14:1 “Man, born of woman, 1
lives but a few days, 2 and they are full of trouble. 3
27:1 Do not boast 4 about tomorrow; 5
for you do not know 6 what a day may bring forth.
4:13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into this or that town 7 and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.” 4:14 You 8 do not know about tomorrow. What is your life like? 9 For you are a puff of smoke 10 that appears for a short time and then vanishes. 4:15 You ought to say instead, 11 “If the Lord is willing, then we will live and do this or that.”
1 tn The first of the threefold apposition for אָדָם (’adam, “man”) is “born of a woman.” The genitive (“woman”) after a passive participle denotes the agent of the action (see GKC 359 §116.l).
2 tn The second description is simply “[is] short of days.” The meaning here is that his life is short (“days” being put as the understatement for “years”).
3 tn The third expression is “consumed/full/sated – with/of – trouble/restlessness.” The latter word, רֹגֶז (rogez), occurred in Job 3:17; see also the idea in 10:15.
4 tn The form אַל־תִּתְהַלֵּל (’al-tithallel) is the Hitpael jussive negated; it is from the common verb “to praise,” and so in this setting means “to praise oneself” or “to boast.”
5 sn The word “tomorrow” is a metonymy of subject, meaning what will be done tomorrow, or in the future in general.
6 sn The expression “you do not know” balances the presumption of the first line, reminding the disciple of his ignorance and therefore his need for humility (e.g., Matt 6:34; Luke 12:20; Jas 4:13-16).
7 tn Or “city.”
8 tn Grk “who” (continuing the description of the people of v. 13). Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
9 tn Or “you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow.”
10 tn Or “a vapor.” The Greek word ἀτμίς (atmis) denotes a swirl of smoke arising from a fire (cf. Gen 19:28; Lev 16:13; Joel 2:30 [Acts 2:19]; Ezek 8:11).
11 tn Grk “instead of your saying.”