NOTES for Job 14:1-22

As he concludes his speech, Job cries out to God for mercy. This is what he finds lacking in the idea of suffering as punishment for sins. If life could be repeated, if it lasted for ever, then ‘education’ through punishment would make sense. But, Job says, a human being is allotted only a few short days—‘and is it upon such a one that you open your eyes?’ he asks. If you have measured out his days, he says to God, have pity on him.

Even a withered tree can hope for renewal, but not a human being. When a person dies, will they live again? This is another fundamental problem addressed by the Book of Job. If only God would give Job the chance to come out of the underworld, he would wait there until the time of wrath had passed. If only a return to life were possible, Job would remain faithful and endure, so that in due time he could answer God's call. Despite differences of genre and way of thinking, the author of Job is a prophet and an heir to the prophets, but his prophecy differs from what we are used to reading in the prophetic books. His heart breaks with horror at the thought that Job's friends might be right: their view is so utterly at odds with his knowledge of the Creator's goodness, a knowledge prophetic in its very nature. The author places in Job's mouth a question about the coming resurrection. He does not know the answer, but he senses that it would be a mercy worthy of the Almighty.

Job's speech ends with bitter words: without hope of resurrection and vindication, nothing remains in human life but pain and suffering.