Thomas Aquinas Commentary Job 14:1-4

"Man, that is born of a woman, Is of few days, and full of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: He fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not. And dost thou open thine eyes upon such a one, And bringest me into judgment with thee? Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one." — Job 14:1-4 (ASV)

Since this last point is particularly valuable for investigating the truth, he insists on clarifying it further. He now applies what he had said about himself specifically to the entire human race.

1. First, he explains the frailty of the human condition. Regarding our origin, he says, “Man, born of woman,” indicating we come from something frail. Regarding our duration, he says we “live for a short time.” And regarding our condition, he says we are “filled with many sorrows.” This explains what he said above: Do you show your power against the leaf which is driven by the wind? (verse 25).

2. Second, he addresses the things in which a person might glory. The first is the beauty of the body, with which a person is strong in youth. But this glory is nothing because it passes quickly like a flower. Thus, he says, “Who like a flower comes forth and is crushed”—that is, easily. The second is fame, which does not last long. And so he says, “and he flees like a shadow,” for no trace or memory of a passing shadow remains. The third is power and strength, with which someone tries to preserve himself and his possessions. Against this, he says, “he never rests in the same state.”

   These three things can refer to the three points the previous verse addresses. For “man born of woman” is like a flower that comes forth and is quickly crushed. He lives for such a brief time that he “flees like a shadow” whose trace does not remain. Therefore, he is “filled with many sorrows,” so that even though he might at times acquire prosperity and joy, he still “never rests in the same state.”

3. Third, he wonders about the attentiveness of divine providence toward humanity. It seems marvelous that God should have such great care for something so fragile and contemptible. Although everything is subject to divine providence, God’s care for humanity appears especially in three ways:

   1. God has given us laws and precepts for living. The author touches on this when he says, “and you consider it worthy to open your eyes on someone like this,” for one is said to “open his eyes” on another when he directs him and considers his ways.
   2. God rewards people for good deeds and punishes them for evil deeds. He touches on this when he says, “and bring him with yourself in judgment.”
   3. God adorns a person with the virtues by which he preserves himself as pure against the deformity of sin. He touches on this when he says, “Who can make clean one conceived of unclean seed?”

   The seed of man is certainly unclean, not by nature, but because of the infection of sinful desire. Yet a person conceived from this unclean seed is sometimes proven pure by virtue. Just as the power to make something hot belongs to that which is hot in itself, so the power to make something pure belongs to that which is pure in itself. And so he then says, “If not you alone,” who are truly pure in Yourself? For purity and cleanliness are found perfectly only in God, in whom there can be no potentiality or defect. Therefore, whatever is clean and pure in any way receives this purity and cleanness from God.