Thou prevailest for ever against him, and he passeth: thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away.
Thou prevailest forever against him describes death, when God overcomes mortal man, his face is changed by decay and he passes away out of this life. Death is an unconscious sleep in which he knows nothing and remains until the resurrection. The dead perceive nothing of the living left behind, not even the honor or abasement of their own sons, and they do not linger near friends to guard, visit, warn or pray for them. There is no conscious suffering between death and the final judgment, so there is no pain for masses or purgatory to relieve. The only hope out of this dark silence is that God will call from the dust, and Christ will waken those who trust in Him to glorious immortality and reunion at the last day.
Language and Context
Thou prevailest for ever against him means God overcomes man in death, and he passeth means the person passes away out of earthly life, while thou changest his countenance means his appearance is changed in dying, and sendest him away means he is sent away from among the living. Death so ends a person's earthly life, overcoming him and removing him changed from this world. Afterward he has no knowledge of what happens to friends in this world and does not know or perceive what befalls his own children after him, whether his sons come to honour or are brought low. The dead therefore lie asleep unconscious and know nothing of life on earth, and the departed spirits of friends and relatives are not hovering near the living. This contradicts the idea that dead friends become guardian angels who watch over the living and sympathize with them in sorrow and rejoice with them in prosperity. The pain and mourning spoken of in the next verse belong to life while still in the flesh before that change, not to awareness or torment after death.
Human life in this world is brief and mortal under God's power, with human frailty set against God's greatness. God prevails over the person, whose life then passes, whose former appearance is lost and changed, and who is sent away in death. The verse is fittingly used as the basis for funeral remarks and in a funeral setting to portray a person passing away under God's power while offering comfort amid death.
This ending in death comes to the righteous and the wicked alike, for human life in this world is brief and God changes a person's countenance and sends him away. It therefore does not describe the righteous permanently possessing the land during this life.
In its setting Job speaks of waiting in death until his change comes and of answering when God calls, pointing to the resurrection at the last day when the heavens pass away, so death is not the end. Death is a sleep in the dust marked by silence and darkness, from which he will be called to see his living Redeemer at the resurrection-life. Job also prayed to be hidden in Sheol, which proves Sheol is the common place of the dead for the righteous as well as the wicked and not a place of punishment for the wicked only.
Unconscious Sleep of Death
Job 14:20 teaches that death is an unconscious sleep in which a person knows nothing after this life is ended and remains until the resurrection. It shows God prevailing over man and sending him away changed, with his earthly life and appearance ended and his awareness ceased. After a man dies he knows nothing, for his thoughts and awareness cease when he passes away.
The dead have no awareness of what happens among the living after they die, not knowing or perceiving when even their own sons come to honor or are brought low. They do not know what happens to their children, friends, family or surroundings in this world, nor perceive their condition whether they prosper or suffer. They know nothing of life on earth, of the passing of time, of events, or of the condition of those left behind, until the resurrection.
The pain and mourning spoken of in the next verse belong to life while a person is still in the flesh before that change, not to awareness or torment after death. At death thoughts and awareness and power of mind cease, and the dead no longer exercise knowledge or wisdom even concerning their own sons. Life and death are exact opposites, and death is blank unconsciousness, a land of darkness and forgetfulness with no remembrance, where thoughts perish and its quiet sleepers do no work nor device and possess no knowledge nor wisdom, which disproves natural immortality and continued conscious existence.
Death is not the gate to endless life, and the grave is a gloomy condition whose only hope is the resurrection. Without a resurrection even they that are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.
Refuting Spiritualism and Purgatory
God prevails against man in death so that he passes away with changed countenance and is sent away from the living, and therefore the spirits of departed friends and relatives are not hovering near the living. After death he has no knowledge of what happens to friends in this world, for though his sons come to honor or are brought low he does not know it or perceive it. This contradicts the idea that dead friends become guardian angels who watch over the living and sympathize with them in sorrow and rejoice with them in prosperity. Death ends awareness of earthly life and of the condition of those left on earth, so the dead cannot guard or watch over living friends, nor visit, instruct, warn, or pray for them.
The dead have no conscious part in anything done under the sun and cannot send communications of intelligence to the living, for when a person dies he passes away and has no knowledge or wisdom even concerning his own sons. Death ends awareness of earthly life, with the person overcome, changed in appearance, and sent away not knowing when his own children are honored or brought low. This contradicts the claim that the dead live consciously in a spirit-land or know more of God than the living. Appearances of dead wives, friends, or prophets returning to speak, touch, or torment the living are not the dead themselves but deceptions by spirits of devils, and true comfort is not communion with spirits but that the dead sleep in their graves until Christ comes to call them forth to resurrection when mortal puts on immortality.
The dead lie asleep unconscious and know nothing of life on earth, not even whether their own sons come to honor or are brought low, and they wait unaware until they awake when God calls and answers in the resurrection. There is no suffering between death and the day of final judgment. Purgatory therefore has nothing to work on, and masses said to release the dead from pain do nothing because they are not experiencing pains to be released from.
Resurrection Hope and Comfort
Job 14:20 belongs to Job's hope that death is a sleep in the dust, marked by silence and darkness, from which the sleeper will be called to see his living Redeemer in resurrection life. The grave in itself is a gloomy condition and not a gate to endless life, and its hope is supplied by the resurrection. The dead sleep in their graves until Christ comes to call them forth, when what is mortal puts on immortality. In the setting of waiting until the appointed change comes and answering when God calls, the passing away with changed countenance is not the end, but points to the resurrection at the last day when the heavens pass away.
The only hope of waking from this unconscious sleep is the resurrection, when God will call and answer. Death overcomes man and sends him away changed, and the dead lie asleep unconscious and know nothing of life on earth, not even whether their own sons come to honor or are brought low. Death ends conscious life and earthly awareness until the resurrection. Death is not conscious life, and there is no suffering between death and the day of final judgment.
The verse brings comfort in the face of death, supporting hope that the dead who trust in Christ and fall asleep in Jesus will be brought forth to glorious immortality. It presents death as a person passing away under God's power, yet joined to a bright hope of resurrection. It belongs to words of comfort after a believer's death, giving hope to family and friends left to mourn so they do not mourn as those who have no hope but look for reunion. That reunion is the glorious meeting again in the first resurrection, including the hope of meeting a young woman again after her death. A portion of Job 14 to which the verse belongs gives consolation to bereaved parents and friends after the death of a child.
The verse describes God's power over mortal human life: He prevails over a person, whose life then passes, and changes the person's appearance before sending him away in death. It portrays God as prevailing over mortal life so that a person passes away, his appearance is changed, and he is sent away. It was used as the basis for funeral remarks and as a funeral text to offer comfort amid death. As a funeral text it comforts mourners for a faithful believer with hope of the glorious reunion at the first resurrection.
Thou prevailest forever against him describes death, when God overcomes mortal man, his face is changed by decay and he passes away out of this life. Death is an unconscious sleep in which he knows nothing and remains until the resurrection. The dead perceive nothing of the living left behind, not even the honor or abasement of their own sons, and they do not linger near friends to guard, visit, warn or pray for them. There is no conscious suffering between death and the final judgment, so there is no pain for masses or purgatory to relieve. The only hope out of this dark silence is that God will call from the dust, and Christ will waken those who trust in Him to glorious immortality and reunion at the last day.
Language and Context
Thou prevailest for ever against him means God overcomes man in death, and he passeth means the person passes away out of earthly life, while thou changest his countenance means his appearance is changed in dying, and sendest him away means he is sent away from among the living. Death so ends a person's earthly life, overcoming him and removing him changed from this world. Afterward he has no knowledge of what happens to friends in this world and does not know or perceive what befalls his own children after him, whether his sons come to honour or are brought low. The dead therefore lie asleep unconscious and know nothing of life on earth, and the departed spirits of friends and relatives are not hovering near the living. This contradicts the idea that dead friends become guardian angels who watch over the living and sympathize with them in sorrow and rejoice with them in prosperity. The pain and mourning spoken of in the next verse belong to life while still in the flesh before that change, not to awareness or torment after death.
Human life in this world is brief and mortal under God's power, with human frailty set against God's greatness. God prevails over the person, whose life then passes, whose former appearance is lost and changed, and who is sent away in death. The verse is fittingly used as the basis for funeral remarks and in a funeral setting to portray a person passing away under God's power while offering comfort amid death.
This ending in death comes to the righteous and the wicked alike, for human life in this world is brief and God changes a person's countenance and sends him away. It therefore does not describe the righteous permanently possessing the land during this life.
In its setting Job speaks of waiting in death until his change comes and of answering when God calls, pointing to the resurrection at the last day when the heavens pass away, so death is not the end. Death is a sleep in the dust marked by silence and darkness, from which he will be called to see his living Redeemer at the resurrection-life. Job also prayed to be hidden in Sheol, which proves Sheol is the common place of the dead for the righteous as well as the wicked and not a place of punishment for the wicked only.
