Job 14 · Verse 11

Job 14:11

As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up:
Job 14:11, King James Version

Job 14:11 in other translations

BSBAs water disappears from the sea and a river becomes parched and dry,
WEBAs the waters fail from the sea, and the river wastes and dries up,
ASVAs the waters fail from the sea, And the river wasteth and drieth up;
YLTWaters have gone away from a sea, And a river becometh waste and dry.
DARBYThe waters recede from the lake, and the river wasteth and drieth up:
BBEThe waters go from a pool, and a river becomes waste and dry;
WebsterAs the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up:

What does Job 14:11 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
11. sea--that is, a lake, or pool formed from the outspreading of a river. Job lived near the Euphrates: and "sea" is applied to it (Jr 51:36; Is 27:1). So of the Nile (Is 19:5). fail--utterly disappeared by drying up. The rugged channel of the once flowing water answers to the outstretched corpse ("lieth down," Job 14:12) of the once living man.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 11 The waters fail from the sea - I believe this refers to evaporation, and nothing else. As the waters are evaporated from the sea, and the river in passing over the sandy desert is partly exsiccated, and partly absorbed; and yet the waters of the sea are not exhausted, as these vapors, being condensed, fall down in rain, and by means of rivers return again into the sea: so man is imperceptibly removed from his fellows by death and dissolution; yet the human race is still continued, the population of the earth being kept up by perpetual generations.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Job 14:7-15

Though a tree is cut down, yet, in a moist situation, shoots come forth, and grow up as a newly planted tree. But when man is cut off by death, he is for ever removed from his place in this world. The life of man may fitly be compared to the waters of a land flood, which spread far, but soon dry up. All Job's expressions here show his belief in the great doctrine of the resurrection. Job's friends proving miserable…

Read the full comment on Job 14:7-15 →

Job 14:11 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

אָֽזְלוּ\־'a.ze.lu-they disappearH235
מַ֭יִםMa.yimwatersH4325
מִנִּי\־mi.ni-fromH4480
יָ֑םYam[the] seaH3220
וְ֝נָהָ֗רve.na.Harand a riverH5104
יֶחֱרַ֥בye.che.Ravit dries upH2717
וְיָבֵֽשׁ\׃ve.ya.Veshand it is dryH3001

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Job 14:11

  • Isaiah 19:5

    And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up.

  • Jeremiah 15:18

    Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuseth to be healed? wilt thou be altogether unto me as a liar, and as waters that fail?

  • Job 6:15-18

    My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook, and as the stream of brooks they pass away; Which are blackish by reason of the ice, and wherein the snow is hid: What time they wax warm, they vanish: when it is hot, they are consumed out of their place. The paths of their way are turned aside; they go to nothing, and perish.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
the flood.
6:15-18; Jer 15:18

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Job 14:10

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

  • Job 14:11

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

  • Job 14:12

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

Read all of Job 14

Job 14:11 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Las aguas de la mar se fueron, y agotóse el río, secóse.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Les eaux s’en vont du lac; et la rivière tarit et sèche:
German
Elberfelder 1871		Es verrinnen die Wasser aus dem See, und der Fluß trocknet ein und versiegt:
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Quomodo si recedant aquæ de mari, et fluvius vacuefactus arescat: