Job 14:6
in Job 14look away from him and let him rest, so he can enjoy his day as a hired hand.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Look away from him, that he may rest, Till he shall accomplish, as a hireling, his day.
KJV
Turn from him, that he may rest, till he shall accomplish, as an hireling, his day.
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This verse in Job 14
Commentary
10 notes on this verseTurn from him, that he may rest - Cease to try him by afflictions and distresses, that he may enjoy some of the comforts of life, before he be removed from it: and thus, like a hireling, who is permitted by his master to take a little repose in the heat of the day, from severe labor, I shall also have a breathing time from affliction, before I come to that bound over which I cannot pass. See Job 10:20 (note), where there is a similar request.
This site's exposition
his days are determined
on Job 14:5-6
"Since his days are determined and the number of his months is with You" states the providence the whirlwind speeches set out. The plea to "look away from him and let him rest" asks for a hired hand's ease. Barnes notes a laborer who has earned a pause.
This site's exposition
look away from him and let him rest
Job asks God to turn His eyes away from the close watch of verse 3. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown compare the hired hand of Job 7:1, who endures hard work in hope of rest and wages at the end. Job asks for that little rest.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Since God is with Job through the hardships he lays upon him, Job says, "Look away!" in the sense of "Bring your anger to an end!" God approaches in different ways by allowing participation and through anger. The friends had come to the conclusion that …
The Medieval Church2 voices
He also uses as a premise the expectation of the other life when he says, "Leave him a little while so that he might rest until the desired day comes like a hired man." Here it is necessary to observe that as the sun is …
Ver. 6. Turn from him a little while, that he may rest, till his longed for day come, as an hireling's. In this place, Turn from him, means, 'remove from him the force of the stroke,' for who can rest when He turns away from him, when He Himself alone is rest, and the further off a man is from Him, he is also rendered void of rest in proportion? Thus it is in such sort said, Turn from him, that you should understand, 'from smiting;' for it is fitly added, till his longed for day come as an hireling's.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Turn from him, that he may rest,....
It is not unseasonable, when we are in health, to think of dying; but it is an inexcusable incogitancy if, when we are already taken into the custody of death's messengers, we look upon it as a thing at a distance.
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)
Turn--namely, Thine eyes from watching him so jealously (Job 14:3). hireling-- (Job 7:1). accomplish--rather, "enjoy." That he may at least enjoy the measure of rest of the hireling who though hard worked reconciles himself to his lot by the hope of his rest and reward [UMBREIT].
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Turn from him - - שׁעה shâ‛âh. Look away from; or turn away the eyes; Isa 22:4. Job had represented the Lord as looking intently upon him, and narrowly watching all his ways. He now asks him that he would look away and suffer him to be alone, and to spend the little time he had in comfort and peace. That he may rest - Margin, “Cease.” “Let him be ceased from” - ויחדל veychâdal. The idea is not that of rest, but it is that of having God cease to afflict him; or, in other words, leaving him to himself. Job wished the hand of God to be withdrawn, and prayed that he might be left to himself. Till he shall accomplish - - עד־ירצה ‛ad-yı̂rtseh. Septuagint, είδοκήσῃ τὸν βίον eidokēsē ton bion - “and comfort his life,” or make his life pleasant. Jerome renders it, “until his desired day - “optata dies” - shall come like that of an hireling.” Dr. Good, “that he may fill up his day.” Noyes, “that he may enjoy his day.” The word used here (רצה râtsâh) means properly to delight in, to take pleasure in, to satisfy, to pay off; and there can be no doubt that there was couched under the use of this word the notion of “enjoyment,” or “pleasure.” Job wished to be spared, that he might have comfort yet in this world. The comparison of himself with a hireling, is not that he might have comfort like a hireling - for such an image would not be pertinent or appropriate - but that his life was like that of an hireling, and he wished to be let alone until the time was completed. On this sentiment, see the notes at Job 7:1.
The words behind it
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| שְׁעֵ֣ה | sheeh | look away | H8159 → | |
| מֵעָלָ֣יו | mealav | from on <the> him | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| וְיֶחְדָּ֑ל | veyechdal | so he may cease | H2308 → | 58 times |
| עַד־ | ʾad- | until | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| יִ֝רְצֶ֗ה | yirtzeh | he takes pleasure in | H7521 → | 56 times |
| כְּשָׂכִ֥יר | kesakhir | like a hired laborer | H7916 → | 17 times |
| יוֹמֽוֹ׃ | yomo | day his | H3117 → | 2304 times |
שְׁעֵ֣הlook away
sheehH8159 →
מֵעָלָ֣יוfrom on <the> him
mealavH5921 →5755 times
וְיֶחְדָּ֑לso he may cease
veyechdalH2308 →58 times
עַד־until
ʾad-H5704 →1261 times
יִ֝רְצֶ֗הhe takes pleasure in
yirtzehH7521 →56 times
כְּשָׂכִ֥ירlike a hired laborer
kesakhirH7916 →17 times
יוֹמֽוֹ׃day his
yomoH3117 →2304 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
Psalms 39:13Turn Your gaze away from me, that I may again be cheered before I depart and am no more.”
it leads to
- Job 10:20–21
Are my days not few? Withdraw from me, that I may have a little comfort,
- Job 14:10–12
But a man dies and is laid low; he breathes his last, and where is he?
- Job 14:5–6
Since his days are determined and the number of his months is with You, and since You have set limits that he cannot exceed,
- Job 7:19
Will You never look away from me, or leave me alone to swallow my spittle?
- Job 10:20–21
Through
Job 10:20Are my days not few? Withdraw from me, that I may have a little comfort,
it leads to
- Job 14:1
“Man, who is born of woman, is short of days and full of trouble.
- Psalms 39:13
Turn Your gaze away from me, that I may again be cheered before I depart and am no more.”
- Job 14:1
Through
Job 7:16I loathe my life! I would not live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are but a breath.
it leads to
- Job 10:1
“I loathe my own life; I will express my complaint and speak in the bitterness of my soul.
- 1 Kings 19:4
while he himself traveled on a day’s journey into the wilderness. He sat down under a broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life,…
- Job 10:1
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 on the Book of Job; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Didymus the Blind, COMMENTARY ON JOB 14:6; 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 (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.