If he set his heart upon man, if he gather unto himself his spirit and his breath;
If God were to turn His care back upon Himself and gather to Himself the breath of life He supplies, all flesh would perish together and mankind would return to dust. The spirit and breath are the vital breathing power by which God sustains life in man, shared with the animals, not a separate conscious person dwelling in the body nor an immortal part. Human life is not inherent in man but is wholly dependent on God moment by moment, so when He withholds it the person himself loses consciousness and all faculties cease in death. God's taking the breath back to its source therefore does not leave it living or thinking apart from the body, and the responsible whole person awaits reward at the resurrection rather than continuing consciously, so the wicked are not kept alive forever.
Words and Setting
The verse belongs to Elihu's speech, which falls in the portion of Job running from chapter 20 through chapter 37 and more precisely in chapters 32-37, the third of the five parts of the book. It comes after the argument between Job and his friends closes in chapter 31, where Elihu as a younger man tries to correct Job with superior wisdom in the same line as the other friends and is given no answer. In that setting the verse sets God's infinite power and wisdom against man's smallness, belonging to Elihu's plea that Job is not great in himself while God is everything. As man can only in a measure comprehend God's mighty works in creation, so he can understand but little of God's moral dealings with men where eternal life itself is at stake.
The Hebrew word used is neshama, rendered His spirit and His breath, whose primary and almost exclusive meaning is breath or air, not an immortal entity. It is a word also translated spirit elsewhere and defined as breath or life in humans and animals, as well as wind and mind or intellect. The opening phrase means that if God were to turn His care back toward Himself and upon Himself, withdrawing the goodness by which He sustains life. If God were to turn His care toward Himself and gather back the spirit and breath He gives, humanity would perish, for life comes from Him and He can withdraw it.
The spirit and breath are the breath of life and vital power of life that come from God and are kept in man, meaning life sustained by breathing. They are not a separate conscious person placed inside the body, not intelligence, and not an independently living or immortal part, and this life-breath is shared by humans and animals. If God takes back a person's spirit and breath, all flesh perishes and dies together and the person returns to dust, which is the undoing of the giving of life. Gathering unto Himself means God takes back to Himself, to His keeping and to its source, the life He supplied. Its return denotes death and the withdrawal of life, not the person's continued conscious existence apart from the body, since the breath taken back cannot live or think apart from the body, just as the dust is not conscious.
Death and Dependence
Human life depends continually and wholly on God sustaining it by His spirit and breath, for life comes from Him and His goodness upholds it, and if He were to turn His care back toward Himself and gather back what He gives, humanity would perish. The bestowal of His power in the breath of life causes man to live, and life is not an inherent quantity in man but God's life current flowing through him, His spirit and breath kept in man. If God gathers the spirit and breath to Himself, to His keeping and to its source, all flesh perishes and dies together and humanity returns to dust, which is the undoing of the giving of life by God's breath. The whole person, including every part of which he is composed, formed from dust, turns again to dust when that life is withdrawn.
The spirit here is the breath of life that comes from God, meaning life and the vital power of life sustained by breathing, not a separate conscious person placed inside the body. When it is withdrawn life ends, and conscious existence results only when the man and the spirit are brought together, so when it is taken back all faculties are gone and death is simply inaction. The man himself returns to the earth with loss of consciousness and ceases to manifest life, whether good or bad, because God is the source of all life and holds it in His power. God gathering man's spirit to Himself does not prove conscious existence after death, for the breath taken back cannot live or think apart from the body, just as the dust is not conscious. Its return to God is simply God withdrawing life and taking back the life He supplied, the return of a life-giving constituent shared by people and animals to its source rather than the person's continued conscious existence apart from the body.
The person is the responsible, choosing whole rather than an independently surviving immaterial part, who comes from the grave to receive reward at the resurrection. Since life continues only while God sustains it, the wicked are not kept alive forever in punishment. Applied to Christ, who had taken the world's burden upon Himself, if He had turned back from His sacrifice and kept His life for Himself the human race would have been lost; instead infinite love led Him to give Himself so others might live.
If God were to turn His care back upon Himself and gather to Himself the breath of life He supplies, all flesh would perish together and mankind would return to dust. The spirit and breath are the vital breathing power by which God sustains life in man, shared with the animals, not a separate conscious person dwelling in the body nor an immortal part. Human life is not inherent in man but is wholly dependent on God moment by moment, so when He withholds it the person himself loses consciousness and all faculties cease in death. God's taking the breath back to its source therefore does not leave it living or thinking apart from the body, and the responsible whole person awaits reward at the resurrection rather than continuing consciously, so the wicked are not kept alive forever.
Words and Setting
The verse belongs to Elihu's speech, which falls in the portion of Job running from chapter 20 through chapter 37 and more precisely in chapters 32-37, the third of the five parts of the book. It comes after the argument between Job and his friends closes in chapter 31, where Elihu as a younger man tries to correct Job with superior wisdom in the same line as the other friends and is given no answer. In that setting the verse sets God's infinite power and wisdom against man's smallness, belonging to Elihu's plea that Job is not great in himself while God is everything. As man can only in a measure comprehend God's mighty works in creation, so he can understand but little of God's moral dealings with men where eternal life itself is at stake.
The Hebrew word used is neshama, rendered His spirit and His breath, whose primary and almost exclusive meaning is breath or air, not an immortal entity. It is a word also translated spirit elsewhere and defined as breath or life in humans and animals, as well as wind and mind or intellect. The opening phrase means that if God were to turn His care back toward Himself and upon Himself, withdrawing the goodness by which He sustains life. If God were to turn His care toward Himself and gather back the spirit and breath He gives, humanity would perish, for life comes from Him and He can withdraw it.
The spirit and breath are the breath of life and vital power of life that come from God and are kept in man, meaning life sustained by breathing. They are not a separate conscious person placed inside the body, not intelligence, and not an independently living or immortal part, and this life-breath is shared by humans and animals. If God takes back a person's spirit and breath, all flesh perishes and dies together and the person returns to dust, which is the undoing of the giving of life. Gathering unto Himself means God takes back to Himself, to His keeping and to its source, the life He supplied. Its return denotes death and the withdrawal of life, not the person's continued conscious existence apart from the body, since the breath taken back cannot live or think apart from the body, just as the dust is not conscious.
Death and Dependence
Human life depends continually and wholly on God sustaining it by His spirit and breath, for life comes from Him and His goodness upholds it, and if He were to turn His care back toward Himself and gather back what He gives, humanity would perish. The bestowal of His power in the breath of life causes man to live, and life is not an inherent quantity in man but God's life current flowing through him, His spirit and breath kept in man. If God gathers the spirit and breath to Himself, to His keeping and to its source, all flesh perishes and dies together and humanity returns to dust, which is the undoing of the giving of life by God's breath. The whole person, including every part of which he is composed, formed from dust, turns again to dust when that life is withdrawn.
The spirit here is the breath of life that comes from God, meaning life and the vital power of life sustained by breathing, not a separate conscious person placed inside the body. When it is withdrawn life ends, and conscious existence results only when the man and the spirit are brought together, so when it is taken back all faculties are gone and death is simply inaction. The man himself returns to the earth with loss of consciousness and ceases to manifest life, whether good or bad, because God is the source of all life and holds it in His power. God gathering man's spirit to Himself does not prove conscious existence after death, for the breath taken back cannot live or think apart from the body, just as the dust is not conscious. Its return to God is simply God withdrawing life and taking back the life He supplied, the return of a life-giving constituent shared by people and animals to its source rather than the person's continued conscious existence apart from the body.
The person is the responsible, choosing whole rather than an independently surviving immaterial part, who comes from the grave to receive reward at the resurrection. Since life continues only while God sustains it, the wicked are not kept alive forever in punishment. Applied to Christ, who had taken the world's burden upon Himself, if He had turned back from His sacrifice and kept His life for Himself the human race would have been lost; instead infinite love led Him to give Himself so others might live.