Job 14

MAn that is born of a Woman This expression is here used either, 1. To intimate the cause of Mans Misery, that he was born of Woman, a weak Creature, 1 Pet. 3. 7. and withal corrupt and sinful, and of that Sex by which sin and all calamity was brought into the world. See Ch. 15. 14. & Gen. 3. 17. 1 Tim. 2. 13, 4. Or 2. To note the Universality of the thing, Every man, every Mothers Son, as we use to speak. Mens Fathers are oft times unknown and uncertain, but their Mothers are always definite and certain. One man was then to be born, and afterwards was born without an earthly Father, to wit, our Lord and Saviour Christ; but no man was ever born without a Mother., is of few days A short liv'd Creature in himself, and therefore needs no violent hand to cut him off, because he withereth so soon of his own accord., and full of trouble And therefore a fitter Object for divine Compassion, than for his... ury or severity. He chiefly intendeth himself, but he expresseth it thus generally, partly to relieve himself with the thoughts of the common Calamities of Mankind; and partly to move God with the consideration of the frailty and misery of humane Nature, and consequently of his condition..

He cometh forth Out of his Mothers Womb, Ch. 1. 21. like a Flower Which quickly groweth up and maketh a fair show, but soon withereth, or is cut down., and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow Which being made by the Sun, follows its motions, and is in perpetual variation until at last it quite vanish and disappear., and continueth not.

And dost thou open thine Eyes upon such an one Either 1. To take thought or care about him. Or rather 2. To observe all his ways, that thou maist find cause of Punishment. He is not a fit match for thee. It is below thee to contend with him, and to use thy infinite Wisdom and Power to crush him. This seems best to suit with the scope and context., and bringest me into judgment with thee i. e. Pleadest with me by thy Judgments, and thereby, in a manner, forcest me to plead with thee, without granting me those Two necessary and favourable conditions, expressed Ch. 13. 20, 21.?

Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean I do not say, I am clean, as Zophar pretendeth, Ch. 11. 4. but confess that I am a very unclean Creature, and therefore liable to thy Justice, if thou wiltst deal rigorously with me: but remember that this is not my peculiar case, but the common lot of every Man, who, coming from sinful Parents, and being infected with original Corruption, must unavoidably be unclean. Why then doest thou inflict such peculiar and extraordinary Judgments upon me, for that which is common to all men? And although my original Corruption do not excuse my actual Sins. yet I hope it may procure some mitigation to my punishments, and move thy divine Pitty, which oft shows itself upon such occasions. See Gen. 8. 21.? Not one i. e. No man can cleanse himself, or any other from all sin. See 1 Kin. 8. 46. Psal. 14. 3. Eccles. 7. 21. This is the Prorogative of thy Grace, which therefore I humbly implore of thee..

Seeing his days The days, or (as it follows) months of his Life. are determined Are by thy Sentence and Decree limited to a certain period., the number of his Months are with thee i. e. Exactly known to thee. Or, in thy power and disposal., thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass Thou hast appointed a certain end of his days beyond which he cannot prolong his Life. And therefore let this short Life, and unavoidable Death suffice for mans punishment, and do not add further and sorer Calamities..

Turn from him Withdraw thine afflicting Hand from him. that he may rest That he may have some present comfort and ease. Or, and let it cease, to wit, the affliction, which is sufficiently implied. Others, and let him cease, to wit, to live, i. e. Take away my life. But that seems not to agree with the following clause of this Verse, nor with the succeeding Verses., till he shall accomplish as an hireling his day Give him some respite, till he finish his course and come to the period of his Life, which thou hast allotted to him, as a man appoints a set time to a mercenary servant..

For there is hope of a Tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again But man, though a far nobler Creature, is in a much worse condition, and when once he loseth this present and Worldly Life, he never recovers it: Therefore show some pity to him, and give him some Comfort whilest he lives., and that the tender branch thereof will not cease.

Though the root thereof wax old Begin to wither and decay. in the Earth, and the stock thereof die To wit, in outward appearance. in the ground:

Yet through the sent of Water i. e. By means of Water. Sent or Smell is figuratively ascribed to a Tree. it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a Plant Like a Tree newly planted..

But man dieth, and wasteth away His body by degrees rotting away, Or, and is cut off, as this word is used, Exod. 17. 13. Isa. 14. 12.: yea, man giveth up the Ghost, and where is he i. e. He is no where, or, he is not, to wit, in this World, as that Phrase is commonly used. See Iob 3. 16. & 7. 8, 21.?