Unconscious Sleep of Death
Job 14:20 teaches that death is an unconscious sleep in which a person knows nothing after this life is ended and remains until the resurrection. It shows God prevailing over man and sending him away changed, with his earthly life and appearance ended and his awareness ceased. After a man dies he knows nothing, for his thoughts and awareness cease when he passes away.
The dead have no awareness of what happens among the living after they die, not knowing or perceiving when even their own sons come to honor or are brought low. They do not know what happens to their children, friends, family or surroundings in this world, nor perceive their condition whether they prosper or suffer. They know nothing of life on earth, of the passing of time, of events, or of the condition of those left behind, until the resurrection.
The pain and mourning spoken of in the next verse belong to life while a person is still in the flesh before that change, not to awareness or torment after death. At death thoughts and awareness and power of mind cease, and the dead no longer exercise knowledge or wisdom even concerning their own sons. Life and death are exact opposites, and death is blank unconsciousness, a land of darkness and forgetfulness with no remembrance, where thoughts perish and its quiet sleepers do no work nor device and possess no knowledge nor wisdom, which disproves natural immortality and continued conscious existence.
Death is not the gate to endless life, and the grave is a gloomy condition whose only hope is the resurrection. Without a resurrection even they that are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.
Refuting Spiritualism and Purgatory
God prevails against man in death so that he passes away with changed countenance and is sent away from the living, and therefore the spirits of departed friends and relatives are not hovering near the living. After death he has no knowledge of what happens to friends in this world, for though his sons come to honor or are brought low he does not know it or perceive it. This contradicts the idea that dead friends become guardian angels who watch over the living and sympathize with them in sorrow and rejoice with them in prosperity. Death ends awareness of earthly life and of the condition of those left on earth, so the dead cannot guard or watch over living friends, nor visit, instruct, warn, or pray for them.
The dead have no conscious part in anything done under the sun and cannot send communications of intelligence to the living, for when a person dies he passes away and has no knowledge or wisdom even concerning his own sons. Death ends awareness of earthly life, with the person overcome, changed in appearance, and sent away not knowing when his own children are honored or brought low. This contradicts the claim that the dead live consciously in a spirit-land or know more of God than the living. Appearances of dead wives, friends, or prophets returning to speak, touch, or torment the living are not the dead themselves but deceptions by spirits of devils, and true comfort is not communion with spirits but that the dead sleep in their graves until Christ comes to call them forth to resurrection when mortal puts on immortality.
The dead lie asleep unconscious and know nothing of life on earth, not even whether their own sons come to honor or are brought low, and they wait unaware until they awake when God calls and answers in the resurrection. There is no suffering between death and the day of final judgment. Purgatory therefore has nothing to work on, and masses said to release the dead from pain do nothing because they are not experiencing pains to be released from.
Resurrection Hope and Comfort
Job 14:20 belongs to Job's hope that death is a sleep in the dust, marked by silence and darkness, from which the sleeper will be called to see his living Redeemer in resurrection life. The grave in itself is a gloomy condition and not a gate to endless life, and its hope is supplied by the resurrection. The dead sleep in their graves until Christ comes to call them forth, when what is mortal puts on immortality. In the setting of waiting until the appointed change comes and answering when God calls, the passing away with changed countenance is not the end, but points to the resurrection at the last day when the heavens pass away.
The only hope of waking from this unconscious sleep is the resurrection, when God will call and answer. Death overcomes man and sends him away changed, and the dead lie asleep unconscious and know nothing of life on earth, not even whether their own sons come to honor or are brought low. Death ends conscious life and earthly awareness until the resurrection. Death is not conscious life, and there is no suffering between death and the day of final judgment.
The verse brings comfort in the face of death, supporting hope that the dead who trust in Christ and fall asleep in Jesus will be brought forth to glorious immortality. It presents death as a person passing away under God's power, yet joined to a bright hope of resurrection. It belongs to words of comfort after a believer's death, giving hope to family and friends left to mourn so they do not mourn as those who have no hope but look for reunion. That reunion is the glorious meeting again in the first resurrection, including the hope of meeting a young woman again after her death. A portion of Job 14 to which the verse belongs gives consolation to bereaved parents and friends after the death of a child.
The verse describes God's power over mortal human life: He prevails over a person, whose life then passes, and changes the person's appearance before sending him away in death. It portrays God as prevailing over mortal life so that a person passes away, his appearance is changed, and he is sent away. It was used as the basis for funeral remarks and as a funeral text to offer comfort amid death. As a funeral text it comforts mourners for a faithful believer with hope of the glorious reunion at the first resurrection.