Man born of woman has a short life
1 ① Man born of woman
has a short life full of sorrow.
2Like a flower he blossoms and withers;
transient and fleeting as a shadow.
(13:28) He falls apart like worm-eaten wood,
like cloth devoured by the moths.
3Is he the one you look on
and bring before you for judgment?
4Who can bring the clean from the unclean?
No one!
5Since his days are measured
and you have decreed the number of his months,
set him bounds he cannot pass,
6then leave him alone. Turn away from him
till he completes his day like a hireling.
7There is hope for a tree:
if cut down it will sprout again,
its new shoots will still appear.
8Though its roots grow old in the ground
and its stump withers in the soil,
9at the scent of water it will bud
and put forth shoots like a young plant.
10But when man is cut down, he comes undone;
he breathes his last – where will he be?
11The waters of the sea may disappear,
rivers drain away,
12but the one who lies down will not rise again;
the heavens will vanish before he wakes,
before he rises from his sleep.
13If only you would hide me in the grave
and shelter me till your wrath is past!
If only you would set a time for me
and then remember me!
14If you die, will you live again?
All the days of my service
I would wait for my release.
15You would call and I would answer;
you would long for the work of your hands again.
16Now you watch my every step,
but then you would stop counting my sins.
17My offenses would be sealed in a bag,
and you would do away with my guilt.
18But as mountains erode and crumble,
as rock is moved from its place,
19as waters wear away stones
and floods wash away the soil,
so you destroy the hope of man.
20You crush him once for all, and he is gone;
you change his appearance and send him away.
21If his children are honored, he does not know it;
if brought low, he does not see it.
22Only the pain of his own body does he feel;
only for himself does he mourn.
- Job 14,1 Through his personal case, Job presents a general criticism of the human condition, and he does it in a way very similar to Ecclesiastes. He emphasizes the following about human fate: - life is short; - sufferings are countless; - the grace of youth is followed by the bitterness of adult life; - there is a degree of impurity in humans, namely, something mysterious which ruins everything they undertake; - when looking at life, they would like to live forever, which is not granted to them. While Ecclesiastes accepts the universal law, Job dreams of a God who might talk with him and forget, for a time, his superiority (vv. 15-17). Here we see one of the results of the teaching that God gave his people for centuries. As the Israelites understood better the alliance that linked them with God, they became more human. Whereas their ancestors like Jacob or Moses were resigned to their mortal destiny, they aspired for something better.
