Job 1:21

1:21 He said, “Naked ¹  I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will return there. ²  The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. ³  May the name of the Lord ⁴  be blessed!”

Psalms 49:17

49:17 For he will take nothing with him when he dies;

his wealth will not follow him down into the grave. ⁵ 

Luke 12:20

12:20 But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life ⁶  will be demanded back from ⁷  you, but who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ ⁸ 

Luke 12:1

Fear God, Not People

12:1 Meanwhile, ⁹  when many thousands of the crowd had gathered so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus ¹⁰  began to speak first to his disciples, “Be on your guard against ¹¹  the yeast of the Pharisees, ¹²  which is hypocrisy. ¹³ 

Luke 6:7

6:7 The experts in the law ¹⁴  and the Pharisees ¹⁵  watched ¹⁶  Jesus ¹⁷  closely to see if ¹⁸  he would heal on the Sabbath, ¹⁹  so that they could find a reason to accuse him.

[1:21]  ¹ tn The adjective “naked” is functioning here as an adverbial accusative of state, explicative of the state of the subject. While it does include the literal sense of nakedness at birth, Job is also using it symbolically to mean “without possessions.”

[1:21]  ² sn While the first half of the couplet is to be taken literally as referring to his coming into this life, this second part must be interpreted only generally to refer to his departure from this life. It is parallel to 1 Tim 6:7, “For we have brought nothing into this world and so we cannot take a single thing out either.”

[1:21]  ³ tn The two verbs are simple perfects. (1) They can be given the nuance of gnomic imperfect, expressing what the sovereign God always does. This is the approach taken in the present translation. Alternatively (2) they could be referring specifically to Job’s own experience: “Yahweh gave [definite past, referring to his coming into this good life] and Yahweh has taken away” [present perfect, referring to his great losses]. Many English versions follow the second alternative.

[1:21]  ⁴ sn Some commentators are troubled by the appearance of the word “Yahweh” on the lips of Job, assuming that the narrator inserted his own name for God into the story-telling. Such thinking is based on the assumption that Yahweh was only a national god of Israel, unknown to anyone else in the ancient world. But here is a clear indication that a non-Israelite, Job, knew and believed in Yahweh.

[49:17]  ⁵ tn Heb “his glory will not go down after him.”

[12:20]  ⁶ tn Grk “your soul,” but ψυχή (yuch) is frequently used of one’s physical life. It clearly has that meaning in this context.

[12:20]  ⁷ tn Or “required back.” This term, ἀπαιτέω (apaitew), has an economic feel to it and is often used of a debt being called in for repayment (BDAG 96 s.v. 1).

[12:20]  ⁸ tn Grk “the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” The words “for yourself” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.

[12:1]  ⁹ tn The phrase ἐν οἷς (en Jois) can be translated “meanwhile.”

[12:1]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:1]  ¹¹ tn According to L&N 27.59, “to pay attention to, to keep on the lookout for, to be alert for, to be on your guard against.” This is another Lukan present imperative calling for constant vigilance.

[12:1]  ¹² sn See the note on Pharisees in 5:17.

[12:1]  ¹³ sn The pursuit of popularity can lead to hypocrisy, if one is not careful.

[6:7]  ¹⁴ tn Or “The scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 5:21.

[6:7]  ¹⁵ sn See the note on Pharisees in 5:17.

[6:7]  ¹⁶ sn The term translated watched…closely is emotive, since it carries negative connotations. It means they were watching him out of the corner of their eye or spying on him.

[6:7]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:7]  ¹⁸ tn This is a first class condition in the Greek text; Jesus’ opponents anticipated he would do this.

[6:7]  ¹⁹ sn The background for this is the view that only if life was endangered should one attempt to heal on the Sabbath (see the Mishnah, m. Shabbat 6.3; 12.1; 18.3; 19.2; m. Yoma 8.6).