Job 14
DOYLYJob 14:13
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O that thou wouldest hide me—until thy wrath be past.] We may hence remark, that our only refuge from the wrath of God, is God Himself; that it is our duty to refer all the circumstances of our petitions to the wisdom of God; that there is nothing more desirable than to be remembered by God, which to the righteous is the accomplishment of all their desires: and finally it behoves us to consider that if it be such a blessing to be had in remembrance by God, what wrath and misery must be reserved for those whom God shall be provoked to cast out of His sight! Caryl.
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If a man die, shall he live again? This question does not denote any doubt on the part of Job, for see chap. xix. 25, &c.; but is an expression of joyful admiration, like that of Solomon, 1 Kings viii. 27. Parkhurst. See the note from Peters on ver. 13—17.
Job 14:16
16.—thou numberest my steps.] Thou seemest to call me to an account for every step of my past life. Bp. Wilson.
Job 14:17
- My transgression is sealed.] That is, the scroll or record of it, in a bundle; “and Thou tiest up mine iniquity.”
The money that is collected together in the treasuries of Eastern princes is told up in certain equal sums, put into bags, and sealed; and it appears to have been so anciently: see 2 Kings xii. 10. Job seems to allude to this custom. Harmer.
Job 14:18
18—22. And surely the mountain falling &c.] All these similitudes appear to aim at the same point, which Job had been pursuing a little before, namely, that a
grow out of the dust of the earth; and thou destroyest the hope of man.
Job 14:19
19.—and thou destroyest the hope of man.] Thou takest from me all hope of returning to this world again. Clark.
Job 14:20
20.—and he passeth.] That is, he dieth; so the word is used chap. x. 21: death is our passage out of the world. Caryl.
—thou changest his countenance, &c.] That lively look which he had before, and makest him pale and ghastly. Clark.
—and sendest him away.] Into another world. Bp. Patrick.
Job 14:21
- His sons come to honour, &c.] And then, whether his children whom he leaves behind be rich, or whether they be poor, it is indifferent to him; for he knows not what passes there. Bp. Patrick.
Job 14:22
- But his flesh upon him shall have pain, &c.] But while he is in the flesh, he cannot but be in pain for them; and his soul is inwardly grieved to see their misery. Bp. Patrick.
Or the twenty-first and twenty-second verses may be interpreted thus: 21. When he is now in the agony of death, striving with his last pangs, he little regards what honour his son has recently acquired, or what shame he hath incurred. 22. But his flesh upon him is in extremity of pain, which takes up all his thoughts and senses; and his soul within him mourns for the present violence of his torment, and for the expectation or fear of the future. Bp. Hall.
Job in this chapter presents us with a lively representation of the frailty of human life, of the miseries to which man is subject in this world, and of the condition to which he is reduced by death. Whilst our experience teaches us that the representation is correct, we ought to praise God that we have in the Gospel, and in the sure and certain hope of the resurrection, strong consolation, and an unfailing remedy against the vanity of this life, and against death itself. Meanwhile our great care should be, to improve the time and other talents with which God hath entrusted us; that so we may be enabled by His mercy in Christ Jesus to support our present sufferings with patience, and be secured in the possession of unmongled and never-fading happiness in the life to come. Ostervold.
Chap. XV. Eliphaz observes, how idly Job talks, and how little proof he exhibits of wisdom, when he is not afraid to defy the Almighty to a contest with him.
Eliphaz reproveth Job of impiety in justifying himself. Before CHRIST about 1520. knowledge of wind. THEN answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said,