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Jobs gedachten over de mens

14 ‘Wat is een mens toch kwetsbaar! Zijn leven is maar kort en onrustig.
Net als een bloem bloeit hij maar een korte tijd om dan te verdorren, hij verdwijnt snel als de schaduw van een voorbijglijdende wolk.
Moet U op die kwetsbare mens uw blik richten en hem ter verantwoording roepen?
Hoe kunt U reinheid verwachten van iemand die uit onreinheid is geboren? Dat kan toch niet!
U hebt de mens slechts een vastgestelde tijd van leven gegeven, het aantal maanden van zijn leven staat al van tevoren vast. Hij mag ook niet iets langer leven.
Maar waarom geeft U hem dan niet een beetje rust? Wend uw blik af en geef hem toch een beetje voldoening, net als een gehuurde arbeider.
Want voor een boom is er nog hoop. Als hij wordt omgehakt, ontstaan er wel weer nieuwe spruiten die uitgroeien tot takken.
8,9 Hoewel zijn wortels in de grond oud zijn en zijn stam langzaam afsterft, groeit en bloeit hij weer als een jonge boom zodra er water bijkomt.
10 Maar wanneer de mens sterft, ligt hij neer, hij blaast de adem uit en is er niet meer.
11,12 Zoals het water uit de zee verdampt en een rivier smaller wordt en opdroogt, zo legt een mens zich voor het laatst neer om daarna niet meer op te staan. Tot op het moment dat de hemelen niet meer bestaan, zal hij niet wakker worden of in zijn slaap worden gestoord.
13 Och, verborg U mij maar tussen de doden en vergat U mij maar tot uw toorn was bedaard. Liet U mij maar links liggen om pas na enige tijd weer aan mij te denken.
14 Als een mens sterft, zal hij dan weer herleven? Die gedachte zou mij hoop kunnen geven tijdens mijn harde bestaan; dan zou ik uitzicht hebben op verlossing.
15 Dan zou U mij roepen en ik zou komen, U zou het zelfs fijn vinden met uw schepsel te spreken.
16 U zou letten op elke stap die ik zet, maar niet al mijn fouten tellen,
17 U zou ze allemaal wegstoppen in een zak en uitwissen.
18,19 Bergen slijten weg en vergruizen. Het water slijpt de stenen af tot zand. Stortregens spoelen de grond weg. Zo spoelt U ook alle hoop van de mens weg.
20,21 U keert zich tegen hem en hij verdwijnt van de aarde. U geeft hem een oud en gerimpeld gezicht en stuurt hem dan weg. Hij weet nooit of zijn zonen het ver zullen brengen of dat zij falen en ten val komen. Hij merkt het niet.
22 Voor hem is er alleen pijn en verdriet.’

14 “Mortals, born of woman,(A)
    are of few days(B) and full of trouble.(C)
They spring up like flowers(D) and wither away;(E)
    like fleeting shadows,(F) they do not endure.(G)
Do you fix your eye on them?(H)
    Will you bring them[a] before you for judgment?(I)
Who can bring what is pure(J) from the impure?(K)
    No one!(L)
A person’s days are determined;(M)
    you have decreed the number of his months(N)
    and have set limits he cannot exceed.(O)
So look away from him and let him alone,(P)
    till he has put in his time like a hired laborer.(Q)

“At least there is hope for a tree:(R)
    If it is cut down, it will sprout again,
    and its new shoots(S) will not fail.(T)
Its roots may grow old in the ground
    and its stump(U) die in the soil,
yet at the scent of water(V) it will bud
    and put forth shoots like a plant.(W)
10 But a man dies and is laid low;(X)
    he breathes his last and is no more.(Y)
11 As the water of a lake dries up
    or a riverbed becomes parched and dry,(Z)
12 so he lies down and does not rise;(AA)
    till the heavens are no more,(AB) people will not awake
    or be roused from their sleep.(AC)

