All flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust.
When God gathers back to Himself His spirit and His breath, the unmaking of human life occurs, and all flesh perishes together and man turns again to the dust from which he was formed. It is the whole person formed from dust who returns to dust, man dying as a unit and not as a mortal body joined to an immortal part that lives on. Returning to dust is not conscious existence with God, for conscious life exists only while the formed person and the breath of life are joined, and in death man simply ceases to be a medium for manifesting life. All living beings therefore depend on God for life moment by moment, preserved by His sustaining care and mercy and not alive apart from Him. The verse thus proves man is not immortal, for the perishing of all flesh shows the dead are unconscious in the dust and the spirit's return to God is only His gathering back of the vital power called life.
Context and Wording
Job 34:15 stands after the argument between Job and his friends closes in chapter 31, belonging to the intervention of Elihu. Elihu is a younger man who tries with superior wisdom to correct Job, follows the same line as the friends, and is given no answer. His plea tries to convince Job that he himself is not very great while God is everything, and Job makes no answer to it and no comment is given upon it. His argument and reproof to Job in chapters 32-37 is poetry, distinct from the colloquies of Job with his three friends in chapters 3-31, within a book whose opening narrative and closing statement are prose and whose Job is a real upright man in trial and patience.
Inspiration of the book guarantees that the words were spoken, not that everything said in it is true. What Job's friends said was generally true but misapplied in Job's case. Evil is ultimately punished and good is ultimately rewarded, but adversity, affliction, or suffering does not prove a man is under God's displeasure. God sees the end from the beginning and works out what will glorify Himself and bring comfort and hope to suffering ones and blessing to the sufferer.
The word for man in the verse is the Hebrew ah-dahm, the same word used for man in Job 14:1 and in the second clause of Job 14:10. The verse means dying man becomes dust again. Ah-dahm does not denote a spiritual part that survives death, for the same ah-dahm is born of woman and returns to dust. No difference in meaning can be found between geh-ver, ah-dahm, and eesh as used for dying man, since all that is affirmed of one is affirmed of the others.
The word flesh denotes all living beings that perish and humanity returning to dust. Flesh by itself does not mean a mortal state. Scripture also uses it for immortal beings and for humanity in the resurrection.
The spirit and breath are the breath of life from God, located in the nostrils, which God gave to man. It means life, not a separate immortal part or conscious person surviving death. It is common to humans and animals, the same life that energizes all lower creatures. When taken back it is not intelligence but simply breath and vital power called life with which the Creator endows all living creatures, incapable of separate conscious existence apart from the person. When God gathers back or withdraws to Himself His spirit and His breath, all flesh perishes together and man turns again to dust, so returning to God does not prove continued consciousness after death but means return to its source.
Death When Breath Withdrawn
When He gathers back to Himself His spirit and His breath, human life is unmade. Dust forms the body and the Almighty's breath gives it life, and with that power withdrawn all flesh perishes together and man turns again to the dust from which he was formed. The spirit so gathered is the breath of life from God, located in the nostrils, and it means life, not a conscious person surviving death. Death is therefore the loss of life and the result of life's power being withdrawn, not the release of a separate living soul or continued conscious activity. All living beings depend on Him for life in this way, for He preserves life and health moment by moment.
The whole person formed from dust returns to dust, and this applies to every part of the person. The person who returns to earth is the same person formed from dust and the same mortal body, not the spirit, while the spirit or breath that came from God returns to His keeping. Man as a whole dies as a unit, not as a mortal body joined to an immortal part, and when the vital functions cease all of the person dies. Human beings are formed from the earth and return to dust, and humanity does not remain alive apart from God.
Returning to dust is not a conscious existence and does not mean the person continues in conscious life with God after death. The dust, the formed but still lifeless person, and the spirit before it is given are all without consciousness, and conscious existence results only when the person and the spirit are joined. The spirit and breath taken back are not intelligence but simply the vital power called life with which the Creator endows all living creatures, incapable of separate conscious existence apart from the person. In death man simply ceases to be a medium for manifesting life.
