Job 10:21

10:21 before I depart, never to return,

to the land of darkness

and the deepest shadow,

Job 16:22

16:22 For the years that lie ahead are few,

and then I will go on the way of no return.


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.”

tn See Job 3:5.

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.”

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.”