Job 14:12
in Job 14so a man lies down and does not rise. Until the heavens are no more, he will not be awakened or roused from sleep.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
So man lieth down and riseth not: Till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, Nor be roused out of their sleep.
KJV
So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep.
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This verse in Job 14
Commentary
10 notes on this verseSo man lieth down - He falls asleep in his bed of earth. And riseth not - Men shall not, like cut down trees and plants, reproduce their like; nor shall they arise till the heavens are no more, till the earth and all its works are burnt up, and the general resurrection of human beings shall take place. Surely it would be difficult to twist this passage to the denial of the resurrection of the body.
This site's exposition
But a man dies and is laid low
on Job 14:10-12
"But a man dies and is laid low" answers the tree directly, and "where is he?" presses a question the plant never faces, since no scent of water calls a dead man back. The words "so a man lies down and does not rise" carry the comparison past sleep.
This site's exposition
so a man lies down and does not rise
Clarke reads the limit, until the heavens are no more, as reaching to the end of the world and the general resurrection. Matthew Henry pictures the body sinking into the earth like water and the soul drawn upward. Job asks in verse 14 whether a man will live again.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
By calling death "sleep," Job has clearly given us the hope for resurrection. However, he says, we will not awake "until heavens are no more." That is obvious, because, as Isaiah said, it is necessary that "they shall be rolled together like a scroll." It …
The Medieval Church2 voices
Ver. 11, 12. As if the waters fail from the sea, and the river being emptied drieth up: so man lieth down, and riseth not. The mind of man is the sea, and the thoughts of his mind, as it were, a wave of the sea; which sometimes swell in anger, are made calm by grace, and from hatred run out in bitterness; but when man dieth, 'the waters of the sea fail,' in that according to the words of the Psalmist, In that very day his thoughts perish.
Note here that what does not perish totally can be renewed, as he has already said about wood which is cut down or is old. (vv. 7-9) But the renewal of something again when nothing remains seems impossible, for example, to renew water in the …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
The waters of life are soon exhaled and disappear. The body, like some of those waters, sinks and soaks into the earth, and is buried there; the soul, like others of them, is drawn upwards, to mingle with the waters above the firmament.
So man lieth down,....
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Enoch before Job had implied that the "saints shall live again" (Jude 14; Even if, by this phrase, Job meant "never" (Ps 89:29) in his gloomier state of feelings, yet the Holy Ghost has made him unconsciously (1Pe 1:11, 12) use language expressing the truth, that the resurrection is to be preceded by the dissolution of the heavens.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
So man lieth down, and riseth not - He lies down in the grave and does not rise again on the earth. Till the heavens be no more - That is, never; for such is the fair interpretation of the passage, and this accords with its design. Job means to say, undoubtedly, that man would never appear again in the land of the living; that he would not spring up from the grave, as a sprout does from a fallen tree; and that when he dies, he goes away from the earth never to return. Whether he believed in a future state, or in the future resurrection, is another question, and one that cannot be determined from this passage. His complaint is, that the present life is short, and that man when he has once passed through it cannot return to enjoy it again, if it has been unhappy; and he asks, therefore, why, since it was so short, man might not be permitted to enjoy it without molestation. It does not follow from this passage that he believed that the heavens ever would be no more, or would pass away. The heavens are the most permanent and enduring objects of which we have any knowledge, and are, therefore, used to denote permanency and eternity; see Psa 89:36-37. This verse, therefore, is simply a solemn declaration of the belief of Job that when man dies, he dies to live no more on the earth. Of the truth of this, no one can doubt - and the truth is as important and affecting as it is undoubted. If man could come back again, life would be a different thing. If he could revisit the earth to repair the evils of a wicked life, to repent of his errors, to make amends for his faults, and to make preparation for a future world, it would be a different thing to live, and a different thing to die. But when he travels over the road of life, he treads a path which is not to be traversed again. When he neglects an opportunity to do good, it cannot be recalled. […]
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
As the waters fail from the sea From the place whence the river comes and emerges, from its source that comes to it from the sea.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
12 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאִ֥ישׁ | veish | and a person | H376 → | 1663 times |
| שָׁכַ֗ב | shakhav | he lies down | H7901 → | 212 times |
| וְֽלֹא־ | velo'- | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יָ֫ק֥וּם | yakum | he will arise | H6965 → | 628 times |
| עַד־ | ʾad- | until | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| בִּלְתִּ֣י | bilti | [is] not | H1115 → | |
| שָׁ֭מַיִם | shamayim | heaven | H8064 → | 421 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יָקִ֑יצוּ | yakitzu | they will awake | H6974 → | |
| וְלֹֽא־ | velo'- | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יֵ֝עֹ֗רוּ | yeoru | they will be roused | H5782 → | 80 times |
| מִשְּׁנָתָֽם׃ | mishenatam | from sleep their | H8142 → |
וְאִ֥ישׁand a person
veishH376 →1663 times
שָׁכַ֗בhe lies down
shakhavH7901 →212 times
וְֽלֹא־and not
velo'-H3808 →5168 times
יָ֫ק֥וּםhe will arise
yakumH6965 →628 times
עַד־until
ʾad-H5704 →1261 times
בִּלְתִּ֣י[is] not
biltiH1115 →
שָׁ֭מַיִםheaven
shamayimH8064 →421 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
יָקִ֑יצוּthey will awake
yakitzuH6974 →
וְלֹֽא־and not
velo'-H3808 →5168 times
יֵ֝עֹ֗רוּthey will be roused
yeoruH5782 →80 times
מִשְּׁנָתָֽם׃from sleep their
mishenatamH8142 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 26:19Your dead will live; their bodies will rise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust! For your dew is like the dew of the morning, and the earth will bring forth her…
it leads to
- Daniel 12:2
And many who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life, but others to shame and everlasting contempt.
- Ezekiel 37:1–14
The hand of the LORD was upon me, and He brought me out by His Spirit and set me down in the middle of the valley, and it was full of bones.
- Matthew 27:52
The tombs broke open, and the bodies of many saints who had fallen asleep were raised.
- Ephesians 5:14
So it is said: “Wake up, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”
- Hosea 13:14
I will ransom them from the power of Sheol; I will redeem them from Death. Where, O Death, are your plagues? Where, O Sheol, is your sting? Compassion is hidden from My eyes.
- Daniel 12:2
Through
Job 3:13For now I would be lying down in peace; I would be asleep and at rest
it leads to
- Job 14:10–12
But a man dies and is laid low; he breathes his last, and where is he?
- Job 21:13
They spend their days in prosperity and go down to Sheol in peace.
- Ecclesiastes 9:10
Whatever you find to do with your hands, do it with all your might, for in Sheol, where you are going, there is no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom.
- Job 14:10–12
About Job
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XII; Hesychius of Jerusalem, HOMILIES ON JOB 17.14.12; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.