Look away from him, that he may rest, until he accomplishes, as a hireling, his day.
Parallel Translations
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Look away from him, that he may rest, until he accomplishes, as a hireling, his day.
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Turn from him, that he may rest, till he shall accomplish, as an hireling, his day.
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Look away from him, that he may rest, till he shall accomplish, as a hireling, his day.
Cross-references (6)
Passages linked to Job 14:6 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Job 7:19 How long will you not look away from me, nor leave me alone until I swallow down my spittle?
- Psalms 39:13 Oh spare me, that I may recover strength, before I go away and exist no more.”
- Job 7:1-2 “Isn’t a man forced to labor on earth? Aren’t his days like the days of a hired hand? As a servant who earnestly desires the shadow, as a hireling who looks for his wages,
- Job 10:20 Aren’t my days few? Stop! Leave me alone, that I may find a little comfort,
- Job 7:16 I loathe my life. I don’t want to live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are but a breath.
- Matthew 20:1-8 “For the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who was the master of a household, who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. When he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. He went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace. He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went their way. Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise. About the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle. He said to them, ‘Why do you stand here all day idle?’ “They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ “He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and you will receive whatever is right.’ When evening had come, the lord of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning from the last to the first.’
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Until the time that thou hast appointed for him…
Until the time that thou hast appointed for him to die, which he desireth as the hireling waiteth for the end of his labor to receive his wages.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Job 14:6 Turn from him, that he may rest,…
Job 14:6 Turn from him, that he may rest, till he shall accomplish, as an hireling, his day.
Ver. 6. Turn from him, that he may rest] Heb. Look away from him, i.e. from me; look not so narrowly, and with such a critical eye, upon mine out strays, thus to hold me still on the rack; look not so angerly, afflict me not so heavily, but let me rest or cease from my present pressures and doleful complaints, and spend the span of this transitory life with some comfort, and then let the time of my departure come when thou pleasest.
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Till he shall accomplish, as an hireling, his day] That is, saith the gloss, till I am as willing to die as a labouring man is to go to supper and to bed. The word rendered accomplish signifieth properly to acquiesce, and rest in a thing, and vehemently to desire it. The saints, when they die, shall rest in their beds, Isa 57:2, they rest from their labours, Rev 14:13, and that απαρτι, presently, straight upon the stroke of death; no sooner have they passed under the flaming sword of that punishing angel but they are forthwith in paradise. Here they are seldom quiet, but tossed up and down as the ball upon the racket, or ship upon the waves; and hence it is that they sometimes fret or faint, as Job, and speak unadvisedly with their lips; these firm mountains are moved with earthquakes, these calm seas are stirred with tempests; and truly, whosoever hath set himself to do every day’s work with Christian diligence, to bear every day’s crosses with Christian patience, and is sensible of his failings in both; libenter ex vitae, et quasi pleno passu egredietur, saith one, he will be full glad to be gone hence, and be as weary of his life as ever any hireling was of his work. {See Trapp on "Job 7:1"} {See Trapp on "Job 7:2"}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Turn from him; withdraw thine afflicting hand from him.
Turn from him; withdraw thine afflicting hand from him.
That he may rest; that he may have some present comfort and ease. Or, and let it cease, to wit, the affliction, which is sufficiently implied. Others, and let him cease, to wit, to live, i.e. take away my life. But that seems not to agree with the following clause of this verse, nor with the succeeding verses.
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Till he shall accomplish, as an hireling, his day; give him some respite till he finish his course, and come to the period of his life which thou hast allotted to him, as a man appoints a set time to a mercenary servant.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Turn from him, that he may rest,.... From this…
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 have rest in the grave from all his labours, pains, and sorrows; but rather the meaning is, that he would turn away from afflicting him in this extraordinary, manner; since, according to the ordinary course of things, he would meet with many troubles and afflictions, and had but a little time to live, and therefore entreats he would take off his hand which pressed him sorely, and grant him a little respite; or "look off from him" (o); not turn away his eye of love, grace, and mercy, that is not reasonable to suppose; that was what he wanted, that God would look upon him, and have compassion on him under his affliction, and abate it; but that he would turn away his angry frowning countenance from him, which he could not bear; he had opened his eyes upon him, Job 14:3; and looked very sternly, and with great severity in his countenance, on him, and it was very distressing, and even intolerable to him; and therefore begs that he would take off his eye from him, that he might have rest from his adversity, that he might have some ease of body and mind, some intervals of peace and pleasure: or "that he might cease" (p) from murmuring, as Aben Ezra; or rather from affliction and trouble; not that he expected to be wholly free from it in this life, for man is born to it, as he full well knew; and the people of God have always their share of it, and which abides and waits for them while in this world; but he desires he might be rid of that very sore and heavy affliction now upon him; or "that it might cease" (q), the affliction he laboured under, which would be the case if God would turn himself, remove his hand, or look another way, and not so sharply upon him:
till he shall accomplish as an hireling his day; an hireling, as if he should say, that is hired for any certain time, for a year, or more or less, he has some relaxation from his labours, time for eating and sleeping to refresh nature; or he has some time allowed him as a respite from them, commonly called holy days; or if he is hired only for a day, he has time for his meals; and if his master's eye is off of him, he slackens his hand, and gets some intermission from his labour; wherefore at least Job begs that God would let him have the advantage of an hireling. Moreover, to "accomplish his day", is either to do the work of it, or to get to the end of it; every man has work to do while in this world, in things natural, civil, and religious, and is the work of his day or generation, and what must be done while it is day; and a good man is desirous of finishing it; to which the recompence of reward, though it is not of debt, but of grace, is a great encouragement, as it is to the hireling: or "till as an hireling he shall will", or "desire with delight and pleasure (r) his day"; that is, his day to be at an end, which he wishes and longs for; and when it comes is very acceptable to him, because he then enjoys his rest, and receives his hire; so as there is a fixed time for the hireling, there is for man on earth; and as that time is short and laborious, so is the life of man; and at the close of it, the good and faithful servant of the Lord, like the hireling, in some sense rests from his labours, and receives the reward of the inheritance, having served the Lord Christ; which makes this day a grateful and acceptable one to him, what he desires, and with pleasure waits for, being better than the day of his birth; and especially when his life is worn out with trouble, and he is weary of it through old age, and the infirmities thereof, those days being come in which he has no pleasure. Job therefore entreats that God would give him some intermission from his extraordinary troubles, till his appointed time came, which then would be as welcome to him as the close of the day is to an hireling, see Job 7:1.
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(n) "donec desinat, sc. esse vel vivere", Piscator, Cocceius. (o) "respice aliorsum ab eo", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius, Schmidt, Michaelis; so De Dieu, Schultens. (p) "Et cesset", Mercerus; "et desinat a malo suo", Pagninus. (q) "Et cesset afflictio", Drusius; so the Targum. (r) "grato animo excipiet", Tigurine version; "velit", Montanus, Bolducius; "acceptum habeat", Piscator; De Dieu, Michaelis.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Turn - Withdraw thine afflicting hand from him, that…
Turn - Withdraw thine afflicting hand from him, that he may have some present ease. 'Till - He come to the period of his life, which thou hast allotted to him, as a man appoints a set time to an hired servant.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 6. Turn from him, that he may rest]…
Verse 6. Turn from him, that he may rest] Cease to try him by afflictions and distresses, that he may enjoy some of the comforts of life, before he be removed from it: and thus, like a hireling, who is permitted by his master to take a little repose in the heat of the day, from severe labour, I shall also have a breathing time from affliction, before I come to that bound over which I cannot pass. See Job 10:20, where there is a similar request.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Turn from him - - שׁעה shâ‛âh. Look away…
Turn from him - - שׁעה shâ‛âh. Look away from; or turn away the eyes; Isa 22:4. Job had represented the Lord as looking intently upon him, and narrowly watching all his ways. He now asks him that he would look away and suffer him to be alone, and to spend the little time he had in comfort and peace.
That he may rest - Margin, “Cease.” “Let him be ceased from” - ויחדל veychâdal. The idea is not that of rest, but it is that of having God cease to afflict him; or, in other words, leaving him to himself. Job wished the hand of God to be withdrawn, and prayed that he might be left to himself.
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Till he shall accomplish - - עד־ירצה ‛ad-yı̂rtseh. Septuagint, είδοκήσῃ τὸν βίον eidokēsē ton bion - “and comfort his life,” or make his life pleasant. Jerome renders it, “until his desired day - “optata dies” - shall come like that of an hireling.” Dr. Good, “that he may fill up his day.” Noyes, “that he may enjoy his day.” The word used here (רצה râtsâh) means properly to delight in, to take pleasure in, to satisfy, to pay off; and there can be no doubt that there was couched under the use of this word the notion of “enjoyment,” or “pleasure.” Job wished to be spared, that he might have comfort yet in this world. The comparison of himself with a hireling, is not that he might have comfort like a hireling - for such an image would not be pertinent or appropriate - but that his life was like that of an hireling, and he wished to be let alone until the time was completed. On this sentiment, see the notes at Job 7:1.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Hireling, who rejoices at being permitted to rest a…
Hireling, who rejoices at being permitted to rest a little. So, before death, suffer me to have some relaxation, chap. vii. 1.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Turn--namely, Thine eyes from watching him so jealously (Job…
Turn--namely, Thine eyes from watching him so jealously (Job 14:3).
hireling-- (Job 7:1).
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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].
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 6. The limit (חקו) of man’s life is known…
6. The limit (חקו) of man’s life is known to God, and to God only. That any limit should be “appointed” (literally, made) to the existence of man is due to his sinful nature. But this divine knowledge is in nowise inconsistent with man’s free agency. The Scriptures most expressly declare that the length of life a man shall live is in some way dependent upon the kind of life he lives. Exo_20:12; Deu_30:20; 1Ki_3:14; Psa_55:23; Isa_38:4, etc. Fatalism belongs not to the Scriptures — it is the creed of false religions. After the disastrous field of Ohod, Mohammed announced a new revelation, that “every man had his appointed time, whether in bed or on the field of battle.” See note on Job_15:32.
