10:21 before I depart, never to return, 1
to the land of darkness
and the deepest shadow, 2
16:22 For the years that lie ahead are few, 3
and then I will go on the way of no return. 4
1 sn The verbs are simple, “I go” and “I return”; but Job clearly means before he dies. A translation of “depart” comes closer to communicating this. The second verb may be given a potential imperfect translation to capture the point. The NIV offered more of an interpretive paraphrase: “before I go to the place of no return.”
2 tn See Job 3:5.
3 tn The expression is “years of number,” meaning that they can be counted, and so “the years are few.” The verb simply means “comes” or “lie ahead.”
4 tn The verbal expression “I will not return” serves here to modify the journey that he will take. It is “the road [of] I will not return.”