Job 14:21 kjv
His sons come to honour, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them.
Job 14:21 nkjv
His sons come to honor, and he does not know it; They are brought low, and he does not perceive it.
Job 14:21 niv
If their children are honored, they do not know it; if their offspring are brought low, they do not see it.
Job 14:21 esv
His sons come to honor, and he does not know it; they are brought low, and he perceives it not.
Job 14:21 nlt
They never know if their children grow up in honor
or sink to insignificance.
Job 14 21 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Psa 49:10-11 | For he sees that even wise men die; the fool and the senseless perish... | Death removes all earthly knowledge and plans |
| Psa 88:10-12 | Do you work wonders for the dead? Do the departed rise and praise you?... | The dead cannot praise or know in Sheol |
| Psa 115:17 | The dead do not praise the Lord, nor do any who go down into silence. | State of silence and lack of praise |
| Isa 38:18-19 | For Sheol cannot thank you; death cannot praise you... | The dead do not declare God's faithfulness |
| Eccl 9:5-6 | For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing... | No knowledge or remembrance by the dead |
| Eccl 9:10 | Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might... in Sheol... | No work, knowledge, wisdom in death |
| Gen 3:19 | By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground | Humanity returns to dust |
| Job 7:8-10 | The eye of him who sees me will behold me no more... He will not return... | No return or remembrance of this world |
| Job 10:21-22 | Before I go—and I shall not return—to the land of darkness and deep shadow | Land of no return and darkness |
| Job 14:7-12 | For there is hope for a tree... but man dies and is laid low... | Man's death is final; no earthly return |
| 1 Sam 2:6 | The Lord kills and brings to life; he brings down to Sheol and raises up. | God's sovereignty over life and death |
| Psa 146:4 | When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish. | All earthly thoughts and plans cease |
| Isa 63:16 | For you are our Father, though Abraham does not know us and Israel does not acknowledge us... | The departed patriarchs are unaware |
| Heb 9:27 | And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, | Death is an appointed end for all men |
| Lk 16:19-31 | Parable of Rich Man and Lazarus. | Consciousness in the afterlife (contrasts Job's earthly detachment, not afterlife awareness) |
| Acts 2:29 | Brothers, I may confidently say to you that the patriarch David both died and was buried... | Physical death and burial is real |
| John 11:11-14 | "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him."... | Death as a sleep, lack of activity |
| 1 Thess 4:13 | But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep... | Comfort regarding believers who have died |
| Eccl 1:4 | A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. | Transience of human generations |
| Job 30:23 | For I know that you will bring me to death, to the house appointed for all living. | Inescapable appointment with death |
| Gen 25:8 | Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age... and was gathered to his people. | Death as being gathered to ancestors, indicating no return |
| Ps 39:4 | Make me to know my end and the measure of my days... that I may know how fleeting I am. | Recognition of human brevity |
Job 14 verses
Job 14 21 Meaning
Job 14:21 encapsulates Job's lament concerning the complete severance of the dead from earthly affairs. It states that once a person dies, they lose all awareness of the earthly experiences of their descendants. Whether their sons (and by extension, family and legacy) rise to prominence and honor or descend into obscurity and hardship, the deceased individual has no knowledge or perception of these events. This verse underscores the finality of human death as a separation from the ongoing activities and developments in the temporal world, emphasizing human vulnerability and the ephemeral nature of life on earth.
Job 14 21 Context
Job 14 is a profound lament where Job despairs over the brevity and hardship of human life and the irreversible nature of death. Job has just acknowledged humanity's inherent frailty, being "born of a woman," short-lived, and full of trouble (vv. 1-2). He contrasts the potential for a cut tree to sprout again with the absolute lack of such hope for a deceased person, who will not "wake from their sleep" until the heavens are no more (vv. 7-12). Job's view is limited by the revelation available to him; he speaks from the human perspective of death as the final separation from all earthly connections and awareness. This verse, 14:21, is a culmination of this sorrowful contemplation, underscoring that not even the significant events in their children's lives can penetrate the veil of death to reach the departed. It speaks to a deep sense of finality regarding one's engagement with the world they leave behind.
