Job 14:13 Meaning: A Cry for Shelter in the Midst of Wrath
“Oh that you would hide me in Sheol, that you would keep me secret until your wrath is past, that you would appoint me a set time and remember me!
O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me!
Oh that thou wouldest hide me in Sheol, That thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, That thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me!
O that in Sheol Thou wouldest conceal me, Hide me till the turning of Thine anger, Set for me a limit, and remember me.
Oh that thou wouldest hide me in Sheol, that thou wouldest keep me secret until thine anger be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me, —
Meaning in one sentence
Job 14:13 asks: is Job hoping for resurrection or just escape?
Context
Job has been pouring out his pain. He compared a tree's hope of regrowth with a person's finality in death. A tree cut down can bud again, but a person lies down and does not rise. The chapter sits in the middle of Job's speeches, where he argues his innocence and questions God's justice. Then, in verse 13, his tone shifts. He doesn't accept that death is the end. Instead, he imagines God hiding him away, storing him somewhere safe until the storm of divine anger passes. The wish is raw, almost impossible. But it reveals something: even in the deepest darkness, Job still looks toward God as the only one who could keep him and bring him back.
Key Words
The Hebrew word for Sheol (she’ol) can mean the grave, the underworld, or the abode of the dead. It is not simply a hole in the ground; it is the shadowy place where the dead exist, cut off from the living and from God. Job asks to be hidden there, not to vanish forever, but to be kept safe. The verb translated hide (tsaphan) carries the sense of treasuring something precious, storing it away carefully. The second verb, keep secret (sathar), means to conceal with purpose, like a king hiding a princess from danger. God is the only one who can hide Job in that dark place. And then Job asks for the thing that changes everything: remember me (zakhar). In Hebrew, remembering is not just mental recall; it is acting on behalf of someone. Job wants God to call him back, to set a limit on his hiding and then come for him.
How Christians Read This Verse
Some Christians, looking at this verse through the lens of the Old Testament, see a longing for resurrection. Adam Clarke and Matthew Henry believe Job speaks of the body resting in the grave and the spirit being kept in God's presence until the morning of the resurrection. They point to Job's earlier confession, 'I know my Redeemer lives' (Job 19:25). Others, like Albert Barnes and the Cambridge Bible, caution against reading too much into the verse. For them, Job simply wishes for a temporary retreat, a place to wait out the storm of present suffering, without a clear belief in life after death. Both readings honor what the text says. What remains certain is that Job turns to God even in his darkest thought. He does not run from God; he asks God to hide him and then bring him back.
A common misunderstanding
A common misreading of this verse is that Job wants to die permanently. But the language tells a different story. He asks not just to be hidden, but to be remembered after a set time. He wants a limit, a boundary on his stay in Sheol. That is not a death wish. It is a desperate hope that God might, after the storm passes, call him back into the light.
Living This Out
This week, you may feel like hiding: from a conflict, a diagnosis, a failure you cannot undo. Job shows you that it is honest to ask God to shelter you while the storm rages. You do not need to pretend to be strong. You can say, 'Lord, I cannot take this. Please hide me until it passes.' And then you can add the hardest part: 'And when the time is right, remember me.' That is not despair. That is trusting that God has a set time for your release, even when you cannot see it.
Main takeaway: When suffering feels unbearable, you can ask God to hide you and trust that He will remember you when the time is right.
For Families
For ages 5, 8
Job was very sad and hurting. He asked God to hide him in a safe, dark place until God was not angry anymore. Then he asked God to remember him and bring him back out. Even when we are sad, we can ask God to keep us safe and not forget us.
For ages 9, 12
Job felt like God was angry with him, and he did not know why. He thought about dying and being hidden away in Sheol, the place of the dead. But Job did not want to disappear forever. He asked God to set a time and then remember him. That is a kind of hope. Even when everything seems dark, Job still believed God could bring him back. You can talk to God honestly about your fears too. He is big enough to handle your hardest questions.
Questions People Ask
What does 'Sheol' mean in Job 14:13?
Sheol is the Hebrew word for the place of the dead. In the Old Testament, it is not heaven or hell as we think of them today. It is a shadowy underworld where everyone goes after death, the righteous and the wicked alike. Job wishes to be hidden there temporarily, not forever.
Is Job asking to die in this verse?
Not in a hopeless way. He asks to be hidden and kept secret until God's anger passes, and then to be remembered. That implies he expects to come back. So it is more like a request to be put into protective custody than a desire for permanent death.
Does Job believe in resurrection here?
Scholars disagree. Some (like Adam Clarke) see Job longing for the resurrection of the body. Others (like Albert Barnes) think he only wants a temporary escape from suffering. Both views find support in the text. What is clear is that Job does not accept that death is the final word, he still looks to God for a future.
Why does Job call God's anger 'your wrath'?
Job feels that his suffering comes from God. He does not understand why, but he experiences it as divine anger. In his culture, suffering was often seen as punishment for sin. Job insists he is innocent, but he still speaks honestly about how God's actions feel to him.
What does 'appoint me a set time' mean?
The Hebrew word chok means a statute, decree, or limit. Job asks God to set a specific boundary on how long he stays hidden. It is like asking for a deadline. He wants to know that the hiding will not last forever and that God will act again on his behalf.
For pastors & researchers
Hebrew interlinear, 8 commentaries & word study