Job 8:9

8:9 For we were born yesterday ¹  and do not have knowledge,

since our days on earth are but a shadow. ² 

Job 9:25-26

Renewed Complaint

9:25 “My days ³  are swifter than a runner, ⁴ 

they speed by without seeing happiness.

9:26 They glide by ⁵  like reed ⁶  boats,

like an eagle that swoops ⁷  down on its prey. ⁸ 

Job 9:1

Job’s Reply to Bildad ⁹ 

9:1 Then Job answered:

Job 29:15

29:15 I was eyes for the blind

and feet for the lame;

Psalms 102:11

102:11 My days are coming to an end, ¹⁰ 

and I am withered like grass.

Psalms 144:4

144:4 People ¹¹  are like a vapor,

their days like a shadow that disappears. ¹² 

Ecclesiastes 8:13

8:13 But it will not go well with the wicked,

nor will they ¹³  prolong their ¹⁴  days like a shadow, ¹⁵ 

because they ¹⁶  do not stand in fear ¹⁷  before God.

[8:9]  ¹ tn The Hebrew has “we are of yesterday,” the adverb functioning as a predicate. Bildad’s point is that they have not had time to acquire great knowledge because they are recent.

[8:9]  ² tn E. Dhorme (Job, 116) observes that the shadow is the symbol of ephemeral things (14:2; 17:7; Ps 144:4). The shadow passes away quickly (116).

[9:25]  ³ tn The text has “and my days” following the thoughts in the previous section.

[9:25]  ⁴ sn Job returns to the thought of the brevity of his life (7:6). But now the figure is the swift runner instead of the weaver’s shuttle.

[9:26]  ⁵ tn Heb “they flee.”

[9:26]  ⁶ tn The word אֵבֶה (’eveh) means “reed, papyrus,” but it is a different word than was in 8:11. What is in view here is a light boat made from bundles of papyrus that glides swiftly along the Nile (cf. Isa 18:2 where papyrus vessels and swiftness are associated).

[9:26]  ⁷ tn The verb יָטוּשׂ (yatus) is also a hapax legomenon; the Aramaic cognate means “to soar; to hover in flight.” The sentence here requires the idea of swooping down while in flight.

[9:26]  ⁸ tn Heb “food.”

[9:1]  ⁹ sn This speech of Job in response to Bildad falls into two large sections, chs. 9 and 10. In ch. 9 he argues that God’s power and majesty prevent him from establishing his integrity in his complaint to God. And in ch. 10 Job tries to discover in God’s plan the secret of his afflictions. The speech seems to continue what Job was saying to Eliphaz more than it addresses Bildad. See K. Fullerton, “On Job 9 and 10,” JBL 53 (1934): 321-49.

[102:11]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “my days [are] like an extended [or “lengthening”] shadow,” that is, like a late afternoon shadow made by the descending sun that will soon be swallowed up by complete darkness.

[144:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “man,” or “mankind.”

[144:4]  ¹² tn Heb “his days [are] like a shadow that passes away,” that is, like a late afternoon shadow made by the descending sun that will soon be swallowed up by complete darkness. See Ps 102:11.

[8:13]  ¹³ tn Heb “he.”

[8:13]  ¹⁴ tn The word “their” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for smoothness.

[8:13]  ¹⁵ tn The phrase “like a shadow” (כַּצֵּל, katsel) modifies the verb (“prolong”) rather than the noun (“days”). Several English versions misconstrue the line: “he will not prolong his days, [which are] like a shadow” (KJV, ASV); “the man who does not fear God is like a shadow” (NEB); and “he will not prolong his shadowy days” (NAB). It should be rendered “he will not prolong his days like a shadow” (RSV, NRSV, NASB, MLB, NIV). Unlike a shadow that lengthens at sunset, the wicked do not normally live long.

[8:13]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “he.”

[8:13]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “they do not fear.”