Proverbs 27:24

27:24 for riches do not last ¹  forever,

nor does a crown last ²  from generation to generation.

Job 1:14-17

1:14 and a messenger came to Job, saying, “The oxen were plowing ³  and the donkeys were grazing beside them, 1:15 and the Sabeans ⁴  swooped down ⁵  and carried them all away, and they killed ⁶  the servants with the sword! ⁷  And I – only I alone ⁸  – escaped to tell you!”

1:16 While this one was still speaking, ⁹  another messenger arrived ¹⁰  and said, “The fire of God ¹¹  has fallen from heaven ¹²  and has burned up the sheep and the servants – it has consumed them! And I – only I alone – escaped to tell you!”

1:17 While this one was still speaking another messenger arrived and said, “The Chaldeans ¹³  formed three bands and made a raid ¹⁴  on the camels and carried them all away, and they killed the servants with the sword! ¹⁵  And I – only I alone – escaped to tell you!”

Psalms 39:6

39:6 Surely people go through life as mere ghosts. ¹⁶ 

Surely they accumulate worthless wealth

without knowing who will eventually haul it away.” ¹⁷ 

Ecclesiastes 5:13-14

Materialism Thwarts Enjoyment of Life

5:13 Here is ¹⁸  a misfortune ¹⁹  on earth ²⁰  that I have seen:

Wealth hoarded by its owner to his own misery.

5:14 Then that wealth was lost through bad luck; ²¹ 

although he fathered a son, he has nothing left to give him. ²² 

Matthew 6:19

Lasting Treasure

6:19 “Do not accumulate for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth ²³  and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal.

Matthew 6:1

Pure-hearted Giving

6:1 “Be ²⁴  careful not to display your righteousness merely to be seen by people. ²⁵  Otherwise you have no reward with your Father in heaven.

Matthew 6:17

6:17 When ²⁶  you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face,

James 5:1-2

Warning to the Rich

5:1 Come now, you rich! Weep and cry aloud ²⁷  over the miseries that are coming on you. 5:2 Your riches have rotted and your clothing has become moth-eaten.

[27:24]  ¹ tn Heb “riches are not forever” (so KJV, NASB); TEV “wealth is not permanent.” The term “last” is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[27:24]  ² tn The conjunction and the particle indicate that the same nuance continues here in the second colon, and so “last” has been supplied here as well.

[1:14]  ³ tn The use of the verb “to be” with the participle gives emphasis to the continuing of the action in the past (GKC 360 §116.r).

[1:15]  ⁴ tn The LXX has “the spoilers spoiled them” instead of “the Sabeans swooped down.” The translators might have connected the word to שְָׁבָה (shavah, “to take captive”) rather than שְׁבָא (shÿva’, “Sabeans”), or they may have understood the name as general reference to all types of Bedouin invaders from southern Arabia (HALOT 1381 s.v. שְׁבָא 2.c).

[1:15]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew is simply “fell” (from נָפַל, nafal). To “fall upon” something in war means to attack quickly and suddenly.

[1:15]  ⁶ sn Job’s servants were probably armed and gave resistance, which would be the normal case in that time. This was probably why they were “killed with the sword.”

[1:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “the edge/mouth of the sword”; see T. J. Meek, “Archaeology and a Point of Hebrew Syntax,” BASOR 122 (1951): 31-33.

[1:15]  ⁸ tn The pleonasms in the verse emphasize the emotional excitement of the messenger.

[1:16]  ⁹ tn The particle עוֹד (’od, “still”) is used with the participle to express the past circumstances when something else happened (IBHS 625-26 §37.6d).

[1:16]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew expression is literally “yet/this/speaking/and this/ arrived.” The sentence uses the two demonstratives as a contrasting pair. It means “this one was still speaking when that one arrived” (IBHS 308-9 §17.3c). The word “messenger” has been supplied in the translation in vv. 16, 17, and 18 for clarity and for stylistic reasons.

[1:16]  ¹¹ sn The “fire of God” would refer to lightning (1 Kgs 18:38; 2 Kgs 1:12; cf. NAB, NCV, TEV). The LXX simply has “fire.” The first blow came from enemies; the second from heaven, which might have confused Job more as to the cause of his troubles. The use of the divine epithet could also be an indication of the superlative degree; see D. W. Thomas, “A Consideration of Some Unusual Ways of Expressing the Superlative in Hebrew,” VT 3 (1953): 209-24.

