a day (as the warm hours) · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
determined
חֲרוּצִ֨יםcha.ru.Tzim
H2782
properly · verb, qal passive participle, masculine plural absolute
number
מִֽסְפַּרmis.par-
H4557
a number · noun, common masculine singular construct
months
חֳדָשָׁ֥יוcho.da.Shav
H2320
the new moon · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
appointed
עָ֝שִׂ֗יתָ'a.Si.ta
H6213
to do or make · verb, qal perfect, 2nd person masculine singular
bounds
חֻקָּ֥יוchu.kov
H2706
an enactment · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
pass
יַעֲבֽוֹרya.'a.Vor
H5674
to cross over · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
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…
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.
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?
Daniel 5:26 This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it.
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?
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Job 14:1-6
We are here led to think,
I. Of the original of human life. God is indeed its great original, for he breathed into man the breath of life and in him we live; but we date it from our birth, and thence we must date both its frailty and its pollution. 1. Its frailty: Man, that is born of a woman, is therefore of few days, Job 14:1. This may refer to the first woman, who was called Eve, because she was the mother of all living. Of her, who being deceived by the tempter was first in the transgression, we are all born, and consequently derive from her that sin and corruption which both shorten our days and sadden them. Or it may refer to every man's immediate mother. The woman is the weaker vessel…
determined-- (Job 7:1; Isa 10:23; Dan 9:27; Dan 11:36).
John Gill on Job 14:5
Seeing his days are determined,.... Or "cut out" (i), exactly and precisely, how many he shall live, and what shall befall him every day of his life; whose life, because of the shortness of it, is rather measured by days than vents:
the number of his months are with thee; before him, in his sight, in his account, and fixed and settled by him:
thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass; the boundaries of his life the period of his days, beyond which he cannot go; the term of man's life is so peremptorily fixed by God, that he cannot die sooner, nor live longer, than he has determined he should; as the time of a man's birth, so the time of his death is according to the purpose of God…
4 Would that a pure one could come from an impure!
Not a single one - -
5 His days then are determined,
The number of his months is known to Thee,
Thou hast appointed bounds for him that he may not pass over:
6 Look away from him then, and let him rest,
Until he shall accomplish as a hireling his day.
Would that perfect sinlessness were possible to man; but since (to use a New Testament expression) that which is born of the flesh is flesh, there is not a single one pure. The optative מי־יתּן seems to be used here with an acc. of the object, according to its literal meaning, quis det s. afferat, as Job 31:31; Deu 28:67; Psa 14:7. Ewald remarks (and refers to 358, b, of his Grammar) that לא,…
The Church Fathers
"You counted the number of his months. This so limited existence is proof of his sin because you created him immortal.
Ver. 5. The days of man are short, the number of his months is with Thee. For he sees that that as it were is not with us, which runs by with such great rapidity, but seeing that even things passing away stand with Almighty God, he declares that 'the number of our months is with Him.' Or, indeed, by the 'days,' the shortness of time is denoted, but by the 'months' the spaces of the days are multiplied. Thus to ourselves 'the days are short;' but seeing that our life is further extended afterwards, 'the number of our months' is recorded 'to be with God.' Hence also it is said by Solomon, Length of days is in her right hand. It goes on; Thou hast appointed his bounds, that he cannot pass. Of the things that happen to men in this world, none come to pass without the secret counsel of Almighty God; for God, foreseeing all things that should follow, before the ages of the world decreed how they should be ordered in the ages of the world. Since it is already appointed to man both to what extent the prosperity of the world shall attend him, or in what degree adversity shall fall upon him, that His Elect neither unbounded prosperity may exalt, nor overmuch adversity sink them too low; moreover it is appointed in this very life of mortality how long he shall live with the conditions of time. For although Almighty God added fifteen years to the life of King Hezekiah, yet at that moment that he suffered him to die, He foresaw he would die. Wherein a question presents itself, viz. how it is that it should be said to him by the Prophet, Set thine house in order for thou shalt die, and not live? For he, to whom sentence of death was declared, immediately upon his tears had life added to him. Now, the Lord said by the Prophet at what time he in himself deserved to die, but by the bountifulness of mercy, He kept him for the undergoing death at that time, which He Himself foreknew before the ages began. Nor even therefore was the Prophet deceptive, because he made known the time of death, at which that man deserved to die, nor were the appointments of the Lord rent and torn, forasmuch as this also, that the years of life should be added to by the bountifulness of God, was foreordained before the ages began; and the period of life, which was added contrary to expectation without, was inwardly appointed without increase upon foreknowledge; and so it is well said, Thou hast…
Dictionary and topics
Death, Natural · Ordered by God — Ordered by God
Life, Natural · Described as: Limited — Described as: Limited
Readings, Select · THE BREVITY OF LIFE — THE BREVITY OF LIFE
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
keep an eye on: Job lamented God’s relentless surveillance (7:8, 17-20; 10:6, 14; 13:27).
Rashi on Job 14:5
If his days are limited If he is requited with this recompense—that his days are limited to a day set for death,
and the number of months is set with You, and [that] You set this boundary—and he will no longer exist in the world, [then] this payment is sufficient for You.