What does the chapter actually say?
Identify the explicit claims before importing later doctrine or assumptions.
JOB • CHAPTER 14
Job 14
Innocent suffering, divine justice, friendship, protest, wisdom, the limits of human explanation, and God's response from the whirlwind.
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Job 14
WORLD ENGLISH BIBLE
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1
“Man, who is born of a woman,
is of few days, and full of trouble.
is of few days, and full of trouble.
2
He grows up like a flower, and is cut down.
He also flees like a shadow, and doesn’t continue.
He also flees like a shadow, and doesn’t continue.
3
Do you open your eyes on such a one,
and bring me into judgment with you?
and bring me into judgment with you?
4
Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?
Not one.
Not one.
5
Seeing his days are determined,
the number of his months is with you,
and you have appointed his bounds that he can’t pass;
the number of his months is with you,
and you have appointed his bounds that he can’t pass;
6
Look away from him, that he may rest,
until he accomplishes, as a hireling, his day.
until he accomplishes, as a hireling, his day.
7
“For there is hope for a tree if it is cut down,
that it will sprout again,
that the tender branch of it will not cease.
that it will sprout again,
that the tender branch of it will not cease.
8
Though its root grows old in the earth,
and its stock dies in the ground,
and its stock dies in the ground,
9
yet through the scent of water it will bud,
and sprout boughs like a plant.
and sprout boughs like a plant.
10
But man dies, and is laid low.
Yes, man gives up the spirit, and where is he?
Yes, man gives up the spirit, and where is he?
11
As the waters fail from the sea,
and the river wastes and dries up,
and the river wastes and dries up,
12
so man lies down and doesn’t rise.
Until the heavens are no more, they will not awake,
nor be roused out of their sleep.
Until the heavens are no more, they will not awake,
nor be roused out of their sleep.
13
“Oh that you would hide me in Sheol,
that you would keep me secret until your wrath is past,
that you would appoint me a set time and remember me!
that you would keep me secret until your wrath is past,
that you would appoint me a set time and remember me!
14
If a man dies, will he live again?
I would wait all the days of my warfare,
until my release should come.
I would wait all the days of my warfare,
until my release should come.
15
You would call, and I would answer you.
You would have a desire for the work of your hands.
You would have a desire for the work of your hands.
16
But now you count my steps.
Don’t you watch over my sin?
Don’t you watch over my sin?
17
My disobedience is sealed up in a bag.
You fasten up my iniquity.
You fasten up my iniquity.
18
“But the mountain falling comes to nothing.
The rock is removed out of its place;
The rock is removed out of its place;
19
The waters wear the stones.
The torrents of it wash away the dust of the earth.
So you destroy the hope of man.
The torrents of it wash away the dust of the earth.
So you destroy the hope of man.
20
You forever prevail against him, and he departs.
You change his face, and send him away.
You change his face, and send him away.
21
His sons come to honor, and he doesn’t know it.
They are brought low, but he doesn’t perceive it of them.
They are brought low, but he doesn’t perceive it of them.
22
But his flesh on him has pain,
and his soul within him mourns.”
and his soul within him mourns.”
WISDOM
Where this chapter fits
Job belongs to Israel's wisdom/poetic tradition, where literary form matters as much as historical setting.
Chapter numbers were added long after the biblical books were written.
Read this chapter together with what comes immediately before and after it.
ANCIENT TEXT, MODERN QUESTIONS
Historical claims should be compared with historical evidence.
Scientific claims should be compared with science.
Moral claims should be examined morally.
Theological claims require theological and philosophical argument.
QUESTIONS WORTH ASKING
Don't skip the hard parts.
What kind of literature is this?
Narrative, poetry, prophecy, law, letters, wisdom, and apocalypse communicate differently.
What historical evidence matters?
Ask whether names, places, institutions, events, customs, and chronology can be independently investigated.
What are the strongest competing interpretations?
Compare serious Jewish, Christian, academic, and skeptical readings rather than caricatures.
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