At the scent of water it will flourish And produce sprigs like a plant.
Parallel translations
- WEB yet through the scent of water it will bud, and sprout boughs like a plant.
- KJV Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant.
- BSB at the scent of water it will bud and put forth twigs like a sapling.
- NKJV Yet at the scent of water it will bud And bring forth branches like a plant.
- NLT at the scent of water it will bud and sprout again like a new seedling.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
At the mere scent of water a dead-looking stump can bud again. Life can revive from what seemed lifeless.
Overview
Job marvels that 'through the scent of water' the tree will bud and sprout boughs like a new plant. A trace of moisture revives what appeared dead. This vivid picture of renewal sharpens Job's question about whether man, unlike the tree, has any such hope beyond death.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Rom 11:17–24But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them, and became partaker with them of the root and of the richness of the olive tree;
- Ezek 19:10“‘Your mother was like a vine, in your blood, planted by the waters. It was fruitful and full of branches by reason of many waters.
- Ezek 17:3–10and say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “A great eagle with great wings and long feathers, full of feathers, which had various colors, came to Lebanon, and took the top of the cedar.
- Ezek 17:22–24“Thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘I will also take some of the lofty top of the cedar, and will plant it. I will crop off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and I will plant it on a high and lofty mountain.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Job's cry for a mediator who can lay his hand on both God and man, and his confidence that 'my Redeemer lives' and will stand on the earth, reaches forward to Jesus the living Redeemer.
How Job 14:9 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.