Job 14:7 · Bible study
Job 14:7 Commentary: Tree Hope vs. Human Mortality
Hebrew · 9 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Job contrasts the tree’s renewal with human death. Does he deny all afterlife, or only a return to this life? Scholarly analysis with pastoral warmth.
Research Summary
- Meaning: A tree cut down can sprout again, but human death brings no return to earthly life, though Job leaves room for a future hope.
- Key words: “Hope” (תִּקְוָה, tikvah), “sprout afresh” (חָלַף, chalaph), “young shoot” (יוֹנֶקֶת, yoneket).
- Main debate: Does Job deny any afterlife, or only a return to this life? Commentators differ; Barnes and JFB see room for hope, while Cambridge Bible reads it more bleakly.
- Theological theme: Mortality and the longing for renewal, an Old Testament perspective on death that awaits fuller revelation.
- Best use: Sermons on grief, lament, and hope; funeral contexts where honest sorrow meets a glimmer of resurrection hope.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
For there is hope for a tree: If it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its tender shoots will not fail.
WEB World English Bible 2000
“For there is hope for a tree if it is cut down, that it will sprout again, that the tender branch of it will not cease.
KJV King James Version 1769
For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
For there is hope of a tree, If it be cut down, that it will sprout again, And that the tender branch thereof will not cease.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
For there is of a tree hope, if it be cut down, That again it doth change, That its tender branch doth not cease.
Darby Darby Bible 1890
For there is hope for a tree: if it be cut down, it will sprout again, and its tender branch will not cease;
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
A tree hath hope: if it be cut, it growth green again, and the boughs thereof sprout.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Porque si el árbol fuere cortado, aun queda de él esperanza; retoñecerá aún, y sus renuevos no faltarán.
Porque há ainda alguma esperança para a árvore que, se cortada, ainda se renove, e seus renovos não cessem.
Un arbre a de l’ espérance:
Ein Baum hat Hoffnung, wenn er schon abgehauen ist, daß er sich wieder erneue, und seine Schößlinge hören nicht auf.
Want voor een boom, als hij afgehouwen wordt, is er verwachting, dat hij zich nog zal veranderen, en zijn scheut niet zal ophouden.
Per l’albero, almeno c’è speranza; se è tagliato, rigermoglia e continua a metter rampolli.
Albowiem i o drzewie jest nadzieja, choć je wytną, że się jeszcze odmłodzi, a latorośl jego nie ustanie.
Для дерева есть надежда, что оно, если и будет срублено, снова оживет, и отрасли от него выходить не перестанут:
樹 若 被砍下， 還 可 指望 發芽，嫩枝 生長不 息；
For there is hope of a tree; if it is cut down, it will come to life again, and its branches will not come to an end.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Job 14:7
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators agree that Job 14:7 sets up a contrast: a tree, when cut down, can sprout again, but a person who dies does not return to the life they knew. Barnes, Keil & Delitzsch, and Matthew Henry all emphasize this. Yet the passage raises a deeper question. Does Job deny any hope after death, or only the possibility of coming back to earthly existence? Barnes notes that while Job sees no return to this world, he does believe in continued existence beyond the grave (Job 14:13; 19:25). The Cambridge Bible reads the lines as describing the “irreparable extinction of man’s life in death.” JFB agrees that Job denies a return to present life but holds a “vague and trembling hope” for a future state. The shared core is clear: human death is not like the tree’s renewal. Whether that leaves room for resurrection is the point of disagreement.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Medium
Main views:
- No afterlife: Reads the passage as a straightforward denial: ‘man lies down and rises not’ (v. 12). The contrast with the tree shows that humans have no renewal at all.
- No return to earthly life, but hope beyond: Points to Job 14:13–15 as Job’s longing for a change, and to 19:25 for explicit resurrection hope. The tree metaphor only denies a second round on earth.
- Lament without resolution: The text expresses deep despair that is not resolved within the chapter. Job’s question in v. 14 is left hanging, and later glimpses (e.g., 19:25) are isolated. The Old Testament does not give the full answer.
