Job 14:10–15

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^14:10But man²⁶ dies and is powerless;²⁷

he expires—and where is he?²⁸

^14:11As²⁹ water disappears from the sea,³⁰

or a river drains away and dries up,

^14:12so man lies down and does not rise;

until the heavens are no more,³¹

they³² will not awake

nor arise from their sleep.

The Possibility of Another Life

^14:13“O that³³ you would hide me in Sheol,³⁴

and conceal me till your anger has passed!³⁵

O that you would set me a time³⁶

and then remember me!³⁷

^14:14If a man dies, will he live again?³⁸

All the days of my hard service³⁹ I will wait⁴⁰

until my release comes.⁴¹

^14:15You will call⁴² and I⁴³—I will answer you;

you will long for⁴⁴ the creature you have made.⁴⁵

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Footnotes

26 There are two words for “man” in this verse. The first (גֶּבֶר, gever) can indicate a “strong” or “mature man” or “mighty man,” the hero; and the second (אָדָם, ’adam) simply designates the person as mortal.
27 The word חָלַשׁ (khalash) in Aramaic and means “to be weak” (interestingly, the OT translated חָלַשׁ [khalash] with “fade away” here). The derived noun “the weak” would be in direct contrast to “the mighty man.” In the transitive sense the verb means “to weaken; to defeat” (Exod 17:13); here it may have the sense of “be lifeless, unconscious, inanimate” (cf. E. Dhorme, Job, 199). Many commentators emend the text to יַחֲלֹף (yakhalof, “passes on; passes away”). A. Guillaume tries to argue that the form is a variant of the other, the letters שׁ (shin) and פ (pe) being interchangeable (“The Use of halas in Exod 17:13, Isa 14:12, and Job 14:10,” 14 [1963]: 91–92). G. R. Driver connected it to Arabic halasa, “carry off suddenly” (“The Resurrection of Marine and Terrestrial Creatures,” 7 [1962]: 12–22). But the basic idea of “be weak, powerless” is satisfactory in the text. H. H. Rowley (Job [], 105) says, “Where words are so carefully chosen, it is gratuitous to substitute less expressive words as some editors do.”
28 This break to a question adds a startling touch to the whole verse. The obvious meaning is that he is gone. The weakens it: “and is no more.”
29 The comparative clause may be signaled simply by the context, especially when facts of a moral nature are compared with the physical world (see §161.a).
30 The Hebrew word יָם (yam) can mean “sea” or “lake.”
31 The Hebrew construction is “until not,” which is unusual if not impossible; it is found in only one other type of context. In its six other occurrences (Num 21:35; Deut 3:3; Josh 8:22; 10:33; 11:8; 2 Kgs 10:11) the context refers to the absence of survivors. Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion, , and all have “till the heavens wear out.” Most would emend the text just slightly from עַד־בִּלְתִּי (’ad-bilti, “are no more”) to עַד בְּלוֹת (’ad bélot, “until the wearing out of,” see Ps 102:26 [27]; Isa 51:6). Gray rejects emendation here, finding the unusual form of the in its favor. Orlinsky (p. 57) finds a cognate Arabic word meaning “will not awake” and translates it “so long as the heavens are not rent asunder” (H. M. Orlinsky, “The Hebrew and Greek Texts of Job 14:12,” 28 [1937/38]: 57–68). He then deletes the last line of the verse as a later gloss.
32 The verb is plural because the subject, אִישׁ (’ish), is viewed as a collective: “mankind.” The verb means “to wake up; to awake”; another root, קוּץ (quts, “to split open”) cognate to Arabic qada and Akkadian kasu, was put forward by H. M. Orlinsky (“The Hebrew and Greek Texts of Job 14:12,” 28 [1937–38]: 57–68) and G. R. Driver (“Problems in the Hebrew Text of Job,” 3 [1955]: 72–93).
33 The optative mood is introduced here again with מִי יִתֵּן (mi yitten), literally, “who will give?” After arguing that man will die without hope, Job expresses his desire that there be a resurrection, and what that would mean. The ancients all knew that death did not bring existence to an end; rather, they passed into another place, but they continued to exist. Job thinks that death would at least give him some respite from the wrath of God; but this wrath would eventually be appeased, and then God would remember the one he had hidden in Sheol just as he remembered Noah. Once that happened, it would be possible that Job might live again.
34 Sheol in the Bible refers to the place where the dead go. But it can have different categories of meaning: death in general, the grave, or the realm of the departed spirits [hell]. A. Heidel shows that in the Bible when hell is in view the righteous are not there—it is the realm of the departed spirits of the wicked. When the righteous go to Sheol, the meaning is usually the grave or death. See chapter 3 in A. Heidel, The Gilgamesh Epic and the Old Testament Parallels.
35 The construction used here is the preposition followed by the infinitive construct followed by the subjective genitive, forming an adverbial clause of time.
36 This is the same word used in v. 5 for “limit.”
37 The verb זָכַר (zakhar) means more than simply “to remember.” In many cases, including this one, it means “to act on what is remembered,” i.e., deliver or rescue (see Gen 8:1, “and God remembered Noah”). In this sense, a prayer “remember me” is a prayer for God to act upon his covenant promises.
38 The removes the interrogative and makes the statement affirmative, i.e., that man will live again. This reading is taken by D. H. Gard (“The Concept of the Future Life according to the Greek Translator of the Book of Job,” 73 [1954]: 137–38). D. J. A. Clines follows this, putting both of the expressions in the wish clause: “if a man dies and could live again …” (Job [], ). If that is the way it is translated, then the verbs in the second half of the verse and in the next verse would all be part of the apodosis, and should be translated “would.” The interpretation would not greatly differ; it would be saying that if there was life after death, Job would long for his release—his death. If the traditional view is taken and the question was raised whether there was life after death (the implication of the question being that there is), then Job would still be longing for his death. The point the line is making is that if there is life after death, that would be all the more reason for Job to eagerly expect, to hope for, his death.
40 The verb אֲיַחֵל (’ayakhel) may be rendered “I will/would wait” or “I will/would hope.” The word describes eager expectation and longing hope.
41 The construction is the same as that found in the last verse: a temporal preposition עַד (’ad) followed by the infinitive construct followed by the subjective genitive “release/relief.” Due, in part, to the same verb (חָלַף, khalaf) having the meaning “sprout again” in v. 7, some take “renewal” as the meaning here (J. E. Hartley, Alden, , ESV).
42 The idea would be that God would sometime in the future call Job into his fellowship again when he longed for the work of his hands (cf. Job 10:3).
43 The independent personal pronoun is emphatic, as if to say, “and I on my part will answer.”
44 The word כָּסַף (kasaf) originally meant “to turn pale.” It expresses the sentiment that causes pallor of face, and so is used for desire ardently, covet. The object of the desire is always introduced with the ל (lamed) preposition (see E. Dhorme, Job, 202).
45 Heb “long for the work of your hands.”

