Job 30:23

30:23 I know that you are bringing ¹  me to death,

to the meeting place for all the living.

Genesis 3:19

3:19 By the sweat of your brow ²  you will eat food

until you return to the ground, ³ 

for out of it you were taken;

for you are dust, and to dust you will return.” ⁴ 

Ecclesiastes 1:4

1:4 A generation comes ⁵  and a generation goes, ⁶ 

but the earth remains ⁷  the same ⁸  through the ages. ⁹ 

Ecclesiastes 8:8

8:8 Just as no one has power over the wind to restrain it, ¹⁰ 

so no one has power over the day of his ¹¹  death.

Just as no one can be discharged during the battle, ¹² 

so wickedness cannot rescue the wicked. ¹³ 

Ecclesiastes 12:7

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

and the life’s breath ¹⁴  returns to God who gave it.

Hebrews 9:27

9:27 And just as people ¹⁵  are appointed to die once, and then to face judgment, ¹⁶ 

[30:23]  ¹ tn The imperfect verb would be a progressive imperfect, it is future, but it is also already underway.

[3:19]  ² tn The expression “the sweat of your brow” is a metonymy, the sweat being the result of painful toil in the fields.

[3:19]  ³ sn Until you return to the ground. The theme of humankind’s mortality is critical here in view of the temptation to be like God. Man will labor painfully to provide food, obviously not enjoying the bounty that creation promised. In place of the abundance of the orchard’s fruit trees, thorns and thistles will grow. Man will have to work the soil so that it will produce the grain to make bread. This will continue until he returns to the soil from which he was taken (recalling the creation in 2:7 with the wordplay on Adam and ground). In spite of the dreams of immortality and divinity, man is but dust (2:7), and will return to dust. So much for his pride.

[3:19]  ⁴ sn In general, the themes of the curse oracles are important in the NT teaching that Jesus became the cursed one hanging on the tree. In his suffering and death, all the motifs are drawn together: the tree, the sweat, the thorns, and the dust of death (see Ps 22:15). Jesus experienced it all, to have victory over it through the resurrection.

[1:4]  ⁵ tn The participle הֹלֵךְ (holekh, “to walk, to go”) emphasizes continual, durative, uninterrupted action (present universal use of participle). The root הָלַךְ (halakh) is repeated in this section (1:4a, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 7c) to emphasize the continual action and constant motion of everything in nature. Despite the continual action of everything in nature, there is no completion, attainment or rest for anything. The first use of הָלַךְ is in reference to man; all subsequent usages are in reference to nature – illustrations of the futility of human endeavor. Note: All the key terms used in 1:4 to describe the futility of human endeavor are repeated in 1:5-11 as illustrations from nature. The literary monotony in 1:4-11 mirrors the actual monotony of human action that repeats itself with no real change.

[1:4]  ⁶ tn The participle בָּא (ba’, “to go”) emphasizes continual, durative, uninterrupted action (present universal use of participle). The term is repeated in 1:4-5 to compare the futility of secular human accomplishments with the futile actions in nature: everything is in motion, but there is nothing new accomplished.

[1:4]  ⁷ tn The participle עֹמָדֶת (’omadet, “to stand”) emphasizes a continual, durative, uninterrupted state (present universal condition). Man, despite all his secular accomplishments in all generations, makes no ultimate impact on the earth.

[1:4]  ⁸ tn The term “the same” does not appear in Hebrew, but is supplied in the translation for clarity and smoothness.

[1:4]  ⁹ tn The term עוֹלָם (’olam) has a wide range of meanings: (1) indefinite time: “long time, duration,” often “eternal” or “eternity”; (2) future time: “things to come”; and (3) past time: “a long time back,” that is, the dark age of prehistory (HALOT 798–99 s.v. עוֹלָם; BDB 761–63 s.v. III עלם). It may also denote an indefinite period of “continuous existence” (BDB 762 s.v. III עלם 2.b). It is used in this sense in reference to things that remain the same for long periods: the earth (Eccl 1:4), the heavens (Ps 148:6), ruined cities (Isa 25:2; 32:14), ruined lands (Jer 18:16), nations (Isa 47:7), families (Ps 49:12; Isa 14:20), the dynasty of Saul (1 Sam 13:13), the house of Eli (2 Sam 2:30), continual enmity between nations (Ezek 25:15; 35:5), the exclusion of certain nations from the assembly (Deut 23:4; Neh 13:1), a perpetual reproach (Ps 78:66).

[8:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “There is not a man who has mastery over the wind to restrain the wind.”

[8:8]  ¹¹ tn The word “his” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[8:8]  ¹² tn Heb “There is no discharge in war.”

[8:8]  ¹³ tn Heb “its owners.”

[12:7]  ¹⁴ 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.

[9:27]  ¹⁵ tn Here ἀνθρώποις (anqrwpoi") has been translated as a generic noun (“people”).

[9:27]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “and after this – judgment.”