Job 15:32-33

15:32 Before his time ¹  he will be paid in full, ² 

and his branches will not flourish. ³ 

15:33 Like a vine he will let his sour grapes fall, ⁴ 

and like an olive tree

he will shed his blossoms. ⁵ 

Job 22:15-16

22:15 Will you keep to the old path ⁶ 

that evil men have walked –

22:16 men ⁷  who were carried off ⁸  before their time, ⁹ 

when the flood ¹⁰  was poured out ¹¹ 

on their foundations? ¹² 

Psalms 55:23

55:23 But you, O God, will bring them ¹³  down to the deep Pit. ¹⁴ 

Violent and deceitful people ¹⁵  will not live even half a normal lifespan. ¹⁶ 

But as for me, I trust in you.

Ecclesiastes 7:17

7:17 Do not be excessively wicked and do not be a fool;

otherwise ¹⁷  you might die before your time.

Jeremiah 17:11

17:11 The person who gathers wealth by unjust means

is like the partridge that broods over eggs but does not hatch them. ¹⁸ 

Before his life is half over he will lose his ill-gotten gains. ¹⁹ 

At the end of his life it will be clear he was a fool.” ²⁰ 

Luke 12:20

12:20 But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life ²¹  will be demanded back from ²²  you, but who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ ²³ 

[15:32]  ¹ tn Heb “before his day.”

[15:32]  ² tn Those who put the last colon of v. 31 with v. 32 also have to change the verb תִּמָּלֵא (timmale’, “will be fulfilled”). E. Dhorme (Job, 225) says, “a mere glance at the use of yimmal…abundantly proves that the original text had timmal (G, Syr., Vulg), which became timmale’ through the accidental transposition of the ‘alep of bÿsi’o…in verse 31….” This, of course, is possible, if all the other changes up to now are granted. But the meaning of a word elsewhere in no way assures it should be the word here. The LXX has “his harvest shall perish before the time,” which could translate any number of words that might have been in the underlying Hebrew text. A commercial metaphor is not out of place here, since parallelism does not demand that the same metaphor appear in both lines.

[15:32]  ³ tn Now, in the second half of the verse, the metaphor of a tree with branches begins.

[15:33]  ⁴ tn The verb means “to treat violently” or “to wrong.” It indicates that the vine did not nourish the grapes well enough for them to grow, and so they dry up and drop off.

[15:33]  ⁵ sn The point is that like the tree the wicked man shows signs of life but produces nothing valuable. The olive tree will have blossoms in the years that it produces no olives, and so eventually drops the blossoms.

[22:15]  ⁶ tn The “old path” here is the way of defiance to God. The text in these two verses is no doubt making reference to the flood in Genesis, one of the perennial examples of divine judgment.

[22:16]  ⁷ tn The word “men” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied to clarify the relative pronoun “who.”

[22:16]  ⁸ tn The verb קָמַט (qamat) basically means “to seize; to tie together to make a bundle.” So the Pual will mean “to be bundled away; to be carried off.”

[22:16]  ⁹ tn The clause has “and [it was] not the time.” It may be used adverbially here.

[22:16]  ¹⁰ tn The word is נָהַר (nahar, “river” or “current”); it is taken here in its broadest sense of the waters on the earth that formed the current of the flood (Gen 7:6, 10).

[22:16]  ¹¹ tn The verb יָצַק (yatsaq) means “to pour out; to shed; to spill; to flow.” The Pual means “to be poured out” (as in Lev 21:10 and Ps 45:3).

[22:16]  ¹² tn This word is then to be taken as an adverbial accusative of place. Another way to look at this verse is what A. B. Davidson (Job, 165) proposes “whose foundation was poured away and became a flood.” This would mean that that on which they stood sank away.

[55:23]  ¹³ tn The pronominal suffix refers to the psalmist’s enemies (see v. 19).

[55:23]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “well of the pit.” The Hebrew term שַׁחַת (shakhat, “pit”) is often used as a title for Sheol (see Pss 16:10; 30:9; 49:9; 103:4).

[55:23]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “men of bloodshed and deceit.”

[55:23]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “will not divide in half their days.”

[7:17]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Why?” The question is rhetorical.

[17:11]  ¹⁸ tn The meaning of this line is somewhat uncertain. The word translated “broods over” occurs only here and Isa 34:15. It is often defined on the basis of an Aramaic cognate which means “to gather” with an extended meaning of “to gather together under her to hatch.” Many commentators go back to a Rabbinic explanation that the partridge steals the eggs of other birds and hatches them out only to see the birds depart when they recognize that she is not the mother. Modern studies question the validity of this zoologically. Moreover, W. L. Holladay contests the validity on the basis of the wording “and she does hatch them” (Heb “bring them to birth”). See W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah (Hermeneia), 1:498, and see also P. C. Craigie, P. H. Kelley, J. F. Drinkard, Jeremiah 1-25 (WBC), 229. The point of the comparison is that the rich gather their wealth but they do not get to see the fruits of it.

[17:11]  ¹⁹ tn The Hebrew text merely says “it.” But the antecedent might be ambiguous in English so the reference to wealth gained by unjust means is here reiterated for clarity.

[17:11]  ²⁰ tn Heb “he will be [= prove to be] a fool.”

[12:20]  ²¹ 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]  ²² 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]  ²³ tn Grk “the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” The words “for yourself” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.