Job 14 10

Job 14:10 kjv

But man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?

Job 14:10 nkjv

But man dies and is laid away; Indeed he breathes his last And where is he?

Job 14:10 niv

But a man dies and is laid low; he breathes his last and is no more.

Job 14:10 esv

But a man dies and is laid low; man breathes his last, and where is he?

Job 14:10 nlt

"But when people die, their strength is gone.
They breathe their last, and then where are they?

Job 14 verses

Job 14 10 Meaning

Job 14:10 succinctly laments the stark reality of human mortality. Unlike elements of the natural world, which might appear to renew or revive (as Job 14:7-9 illustrates with a tree), man's death is presented as a conclusive, irreversible event. The verse conveys a profound sense of loss, decay, and finality, concluding with a rhetorical question that underscores humanity's unknown and seemingly vanished state after death from a mortal perspective.

Job 14 10 Context

Job 14:10 is embedded within a profound lament by Job in response to his friends' accusations and theological frameworks. Chapter 14, in particular, showcases Job grappling with the brevity and frailty of human life, contrasting it sharply with the perceived resilience of nature. Prior to this verse, Job speaks of a cut-down tree having hope of sprouting again (Job 14:7-9), demonstrating nature's capacity for renewal. He uses this as a foil to highlight the distinct and permanent end of human existence.

Historically and culturally, in the ancient Near East, there was a prevalent understanding of Sheol—a shadowy, unspecific underworld, a realm of no return in the traditional sense, distinct from concepts of personal conscious judgment or heavenly reward common in later biblical thought. Job's question "and where is he?" resonates with this ancient perception of absence and unknowability once life ceases, expressing humanity's immediate observational limits on what lies beyond physical death. This passage does not yet fully present the revelation of individual resurrection or eternal life found more explicitly in later parts of Scripture. It expresses the raw, immediate, and common experience of death from a limited human viewpoint, perhaps also reflecting an implicit critique of overly simplistic notions of divine justice in this life that do not account for suffering and death's finality.

Job 14 10 Word analysis

• But (וְ / ve): This conjunction acts as a strong contrast, connecting this verse directly to the preceding discussion (Job 14:7-9) about the resilience of a tree. It signals a shift from the possibility of nature's renewal to the certainty of humanity's end.
• man (אִישׁ / ish): Refers generally to an individual person, a male, highlighting the personal experience of death that applies to every human being.
• dies (יָמוּת / yamut): From the root מות (mut), "to die." It emphasizes the act of dying as an inevitable and singular event, distinct from temporary loss of life in nature.
• and is laid low (וַיַּחֲלֹשׁ / vayyakhalosh): From חלש (khalash), meaning "to weaken," "to prostrate," or "to fade away." It implies a decay, a loss of strength and vitality, becoming utterly powerless and inert. Some translations render it as "wastes away" or "is utterly prostrate." It paints a picture of irreversible physical decline.
• man (אָדָם / adam): This word is used in parallelism with ish, but often carries a broader sense of humanity as a collective, a creature formed from the dust of the ground (אֲדָמָה / adamah). Its repetition emphasizes the universal nature of this fate, applying to all of adam-kind.
• breathes his last (וַיִּגְוַע / vayyigva): From the root גוע (gava), meaning "to expire," "to pass away," "to cease to live." It specifically refers to the moment life departs, often associated with the ceasing of breath, marking the complete end of animate existence.
• and where is he? (וְאַיּוֹ / ve'ayyo): A potent rhetorical question expressing the immediate, observed disappearance of the individual. It's a lament about the absence and unknowability of the dead from the realm of the living. It highlights the mystery and finality of death from a purely human, temporal perspective, not necessarily denying existence in another realm but lamenting the lost presence.

Words-group analysis:

• "But man dies and is laid low; man breathes his last,": This opening phrase starkly contrasts the fate of humanity with that of the natural world, particularly the tree previously mentioned. It uses parallel structures and synonyms (ish/adam, yamut/yiggava) to hammer home the inevitability and finality of human demise. The combination of "dies" and "is laid low" emphasizes both the act of cessation and the resulting state of physical decay and powerlessness.
• "and where is he?": This climactic rhetorical question is the heart of Job's despair regarding human mortality. It powerfully conveys the perceived complete and irrevocable absence of the individual from the realm of the living after death. It expresses the ultimate human dilemma: facing the undeniable end without fully understanding or experiencing what lies beyond. This question underlines a sense of despair and the observed boundary of human life.

Job 14 10 Bonus section

• Job's Limited Revelation: It is crucial to understand that Job, despite being righteous, lived in a time before the full revelation of resurrection and the afterlife found more clearly in later Old Testament prophets (like Isaiah 26:19 and Daniel 12:2) and, supremely, in the New Testament through Jesus Christ (John 11:25-26, 1 Cor 15). Job is grappling with what he can observe and infer, which is the undeniable finality of physical death from an earthly perspective.
• The Problem of Transience: This verse contributes to the pervasive biblical theme of human transience and frailty, often contrasting human fleetingness with God's eternality and constancy (Psa 90:1-4).
• Existential Inquiry: The verse presents an age-old existential question that has plagued humanity across all cultures: what happens after death? Job's query reflects a deep yearning for knowledge about one's ultimate fate.
• The Necessity of Divine Intervention: Because of this human dilemma ("where is he?"), the biblical narrative points towards the necessity of God's redemptive work, ultimately culminating in Christ's resurrection as the answer to death's dominion and the hope for life beyond the grave.

Job 14 10 Commentary

Job 14:10 offers a poignant summary of humanity's mortal condition as seen from Job's suffering vantage point. Having just reflected on the faint hope of a tree's renewal after being cut down, Job pivots sharply to declare the ultimate and irreversible nature of human death. Unlike a tree that may sprout anew from its stump, humanity's end is portrayed as absolute: once breath ceases and the body decays, the person seemingly vanishes from existence as observed by the living. The dual emphasis on "man dies and is laid low" and "man breathes his last" underscores the twin realities of the physical end and the spiritual departure, leading to a profound absence. The haunting question "and where is he?" articulates not merely a physical relocation, but a complete loss of presence and connection for those left behind. This verse highlights the profound limitations of human understanding concerning the afterlife without divine revelation and sets the stage for God's ultimate answer concerning hope beyond death.