And dost thou open thine eyes upon such an one, and bringest me into judgment with thee?
The verse asks why God opens His eyes upon frail, short-lived man and brings him into judgment with Himself, setting the greatness of God against the weakness of a mortal creature called to account. Man's days are few and full of anxiety and care, then he is cut down in death and snuffed out completely, having forfeited life through sin. Unlike a felled tree whose root can sprout again, he has no power in himself to live anew, so if he lives after death it must be by God's power and call. The dead sleep in silence and darkness in the dust, waiting for the appointed change when God shall call and they shall answer, to be raised and see their living Redeemer. This comforts those who mourn one fallen asleep in Jesus, for death is only a short sleep in the grave until the resurrection morning when those who trust in Christ are raised to immortal life at His soon coming. It therefore urges preparation for the first resurrection, a duty that rests upon all mankind without distinction, Gentile as well as Jew, including keeping the Sabbath.
Wording and Literary Setting
The question is why God would open His eyes upon so frail and short-lived a human being and bring him into judgment with Himself. It sets the searching attention of God upon mortal man over against the weakness of the creature, so that calling such an one to account appears a difficult thing in view of the contrast between divine greatness and human frailty. The mortal asks why such attention is turned toward him and why he is brought before God for judgment.
The word for man stands alone without a limiting adjective and means mankind as a whole without distinction. Its teaching therefore applies to Gentiles as well as to Jews.
The words belong to Job's appeal to God as he answers his friends' argument. They stand within the poetical debate on affliction and within the book's poetic discussion of the cause and purpose of human suffering. That discussion covers providence, sin, and suffering, with Job's affliction understood as discipline from God, while his friends wrongly insist his suffering proves he has sinned. Their claims were often true in general but were wrongly applied to him.
The book of Job is the oldest book in the Bible and the oldest of all poetical books come down to us. It was conjectured, though not known, to have been written by Moses when he was in the land of Midian. It consists of a prose prologue in chapters 1 and 2, the debate between Job and his three friends on the subject of his afflictions in chapters 4 to 31 in three circles of speeches on the part of each, the speeches of Elihu in chapters 32 to 37, the speeches of the Lord out of the storm-cloud, and the prose epilogue in chapter 42:7-17.
Death and Coming Resurrection
Man's days are few and filled with anxiety and care, after which he is cut down in death to appear no more among the living. Human life when cut down ends completely and is entirely snuffed out with no spark left from which to kindle it anew, for life has been forfeited through sin. The frail human being stands under God's searching attention and is brought before Him for judgment, and this frames the question whether a person can live after death.
Unlike a tree hewn down by the woodman's ax whose root life can replace the first growth, man has forfeited even the renewal nature gives the plants of the forest. If he lives after passing off the human stage it must be through power outside himself, by God's power and call. Job's hope was to wait for God's appointed change, when God calls and he answers.
The dead are in silence and darkness, sleeping in the dust. Job's hope in that sleep was to be raised and see his living Redeemer. Job, a righteous man, prayed to be hidden in Sheol, which proves Sheol is the common place of the dead for righteous and wicked alike, exactly equivalent to Hades, and not the punishment of the wicked.
Comfort and Present Duty
Job 14:1-15 sets the brevity of human life and death before mourners when one has fallen asleep in Jesus and died in the triumph of faith. It joins the shortness and sorrow of mortal life under God's eye and judgment to rest in the grave while awaiting the resurrection morning. It holds out the consolation that the dead who trust in Christ will be raised to immortal life. It shows death to be only a sleep of a few days because Jesus is soon coming.
The question why God opens His eyes upon so frail a human being and brings him into judgment with Himself belongs to words of comfort spoken at funerals and burials of believers. The same chapter is used to offer comfort in the face of death and to encourage preparation for the first resurrection.
The word for man stands alone without a limiting adjective and means mankind as a whole without distinction, Jews and Gentiles alike. Its teaching therefore applies to Gentile men as well as Jewish men, including the duty to keep the Sabbath.
