Job 14:21

Job 14:21 His sons come to honour, and he knoweth [it] not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth [it] not of them.

Ver. 21. His sons come to honour, and he knoweth it not] While he lieth sick, he regardeth no earthly thing, no, not what becometh of his children (formerly his greatest care), whether they be advanced or impaired in their outward condition, Omnis hi Ascanio churi stat cura parentis (Vir.). As when he is dead he can take no knowledge of anything done in this world, Isa 63:16 Ecc 2:19; Ecc 9:6, be his children or friends rich or poor, high or low, he is both ignorant and insensible. It was a base slander, published by a Jesuit, some years after Queen Elizabeth’s death, That as she died without sense or feeling of God’s mercies, so that she wished she might after her death hang a while in the air, to see what striving would be for her kingdom. As for that opinion of some Papists, That the dead do sometimes return into the land of the living, that they know how things go here, and make report thereof to those in heaven, it is contrary to the whole Scripture.

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.

Job 14:21. His sons come to honour — Hebrews יכבדו, jicbedu: increase either in number or in greatness. The LXX. render it, πολλων δε γενομενων, become many; and the word ויצערו, vejitzgnaru, and they are brought low, they interpret in the opposite sense, εαν δε ολιγοι γενωνται, if they be diminished, or become few. He knoweth it not, &c. — Either, 1st, He is ignorant of all such events; or, 2d, Is not concerned nor affected with them. A dead or dying man minds not these things. The consideration of this should moderate our cares concerning our children and families. God will know what becomes of them or happens to them, when we are gone. To him, therefore, let us commit them: with him let us leave them; and not burden ourselves with needless, fruitless cares concerning them.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

One striking trait is selected from the sad picture of the severance of the dead from all that passes in the world (Ecc 9:5), namely, the utter separation of parents and children.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 21. His sons come to honour] When dead, he is equally indifferent and unconscious whether his children have met with a splendid or oppressive lot in life; for as to this world, when man dies, in that day all his thoughts perish.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

21. “The dead know not anything … also their love … is now perished,” Ecc_9:5-6.

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.

His sons come to honour,.... Or "are multiplied" (s), see Nah 3:15; their families increase like a flock, become very numerous, which was reckoned a great blessing; or "become heavy" (t); being loaded with gold and silver, with riches and honour, raised to great grandeur and dignity, and possessed of much wealth and large estates:

and he knoweth it not; the man whose countenance is changed and sent away into another world; for the dead know nothing of the affairs of this life; a good man indeed after death knows more of God and Christ, of the doctrines of grace, and mysteries of Providence; but he knows nothing of the affairs of his family he has left behind: some understand this of a man on his death bed while alive, who, when he is told of the promotion of his sons to honour, or of the increase of their worldly substance, takes no notice of it; either being deprived of his senses by the disease upon him; or through the greatness of his pains and agonies, or the intenseness of his thoughts about a future state, does not notice what is told him, nor rejoice at it; which in the time of health would have been pleasing to him: but the first sense seems best:

and they are brought low, that is, his sons; or "are diminished" (u); lessened in their numbers, one taken off after another, and so his family decreases; or they come into low circumstances of life, are reduced in the world, and brought to straits and difficulties, to want and poverty:

but he perceiveth it not of them; he is not sensible of their troubles, and so not grieved at them; see Isa 63:16; or when he is told of them on his death bed, he does not take notice of them, or regard them, having enough to grapple with himself, and his mind intent on his everlasting state, or carried above them in the views of the love, grace, and covenant of God; see Sa2 23:5.

(s) , Sept. "multiplicabuntur", Vatablus, Bolducius. (t) "Multi vel graves sunt", Drusius; "graves erunt et onusti", Mercerus. (u) , Sept. "minuuntur, numero pauci sunt", Drusius.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

His sons come to honour, and he knoweth it not - He is unacquainted with what is passing on the earth. Even should that occur which is most gratifying to a parent’s heart; should his children rise to stations of honor and influence, he would not be permitted to enjoy the happiness which every father feels when his sons do well. This is suggested as one of the evils of death.

They are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them - He is not permitted to sympathize with them, or to sustain them in their trials. This is another of the evils of death. When his children need his counsel and advice, he is not permitted to give it. He is taken away from his family, and revisits them no more.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Or dishonour. He cannot naturally be informed. (Menochius) --- God may, however, reveal to souls departed, what may increase their accidental happiness or misery. (Haydock) --- Hence the Church prays to the saints. Job is speaking chiefly of the body in the grave, and of what appear exteriorly. During life man cannot foresee the state of his children; not in the other world, would their condition render him happy or otherwise. (Calmet) (Mercer) --- Septuagint, "If his sons be many,...or....few, he knows not." (Haydock) --- He is not affected in the same manner as he would be, if living. (Worthington)

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).

He knoweth it not; either,

1. Is ignorant of all such events; or,

2. Is not concerned nor affected with them. A dead or dying man minds not these things.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

21. He knoweth it not — The dead are ignorant of what takes place among the living. Compare Ecc_9:5-6. The poet laureate has transferred to his page the painful thought of Job.

His little daughter, whose sweet face

He kissed, taking his last embrace,

Becomes dishonour to her race —

His sons grow up that bear his name,

Some grow to honour, some to shame;

But he is chill to praise or blame.

— TENNYSON — Two Voices.

On the contrary, the religion of Confucius, which consists of the worship of ancestors, hinges upon the knowledge that the dead still retain of the living. “They are regarded as watching with affectionate interest all the varied fortunes of their progeny, and urging them along the beaten road of duty to a higher and happier state of being.” — HARDWICKE, Christ, etc. This dogma, apparently harmless, deteriorated into the dethronement of Deity and the worship of the dead. The ethics of Aristotle (i, chap. ix) read almost like a comment upon our text. He argues that “if any thing does pierce the veil and reach them, it must be something trivial and small, either in itself or to them.”

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

His sons come to honour, and he knoweth it not. The meaning seems to be, "If his sons come to honour, it is of no advantage to him; in the remote and wholly separate region of Sheol he will not be aware of it." The view is more dismal than that of Aristotle, who argues that the fate of those whom they have loved and left on earth will be sure to penetrate, in course of time (epi tina cronon ) to the departed, and cause them a certain amount of joy or sorrow ("Eth. Nic.," 1:11). And they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them. Equally, in the opposite case, if his sons are brought low, he is ignorant of it, and unaffected by their fate.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Knoweth not - Either is ignorant of all such events: or, is not concerned or affected with them. A dead or dying man minds not these things.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

become wealthy Heb. יכבדו, lit. they will become heavy. They will become heavy with silver and gold, but he will not know.

and they become poor And they have little of any good, but he will not understand it.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.