What is clear: Job contrasts the tree’s renewal with human death, and the passage does not teach a return to earthly life for humans.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Hope for a tree vs. hope for a person | All traditions see Job contrasting the tree’s ability to regrow with the finality of human death in this life. | Some read this as complete denial of any afterlife; others as a lament about earthly return only, leaving open resurrection hope. |
| Job’s view of Sheol and the afterlife | Job speaks of Sheol as a place where the dead exist (14:13). He does not view death as annihilation. | Whether Sheol offers any positive hope or is merely a waiting place until a future resurrection is debated. Calvinists and many Reformed traditions emphasize the shadowy nature of Sheol; others see in 14:14 a seed of resurrection hope. |
| Whether Job 14:7-12 teaches a resurrection | The passage itself does not explicitly teach resurrection; it contrasts tree and man. | Some interpreters (e.g., JFB) see Job’s later hope in 19:25 as a development, while others argue that 14:7-12 is deliberately bleak and only the New Testament clarifies resurrection. |
| The role of nature imagery in Job | Job uses nature as a source of analogy for human experience, common in wisdom literature. | Whether the tree metaphor is meant to inspire hope (the stump can live) or deepen despair (the comparison shows what humans lack) is read differently. Keil & Delitzsch emphasize the sadness, while Matthew Henry finds a lingering hope. |
Historical & Cultural Context
Job 14:7 sits within a longer speech (chapters 12, 14) where Job responds to Zophar’s accusations. Zophar had argued that Job’s suffering must be punishment for sin. Job, in agony, presses back: he is innocent, and the wisdom his friends offer is shallow. The tree metaphor would hit home in an ancient Near Eastern setting where trees were a primary resource for fuel, building, and shade. People watched stumps send up new shoots year after year. The Hebrew verb חָלַף (chalaph), used for “sprout again,” can also mean “change” or “renew”, it describes the tree’s ability to transform its condition.
The cultural backdrop includes limited views of the afterlife. In the Old Testament period, Sheol was often pictured as a dark, silent place where the dead had no active life or connection with God (Psalm 88:10, 12). Job himself uses such imagery in chapter 10. But he also speaks of hiding in Sheol until God’s wrath passes (14:13), suggesting he did not see it as annihilation. The tree metaphor, then, serves to heighten the tragedy: even a stump has a future, but a person‘s story on earth seems to end. Later passages like Isaiah 11:1 and Daniel 4:15, 23 use similar stump imagery to speak of hope and restoration. Job’s contemporary audience would have recognized the contrast as painfully real.
Textual Notes
The consulted sources note no significant textual variants for Job 14:7. The Hebrew is stable across manuscripts, with no major differences in the Masoretic Text or the ancient versions that would affect interpretation.
Reception History
Job 14:7 has been read in funerary and liturgical contexts for centuries. Early Christian writers like Gregory the Great, in his Moralia in Job, saw the stump as a type of Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection, the tree cut down that springs to new life. Jewish interpreters, such as the midrashic tradition, often linked the verse to the hope of national restoration, much like Isaiah’s stump of Jesse. In Protestant hymnody, the verse appears in settings that emphasize the contrast between nature’s renewal and human mortality, often paired with the resurrection hope of 1 Corinthians 15. Modern readers continue to turn to it in times of grief, finding in Job’s raw honesty a permission to lament while still asking the question, “If a man dies, shall he live again?”
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- A tree’s hope: Even when cut down, a tree can sprout again. Its life is not over.
- Man’s loss: A person who dies does not return to this life. No second chance here.
- A longing underneath: Job’s lament carries a seed of hope, he waits for a “change” (14:14).
Five-point outline
- Observation: Job points to a familiar natural fact, trees regrow from stumps.
- Contrast: Human death is not like that. “Man dies and wastes away.”
- Emotion: Job’s tone is one of grief mixed with honesty. He does not pretend.
- Question: Does that mean no hope at all? Job asks, “If a man dies, shall he live again?” (14:14).
- Glimpse: Even in this dark chapter, Job imagines God hiding him in Sheol until wrath passes (14:13).
Illustration hooks
- A tree stump in a yard that, year after year, sends up new shoots when you thought it was dead. It refuses to give up.
- A person watching a beloved plant die in winter, then seeing it return in spring. That rhythm of loss and renewal is something we take for granted in nature but cannot find in our own lives.
