Job 14:1-2

The Brevity of Life

14:1 “Man, born of woman, ¹ 

lives but a few days, ²  and they are full of trouble. ³ 

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 39:4-7

39:4 “O Lord, help me understand my mortality

and the brevity of life! ⁷ 

Let me realize how quickly my life will pass! ⁸ 

39:5 Look, you make my days short-lived, ⁹ 

and my life span is nothing from your perspective. ¹⁰ 

Surely all people, even those who seem secure, are nothing but vapor. ¹¹ 

39:6 Surely people go through life as mere ghosts. ¹² 

Surely they accumulate worthless wealth

without knowing who will eventually haul it away.” ¹³ 

39:7 But now, O Lord, upon what am I relying?

You are my only hope! ¹⁴ 

Psalms 90:5-10

90:5 You bring their lives to an end and they “fall asleep.” ¹⁵ 

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

90:6 in the morning it glistens ¹⁶  and sprouts up;

at evening time it withers ¹⁷  and dries up.

90:7 Yes, ¹⁸  we are consumed by your anger;

we are terrified by your wrath.

90:8 You are aware of our sins; ¹⁹ 

you even know about our hidden sins. ²⁰ 

90:9 Yes, ²¹  throughout all our days we experience your raging fury; ²² 

the years of our lives pass quickly, like a sigh. ²³ 

90:10 The days of our lives add up to seventy years, ²⁴ 

or eighty, if one is especially strong. ²⁵ 

But even one’s best years are marred by trouble and oppression. ²⁶ 

Yes, ²⁷  they pass quickly ²⁸  and we fly away. ²⁹ 

Psalms 103:15-16

103:15 A person’s life is like grass. ³⁰ 

Like a flower in the field it flourishes,

103:16 but when the hot wind ³¹  blows by, it disappears,

and one can no longer even spot the place where it once grew.

Ecclesiastes 6:12

6:12 For no one knows what is best for a person during his life ³²  –

during the few days of his fleeting life –

for ³³  they pass away ³⁴  like a shadow.

Nor can anyone tell him what the future will hold for him on earth. ³⁵ 

Ecclesiastes 9:10

9:10 Whatever you find to do with your hands, ³⁶ 

do it with all your might,

because there is neither work nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom in the grave, ³⁷ 

the place where you will eventually go. ³⁸ 

Romans 13:11-12

Motivation to Godly Conduct

13:11 And do this ³⁹  because we know ⁴⁰  the time, that it is already the hour for us to awake from sleep, for our salvation is now nearer than when we became believers. 13:12 The night has advanced toward dawn; the day is near. So then we must lay aside the works of darkness, and put on the weapons of light.

Hebrews 13:13-14

13:13 We must go out to him, then, outside the camp, bearing the abuse he experienced. ⁴¹  13:14 For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.

Hebrews 13:1

Final Exhortations

13:1 Brotherly love must continue.

Hebrews 4:7

4:7 So God ⁴²  again ordains a certain day, “Today,” speaking through David ⁴³  after so long a time, as in the words quoted before, ⁴⁴  “O, that today you would listen as he speaks! ⁴⁵  Do not harden your hearts.”

Hebrews 4:2

4:2 For we had good news proclaimed to us just as they did. But the message they heard did them no good, since they did not join in ⁴⁶  with those who heard it in faith. ⁴⁷ 

Hebrews 3:8-9

3:8 “Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of testing in the wilderness.

3:9 “There your fathers tested me and tried me, ⁴⁸  and they saw my works for forty years.

Hebrews 3:1

Jesus and Moses

3:1 Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, ⁴⁹  partners in a heavenly calling, take note of Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess, ⁵⁰ 

Hebrews 2:17

2:17 Therefore he had ⁵¹  to be made like his brothers and sisters ⁵²  in every respect, so that he could become a merciful and faithful high priest in things relating to God, to make atonement ⁵³  for the sins of the people.