At death the body returns to earth while the spirit or breath returns to God who gave it, to His keeping and to its source from where it departed, as the body returns to its source. The spirit is later summoned back from where it departed, and the person who dies comes from the grave to receive his reward. That return to God does not prove survival, since returning to God means God gathering His breath.
This is true of all living flesh together without distinction of character, the good and the bad alike, and is shared by people and animals. Man was endowed in creation with the same life that energizes all lower animals and the same breath common to humans and animals, not a separate immortal part, so all die together and life is not sustained apart from God's breath. Death is the loss of life, not the release of a separate living soul. So the wicked ultimately die rather than live forever in punishment.
Doctrine and Dependence
All living beings depend on God for life moment by moment, and if He gathers back the spirit and breath He gives, all flesh perishes together and humanity returns to dust. Human life depends wholly on His sustaining care, which preserves life and health from moment to moment. That sustaining care flows from His love, compassion, and mercy, not from an obligation imposed upon Him. Human beings are formed from the earth and return to dust, and do not remain alive apart from God.
The verse proves man is not immortal, for if God withdraws a person's life and breath all flesh perishes and human beings return to dust. The spirit is life or breath, not a conscious person surviving death, and is not capable of a separate conscious existence apart from the person. The spirit's returning to God means God gathering to Himself His own spirit and breath, and therefore does not prove continued consciousness after death. When He gathers it, all flesh perishes together and man turns again to dust, showing the dead are unconscious in the dust. Man as a whole returns to dust at death as a unit, not as a mortal body joined to an immortal part, so that when the vital functions cease all of the person dies.
Life is not sustained apart from God's breath, and when He withdraws His spirit and breath all living beings perish and human beings return to dust. The wicked therefore ultimately die rather than live forever in punishment. If God were to turn His heart back to Himself and withdraw His Spirit and breath, all people would perish and return to dust. This holds of Christ, who had taken the whole world's burden upon Himself: if He had turned back from His self-sacrifice, all people would have perished and the human race would have been lost.
Without the Atonement all flesh must perish. A person who has sinned cannot make himself fit for heaven by cleansing his own soul.
When God gathers back to Himself His spirit and His breath, the unmaking of human life occurs, and all flesh perishes together and man turns again to the dust from which he was formed. It is the whole person formed from dust who returns to dust, man dying as a unit and not as a mortal body joined to an immortal part that lives on. Returning to dust is not conscious existence with God, for conscious life exists only while the formed person and the breath of life are joined, and in death man simply ceases to be a medium for manifesting life. All living beings therefore depend on God for life moment by moment, preserved by His sustaining care and mercy and not alive apart from Him. The verse thus proves man is not immortal, for the perishing of all flesh shows the dead are unconscious in the dust and the spirit's return to God is only His gathering back of the vital power called life.
Context and Wording
Job 34:15 stands after the argument between Job and his friends closes in chapter 31, belonging to the intervention of Elihu. Elihu is a younger man who tries with superior wisdom to correct Job, follows the same line as the friends, and is given no answer. His plea tries to convince Job that he himself is not very great while God is everything, and Job makes no answer to it and no comment is given upon it. His argument and reproof to Job in chapters 32-37 is poetry, distinct from the colloquies of Job with his three friends in chapters 3-31, within a book whose opening narrative and closing statement are prose and whose Job is a real upright man in trial and patience.
Inspiration of the book guarantees that the words were spoken, not that everything said in it is true. What Job's friends said was generally true but misapplied in Job's case. Evil is ultimately punished and good is ultimately rewarded, but adversity, affliction, or suffering does not prove a man is under God's displeasure. God sees the end from the beginning and works out what will glorify Himself and bring comfort and hope to suffering ones and blessing to the sufferer.
The word for man in the verse is the Hebrew ah-dahm, the same word used for man in Job 14:1 and in the second clause of Job 14:10. The verse means dying man becomes dust again. Ah-dahm does not denote a spiritual part that survives death, for the same ah-dahm is born of woman and returns to dust. No difference in meaning can be found between geh-ver, ah-dahm, and eesh as used for dying man, since all that is affirmed of one is affirmed of the others.
