Ecclesiastes 4:3

4:3 But better than both is the one who has not been born ¹ 

and has not seen the evil things that are done on earth. ² 

Job 3:16

3:16 Or why ³  was ⁴  I not buried ⁵ 

like a stillborn infant, ⁶ 

like infants ⁷  who have never seen the light? ⁸ 

Psalms 58:8

58:8 Let them be ⁹  like a snail that melts away as it moves along! ¹⁰ 

Let them be like ¹¹  stillborn babies ¹²  that never see the sun!

Matthew 26:24

26:24 The Son of Man will go as it is written about him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would be better for him if he had never been born.”

[4:3]  ¹ tn The word “born” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[4:3]  ² tn Heb “under the sun.”

[3:16]  ³ tn The verb is governed by the interrogative of v. 12 that introduces this series of rhetorical questions.

[3:16]  ⁴ tn The verb is again the prefix conjugation, but the narrative requires a past tense, or preterite.

[3:16]  ⁵ tn Heb “hidden.” The LXX paraphrases: “an untimely birth, proceeding from his mother’s womb.”

[3:16]  ⁶ tn The noun נֵפֶל (nefel, “miscarriage”) is the abortive thing that falls (hence the verb) from the womb before the time is ripe (Ps 58:9). The idiom using the verb “to fall” from the womb means to come into the world (Isa 26:18). The epithet טָמוּן (tamun, “hidden”) is appropriate to the verse. The child comes in vain, and disappears into the darkness – it is hidden forever.

[3:16]  ⁷ tn The word עֹלְלִים (’olÿlim) normally refers to “nurslings.” Here it must refer to infants in general since it refers to a stillborn child.

[3:16]  ⁸ tn The relative clause does not have the relative pronoun; the simple juxtaposition of words indicates that it is modifying the infants.

[58:8]  ⁹ tn There is no “to be” verb in the Hebrew text at this point, but a jussive tone can be assumed based on vv. 6-7.

[58:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “like a melting snail [that] moves along.” A. Cohen (Psalms [SoBB], 184) explains that the text here alludes “to the popular belief that the slimy trail which the snail leaves in its track is the dissolution of its substance.”

[58:8]  ¹¹ tn The words “let them be like” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. The jussive mood is implied from the preceding context, and “like” is understood by ellipsis (see the previous line).

[58:8]  ¹² tn This rare word also appears in Job 3:16 and Eccles 6:3.