Job 17:14

17:14 If I cry ¹  to corruption, ²  ‘You are my father,’

and to the worm, ‘My Mother,’ or ‘My sister,’

Psalms 22:15

22:15 The roof of my mouth ³  is as dry as a piece of pottery;

my tongue sticks to my gums. ⁴ 

You ⁵  set me in the dust of death. ⁶ 

Psalms 90:3

90:3 You make mankind return ⁷  to the dust, ⁸ 

and say, “Return, O people!”

Ecclesiastes 12:7

12:7 and the dust returns to the earth as it was,

and the life’s breath ⁹  returns to God who gave it.

Romans 9:21

9:21 Has the potter no right to make from the same lump of clay ¹⁰  one vessel for special use and another for ordinary use? ¹¹ 

[17:14]  ¹ tn This is understood because the conditional clauses seem to run to the apodosis in v. 15.

[17:14]  ² tn The word שַׁחַת (shakhat) may be the word “corruption” from a root שָׁחַת (shakhat, “to destroy”) or a word “pit” from שׁוּחַ (shuakh, “to sink down”). The same problem surfaces in Ps 16:10, where it is parallel to “Sheol.” E. F. Sutcliffe, The Old Testament and the Future Life, 76ff., defends the meaning “corruption.” But many commentators here take it to mean “the grave” in harmony with “Sheol.” But in this verse “worms” would suggest “corruption” is better.

[22:15]  ³ tc Heb “my strength” (כֹּחִי, kokhiy), but many prefer to emend the text to חִכִּי (khikiy, “my palate”; cf. NEB, NRSV “my mouth”) assuming that an error of transposition has occurred in the traditional Hebrew text.

[22:15]  ⁴ tn Cf. NEB “my jaw”; NASB, NRSV “my jaws”; NIV “the roof of my mouth.”

[22:15]  ⁵ sn Here the psalmist addresses God and suggests that God is ultimately responsible for what is happening because of his failure to intervene (see vv. 1-2, 11).

[22:15]  ⁶ sn The imperfect verbal form draws attention to the progressive nature of the action. The psalmist is in the process of dying.

[90:3]  ⁷ tn In this context the shortened prefix form does not function as a preterite, but indicates what is typical of the world.

[90:3]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew term דַּכָּא (daka’) carries the basic sense of “crushed.” Elsewhere it refers to those who are “crushed” in spirit or contrite of heart (see Ps 34:18; Isa 57:15). If one understands this nuance here, then v. 3 is observing that God leads mankind to repentance (the term שׁוּב, shuv, “return,” which appears twice in this verse, is sometimes used of repentance.) However, the following context laments mankind’s mortality and the brevity of life, so it is doubtful if v. 3 should be understood so positively. It is more likely that דַּכָּא here refers to “crushed matter,” that is, the dust that fills the grave (see HALOT 221 s.v. s.v. I דַּכָּא; BDB 194 s.v. דַּכָּא). In this case one may hear an echo of Gen 3:19.

[12:7]  ⁹ tn Or “spirit.” The likely referent is the life’s breath that originates with God. See Eccl 3:19, as well as Gen 2:7; 6:17; 7:22.

[9:21]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “Or does not the potter have authority over the clay to make from the same lump.”

[9:21]  ¹¹ tn Grk “one vessel for honor and another for dishonor.”