6. Accomplish — The Hebrew also signifies delight in, as a hireling does in the days — “to wit: as past, in the rest and quiet of the evening.” — Gesenius. The text is better. It is unbecoming God to treat cruelly so ephemeral a being. Man’s lot at best is that of a hireling. Job_7:1. But the hireling, however degraded his lot, has a natural right to sympathy and to rest. Job, in behalf of man, lays claim to the common rights of the serf.
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Third strophe — Another reason why God should be merciful to man is, the hopelessness of his death. Throughout all nature, other than human, death springs to life, but man dies forever, so far as this world is concerned, Job_14:7-12.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 6. turn from him] lit. look away from him,…
6. turn from him] lit. look away from him, cf. ch. Job_7:19, Job_10:20.—turn thy keen scrutiny away from him.
may rest] i. e. have peace, from unwonted affliction.
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till he shall accomplish] Or, so that he may enjoy—so that he may have such pleasure as is possible in his brief and evil life, which is of no higher kind than the joy of the labourer during his hot and toilsome “day,” cf. ch. Job_7:1 seq. The sense given by the A. V., “to pay off,” is, however, possible (Isa_40:2), and not unsuitable here.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (6) Accomplish.—Rather, have pleasure in; rejoice at the day…
(6) Accomplish.—Rather, have pleasure in; rejoice at the day when his wages are paid him. Job had used the same image before (Job_7:2). Job now proceeds to enlarge on the mortality of man, comparing him, as is so often done in all literature, to the vegetable produce of the earth (Isa_40:7; Isa_65:22); with this difference, however—that a tree will sprout again when it is cut down, but even a strong man succumbs to death. “Yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?”
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Turn from him, that he may rest; literally, look…
Turn from him, that he may rest; literally, look away from him; i.e. "Cease to watch him and search him out so continually". (comp. Job_7:17, Job_7:18) "Then he will be able to have a breathing-time, an interval of peace and rest, before his departure from the earth." What Job had previously desired for himself (Job_10:20) he now asks for all humanity. Till he shall accomplish, as a hireling, his day. Hired labourers are glad when their day"s work is over. So man rejoices when life comes to an end.
The day"s work.
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Job prays that at least God will turn aside from vexing his short-lived creature, and let him finish his day"s work. Then he will be no more. This is a prayer of despair, and it springs from a one-sided view of life and providence. Yet it has its significance for us.
I MAN IS GOD"S SERVANT. He is more than the hireling, for whom a hard master cares nothing so long as he can exact the full tale of work. Still, he is the servant. We are not our own masters, and we are not put into the world to do our own will. Our business is to serve.
1. To work. To live for a purpose. Idleness is sin. The man who needs not work to earn his bread should still work to serve his Master.
2. To obey. Our business is just to do God"s will in God"s way. It is not for us to choose; our duty is to follow the Master"s orders.
II MAN HAS AN ALLOTTED TASK. Each man has his own life-work. Some may be slow in discovering their peculiar vocation. With many this may not be at all what they would have chosen for themselves. Still, if the thought of duty is foremost, all may see that there is something that duty calls them to do. It gives us a great sense of confidence to discover this, and to fling all wild fancies aside in the single desire to accomplish our true life-task. Often the only rule is "Do the next thing;" and if we will but do it, that is just the one task God has called us to.
III MAN HAS A DAY FOR HIS WORK.
1. A full day. There is the opportunity. God can never require what man is unable to perform. He does not seek the work of eternity from the creature of a day.
2. Only a day. There is no time to be lost. We have but one day for our day"s work. If we waste the morning we shall have no second opportunity. This short season should be well filled. If the work is hard it is not interminable. Diligence and patience are becoming in a man who has but one short life for his work.
IV MAN IS EXPECTED TO ACCOMPLISH HIS WORK. His business is not merely to sway his limbs and exercise his muscles, but to do something effective, to produce. We should all aim at a definite end in our life"s work. The village blacksmith can enjoy his rest because "Something attempted, something done, Has earned a night"s repose. A busy life may be a fruitless one. But no life need fail of fruitfulness, inasmuch as the work to which we are all called is designed to lead to useful ends.
V MAN CANNOT ACCOMPLISH HIS WORK WITHOUT GOD"S CO-OPERATION. Job prays that God will not hinder him. if, indeed, God did oppose a man in his life"s work, that man would be certainly doomed to failure, it is hard enough to succeed in any case; it is impossible to do so when God is frustrating our efforts. No one can defeat Providence. But it is not enough to be let alone. Job desires that God will look away from him, for the look of anger blasts and withers. But we may pray that God will look upon us in favour and helpfulness. The greatest success in the world was accomplished by men who were "fellow-workers with God". W.F.A. (2Co 6)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.