Job 14:8

⁷For there is hope for a tree: If it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its tender shoots will not fail. ⁸If its roots grow old in the ground and its stump dies in the soil, ⁹at the scent of water it will bud and put forth twigs like a sapling.

Summary

This verse from the book of Job uses the analogy of a tree to illustrate the hopelessness of a person who dies without the prospect of resurrection. Just as a tree can sprout again and grow new branches after being cut down, so too, there is hope for a person to live again after death. Job reflects on the possibility of resurrection and new life, offering a glimmer of hope amidst the despair and suffering he is experiencing. It points to the belief in life after death and the promise of restoration beyond the grave, emphasizing the eternal nature of the soul and the ultimate victory over death through faith in God.

Commentary

John Gill

John Gill Bible Commentary

Though the root thereof wax old in the earth,.... Lies long there, and is become dry, and seems to be consumed, on which account there may be the less hope of its flourishing: and the stock thereof die in the ground; which may make it still more improbable; for this is not to be understood with some interpreters (y) of the stock or trunk of the tree cut down, and lying along on the earth, and in the dust of it; though it may be observed, that even such a stock or trunk, separated from the root, and as it lies along, will sprout again, as particularly in elms: but it may rather mean, since it is said to be "in the ground", that part of the stock or stump left in the ground, from whence the roots part and spread in the earth; and even though this dies, or at least so seems, yet there being still life and vigour in the roots, they send forth suckers. (y) So Piscator and Cocceius.