Job 14:20
in Job 14You forever overpower him, and he passes on; You change his countenance and send him away.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thou prevailest for ever against him, and he passeth; Thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away.
KJV
Thou prevailest for ever against him, and he passeth: thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away.
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This verse in Job 14
Commentary
8 notes on this verseThou 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).
This site's exposition
You forever overpower him
on Job 14:20-22
"You forever overpower him, and he passes on" states defeat as final. "You change his countenance and send him away" pictures death as a dismissal. "If his sons receive honor, he does not know it" carries the loss past death, the dead man unaware of his household's fortune.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"A person is punished," Job says, "and, even if he has many descendents, he does not know them. In fact, after his death, he is often deprived of the pleasures that he was accustomed to enjoy while alive. What is the pleasure of leaving children after one who has departed?" You see, everywhere Job emphasizes the ephemeral character of life. It is impossible to come back and to return down here. Even if he leaves children after him, he does not know how they will prosper. He does not know at all whether his descendants will be numerous or scarce. What is more painful than to ignore one's successes and to go away alone by only knowing one's afflictions? Even if something good happens to him after his death, he does not know, nor will he ever know it [in this life]; but what he surely knows now is that "his flesh is in pain and his soul mourns."
The Medieval Church2 voices
He then deduces the same things using reasons drawn from the properties of man. Man excels all lower creatures in two ways. One of these is operative power. For he truly is the lord of his own act by free will, which is proper to …
Ver. 20. Thou hast strengthened him for a little space, that he might pass by for ever. LITERAL INTERPRETATION Man has been 'strengthened here for a little space,' in that he has received here powers of living for a while, that he should for ever pass away thither, where no end should bound and shut in his life, but in this moment's space where he has been 'strengthened,' he extracts that wherefrom in the everlasting world he may either find how always to have joy, or not ever escape the punishments he has entered upon.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Note, Man is an unequal match for God. Whom God contends with he will certainly prevail against, prevail for ever against so that they shall never be able to make head again. Note further, The stroke of death is irresistible; it is to no purpose to dispute its summons.
Thou prevailest for ever against him,....
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
Thou prevailest forever against him - Thou dost always show that thou art stronger than he is. He never shows that he is able to contend with God. And he passeth - He cannot stand before thee, but is vanquished, and passes off the stage of being. Thou changest his countenance - Possibly the allusion is to the change produced by death. The countenance that glowed with health and was flushed with beauty and hope - blooming as the rose - is made pale as the lily under the hand of God. What an affecting exhibition of the power of God! And sendest him away - This language seems to be that of expectation that man would still live though he was sent away; but all his hopes on earth were blasted, and he went away from his friends and possessions to return no more.
The words behind it
6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| תִּתְקְפֵ֣הוּ | titkefehu | you overpower him | H8630 → | |
| לָ֭נֶצַח | lanetzach | to perpetuity | H5331 → | 43 times |
| וַֽיַּהֲלֹ֑ךְ | vaiyahalokh | and he went | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| מְשַׁנֶּ֥ה | meshaneh | [you are] changing | H8138 → | |
| פָ֝נָ֗יו | fanav | face his | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| וַֽתְּשַׁלְּחֵֽהוּ׃ | vateshalechehu | and you sent away him | H7971 → | 845 times |
תִּתְקְפֵ֣הוּyou overpower him
titkefehuH8630 →
לָ֭נֶצַחto perpetuity
lanetzachH5331 →43 times
וַֽיַּהֲלֹ֑ךְand he went
vaiyahalokhH1980 →1546 times
מְשַׁנֶּ֥ה[you are] changing
meshanehH8138 →
פָ֝נָ֗יוface his
fanavH6440 →2123 times
וַֽתְּשַׁלְּחֵֽהוּ׃and you sent away him
vateshalechehuH7971 →845 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
Ecclesiastes 8:8As no man has power over the wind to contain it, so no one has authority over his day of death. As no one can be discharged in wartime, so wickedness will not release…
it leads to
- Job 14:5
Since his days are determined and the number of his months is with You, and since You have set limits that he cannot exceed,
- Psalms 89:48
What man can live and never see death? Can he deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah
- Job 14:5
Through
Job 14:14When a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait, until my renewal comes.
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 15:51–52
Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—
- Psalms 27:14
Wait patiently for the LORD; be strong and courageous. Wait patiently for the LORD!
- Job 7:1
“Is not man consigned to labor on earth? Are not his days like those of a hired hand?
- Acts 26:8
Why would any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?
- Job 13:15
Though He slay me, I will hope in Him. I will still defend my ways to His face.
- 1 Corinthians 15:51–52
Through
Job 2:12When they lifted up their eyes from afar, they could barely recognize Job. They began to weep aloud, and each man tore his robe and threw dust in the air over his head.
it leads to
- Lamentations 2:10
The elders of the Daughter of Zion sit on the ground in silence. They have thrown dust on their heads and put on sackcloth. The young women of Jerusalem have bowed their heads to…
- Lamentations 2:10
About Job
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Job; 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; John Chrysostom, COMMENTARY ON JOB 14:20-22; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.