Christian Standard Bible
Job 14:2
2He blossoms like a flower, then withers; he flees like a shadow and does not last.
Job 14:2 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.
- New International Version (NIV)They spring up like flowers and wither away; like fleeting shadows, they do not endure.
- English Standard Version (ESV)He comes out like a flower and withers; he flees like a shadow and continues not.
- New King James Version (NKJV)He comes forth like a flower and fades away; He flees like a shadow and does not continue.
Context of Job 14:2
1Anyone born of woman is short of days and full of trouble. He blossoms like a flower, then withers; he flees like a shadow and does not last. 3Do you really take notice of one like this? Will you bring me into judgment against you? 4Who can produce something pure from what is impure? No one!
Read all of Job 14Job 14:2 word by word
כְּצִ֣יץ יָ֭צָא וַיִּמָּ֑ל וַיִּבְרַ֥ח כַּ֝צֵּ֗ל וְלֹ֣א יַעֲמֽוֹד׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Job 14:2
- Psalms 90:5You end their lives; they sleep. They are like grass that grows in the morning —
- Psalms 92:7though the wicked sprout like grass and all evildoers flourish, they will be eternally destroyed.
- Psalms 103:15As for man, his days are like grass — he blooms like a flower of the field;
- Isaiah 40:6A voice was saying, “Cry out!” Another said, “What should I cry out?” “All humanity is grass, and all its goodness is like the flower of the field.
- James 1:10but let the rich boast in his humiliation because he will pass away like a flower of the field.
- James 4:14Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring — what your life will be! For you are like vapor that appears for a little while, then vanishes.
- 1 Peter 1:24For All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like a flower of the grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls,
- Job 8:9since we were born only yesterday and know nothing. Our days on earth are but a shadow.
- Job 9:25My days fly by faster than a runner; they flee without seeing any good.
- 1 Chronicles 29:15For we are aliens and temporary residents in your presence as were all our ancestors. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope.
- Psalms 102:11My days are like a lengthening shadow, and I wither away like grass.
- Psalms 144:4A human is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.
- Ecclesiastes 8:13However, it will not go well with the wicked, and they will not lengthen their days like a shadow, for they are not reverent before God.
Commentaries on Job 14:2
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 2He cometh forth like a flower - This is a frequent image both in the Old and New Testament writers; I need not quote the places here, as the readers will find them all in the margin. He fleeth also as a shadow - Himself, as he appears among men, is only the shadow of his real, substantial, and eternal being. He is here compared to a vegetable; he springs up, bears his flower is often nipped by disease, blasted by afflictions and at last cut down by death…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 2He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down - Nothing can be more obvious and more beautiful than this, and the image has been employed by writers in all ages, but nowhere with more beauty, or with more frequency than in the Bible; see Isaiah 40:6; Psalm 37:2; Psalm 90:6; Psalm 103:15. Next to the Bible, it is probable that Shakespeare has employed the image with the most exquisite beauty of any poet: This is the state of man; today he puts forth The…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-2The flower symbolizes how short life is (Psalms 90:5–6; 103:15–16; Isaiah 40:6–7). A shadow passes quickly (1 Chronicles 29:15; Psalm 102:11).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 22. (Psa 90:6; see on Job 8:9).Read the comment
Topics related to Job 14:2
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Job 14
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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