to gaze at or about (properly · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
rest
וְיֶחְדָּ֑לve.yech.Dal
H2308
properly · conjunction + verb, qal, 3rd person masculine singular
accomplish
יִ֝רְצֶ֗הyir.Tzeh
H7521
to be pleased with · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
hireling
כְּשָׂכִ֥ירke.sa.Khir
H7916
a man at wages by the day or year · preposition + adjective, masculine singular absolute
day
יוֹמֽוֹyo.Mo
H3117
a day (as the warm hours) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 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
Job 7:19 How long wilt thou not depart from me, nor let me alone till I swallow down my spittle?
Psalms 39:13 O spare me, that I may recover strength, before I go hence, and be no more.
Job 7:1-2 Is there not an appointed time to man upon earth? are not his days also like the days of an hireling?
Job 10:20 Are not my days few? cease then, and let me alone, that I may take comfort a little,
Job 7:16 I loathe it; I would not live alway: let me alone; for my days are vanity.
Matthew 20:1-8 For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard…
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…
Turn--namely, Thine eyes from watching him so jealously (Job 14:3).
hireling-- (Job 7:1).
accomplish--rather, "enjoy." That he may at least enjoy the measure of rest of the hireling who though hard worked reconciles himself to his lot by the hope of his rest and reward [UMBREIT].
John Gill on Job 14:6
Turn from him, that he may rest,.... From this short lived afflicted man, whose days are limited, and will soon be at an end, meaning himself; not that he desires he would withdraw his gracious presence, nothing is more agreeable than this to a good man, and there is nothing he more deprecates than the withdrawing of it; besides, this was Job's case, and one part of his complaint, Job 13:24; nor to withhold his supporting presence, or his providential care of him, without which he could not subsist, but must die and drop into the dust; though some think this is the sense, and render the words, "turn from him, that he may cease" (n); to be, or to live, and so a wish for death, that he might h…
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
"Get away from him, let him rest. Thus reason the carnal man; slave of his senses, who places his happiness in the present life. He asks that we save it in order to enjoy it.
Since God is with Job through the hardships he lays upon him, Job says, "Look away!" in the sense of "Bring your anger to an end!" God approaches in different ways by allowing participation and through anger. The friends had come to the conclusion that Job suffers for his sin. He therefore harshly responds that "The human being has a short life and is like a withered flower and a shadow" and "God sees him." In this Job was demonstrating for them that he was not suffering because of sin. He says, "Look away!" If God delivers someone into such a flood of afflictions, the human being has no calm for remorse. Job therefore teaches his friends that their opinion is unreasonable. For he says, "Look away from him and desist, that he may enjoy, like a hireling, his day." In such affliction he would not be able to have calm or to enjoy his life.…But Job spoke this to his friends so that it might be clear that God grants a break in order for remorse to occur. This is why Paul says, "Or do you despise the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? Do you not realize that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?" That "desist" is said instead of "end your wickedness and be virtuous" becomes plain in the words "If you have sinned, desist!" And "the earth feared and was still when God rose up to establish judgment." When people realize that God is judge, they desist from sinning.
Ver. 6. Turn from him a little while, that he may rest, till his longed for day come, as an hireling's. In this place, Turn from him, means, 'remove from him the force of the stroke,' for who can rest when He turns away from him, when He Himself alone is rest, and the further off a man is from Him, he is also rendered void of rest in proportion? Thus it is in such sort said, Turn from him, that you should understand, 'from smiting;' for it is fitly added, till his longed for day come as an hireling's. In proportion as an hireling is far from the end of his work, so is he far from the recompense of his wages. Thus every holy man being set in this life, whilst he sees that he is far from departing out of the present life, laments that he is far from the eternal bliss. What then is it to say, Turn from him a little while, that he may rest; but, 'withdraw now the strokes of the present life, and shew the blessings of eternal rest?' Whence too it is added concerning that rest itself; till his longed for day come, as an hireling's; for then the longed for day as of an hireling comes to man, when he receives eternal rest in compensation for his labour. But as far as relates to the aspect of the present life, how despicable is the race of man, so full of miseries, blessed Job yet further tells, and describes how greatly the very things without sense seem to surpass him.
Dictionary and topics
Hireling — A labourer employed on hire for a limited time (Job 7:1; 14:6; Mark 1:20). His wages were paid as soon as his work was over (Lev. 19:13). In the time of our Lord a day’s wage was a “penny” (q.v.)…
Employee · CHARACTER OF UNRIGHTEOUS — CHARACTER OF UNRIGHTEOUS
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 14:6
Turn away from him during those few limited days and let him rest from pain until he desires, in his old age and the weakness of his strength, the day of his death like a hireling who desires the completion of his day’s work; for his passing from the world is decided and more definite than all passings.
