The Meaning of Job 14:7 Explained

Job 14:7

KJV: 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: 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: For there is hope for a tree: if it be cut down, it will sprout again, and its tender branch will not cease;

ASV: 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.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

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. 

What does Job 14:7 Mean?

Context Summary

Job 14:1-22 - Shall Man Live Again?
Continuing his appeal, Job looks from his own case to the condition of mankind generally, Job 14:1-6. All men are frail and full of trouble, Job 14:12; why should God bring a creature so weak into judgment with Him? Job 14:3. The sinfulness of man is universal-not one can be proved clean before God, Job 14:4. Since man is so frail Job pleads that he may not have such unwonted affliction, but may get some pleasure, Job 14:6, r.v., out of his brief day.
The anticipation of death as total extinction strengthens Job's appeal, Job 14:7-12. Of a tree there is hope that, if cut down, it will sprout again, Job 14:7-9. But at present Job sees no such hope for man. He dies, and is done with, as waters "fail from the sea," Job 14:10-12. This is a gloomy, despairing thought, and one against which the mind rebels as soon as uttered. Against the belief that death is the end of all things every man's better nature revolts. Hence the picture of another life beyond the present immediately rises to Job, Job 14:13-15. It may be only a yearning desire, for Job still asks the question, Job 14:14. Yet this desire, as that for a Daysman, Job 9:32-34, both suggested by the heart's despair, is equally answered by the gospel.
The hope for a future life is made stronger by the apparent injustices that exist now, Job 14:16-22. God's treatment of Job appears to be so severe that Job must perish under His hand, Job 14:18-22. A future life is surely necessary to remedy the inequalities of the present. Evidently this is not the place and time of judgment. [source]

Chapter Summary: Job 14

1  Job entreats God for favor, by the shortness of life, and certainty of death
7  He waits for his change
16  By sin the creature is subject to corruption

What do the individual words in Job 14:7 mean?

For there is for a tree hope if it is cut down that again it will sprout that its tender shoots not will cease
כִּ֤י יֵ֥שׁ לָעֵ֗ץ תִּ֫קְוָ֥ה אִֽם־ יִ֭כָּרֵת וְע֣וֹד יַחֲלִ֑יף וְ֝יֹֽנַקְתּ֗וֹ לֹ֣א תֶחְדָּֽל

יֵ֥שׁ  there  is 
Parse: Adverb
Root: יֵשׁ  
Sense: being, existence, substance, there is or are.
לָעֵ֗ץ  for  a  tree 
Parse: Preposition-l, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: עֵץ  
Sense: tree, wood, timber, stock, plank, stalk, stick, gallows.
תִּ֫קְוָ֥ה  hope 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: תִּקְוָה 
Sense: cord.
יִ֭כָּרֵת  it  is  cut  down 
Parse: Verb, Nifal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: כָּרַת  
Sense: to cut, cut off, cut down, cut off a body part, cut out, eliminate, kill, cut a covenant.
וְע֣וֹד  that  again 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adverb
Root: עֹוד  
Sense: a going round, continuance adv.
יַחֲלִ֑יף  it  will  sprout 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: חָלַף 
Sense: to pass on or away, pass through, pass by, go through, grow up, change, to go on from.
וְ֝יֹֽנַקְתּ֗וֹ  that  its  tender  shoots 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, feminine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: יׄונֶקֶת  
Sense: young plant, twig, young shoot.
תֶחְדָּֽל  will  cease 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person feminine singular
Root: חָדַל 
Sense: to stop, cease, desist, forego, cease to be, leave undone, forbear.