Psalms 144:4

144:4 People ¹  are like a vapor,

their days like a shadow that disappears. ² 

Job 14:1

The Brevity of Life

14:1 “Man, born of woman, ³ 

lives but a few days, ⁴  and they are full of trouble. ⁵ 

James 4:14

4:14 You ⁶  do not know about tomorrow. What is your life like? ⁷  For you are a puff of smoke ⁸  that appears for a short time and then vanishes.

[144:4]  ¹ tn Heb “man,” or “mankind.”

[144:4]  ² 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.

[14:1]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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.

[4:14]  ⁶ tn Grk “who” (continuing the description of the people of v. 13). Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[4:14]  ⁷ tn Or “you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow.”

[4:14]  ⁸ tn Or “a vapor.” The Greek word ἀτμίς (atmis) denotes a swirl of smoke arising from a fire (cf. Gen 19:28; Lev 16:13; Joel 2:30 [Acts 2:19]; Ezek 8:11).