Job Expounded, Commentary on Job · Chapter 14
¶ THE SVMME AND ORDER of the xiiii. Chapter.
IOB trusting and relying vponupon the testimonie of a good conscience, and hauing professed that he was readie in this controuersie to stand to Gods iudgement and determination, not doubting at all, but that he would acquite him of the accusation, which his aduersaries brought against him: in this Chapter he doth nothing else but bewaile the miserie & wretchednes of mans life, considering it some times in generall & some times againe particularlie in respect of his owne most wofull and lamentable estate, to moue God as it were to take some compassion of him, And yet in the meane time he hath here left vsus a most singular testimonie of the immortalitie of the soule as also of the rising againe and chaunging of the bodie at the last daie, as shall appeare in the 12. 13. 14. 15. & 16. verses whereunto Paul agreeth 1. Cor. 15 43, 51. &c. & Peter in his 2. Epistle, Chap. 3. vers. 10. For this place of Job in my iudgement can not possibly be otherwise vnderstood.
❧ CHAPTER XIIII.
Vers. 1. Man that is borne of a woman, hath but a few daies, & is filled with anger, (that is, shall be filled with sorowes and afflictions.)
2. As a flower (that is, like to the flower) he shooteth forth & is cut downe▪ be vanisheth also as a shadow and continueth not.
3. Yet doest thou open thine eies vponupon him: and causest me to enter into iudgement with thee?
4. Who can bring a cleane thing out of that which is vnpure? there is not one.
1. & 2. ALas what is there more wretched then man, who came foorth of his mothers womb to liue here but a very short space, and that in extreame anguish and misery, whereunto thou in thy displeasure hast ordained him: like a flower, is no sooner seen growne, but he withereth, and like a flying shadow vanisheth awaie. 3. Is he of such value, or doest thou make such account of him, that thou canst abide thus narrowlie ro sift his doings, and to enter into iudgement with him? 4. Surely I confesse, hee is vncleane; but what can he doe with all? Can a man be pure that commeth of vncleane parentes, or beeing borne in corruption is anie one able to make him selfe pure from all vncleannesse?
5 If his dayes are set downe, and the number of his moneths (is) with thee, (&) thou hast limitted his times which he shall not passe.
6 Turne from him and let him be quiet, till as an hireling he hath ended his day.
5 But forasmuch as thou hast determined the dayes of man, and hast in thine owne hand the number of moneths in which he is to liue, and finallie in the whole state and condition of his life, hast appointed him boundes which he can not exceed, 6 At the least wise withhold this thy scourge from him, which as an ouerplus thou addest to these his naturall miseries, and giuegive him leaue to enioy this short and wretched life, till, as an hireling endeth his worke, so hee likewise finish the course of his life.
7 For there is hope of a tree if it b… cut downe. For still it will sprout, and the branches thereof will not cease:
8 Though the roote thereof waxe olde in the earth, and the stocke thereof lie dead in the dust.
9 By the sent of the water it will bud, and bring forth boughes as a plant.
10 But man dyeth and is cut off, and man shall giuegive vp the ghost, and where is he?
7 For of a tree which is cut downe there is some hope that it wil grow againe, & not quite perish. 8 Because howsoeuer the roote within the ground be olde, yea & the stocke thereof be dead: 9 Notwithstanding so sone as it hath as it were a certain sent of the water, it reviueth & bringeth forth boughes againe to to be cut down, as a yong plant. 10 But a mans life being once lost, is neuer restored to him againe: & if he be once takē away, where afterward maist thou find him
11 The waters passe from the sea, and the flood decayeth and is dryed vp.
12 And man lyeth and riseth not: till the heauens be no more they shall not arise againe nor awake out of their sleepe.
11 As the waters of the sea are resolued into vapours and vanish away; and as the riuer in time of drouth is dryed vp: 12 So man by death falleth and perisheth, so that till the heauens are not any longer, that is, neuer he shalbe raised from the sleepe of death, nor awake to liue in this worlde any more.
13 O that thou wouldest hide me in the graue, & keepe me secret while thy wrath were past, & wouldest set me an appointmēt, (that is, a certaine time) and remember me.
O that thou wouldest hide me in some secret caue within the earth, where I might abide either without feeling, or at the least wise be farre out of mens sight, til such time as thine anger were appeased towards me: this is my desire that thou wouldest appoint me a certaine terme, in which I may perceiue that thou hadst cast off al remembrance of me.
14 Jf a man die, shall be liue againe? shall I spend all my dayes in waiting till my chaunging be come,
15 When thou shalt call, and I shall make answere vntounto thee: and when thou shalt aske for the worke of thine owne hands?
But sith neither this can possibly be, that a man after he is once dead should be restored againe to this life: nor thou doest vse to graunt that, which I ere while wished to hauehave, must I needes, I pray, so long abide in this intollerable estate 15 till that other day be come, wherein at the length I shall by thee be called out of this short and wretched life, & shall make answere to thee, and wherein thou shalt require thine owne workmanship▪ which seemed to be vtterly blotted out, and then shall I change this transitorie and miserable life with that other, which is euerlasting & most blessed?
16 For now thou numbrest my steps, neither doest thou reserue (any part) of my sinne.
17 My transgression is sealed vp as in a bag, and thou addest vntounto mine iniquitie.
16 For thou dealest so rigorously with me, that I may seeme not to hauehave at any time so much as set one foote forward, but that thou hast counted all my steps, neither doest thou remit any part of the punishment, which is due to mine offences. 17. But thou seemest rather to hauehave laid them vp in store, and to hauehave sealed them as it were in a bag, that not any one of my transgressions might be forgotten: and hereupon it is, that to take vengeance vponupon me for those things wherein I hauehave sinned against thee, thou loadest me with punishments, heaping them thicke and threefolde, and sending one in the necke of another.
18 And surely as the mountaine decaying falleth downe, and the rocke is remoued from his place.
19 As the waters breake the stones, and the dust of the earth ouerfloweth the things which growe out of the same, and thou destroyest the hope of man.
20 So thou prevailest against him alwayes, and he passeth away chaunging his countenance, and thou throwest him out.
18. Finally (as may be seene by this my so sudden and so violent a fall) euen as some mountaine being mightilie shaken falleth downe, howe surely and firmely soeuer it seemed to stand; and as rockes by some sudden and violent impulsion are mooued and carried out of their places. 19. & againe as the water dropping by little and little weareth the stones, and the mould of the earth being by the inundation of waters cast vponupon a heape, spoileth & corrupteth the yong plants and fruits of the earth, depriuing the poore husbandman of all his hope: 20 So thou neuer ceasest with thy might to cast downe miserable mortall men, till such time as they chaunging countenance and departing with a heauie & sorowfull heart, thou violently takest them out of this life.
21 His children shall be exalted, and (he) shall not knowe it: or brought lowe, and he shall not vnderstand concerning them.
22 But his flesh vponupon him shall be in griefe, and his minde within him shall mourne.
21 And if happily any be not so by death vtterly swept away, but that they leaue children behind thē: it must needes be, that these either shall be exalted to honour, or else they also shalbe brought lowe, and liue in penurie and affliction. But whether the one or the other befall them, this belongeth nothing to their parents, forasmuch as they being dead know none of these things. 22 Neuerthelesse so long as they liue, both their bodyes shall be tormented with griefe, & their mindes shalbe oppressed with great and manifolde sorowes.