Job 14:7
in Job 14For there is hope for a tree: If it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its tender shoots will not fail.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For there is hope of a tree, If it be cut down, that it will sprout again, And that the tender branch thereof will not cease.
KJV
For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease.
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This verse in Job 14
Commentary
9 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
For there is hope of a tree - This passage to Job 14:12, is one of exquisite beauty. Its object is to state reasons why man should be permitted to enjoy this life. A tree, if cut down, might spring up again and flourish; but not man. He died to rise no more; he is cut down and lives not again. The passage is important as expressing the prevalent sentiment of the time in which Job lived about the future condition of man, and is one that deserves a close examination.
This site's exposition
there is hope for a tree
on Job 14:7-9
The words "there is hope for a tree" open the chapter's central contrast, a felled tree that buds again "at the scent of water". The line "its tender shoots will not fail" names a persistence in a plant the chapter is about to deny a man.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Here the blessed Job assumes the role of teacher and prophet, and through the symbol of the tree coming to life again, he predicts his return to his former state. At the same time, Job prophesies that human nature in its entirety will be renewed. …
The Medieval Church2 voices
After stating his opinion, Job here proceeds to make it clear. First, he shows that as things appear in this life man is in a worse condition than even those weak creatures which are renewed after their destruction. This fact is especially clear in trees. …
Ver. 7-10. For there is a hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will be green again; and that the tender branches thereof will sprout forth. Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground; yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth foliage as when it was planted. But man, when he is dead, and stripped, and consumed, where is he?
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
The animal life, in some insects and fowls, is so: the heat of the sun retrieves it. But the rational soul, when once retired, is too great, too noble, a thing to be recalled by any of the powers of nature; it is out of the reach of sun or rain, and cannot be restored but by the immediate operations of Omnipotence itself; for (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again,....
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
Job plainly hopes for a future state (Job 14:13; Still, it is but vague and trembling hope, not assurance; excepting the one bright glimpse in Job 19:25. The Gospel revelation was needed to change fears, hopes, and glimpses into clear and definite certainties.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
For there is hope of a tree - We must not, says Calmet, understand this of an old tree, the stem and roots of which are dried up and rotted: but there are some trees which grow from cuttings, and some which, though pulled out of the earth, and having had their roots dried and withered by long exposure to the sun and wind, will, on being replanted, take root and resume their verdure. There are also certain trees, the fibres of which are so solid, that if after several years they be steeped in water, they resume their vigor, the tubes dilate, and the blossoms or flowers which were attached to them expand; as I have often witnessed in what is called the rose of Jericho. There are few trees which will not send forth new shoots, when the stock is cut down level with the earth.
The words behind it
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּ֤י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| יֵ֥שׁ | yesh | there | H3426 → | 140 times |
| לָעֵ֗ץ | laetz | for <the> a tree | H6086 → | 328 times |
| תִּ֫קְוָ֥ה | tikvah | [is] hope | H8615 → | 34 times |
| אִֽם־ | ʾim- | if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| יִ֭כָּרֵת | yikaret | it will be cut down | H3772 → | 288 times |
| וְע֣וֹד | veod | and again | H5750 → | 490 times |
| יַחֲלִ֑יף | yachalif | it will sprout afresh | H2498 → | 28 times |
| וְ֝יֹֽנַקְתּ֗וֹ | veyonakto | and young shoot[s] its | H3127 → | 6 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תֶחְדָּֽל׃ | techdal | it will fail | H2308 → | 58 times |
כִּ֤יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
יֵ֥שׁthere
yeshH3426 →140 times
לָעֵ֗ץfor <the> a tree
laetzH6086 →328 times
תִּ֫קְוָ֥ה[is] hope
tikvahH8615 →34 times
אִֽם־if
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
יִ֭כָּרֵתit will be cut down
yikaretH3772 →288 times
וְע֣וֹדand again
veodH5750 →490 times
יַחֲלִ֑יףit will sprout afresh
yachalifH2498 →28 times
וְ֝יֹֽנַקְתּ֗וֹand young shoot[s] its
veyonaktoH3127 →6 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
תֶחְדָּֽל׃it will fail
techdalH2308 →58 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
Isaiah 11:1Then a shoot will spring up from the stump of Jesse, and a Branch from his roots will bear fruit.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 23:5
Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and He will reign wisely as King and will administer justice and righteousness in the land.
- Revelation 22:16
“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the bright Morning Star.”
- Zechariah 6:12
And you are to tell him that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Here is a man whose name is the Branch, and He will branch out from His place and build…
- Revelation 5:5
Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed to open the scroll and its seven seals.”
- Acts 13:22–23
After removing Saul, He raised up David as their king and testified about him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse a man after My own heart; he will carry out My will in…
- Jeremiah 23:5
Through
Isaiah 27:6In the days to come, Jacob will take root. Israel will bud and blossom and fill the whole world with fruit.
it leads to
- Isaiah 37:31
And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah will again take root below and bear fruit above.
- Hosea 14:5–6
I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like the lily and take root like the cedars of Lebanon.
- Isaiah 37:31
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—
- 1 Corinthians 15:51–52
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); Ephrem the Syrian, COMMENTARY ON JOB 14:7; 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.