Job 14:2

“He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down, etc.] As the flower comes from the earth, so does man; as it comes out of the stalk, so man out of his mother’s womb; as the flower flourishes for a while, and looks gay and beautiful, so man while in youth, in health and prosperity. Job, doubtless, has respect to his own case before his troubles came upon him, when he was possessed of all that substance, which made him the greatest man of the east; when his children were like olive plants around his table, and his servants at his command, and he in perfect health of body: and as a flower flourishes for a little while, and then withers; no sooner is it come to its full blow, but presently…”

“(Psa 90:6; see on Job 8:9).”

“He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down - Nothing can be more obvious and more beautiful than this, and the image has been employed by writers in all ages, but nowhere with more beauty, or with more frequency than in the Bible; see Isaiah 40:6; Psalms 37:2; Psalms 90:6; Psalms 103:15. Next to the Bible, it is probable that Shakespeare has employed the image with the most exquisite beauty of any poet: This is the state of man; today he puts forth The tender leaves of hope, tomorrow blossoms, And bears his blushing honors thick upon him; The third day comes a frost a killing frost, And - when he thinks, good easy man, full surely His greatness is a ripening - nips his root, And then he…”

“Flower - The flower is fading, and all its beauty soon withers and is gone. The shadow is fleeting, and its very being will soon be lost in the shadows of night. Of neither do we make any account, in neither do we put any confidence. Job 14:4”

“like: Psa 90:5-9, Psa 92:7, Psa 92:12, Psa 103:15, Psa 103:16; Isa 40:6-8; Jam 1:10, Jam 1:11, Jam 4:14; Pe1 1:24 fleeth: Job 8:9, Job 9:25, Job 9:26; Ch1 29:15; Psa 102:11, Psa 144:4; Ecc 8:13 Job 14:3”