Job 14 · Verse 5

Job 14:5

Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass;
Job 14:5, King James Version

Job 14:5 in other translations

BSBSince his days are determined and the number of his months is with You, and since You have set limits that he cannot exceed,
WEBSeeing his days are determined, the number of his months is with you, and you have appointed his bounds that he can’t pass.
ASVSeeing his days are determined, The number of his months is with thee, And thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass;
YLTIf determined are his days, The number of his months are with Thee, His limit Thou hast made, And he passeth not over;
DARBYIf his days are determined, if the number of his months is with thee, and thou hast appointed his bounds which he must not pass,
BBEIf his days are ordered, and you have knowledge of the number of his months, having given him a fixed limit past which he may not go;
WebsterSeeing his days are determined, the number of his months is with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass;

What does Job 14:5 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
5. determined--(Job 7:1; Is 10:23; Da 9:27; 11:36).

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 5 Seeing his days are determined - The general term of human life is fixed by God himself; in vain are all attempts to prolong it beyond this term. Several attempts have been made in all nations to find an elixir that would expel all the seeds of disease, and keep men in continual health; but all these attempts have failed. Basil, Valentine, Norton, Dastin, Ripley, Sandivogius, Artephius, Geber, Van Helmont, Paracelsus, Philalethes, and several others, both in Europe and Asia, have written copiously on the subject, and have endeavored to prove that a tincture might be produced, by which all imperfect metals may be transmuted into perfect; and an elixir by which the human body may be kept in a state of endless repair and health. And these profess to teach the method by which this tincture and this elixir may be made! Yet all these are dead; and dead, for aught we know, comparatively young! Artephius is, indeed, said to have lived ninety years, which is probable; but some of his foolish disciples, to give credit to their thriftless craft, added another cipher, and made his age nine hundred! Man may endeavor to pass the bound; and God may, here and there, produce a Thomas Parr, who died in 1635, aged one hundred and fifty-two; and a Henry Jenkins, who died in 1670, aged one hundred and sixty-nine; but these are rare instances, and do not affect the general term. Nor can death be avoided. Dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return, is the law, and that will ever render nugatory all such pretended tinctures and elixirs. But, although man cannot pass his appointed bounds, yet he may so live as never to reach them; for folly and wickedness abridge the term of human life; and therefore the psalmist says, Bloody and deceitful men shall not live out Half their days, Psa 55:23, for by indolence, intemperance, and disorderly passions, the life of man is shortened in cases innumerable. We are not to understand the bounds as applying to individuals, but to the race in general. Perhaps there is no case in which God has determined absolutely that man's age shall be so long, and shall neither be more nor less. The contrary supposition involves innumerable absurdities.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Job 14:1-6

Job enlarges upon the condition of man, addressing himself also to God. Every man of Adam's fallen race is short-lived. All his show of beauty, happiness, and splendour falls before the stroke of sickness or death, as the flower before the scythe; or passes away like the shadow. How is it possible for a man's conduct to be sinless, when his heart is by nature unclean? Here is a clear proof that Job understood and…

Read the full comment on Job 14:1-6 →

Job 14:5 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.

אִ֥ם'imifH518
חֲרוּצִ֨ים\׀cha.ru.Tzim[are] determinedH2782
יָמָ֗יוya.Mavdays hisH3117
מִֽסְפַּר\־mis.par-[the] number ofH4557
חֳדָשָׁ֥יוcho.da.Shavmonths hisH2320
אִתָּ֑ךְ'i.Takh[is] with youH854
חֻקָּ֥יוchu.kovlimits hisH2706
עָ֝שִׂ֗יתָ'a.Si.tayou have appointedH6213
וְלֹ֣אve.Lo'and notH3808
יַעֲבֽוֹר\׃ya.'a.Vorhe will passH5674

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

Cross references for Job 14:5

  • Psalms 39:4

    Lord, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am.

  • Acts 17:26

    And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;

  • Job 12:10

    In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind.

  • Hebrews 9:27

    And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

  • Psalms 104:29

    Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust.

  • Daniel 5:26

    This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it.

  • Job 21:21

    For what pleasure hath he in his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off in the midst?

  • Luke 12:20

    But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?

  • Job 23:13-14

    But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth. For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me: and many such things are with him.

  • Daniel 4:35

    And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?

  • Psalms 104:9

    Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over; that they turn not again to cover the earth.

  • Job 7:1

    Is there not an appointed time to man upon earth? are not his days also like the days of an hireling?

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
his days.
14; 7:1; 12:10; Ps 39:4; Da 5:26,30; 9:24; 11:36; Lu 12:20; Ac 17:26
Heb 9:27
the number.
21:21
thou hast.
23:13,14; Ps 104:9,29; Da 4:35; Re 1:18; 3:7

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

Context

  • Job 14:4

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

  • Job 14:5

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

  • Job 14:6

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

Read all of Job 14

Job 14:5 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Ciertamente sus días están determinados, y el número de sus meses está cerca de ti: tú le pusiste términos, de los cuales no pasará.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Si ses jours sont déterminés, si le nombre de ses mois est par-devers toi, si tu lui as posé ses limites, qu’il ne doit pas dépasser,
German
Elberfelder 1871		Wenn denn bestimmt sind seine Tage, die Zahl seiner Monde bei dir sind, wenn du ihm Schranken gesetzt hast, die er nicht überschreiten darf,
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Breves dies hominis sunt: numerus mensium ejus apud te est: constituisti terminos ejus, qui præteriri non poterunt.