“His sons come to honour, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them.”
"His sons come to honor, and he does not know it; they are brought low, and he perceives it not." The dead human is not even aware of his descendants' fates. This verse emphasizes the utter unconsciousness of death—the human is severed not only from life but from knowledge of what happens to those he loves. The verse makes death not merely death but deprivation of relationship and awareness.
Church Fathers on Job 14:21
Whether his sons be in honour or dishonour, he perceiveth not. For as they, who are still living, know nothing of the souls of the dead, in what place they are held; so the dead, concerning the life of those living after them in the flesh, know not at all how it is ordered; in that both the life of the spirit is far from the life of the flesh, and as the corporeal and incorporeal are things different in kind, so are they parted in knowledge. Which however is not to be…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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