The word flesh denotes all living beings that perish and humanity returning to dust. Flesh by itself does not mean a mortal state. Scripture also uses it for immortal beings and for humanity in the resurrection.
The spirit and breath are the breath of life from God, located in the nostrils, which God gave to man. It means life, not a separate immortal part or conscious person surviving death. It is common to humans and animals, the same life that energizes all lower creatures. When taken back it is not intelligence but simply breath and vital power called life with which the Creator endows all living creatures, incapable of separate conscious existence apart from the person. When God gathers back or withdraws to Himself His spirit and His breath, all flesh perishes together and man turns again to dust, so returning to God does not prove continued consciousness after death but means return to its source.
Death When Breath Withdrawn
When He gathers back to Himself His spirit and His breath, human life is unmade. Dust forms the body and the Almighty's breath gives it life, and with that power withdrawn all flesh perishes together and man turns again to the dust from which he was formed. The spirit so gathered is the breath of life from God, located in the nostrils, and it means life, not a conscious person surviving death. Death is therefore the loss of life and the result of life's power being withdrawn, not the release of a separate living soul or continued conscious activity. All living beings depend on Him for life in this way, for He preserves life and health moment by moment.
The whole person formed from dust returns to dust, and this applies to every part of the person. The person who returns to earth is the same person formed from dust and the same mortal body, not the spirit, while the spirit or breath that came from God returns to His keeping. Man as a whole dies as a unit, not as a mortal body joined to an immortal part, and when the vital functions cease all of the person dies. Human beings are formed from the earth and return to dust, and humanity does not remain alive apart from God.
Returning to dust is not a conscious existence and does not mean the person continues in conscious life with God after death. The dust, the formed but still lifeless person, and the spirit before it is given are all without consciousness, and conscious existence results only when the person and the spirit are joined. The spirit and breath taken back are not intelligence but simply the vital power called life with which the Creator endows all living creatures, incapable of separate conscious existence apart from the person. In death man simply ceases to be a medium for manifesting life.
At death the body returns to earth while the spirit or breath returns to God who gave it, to His keeping and to its source from where it departed, as the body returns to its source. The spirit is later summoned back from where it departed, and the person who dies comes from the grave to receive his reward. That return to God does not prove survival, since returning to God means God gathering His breath.
This is true of all living flesh together without distinction of character, the good and the bad alike, and is shared by people and animals. Man was endowed in creation with the same life that energizes all lower animals and the same breath common to humans and animals, not a separate immortal part, so all die together and life is not sustained apart from God's breath. Death is the loss of life, not the release of a separate living soul. So the wicked ultimately die rather than live forever in punishment.
Doctrine and Dependence
All living beings depend on God for life moment by moment, and if He gathers back the spirit and breath He gives, all flesh perishes together and humanity returns to dust. Human life depends wholly on His sustaining care, which preserves life and health from moment to moment. That sustaining care flows from His love, compassion, and mercy, not from an obligation imposed upon Him. Human beings are formed from the earth and return to dust, and do not remain alive apart from God.
The verse proves man is not immortal, for if God withdraws a person's life and breath all flesh perishes and human beings return to dust. The spirit is life or breath, not a conscious person surviving death, and is not capable of a separate conscious existence apart from the person. The spirit's returning to God means God gathering to Himself His own spirit and breath, and therefore does not prove continued consciousness after death. When He gathers it, all flesh perishes together and man turns again to dust, showing the dead are unconscious in the dust. Man as a whole returns to dust at death as a unit, not as a mortal body joined to an immortal part, so that when the vital functions cease all of the person dies.
Life is not sustained apart from God's breath, and when He withdraws His spirit and breath all living beings perish and human beings return to dust. The wicked therefore ultimately die rather than live forever in punishment. If God were to turn His heart back to Himself and withdraw His Spirit and breath, all people would perish and return to dust. This holds of Christ, who had taken the whole world's burden upon Himself: if He had turned back from His self-sacrifice, all people would have perished and the human race would have been lost.
Without the Atonement all flesh must perish. A person who has sinned cannot make himself fit for heaven by cleansing his own soul.