What is the meaning of Job 15:14? What is man Job 15:14 opens by asking, “What is man…?”. Eliphaz highlights the smallness and frailty of the human creature. Scripture often sets humanity’s finite nature against God’s majesty: • Psalm 8:4 – “What is man that You are mindful of him…?” reminds us that our significance comes from God’s attention, not innate greatness. • James 4:14 – Life is “a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” These verses underscore that people, while made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27), are still limited, dependent beings. The question invites humility before the Lord’s holiness and power. that he should be pure The next phrase (“…that he should be pure,”) presses whether a mere human can attain moral spotlessness. Scripture answers with a consistent “no.” • Romans 3:10 – “There is no one righteous, not even one.” • Isaiah 64:6 – “All our righteous acts are like filthy rags.” • 1 John 1:8 – “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves.” Eliphaz’s statement, though aimed critically at Job, expresses an accurate biblical truth: purity cannot arise from humanity’s own efforts; it must come from God. or one born of woman Calling man “one born of woman” points to shared human origin and universal fallenness. Birth into Adam’s line transmits a sin nature: • Psalm 51:5 – “Surely I was brought forth in iniquity.” • John 3:6 – “Flesh is born of flesh,” emphasizing that natural birth cannot yield spiritual life. • Ephesians 2:3 – We are “by nature children of wrath.” The phrase rules out any exceptions: every descendant of Eve inherits the same moral inability. that he should be righteous? The final clause (“…that he should be righteous?”) underscores the impossibility of self-produced righteousness. Yet the broader testimony of Scripture supplies God’s remedy: • Romans 3:21-24 – Righteousness is “revealed apart from the law… through faith in Jesus Christ.” • 2 Corinthians 5:21 – God made Christ “to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” • Philippians 3:9 – Paul desires to “be found in Him, not having my own righteousness… but that which is through faith in Christ.” While Eliphaz uses the truth of human sinfulness to accuse Job, the Holy Spirit uses it to point sinners to the only righteous One and His gracious gift. summary Job 15:14 stacks four rhetorical questions that dismantle human self-confidence: humanity is finite, inherently impure, universally fallen, and incapable of generating righteousness. These truths magnify God’s holiness and prepare the heart to receive the righteousness He freely provides in Christ. |
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