Job 14:1

The Brevity of Life

14:1 “Man, born of woman, ¹ 

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

Proverbs 27:1

27:1 Do not boast ⁴  about tomorrow; ⁵ 

for you do not know ⁶  what a day may bring forth.

James 4:13-15

4:13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into this or that town ⁷  and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.” 4:14 You ⁸  do not know about tomorrow. What is your life like? ⁹  For you are a puff of smoke ¹⁰  that appears for a short time and then vanishes. 4:15 You ought to say instead, ¹¹  “If the Lord is willing, then we will live and do this or that.”

[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.

[27:1]  ⁴ tn The form אַל־תִּתְהַלֵּל (’al-tithallel) is the Hitpael jussive negated; it is from the common verb “to praise,” and so in this setting means “to praise oneself” or “to boast.”

[27:1]  ⁵ sn The word “tomorrow” is a metonymy of subject, meaning what will be done tomorrow, or in the future in general.

[27:1]  ⁶ sn The expression “you do not know” balances the presumption of the first line, reminding the disciple of his ignorance and therefore his need for humility (e.g., Matt 6:34; Luke 12:20; Jas 4:13-16).

[4:13]  ⁷ tn Or “city.”

[4:14]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Or “you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow.”

[4:14]  ¹⁰ 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).

[4:15]  ¹¹ tn Grk “instead of your saying.”