a change is made by death itself, which for this reason is represented
as riding on a pale horse; Revelation 6:8;
when the rosy florid looks of man are gone, his comeliness turned into
corruption, his countenance pale and meagre, his eyes hollow and sunk, his nose
sharp pointed, his ears contracted, and jaws fallen, and his complexion altered,
and still more when laid in the grave, and he is turned to rottenness, dust,
and worms:
and sendeth him away; giveth him a dismission
from this world; sendeth him out of it, from his house, his family, friends,
and acquaintance: his birth is expressed often by his coming into the world,
and his death by going out of it; for here he has no continuance, no abiding,
no rest; and yet there is no departure till God gives him dismission by death,
then he sends him away from hence; some in wrath, whom he sends to take up
their abode with devils and damned spirits; others in love, to prevent their
being involved in evils coming upon the earth, and to be in better company,
with God and Christ, with angels, and the spirits of just men made perfect:
Maimonides interprets this of AdamF18Moreh Nevochim, par. 1. c. 2.
p. 5. , who, when he changed the object of his countenance, and looked on the
forbidden fruit, was sent out of paradise.
Job 14:21 21 His sons come to honor,
and he does not know it; They are brought low, and he does not perceive it.
YLT
21Honoured are his sons, and
he knoweth not; And they are little, and he attendeth not to them.
His sons come to honour,.... Or "are
multiplied"F19יכבדו πολλων γενομενων, Sept.
"multiplicabuntur", Vatablus, Bolducius. , see Nahum 3:15; their
families increase like a flock, become very numerous, which was reckoned a
great blessing; or "become heavy"F20"Multi vel graves
sunt", Drusius; "graves erunt et onusti", Mercerus. ; being
loaded with gold and silver, with riches and honour, raised to great grandeur
and dignity, and possessed of much wealth and large estates:
and he knoweth it not; the man whose
countenance is changed and sent away into another world; for the dead know
nothing of the affairs of this life; a good man indeed after death knows more
of God and Christ, of the doctrines of grace, and mysteries of Providence; but
he knows nothing of the affairs of his family he has left behind: some
understand this of a man on his death bed while alive, who, when he is told of
the promotion of his sons to honour, or of the increase of their worldly
substance, takes no notice of it; either being deprived of his senses by the
disease upon him; or through the greatness of his pains and agonies, or the
intenseness of his thoughts about a future state, does not notice what is told
him, nor rejoice at it; which in the time of health would have been pleasing to
him: but the first sense seems best:
and they are brought low, that is, his sons; or
"are diminished"F21יצערו ολιγοι γενωνται, Sept.
"minuuntur, numero pauci sunt", Drusius. ; lessened in their numbers,
one taken off after another, and so his family decreases; or they come into low
circumstances of life, are reduced in the world, and brought to straits and
difficulties, to want and poverty:
but he perceiveth it not of them; he is not
sensible of their troubles, and so not grieved at them; see Isaiah 63:16; or
when he is told of them on his death bed, he does not take notice of them, or
regard them, having enough to grapple with himself, and his mind intent on his
everlasting state, or carried above them in the views of the love, grace, and
covenant of God; see 2 Samuel 23:5.
Job 14:22 22 But his flesh will be in
pain over it, And his soul will mourn over it.”
YLT
22Only -- his flesh for him
is pained, And his soul for him doth mourn.'
But his flesh upon him shall have pain,.... Either he
shall be chastened with strong pains on his sick and dying bed; which is the
reason why he neither rejoices at the happiness of his family, nor is
distressed at their misfortunes; having so much pain in his flesh and bones to
endure himself; or, as GussetiusF24Ebr. Comment. p. 605. renders it,
"for this" his flesh and soul shall have pain and grief while he
lives, because he cannot know how it will be with his family when he is dead;
but rather this is to be understood of a man when dead; and so it is a
continuation of the description of death, or of the state of the dead; thus
Aben Ezra interprets it of his flesh upon him, that is, his body shall melt
away, rot and corrupt, meaning in the grave; so the word is used of marring and
destroying, in 2 Kings 3:19, to
which the Targum inclines,
"but
his flesh, because of worms upon him, shall grieve;'
and
so Jarchi, troublesome is the worm to a dead man as a needle in quick flesh;
pain and grief are by a prosopopoeia or personification attributed to a dead
body; signifying, that could it be sensible of its case, it would be painful
and grievous to it:
and his soul within him shall mourn; either while he lives,
because of his afflictions and terrors, the days being come in which he has no
pleasure, and the time of death drawing nigh; or his dead body, as the word is
used in Psalm 16:10; said
to mourn by the same figure; or his soul, because of his body being dead; or
rather his breath, which at death fails and pines awayF25תאבל "emarcida luget", Schultens. .
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》
New King James
Version (NKJV)