9:25 “My days 1 are swifter than a runner, 2
they speed by without seeing happiness.
14:2 He grows up 3 like a flower and then withers away; 4
he flees like a shadow, and does not remain. 5
1 tn The text has “and my days” following the thoughts in the previous section.
2 sn Job returns to the thought of the brevity of his life (7:6). But now the figure is the swift runner instead of the weaver’s shuttle.
3 tn Heb יָצָא (yatsa’, “comes forth”). The perfect verb expresses characteristic action and so is translated by the present tense (see GKC 329 §111.s).
4 tn The verb וַיִּמָּל (vayyimmal) is from the root מָלַל (malal, “to languish; to wither”) and not from a different root מָלַל (malal, “to cut off”).
5 tn The verb is “and he does not stand.” Here the verb means “to stay fixed; to abide.” The shadow does not stay fixed, but continues to advance toward darkness.