Cross references

39 See Job 7:1.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

But a man dies and is laid low;

man breathes his last, and where is he?

As waters fail from a lake

and a river wastes away and dries up,

so a man lies down and rises not again;

till the heavens are no more he will not awake

or be roused out of his sleep.

Oh that you would hide me in Sheol,

that you would conceal me until your wrath be past,

that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me!

If a man dies, shall he live again?

All the days of my service I would wait,

till my renewal should come.

You would call, and I would answer you;

you would long for the work of your hands.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

But a man dies and is laid low;

he breathes his last and is no more.

As the water of a lake dries up

or a riverbed becomes parched and dry,

so he lies down and does not rise;

till the heavens are no more, people will not awake

or be roused from their sleep.

“If only you would hide me in the grave

and conceal me till your anger has passed!

If only you would set me a time

and then remember me!

If someone dies, will they live again?

All the days of my hard service

I will wait for my renewal to come.

You will call and I will answer you;

you will long for the creature your hands have made.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

But a person dies and fades away;

he breathes his last—where is he?

As water disappears from a lake

and a river becomes parched and dry,

so people lie down never to rise again.

They will not wake up until the heavens are no more;

they will not stir from their sleep.

If only you would hide me in Sheol

and conceal me until your anger passes.

If only you would appoint a time for me

and then remember me.

When a person dies, will he come back to life?

If so, I would wait all the days of my struggle

until my relief comes.

You would call, and I would answer you.

You would long for the work of your hands.

NLTNew Living Translation

“But when people die, their strength is gone.

They breathe their last, and then where are they?

As water evaporates from a lake

and a river disappears in drought,

people are laid to rest and do not rise again.

Until the heavens are no more, they will not wake up

nor be roused from their sleep.

“I wish you would hide me in the grave

and forget me there until your anger has passed.

But mark your calendar to think of me again!

Can the dead live again?

If so, this would give me hope through all my years of struggle,

and I would eagerly await the release of death.

You would call and I would answer,

and you would yearn for me, your handiwork.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

“But a man dies, and he dwindles away;

thus a human being passes away, and where is he?

As water disappears from a lake,

and a river withers away and dries up,

so a man lies down, and he does not arise.

Until the heavens are no more, they will not awaken,

and they will not be roused out of their sleep.

“O that you would conceal me in Sheol,

that you would hide me until your wrath is past,

that you would appoint a set time for me and remember me.

If a man dies, will he live again?

All the days of my compulsory service I will wait,

until the coming of my relief.

You would call, and I myself would answer you;

you would long for the work of your hand.

KJV 1900King James Version

But man dieth, and wasteth away:

Yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?

As the waters fail from the sea,

And the flood decayeth and drieth up:

So man lieth down, and riseth not:

Till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake,

Nor be raised out of their sleep.

O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave,

That thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past,

That thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me!

If a man die, shall he live again?

All the days of my appointed time will I wait,

Till my change come.

Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee:

Thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands.

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