[1:16]  ¹² tn Or “from the sky.” The Hebrew word שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven[s]” or “sky” depending on the context.

[1:17]  ¹³ sn The name may have been given to the tribes that roamed between the Euphrates and the lands east of the Jordan. These are possibly the nomadic Kaldu who are part of the ethnic Aramaeans. The LXX simply has “horsemen.”

[1:17]  ¹⁴ tn The verb פָּשַׁט (pashat) means “to hurl themselves” upon something (see Judg 9:33, 41). It was a quick, plundering raid to carry off the camels.

[1:17]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “with the edge/mouth of the sword.”

[39:6]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “surely, as an image man walks about.” The preposition prefixed to “image” indicates identity here.

[39:6]  ¹⁷ tc Heb “Surely [in] vain they strive, he accumulates and does not know who gathers them.” The MT as it stands is syntactically awkward. The verb forms switch from singular (“walks about”) to plural (“they strive”) and then back to singular (“accumulates and does not know”), even though the subject (generic “man”) remains the same. Furthermore there is no object for the verb “accumulates” and no plural antecedent for the plural pronoun (“them”) attached to “gathers.” These problems can be removed if one emends the text from הֶבֶל יֶהֱמָיוּן (hevel yehemaun, “[in] vain they strive”) to הֶבְלֵי הָמוֹן (hevley hamon, “vain things of wealth”). This assumes a misdivision in the MT and a virtual dittography of vav (ו) between the mem and nun of המון. The present translation follows this emendation.

[5:13]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “there is.” The term יֵשׁ (yesh, “there is”) is often used in aphorisms to assert the existence of a particular situation that occurs sometimes. It may indicate that the situation is not the rule but that it does occur on occasion, and may be nuanced “sometimes” (e.g., Prov 11:24; 13:7, 23; 14:12; 16:25; 18:24; 20:15; Eccl 2:21; 4:8; 5:12; 6:1; 7:15 [2x]; 8:14 [3x]).

[5:13]  ¹⁹ tn The noun רָעָה (ra’ah, “evil”) probably means “misfortune” (HALOT 1263 s.v. רָעָה 4) or “injustice, wrong” (HALOT 1262 s.v. רָעָה 2.b). The phrase רָעָה רַבָּה (ra’ah rabbah) connotes “grave injustice” or “great misfortune” (Eccl 2:17; 5:12, 15; 6:1; 10:5).

[5:13]  ²⁰ tn Heb “under the sun.”

[5:14]  ²¹ tn Or “through a bad business deal.” The basic meaning of עִנְיַן (’inyan) is “business; affair” (HALOT 857 s.v. עִנְיָן) or “occupation; task” (BDB 775 s.v. עִנְיָן). The term is used in a specific sense in reference to business activity (Eccl 8:16), as well as in a more general sense in reference to events that occur on earth (Eccl 1:13; 4:8). BDB suggests that the phrase עִנְיַן רָע (’inyan ra’) in 5:13 refers to a bad business deal (BDB 775 s.v. עִנְיָן); however, HALOT suggests that it means “bad luck” (HALOT 857 s.v. עִנְיָן). The English versions reflect the same two approaches: (1) bad luck: “some misfortune” (NAB, NIV) and (2) a bad business deal: “a bad investment” (NASB), “a bad venture” (RSV, NRSV, MLB), “some unlucky venture” (Moffatt, NJPS), “an unlucky venture” (NEB), “an evil adventure” (ASV).

[5:14]  ²² tn Heb “there is nothing in his hand.”

[6:19]  ²³ tn The term σής (shs) refers to moths in general. It is specifically the larvae of moths that destroy clothing by eating holes in it (L&N 4.49; BDAG 922 s.v.). See Jas 5:2, which mentions “moth-eaten” clothing.

[6:1]  ²⁴ tc ‡ Several mss (א L Z Θ Ë¹ 33 892 1241 1424 al) have δέ (de, “but, now”) at the beginning of this verse; the reading without δέ is supported by B D W 0250 ˹³ Ï lat. A decision is difficult, but apparently the conjunction was added by later scribes to indicate a transition in the thought-flow of the Sermon on the Mount. NA²⁷ has δέ in brackets, indicating reservations about its authenticity.

[6:1]  ²⁵ tn Grk “before people in order to be seen by them.”

[6:17]  ²⁶ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[5:1]  ²⁷ tn Or “wail”; Grk “crying aloud.”