Job 14:16-22

Verse 16

For now thou numberest my steps - כי עתה ki attah, Although thou, etc. Though thou, by thy conduct towards me, seemest bent on my utter destruction, yet thou delightest in mercy, and I shall be saved. Verse 17

My transgression is sealed up in a bag - An allusion to the custom of collecting evidence of state transgressions, sealing them up in a bag, and presenting them to the judges and officers of state to be examined, in order to trial and judgment. Just at this time (July, 1820) charges of state transgressions, sealed up in a Green Bag, and presented to the two houses of parliament, for the examination of a secret committee, are making a considerable noise in the land. Some suppose the allusion is to money sealed up in bags; which is common in the East. This includes two ideas:

1. Job's transgressions were all numbered; not one was passed by.

2. They were sealed up; so that none of them could be lost. These bags were indifferently sewed or sealed, the two words in the text. Verse 18

The mountain falling cometh to naught - Every thing in nature is exposed to mutability and decay: - even mountains themselves may fall from their bases, and be dashed to pieces; or be suddenly swallowed up by an earthquake; and, by the same means, the strongest and most massive rocks may be removed. Verse 19

The waters wear the stones - Even the common stones are affected in the same way. Were even earthquakes and violent concussions of nature wanting, the action of water, either running over them as a stream, or even falling upon them in drops, will wear these stones. Hence the proverb: -

Gutta cavat lapidem non vi sed saepe cadendo. "Constant droppings will make a hole in a flint." Εκ θαμινης ραθαμιγγος, ὁκως λογος, αιες ιοισας, Χ' ἁ λιθος ες ρωχμον κοιλαινεται. "From frequent dropping, as the proverb says, perpetually falling, even a stone is hollowed into a hole."

Thou washest away the things - Alluding to sudden falls of rain occasioning floods, by which the fruits of the earth are swept away; and thus the hope of man - the grain for his household, and provender for his cattle, is destroyed. Verse 20

Thou prevailest for ever against him - It is impossible for him to withstand thee: every stroke of thine brings him down.

Thou changest his countenance - Probably an allusion to the custom of covering the face, when the person was condemned, and sending him away to execution. See the case of Haman, in the note on Esther, Est 7:8 (note). Verse 21

His sons come to honor - When dead, he is equally indifferent and unconscious whether his children have met with a splendid or oppressive lot in life; for as to this world, when man dies, in that day all his thoughts perish. Verse 22

But his flesh upon him shall have pain - The sum of the life of man is this, pain of body and distress of soul; and he is seldom without the one or the other, and often oppressed by both. Thus ends Job's discourse on the miserable state and condition of man. The last verse of the preceding chapter has been differently translated and explained. Mr.

Good's version is the following, which he vindicates in a learned note: -

For his flesh shall drop away from him;

And his soul shall become a waste from him.

The Chaldee thus: "Nevertheless his flesh, on account of the worms, shall grieve over him; and his soul, in the house of judgment, shall wail over him." In another copy of this version it is thus: "Nevertheless his flesh, before the window is closed over him, shall grieve; and his soul, for seven days of mourning, shall bewail him in the house of his burial." I shall give the Hebrew: - אך בשרו עליו יכאב

Ach besaro alaiv yichab, ונפשו עליו תאבל

Venaphsho alaiv teebal.

Which Mr. Stock translates thus, both to the spirit and letter: -

But over him his flesh shall grieve;

And over him his breath shall mourn. "In the daring spirit of oriental poetry," says he, "the flesh, or body, and the breath, are made conscious beings; the former lamenting its putrefaction in the grave, the latter mourning over the mouldering clay which it once enlivened."

This version is, in my opinion, the most natural yet offered. The Syriac and Arabic present nearly the same sense: "But his body shall grieve over him; and his soul be astonished over him."

Coverdale follows the Vulgate: Whyle he lyveth his flesh must have travayle; and whyle the soul is in him, he must be in sorowe.

On Job 14:2. I have referred to the following beautiful lines, which illustrate these finely figurative texts: -

He cometh forth as a Flower, and is Cut Down; he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.

All flesh is Grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the Flower of the field.

The Grass withereth, the Flower fadeth; but the word of our God shall stand for ever.

The morning flowers display their sweets,And gay their silken leaves unfold;

As careless of the noonday heats,As fearless of the evening cold.

Nipp'd by the wind's untimely blast,Parch'd by the sun's directer ray,

The momentary glories waste,The short-lived beauties die away.

So blooms the human face divine,When youth its pride of beauty shows;

Fairer than spring the colors shine,And sweeter than the virgin rose.

Or worn by slowly-rolling years,Or broke by sickness in a day,

The fading glory disappears,The short-lived beauties die away.

Yet these, new rising from the tomb,With lustre brighter far shall shine;

Revive with ever-during bloom,Safe from diseases and decline.

Let sickness blast, let death devour,If heaven must recompense our pains:

Perish the grass and fade the flower,If firm the word of God remains.

See a Collection of Poems on Sundry Occasions, by the Rev. Samuel Wesley, Master of Blundell's School, Tiverton.