Job 5:6-7

5:6 For evil does not come up from the dust, ¹ 

nor does trouble spring up from the ground,

5:7 but people ²  are born ³  to trouble,

as surely as the sparks ⁴  fly ⁵  upward. ⁶ 

Job 14:1

The Brevity of Life

14:1 “Man, born of woman, ⁷ 

lives but a few days, ⁸  and they are full of trouble. ⁹ 

Job 21:17

How Often Do the Wicked Suffer?

21:17 “How often ¹⁰  is the lamp of the wicked extinguished?

How often does their ¹¹  misfortune come upon them?

How often does God apportion pain ¹²  to them ¹³  in his anger?

Psalms 90:7-9

90:7 Yes, ¹⁴  we are consumed by your anger;

we are terrified by your wrath.

90:8 You are aware of our sins; ¹⁵ 

you even know about our hidden sins. ¹⁶ 

90:9 Yes, ¹⁷  throughout all our days we experience your raging fury; ¹⁸ 

the years of our lives pass quickly, like a sigh. ¹⁹ 

Ecclesiastes 2:22-23

Painful Days and Restless Nights

2:22 What does a man acquire from all his labor

and from the anxiety that accompanies his toil on earth? ²⁰ 

2:23 For all day long ²¹  his work produces pain and frustration, ²² 

and even at night his mind cannot relax! ²³ 

This also is futile!

Ecclesiastes 5:17

5:17 Surely, he ate in darkness every day of his life, ²⁴ 

and he suffered greatly with sickness and anger.

John 16:33

16:33 I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In the world you have trouble and suffering, ²⁵  but take courage ²⁶  – I have conquered the world.” ²⁷ 

[5:6]  ¹ sn The previous discussion shows how trouble rises, namely, from the rebelliousness of the fool. Here Eliphaz simply summarizes the points made with this general principle – trouble does not come from outside man, nor does it come as a part of the natural order, but rather it comes from the evil nature of man.

[5:7]  ² tn Heb “man [is].” Because “man” is used in a generic sense for humanity here, the generic “people” has been used in the translation.

[5:7]  ³ tn There is a slight difficulty here in that vv. 6 and 7 seem to be saying the opposite thing. Many commentators, therefore, emend the the Niphal יוּלָּד (yullad, “is born”) to an active participle יוֹלֵד (yoled, “begets”) to place the source of trouble in man himself. But the LXX seems to retain the passive idea: “man is born to trouble.” The contrast between the two verses does not seem too difficult, for it still could imply that trouble’s source is within the man.

[5:7]  ⁴ tn For the Hebrew בְנֵי־רֶשֶׁף (bÿne reshef, “sons of the flame”) the present translation has the rendering “sparks.” E. Dhorme (Job, 62) thinks it refers to some kind of bird, but renders it “sons of the lightning” because the eagle was associated with lightning in ancient interpretations. Sparks, he argues, do not soar high above the earth. Other suggestions include Resheph, the Phoenician god of lightning (Pope), the fire of passion (Buttenwieser), angels (Peake), or demons (Targum Job). None of these are convincing; the idea of sparks flying upward fits the translation well and makes clear sense in the passage.

[5:7]  ⁵ tn The simple translation of the last two words is “fly high” or “soar aloft” which would suit the idea of an eagle. But, as H. H. Rowley (Job [NCBC], 53) concludes, the argument to identify the expression preceding this with eagles is far-fetched.

[5:7]  ⁶ tn The LXX has the name of a bird here: “the vulture’s young seek the high places.” The Targum to Job has “sons of demons” or “the sparks which shoot from coals of fire.”

[14:1]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ 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.

[21:17]  ¹⁰ tn The interrogative “How often” occurs only with the first colon; it is supplied for smoother reading in the next two.

[21:17]  ¹¹ tn The pronominal suffix is objective; it re-enforces the object of the preposition, “upon them.” The verb in the clause is בּוֹא (bo’) followed by עַל (’al), “come upon [or against],” may be interpreted as meaning attack or strike.

[21:17]  ¹² tn חֲבָלִים (khavalim) can mean “ropes” or “cords,” but that would not go with the verb “apportion” in this line. The meaning of “pangs (as in “birth-pangs”) seems to fit best here. The wider meaning would be “physical agony.”

[21:17]  ¹³ tn The phrase “to them” is understood and thus is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[90:7]  ¹⁴ tn Or “for.”

[90:8]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “you set our sins in front of you.”

[90:8]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ tn Or “for.”

[90:9]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “all our days pass by in your anger.”

[90:9]  ¹⁹ 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.”

[2:22]  ²⁰ tn Heb “under the sun.” The rhetorical question is an example of negative affirmation, expecting a negative answer: “Man acquires nothing” (see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 949-51).

[2:23]  ²¹ tn Heb “all his days.”

[2:23]  ²² tn The syntax of this verse has been interpreted in two different ways: (1) The phrase “all his days” (כָל־יָמָיו, khol-yamayv) is the subject of a verbless clause, and the noun “pain” (מַכְאֹבִים, makh’ovim) is a predicate nominative or a predicate of apposition (see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 15-16, §71). Likewise, the noun “his work” (עִנְיָנוֹ, ’inyano) is the subject of a second verbless clause, and the vexation” (כַעַס, kha’as) is a predicate nominative: “All his days are pain, and his work is vexation.” (2) The noun “his work” (עִנְיָנוֹ) is the subject of both nouns, “pain and vexation” (וָכַעַס מַכְאֹבִים, makh’ovim vakha’as), which are predicate nominatives, while the phrase “all his days” (כָל־יָמָיו) is an adverbial accusative functioning temporally: “All day long, his work is pain and vexation.” The latter option is supported by the parallelism between “even at night” and “all day long.” This verse draws out an ironic contrast/comparison between his physical toil/labor during the day and his emotional anxiety at night. Even at night, he has no break!

[2:23]  ²³ tn Heb “his heart (i.e., mind) does not rest.”

[5:17]  ²⁴ tn Heb “all his days.” The phrase “of his life” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[16:33]  ²⁵ tn The one Greek term θλῖψις (qliyis) has been translated by an English hendiadys (two terms that combine for one meaning) “trouble and suffering.” For modern English readers “tribulation” is no longer clearly understandable.

[16:33]  ²⁶ tn Or “but be courageous.”

[16:33]  ²⁷ tn Or “I am victorious over the world,” or “I have overcome the world.”