Holy Week · Holy Saturday · Year B
Job 14:1-14 or Lamentations 3:1-9, 19-24
Job’s Reply to Zophar
March 27, 2027
Overview & Insights
“If a man dies, shall he live again?” (Job 14:14)
As the discussion comes to the end of the first cycle (Job 3–14), Job is not persuaded by the arguments of Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar. All three of the friends agree that Job must repent of his sin and then God will restore him to the blessing he enjoyed previously. In the first part of this long speech of seventy-five verses, Job speaks to his friends (12:1–13:12). After a transitional section (13:13–19), in which Job decides to turn away from his friends, he addresses God (13:20–14:22). Job sees that his only hope is to argue his case before God, because he cannot convince his friends that he is innocent. In chapter 12, Job presents evidence from his observation of life that indicates God often acts in ways that do not fit the retribution principle, which the friends have insisted on using as their measure for evaluating Job’s situation.
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Commentary
David Guzik Commentary on Job 14 Enduring Word · David Guzik
Evangelical exposition of Job's lament on the brevity of life and his hope that the dead might live again.
Job 14:14 Commentaries BibleHub
Classic parallel commentaries on Job's pivotal question, If a man dies, shall he live again?
Job 14:1 Hebrew Interlinear BibleHub
Word-by-word Hebrew with parsing for study of Job's meditation on human frailty.
Lamentations 3 (Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary) studylight.org
StudyLight's homiletical commentary works through the chapter, including the steadfast love verses this Holy Saturday reading turns on.
Background & Word Study
Job: Book Overview Enter the Bible
Introduction to Job's structure and its wrestling with suffering, mortality, and God's justice.
Book of Job Overview BibleProject
Animated overview of Job's argument about suffering that sets the context for chapter 14.
Job 14 Sefaria
Hebrew and English text with classical Jewish commentaries such as Rashi and Ibn Ezra.
Theme: Wisdom Literature BibleProject
The wisdom tradition to which Job belongs, wrestling with suffering and mortality.
Questions preachers ask
What does Job ask in chapter 14?
From the depth of grief Job laments the brevity of human life and dares to hope, asking whether one who dies might live again.
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