Job 14 21 Word analysis
- His sons: (Hebrew: bānāw, בָּנָיו) Refers primarily to male offspring but can encompass descendants or legacy. In ancient Near Eastern cultures, a man's legacy was significantly tied to his children's prosperity and continuation of his name. This highlights the complete break: even the most personal and valued part of a man's earthly life—his lineage—becomes completely irrelevant to him after death.
- come to honor, (Hebrew: yikkābēd, יִכָּבֵד) From the root kābad, meaning "to be heavy," hence "to be honored, to become glorious, to achieve distinction or renown." It signifies an upward turn in fortune or social standing. The nuance here is about achieving success or status in the eyes of the world.
- and he knows it not; (Hebrew: wĕlō'-yēdā', וְלֹא־יֵדָֽע) Yāḏa' means "to know, perceive, understand, be acquainted with." The negation lo signifies complete ignorance. This phrase emphasizes the absolute absence of awareness on the part of the deceased concerning worldly events, including those affecting their closest kin.
- and they are brought low, (Hebrew: yiṣṣōrū, יִצֹּרוּ) From the root ṣwr, which can mean "to be narrow, cramped, oppressed, distressed." Here, it describes a reversal of fortune, a downfall, hardship, or humiliation. This represents the contrasting possibility to "honor" – a decline in standing or circumstances.
- but he perceives it not. (Hebrew: wĕlō'-yāḇîn. וְלֹא־יָבִֽין) Bīn means "to discern, understand, perceive, consider, separate, make sense of." It often implies a deeper, more reflective understanding than yada. The repetition of the negative (implied with lo from the prior phrase for parallel structure) stresses that the dead possess no faculty for sensing or comprehending these earthly changes, regardless of how significant they are to the living family. This reinforced negation signifies an irreversible and absolute separation.
Words-Group Analysis:
- "His sons come to honor, and he knows it not; and they are brought low, but he perceives it not.": This full phrase is an eloquent poetic parallelism emphasizing Job's point. It uses two contrasting outcomes ("honor" vs. "brought low") to cover all possible earthly states for his descendants. By stating the dead "knows it not" and "perceives it not" (using two distinct verbs for knowing/understanding), the verse intensely reinforces the complete and utter lack of awareness or engagement on the part of the deceased with any ongoing earthly events, whether good or bad. It underlines the finality of death in severing one's connection to the world of the living. This perspective is foundational to ancient Hebrew understandings of Sheol, a realm of shadowy existence disconnected from the active human sphere.
Job 14 21 Bonus section
The lament in Job 14, including verse 21, should be understood within the Old Testament's developing theology of death. While Job focuses on the dead person's disengagement from earthly events and expresses a lack of hope for return to this life, the broader biblical narrative later reveals God's ultimate victory over death through the resurrection, a hope not fully articulated by Job in his moment of despair. Job's perspective is a common human reflection on mortality, prior to the clearer New Testament revelation of eternal life and a conscious afterlife. Scholars note this passage highlights a polemic against practices of necromancy or ancestor worship common in the ancient Near East, by asserting the dead's utter unawareness of earthly happenings, making any attempt to communicate with them futile from the deceased's perspective on this world.
Job 14 21 Commentary
Job 14:21 profoundly articulates a key aspect of the ancient Hebrew understanding of death prior to fuller revelation, particularly in the Wisdom literature context: the deceased is completely separated from and ignorant of earthly affairs. Job is lamenting humanity's fleeting nature, contrasting it with the cycles of nature that offer hope of renewal. For man, once gone to Sheol (the realm of the dead), there is no return or awareness of what transpires among the living. This verse underscores Job's despair; his concerns, though central to his life, will be meaningless to him once he dies. The verse is not necessarily a theological statement on the state of the soul in the afterlife, but rather a firm declaration of the complete detachment of the departed individual from the ongoing daily realities, triumphs, and struggles of those left behind. It accentuates the finality of human life as it pertains to the earthly realm and emphasizes the temporary nature of human endeavors and legacies in the eyes of the individual who passes away. It's a reminder of human finitude and God's absolute sovereignty over life and death.