As the Waters fail from the Sea, and the flood decayeth, and drieth up This may be understood, either 1. By way of opposition, The Waters go, or flow out of the Sea, and return thither again, Eccles. 1. 7. and a Lake, or River sometimes decayeth, and drieth up; but afterwards is recruited and replenished. But man lieth, &c. as it follows. Or 2. By way of resemblance. As Waters, i. e. some portion of Waters, fail from the... a, being either exhaled or drawn up by the Sun, or received and sunk into the dry and thirsty Earth, or overflowing its Banks; and as the Flood or a River, or a Pond, (for the word signifies any considerable confluence of Waters) in a great drought decayeth, and is dried up: in both which cases the self same Waters never return to their former places. So it is with man. Or thus, as when the Waters fail from the Sea, i. e. when the Sea forsakes the place into which it used to flow, the River which was fed by it, Eccles. 1. 7. decayeth and drieth up without all hopes of Recovery. So man, when once the Fountain of his radical moisture is dried up, dies, and never revives again.:

So man lieth down To wit, in his Bed, the Grave, or to sleep the sleep of Death as this Phrase is used, Gen. 46. 30. Deut. 31. 16. 2 Sam. 7. 12. 1 Kin. 1. 21., and riseth not To wit, to this Life: For he speaks not here of the Life to come, nor of the Resurrection of the Body after death by the divine Power; of his belief whereof he giveth sufficient evidences in divers places., till the Heavens be no more i. e. Either 1. Never; because the Heavens, though they shall be changed in their Qualities, yet shall never cease to be as to the Substance of them. And therefore everlasting and unchangeable things are expressed by the duration of the Heavens; of which see Psal. 72. 5, 7, 17. & 89. 30, 36, 37. Mat. 5. 18. & 24. 35. Or 2. not until the time of the general Resurrection, and the restitution of things, when these visible Heavens shall pass away, and be no more, at least in the same form and manner as now they are: of which see Psal. 102. 26. Luk. 21. 33. 2 Pet. 3. 7, 10. Rev. 21. 1., they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their Sleep.

O that thou wouldest hide me in the Grave Either 1. In some dark Vault under ground, such as good men hide themselves in, in times of Persecution. Heb. 11. 38. Lord hide me in some hiding place from thy Wrath, and all the intolerable effects of it, which are upon me: for I cannot be hid from thee but by thee. Or 2. In the Grave, properly so called. Though I know Life once lost is irrecoverable, yet I heartily desire Death rather than to continue in these Torments. And if the next words and wish seem to suppose the continuance of his Life, that is not strange: For he speaks like one almost distracted with his miseries, sometimes wishing one thing, sometimes another, and the quite contrary, as such persons use to do. And these Wishes may be understood disjunctively, I wish either that I were dead, or that God would give me Life free from these torments. Or the place may be understood thus, I could wish, if it were possible, that I might lie in the Grave for a time, till these storms be blown over, and then be restored to a comfortable Life., that thou wouldst keep me secret In some secret and safe place, under the shadow of thy Wings and favour. that I may have some support and comfort from thee., until thy Wrath be past Whilst I am oppressed with such grievous and various Calamities, which he calls Gods Wrath, because they were, or seemed to be, the effects of his Wrath., that thou wouldst appoint me a set time To wit, to my sufferings, as thou hast done to my Life, v. 5., and remember me i. e. Wherein thou wiltst remember me, to wit, in mercy, o... so as to deliver me: For it is well known that God is frequently said to forget those whom he suffers to continue in misery, and to remember those whom he delivers out of it..

If a man die, shall he live again i. e. He shall not namely in this World, as was said before. The affirmative question is equivalent to an absolute denial, as Gen. 18. 17. Psal. 56. 7. Ier. 5. 9. and every where.? all the days of my appointed time will I wait till my change come Seeing Death puts an end to all mens hopes of any comfortable being here, because man once dead never returns to Life; I will therefore wait on God, and hope for his favour whilest I live, and it is possible to enjoy it, and will continue waiting from time to time, until my change come, i. e. either 1. Death, the great and last change; which is expressed by the Root of this word, Iob 10. 17. Or 2. The change of my condition for the better, which you upon your Terms encourage me to expect, and which I yet trust in God I shall enjoy; for this word properly signifies Vicissitudes or Changes in ones condition, and this seems to suit best with the following verse. And this Change, or a comfortable Life here Iob so heartily wisheth, not only from that love of Life and Comfort which is naturally implanted in all men, good and bad, and is not forbidden by God, which also was stronger in those Old Testament Saints when the discoveries of Gods Grace to sinners, and of eternal Life, were much darker than now they are; but also because this would be an effectual vindication of his own Integrity, and Good-name, and of the honour of Religion, both which did suffer some Eclipse from Iob's extream Calamities, as is evident from the discourses of his Friends..

Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee I trust there is a time coming when thou wiltst grant me the mercy which now thou deniest me, to wit, a favourable hearing, when thou wiltst call to me to speak for my self, and I shall answer thee; which I know will be to thy Satisfaction and my Comfort. Compare this with Chap. 13. 22. where the same words are used in this same Sense. Or, thou shalt call me out of the Grave of my Calamities, and I shall answer thee, and say, Here I am, raised out of the Pit in which I was buried by thy powerful and gracious Command.: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands i. e. To me who am thy Workmanship in divers respects, from whom thou now seemest to have an aversion and abhorrency, but I doubt not thou wiltst have a desire, i. e. show thy Affection or Good-will to me; or a desire to look upon me, and to deliver me. Nor is it strange that Iob, who lately was upon the brink of despair, does now breath out words of Hope, such Ebbings and Flowings being usual, both with Iob elsewhere, as Ch. 13. 15, 16. and with David frequently in the Psalms, and with others of God's People..

For now So this is a reason of his desire of Death, v. 13. Or rather, But now; for this seems to be added by way of opposition. I believe thou wiltst pitty and help me, but for the present it is far otherwise with me. thou numbrest my steps Thou makest a strict enquiry into all my Actions, that thou maist find out all mine Errours, and punish them. Compare Iob 13. 27. & 31. 4. & 34. 21. Psal. 56. 6., dost thou not watch over my sin i. e. Dost thou not watch for my Haltings, or Miscarriages, as if thou wast glad of an occasion to punish me? Or, thou dost not delay the punishment of my sin: For the same Hebrew word signifies both sin, and its punishments.?

My transgression is sealed up in a bag As Writings or other choice things, that they may be safely kept, and all of them brought forth upon occasion, and not one of them forgotten or lost. Compare Deut. 32. 34. Iob 37. 7. Hos. 13. 12., and thou sewest up mine iniquity i. e. Thou keepest all my sins in thy memory, and fastenest the guilt of them upon my Conscience. Or, thou addest to my sin, one sin to another, the follies of my youth, Iob 13. 26. to those of my riper Years. Or, thou addest to my punishment, i. e. thou punishest me more than mine Iniquities deserve, all things considered. For this sinful thought seems somtimes to have risen in Iob's Mind, as may be gathered from divers parts of this Book: which therefore Zophar decries, and disproves, Iob. 11. 6..

And surely as the Mountain falling cometh to nought As when a great Mountain falls, either by an Earthquake or Inundation of Waters, or from any other cause, it moulders away like a fading Leaf, (as the Hebrew word signifies) and never recovers its former height and stability, and as the Rock when by the violence of Winds or Earthquake, &c. it is removed out of its place, and thrown down is never readvanced. And as the waters by continual droppings, or violent and frequent assaults, wear away, or break the stones to pieces, so as they can never be made whole again: And as thou washest away, to wit, by a great and violent Inundation which thou sendest, the things which grow out of the dust of the Earth, to wit, Herbs, & Fruits, & Plants, which once washed away are irrecoverably lost, and, or so (as this particle is oft used, i. e. in like manner, to wit, irrecoverably,) thou destroyest the hope of man; i. e. So when man dies all hope of living again in this World is utterly lost, And this seems to be the plain meaning of these two Verses. And as before he declared the hopelesness of mans restauration from death to this animal life, by way of opposition to such things as did rise in a manner from death to life, v. 7 &c. so now he declares it by way of similitude or resemblance to such things as being once lost and gone, are past all hopes of recovery.: and the Rock is removed out of his place:

The Waters wear the Stones: thou washest away the things which grow out of the Dust of the Earth, and thou destroyest the hope of Man.

Thou prevailest for ever against him When once thou takest away this life it is gone for ever: For he speaks not here of man's future and eternal life in another World., and he passeth i. e. He dieth or is about to die: Man's death is oft called a passage or a going; to intimate that it is not an annihilation, but only a translation of him into another place and state.: thou changest his Countenance Either 1 his Visage, which by death and its Harbingers, is quite transformed in colour and shape, as we see by daily experience. Or 2. the face and state of his Affairs, as to worldly riches and pleasures, and honours, all which he leaves behind him., and sendest him away To his long home by death..

His sons come to honour, and he knoweth it not Either 1. is ignorant of all such events: Or, 2. is not concerned nor affected with them. A dead or dying man minds not these things.; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them.

But his flesh upon him shall have pain, and his soul within him shall mourn This is mans condition, he is miserable... oth when he dies, because he dies without hope of returning to life, as he had discoursed before; and (as he now adds) whilest he lives, whilest his flesh is upon him, and his soul within him; whilest the soul is clothed with or united to the body, he feels sharp pain in his body, and bitter grief in his soul, Seeing therefore the state of man upon earth is so vain and unhappy every way, Lord give me some comfort to sweeten my life, or take away my life from me..