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!”

Job 27:19

27:19 He goes to bed wealthy, but will do so no more. ⁵ 

When he opens his eyes, it is all gone. ⁶ 

Ecclesiastes 5:15

5:15 Just as he came forth from his mother's womb, naked will he return as he came,

and he will take nothing in his hand that he may carry away from his toil.

Luke 12:20

12:20 But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life ⁷  will be demanded back from ⁸  you, but who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ ⁹ 

Luke 16:24

16:24 So ¹⁰  he called out, ¹¹  ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus ¹²  to dip the tip of his finger ¹³  in water and cool my tongue, because I am in anguish ¹⁴  in this fire.’ ¹⁵ 

Luke 16:1

The Parable of the Clever Steward

16:1 Jesus ¹⁶  also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who was informed of accusations ¹⁷  that his manager ¹⁸  was wasting ¹⁹  his assets.

Luke 6:7

6:7 The experts in the law ²⁰  and the Pharisees ²¹  watched ²²  Jesus ²³  closely to see if ²⁴  he would heal on the Sabbath, ²⁵  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.

[27:19]  ⁵ tc The verb is the Niphal יֵאָסֵף (ye’asef), from אָסַף (’asaf, “to gather”). So, “he lies down rich, but he is not gathered.” This does not make much sense. It would mean “he will not be gathered for burial,” but that does not belong here. Many commentators accept the variant יֹאסִף (yo’sif) stood for יוֹסִיף (yosif, “will [not] add”). This is what the LXX and the Syriac have. This leads to the interpretive translation that “he will do so no longer.”

[27:19]  ⁶ tn Heb “and he is not.” One view is that this must mean that he dies, not that his wealth is gone. R. Gordis (Job, 295) says the first part should be made impersonal: “when one opens one’s eyes, the wicked is no longer there.” E. Dhorme (Job, 396) has it more simply: “He has opened his eyes, and it is for the last time.” But the other view is that the wealth goes overnight. In support of this is the introduction into the verse of the wealthy. The RSV, NRSV, ESV, and NLT take it that “wealth is gone.”

[12:20]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Grk “the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” The words “for yourself” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.

[16:24]  ¹⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous actions in the narrative.

[16:24]  ¹¹ tn Grk “calling out he said”; this is redundant in contemporary English style and has been simplified to “he called out.”

[16:24]  ¹² sn The rich man had not helped Lazarus before, when he lay outside his gate (v. 2), but he knew him well enough to know his name. This is why the use of the name Lazarus in the parable is significant. (The rich man’s name, on the other hand, is not mentioned, because it is not significant for the point of the story.)

[16:24]  ¹³ sn The dipping of the tip of his finger in water is evocative of thirst. The thirsty are in need of God’s presence (Ps 42:1-2; Isa 5:13). The imagery suggests the rich man is now separated from the presence of God.

[16:24]  ¹⁴ tn Or “in terrible pain” (L&N 24.92).

[16:24]  ¹⁵ sn Fire in this context is OT imagery; see Isa 66:24.

[16:1]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:1]  ¹⁷ tn These are not formal legal charges, but reports from friends, acquaintances, etc.; Grk “A certain man was rich who had a manager, and this one was reported to him as wasting his property.”

[16:1]  ¹⁸ sn His manager was the steward in charge of managing the house. He could have been a slave trained for the role.

[16:1]  ¹⁹ tn Or “squandering.” This verb is graphic; it means to scatter (L&N 57.151).

[6:7]  ²⁰ tn Or “The scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 5:21.

[6:7]  ²¹ sn See the note on Pharisees in 5:17.

[6:7]  ²² 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]  ²³ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:7]  ²⁴ tn This is a first class condition in the Greek text; Jesus’ opponents anticipated he would do this.

[6:7]  ²⁵ 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).