Job 14:16

14:16-22 Job's faith and hope spake, and grace appeared to revive; but depravity again prevailed. He represents God as carrying matters to extremity against him. The Lord must prevail against all who contend with him. God may send disease and pain, we may lose all comfort in those near and dear to us, every hope of earthly happiness may be destroyed, but God will receive the believer into realms of eternal happiness. But what a change awaits the prosperous unbeliever! How will he answer when God shall call him to his tribunal? The Lord is yet upon a mercy-seat, ready to be gracious. Oh that sinners would be wise, that they would consider their latter end! While man's flesh is upon him, that is, the body he is so loth to lay down, it shall have pain; and while his soul is within him, that is, the spirit he is so loth to resign, it shall mourn. Dying work is hard work; dying pangs often are sore pangs. It is folly for men to defer repentance to a death-bed, and to have that to do which is the one thing needful, when unfit to do anything.

Job was in a pretty good frame of mind a little before, having in view his last change, and the glorious resurrection; but on a sudden he returns to his former complaints of God, and here of the rigour and strictness of his justice in marking his steps, and correcting him for his sin; so very uncertain are the best of frames: the outward conversation of men, whether good or bad, is often in Scripture expressed by walking, and the actions of men, good or evil, are the steps taken therein; here they signify evil ones, irregular steps, steps out of the way of God's commandments, aberrations, strayings from thence, false steps; these Job supposed God not only had knowledge of, as he has of all the ways, paths, and goings of men, but took very exact notice of his wrong steps; looked very narrowly to his paths, as in Job 13:27 ; and strictly marked them; yea, told them one by one, that he might miss none, and make up a large account, which he put down in his book, in order to produce against him; in which Job was mistaken: he thought God dealt with him as he does with wicked men, whose evil actions are not only known and observed, but are counted and put down in the book of his remembrance, which will be opened at the last day, and produced against them; but God has blotted out of his book the sins of his people, and will remember them no more; he has a book of remembrance for their good works, words, and thoughts, but none for their evil ones: dost thou not watch over my sin?

(16) For now thou numberest my steps: dost thou not watch over my sin? —“It is sealed up in a bag, and Thou fastenest up mine iniquity. But persecution so persistent would wear out the strongest, even as the mountain and the rock are gradually worn away. How much more then must I be the subject of decay? for Thou destroyest the hope of man when he dieth, so that he no longer has any interest in the welfare or any concern in the adversity of his children after him; only in his own person he has pain, and his own soul within him mourneth.”

Job 14:16-17 . For now — Or rather, But now, for this seems to be added by way of opposition, as if he had said, I believe thou wilt pity, help, and deliver me, and even wonderfully change my person, state, and place; but, for the present, it is far otherwise with me. Thus Job returns to his complaints; and, though he is not without hope of future felicity, he finds it hard to get over his present grievances. Thou numberest my steps — Thou makest a strict inquiry into all my actions, that thou mayest find out all my errors. Dost thou not watch over my sin? — The Hebrew should rather be rendered, Do not watch over, or take notice of, my sin, as the Chaldee paraphrast writes. Thus the vulgar Latin, Parce peccatis meis, Spare my sins; that is, forbear to punish me for them. He longed to go hence, to that world where God’s wrath would be past, because now he was under the continual tokens of it; as a child, under the severe discipline of the rod, longs to be of age! As if he had said, O that my change were come! for now thou seemest to number my steps, and watch over my sin, and seal it up in a bag, Job 14:17 , as writings, or other choice things are preserved, that they may be all brought forth upon occasion, and not one of them forgotten; or, as bills of endictment are kept safe to be produced against the prisoner. Thou keepest all my sins in thy memory.

16 . Figures expressing the keen scrutiny with which God watches man’s life in order to detect his false steps and observe his every sin, cf. ch. Job 13:27 . 16–22 . This prayer for a second life is supported by a picture of the severity with which God deals with man in this life and the mournful consequences of it.

Verse 16. - For now thou numberest my steps ; rather, but now . Job, at this point, proceeds to contrast his actual condition with the ideal one which (in vers. 13-15) his imagination has conjured up. God's actual attitude towards him he regards as one, not of protecting love, but of jealous hostility. His "steps" are observed, counted - every divergence from the right path is noted - a false step, if he makes one, is at once punished. Dost thou not watch over my sin? (comp. Job 10:14 ). Job's sins, he thinks, are watched for, spied out, taken note of, and remembered against him. Job 14:16

16. Rather, "Yea, thou wilt number my steps, and wilt not (as now) jealously watch over my sin." Thenceforward, instead of severe watching for every sin of Job, God will guard him against every sin. number … steps—that is, minutely attend to them, that they may not wander [Umbreit] (1Sa 2:9; Ps 37:23).

For now; so this is a reason of his desire of death, Job 14:13 . Or rather, But now ; for this seems to be added by way of opposition. I believe thou wilt pity and help me, but for the present it is far otherwise with me. Thou, numberest my steps; thou makest a strict inquiry into all my actions, that thou mayst find out all mine errors, and punish them. Compare Job 13:27 31:4 34:1 Psalm 56:6 . Dost thou not watch over my sin, i.e. dost thou not watch for my haltings, or miscarriages, as if thou wast glad of an occasion to punish me? Or, thou dost not delay the punishment of my sin ; for the same Hebrew word signifies both sin and its punishments .

For now thou numberest my steps - Thou dost make strict inquiry into all my conduct, that thou mayest mark my errors, and hold me bound to punishment. The sense is, that God treated him now with severity; and he besought him to have pity on him, and bring him to trial, and give him an opportunity to vindicate himself.