[14:1]  ¹ tn The first of the threefold apposition for אָדָם (’adam, “man”) is “born of a woman.” The genitive (“woman”) after a passive participle denotes the agent of the action (see GKC 359 §116.l).

[14:1]  ² tn The second description is simply “[is] short of days.” The meaning here is that his life is short (“days” being put as the understatement for “years”).

[14:1]  ³ tn The third expression is “consumed/full/sated – with/of – trouble/restlessness.” The latter word, רֹגֶז (rogez), occurred in Job 3:17; see also the idea in 10:15.

[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.

[39:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “Cause me to know, O Lord, my end; and the measure of my days, what it is!”

[39:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “Let me know how transient I am!”

[39:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “Look, handbreadths you make my days.” The “handbreadth” (equivalent to the width of four fingers) was one of the smallest measures used by ancient Israelites. See P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 (WBC), 309.

[39:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “is like nothing before you.”

[39:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “surely, all vapor [is] all mankind, standing firm.” Another option is to translate, “Surely, all mankind, though seemingly secure, is nothing but a vapor.”

[39:6]  ¹² tn Heb “surely, as an image man walks about.” The preposition prefixed to “image” indicates identity here.

[39:6]  ¹³ tc Heb “Surely [in] vain they strive, he accumulates and does not know who gathers them.” The MT as it stands is syntactically awkward. The verb forms switch from singular (“walks about”) to plural (“they strive”) and then back to singular (“accumulates and does not know”), even though the subject (generic “man”) remains the same. Furthermore there is no object for the verb “accumulates” and no plural antecedent for the plural pronoun (“them”) attached to “gathers.” These problems can be removed if one emends the text from הֶבֶל יֶהֱמָיוּן (hevel yehemaun, “[in] vain they strive”) to הֶבְלֵי הָמוֹן (hevley hamon, “vain things of wealth”). This assumes a misdivision in the MT and a virtual dittography of vav (ו) between the mem and nun of המון. The present translation follows this emendation.

[39:7]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “my hope, for you it [is].”

[90:5]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ 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.

[90:7]  ¹⁸ tn Or “for.”

[90:8]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “you set our sins in front of you.”

[90:8]  ²⁰ tn Heb “what we have hidden to the light of your face.” God’s face is compared to a light or lamp that exposes the darkness around it.

[90:9]  ²¹ tn Or “for.”

[90:9]  ²² tn Heb “all our days pass by in your anger.”

[90:9]  ²³ tn Heb “we finish our years like a sigh.” In Ezek 2:10 the word הֶגֶה (hegeh) elsewhere refers to a grumbling or moaning sound. Here a brief sigh or moan is probably in view. If so, the simile pictures one’s lifetime as transient. Another option is that the simile alludes to the weakness that characteristically overtakes a person at the end of one’s lifetime. In this case the phrase could be translated, “we end our lives with a painful moan.”

[90:10]  ²⁴ tn Heb “the days of our years, in them [are] seventy years.”

[90:10]  ²⁵ tn Heb “or if [there is] strength, eighty years.”

[90:10]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and their pride [is] destruction and wickedness.” The Hebrew noun רֹהַב (rohav) occurs only here. BDB 923 s.v. assigns the meaning “pride,” deriving the noun from the verbal root רהב (“to act stormily [boisterously, arrogantly]”). Here the “pride” of one’s days (see v. 9) probably refers to one’s most productive years in the prime of life. The words translated “destruction and wickedness” are also paired in Ps 10:7. They also appear in proximity in Pss 7:14 and 55:10. The oppressive and abusive actions of evil men are probably in view (see Job 4:8; 5:6; 15:35; Isa 10:1; 59:4).

[90:10]  ²⁷ tn or “for.”

[90:10]  ²⁸ tn Heb “it passes quickly.” The subject of the verb is probably “their pride” (see the preceding line). The verb גּוּז (guz) means “to pass” here; it occurs only here and in Num 11:31.

