Bible Commentary - Job 14

In this chapter, Job concludes his statement by emphasizing the ephemeral nature of human existence.

This is the kind of chapter that would make an existentialist proud.  Job spends almost the whole time talking about how people don’t live forever and we will never rise again after death.  In fact, I could almost go so far as to say that is the only thing Job talks about.

Job applies this to his situation by saying, in essence, that God should withhold his wrath and judgment from men because of our short lives (v. 6).  God has placed a firm limit when we must die, and we cannot live beyond that point.  As far as I can tell, Job’s logic is that since our lives are already short, God should not make them miserable too.

Verses 1-12 are generalized in the sense that Job is speaking about all men.  Then in verses 13-17 he speaks about himself and his petition for his own life.  “Sheol” in v. 13 refers to the afterlife, so between that and verses 14-15 it seems like Job thinks that God will “long for the work of his hands” and bring Job into his presence, probably after death.  He talks about waiting for a “change” in v. 14, which is probably also an oblique reference to death.

Verses 16-17 don’t make sense to me, however much I read them, because in the translations I have seen Job is saying that God will not “observe” his sin.  It seems like everywhere else, Job feels like he is being unfairly punished or that God is being overly harsh and treating him as a sinner (one example was in the previous chapter, Job 13:26).  I don’t understand how Job could say here that God has sealed up his transgressions and iniquity when elsewhere he feels like God is punishing him unfairly.

Verses 18-22 return to the generalist tone, where Job ceases to speak about himself and speaks about mankind once again.  The sentiment of these final five verses is similar to the opening of the chapter.  Job returns to the subject of man’s short existence, this time using erosion and geological change as a metaphor for the “change” that happens to mankind as we grow old and die.

In conclusion, I personally don’t see much depth in this chapter.  It seems like the chapter has roughly one bullet point, and that Job uses many different analogies and metaphors to get the point across.  It’s good reading but I don’t see much depth that I can add here with commentary.

In the next chapter, Job’s first friend Eliphaz rebukes Job once again.