Is there not an appointed time to man upon earth? are not his days also like the days of an hireling?
The verse stands within the extended debate between Job and his three friends about his afflictions, spanning chapters 4-31. It belongs to the second of the five parts of the book, the arguments in chapters 3-31 on the cause and object of human suffering. In its immediate setting it is part of Job's answer to Eliphaz's speech urging him not to despise God's chastening, in which Job justifies his complaints. It gives the true words of Job as a real man, spoken from limited human wisdom and observation while he knew his own integrity yet could not understand God's dealings with him, though he did not charge God foolishly.
Behind that suffering, God saw the end from the beginning and was working to glorify Himself forever, to give comfort and hope to thousands of suffering ones afterward, and to prove a blessing to Job. The verse declares that human life on earth has an appointed span and that a person's days are like the limited term of service or working day of a hired worker, presenting earthly life as an appointed period of labor. By its word for man, meaning mortal, it identifies the human being as mortal. It shows that people are mortal and live under the sentence of death rather than possessing immortality, with mortality applying to the whole person.
In this context the verse supports the claim that God has appointed a time for events to be accomplished. It applies as a call to labor diligently in doing good during this life, before the time of rest in heaven, and to be ready to give an account to the Lord.
The verse stands within the extended debate between Job and his three friends about his afflictions, spanning chapters 4-31. It belongs to the second of the five parts of the book, the arguments in chapters 3-31 on the cause and object of human suffering. In its immediate setting it is part of Job's answer to Eliphaz's speech urging him not to despise God's chastening, in which Job justifies his complaints. It gives the true words of Job as a real man, spoken from limited human wisdom and observation while he knew his own integrity yet could not understand God's dealings with him, though he did not charge God foolishly.
Behind that suffering, God saw the end from the beginning and was working to glorify Himself forever, to give comfort and hope to thousands of suffering ones afterward, and to prove a blessing to Job. The verse declares that human life on earth has an appointed span and that a person's days are like the limited term of service or working day of a hired worker, presenting earthly life as an appointed period of labor. By its word for man, meaning mortal, it identifies the human being as mortal. It shows that people are mortal and live under the sentence of death rather than possessing immortality, with mortality applying to the whole person.
In this context the verse supports the claim that God has appointed a time for events to be accomplished. It applies as a call to labor diligently in doing good during this life, before the time of rest in heaven, and to be ready to give an account to the Lord.