James 4:14

4:14 You ¹  do not know about tomorrow. What is your life like? ²  For you are a puff of smoke ³  that appears for a short time and then vanishes.

Job 14:2

14:2 He grows up ⁴  like a flower and then withers away; ⁵ 

he flees like a shadow, and does not remain. ⁶ 

Psalms 37:2

37:2 For they will quickly dry up like grass,

and wither away like plants. ⁷ 

Psalms 37:35-36

37:35 I have seen ruthless evil men ⁸ 

growing in influence, like a green tree grows in its native soil. ⁹ 

37:36 But then one passes by, and suddenly they have disappeared! ¹⁰ 

I looked for them, but they could not be found.

Psalms 90:5-6

90:5 You bring their lives to an end and they “fall asleep.” ¹¹ 

In the morning they are like the grass that sprouts up;

90:6 in the morning it glistens ¹²  and sprouts up;

at evening time it withers ¹³  and dries up.

Psalms 102:11

102:11 My days are coming to an end, ¹⁴ 

and I am withered like grass.

Psalms 103:15

103:15 A person’s life is like grass. ¹⁵ 

Like a flower in the field it flourishes,

Isaiah 40:6

40:6 A voice says, “Cry out!”

Another asks, ¹⁶  “What should I cry out?”

The first voice responds: ¹⁷  “All people are like grass, ¹⁸ 

and all their promises ¹⁹  are like the flowers in the field.

Matthew 6:30

6:30 And if this is how God clothes the wild grass, ²⁰  which is here today and tomorrow is tossed into the fire to heat the oven, ²¹  won’t he clothe you even more, ²²  you people of little faith?

Matthew 6:1

Pure-hearted Giving

6:1 “Be ²³  careful not to display your righteousness merely to be seen by people. ²⁴  Otherwise you have no reward with your Father in heaven.

Colossians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ²⁵  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

Colossians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ²⁶  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

Colossians 1:24

1:24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I fill up in my physical body – for the sake of his body, the church – what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ.

Colossians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ²⁷  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

Colossians 2:17

2:17 these are only ²⁸  the shadow of the things to come, but the reality ²⁹  is Christ! ³⁰ 

[4:14]  ¹ 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.

[4:14]  ² tn Or “you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow.”

[4:14]  ³ 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).

[14:2]  ⁴ 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).

[14:2]  ⁵ 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”).

[14:2]  ⁶ 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.

[37:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “like green vegetation.”

[37:35]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew uses the representative singular again here.

[37:35]  ⁹ tn Heb “being exposed [?] like a native, luxuriant.” The Hebrew form מִתְעָרֶה (mit’areh) appears to be a Hitpael participle from עָרָה (’arah, “be exposed”), but this makes no sense in this context. Perhaps the form is a dialectal variant of מִתְעָלָה (“giving oneself an air of importance”; see Jer 51:3), from עָלָה (’alah, “go up”; see P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 [WBC], 296). The noun אֶזְרָח (’ezrakh, “native, full citizen”) refers elsewhere to people, but here, where it is collocated with “luxuriant, green,” it probably refers to a tree growing in native soil.

[37:36]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and he passes by and, look, he is not [there].” The subject of the verb “passes by” is probably indefinite, referring to any passerby. Some prefer to change the form to first person, “and I passed by” (cf. NEB; note the first person verbal forms in preceding verse and in the following line).

[90:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “you bring them to an end [with] sleep.” The Hebrew verb זָרַם (zaram) has traditionally been taken to mean “flood” or “overwhelm” (note the Polel form of a root זרם in Ps 77:17, where the verb is used of the clouds pouring down rain). However, the verb form here is Qal, not Polel, and is better understood as a homonym meaning “to make an end [of life].” The term שֵׁנָה (shenah, “sleep”) can be taken as an adverbial accusative; it is a euphemism here for death (see Ps 76:5-6).

[90:6]  ¹² tn Or “flourishes.” The verb is used of a crown shining in Ps 132:18. Perhaps here in Ps 90:6 it refers to the glistening of the grass in the morning dew.

[90:6]  ¹³ tn The Polel form of this verb occurs only here. Perhaps the form should be emended to a Qal (which necessitates eliminating the final lamed [ל] as dittographic). See Ps 37:2.

[102:11]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “my days [are] like an extended [or “lengthening”] shadow,” that is, like a late afternoon shadow made by the descending sun that will soon be swallowed up by complete darkness.

[103:15]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “[as for] mankind, like grass [are] his days.” The Hebrew noun אֱנוֹשׁ (’enosh) is used here generically of human beings. What is said is true of all mankind.

[40:6]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and he says.” Apparently a second “voice” responds to the command of the first “voice.”

[40:6]  ¹⁷ tn The words “the first voice responds” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The first voice tells the second one what to declare.

[40:6]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “all flesh is grass.” The point of the metaphor is explained in v. 7.

[40:6]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and all his loyalty.” The antecedent of the third masculine suffix is בָּשָׂר (basar, “flesh”), which refers collectively to mankind. The LXX, apparently understanding the antecedent as “grass,” reads “glory,” but חֶסֶד (khesed) rarely, if ever, has this nuance. The normal meaning of חֶסֶד (“faithfulness, loyalty, devotion”) fits very well in the argument. Human beings and their faithfulness (verbal expressions of faithfulness are specifically in view; cf. NRSV “constancy”) are short-lived and unreliable, in stark contrast to the decrees and promises of the eternal God.

[6:30]  ²⁰ tn Grk “grass of the field.”

[6:30]  ²¹ tn Grk “into the oven.” The expanded translation “into the fire to heat the oven” has been used to avoid misunderstanding; most items put into modern ovens are put there to be baked, not burned.

[6:30]  ²² sn The phrase even more is a typical form of rabbinic argumentation, from the lesser to the greater. If God cares for the little things, surely he will care for the more important things.

[6:1]  ²³ tc ‡ Several mss (א L Z Θ Ë¹ 33 892 1241 1424 al) have δέ (de, “but, now”) at the beginning of this verse; the reading without δέ is supported by B D W 0250 ˹³ Ï lat. A decision is difficult, but apparently the conjunction was added by later scribes to indicate a transition in the thought-flow of the Sermon on the Mount. NA²⁷ has δέ in brackets, indicating reservations about its authenticity.

[6:1]  ²⁴ tn Grk “before people in order to be seen by them.”

[1:1]  ²⁵ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ²⁶ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ²⁷ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[2:17]  ²⁸ tn The word “only,” though not in the Greek text, is supplied in the English translation to bring out the force of the Greek phrase.

[2:17]  ²⁹ tn Grk “but the body of Christ.” The term body here, when used in contrast to shadow (σκιά, skia) indicates the opposite meaning, i.e., the reality or substance itself.

[2:17]  ³⁰ tn The genitive τοῦ Χριστοῦ (tou Cristou) is appositional and translated as such: “the reality is Christ.”