[90:10]  ²⁹ sn We fly away. The psalmist compares life to a bird that quickly flies off (see Job 20:8).

[103:15]  ³⁰ 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.

[103:16]  ³¹ tn Heb “[the] wind.” The word “hot” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[6:12]  ³² tn Heb “For who knows what is good for a man in life?” The rhetorical question (“For who knows…?”) is a negative affirmation, expecting a negative answer: “For no one knows…!” (see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 949-51). The translation renders this rhetorical device as a positive affirmation.

[6:12]  ³³ tn The vav prefixed to וְיַעֲשֵׂם (vÿya’asem, conjunction + Qal imperfect 3rd person masculine singular from עָשַׂה, ’asah, “to do” + 3rd person masculine plural suffix) functions in an explanatory or epexegetical sense (“For …”).

[6:12]  ³⁴ tn The 3rd person masculine plural suffix on the verb וְיַעֲשֵׂם (vÿya’asem, conjunction + Qal imperfect 3rd person masculine singular from ָָעשַׂה, ’asah, “to do” + 3rd person masculine plural suffix) refers to מִסְפַּר יְמֵי־חַיֵּי הֶבְלוֹ (mispar yÿme-khayye hevlo, “the few days of his fleeting life”). The suffix may be taken as an objective genitive: “he spends them [i.e., the days of his life] like a shadow” (HALOT 891 s.v. I ָָעשַׂה 8) or as a subjective genitive: “they [i.e., the days of his life] pass like a shadow” (BDB 795 s.v. ָָעשַׂה II.11).

[6:12]  ³⁵ tn Heb “Who can tell the man what shall be after him under the sun?” The rhetorical question (“For who can tell him…?”) is a negative affirmation, expecting a negative answer: “For no one can tell him…!” (see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 949-51). The translation renders this rhetorical device as a positive affirmation.

[9:10]  ³⁶ tn Heb “Whatever your hand finds to do.”

[9:10]  ³⁷ tn Heb “Sheol.”

[9:10]  ³⁸ tn Or “where you are about to go.”

[13:11]  ³⁹ tn Grk “and this,” probably referring to the command to love (13:8-10); hence, “do” is implied from the previous verses.

[13:11]  ⁴⁰ tn The participle εἰδότες (eidotes) has been translated as a causal adverbial participle.

[13:13]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “his abuse.”

[4:7]  ⁴² tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[4:7]  ⁴³ sn Ps 95 does not mention David either in the text or the superscription. It is possible that the writer of Hebrews is attributing the entire collection of psalms to David (although some psalms are specifically attributed to other individuals or groups).

[4:7]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “as it has been said before” (see Heb 3:7).

[4:7]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “today if you hear his voice.”

[4:2]  ⁴⁶ tn Or “they were not united.”

[4:2]  ⁴⁷ tc A few mss (א and a few versional witnesses) have the nominative singular participle συγκεκερασμένος (sunkekerasmeno", “since it [the message] was not combined with faith by those who heard it”), a reading that refers back to the ὁ λόγος (Jo logo", “the message”). There are a few other variants here (e.g., συγκεκεραμμένοι [sunkekerammenoi] in 104, συγκεκεραμένους [sunkekeramenou"] in 1881 Ï), but the accusative plural participle συγκεκερασμένους (sunkekerasmenou"), found in Ì^13vid,46 A B C D* Ψ 0243 0278 33 81 1739 2464 pc, has by far the best external credentials. This participle agrees with the previous ἐκείνους (ekeinou", “those”), a more difficult construction grammatically than the nominative singular. Thus, both on external and internal grounds, συγκεκερασμένους is preferred.

[3:9]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “tested me by trial.”

[3:1]  ⁴⁹ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 2:11.

[3:1]  ⁵⁰ tn Grk “of our confession.”

[2:17]  ⁵¹ tn Or “he was obligated.”

[2:17]  ⁵² tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 2:11.

[2:17]  ⁵³ tn Or “propitiation.”