Verse Lens · Concise explanation
Job 14:6 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 6. 6Turn from him, that he may rest, till he shall accomplish, as an hireling, his day.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Job 14:6 closes the thought unit with the words “Turn from him, that he may rest, till he shall accomplish, as an hireling, his day.” Job states “Turn from him, that he may rest, till he shall accomplish, as an hireling, his day” as one poetic claim in Job Pleads for Rest in a Brief and Troubled Life.
Read It With
- Job 14:1–14:6
Read Job 14:6 with 14:1–14:6. Read alone, “Turn from him, that he may rest, till he shall accomplish, as an hireling, his day” could lose its speaker, the question or claim it develops, and the unit's outcome. The complete movement establishes: Job describes mortals as short-lived, flower-like, shadowy, and impure, then asks God to turn aside so a laborer's day can finish.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Job continues from Job 13:23–13:28: Job asks for the number and nature of his sins, laments divine hiddenness and pursuit, and depicts himself as decaying and moth-eaten. Job 14:1–14:6 now develops the next distinct movement: Job describes mortals as short-lived, flower-like, shadowy, and impure, then asks God to turn aside so a laborer's day can finish. Within that relationship, Job 14:6 closes the thought unit through “Turn from him, that he may rest, till he shall accomplish, as an hireling, his day.”
Read Job 14:1–6 together
Why these verses belong together: Job 14:1–14:6 follows the pinned KJV paragraphing and holds together one sustained speech movement: “Job Pleads for Rest in a Brief and Troubled Life.” The next unit begins with a new stanza, question sequence, scene, speaker response, or rhetorical turn.
Verse 1. 1 Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.
Verse 2. 2 He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.
Verse 3. 3 And dost thou open thine eyes upon such an one, and bringest me into judgment with thee?
Verse 4. 4 Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.
Verse 5. 5 Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass;
Verse 6. 6 Turn from him, that he may rest, till he shall accomplish, as an hireling, his day.
What Remains True
Job describes mortals as short-lived, flower-like, shadowy, and impure, then asks God to turn aside so a laborer's day can finish. Job's testimony and protest deserve a full hearing without making any isolated poetic claim the book's exhaustive final word. Job 14:6 carries that bounded truth through “Turn from him, that he may rest, till he shall accomplish, as an hireling, his day.”
How It Can Shape Life
- Hear Job's full claim in Job 14:1–14:6, test it within the dialogue and final verdict, and let truthful protest prompt listening, evidence, and humble response rather than correction by formula. Preserve this unit-specific boundary in the action: Creaturely limits and suffering are not proof that a particular person is morally blameworthy, and the plea is not a reason to withdraw compassionate care. The verse-specific evidence to retain is “Turn from him, that he may rest, till he shall accomplish, as an hireling, his day.”
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Job 14:1–14:6 — Job Pleads for Rest in a Brief and Troubled LifeSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Job 14:1–14:6, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Job
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a complete apparatus or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Job.xml, OSIS 14:1–14:6
Open the fixed Hebrew Job file ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible First Edition Notes: Job
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006; current official PDF
Supports: Verse-level controls for Job's difficult Hebrew, syntax, older KJV language, textual issues, speech boundaries, and alternatives in Job 14:1–14:6.
Exact location: Official NET Job PDF, exact translator, study, and textual notes attached to Job 14:1–14:6
Open the official NET Job PDF ↗