- The feeling of reading a condolence card that says “they live on in our memories”, and sensing how thin that comfort is compared to actually having them back.
Questions your congregation is asking
- If I die and don’t come back, is that the end? What do I have to look forward to?
- Job sounds hopeless. Is it okay to feel that way when I’m grieving or suffering?
- Does the Bible anywhere give a clearer answer about life after death, or does it leave us guessing?
Leading a Discussion
This passage captures Job in the middle of his suffering. He envies a tree. Start by reading the whole section (Job 14:7, 15) aloud. Notice the back-and-forth between despair and a flicker of longing. The group can sit with the honesty of Job’s lament before moving toward what it means for faith.
Discussion questions
- What does Job envy about the tree? What does the tree have that he does not?
- Read verse 10. Why does Job say “man dies and wastes away”? How does that affect the tone of the passage?
- Compare verse 7 with verse 14: “If a man dies, will he live again?” Do you think Job expects an answer? Why or why not?
- Barnes notes that Job did not believe in a return to this life, but did believe in continued existence. How do you see that tension in verses 13, 15?
- In your own experience, when have you felt like Job, wishing for something as simple as a tree’s renewal? Is it okay to express those feelings to God?
- How does the New Testament’s teaching on resurrection (e.g., 1 Corinthians 15) change the way we read Job’s question?
- What hope, if any, does this passage offer someone who is grieving or facing their own mortality?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Job 14:14 | If a man dies, will he live again? I would wait all the days of my warfare, until my release should come. |
| Job 19:10 | He has broken me down on every side, and I am gone. He has plucked my hope up like a tree. |
| Isaiah 11:1 | A shoot will come out of the stock of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots will bear fruit. |
| Isaiah 27:6 | In days to come, Jacob will take root. Israel will blossom and bud. They will fill the surface of the world with fruit. |
| Daniel 4:15 | Nevertheless leave the stump of its roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and bronze, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of the sky. Let his portion be with the animals in the grass of the earth. |
| Daniel 4:23 | “Whereas the king saw a holy watcher coming down from the sky and saying, ‘Cut down the tree, and destroy it; nevertheless leave the stump of its roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and bronze, in the tender grass of the field, and let it be wet with the dew of the sky. Let his portion be with the animals of the field, until seven times pass over him.’ |
| Daniel 4:25 | You will be driven from men and your dwelling shall be with the animals of the field. You will be made to eat grass as oxen, and will be wet with the dew of the sky, and seven times shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever he will. |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
9 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke notes that some plants can grow again even after their roots are dried or they are cut down. They may sprout new shoots or recover if replanted or soaked in water.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes highlights Job's contrast between a tree, which can sprout again when cut down, and a person, who cannot return to earthly life. He argues Job did not believe in a bodily resurrection or reincarnation, only in a dim, shadowy existence after death, not the bright renewal the tree experiences.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges notes that death brings a permanent end to a person’s life with no chance of return. This permanent ending makes it worse than the fate of a tree that dies and returns to life again.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The Geneva Note draws a stark contrast between the tree's ability to sprout again after being cut down and the finality of human death. A tree has natural hope of renewal, but the point is that man's condition is not like that. The tree's regrowth only highlights that no such earthly restoration awaits people.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill observes that Job draws hope from the fact that many trees, though cut down, will sprout again from the root. He notes this is not universal, since cypress trees never regrow, but the general pattern is enough for Job’s point about renewal after ruin.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
Job holds a fragile hope for a future state but lacks true certainty. Christians who hold the Gospel view have clear and definite assurance.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil-Delitzsch notes that Job presents the tree's fate as far more hopeful than man's: a tree can sprout again from its stump or revive at the scent of water, but Job sees no such renewal for humans. This bleak contrast, they argue, reflects Job's own sorrowful age and struggle.
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange highlights Job's bitter contrast: a cut-down tree can sprout again, but man dies and wastes away with no natural renewal. This comparison intensifies Job's despair, showing that even the lowliest plant has a hope that humanity does not share under the curse of mortality.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry notes that a tree cut down can grow new shoots even if its roots and trunk die, but a person who dies does not return to life. He believes this shows death is a final departure from the world with no chance of revival.