"Man That Is Born Of A Woman Is Of Few Days, And Full Of Trouble"
Last Updated on May 24, 2015, by eNotes Editorial. Word Count: 174
Context: The Book of Job is the story of an upright and pious man whom God allows Satan to afflict in order to test his faithfulness since Satan has claimed that Job is upright only because God has "made an hedge about him." Satan is certain that if Job's possessions be taken from him, "he will curse thee [God] to thy face." The trial is made: Job's family is killed, his belongings are swept away and he is afflicted with boils. Then three of his friends ("Job's comforters") come to him to prove that he must have sinned, else God would not have punished him, for God is always just. In the course of a long lamentation, in which he maintains that he has not sinned and that God owes him justice, Job touches upon the brevity of human life:
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.
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