13 “If only you would hide me in the grave(AD)
    and conceal me till your anger has passed!(AE)
If only you would set me a time
    and then remember(AF) me!(AG)
14 If someone dies, will they live again?
    All the days of my hard service(AH)
    I will wait for my renewal[b](AI) to come.
15 You will call and I will answer you;(AJ)
    you will long for the creature your hands have made.(AK)
16 Surely then you will count my steps(AL)
    but not keep track of my sin.(AM)
17 My offenses will be sealed(AN) up in a bag;(AO)
    you will cover over my sin.(AP)

18 “But as a mountain erodes and crumbles(AQ)
    and as a rock is moved from its place,(AR)
19 as water wears away stones
    and torrents(AS) wash away the soil,(AT)
    so you destroy a person’s hope.(AU)
20 You overpower them once for all, and they are gone;(AV)
    you change their countenance and send them away.(AW)
21 If their children are honored, they do not know it;
    if their offspring are brought low, they do not see it.(AX)
22 They feel but the pain of their own bodies(AY)
    and mourn only for themselves.(AZ)

Footnotes

  1. Job 14:3 Septuagint, Vulgate and Syriac; Hebrew me
  2. Job 14:14 Or release

Job Continues: Consider My Frail Human Nature, God

14 “A person who is born of a woman is short-lived
    and is full of trouble.
        He comes up like a flower; then he withers.
        He is like a fleeting shadow; he doesn’t stay long.
You observe this
    and call me to account to you.

“If only an unclean person could become clean![a]
    It’s not possible.
If the number of his days
    and the number of his months are determined by you,
        and you set his limit,
    then he cannot go past it.
Look away from him, and he will cease to be.[b]
    Meanwhile, he loves life as a laborer loves work.
There is hope for a tree when it is cut down.
    It will sprout again.
    Its shoots will not stop sprouting.
If its roots grow old in the ground
    and its stump dies in the soil,
        merely a scent of water will make it sprout
            and grow branches like a plant.
10 But a human dies and is powerless.
    A person breathes his last breath, and where is he?
11 As water drains out of a lake,
    or as a river dries up completely,
12 so each person lies down
    and does not rise until the heavens cease to exist.
        He does not wake up.
            He is not awakened from his sleep.
13 I wish you would hide me in Sheol
    and keep me hidden there until your anger cools.
        Set a specific time for me when you will remember me.

14 “If a person dies, will he go on living?
    I will wait for my relief to come
    as long as my hard labor continues.
15 You will call, and I will answer you.
    You will long for the person your hands have made.
16 Though now you count my steps,
    you will not keep a record of my sins.
17 My disobedience will be closed up in a bag,
    and you will cover over my sins.
18 As surely as a mountain falls
    and rocks are dislodged,
19 so water wears away stone,
    floods wash away soil from the land,
        and you destroy a mortal’s hope.
20 You overpower him forever, and he passes away.
    You change his appearance and send him away.
21 His sons are honored, and he doesn’t know it.
    Or they become unimportant, and he doesn’t realize it.
22 He feels only his body’s pain.
    He is only worried about himself.”

Footnotes

  1. Job 14:4 “Unclean” refers to anything that Moses’ Teachings say is not presentable to God. “Clean” refers to anything that Moses’ Teachings say is presentable to God.
  2. Job 14:6 Hebrew meaning uncertain.

14 Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble.

He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.

And doth thou open thine eyes upon such an one, and bringest me into judgment with thee?

Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.

Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass;

Turn from him, that he may rest, till he shall accomplish, as an hireling, his day.

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.

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 boughs like a plant.

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

11 As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up:

12 So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep.

13 O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me!

14 If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.

15 Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands.

16 For now thou numberest my steps: dost thou not watch over my sin?

17 My transgression is sealed up in a bag, and thou sewest up mine iniquity.

18 And surely the mountains falling cometh to nought, and the rock is removed out of his place.

19 The waters wear the stones: thou washest away the things which grow out of the dust of the earth; and thou destroyest the hope of man.

20 Thou prevailest for ever against him, and he passeth: thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away.

21 His sons come to honour, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them.

22 But his flesh upon him shall have pain, and his soul within him shall mourn.