Job 14:19
in Job 14as water wears away the stones and torrents wash away the soil, so You destroy a man’s hope.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The waters wear the stones; The overflowings thereof wash away the dust of the earth: So thou destroyest the hope of man.
KJV
The waters wear the stones: thou washest away the things which grow out of the dust of the earth; and thou destroyest the hope of man.
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This verse in Job 14
Commentary
9 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The Hebrew order is more forcible: "Stones themselves are worn away by water." things which grow out of--rather, "floods wash away the dust of the earth." There is a gradation from "mountains" to "rocks" (Job 14:18), then "stones," then last "dust of the earth"; thus the solid mountain at last disappears utterly.
This site's exposition
as a mountain erodes and crumbles
on Job 14:18-19
The mountain that "erodes and crumbles" and the rock "dislodged from its place" widen the scale from one life to the most permanent things. The line "so You destroy a man’s hope" closes the comparison bluntly, naming man's hope as more fragile than the mountain's rock.
This site's exposition
so You destroy a man’s hope
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown trace a descent from mountain to rock to stones to soil, the firmest things worn down at last. Aquinas notes that water wears away stones that seem very hard. So God wears away the hope of a man.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
Even stones are still worn away by water, although they seem very hard. He expresses this saying, "water wears away stones." The earth too is gradually changed in its disposition although it seems very stable and so he says, "The earth is gradually consumed by …
Ver. 18, 19. And surely the mountain falling slippeth away, and the rock is removed out of his place. The waters wear the stones, and by washing little by little the earth is consumed, and so Thou wilt in a like way destroy man.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
The waters wear the stones,....
Some think he pleads this for relief: "Lord, my patience will not hold out always; even rocks and mountains will fail at last; therefore cease the controversy." 2. No marvel then if we see the decays of man upon the earth, for he is of the earth, earthy. Job begins to think his case is not singular, and therefore he ought to reconcile himself to the common lot.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
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.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The waters wear the stones - By their constant attrition they wear away even the hard rocks, and they disappear, and return no more. The sense is, that constant changes are going on in nature, and man resembles those objects which are removed to appear no more, and not the productions of the vegetable world that spring up again.
The words behind it
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֲבָנִ֤ים׀ | ʾavanim | stones | H68 → | 273 times |
| שָׁ֥חֲקוּ | shachaku | they rub away | H7833 → | |
| מַ֗יִם | mayim | waters | H4325 → | 581 times |
| תִּשְׁטֹֽף־ | tishtof- | it washes off | H7857 → | |
| סְפִיחֶ֥יהָ | seficheiha | overflowings its | H5599 → | |
| עֲפַר־ | ʾafar- | [the] dust of | H6083 → | 110 times |
| אָ֑רֶץ | ʾaretz | [the] earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
| וְתִקְוַ֖ת | vetikvat | and [the] hope of | H8615 → | 34 times |
| אֱנ֣וֹשׁ | ʾenoosh | humankind | H582 → | 566 times |
| הֶאֱבַֽדְתָּ׃ | heevadta | you destroy | H6 → | 184 times |
אֲבָנִ֤ים׀stones
ʾavanimH68 →273 times
שָׁ֥חֲקוּthey rub away
shachakuH7833 →
מַ֗יִםwaters
mayimH4325 →581 times
תִּשְׁטֹֽף־it washes off
tishtof-H7857 →
סְפִיחֶ֥יהָoverflowings its
seficheihaH5599 →
עֲפַר־[the] dust of
ʾafar-H6083 →110 times
אָ֑רֶץ[the] earth
ʾaretzH776 →2504 times
וְתִקְוַ֖תand [the] hope of
vetikvatH8615 →34 times
אֱנ֣וֹשׁhumankind
ʾenooshH582 →566 times
הֶאֱבַֽדְתָּ׃you destroy
heevadtaH6 →184 times
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
Ezekiel 37:11Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Look, they are saying, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope has perished; we are cut off.’
it leads to
- Ephesians 2:1
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,
- Psalms 77:7–9
“Will the Lord spurn us forever and never show His favor again?
- Ezekiel 39:25
Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Now I will restore Jacob from captivity and will have compassion on the whole house of Israel, and I will be jealous for My holy name.
- Jeremiah 31:1
“At that time,” declares the LORD, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be My people.”
- Ephesians 2:1
Through
Job 27:8For what is the hope of the godless when he is cut off, when God takes away his life?
it leads to
- Matthew 16:26
What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
- Matthew 16:26
Through
Job 7:6My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle; they come to an end without hope.
it leads to
Through
Job 19:10He tears me down on every side until I am gone; He uproots my hope like a tree.
it leads to
- Job 24:20
The womb forgets them; the worm feeds on them; they are remembered no more. So injustice is like a broken tree.
- Job 24:20
About Job
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Job; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XII; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.