The verse asks why God opens His eyes upon frail, short-lived man and brings him into judgment with Himself, setting the greatness of God against the weakness of a mortal creature called to account. Man's days are few and full of anxiety and care, then he is cut down in death and snuffed out completely, having forfeited life through sin. Unlike a felled tree whose root can sprout again, he has no power in himself to live anew, so if he lives after death it must be by God's power and call. The dead sleep in silence and darkness in the dust, waiting for the appointed change when God shall call and they shall answer, to be raised and see their living Redeemer. This comforts those who mourn one fallen asleep in Jesus, for death is only a short sleep in the grave until the resurrection morning when those who trust in Christ are raised to immortal life at His soon coming. It therefore urges preparation for the first resurrection, a duty that rests upon all mankind without distinction, Gentile as well as Jew, including keeping the Sabbath.
Wording and Literary Setting
The question is why God would open His eyes upon so frail and short-lived a human being and bring him into judgment with Himself. It sets the searching attention of God upon mortal man over against the weakness of the creature, so that calling such an one to account appears a difficult thing in view of the contrast between divine greatness and human frailty. The mortal asks why such attention is turned toward him and why he is brought before God for judgment.
The word for man stands alone without a limiting adjective and means mankind as a whole without distinction. Its teaching therefore applies to Gentiles as well as to Jews.
The words belong to Job's appeal to God as he answers his friends' argument. They stand within the poetical debate on affliction and within the book's poetic discussion of the cause and purpose of human suffering. That discussion covers providence, sin, and suffering, with Job's affliction understood as discipline from God, while his friends wrongly insist his suffering proves he has sinned. Their claims were often true in general but were wrongly applied to him.
The book of Job is the oldest book in the Bible and the oldest of all poetical books come down to us. It was conjectured, though not known, to have been written by Moses when he was in the land of Midian. It consists of a prose prologue in chapters 1 and 2, the debate between Job and his three friends on the subject of his afflictions in chapters 4 to 31 in three circles of speeches on the part of each, the speeches of Elihu in chapters 32 to 37, the speeches of the Lord out of the storm-cloud, and the prose epilogue in chapter 42:7-17.
Death and Coming Resurrection
Man's days are few and filled with anxiety and care, after which he is cut down in death to appear no more among the living. Human life when cut down ends completely and is entirely snuffed out with no spark left from which to kindle it anew, for life has been forfeited through sin. The frail human being stands under God's searching attention and is brought before Him for judgment, and this frames the question whether a person can live after death.
Unlike a tree hewn down by the woodman's ax whose root life can replace the first growth, man has forfeited even the renewal nature gives the plants of the forest. If he lives after passing off the human stage it must be through power outside himself, by God's power and call. Job's hope was to wait for God's appointed change, when God calls and he answers.
The dead are in silence and darkness, sleeping in the dust. Job's hope in that sleep was to be raised and see his living Redeemer. Job, a righteous man, prayed to be hidden in Sheol, which proves Sheol is the common place of the dead for righteous and wicked alike, exactly equivalent to Hades, and not the punishment of the wicked.
Comfort and Present Duty
Job 14:1-15 sets the brevity of human life and death before mourners when one has fallen asleep in Jesus and died in the triumph of faith. It joins the shortness and sorrow of mortal life under God's eye and judgment to rest in the grave while awaiting the resurrection morning. It holds out the consolation that the dead who trust in Christ will be raised to immortal life. It shows death to be only a sleep of a few days because Jesus is soon coming.
The question why God opens His eyes upon so frail a human being and brings him into judgment with Himself belongs to words of comfort spoken at funerals and burials of believers. The same chapter is used to offer comfort in the face of death and to encourage preparation for the first resurrection.
The word for man stands alone without a limiting adjective and means mankind as a whole without distinction, Jews and Gentiles alike. Its teaching therefore applies to Gentile men as well as Jewish men, including the duty to keep the Sabbath.