Job 10:21

10:21 before I depart, never to return, ¹ 

to the land of darkness

and the deepest shadow, ² 

Job 16:22

16:22 For the years that lie ahead are few, ³ 

and then I will go on the way of no return. ⁴ 

[10:21]  ¹ sn The verbs are simple, “I go” and “I return”; but Job clearly means before he dies. A translation of “depart” comes closer to communicating this. The second verb may be given a potential imperfect translation to capture the point. The NIV offered more of an interpretive paraphrase: “before I go to the place of no return.”

[10:21]  ² tn See Job 3:5.

[16:22]  ³ tn The expression is “years of number,” meaning that they can be counted, and so “the years are few.” The verb simply means “comes” or “lie ahead.”

[16:22]  ⁴ tn The verbal expression “I will not return” serves here to modify the journey that he will take. It is “the road [of] I will not return.”